Miss Clark County has left the building!

Ah ha ha!  So excited...the gal that I've been trying to get a hold of to do our hair/makeup the day of the wedding called me back!  She was recommended to me by two completely different people close to the wedding venue/area, so needless to say, I have high hopes!  I've been starting to get in the mindset that I was going to have to call on my long dormant pageant powers, my fear being that I didn't necessarily want to look like a pageant queen at my wedding and I was kind of a one trick wonder in that department...but all is well now.  Phew!

Signed, stamped & sealed: I'm a Perfect Failure

Kettlebells. Have you ever heard of these devilish little buggers?  Imagine a black cannon ball with a metal loop at the top that you lift and swing around like a loon. It's a Russian thing. This has become my chosen workout routine with less than 2 months before the wedding and after the 2nd class tonight, I hope that

A. I make it to the wedding!  

B. I don't look like Hulk Hogan ;)

I've never worked more muscles at one time in my life! I reached the status of "perfect failure" in both classes, which means you're literally working until your body says "nope, I ain't doin' anymore damnit".  Apparently in kettlebell class, that's the ultimate goal...a little bit like getting two gold stars in Miss Berger's 2nd grade class.

Despite my innate ability to fail (hee hee) I'm really enjoying the teachers and people attending the class more than anything.  They're all these sweet, huggy, cheerleader types helping everyone along and never demanding that you do more that you can, but expecting you to do your best.  Pretty good deal if you ask me.

*gasp*

I vacuumed! I laundered! I dusted! The dishes are done, the clothes are folded, the trash is taken out, the deck is swept, the flowers are watered, the groceries are bought...who knew?!  

Newly reformed domestic diva?  

Nope, just excited the boy is coming home soon :)

Say Something Nice...or not ;)

I la, la, la, love these sites...found them on kind of a down day and now they always cheer me up!

The Good: http://quicksaysomethingnice.com

The Bad: http://quicksaysomethingmean.com

Depending on your mood, see what pops up for you, rate it or add comments of your own for others!

Seven days down, three to go...

Well, it's been an interesting week, but it's gone pretty well for all I've had going on and being a single parent to boot.  Some highlights to update My Jake on would be...

The good:

- The arrival of a sweet little niece, Abigail Rae, born June 15th

- Rings are in! 

- New recipes with sweet potatoes, zuchinni, and yellow squash

- Wedding updates: new plan, DJ, flowers, guest list, etc

- J.Crew customer service

The bad:

- Lucy, our neighbor puppy, passed away :(

- The untimely demise/mauling of my wedding shoes

- Where Millie's been sleeping on the nights she hasn't decided to destroy things...eee.

- Other wedding updates: Caterer, Dessert & Salon issues

- What's left of Lynyrd Skynyrd rocking tunes in our backyard the night before my show set up

Side note: The Millie puppy is awful whiny tonight...I bet she's saying "It's too hot Mom!" 

Scratch that...her ball was just far enough under the cabinet that her stubby legs couldn't reach it. In that type of situation it must help to be vocal...it also shows how well she has me trained!

Click...

Called Mr. Schloner again about our missing deposit check and got hung up on this time.  

Splendid.

Wrist Words

shirts anatomix guac hue knew go talk text bb world fft art - all trade show lingo.

Update: Wedding Madness

- Occasions Events & Catering Deposit - still MIA 3 weeks later

- J.Crew Wedding shoes - devoured by dog

- Wedding site - out with the old and in with the new (good change!)

- Rental deposit - long gone but evaded cancelation fee

- Florist - went across state lines (good change!)

- Hairstylist - still me as of now...no calls back.

Basically the only things that have stayed the same with this wedding are the handsome guy I'm marrying and my dress...both good things.

"Don't YOU have a phone book? Caterers are a dime a dozen." - Jacob Schloner

Hell hath no fury...I'm sure you can finish the rest.  

After 7 years of dating, My Jake and I are planning an August 1st wedding and as of 8pm last night, we've encountered our first major issue.  All in all, I'd say that 1 glitch, 6 months in and 2 months to go is pretty good, but this situation is one I never saw coming.  Our ex-caterer to be is Jacob Schloner, principal of Occasions Event Planning & Catering of Lakeville, MN.  Not only has he backed out of his own signed, binding contract and a $500 deposit with only 2 months notice, but he has somehow decided to play the card that this is our problem, our fault and has yet to show any remorse or extended any apologies for the inconvenience.  Forget about helping to find us another caterer.  

Here are the facts:

- He's unable to fulfill the obligations of his contract because his brother is suddenly getting married on the same weekend. If that were it and he had come to us to explain the situation (or sent a formal letter and returned our deposit) we would have been disappointed, but understanding...who wants to miss a family member's wedding for work?

- Yesterday (Sunday, May 31st), after receiving a general inquiry email from me on the 28th, he forwards me the email he supposedly sent me on the 8th of May.  I'm not saying he didn't send it, I'm stating I never got it.  Here is what that email said:

I have some unfortunate news. My brother is getting married that weekend of your wedding. I do have a partner that I work with just in case of issues like these. If this is ok I can assure you that everything will be perfect and just how you requested. You will still contact through me, this is just something I had to do as I was double booking events and needed an assistant.

Let me know ASAP if this is going to be an issues, as I mentioned everything will be just as if I was there.

Thanks, 

Jacob

- Really.  What person planning any sort of event would get an email like that and not respond. Cheese and rice...I don't go 2 hours without checking each email account that I have!  

But, that's what he alleges in his follow up email:  

Sara,

Did you not see the email I sent you on May 8th? I have been waiting for your response to this situation and figured that since I had not heard from you in almost a month we were not going forward with the wedding. I have not cashed your check either. I do not know if my partner is available anymore as he has been booking events and it has taken you an exceptionally long time to contact me in regards to any part of the confirmation of your event. I do understand that you are busy people, but like you I have a business to operate. My business relies on response from my clients to provide service to them, unfortunately due to a lack of contact you now have a big problem. I have forwarded the original email from May 8th, it was sent the last day you sent me your last contact previous to this one. I will find out if my partner is booked but I am willing to guess he is.

Jacob

- It only gets better. As you can imagine, I call him in a tizzy because that's what you do when you're canceling your services for someone's wedding that's less than 2 months away...you CALL them. I assure him I never got his email, ask if he's heard from his contact, and in general "What are we going to do?!". The conversation ends with him telling me he'll check again with his friend and will call us back at 10pm Sunday evening. His tone: general indifference.

After speaking with Mr. Schloner, I went down to talk to My Jake who as usual, was the calm one...that is until he read the emails. As he pointed out, even if we had gotten the email on the 8th when he sent it, how would our situation be any different?!  We'd either be getting pushed into using a caterer that we've already decided not to use or be generally cater-less...familiar territory wouldn't you say? 

At that juncture, My Jake felt a stronger point needed to be conveyed that addressed the urgency of the matter since my call was more of a squeaky, knee jerk, stop-the-bleeding sort of call accompanied by some tears. May have gotten the point across but we wanted to be sure we were being very clear as to what our expectations were moving forward. Here's what he wrote:

Jacob, 

This is not a small issue. While we appreciate you contacting XXXXXXXX, it is unfortunate that you assumed the email was read and no response sent. I feel that an issue such as this is important enough that more correspondence should have been sent. This puts us in a very difficult position as (like you mentioned) most caterers are booked at this point. We had already sent a signed, binding contract/deposit and had no reason to believe that everything wasn't going forward as planned. While I completely understand your need to be at your brother's wedding, two (or three) months notice seems very unfair to us. I sincerely hope that you will help us find an alternative option that meets your skill level for a similar cost. We look forward to hearing from you.

- Now, not only did we not get a call at 10pm as promised, but we received no calls or emails for the rest of today. My Jake called Jacob himself after he got home from work to see what the deal was. He was instantly met with defensive, erratic comments and attitude...kind of odd for a guy that just wants to go to his brother's wedding. The read that My Jake got was a basic "What do you expect me to do about it" gist.

Well, let me tell you Jacob Schloner:

- I expect you to hold up your end of the deals you make, whether that means you take one for the team and do it yourself, or you find a suitable replacement that agrees to fulfill your contract and the agreements made down to the last letter.

- I expect you, as a self proclaimed "professional", to act like it.  To have the ability and composure to handle situations like this with integrity, humility and grace.

- I expect you to be empathetic to the situation you've put us in and not to play the victim when it's clearly not your role.

- I expect you to follow up with intense persistence if the plan agreed upon changes drastically due to unforeseen events. One email, because that's all there was, is beyond irresponsible, insufficient and cowardly.

When all is said and done, the whole situation was so out of left field that it's almost laughable...pretty good turnaround from in tears 24 hours ago to reciprocated indifference.  I admit to the very human feelings of bitterness and being betrayed, but writing has always been very theraputic and I feel nearly cured of my original angst.  It also helps to reflect on the quality contacts I was able to drum up in one day (who I can assure you are far from "a dime a dozen") and the people coming out of the woodwork to help us. I'm confident that we'll find an awesome replacement that will knock the socks off our previous choice.  That's usually how things work anyway.  Worst case scenario at this point, the menu will read: You bring the sticks, we'll bring the weenies!

To end this rant, I'm just going to say that nobody's perfect, but some people leave a helluva lot to be desired. Hell hath no fury like a Daughter of Wad scorned.  That is the original ending you know ;)

(Update: 06.18.09 - Checked the carbon copy of the infamous deposit check...had my cell phone number and correct address written on it all along.  Nice.)

Welcome!

Hooray for my first blog entry...only about 10 years behind the curve, but better late than never. Boy, if that's not the credo of my life, I don't know what is :)