"Like a graveyard...

But before Canadian stories, new Zipcar:
· 200? Toyota Prius — If it looks like a small car, sounds like a small car, it is one, regardless of hybridness. The car had a very strange shifting method, where I had to hold the shifter into the selection and then release. There was also a separate button to put it in park. The rear view glass was hard to see through and annoying to use. And I found the idling creep a little slow to engage. But it handled well, and it had OK acceleration. The killer-app was the incredible cheapness ($8/hr on a weekend!) and being at the right place (Herald Square) at the right time (when Erin and I had tons of shopping we didn't want to lug on the train).

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So far in Toronto:
* Public workers' strike means overflowing garbage cans and no more ferries to the Toronto Islands, which I wanted to go see.
* Erin and I had a great time at the CN Tower and Steam Whistle Brewery. At the latter, I ate a pellet of hops, which was a most interesting experience.
* We also did a lot more transit use today than yesterday.
* Speaking of yesterday, we had a pleasant and uneventful trip to YYZ from JFK, and then both of us took mass transit to nearly our hotel and walked a long distance to the hotel. Now we use the streetcars instead of walking.
* Both of our feet have been having a tricky time with the significantly higher workload.

And, believe it or not, we have been trying to relax, too!

First off, the new Zipcars:
· 2008 Honda Civic — The cockpit looks like a spaceship! It's surprisingly roomy inside with a nice amount of acceleration and handling. I didn't have it for long or use it for much, so I cannot really comment on it too much.
· 2008 BMW 328i — So much fun! From the push-button start to the three different shifting modes (Drive, Sport Drive, clutchless manual), this car was all about a good time. The inline 6 rode smoothly and powerfully and erin_trying and I had a great time opening it up once or twice. Being a 3-series, the backseat was a little small, but the trunk is surprisingly large for such a small car. The only problem I had with it was the steering was a little tight at low speeds, making it slightly harder to park. As a geek, I really appreciated the MPG meter right below the tachometer.

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See the other cars I've driven.

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On to the important stuff: This weekend, Erin and I got married again! This time with family and friends!

Thursday I randomly ran into my dad as well as my cousin and his wife down in the Village and had dinner with them and Erin. Well, not entirely random, as my cousin and his wife were in town for the wedding.

On Friday, Erin and I took off from work. We brought some final stuff to the venue in Queens as well as bought the wine. Then we returned to Brooklyn and picked up my brothers for help set up the venue. We got there at 3pm and nearly finished by 6pm. We all returned to Brooklyn yet again for dinner with my dad's family, with even more people from out of town!

Saturday, very early in the morning, I took the train to lower Manhattan to pick up the aforementioned Beamer and drive it back to Brooklyn. I took the Brooklyn Bridge and bought flowers and bread and way too many breadsticks on the way back home. After a short while at home, Erin and I took off with the really truly final load of stuff for the venue. We were a little late, so Alex and Kitri were already there, ready and willing to help out.

After some setup, Erin and I took off for some last minute supplies (coffee things, balloons and an emergency undershirt for me) and came back to some small emergencies. While the cupcakes arrived on time and in perfect shape, the Fairway order had gone slightly awry. The lasagna had been completely sloshed about, the wrong salad was delivered, and an entire entree was missing! Our servers from Barnard Bartending Agency were able to rescue the lasagna before guests arrived, while Fairway was able to redeliver the correct salad, the missing chicken, and a "we're sorry" cookie plate along with a 10% discount. So yeah, I'd still use them again. I heard rosefox may have had something to do with all that, but I was in the car, so I'm not too sure about what exactly happened.

During some of the Drama above, I got dressed, then picked up malaul and Erin for them to do the same. Then I schmoozed with the now-arrived guests while they got ready. Sometime in there, Rose gave me her very cute paperclip cufflinks to replace the ones I left at home.

Shortly after the ladies returned to the venue, we did the ceremony (again). Afterwards, Erin and I returned to the car to enjoy some alone time and A/C. (The venue forgot to turn it on, initially, so it was still rather warm in there throughout the entire gathering.) We came back, and used a text message to cue Rose (our lovely DJ) to start some big band song I'd only ever heard less than 24 hours prior, but it was sweet and true. Dinner was served according to flower color (my idea, thank you very much!).

All the while, everything moved very smoothly, and for that I have to thank the Barnard girls as well as the powerful solution finders of Rose and Faelan. Erin and I schmoozed primarily with our friends and family, rather than our new in-laws, but that seems rather natural to me.

After dinner came cake and after cake came the last dance. We hired the Barnard girls for an additional hour to help break down, but they were done in less than a half-hour! Perishables were loaded into my car (never I have I ever taken so quickly to such possessive language with a Zipcar), gifts loaded into my father's car, and everything else loaded into Erin's parents' van. Erin and I stuck around to make sure the breakdown went successfully and to pay our delightful servers.

Erin and I returned to Brooklyn to drop off said perishables, and it is during that time that any liberties that may or may not have been taken with the car happened. We dropped off the car at its home in lower Manhattan and walked to the hotel.

Picture this: Young couple in semi-formal wear, lady with a veil, gentleman with a vase and a bouquet of roses. The couple checks into a fancy hotel, just across the street from the WTC site. The person at the desk takes a break from checking them in to go into a back office. Moments later she returns with her (presumed) manager who asks, "You two got married today?" The couple responds affirmatively, and he replies, "Well, I just got you an upgrade I think you'll be very happy with."

We went up to the 52^nd floor and found some lovely fireworks over the East River visible outside the window in the elevator lobby. After a little bit of watching, we headed over to our room. I should say "headed over to our massive suite with 1½ bathrooms, jacuzzi tub, king bed, and views to the North, East, and West". We were so invigorated (and hungry) that we ran out to a diner and came back to sleep a peaceful sleep — after all the planning and the stress, we were done.

Got up the next morning, ogled the view some more and wend out for brunch. Came back, checked out and went home on the subway. Did dishes and laundry and then Erin went out for a massive massage while I chilled with my dad's family for one last evening.

Truly a successful weekend, don't you think?

I love old-style lettering on glass and marble (note the gold leaf in the bigger versions of the photos!):



And although I did finally buy my suit (and shoes!) for the wedding, I don't have any photos of that. But I do have this photo for you:

We have a date, time, location, and even joint email address: ErinPeterNYC@gmail.com

Details will follow eventually.

Erin and I found this store in Chelsea on the way to see 'The Dark Knight'. They're interesting, but if the image caught it you will notice two things: the word 'Lego' has been carefully sanded off, and the necklaces cost $120.

The Dark Knight was excellent, by the way. It was everything Batman should be: extremely dark, full of action, moral, and this Joker was so very disturbed and disturbing. But as Erin and I were some of the last people on the planet to see the movie, you all probably knew this already. If you also haven't seen it, fix that.

I've been freaking out about the wedding stuff lately. Part of it is that I have no idea what to do, or more importantly, what is expected of me. And to that latter point, I'm convinced I'll screw it up. To this end Erin is bothered that I don't trust her to remember the things I forget. But it's not that I don't trust her to remember them, it's that I can't trust anyone to remember all of the things I forget. I'm very forgetful, you see.