Scoping Out a Romantic Evening

Sterling Hotel - Sacramento
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

So, I searched for the perfect place for us to go to after the event. I didn't want to just go 'home' after such a wonderful day. I had one major requirement. It must have a bathtub that was two die for. One we could soak away the day and talk about every detail Rob wasn't privy to during the planning phases.

We booked the Sterling Hotel. If you're ever in Sacramento and want one of the most romantic getaways.. this is it. Annie, our good friend recommended it. It was heaven. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Near Mortification!

Here's Dinger!
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

It was a lovely spring day and I went to my recovery meeting and saw my Sponsor. He asked what I was doing the next evening. "Nothing" I said. "Great - would you like to go to a baseball game?"

Yikes.

This is one of those drawbacks of having a straight sponsor. Never did any of my previous ones ask me a question like that. I did go with one to a a fashion show in San Francisco once. That was fun.

To be fair - I actually DO like to go the baseball game (NOT the same as watching it on TV) - so I agreed.

We were driving to the stadium and Greg and Mike were in the front seat talking about the game. I was in the backseat looking out at the afternoon traffic thinking.. Did I bring my sunglasses? Did I bring the sunblock? Did I bring my hat? Check, Check Check. Oh. Did I bring the binocculars? (Those players have great tushes).

I giggled to myself but was brought back to a snapping reality when Greg and Mike started talking about how some lucky fan tonight was going to get to throw out the first pitch. What?

Now, I'm not one to shy a way from a public spotlight. Gosh knows, sometimes I've run over to plug the thing in, so it will illuminate on me brightly - but the thought of being singled out and having to stand on the pitchers mound with all those fans screaming or chomping their hotdogs looking at you... well. Let's just say, I'd rather have my brows trimed by a weedeater.

Thoughts of ballpark fans having beer coming through their nose as they witness the ball lobbing from my hand to a few inches in front me, going.. "Hey! He throws like a girl!" brought back too many memories of true embarassment from little league. Always last to bat, always last picked.. always looked down at by the coach who made a wince when he saw it was my turn to hit .. "maybe you'll get walked?"

But Greg and Mike pointed out it was 5 Millionth Fan Night. Whomever was the 5 Millionth to cross the thresh hold of the gate was going to be bestowed this historic (well historic for Sacramento) honor. Whew. That was close. At least I knew no snide-practical-joke-playing agent of baseball humour would walk up to me thinking.. "let's ask HIM.. he looks like he'd throw like a girl".

As we crossed the parking lot I nearly smudged my nice baseball outfit on the dirty Ford Explorer next to us. We walked across the asphalt and to be completely truthful, I'd completely forgotten our discussion about the 5 millionth and was on to other thoughts.. like.. how awful it would have been to get smudged by that dirty car or.. mmmm HOT DOGS. (Love me some hot dogs.)

I handed my ticket to the agent for scanning and looked upward as I crossed the gate to see what the section was in relation to my ticket but I was being jostled as the Mariachi Band struck up, confetti rained down upon my head and reporters and photographers came running from every direction.

Oh no. Oh my God no. Please say it isn't so. What are the chances anyway of all these thousands of people.. no, it's fair to say MILLIONS of people - could I be destined for the privlege (or punishment?) of being forced to publicly humiliate myself from a pitchers mound.

The world seemed slow motion, and I saw folks running my direction.

Only - to push me out of the way to stick the microphone in the face of the woman behind me - Number 5 Million.

Yes. I was 4,999,999. OH THANK YOU JESUS.

I enjoyed watching her throw the ball. She did a great job. I wassss alittle jealous watching her parade around the field on the back of a Corvette convertible. THATTT I would have liked. And, she didddd get free food, season tickets anddd free round trip tickets to hawaii. But, whateverrr. A pile of gold wouldn't have encouraged me to trade places..

And, after the game began and the Rivercats won, and we gathered our things to leave.. the Jumbo Screen lit up and the Field Announcer asked for the owner of a Ford Explorer to please report to the Information Booth.

It seems he won the dirtiest car in the ballpark contest and was bestowed the honor a free car wash from the local chevron station. Mmmph. I left the ballpark mortification-free. But, someone didnt.

There Had to Be Music...

Mariachi Trio
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

I was putting together Rob's bash.. and of course, there had to be music. I wanted representation from both our cultures (Mexican, I and He, Scottish)

So the guests had both! Mariachi and Bag Piper. Kinda weird combination huh? Well... maybe so are we.

I Didn't REALLY Consider It.. Gosh -- well....

Only for a Moment..
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

So, there's a place for one-stop-shopping when planning a wedding. A Bridal Fair. It never ever occured to me that these things should be called wedding fairs. I went with Kelly and we scoured the place for caterers, florists, locations, limosines, tuxes, videographers, photographers, choreographers, etc.

The cheese factor at these events is quite high. Mostly ladies half my age, with their maids of honor and mothers. Heyyyy. Maybe that's why they call them Bridal Fairs?

But, I figured my money was as good as anyones. Maybe BETTER - since I had so little of it.

So we strolled up the isles with our little bags. Stoping here. Stopping there. Accepting congratulations everywhere. "um. actually. it's a two-groom ceremony. and. um. the other him isn't here because it's a surprise wedding".

I can assure you, here in liberal Kolly-fornia nobody flinched at a two groom ceremony. It actually made us somewhat of a novelty and found people were even more helpful, perhaps. It was the surpise wedding part that created all the hubb-ubb.

So, yes, I explained. Yes. We've been together for over 16 years. So, no - it's NOT likely he'll say no. He better not say no. But, just in case, I started keeping tabs on how much this was going to cost. Because afterall, I'm happy to foot the bill for the biggest day of my life. But, if it turns out he decides this is all so sudden, and he's not sure, or says no, then well - I can present him the bill for his "Birthday Party".

So, like a moth to a flame, like a wolf to the moon, like a bee to a flower.. you get the picture.. I'm all.. OOOOOOO shiney things. Dresses.

DON'T WORRY. It's not a drag wedding. But it was funny to dream for a moment. What would they say if I came down the isle wearing THAT..

well. they probably don't have it my size anyway.

Hmm. A Tux. A Tux.

Our Rings
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

So I had to figure out how to get Rob into a tux, without giving away the idea that there was a wedding coming up.

Thankfully, we have a friend in our circle who works with the Sacramento Opera. I asked him if he would extend to us a faux-invitation to an upcoming opera event. This seemed plausible, and also would throw the scent off any association with his upcoming "Birthday" party.

So, Rob agreed to attend the 'opera event' scheduled three weeks after his party. So, great. Now I just have to find the place to rent em. No biggie.

Hang On To Your Gubenatorial Legacy

Oh. Uh uh. Another Bush? Great idea. NOT.

If nothing else shows how out of touch this monarchy is with the average American citizen, it's even the NOTION that anyone would come forward with that last name and expect to be elected President. Wow.

What would the Jeb inherit? The current Bush's poll numbers? That immense goodwill George has created around the world? Oh.. no. It must be that political capital that, apparently, must be sitting in a bank somewhere because King George hasn't been able to show any of it.

Yes. George II would like to see his brother as the next President of the U.S. To his credit, or political acumen, Governor Bush has been mum on the subject, even though Daddy told Larry King that it was a good idea. Yikes.

Trust us Jeb. Keep what legacy you've created in the state of Florida. The last swan song you'd want to avoid would be, being trounced by Hillary. Better to just wrap up your career, go back to the castle in Texas and call it a career.

Searching.. Searching.. Searching..

Coloma Valley
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

So we were looking for places to have our event. And, we traveled high and low. High, to about 3000 Feet above Coloma. This is a picture of the road as we ascended. It was a beautiful morning in February and the fog was settled on the road ahead.

Unfortunately, the site was somewhat washed out because of the rains. Did I mention we had probably one of the wetest I ever remember. The American River had flooded and there was the wreckage of an RV in the spot we'd in theory have our vows. It seems the rushing river had picked up the RV and brought it down to this otherwise picturesque location. It was a bit rural, and the thought of standing next to the river, in the clay and grass - while postcardish - scratched any notion of formal attire.

Mary please. Tuxes and BBQ. Hardly. So back to the urban landsape of Sacramento. The lows were a lovely basement location, with florescent lighting. Um. No.

So back to the Library Galleria and giving in to the demanding, never-smiling, and hardly pleasant staff - and their demand for extra charges - charges to use the front door, to use the balcony, to breathe..

Oh well.. Oh! And, how WILL I get Rob into a tux at a surprise event? It's not like I can throw it at him just before we depart and say "oh yeah. Your Birthday Party is formal." So, I had to think of how I'd do that. Thank goodness I'm devious.

Ring Shopping with Kelly...

Kelly holding Rob's Ring
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

Well, I had to first ask Kelly, Rob's best friend if she'd be willing to help me surprise Rob and be his Best Person. She said yes of course, that's why we love her. Among her many (and I mean many) duties was to help me find a ring. Rob's a slab-o-metal kind of guy. I am NOT. Therefor I gave up immediately from the beginning on the idea of us having matching rings. He hates diamonds.. i well.. you know. He likes platinum. I'm a glittery gold person. So we spent an afternoon walking through the stores trying on different rings everywhere we went. And, everywhere we went we were greeted with.. CONGRATULATIONS to the two of you. Well. We got tired of explaining - so I think at one point, we just started saying 'thank you'.

Besides, it always turned into a long and lengthy discertation when we tried to explain it was a surprise wedding and why the person for whom the ring was for was not present to pick out his own jewelry.

In the end we found a nice simple band of platinum. Something he would love.

Our good friend, Art, helped us in this area by securing his size. He told Rob he wanted to buy a ring for his boyfriend Mikey. Rob, of course, the ever-gullible said "I'll go with you!" Art got him to try on a ring and immediately reported to me his size and confirmed that his taste leaned towards exactly the ring I had in mind..

But there were many more details to work out.

Before There Were Decorations - There Was A Plan

Before the Decorations.. I had to find a place to hold the surprise.
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

So i decided to check out about a dozen places. There were some over the top locations, but they had over the top prices too. We had a budget to adhere to (although that got blown away, just after selection the location!) Here is a picture of the Tsokopoulos Galleria. It's a 3 story atrium like building in downtown across from Caesar Chavez Park. It's beautiful, and I knew right away that this is where we needed to have it. But.. ah. They are a difficult bunch down there, and charge for EVERYTHING - inlcluding using the FRONT DOOR! Wow. Those folks aren't kidding. But all was well.. and now to get a ring...