30 Years and 1 Day

Well 30 came and went and I am looking forward to a new decade. I loved my twenties. There was defiantly sadness but the good outweighs the bad.

I didn't want to do anything to crazy, considering my wedding was a month ago and it was Thanksgiving weekend. Friday night I went out with my sister and a few friends. Last night (my actual birthday) I went to dinner with Anthony, my Mom and Bruno. We went to a favorite restaurant of mine Cafe Matisse. Of coarse it was phenomenal. It was strange though being out with my HUSBAND and my Mom and Bruno. Anthony gave me a "WIFE" card and a Target gift card. I adore target!

These upcoming weeks are going to definately be crazy. Between the holidays, work and house stuff. We have to pack up Hoboken during all of this too. The house is going to be completed within the next 10 weeks. I have been getting ideas for furniature and decorating. I am not going to do all at once. I want to take my time.

SOOO MUCH!!

Ok so its been a month since my last post BUT I seriously have not had a minute to get to this so here is a quick recap of the month past!

Well Anthony and I are married. It was a whirlwind event that went off with out any problems We had the time of our lives, and rumer has it our guests did too. My photographer actually told me it was more like a party than a wedding and thats just what we wanted. AFter the wedding we had an open bar for our guests with 200 White Castle Chesseburgers and ALL 200 went! AMAZING

We left for our honeymoon on 10/26 and what a trip it was. South Africa changed us forever. It was a dream vacation and we wouldn't have changed and aspect of it for the world! We stayd at 5 different places and each one was better than the next.

http://www.fourrosemead.com/

http://www.birkenheadhouse.com/

http://www.laresidence.co.za/

http://www.pezula.com/

http://www.lionsands.com/lodges/ivory.php

Four Rosemead was in Cape Town and we had a blast there, 3 nights in Cape Town was more than enough. The waterfront is beautiful and the seafood everywhere was YUMMY! All the food all over SA is fresh and extremely good.

When we walked into Birkenhead House, located in Hermannus I literally pinched myself, this was a place that you could only dream of. It is situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean where you can literally whale watched from the deck or your room. Our site had 360 degree views, from ocean to mountain we had it all. There was a fully stocked bar in our room (which was included) and aged cognac, great cigars and the breakfast, lunch and dinner was 5 star.

On our journey to Franschook (wine country) I fell in love. This is a place was where I belong. The rolling vineyards, the people, just the whole scene was unforgettable. Here is where Nelson Mandela was let out of prison in 1990. LA Residence was too nice, this is where Sir Elton John stays when her performs in SA. (we stayed in his suite) The wines there were superb and the Fairview Wine estate was our favorite, they make the Goats do Rome wine that I love!

Our next stop was Knysna, where the "worlds best oysters" are and I agree!! We stayed in Pezula and I wish I could've stole the sheets they had on the bed there, it was heavenly! Here is where I had the BEST spa treatment of my life, Anthony had a massage and he said it was the best too. You have to go to understand what we mean!

Last but no least was the SAFARI!! We stayed at Lion Sands in their exclusive Ivory Lodge. We felt like the Lion King came alive. We stayed on the Sabi River and has 2 game drives a day. WE saw everything!! Lions, Leopards, Impala, Rhino (NooseHorrrn if your Dutch), Hyena, Hippo, tons of birds, my favorite was the Lilac Breasted Roller, Elephant, Giraffe, Mongoose, Nyala, Bush Buck you name it!

We have over 1000 pictures that we look at daily. I think we left a little piece of our hearts there are we will have to go back one day to get them.

New Addition

Nope not to the house but to our Family. My Uncle Pete and his wife Lisa welcomed Baby Mia Cerruto to the family on 10/14. I had the chance to meet her yesterday and I was so happy! She is truly a bundle of JOY!!

My uncle is the same age as me so this little one is more like a Nice to me. I am so looking forward to watching her grow I can't believe that she's here. I feel like Lisa was pregnant forever!!

More casa pictures

I went to Cresskill today to pick up our marriage licence but it wasn't ready. So I went by my house to see how the progress was going. My niece Amanda and I walked over and took some shots . ENJOY

Progress

So as you can see by the picture we have made HUGE progress with our house. I cannot believe that just months from now we will actually be living there. I love the entire area. I am sooooo looking forward to everything especially decorating for the holidays. We are totally going to be that crazy family with the most decorations on the block , a la Grizzwald! The top Right is our bedroom, under that is the living room, and that area in the middle is totally open.

Bella

I am saddened to report that Anthony's' family dog Bella had to be put to sleep today. Bella was an 8 year old Rottweiler who was the sweetest girl around. She had cancer and my in laws did all they could to make sure she was at peace. My wonderful father i nlaw even makes special pasta for all the dogs in the family. Anthony brought Bella home as a puppy and I feel so sad for him. These past few weeks have sucked big time in terms of "bad" news.

When I first saw Anthony's picture on Match.com Bella was in the picture with him and I knew the second I saw that picture that Ant was a sweet, kind and caring soul. It is at times like this where we know deep down our "pets" are part of our family thru and thru. They may not speak but they love us unconditionally and heal us in ways that words cannot.

We have 2 dogs Gomez who is 14 and Ozzie who is 10 months today. Gomez was given to me on my 16Th birthday and to this day he is the best gift I ever got. I am extremely attached to my Gomez, he is a part of my childhood and part of my memories of my father. He was there for me at times where I needed someone. I know one day Gomez will not be here either but I know my dad will have another pal in heaven.

I definately am looking forward to growing older with my 3 boys, Ant, Gome, and Ozzie.

Four Weeks

Four weeks from today is my wedding.


Four weeks from today I will be a Mrs.


For weeks from today I become WE.


Four weeks from today a Del Preore becomes an Iavarone.


Four weeks from today new traditions begin.

Four weeks from today our families formally become in laws.

Four weeks from today 200 people will celebrate mine and Anthony's love.

Four weeks from today we will Say I DO!!

Four weeks from today daddy's little girl becomes a wife.

Four weeks from today a new journey in my life begins, so lets go to the beginning.


33 Years ago today Arthur Lewis Del Preore married Stephanie Cerruto. Yup those are my parents. They got married 9/27/75 at the Chandiler in Belleville, NJ. My Mom was 19, Daddy was 28. Talk about robbing the cradle!! My father was the handsomest groom and my mother at her young 19 years looked so happy! He was my and my sisters first love and I know he is so happy that Anthony and I found each other.
My parents as crazy as they were set me up to know what true love is and what it takes to keep a family strong and together. Even though my Dad is no longer here in person he live through all of us everyday.

Happy 33rd Mom and Dad.

Why I Loathe Landscaping and House Cleaning

Here is an exterior before picture of the house. Once finished there will be a second floor. Everything is going to be completely different from what is there now. This is just to give an idea of what we are working with. I just cant wait for it to be done and have party's and holidays. A backyard, and all the fun that comes to owning a house.

I am NOT looking forward to Shoveling and Landscaping or any manual labor that I used to do when I was growing up in 07039. When I was younger I was the landscaper, gutter cleaner and shoveler. I was on way way to a career at John Deere. My dad was sick so he couldn't do it. I hated it at the time but I would do it all over again if I could with some restrictions. I laugh at it all now but my father would instruct me on mowing lawns and blowing leaves at 12. He even once had me try to mow the lawn to look like a baseball field. My mother told me that "it's the medicine talking". The second he saw a snowflake salt had to be put down and once a year I had to climb a ladder with rubber gloves on and clean the gutters(my mother has pictures).

Now to my mothers crazy antics. I hate cleaning, I would rather drink bleach than clean like my mother does. She would start cleaning the house @ 6:30 am. In normal households you wake up to the aroma of fresh coffee, not on Falcon Road. NOPE it was either Pine Sol or Bleach (unless of coarse my Grandmother decided to make Tuna). She would be washing the floor so hard that she would swing our bedroom door open and start to wash the woodwork in our bedroom (my sister and I shard a room). One time she made us wash the ceiling in the basement, YES the ceiling. I got more pine up my nose that time that I still have a headache. Oh, and to this day if you ever go to my mothers house, look before you pee, if you don't your private area may get splashed pine sol or bleach.

To do...

So, I have finally come to the conclusion the "To Do" lists never end. They're infinite. We have things "To Do" no matter what. I have so much "To Do" that I don't even know what I have to do. Does that make sense?

My mind does not stop. Its actually funny, I go from thinking that I need my prescription for Malaria Pills to having to drop off dry cleaning to having to get dog food to having to get my stash waxed within a nanosecond.

Not many big wedding "To Do's" now its all the little stuff. Whoever said "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" never planned a wedding, honeymoon, built a house, had a job and tried to have a social life!

I mostly have payments for limos, flowers, and band left. Print Programs Mail Rehearsal Dinner Invites, buy Groomsmen Gifts, Parent Gifts, Alcohol for Rehearsal Diner, meet with band (will probably never happen, thank god for the phone).

Oh and then comes the Honeymoon "To Do"

WHAT THE HELL TO PACK FOR SOUTH AFRICA.

There is no way that we are going to be able to bring 44lbs of Luggage each. We need clothes ranging from "cocktail" nice to Croc Hunter Safari Gear. We need long sleeve, short sleeve, sneakers, sandals, a fleece, hats, nothing too dark or too bright, socks, underwear, bathing suits, 2 dressy outfits , and the toiletries. AHHH What a Spectrum. I am not going overboard, its just that we aren't "AVERAGE" size people so I am a wee bit nervous on this luggage restriction.

Then house "To Do", not even gonna go there yet!

First Post!!

Ok, I never thought I would start a blog, but I did and I never thought I would meet my future husband on Match.com, but I did!


So, 37 days until our wedding, 39 days until South Africa and Groundbreaking on our future house NOW! We are moving to Cresskill, NJ where Anthony was born and raised ( about 8 houses from his parents). I could not ask for more. I am so excited and overwhelmed about all that we are doing. Who would have thought that time would have flown this fast. Am I really gonna be a wife and 30 by the end of November?

The POD (storage unit) is getting delivered on Friday so we can store ALL of the AMAZING shower gifts I got and some furniture.

On another note RSVP's are due bye the 25th. I know there is a week left BUT I have no patience!!