ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS

http://www.pictage.com/794160

Here's the link in case you wanted to look at some pictures of us at Fort Point. It's a wild ride. Enjoy.

Event Code: jalufka

WOO HOO!!!

We got our engagement photos back last night. We'll probably be posting a link soon. Stay tuned.

THINGS TO DO IN THE SOUTHEST OF SOUTH BAYS

Although it may seem like San Martin is in the middle of nowhere, there really are things to do in the area:

The Outlets:

Wine Tasting:

For the Young'ns:

DIRECTIONS TO THE WEDDING SITE

If you're coming to our wedding, it may be helpful to know how to get there. The ceremony will be held on May 15, 2010 at 11:30 AM at the Thompson residence, 221 Highland Ave., San Martin, CA.



View Larger Map

FROM SAN FRANCISCO --

Take 101 S. for 72 miles
Take the San Martin Ave. exit
Turn Right on San Martin
Turn Left on Monterey Road
Turn Right on Highland Ave.
221 Highland Ave. is on the Right just past the sign for Harding Ave.

FROM SAN DIEGO --

Take I-5 North
Take exit 403B Gilroy/Hollister/San Jose onto CA-152 W
Turn left on Pacheco Pass Hwy (CA-152)
Take ramp onto US-101 North toward San Jose/Watsonville/CA-152W
Take the Masten Ave Exit
Turn Left on Masten Ave.
Turn Right on Monterey Hwy.
Turn Left on Highland Ave.
221 Highland Ave. is on the Right just past the sign for Harding Ave.

We'll post directions from other starting points, but just wanted to get something up so everyone has an idea of where they're going.

A BRIEF UPDATE

It's been awhile since an actual "Wedding Update," and I'm sorry to say, this won't be one of those real updates either.

Since the start of the proposal in July we've visited Georgia --



Megan and Mike, the Father-of-the-Bride, posed it up in Savannah, GA --



And got our snaps stalked by bridesmaid Emily, seen here nestled behind Megan's right shoulder.

We've all left the country for South America --



We saw Iguazu Falls in Argentina --



Wandered through Buenos Aires with the coolest future in-laws Mike & Janet --



Saw some jungles --



And met up with Megan's brother Aaron and his wife Rebecca in Montevideo, Uruguay.



Somewhere between the adventures Megan's cousin Kyle stopped in town --



And then we went to Disneyland for a rainy holiday weekend.



We found a store that sold the Mickey Mouse ears that newlyweds on their honeymoon get to wear. Yeah, after trying them on Megan's thrill of wearing them were gone.

Thank you, God.

These photos are only a handful of thousands that I've recently uploaded to Flickr. The account can be found HERE. It was incredibly difficult to choose a small crop to represent each event, so feel free to go through all the photos because really, what's better than photos of someone else's vacations?

So, that was just a brief update of a basically an amazing summer. We are currently working on the invitations and still have the entire ceremony to work out, but it'll happen.

Hope all is well and Happy Holidays!

- Chris + Megan

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

It's been a long time since a new post, and I've been meaning to post an update about our recent trip to South America with Mike + Janet to visit Aaron + Rebecca in Uruguay, and yes that will come but for now I wanted to share this wonderful card we made --


Merry Holidays & Happy Christmas!

Love

Chris + Megan

MEGAN'S RACE DAY!

This isn't wedding related, but I wanted to share it anyway. Yesterday Megan ran the Nike Women's Marathon on behalf of Team in Training to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in San Francisco. I know a lot of you donated to her run to show support, and she did amazing.

Here she approaching the finish line, still full of smiles.

Then she blew by like a flash.

I'm proud of her for doing such and awesome job of running her 13.1 miles and sticking to the training these last few months. I confess that she did skip a day because I prodded her to join me for drinks, so that was my fault. Other than that, she didn't miss a day. (Oh, besides when she was sick. Oops!)

I don't how she was so chipper after waking up at 5AM to get to Union Square and run for almost 4 hours, but she was. That's what makes Megan the best - always so damn chipper!

On the walk back to the car we did notice something a bit odd about her race day running gear --


She had somehow managed to put on two different shoes.

Oh, Megan.

- Chris

CAKE!

Last week we hosted our very own wedding cake tasting shindig.

Megan brought some pictures of cakes she liked that she found online to show our cake lady, Laurie.
And Laurie brought along this lil' guy, a cake. I forgot the specifics on it. White cake with a lemon custard and raspberry preserves?

It had a thin layer of fondant that was sprayed with orange zest. I think. I didn't take notes, just photos.

But I'm pretty sure it was a hit with ladies, especially since that cake will be one of our tiers.

After the main cake we moved onto a variety of other flavors. German chocolate, fudge, white, spice, and swirl.


And a whole mess of toppings to choose from. In the end, we chose three different combinations for our cake. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a surprise. Is it? I'll check with Megan on that one.

After a bit of discussion, Laurie did some drawing --


And came up with this --

So our cake should look roughly something that. Square cake, round cake, repeat until you reach the top.

To end the evening we made our cake, the best kind of them all --

One with sausage, peppers, and cheese.

Thanks ladies for coming over to help with the cake tasting!

- Chris

Lodging

Hey all. Perhaps you've been thinking, thanks for the great wedding info Megan but where am I going to stay during all of these festivities? Or perhaps you're just thinking, I could really care less about someone else's wedding planning. Either way, here are some options for hotels:

This hotel is budget friendly but still very nice and just down the street in Morgan Hill. We have a block of rooms reserved under Thompson/Jalufka for $85 per night for May 13 - May 15 and they will be providing a shuttle service the morning and afternoon of the wedding for guests that stay there. Be sure to book at least 3 weeks prior to our wedding date or you may not get our discounted rate.

If you're looking for something a little more upscale...This is the place for you. Cordevalle may be a bit on the pricey side but it does have the advantage of being literally on the same street as the wedding.

Another good (and inexpensive) choice in Morgan Hill:

We will also be reserving a small block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express. It's a little nicer than the Ramada but also more expensive at $129 per night.

And yet another:

There are several other options around the area in both Morgan Hill and Gilroy but these are our top choices for now.

Jamon

As pointed out by my big bro, I failed to mention that there will also most likely be a Jamon carving station at the Spanish table. It will look something like this:

Sweet!

-Megan

The Food

So we met with the caterer yesterday and I'm getting pretty excited about the ideas she had. At this point we're thinking stations. Probably an Asian station, an Italian station and a Spanish station with paella and tapas ! They actually come out and cook the paella in a 6 ft. pan while everyone is mingling. It should look something like this:

Woohoo! I guess we'll have to wait and see if it all works out.

-Megan

REGISTRY

If you're wondering where we're registered...

Home Depot gift cards would also be greatly appreciated!!

Met with another vendor today...

Today Megan and I met with a potential wedding coordinator. Melissa was pretty awesome and calmed Megan down a great deal on the goings on and planning of the Big Day(tm). We met her at Starbucks in Mountain View, where Megan posed with her ever growing Wedding Preparation Binder. It was all discussions of tents, speeches, food, processional, recessional, and lanterns. Both Megan and Melissa shot down my idea of our respective family crests being carried down the aisle on huge poles by our siblings.

I was just trying to brainstorm, ladies. Got to kill that ceremony time somehow.

We celebrated at the Elephant Bar with Diet Cokes and side salads. You gotta stay in shape for the Big Event to come.

Oh, if anyone has any ideas on what should be going on during the ceremony, leave a comment. So far we have --

1. Say, "I do."

That's about it and that won't be taking 20 minutes.

- Chris

One wedding vendor down, more to follow.

We've made a choice for our wedding photographer, who we oddly enough don't have any pictures of. We met with Randy and Joyce and discussed what we were looking for, and what they did, and decided it was a good fit.

Randy and Joyce photographed our pals Daniel & Mia's wedding awhile back, and we liked what we saw so we gave them a call.

I was sold on their work, especially since they had NO pictures like this --


And nothing as awkward as this --


I don't want to be in a picnic basket or riding a pony in my wedding photos. Oh, also oversized novelty sunglasses are out as well. Sorry guys!

Looking forward to seeing what photographs Randy and Joyce are able to get at the wedding. Should be good.

- Chris

Attempt #1 - Crate & Barrel

To my surprise, one of the more time consuming and difficult aspects of the marriage business is dealing with the registry. Where to register? What to put on it? What do we have? What do we want? What MIGHT we want, someday, in the future, when our future-selves want household items?

Maybe we'd want a slate cheese board?

For living as long as I have lived, I've never had to have an opinion on what my dish style would be. I think Megan and I figured we were this particular style of dishware people.


Friends, could you imagine yourselves coming over and being served wine in Jordan stemware at the Jalufka-Thompson household?


How about drinking a tall glass of lemonade out of a Dylan 17oz highball glass?


Not to mention enjoying a fine meal at our place with our very own Stanton satin silverware set? Does any of these options scream "Chris & Megan?" I think we pretty much decided "yes" for all of the above. We still have a few more stores to visit, a lot more decisions to make.

Next, we have to figure out what sort of kitchen towels and floor mats say "us" the most. It should be a hoot thinking that one through.

- Chris