Tag Archives: marriage

My Daughter is Married!

Jessica Bride

My daughter Jessica married her High School sweetheart Matthew yesterday at Mount Madonna Park near Gilroy. The bride was lovely, the groom was handsome, and the 125 gusts had a delightful time. Jessica wore my first wedding dress (ivory raw silk) with a river pearl necklace from her Grandmother and me.  Matt wore a tuxedo with white vest and tie. The mothers read two poems:

Before, during, and after the ceremony, there were hundreds of formal photos. Then, everyone ate food and cake and was happy and  silly…  The couple will live for their first year in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania while where Jessica will be a 5th Year Scholar at CMU.  Jessica was graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with honors in Ethics, History & Public policy (that’s one major). She will finish her minor in Music and focus on her Arabic during the coming year. Matt just was graduated from William & Mary with honors in Computer Science and Public Policy.

Jessica and Matthew . Jessica and Matthew

IMG_7406

Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson

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All things are ready, if our minds be so

My daughter Jessica’s wedding is in three days. 125 people are joining us in a lovely State Park on Saturday to celebrate the happy union under the redwoods. I am sure there is much which we have forgotten or neglected or mislaid but I trust in King Henry V: “All things are ready, if our minds be so.”

The Holmes and Dickinson families got together on Sunday for a pre-wedding pizza dinner, check-in, and games night. We played Munchkin – a fun game based on Dungeons and Dragons with silly cards such as

  • Curse! Duck of Doom (“You should know better than to pick up a duck in a dungeon”)
  • Swiss Army Polearm
  • Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment
  • Nasty-Tasting Sports Drink
  • Pantyhose of Giant Strength
  • Squidzilla (a monster)

We first played Munchkin when we visited Jessica last year in Qatar. Several of her professors at CMU-Q were addicted to the game.

Holmes Dickinson Game Night . Munchkin card game

Paul and Matt went together to get their hair cuts earlier this week (supervised by Jessica).  The soon-to-be-brothers-in-law look very handsome.  Last night, Jessica and Matt and I went to Costco to buy two shopping carts-full of wine, beer, champagne, sodas, and bottled water for the wedding reception.  Jessica has given us a written timeline (15 minute intervals) for The Day Before the Wedding and The Wedding Day.  I do not expect everything will go as planned but all will be well at the end.

Wedding Shopping at Costco Jessica Matthew . Wedding Shopping at Costco Jessica Matthew

Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson

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Spiderweb Lunch in Los Gatos

Los Gatos spiderweb . Los Gatos spiderweb

The town of Los Gatos is full of cat pictures and puns. Many local businesses’ names refer to the mascot of the town (Los Gatos means “the cats” in Spanish). The original cats were the indigenous cougars. We live in San Jose but have been in Los Gatos frequently of late, visiting the talented Sumi’s Tailoring (for my daughter’s wedding dress), and eating lunch at the excellent California Cafe in the Old Town shopping area.

Waiting for lunch last week, I noticed a quiet neighbor: a spider had strung her web across the fence next to my chair. Spiderwebs are tricky to photograph. I was lucky to be there when the light was glinting from the delicate strands. Near the restaurant, we walked by a vintage car which had been parked under its cover long enough to have its rear tire become a trellis for a flowering weed.

tire flowers

Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson

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Ladies’ Wedding Tea

Jessica's Wedding Tea

My daughter Jessica is getting married next week. We are mostly ready for the big event (125 guests). Yesterday, she and I went back to the tailor’s for another sash fitting, bought her two party dresses, and went to the florist. John and Paul went to the grocery store and the bakery.  Sinead (the Maid of Honor) and Jessica baked cookies when we got back.

Last night, we held the Ladies’ Tea for the senior women in Jessica’s life to celebrate. The gentlemen of the family were invited to go elsewhere.  The younger ladies are getting together for a bachelorette party next week.  All of the guests brought their favorite treats. We had cakes and cucumber sandwiches and rosemary bread and cornbread (with honey) and tarts and biscotti and lavender ice tea and hot teas and wine. The table decorations were the wishes tree, wedding favors, and love poems with ribbons to be given out at next week’s big event. My favorite was the almond cake with marzipan frosting in the shape of a gift box with a big bow (from Flower Flour bakery and florist here in Willow Glen, San Jose CA).

Tonight, the families of the Bride and Groom meeting for dinner and board games at our house – to check in and make final plans.  We usually play Settlers or Hearts.

Jessica's Wedding Tea . Jessica's Wedding Tea

Jessica's Wedding Tea
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson

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Why I Blog

ZapCar . Burning Man Car

Right now, someone is particularly angry at me for not communicating through the means she prefers. She wrote me an email saying that she wants letters on paper and will read email but thinks blogs are impersonal and not worth her time.

So, why write blogs?

  • I work two jobs (for TechWomen and Huawei), each of which is interesting and worthwhile
  • I love a distractingly wonderful husband, two remarkable kids in college, two dogs, a cat, and two birds, each of whom would like and deserves more of my attention
  • Our daughter is getting married in six weeks, with over a hundred guests
  • I am working with my brothers to advise and support two interesting parents (both over 80) whose health is failing
  • I am on several volunteer Boards and I teach a group of twenty adorable kids three hours a week in an after-school program, all of whom have justified expectations of my time and nurturing
  • I have plants that expected better when they came into my garden, and weeds that are much happier than they should be
  • I have a stack of well-written and highly-recommended books that leak guilt at me when I look in their direction

I am over-committed and over-scheduled doing work I love and do well.  When my daughter went to college, she made a wise decision. She could either try to keep in touch with her large circle of friends and relations individually, and do nothing else. Or, she could blog and hope that her admirers would follow her news in a less-direct but more complete way.

Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)

When I don’t blog, I find that I drop out of touch and actually spend more time communicating to worse effect. I love writing and taking pictures and I think sharing what I see with my readers benefits both. I am frequently contacted by interesting people who ask to use one of my pictures or want to continue a discussion started on my blog.  For example, I was on the local TV news last week because of my blog entries last year about FEMA.  I have included recent pictures of strange local cars and old metal signs for you today – just for fun! Publishing here makes me consider more deeply and starts many of my conversations with my family and friends in the middle of current experience, instead of spending half of each meeting catching each other up.

Orchard Supply Hardware old sign . Western Hotel old sign

Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson

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Happy 59th!

Wade and Eleanor Dickinson

My parents will celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary this Sunday. My father recently had a bad fall and has been in the hospital – we are thankful that he got back home today.  Happy day folks!

Wade and Eleanor Dickinson . Wade and Eleanor Dickinson 1951

Images Copyright 1951-2011 by Katy Dickinson

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Wedding Shopping

Bride and Maid of Honor

We went shopping on Sunday for wedding party outfits.  The Mother of the Groom, the Bride, the Maid of Honor, and I went to the Valley Fair mall Macy’s and Nordstrom’s. This post is partly to celebrate the girl fun we had and partly to publish the colors we picked (teal, hot pink, white, black) so that the rest of the wedding party can coordinate if that is their desire.

Bride, Mother of the Bride, Mother of the Groom

Mother of the Bride Colors

Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson

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