One more day to go...

We arrived in State College last night. The suite at the Nittany Lion Inn is very nice. Much bigger than we expected. We had a few last minute details to work on and then went to watch the State College Spikes game. The Spikes are one of the Pirates minor league teams. Gina's parents, brother, and Joe (the best man) all attended the game with us. It was a perfect night to watch a baseball game. Here's a picture from the game:

Today is another awesome weather day. Hopefully it stays like this for the wedding tomorrow!

Directions Update

With the wedding getting close I thought it would be a good idea to remind all of our friends coming up from DC (and anyone coming from the west) about some new roads on the trip.

I-99 now goes all the way to State College. Most GPS devices don't have this in their maps. I updated our Garmin Nuvi with the latest maps the day before our July trip and it still didn't have all the updated information.

If you are coming from the west or from DC you'll take I-99 all the way into State College and get off at the North Atherton/Business 322 exit. Your GPS will want you to get off way before that either near Bald Eagle or Port Matilda. Just ignore it and stay on I-99. It will save you about 10 minutes of travel on back roads.

Google maps has this right so follow the directions on there (linked on the right under "Important Information").

Less than 3 weeks away!

Wow I can't believe how close the wedding is getting! Jeff and I were in State College this weekend for some last minute wedding planning. We paid the florist, got a marriage license, checked in with the manager at Hi Way Pizza for the rehearsal dinner (and had dinner while we were at it), and FINALLY got to stay at the Nittany Lion Inn. The room was nice - very big and clean, and the towels were soft and fluffy. For those who don't know, I am a bit of, well, a hotel snob, and it exceeded my expectations!

The RSVP deadline has passed and it looks like we will have 68 people at our wedding! We can't wait to see everyone!

See you in State College in a few weeks!!

ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!

Wow I can't believe the wedding is one month away! Where has the time gone? Jeff and I have had a busy spring, there was our trip to the Keys, Jeff's trip to Vegas, my trip to Boise (including a 10.5 hour stop over in Denver), and trying to get everything ready for the wedding.

Tomorrow evening we have a conference call with our DJ. If anyone has any song requests send them along to Jeff and I. Also today is THE LAST DAY to book your room at the discounted rate. After today you will have to pay full price.

Jeff and I are heading to State College next Friday. We are hoping to get our marriage license, I am having a trial run for my hair, and I need to find a nail salon. It won't be long now! We look forward to seeing everyone in a month!!!!!!!!

Reminder

Just a friendly reminder that you have less than two weeks to book a room at the Nittany Lion Inn at the special rate of $135 a night. After 7/8/08 all rooms in our room block will be let go and you'll have to pay full price.

To get the special rate use the reservation id code from the "Hotel Information" link on the right.

State College vs. University Park

We've gotten some questions about State College vs. University Park. Why is the ceremony in University Park and the reception in State College? What's the difference? Are they are far apart? I thought the wedding was at Penn State? What's the deal? So here are your answers.

No, they aren't far apart. You can walk from the Nittany Lion Inn to the chapel. The Penn State campus has it's own post office, zip code, and post office addresses. This causes lots of confusion. University Park is anything that is on campus. State College is anything that is off campus.

What's the deal with that? Well up until 1953 Penn State was officially "The Pennsylvania State College". In 1953 the name was changed to "The Pennsylvania State University". The president of PSU at the time, Milton S. Eisenhower, tried to get the town to changes its name from "State College" to "State University". They took a vote, but there wasn't a majority winner so the name stayed State College. Milton decided he didn't like that much so he got the university its own post office and zip code with the designation University Park. Since his brother was the President of the United States at the time he had a little bit of pull with the Post Office...

You will also sometimes hear the area referred to as "Happy Valley". Come to a Penn State football game with Gina and I and you'll understand why!

Finally, the Nittany Lion Inn is on campus, but has a State College address. Why? I'm not sure. My guess is because they serve alcohol there and that's not allowed on campus. So it may "technically" be off campus, but that would be in name only.

Streetview coming to Penn State

Google has decided to start mapping college campuses for Google streetview. According to this story, Penn State will be one of the first campuses mapped. If they get this finished before the wedding I'll post a streetview map from the Nittany Lion Inn to the chapel.

If you've never used Google streetview before you need to check it out. You can see what places look like as if you were there. Here's a view of the intersection near our house. If you play around with that you can spin the angle of the camera around and move it.


View Larger Map

It doesn't look like it's available yet for Penn State. Hopefully they add it soon.

Moving on up!

I can't believe the wedding is less than two months away!!! This will be a very exciting weekend - on Saturday I am going for my first wedding gown fitting. My dress finally arrived in the continental United States, I ordered it in January. My mom is coming down to join in on the fun!

And we got some good news today (well good news for us, not so good news for another couple). The Nittany Lion Inn has two ballrooms, The Boardroom and The Ballroom. The Boardroom is where we were scheduled to have our wedding because the Ballroom was already booked. Its a bigger, nicer space. Well it turns out that couple decided not to get married after all, so we are moving on up to the Ballroom!!! It has a bigger dance floor too, for those of you planning to do the Running Man this is key. :)

And don't forget to book your rooms - after July 8 our room block gets released to the general public and the discount rate is no longer valid.

SCUBA Diving in the Keys

Gina and I are back from a short vacation in the Florida Keys. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale Thursday morning and then drove down to Summerland Key to stay with my brother, Marc. Gina finally got to meet Marc's dog Dallas.

Friday morning Marc, Gina, one of Marc's friends and I did two dives on Looe Key. This is a fairly shallow reef that gave us a maximum depth of about 25 feet. The reef here is in pretty good shape and we saw lots of interesting sea life. Here are a few pictures:

French Angel Fish

Sting RayI have to look this one upBarracuda

Looe Key was nice, but the highlight of the trip was getting to dive on the USNS Vandenberg. The Vandenberg was sunk on 5/27/09 to create an artificial reef. It opened for diving on 5/30/09. We went out to dive the Vandenberg on 6/7/09 so we were some of the first divers to get to see the wreck.

The Vandenberg is about 7 miles from Key West and was sunk in 140' of water. The deck is at about 95' and the super structure starts at around 50'. Gina, Marc, and I did 2 dives. The boat was tied into the middle of the ship between two large radar dishes.

Our first dive we went to the stern of the ship and had a maximum depth of 89'. The dive lasted about 34 minutes. Our second dive we explored the bow of the ship and even did a quick swim through on the bridge. Our maximum depth on the second dive was 97' for 37 minutes. Here are a few pictures:

One of the radar dishesGina and I near the center of the ship

On the bowGina on the bridge
Near one of the radar dishes

Marc took most of the pictures using my camera. They turned out pretty well.

The trip ended way too soon and we flew back to DC on Monday. Gina and I had a blast and can't wait for more diving on the honeymoon. We are going to have to head back to the Keys sometime soon too.

Less than 2 months until the wedding!

The responses have started coming in!

Well Jeff and I bet on who the first response would be and when it would arrive. Its a good thing Jeff is the one going to Vegas in a few weeks and not me, because he won!! Carrie and Jacob Mellin (aka Mr. and Mrs Old Man Mellin) were the first to respond!!! (unfortunately Mickey Mouse won't be able to join them at the wedding...)



And they are coming (we should hope so, they are both in the wedding). Carrie and Jacob will get a prize, and of course Jeff will get the pleasure of constantly reminding me that he won!

Its officially official now!

The invitations are in the mail!!!! Jeff and I spent a very frustrating half hour waiting in line at the post office, only to find we needed extra postage after all for invitations. Good thing we checked before we sent them!! Look for them in the mail this week, its getting so close, a little over 2 months away!

Things to do while in State College

A lot of our guests are arriving in State College a little early so I thought I'd provide some suggestions on things to do while you are in town. State College offers a little bit of everything so you should be able to find something fun to do.

• Visit the All Sports Museum. The museum is basically the Hall Of Fame for Penn State sports. You can see the Heisman Trophy won by John Cappelletti, Olympic Memorabilia from Penn State's 125+ Olympians, the Lombardi and Maxwell Awards, etc. Hours are 10am-4pm on Friday and Saturday and 12pm-4pm on Sunday. The museum is located at the southwest corner of Beaver Stadium opposite the Bryce Jordan Center. A $5 donation is the suggested admission.
• Get your picture taken at the Lion Shrine. Probably the most famous spot no campus and really close to the hotel.
• Hike Mount Nittany. This will give you a great over look of the PSU campus and Beaver Stadium. It's a pretty easy hike (1000 yards to the top and up 600) feet and will take about an hour. Details for planning the hike are here. Don't forget to bring some water!
• Go shopping downtown. There are lots of different shops along both College and Beaver Avenues. Plus some shops on Calder Way between College and Beaver. Downtown State College is a short walk from the hotel. If you decide to drive down be careful where you park so you don't get a ticket.
• Visit the Palmer Museum of Art. Eight of the eleven galleries at the Palmer Museum display art from the museum’s permanent collection of more than 5,000 objects. Included are American and European paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, and sculptures; contemporary European and Japanese studio ceramics; Asian ceramics, jades, paintings, and prints; and objects from ancient European, African, and Near Eastern cultures. Hours are 10am-4:30pm Tuesday-Saturday and Noon-4pm on Sunday.
• Hit the links. The hotel is literally right across the street from both the Blue and White golf courses. Both championship courses have been newly renovated within the last 5 years.
• Get ice cream at the Creamery. Best ice cream you will ever have.
• Visit the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg. "The Museum recounts the story of Commonwealth citizen's who served our country in defense of the nation." They have a collection of vehicles and small arms. And they have guns from the Battleship Pennsylvania.

Dresses are in!

Its been slow on the wedding planning front, invitations go out in a couple of weeks, other than that not much going on. Jeff and I have a busy June planned...and I am hoping no one ends up in jail when the guys go to Vegas in a month! Don't worry - the girls will be partying it up in DC!

And the bridesmaids dresses came in today!!! I was nervous to open the box, I never actually saw a sample dress in the colors we selected, but they look awesome, very shiny!

Starting tomorrow, Jeff and I are landlords. The condo rented, a lot of our energy has been spent dealing with that. Hopefully it will all go smoothly!

Well that's all for now!

Three months to go

The wedding is three months from today! The remaining time is sure to go very fast. We're finally getting things settled down now that Gina has moved all her stuff into my (now our) house. Almost everything is unpacked now. We'll also be taking a very quick trip to the Keys to SCUBA dive next month. This will be a good warm up for the honeymoon where we'll be spending a week diving on Little Cayman island.

We'll keep updating the blog as the wedding gets closer. Start thinking of any songs you'd like to hear at the reception so we can let the DJ know.

Out with the putting green, In with the sitting area

There was a story in the Daily Collegian today about changes at the Nittany Lion Inn. Don't worry nothing major. They are removing the putting green and replacing it with a sitting area. There will be gazebo, a lot of new planting, a water fountain and benches.

The putting green was in the courtyard, but I can't remember ever actually seeing it. I'm not sure why they had one anyway. Both golf courses (Penn State has two) are (literally) right across the street from the NLI.

Plans are to have it finished by May 9th. Gina and I will check it out next time we're in State College. It might make a nice place for wedding pictures.

The Federal Disaster Area in Fairfax

Well today has been quite a day! I officially moved all my stuff into Jeff's house. It suddenly felt like Jeff's house shrunk to the size of a cardboard box, we have too much stuff! Two vacuums, two irons (and we don't even iron), two sets of mixing bowls, the entire cat toy aisle of Pet Smart, and more Mickey Mouse mugs than you can imagine (who knew Jeff had such a collection of Mickey mugs???) :) The movers showed up at 7:45am this morning and by 9:30, I was signing the credit card bill and watching them pull away, wondering where the heck I should even start with the unpacking. We are not even close to being settled and organized, but hope to be by the end of the weekend. And around 4:30, while I was trying to figure out if I should donate a sweater to Goodwill that I had not worn in 2 years, the doorbell rang and our wedding invitations arrived!! We are really happy with how they turned out! Look for them in the mail next month!

That's all for now!

Campus Tours

Penn State is adding a new system this summer that will allow you to hear information about locations on campus by calling a number on your cell phone. Sort of a self guided tour. It's supposed to have information about The Lion Shrine, Old Main, Beaver Stadium, etc. If you are wondering around campus this may come in handy.

I'm also planning on adding some information to the blog about things to do while you are in State College. It will list places on and off campus that might be of interest for our guests that arrive early (or stay late). Hopefully I'll get that up in the next week or so.

I may even give my own quick tour of campus the morning of the wedding. Depends on how busy things are. But I'm the groom how much could I possibly have to do? My main job is to just show up on time, right?

Here are some details on the new self guided tour system from The Daily Collegian:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/04/21/campus_tours_to_be_available_v.aspx

Invitations Ordered!

Jeff and I accomplished a big task tonight - we ordered the wedding invitations!!! It was hard narrowing down all the choices, but I really like what we chose, and yes, Jeff had a vote in it too!

Look for the invitations in the mail the last week of May, we are getting close!

Also, as you will see in your invitations, Jeff and I have arranged a continental breakfast the Nittany Lion Inn on August 9 from 9:30-11:30. It will be very informal, freel free to stop by and share a bagel with us before we drive back to Philly to do our long run for marathon training. It will be a busy day!

That's all for now!

4 Months to Go

Less than 4 months now until the wedding. The time sure is going fast. All the plans are pretty much set now. As Hannibal used to say in the "A-Team", "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Food tasting!!

Well Jeff and I, along with our parents, traveled to State College this weekend to taste some wedding food. I have to admit, I went into this weekend not knowing what to expect. But all our expectations were exceeded!!!! The food was amazing! And being able to taste helped us finally decide on a menu. The grand ballroom was all decorated with various wedding linens and table setting options, and we got to talk with our wedding coordinator and decide on all the details. It was very productive!

For the cocktail hour, we will be serving mini italian paninis, pigs in a blanket, and little greek flatbreads. The paninis were a huge hit with all of us at the food tasting, everyone might have to try to outrun Jeff to get to the panini server.

The salad will be a mixed green salad with a tastey lime vinagrette. The soup will be a roasted tomato and basil bisque, and the appetizer will be a crab cake! These were also a big hit with the seafood eaters!

Guests will be able to choose between two entrees, a paprika dusted chicken breast with rice and mixed vegetables. The entree is pictured below, we are substituting the wilted brown looking mushroom things for mixed vegetables, the mushrooms were not that good. But the chicken was amazing, very moist and flavorful!


We tasted the grouper and the shrimp/scallop dish for the seafood entree. The grouper was ok, but was served with a very spicey sauce that was a bit too much. The shrimp and scallops, on the other hand, were so good, that we ate all of it before we remembered to take a picture. Ooops...but the shrimp and scallops were huge, and served with garlic mashed potatoes. I think this might be my choice, as long as Jeff promises to give me a taste of his chicken!

And I just HAD to sample all of the cake choices, I mean the cake is a very important menu item right? Well it was all so good, even the almond and I don't even like almond cake. We ultimately decided to do vanilla for one layer, and chocolate for the other two layers. Our cake will be the size of this sample cake:

But that is not quite how our cake will look, the design is top secret until the wedding day! There will also be three different flavors of Creamery ice cream that we still have to decide on.

And we talked linens with the linen lady - that's how I will refer to her because I cannot for the life of me remember her name right now. We are going to have to have navy blue napkins that look like this:


And chair covers and sashes that look like this:


Food tasting was fun! Here is a picture of the happy couple, mid tasting:


After the tasting, we picked out tuxes, got some creamery ice cream, toured around campus, and then we went to Hi Way Pizza for dinner, the rehearsal dinner location. Jeff is very excited that no one has to return tuxes on Sunday - we can leave them at the hotel front desk! The diet starts tomorrow after all the food I ate this weekend. Even though I had tasted food all day and ate lots of cake and ice cream, I inhaled my whole wheat penne with vodka sauce. And then it was time to make the drive home, it all went so fast. A final picture, Jeff and I at Hi Way Pizza:

We are getting excited!!! A little over 4 months until the big day!

Yes slow on the wedding front...

Things may be slow on the wedding front, but Jeff and I managed to both score personal records at the National Half Marathon this past weekend! Jeff ran it in 1 hour 41 minutes 45 seconds and I ran it in 2 hours 19 minutes 31 seconds!!! One day maybe I will be able to keep up with Jeff, not likely though. I did, however, have a rather unfortunate collision with a pothole on Constitution Ave around mile 4. I went down knee first and I am a little banged up. The sports medicine doctor was VERY impressed I ran another 9 miles on the knee, and due to the fluid in the knee told me I now have to take a week of forced rest. And I think its going to leave a mark, good thing my gown is long!!

Below is a picture of my awesome training buddy and wedding guest Sue and I (before my tumble on Constitution Ave).

The History of The Nittany Lion Inn

Not much is happening with the wedding planning at the moment. We've got almost everything planned out. The next big thing is the tasting on April 4th in State College. I taste the Creamery ice cream already... But it's been a little while since we've posted so I thought I'd fill everyone in on the history of the hotel where we are holding the reception.

Here you go:

The opening of The Nittany Lion Inn, in 1931, brought first-class dining and lodging facilities to Penn State and the community of State College. The Georgian colonial-style Inn, nestled comfortably in an oak grove opposite the White Golf Course, enjoyed immediate popularity with campus visitors and nearby residents. It has been host to political icons, entertainers, and other well known figures ranging from Eleanor Roosevelt to presidents Lyndon Johnson and George Bush; from Robert Frost to actors Jack Nicholson and Danny DiVito.

In addition to its worldwide acclaim, its quiet charm and attentive service staff have also made it the “sentimental favorite” of returning alumni for more than half a century. Perhaps President Emeritus Eric Walker described the Inn best when he called it “Penn State’s living room”.

Owned and operated by the University, the Nittany Lion Inn has grown with the Penn State Family. The University enrolled 4,800 students in 1931; today, more than 41, 000 students attend the University Park Campus. Another 40,000 persons come to the campus to participate In Continuing and Distance Education activities. To accommodate this growth the Inn has expanded several times, most recently in 1991, always careful to preserve the homelike warmth and pleasing architecture that have been its hallmarks. The Inn today has 223 guest rooms, a spacious dining room and an informal lounge. It also boasts a health club, gift shop, miniature golf course, numerous private meeting rooms, and one of the largest ballrooms in Central Pennsylvania.

We're Famous!

Well ok, not really. But we did get our picture and a short write up in the Meadville Tribune this past weekend. They have a section for wedding and engagement announcements and my parents sent ours in. Unfortunately the Tribune doesn't have that section online, but I scanned the picture and story in. Here it is:

We were in Meadville last weekend for Cameron's (my nephew) birthday. So we got to see the announcement in the paper. The long drive (5 hours each way) gave us plenty of time to pick out songs that absolutely must be played at the wedding. No, I'm not telling which ones that will ruin the surprise!

Attention Coffee Drinkers!!!

Well I know that myself along with the Gobeilles are very excited about the news that there are now 2 Dunkin Donuts in State College!!! I mean don't get me wrong, I love my skinny vanilla lattes at Starbucks, but I also love a vanilla dunkin donuts coffee and a chocolate donut. Who doesn't??? :)

Here is the article:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/03/18/dunkin_donuts_opens_express_sh.aspx


I will check it out for myself when we go for the food tasting on April 4!

T-Minus 5 months!

The wedding is only five months from today. Almost all of the wedding planning is now done (Gina did most of it so I won't take any of the credit). In about 3 weeks we'll be back in State College to attend a food tasting at the Nittany Lion Inn. The hard part here will be picking which flavors of Creamery ice cream to have for dessert... And of course we'll be having dinner at Hi-Way Pizza!

We'll be updating the blog regularly over the next few months. If you're planning on coming you might want to make your hotel reservations soon. We've heard that quite a few rooms have already been booked.

The Wedding Party Part II

Well Jeff and I decided to give everyone a little background on our wedding party. It was a hard choice, there are so many people that are special to us, but here is how I came to the choice of my three bridesmaids, the flower girls, and our choice of our two readers.

Matron of Honor – Danielle Petroff-Gobeille

There are only so many people that (1) you can show up at the doorstep at midnight with cat in one hand, and cat’s liter box in the other and she takes you in no questions asked, (2) will drive to every bridal store in the Northern Virginia area and know the gown I am going to like before I even tried it on, and (3) will tell it like it is, even if you don’t want to hear it. That’s Danielle! We have been friends since 1996, even though she was the know-it-all in accounting who always did better than me even though she always showed up late. Danielle is someone I can call when I am bored at work, need to do have an “emergency shopping trip to Leesburg,” or need a dinner buddy (and she usually cooks). She won’t let me cook, ever since that unfortunate stove top stuffing incident, apparently DC is not in fact a high altitude area and it doesn’t work when you follow the high altitude recipe. I am so happy Danielle will be a part of the big day! Here is a picture of us at her wedding in 2004.

Bridesmaids – Carrie Mellin and Monica Milner

Well its really hard to talk about Carrie without talking about Monica and vice versa. Even though we have been friends for about 4 years, I feel like I have known them all my life and they have been there with me through the good and the bad! Our mutual love of Disney is what first brought us together. Carrie and I also share a crush on Alex P Keaton, and a love of Bon Jovi music. Monica is my fellow Eagles fan transplant in DC, and we still don't understand why Carrie is a Redskins fan. From eating cheesesticks at Fridays, to drinking Pimms and Sprite at Disney, or champagne in the parking lot of the Fairfax County Courthouse, we always have a blast! Monica has even entrusted us with being co-godmothers of her new son Jack...so we look forward to making him as big of a Disney fan as we all are! Jeff and I met for the first time at Carrie’s Festivus party, had my first “unofficial date” with Jeff at Monica’s superbowl party, and emailed them the day after our first date because I didn’t think it was really a date. Thank you to Jacob and Carrie for having that “Outback” intervention with Jeff. I am so excited that they will be part of our big day, and that I got to ask them to be in the wedding at the same time (thanks to Carrie's webcam)! Below is a pic after the last Stooge Fest, from left to right me, Carrie, and Monica.

Flower girl – Amanda Gobeille

Amanda is Danielle and Art's daughter. I still remember how little Amanda was, when I visited Danielle in the hospital the day after she was born. As far as kids go, she is pretty darn cool! Jeff and I even took on the task of babysitting her for an evening, and much to our relief she was still alive when her parents came to get her. I can’t wait to show her these pictures when she is planning her wedding. I will remind her that it was her “Aunt Gina” who bought got her first item from Tiffany’s. Too bad she does not yet appreciate that blue box, but she will someday despite her dad's protests. And she will be a Peyton Manning fan, I will make sure of it (sorry Art…).

Honorary bridesmaid – Art Gobeille

Amanda has come a long way with her walking skills, but we might not leave anything to chance and her dad might have to walk her down the aisle. Her mom will be a little busy. Even though Art has awful taste in football teams (the Patriots??), he is still a really good friend who I always call at the first signs of home repair issues, and before Jeff, money advice. Though I don’t always like his advice (no lattes, no Coach purses, etc, etc…) I can’t even count on both hands the amount of time he has helped me move, and if he helps once again when I move my stuff to Jeff’s house, I am hoping it will be the last time for a LONG TIME! Below is a picture of Art and I at my 30th birthday party.

Readers

Deanna Bechtel – Deanna is Jeff’s sister and we are so happy she is doing a reading! I am hoping her scrapbooking skills rub off on me at some point, because she makes some really cool stuff! And if the Nittany Lion Inn allowed dogs, we promise Bailey would have made it on the guest list too. I am hoping we can all go see Pat McGee sometime this summer! Below is a picture of Deanna, Marc, Cameron and Jeff.

Michele Vondeak – Michele and I knew each other in college, but didn’t become really good friends until after college. We have a mutual love of the Eagles and all things Philadelphia. The Inn at Little Vondeak is still my favorite hotel in Philadelphia, and Scoop de Ville is still my favorite ice cream place. Michele is always someone I can call up and have a random quick conversation with, and its only about the Eagles half of the time. We are so happy Michele is doing a reading! Below is Michele and I at one of our favorite hangouts, Lincoln Financial Field.

And finally – unfortunately the Nittany Lion Inn and Eisenhower Chapel do not allow pets, but if they did, Winnie would be there. Winnie is my sometimes grumpy, sometimes happy 11 year old cat who now likes Jeff better than me, I am not bitter or anything, I only fed him and cared for him for 11 years, and he is now like “Gina who?” And even though Jeff won’t admit it, this little cat has wormed his way into Jeff’s affections. Winnie will be there in spirit!

The Wedding Party. Part 1

I'll cover the groomsman and the ushers in my part of the wedding party post.

Best Man: Joe Bauer. Joe and I have know each other since we were in 1st grade together at Seton School. We were friends through out high school and then we both attended Penn State. Joe and I were roommates while we were at PSU. Despite that we remained friends. He went on to get his doctorate from the University of Illinois where he met his wife Lisa. Joe and Lisa live outside of Boston and have 3 kids (at least last time I checked. They might have 4 or more now). Joe still makes it back once a year to attend a Penn State football game with me.

Joe and I after high school graduation:


Groomsman: Steve Porter. I met Steve while at Penn State. Joe, Steve, and I shared an apartment for a year. Or at least that was the plan. Steve and I both went on Coops after the Fall semester so the three of us only ended up sharing the apartment for one semester. Steve and I have watched PSU play at almost all of the stadiums in the Big Ten (3 more to go). Steve and his wife Lisa live in Michigan with their 2 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cats (I think I got the number of cats and dogs right, but I might have missed a couple because there are so many).

Steve, Joe, and I at Steve's Wedding:

Groomsman: Jacob Mellin. I met Jacob about 5 years ago when we both played kickball in a division in Reston. Jacob and his wife Carrie live a few miles from us in Burke, VA along with two cats and way too many Disney souvenirs. I don't hold the fact that he is a Clemson fan against him.

Jacob and I sporting the coolest shirt ever the night before his wedding:


Junior Groomsman: Cameron Phelps. Cameron is my nephew. He's also a big Penn State fan (he better be, I've been brainwashing him since he was born). Cameron, Gina, Marc, and I all went to Disney world last summer. Cameron really enjoyed the pin trading while he was there. Marc, Gina, and I financed the pin trading.

Cameron and I at Disney:


Usher: Marc Phelps. Marc is my brother. He currently lives just outside of Key West in Florida. Marc, Gina, and I will all be SCUBA diving in the Keys in June. Marc lives with his dog Dallas even though Dallas really wants to move to Virginia and live with Gina, Winnie, and I.

Marc, Cameron, and I at Disney:


Usher: Anthony Flacco. Anthony is Gina's brother. Even though he lives just outside of Philadelphia for some reason he is a Redskins fan. I think a little part of him dies inside everytime Dan Snyder brings in another flavor or the week free agent.

Gina and Anthony:

Updates - Rehearsal time, booking rooms, food talk

Well all the wedding plans have been set. If you know you are going to the wedding, and haven't already, we STRONGLY encourage you to book your room at the Nittany Lion Inn sooner rather than later. While there are still lots of rooms with double beds for Friday and Saturday night, there are only a limited amount of king rooms left. You don't have to pay anything when you book, just a credit card number to guarantee the reservation.

Also, FYI for wedding party members and readers, we have scheduled the rehearsal for 5-6pm on Friday, August 7. The rehearsal dinner will be at our favorite restaurant in State College, Hi-Way Pizza at 6:30pm.

For those of you arriving in town on Friday evening, we plan to head out somewhere in State College after the rehearsal dinner. Jeff is trying to figure out where. We will keep you all posted. It won't be a late night for me, have to start getting hair and make-up done at 9am, yikes!

Our next big wedding task is the food tasting at the Nittany Lion Inn on April 4.

Here is what we are considering:

We get to choose 3 hors d'ouevres. Jeff wants pigs in a blanket and then we might go with petite chicken kabobs, and petite italian paninis.

For the salad, we are trying to decide between the mixed summer greens and the tomato mozzarella salad (that's what I want but Jeff doesn't like tomatoes).

The appetizer will most like be the signature crab cake.

For the entree we think we be having a chicken dish and a seafood dish, but aren't sure which ones yet. Hopefully the tasting will help with that.

And creamery ice cream is included, along with cake, for dessert. For those of you who haven't had creamery ice cream, its like you have died and gone to ice cream heaven. (Can you tell I like it just a little?)

Any suggestions, let us know! Also, if anyone is a vegetarian, let us know! We will keep you posted. We might be quiet for a while, most of the hard work is done. I can't believe its a little over 5 months away!

The honeymoon is booked!

All the wedding planning is finally done (well mostly) so it was time for me to start booking the honeymoon. We're heading to the Cayman Islands after the wedding. It's a bit of a risk because it's hurricane season, but we'll keep our fingers crossed (and we bought trip insurance).

On the Monday after the wedding we'll be flying (first class) to Grand Cayman via Miami. It cost me (literally) every single American Express Membership Rewards point I had, but you can't beat flying first class for free.

Then we are spending 2 days at the Ritz Carlton in Grand Cayman. The Ritz is right on Seven mile beach. We'll take a couple of days to relax and recuperate on the beach. Then, assuming I can get Gina to leave and my credit card hasn't caught on fire, we're heading to Little Cayman.

Here's a picture of the type of plane we'll be flying over to Little Cayman:



While in Little Cayman we'll be staying at the Little Cayman Beach Resort and SCUBA diving for 6 days. The diving in Little Cayman is supposed to be great so we're really looking forward to it (although Gina is probably looking forward to the Ritz a little more than the diving). We're staying in one of the ocean front rooms. The resort has just been refurnished after getting hit by hurricane Paloma last fall. So it should be very nice.

After a week in Little Cayman we fly back to Grand Cayman for another couple of days at the Ritz Carlton before heading home. It should be a nice mix of relaxing on the beach and SCUBA diving.

How do we get to State College???

A lot of our guests probably have the same question. How in the heck do I get to State College? Here are you answers.

By Air

The airport is actually know as the University Park airport. The airport code is SCE. Northwest, United, and US Air all have daily service to State College. The airport is pretty small so no worries about getting lost. The Nittany Lion Inn offers shuttle service to and from the airport. If you are staying at the NLI and flying into State College there really is no need to rent a car. There are tons of things to do and places to eat within walking distance of the hotel. But if you'd like you can rent a car at the airport.

Flying into the University Park airport can be expensive. It might be cheaper to try flying into (in order of distance from State College) Pittsburgh, Philly, or DC and renting a car for the drive. So make sure to check into those options before booking your flight.

Driving Directions

Just about everyone seems to have a GPS device these days so most of you probably don't need driving directions. But just in case here they are.

From the DC area:

Take I-270N to Fredrick. From there take I-70W to Breezewood, PA. Take the PA turnpike (this costs money) west (toward Pittsburgh). Take exit 146 Bedford (this is the first exit). Follow the signs to I-99 North. Stay on I-99 all the way to State College. You can then take Business 322 (Atherton Street) to the Nittany Lion Inn.

A few things that will save you time and/or money.

1. I-99 now goes all the way to State College. This was just completed this past fall. Most GPS devices don't have this update. They will want you to get off of I-99 around Tyrone and get onto US-220. Don't do this! It's much faster to stay on I-99.
2. You can avoid the PA turnpike if you want. This will save you some money (the tolls just went up recently). In Breezewood take US-30 West. This will eventually hit I-99 (go north on I-99) and it will take you State College. This takes about 10 minutes longer, but will save you some money.
3. If you are leaving from the actual city your GPS and/or Google Maps might suggest you take I-95 to I-83 to 322. I wouldn't go that way. I think it's much faster to take directions above and avoid Baltimore and Harrisburg.
   

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From Pittsburgh

Take I-376 E to US-22 E to I-99 N to State College. Then take Business 322 to the NLI. As noted above in the directions from DC I-99 now goes all the way to State College. If you have a GPS it will probably want you to get off on US-220 around Tyrone. Stay on I-99 N. It will be much faster. Here are the Google directions:


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From Meadville

Take I-79 S to I-80 East. Take exit 123 (Woodland US-322). Take 322 East. I think you can now get onto I-99 N around Port Matilda (I haven't made the drive from Meadville to State College in years). Take I-99 to Business 322 to the NLI. Here are the Google directions:


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From Philly

Well I only made this drive once and I just did what the nice voice of my GPS said to do. So here is the best I can do:



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Relief - we have an officiant!

Well I have to admit - this was touch and go for a little while. For a couple of weeks Jeff and I were in limbo with the Penn State Catholic Center. After waiting weeks for a call back, we found out late last week that a Catholic wedding ceremony at Penn State was not possible. So....back to the drawing board. Because I work for the federal government, where things move at a snail's pace sometimes, I was able to shut the door to my office and call random ministers. It turns out that 99.9% of the ministers in the State College area take vacation the first week of August. Luckily, Jeff and I found the .01% that doesn't. So we have an officiant. He is very nice, graduated PSU in 1979 (when I was just 2 years old). And he is even willing to come up on Friday for a rehearsal. Phew! I am letting out a big sigh of relief. Now on to the fun stuff - food, cake, and flowers! :)

State College Restaurants

Since most of our guests will be coming from out of town, Gina and I thought it would be a good idea to list some restaurants in the area.

Breakfast

• The Nittany Lion Inn servers breakfast in their restaurant. You can't get much easier than that.
• The Waffle Shop - This place is a staple for all Penn State students and Alumni. Prepare for the greatest breakfast you've ever had. They have lots more than just waffles. The fresh squeezed OJ is awesome. There are 3 locations. 364 East College Ave.,1610 West College Ave., and 1229 North Atherton St. In my opinion the best one is the downtown location (364 E. College Ave.). It's walk able from the NLI, but it's about 20 minutes. The North Atherton location is a short drive from the hotel. Oh, one more thing. It is CHEAP.
  
• Perkins - To my family and friends from western PA Perkins is no big deal. But we don't have then in Virginia. The breakfast here is great. Gina suggests you try the cinnamon rolls. The address is 1661 S Atherton St.

Lunch/Dinner

• Baby's Burgers and Shakes - This is a 50's style diner. They have great burgers and shakes (which is probably good since it's in the name). They were actually in a Visa commercial in the 90s because "They don't take American Express." And if you need another reason to try this place out my brother, Marc, worked here while he was attending PSU. The address is 131 S Garner St.
• The Diner - Another Penn State tradition. This the home of the world famous grilled stickey's. The address is 126 W. College Ave.
• The Corner Room - This is another of my favorites in State College. It's traditional American food. If you eat here try to get one of the window booths. You can watch all the people walking up and down College avenue as you eat. Located at the corner of W. College Ave. and S. Allen Street.
• The Deli - Casual American food. It's more than just deli style food. They have an enormous menu which includes quite a few healthy options. 113 Hiester St.
• Hi-Way Pizza - Our favorite place to eat in State College. They have lots of options besides pizza. Gina suggests you try the vodka sauce. 1688 North Atherton St.
• The Tavern - One of State College's more upscale restaurants the Tavern specializes in seafood and steaks. 220 E. College Ave.
• Faccia Luna - Our DC friends will recognize the name. Yes, this is the same chain that you will find in Clarendon and Alexandria. This was actually the second location they opened. It's upscale Italian. 1229 S Atherton St.

Dessert

• The Creamery - No list of places to eat in State College would complete without the Creamery. Stop in here after dinner for the best ice cream you've ever had. But don't eat too much because we'll have Creamery ice cream at the reception! A note for my fellow Penn State Alumni: The Creamery has moved since we graduated. It's up Curtin Rd. towards East Halls from it's old location.

Here's a map with all of the above suggestions.

Save the dates have been sent!

The Save the Dates are in the mail - courtesy of the GAO mail room. So keep a look out for them and let us know if you have any questions. We are getting really excited, its about 6 months away!

Hotel Information

We have a block of rooms at the Nittany Lion Inn for our guests. The rate for the rooms is $135/night. To get the special rate you must book your room by 7/8/09. You can't book the rate over the internet, you will have to call the number below and tell them the reservation code.

Nittany Lion Inn Reservations: 1-800-233-7505
Reservation Identification Number: FLAH09B

There are a number of different room types available. So make sure to request the one you'd like. The chapel is walking distance from the hotel and the reception will also be held in the Nittany Lion Inn. You can easily walk from the NLI to downtown State College and to the rest of the Penn State campus.

There are also a few other options if you'd like to stay elsewhere:

1. Spring Hill Suites State College. Located about 2 miles from the chapel and the reception this is a great option for our guests with Marriott points (you know who you are). Gina and I have stayed here for Penn State football games. It's a very nice and new hotel. A suite here runs about $140/night
   
2. Days Inn State College. The Days Inn is located in the heart of downtown State College. It's a short drive or walk to the chapel and the reception. Rooms are about $115/night.
3. Sleep Inn State College. If you're on a budget this place is a little cheaper, but still fairly nice. It's just a few minutes from campus and downtown State College. Rooms are about $100/night.

There are also a large number of other hotels in State College. I've only listed a few here, but we really suggest you stay at the Nittany Lion Inn. You'll be able to walk to the service and then you won't need to worry about driving after the reception.

Its official!!

We finally got our contract in the mail from the Nittany Lion Inn today, so its all official! Jeff and I are very excited! Once they get the contract back, we get a wedding coordinator. We are heading to Penn State for a food tasting on April 4. The only big unknown is who will be performing the ceremony. We are really hoping to figure that this week.

That's all for now!

Well this has been a very exciting wedding weekend! It started on Friday night when Jeff and I went to the jewelry store after work to check on the sizing of my ring. We decided to just glance at wedding bands to get an idea of what we wanted. Well it just so happens they had a sale...so we had to get them right? It only happens once a year.

Jeff got a platium wedding band that very sharp and has two fine borders along the outside. I got an eternity band....what I have always wanted! It looks very sparkly along side my ring!

And...I GOT A DRESS!!!! So all major wedding purchases have been made. Now we can just sit back and relax. Phew! :)

And we decided this blog needs some pictures.

The Nittany Lion Inn

The lobby of the Nittany Lion Inn:



The room where the cocktail hour will take place:


And the ballroom where the reception will take place (I promise it will all look better when it is decorated!)


That's all for now!

Ceremony Information

The ceremony will be held at Eisenhower Chapel on the Penn State campus. The chapel is on Curtin Road just across the street from the Paterno Library. The chapel is attached to the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.

Time: 2pm.
Address: Intersection of Allen Rd. and Curtain Road, University Park, PA 16802.

Parking: Parking is available in the Nittany Parking deck. If you are staying at the Nittany Lion Inn the chapel is a short (5 minute) walk from the hotel.

Here is a map of campus. The chapel is at E4, the parking deck is at E3, and the Nittany Lion in is at E2.

Directions: Here are walking directions from the parking deck and from the Nittany Lion Inn.

Finally here is a map that shows where the NLI, the parking deck, and the chapel are.

The checks are in the mail...

Since we now officially have the Nittany Lion Inn I signed the contract for the photographer and mailed it back with a deposit. I also dropped the application and deposit for the chapel in the mail today. Let the spending begin!

Our photographer is A. E. Landes Photography. Check out the web page for some of his recent work. Hopefully our pictures turn out that well! They'll eventually be posted to his website for everyone to see.

I'll post later with information about the chapel.

It's official!

Well we officially have a wedding date, time, and location!!!

The wedding ceremony will take place at 2pm at the Eisenhower Chapel, Penn State University.

The wedding reception and cocktail hour will take place just a brief 5 minute walk away at the Nittany Lion Inn, on the campus of Penn State, from 5:00pm-10:00pm!!! The cocktail hour will take place at the Alumni Lounge, and the reception will take place in the Boardroom.

The party will continue afterward at either the bar at the Nittany Lion or a bar close by in downtown State College.

We were able to negotiate a rate of $135/night for double occupancy or $145/night for 3 or more people in a room. Jeff will be posting about other hotels in the area that may be cheaper. We will also be posting information about what to do in State College, for guests who arrive on Friday.

We are very excited!!!!! Save the dates will come out shortly!

Wedding colors!

Well I don't have a dress yet, hopefully I will do that soon, but Jeff and I chose wedding colors!! (Well I did, but once you see what they are, you will know that he didn't actually object.) The colors are navy blue and silver! You can't have a PSU wedding without navy blue right? And of course, there will be lots and lots of pink flowers too (but wedding party members don't worry - no one will actually have to wear pink!). I am very excited to sign the contract and move forward with the planning. We promise, it will be a fun time for all who attend. Start thinking of song requests we can forward along to the DJ. :)

Scouting out venues

On Saturday we made our first (of many I'm sure) wedding related trips to State College. I-99 is finally complete so you can make the drive from DC to State College without ever having to get off a highway. That saves about 15 or 20 minutes each way. We made the trip in under 3 1/2 hours.

The main purpose of this trip was to look at venues for the reception. We also talked to a possible photographer and scoped out the on campus chapel. We looked at The Penn Stater, The Nittany Lion Inn, and Toftrees.

• The Penn Stater - This is a sister property to the Nittany Lion Inn. It's quite a bit newer, but it's not on campus. It's located a couple of miles past Beaver Stadium basically in the middle of nowhere. The space here was nice, but you can tell it's mostly used for conferences. And it shows. Gina really didn't like this. She wants more of a hotel feel. The hotel rooms here are supposed to be nice (but we didn't actually look at any of them).
  
• Toftrees - Toftrees is a golf resort. It's basically a country club that also has hotel rooms. I honestly didn't expect much from this, but I was pleasantly surprised. The space we looked at (it has a nice fancy French name "Le Papillon" which Google tells me means "The Butterfly") was actually very nice. A very open space with an impressive view of the golf course. During nice weather the view is probably pretty awesome. The downside is Le Papillon is right next to the hotel bar. I can see that being kind of annoying. I've also heard the hotel rooms are a bit dated. But we didn't look at them.
  
• The Nittany Lion Inn - This is more or less the nicest hotel in State College. It's located right on campus. Just walking into the lobby we were both really impressed. You can tell right away it's a step up from The Penn Stater and Toftrees. I think we were both pretty much sold as soon as we walked in. The spaces used for cocktail hours and receptions are very nice. The rooms are supposed to be nice too (we didn't see any). Plus you can walk from the NLI to the chapel where the ceremony will be held. You can also walk from the hotel into town or anywhere on campus.
  

Can you tell we decided on the NLI? Well we haven't actually signed a contract yet. We have to wait until Wednesday when the person in charge of contracts and stuff is back from vacation. Then it will be official. Keep your fingers crossed until then.

It was a balmy 6 degrees when we got into town. Not the nicest weather to be walking around in, but we managed...

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

We've finally picked a date and place. We've been all over the map on where to hold the wedding and when. Neither of us wants a long engagement so we decided to try for something this summer.

We looked into holding the wedding here in Northern Virginia, in Philly near Gina's parents, in State College, and even in Meadville. After looking into all of our options and weighing the pros and cons of each we settled on State College. Everything is a little cheaper there so that helps. I, of course, am thrilled with the idea of getting married in State College. It's one of my top two or three favorite places on Earth. I think I have also successfully indoctrinated Gina too.

Everything in NoVA was just outrageously expensive. You'd think with the way the economy is that the hotels and country clubs around here would be begging for business. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

Philly would have been nice because most of Gina's family and friends are there and they wouldn't have had to travel. Prices there were a little more reasonable then in NoVa too. But we couldn't quite settle on a venue.

So that left State College. We both love it there. And we're in town 7 or 8 times a year to go to PSU football games. With a summer wedding the it (hopefully) won't be as hot and humid as Philly or DC.

Neither of us has any family in State College so everyone is going to have to travel for the wedding. That was the big drawback. But the good thing is it's drivable from where the majority of our friends and family are coming from. It's a 3 hour drive from Meadville, 3 1/2 hours from Philly, and 3 1/2 from DC.

Oh, yeah, I forget to mention the actual date. We have August 8th, 2009 penciled in right now. We're waiting on a few things to set that in stone, but it's looking good.

Believe it or not State College was mostly Gina's idea. Of course I didn't exactly try to talk her out of it! I think she fell in love with where we are (hopefully, haven't signed the contract yet) going to hold the reception.