I don't know about you, but the first thing I want to see is the pictures. In today's digital world that is a simple matter of sorting through what you want and don't want to show off and post them somewhere. Well of course, simple is subjective... we went through 2300 images provided to us by our wonderful photographer and have picked these few to share. I am certain there will be more, but in the meantime we give you:
And The Forecast Is. . .Breakfast!
So far, the weather outlook is hopeful. We will have tents provided if things get less than ideal. The forecast is still a long way out, though, so be prepared for anything.
We will be watching the weather as eagerly as you will. Feel free to click here or on the link above to get an instant check of the weather. Less than 10 days!
Also, please RSVP for the breakfast ASAP. If you have already RSVPed for the wedding by mail, don't worry. Simply fill out the online RSVP form showing that you are coming to the wedding (invitation number is optional), and the question about the breakfast will appear as soon as you confirm your attendance at our celebration.
We will be watching the weather as eagerly as you will. Feel free to click here or on the link above to get an instant check of the weather. Less than 10 days!
Also, please RSVP for the breakfast ASAP. If you have already RSVPed for the wedding by mail, don't worry. Simply fill out the online RSVP form showing that you are coming to the wedding (invitation number is optional), and the question about the breakfast will appear as soon as you confirm your attendance at our celebration.
Dear Treasured Family, Friends and Guests,
Our wedding countdown is approaching two weeks. As such, we are sending out our final written correspondence, which you, our confirmed guests, should be receiving in your mailboxes shortly. We also wanted to post it online for those of you who prefer getting their communication electronically. Enjoy, and we look forward to seeing you in just over a fortnight!
Dear Treasured Family, Friends and Guests,
Kevin and I are looking forward to seeing you on August 13th. We are sending this note to give you some further direction and clarity regarding our celebration and festivities.
I have included directions to the wedding site, which you may notice is NOT St. Hubert’s Isle. We will be marrying at Golden Beach State Campground. It’s a lovely story that we will be happy to share with you at the wedding. Please plan to arrive at 5:30pm when appetizers will be served. Dinner will follow appetizers and the wedding ceremony will begin at 7:40pm. There are still tent sites available at Golden Beach if you would like to camp. Hotel options in Old Forge are now full, and we have included a few recommendations a bit farther away. Please don’t forget your masquerade mask!
Kevin’s parents, Jeanne and Nader, will be hosting a brunch the morning after the wedding at the Woods Inn. If you have not RSVPed online for this event and are interested in attending please contact Kevin (585-752-4897) as soon as possible or proceed to www.oursunsetmasquerade.net/p/rsvp.html to RSVP online.
See you soon!
Debra and Kevin
Directions:
From Old Forge, NY to the Wedding Site
Take NY-28 North 26.2 miles. The entrance to the campground will be on your left. Follow signs in the park to the beach and day use area and look for the tent.
From Old Forge, NY to the Woods Inn (brunch site)
Take NY-28 North 11 miles. The entrance to the inn will be on your right, one mile past the sign for Inlet.
Hotels:
Best Western, Saranac Lake (1 hour from the wedding site)
148 Lake Flower Avenue, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Phone: (866)539-0036
The Edge Hotel, Lyons Falls NY (1 hour from the wedding site)
3952 New York State Route 12, Lyons Falls, NY 13368
Phone: (315)348-4211
Third Time's The Charm
Short: Golden Beach State Campground, Route 28, Raquette Lake, NY is the guaranteed site for our wedding ceremony and reception. The turn-off for the campground is 4 miles east (along NY-28 N) of the turn-off for the village of Raquette Lake. A mailing will be sent in the coming weeks, which will confirm the driving directions to the campground.
Long: Our previous site, St. Williams on Long Point, had to cancel on us, due to miscommunication between the caretakers of the property and the board of St. Williams on Long Point, Inc. As a result, we took the opportunity to explore the Raquette Lake area further, in the hopes of finding another site for our ceremony. We happened upon Golden Beach, and immediately knew it was a perfect fit for us.
The campground is accessible by car. As a result, we will no longer have a need for transportation by boat. We will be able to have the same amazing view of Raquette Lake, with the water nipping at our toes, all without leaving terra firma.
In addition, we no longer have communal lodging available at St. Williams on Long Point for the night of the wedding. However, as the celebration will be at the campground, those looking for alternative lodging arrangements are more than welcome to visit the campground website, or call (315)354-4230 to reserve any one of the campsites that are available that weekend.
UPDATE: A revised schedule has now been posted!
Bread Baking and Love
For my last term at Caltech, I enrolled in a class numbered IST 004. Its title? Information and Logic. The course webpage can be found here.
For an extra credit assignment, I was asked to respond to the statement: "Everyone has a gift." I knew immediately what I wanted to write about.
My essay was chosen was one for which a follow-up presentation was requested, for additional credit. Since I knew that I was not going to be in attendance for the last week of classes (as graduating seniors at Caltech get the last week of term off, and I had made arrangements to be in Rochester for Debra's graduation ceremony), I decided to make a video presentation, and I'd like to share it with all of you. Enjoy!
My fiancée, Debra, has a gift. Her gift is the art of baking bread. In fact, thinking about it now, her gift started the story that we like to tell most. It’s the essence of what brought us together as a couple. At times, it is what has kept us together. It always puts a smile on my face to tell people our story. Telling people about us allows me to share more of Debra’s gifts and in turn, my own.
Debra and I met on the Island of Misfit Toys. No, really, we met at an educational center in the city of Rochester, New York, where it seemed as though they only employed the slightly eccentric teachers and tutors, such as ourselves. One day, as we were taking a break from tutoring math, Debra began talking about her love of bread baking. I piped into the conversation, saying that I loved bread, too. This resulted in us agreeing that we both had a common carbohydrate, and we should get married. So, we are.
Just kidding. Not about the “getting married” bit. That part is true; after I graduate, we are having a sunset wedding in the Adirondacks. I simply meant that our relationship is about more than just our mutual love of bread. That being said, Debra brought me a loaf of her bread the next day, so that I could try it for myself. It was delicious. I ate the whole thing over the course of my shift. The crust was crisp, yet just slightly flaky and forgiving, and the interior was soft and fluffy. Despite how light and almost creamy it was, it did not dissolve in my mouth, instead providing a fantastic chew that slowly released the pleasing sourness of its preparation. Most importantly, I could taste the flour, the salt, the water, and the yeast. Better yet, I could taste nothing more. It was pure, simple, and delightful. I had to have more.
In continuing my relationship with Debra, I got to watch her make bread. She explained to me what a sourdough starter was, and how it needed to be cared for. When she pulled her starter out of the refrigerator, she would talk to her as she poured the amount she needed into her bread bowl. In return, she would feed her roughly the amount she had borrowed in fresh flour and water. Next, she reached for her salt, an equally valued ingredient. This she would mix into warm water that she knew she could trust, and would add this to her starter, stirring with a fork to wake up the yeast. As bubbles appeared, and the mixture smelled like beer, I watched her thank her starter for her continued servitude.
This is the first of many stages at which she can check the progress of her journey, and indeed, she is always in constant communication with her bread, whether by stirring, talking, poking, prodding, feeling, kneading, weighing, or tapping. Everything has its rhythm and everything has its place, when Debra is baking. She wears her baking shirt, a simple cotton T-shirt with a picture of her son on the front, showing the wear of many sessions of baking, notably adorned with holes and the telltale remains of dried bread dough. But, even in her routine, she is always listening to what she is working with, as if asking her bread what it needs. She is generous with the flour if the day is more humid, and softer with her knead if her starter seems extra lively. Her attentive patience is always rewarded nearly a full day after she begins, with two loaves of fresh sourdough bread, cool enough to the touch to be sliced, lightly dressed with butter, and enjoyed.
“If it can cry, I can feed it.” This is one thing that Debra will probably share about herself within five minutes of meeting you. While this may be fine for babies, this does not bode well for houseplants. Our housecats have also, for better or worse, been on the short end of this saying. Sourdough starters also find themselves on the silent end of the spectrum, however it is through this seemingly unfortunate characteristic of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that I found my own love of bread baking.
Early on in our relationship, Debra entrusted me with the job of diligently feeding her sourdough starter. As she noticed my fascination with her gift begin to grow, she offered to teach me how to bake bread. After much practice and diligence, I had learned the signs of what to look for when baking bread. I could put together 700g of flour, 500g of starter, 250g of water, 15g of salt, and with ten minutes here, eight minutes there, eight hours here, four hours there, and thirty-five minutes at 200 °C, produce two loaves of bread. However, it took even longer for me to really learn how to communicate with the dough, and come to understand it. Through bread baking, I learned how to feel, and I learned how to be flexible with my own routine. But, most importantly, I learned to appreciate Debra for who she is, and the many gifts she has.
When I came back to Caltech in January of this year to finish my bachelor’s degree, Debra made the journey with me. The next day, we stopped at a grocery store, and picked up a packet of organic yeast. We returned to my house, and created a sourdough starter together. Although Debra is back in Rochester, I believe a part of her is still with me in the glass jar in my refrigerator. With the exception of one loaf of bread that we bought together to have while our starter was first maturing, I have not bought a single loaf of bread while I have been here, though I eat at least one slice of bread most every day. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
About once every two weeks, I walk into my kitchen and don my baking apron, a firehouse red canvas apron with white cord that Debra made for me as both a Christmas and going away present (her son received a similar apron made with the leftover material). I pull my starter out of my refrigerator, telling her stories, like how her mother’s name is an anagram for “bread,” as I pour out what I need, and feed her in return. And, as the journey continues through its stages, I reflect on the development of my own gift – Debra’s gift to me, really – and all of the joy that has come with it.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
First and foremost, thank you for your continued patronage to our website. It makes us excited to know that you are all looking forward to our big celebration! Thank you!
Debra and I are both very busy with finishing up school work, so we apologize for not having timed everything perfectly. We are so excited to have gotten our wedding invitations out to you, and we realize that the site is not up-to-date with current information:
- There will be a breakfast on Sunday, August 14th, hosted by Ahmad and Jeanne Monajati at a convenient location to be determined, which will require a separate RSVP. Those of you who have confirmed or will confirm your attendance by mail will be contacted during the month of June to RSVP for this event.
- In addition, for those of you wishing to RSVP electronically, an RSVP page will be added to the website on Sunday, June 5th. It will remain active through Sunday, July 10th. RSVPs for both the wedding and the breakfast will be included on this form.
- A detailed schedule of the weekend will be posted during the day on Sunday, June 5th, as well. Please be on the lookout for that.
Once again, thank you for bearing with us. We look forward to receiving your RSVPs in the coming days and weeks and seeing you in August!
101 Days! The Countdown Begins!
So that everyone may keep track as carefully as we are, I've included this simple counter. Please check your mailboxes, as formal invitations will be arriving in the next couple of weeks!
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