The Bold Soul™

No sooner met...

No sooner met but they looked;
No sooner looked but they loved;
No sooner loved but they sighed;
No sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason;
No sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy;
And in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage...

-- William Shakespeare, As You Like It

One year ago tonight, Georges and I were celebrating our wedding with our friends and family here in Paris. Today, we spent the afternoon at the Musée Rodin, strolling the gardens with the Little Guy and introducing him to Le Penseur, among other wonderful Rodin works. And at the end of our visit, we treated ourselves to a poster of The Kiss, which I plan to have framed and hung over our bed. What better way to remember that first amazing day we met, and that first amazing look... sigh... and kiss... that led us to this point?

The pix are here!

By the way, I finally got around to setting up a complete Flickr group with our wedding pix. Still adding the ones from the recent Paris party, but you can go take a peek here to see what's already available, then check back at a future date for any new additions.

Bloggers L-O-V-E champagne!

I am so fortunate to have made such good friends here in Paris over the past couple of years. Many of my new friends initially crossed my path because of blogging, and I was happy that many of them were able to come to the party. Meet Kyliemac (left) and Katia (center) of the Katia and KylieMac Podcast, and Samantha, formerly of Bretagne but now a recent transplant to Paris and writing a private blog. Also present but not pictured: Aimee "Put Your Flare On/L'Oisive Thé" and Linda "Frenchless in France", who (along with their husbands) did everything from taking photos and washing glasses to serving champagne to our other guests and taking out trash to the poubelle. Last but not least, a phone call from the absent (yet never far from our hearts) Mikelino "Frog with a Blog" made the evening complete for me.

I think the French should start claiming that champagne is the latest "beauty secret" of French women, because seriously... could the four of us possibly look more beautiful? And we owe it all to the champagne.

Pure Joy

I don't normally take photos of my bathtub, but...

... this was too perfect. After this photo was taken, we also added bottles of beer, a few bottles of wine, and assorted soft drinks and bottled water. And it all fit.

Recap

Highlights of our weekend festivities (and no, I'm not talking about the Paris Teckno parade yesterday):

• Six out of town guests staying with us which made 11 residents in the house for the weekend
• At least 60+ guests of all ages starting age 17 months and going up to maybe 70-ish
• 5 enormous bags of ice, delivered and placed in the bathtub, followed by...
• 5 cases of champagne, beer, white wine, soft drinks and bottled water, all in the bathtub
• Guests actually going into the bathroom all night long just to gawk at the bathtub full of booze, some wishing they could swim in it (if not for the sub-zero temperature)... photo to follow here
• More food than I've ever seen at any house party, and Georges gets all the credit for putting together a delicious menu
• Beautiful flowers
• Lovely, thoughtful gifts from some guests
• Americans hanging out in the kitchen as we often do at parties
• Wonderful phone call from dear friend who couldn't join us
• Cheap child labor from our neighbor's 10-year old daughter who asked to walk around serving food
• All the yummy maki gone within minutes after delivery and serving
• A chocolate cake to die for, thanks to Aimee (I'm eating the last piece as I write this)
• A really good mix of French and Anglos, and everyone commenting how much they liked meeting all the interesting people
• Dancing!
• The Big, Big, Big Bowl of Bon-Bons. 'Nuff said.
• Drank about 40 bottles of champagne between last night and at lunch this afternoon. That leaves 20 for another party (?)
• About 4 champagne glasses broken which really was not bad at all. And that's 4 less I have to find a place to store them later. Still haven't washed them all... saving that for tomorrow.
• A sister-in-law who woke up early and did at least 80% of the cleanup before anyone else got out of bed. HOW MUCH DO I LOVE HER!!!! (Bisous, "V"!)
• Alfresco lunch in the courtyard today with some of our house guests, soaking up a few rays, finishing up some leftovers.
• And... I did pretty well in speaking with our French guests. Much better than I had expected. Maybe the champagne helped my French brain cells kick in?

What a great weekend it was, celebrating our marriage en France. Happy, if albeit sleepy, smiling faces all around.

Beam us up, Scotty

One of the really cool things about our wedding was that we were able to transmit live video of the entire ceremony to Georges' oldest son and his girlfriend, who were back here in Paris (we tried the same thing for his sister and the Little Guy who were in St. Raphael, but technical difficulties got in the way -- at least we also video-taped the entire thing, including the Petit Concert later in the evening!)

We felt sad that all three kids couldn't be with us in person, but this was the next best thing, and apparently they were able to see and hear us pretty well! Here, Georges is just saying goodbye before disconnecting (note the brand new jewelry, third finger, left hand).

BFF

Me and my OTHER soul mate... my best friend for over 22 years, Wendy. This is the first time in about 15 years we got a really nice picture of the two of us together. I'm going to frame it for posterity... we ain't gettin' any younger, babe!

Cry-baby

Yesterday, after showing Georges one of our wedding photos that I was using as a screensaver:

"Look, don't these two people look familiar?"

"Oh, yes... and look how he is looking at her. You can't see all of her face but look at HIS face, the look in his eyes. She must be a very beautiful lady."

...

[Hands over eyes. Tears streaming down face. Unable to speak.]

He does this to me all the time. I never thought I'd be happy to be in love with a man who makes me cry. But with Georges, it's the way he makes me cry that is part of why I love him so much.

Since you asked

A few of you have written to me privately to ask which B&B we stayed at following our wedding in NJ, so I thought I'd just go ahead and post the information here for all the wonderful folks who helped us create our very special wedding, along with links to their web sites.

First, our minister -- also my good friend, my former coach, long time former client, author of four books and an absolutely AMAZING coach and speaker -- Laura Berman Fortgang. You can learn more about her services as Reverend Laura, or if you'd like to find out more about her books, coaching and speaking, check out this site instead. I can't imagine that our wedding would have been anywhere near as lovely, had she not been there to officiate and to help us custom-design our ceremony. And she speaks very good, French, too!

The bouquet and some of the other flowers were provided by Greenway Flowers in Hackettstown, New Jersey. They stayed well within my very small budget and although the bouquet ended up being a bit larger than I'd anticipated, it was so beautiful (and didn't cost more than they'd originally quoted) that how could I quibble?

Our caterer was Country Picnic of Bedmister, New Jersey, and Sally was our point person there. The two servers they sent over were a very creative mother-daughter team (whose names I have now forgotten, sadly) who set up very attractive displays for everything. Even though I found out after the fact that one of the desserts had accidentally not been loaded on the van (not the fault of the servers), they made a phone call and someone brought them over, so no harm done (and they were delicious, too -- these mini stuffed cupcakes, which we ordered along with a brownie platter in lieu of doing a whole tiered wedding cake). The guests RAVED about the food, too. We bought our champagne, wine and beer ourselves, but the caterer supplied extra tables and chairs, all the linens, champagne glasses, and everything we needed. They really can do it all, no matter what size event, too -- they recently catered a local congressman's daughter's wedding.

And finally, our lovely little bed & breakfast in Ocean Grove, the Sea Spray Inn, where we spent our wedding night and another night after before returning to "reality". We stayed in the Venetian room which was just as pretty as described (several others were very tempting as well), and had a bed so comfortable and fluffy you could just sink into it. The live-in owners, Nancy and Tom Garson, just went out of their way to welcome us and make us feel special (they clearly love honeymooners -- we discovered chilled champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries in our room on arrival! And were they responsible for the huge oceanfront fireworks display we saw on arrival, or was that just an amazing coincidence?) The included breakfast was excellent as well. We would most definitely stay there again if the opportunity arose, and if you happen to decide to stay there yourselves, please tell them that Lisa and Georges in Paris say "Bonjour!" One note: I don't think they are a year-round inn and I'm not even sure they're open 7 days a week, but check the web site for their schedule.

So there you have it... with our heartfelt thanks, these are the people or businesses we want to acknowledge for helping us create our perfect little wedding. If you get the opportunity to work with any of them, we give them two thumbs' up!

Snippets

If you had been a fly on the wall at our wedding ceremony, (and c'mon, you know you wish you were), here's a little of what you'd have witnessed that day:

"We are here today because two people listened to their callings. Lisa listened to her heart and beat the odds to make a move to Paris, a dream come true. Georges had more of an open heart than he thought, and was called to follow it to love's doorstep."
.....

"Although Georges' sons were not able to make the journey to join us today, the roses that his daughter is holding symbolize their presence here in our hearts (and they are watching via web-cam!) Georges and Lisa also honor those they love who are no longer with us, but who are no less a part of what makes this day possible. Here we have a vase with seven roses in it, representing each of these special people we want to remember today [names read aloud]. There is no doubt that they would relish in the joy we all feel today."
.....

"Lisa, here are some things that Georges has said about his love for you."

• J'aime Lisa parce que j'ai à la fois choisi de l'aimer et parce que je ne peux pa faire autrement.
• Je l'aime parce que c'est mon destin. I have chosen to love Lisa, but also I am simply accepting the love flowing between us. This is a choice I thought I wouldn't have anymore before meeting her.
• Lisa is a whole person. She is a wonder. I am ready to be at my best for her. I am full of her.
• She loves my children, she just simply loves them.
• She is bold.
• Everything is simple with her, my darling Lisa.

"And Georges, this is what Lisa says to me about you."

• From the first time Georges and I were face-to-face, there was an immediate feeling of connection and recognition for both of us... our relationship began from nothing and out of nowhere, and it rapidly turned into the single most important relationship I've ever had in my life. It was exciting, it was comforting, it was sexy, it was safe, it was romantic, and it was effortless every step of the way.
• First and foremost, Georges has shown me that ruly unconditional love and acceptance is not only possible in a romantic relationship, it's easy when it's with the right person. And it's as easy to GIVE unconditional love as it is to RECEIVE it. I never knew that, before Georges.
• He believes greater things are possible for me than I can sometimes believe for myself. He is my biggest cheerleader and coach in everything I do.
• I love how he loves his three children, and I find myself with an opportunity I didn't know I wanted until it fell into my lap: the chance to love and interact with three amazing children.
• Why do I love Georges? There IS no 'why', our love just IS.

.....

"I now ask Lisa and Georges: do you come here of your own free will to be united in marriage, promising your love, faithfulness and friendship for as long as you both shall live? Je demande maintenant à Lisa et à Georges: venez-vous ici de votre propre volonté our être unis en mariage, vous promettant ainsi amour, fidélité et amitié pour toute votre vie?"

"I do. Oui."
.....

"I, Georges, as your husband, promise to care for you, trust your love, be responsive to your needs, communicate my feelings and behave in a way that shows my love and respect. I say these things because I love you and want to live out the days of my life with you."

"Moi, Lisa, en tant que ta femme, je promets de prendre soin de toi, d'avoir confiance en ton amour, d'être a l'écoute de tes besoins, de te communiquer mes sentiments et de te montrer mon amour et mon respect à travers mon comportement. Je dis ceci parce que je t'aime et que je veux vivre avec toi le restant de mes jours."
.....

"With this ring, I thee wed. Avec cette alliance, je t'épouse."
.....

"You have spoken the words and performed the rites that unite your lives. I do hereby, in accordance with your beliefs and the laws of this state, declare your marriage to be valid and binding, and I now declare you, Georges and Lisa, husband and wife. Vous avez dit les mots et accompli les gestes qu unissent vos vies. Je déclare maintenant, en accord avec vos croyances et les lois de cet Etat, que votre mariage est valide, et je vous déclare maintenant, Goerges et Lisa, mari et femme."

...

And finally... enfin...

A kiss. Un baiser.

First married breakfast

The morning after, at our B&B in Ocean Grove, NJ. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast on the porch, with a view of both a small lake and the ocean. And with the company of the inn's mascot!

Moments in time

Since more photos have been requested, more photos you get!

Reverend Laura reading our own words back to us: she had asked us each to write, in secret, something about what we each love about the other person... something I knew would make us both emotional when she read them at the ceremony. By the way, doesn't the mantle look lovely? Thanks to my little sister!

Georges wiping his brow in relief after she got done reading what he'd written about me (which was simply wonderful). Next it was my turn. At least she didn't ask us to read our own words aloud... THAT would have been more than either of us could have managed without breaking down completely.

Saying our vows to one another.

Sealed with a kiss!

Smoke gets in your eyes

Our first dance as husband and wife.

Exchanges

His vows...

Her vows...

And the bride needed cue cards to say her vows en français. But they were no less sincerely spoken.