Last weekend was full of events. Family events and related to our wedding.

We went up to Derby on Friday night. On Saturday I had a meeting with the dress people for the alterations. I must say I’m still in love with the dress, although I wonder how I will deal with the heat and the toilet .

Then Russ and I went shopping. He needed some shoes for the wedding and some cufflinks, I needed lipstick and a suit for my interview. I realised I had nothing good to wear for an interview, only jeans . So Russ didn’t buy anything and complained all the time, I bought the suit but didn’t have time to find a shirt.

In the evening we met Russ parents at the wedding party of one of Russ’s cousins, Kate. She was beautiful! And everybody kept saying we were next and we started getting nervous. I don’t think until then we realised how close it is.

Anyway everybody was wonderful as usual. We partied all night, talked, I was introduced to a few more dozens of uncles, aunties and cousins and I really felt at home. I really can’t describe it. They are fantastic!

And we saw little Noah! As cute as ever!

On Sunday I prepared a bit more for my interview and in the afternoon we went to a birthday BBQ of one of Russ’s aunties -Hazel. Again fantastic and the trifle auntie Chris did was to die for!

Monday we went shopping again. I bought lots of shirts (you’ve got to love Primark) and Russ bought some trousers. He got the cufflinks in the end but we are still looking for the perfect shoes. I also bought a pair of comfy white shoes to swap when the party at out wedding starts

Tuesday we went to see the registrar. We settled a few things and we already have a provisional Order of Service. He was really nice and helpful!

We then went out for a meal at a fantastic (and cheap) French restaurant and then rushed to meet Tracey at our venue. Again we went throught all the procedure, the menu, the chair covers, lots and lots of small details! I am hopping that Russ will update the info page on our wedding blog. We now know better what is going to happen and at what time

We came home after this amazing but exhausting weekend and  only had time to get a good night sleep before the interview on Wednesday. It went really well but there are so many candidates that there is every chance one is better than me . At least I am happy with my performance

Talvez tenha deixado de ser parva. De respeitar quem nao me respeita, de desculpar o que nao tem desculpa, de esperar o que nao existe e de me desiludir.

Chamem-me ma, digam que mudei, que a culpa e disto ou daquilo. Para mim e tudo muito simples: contem com aquilo que me dao. Cansei-me.

A expressao olho por olho, dente por dente tambem se aplica as coisas boas.

Translation

Different? Maybe…

Maybe I just stopped being stupid. Stopped respecting who doesn’t respect me, excusing what has no excuse, and expecting what will not come and be disappointed.

Call me mean, say I’ve changed and try to find reasons for it. For me it’s all very simple: Count on what you give me. I had enough.

The expression and eye for an eye can be applied to good things as well.

So the first few days we were in Portugal were spent looking for the engagement ring. We decided we would buy it there because it’s cheaper and the quality is better.

It was quite a task! It is not easy to find a diamond ring for my tiny hands and fingers. One of the people we spoke to even said that there are not engagement rings for children for sale yet! The problem isn’t even the size. That can be changed in a day or two. The problem is that it needs to be in a very specific shape in order to look good on my hands. And for that it couldn’t be the traditional model, which has a very high base for the diamond. It needed to be a very low cut with the diamond very close to the ring itself.

We saw a ring like that. We fell in love with it. We both loved it. It was even the exact size, no changes needed. But it was very expensive because the quality of the diamond was very high (it comes with a certificate) and the model was modern. We went back to see it several times and we started to give up on finding something else. We’ve seen dozen and dozens of rings, none of them looked good.

We finally decided that it had to be that one. It’s a one off thing. We’re only supposed to buy one and spending that much money it has to be perfect. But we had to transfer money from our savings account and wait for it. We are now completely broke but happy It’s so shinny and sparkly!

It’s all been very exciting in the last couple of days, so not much time to write anything…

Russ and I are still engaged . We haven’t made any plans because there isn’t much we can do before we go on holiday. We plan to buy a ring in Portugal (cheaper and better) and then we’ll see. It seems like we have to start thinking about booking a place quite soon as they all get booked years in advance. It may mean we’ll get married on a week day.

Other than that we ordered 2 books on weddings as I have no idea how things work in England and, lets face it, neither does Russ. So we can’t do much before they arrive as well.

Russ suggested I added a new category just for the wedding plans and stuff which I will do

Other updates will follow

Russ and I are engaged.

To be married next summer.

P.S.-No one asked, we both agreed and I’m not insane (I think)