SF Engagement Party

San Francisco friends pull out all the stops

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends here in San Francisco, many of whom joined us last weekend to celebrate our engagement. Within moment of getting engaged several of our friends started planning a celebration for us which means a lot. Any they really pulled out all the stops.

The party was held at the home of our friends Dan (photo on right) and Kristin Glunt. Dan has a special place in our heart as we met on the volleyball team Dan put together. Of course, he doesn't get credit for setting us up, but he is the reason we met. I met Dan years ago at a Democratic Fundraiser (for those of you who know Dan will recognize how ironic that statement is) and Eric has been friends with Dan through St. Mary's for years.

Wendy (on right), naturally, provided her catering expertise and folks got a preview how how yummy things will be on April 21st. She got a lot of help from another gourmet in the group, Shannon Ross (center), a friend of ours through St. Mary's. Also helping in the food category was my dear friend from high school, Carrie Smith (not pictured - probably because she was chasing around her very cute 5-year-old daughter, Mikayla - a flower girl - all night). Our friend Darcy Wallace (left) was a huge help getting the house decked out. So fun!

Michael Legrand, Eric's brother and best man, was also one of the hosts and did an excellent job with the beverages. Everyone was really impressed by his selection with the wine (he did go to Davis, so one The party was a sort of a "Meet the Falkers" moment as we were blessed by a quick visit by Eric's parents, Ron and Diana. They hadn't had a chance to meet my family yet, and several members of my biological and bonus family were able to join us for the festivities, including my brother, Jamie Tucker (on left), my "bonus mom", Laura Wittenberg, as well as Augie and Krissy (and Addie - another flower girl) Wittenberg who flew out from Colorado just for the party. Quite an honor.

Lots of other friends came out, but like the Academy Awards, I just don't have time to thank everyone individually. Just know, we're really blessed to consider you all our friends. We look forward to celebrating with our non-SF friends and family in April (getting close!).

Blog Welcome

Hi all! Welcome to our little wedding blog. We are anticipating several folks who will be coming from out-of-town, so much of this site will be dedicated to providing you with all the information you need about the wedding logistics, lodging, and other activities you can do while in town.

Several of you may only know one of us, so if you're interested in learning more about our spouse-to-be, our families, friends, and more, we'll also be sharing lots of information here.

We'll also probably use this site as a place to chronicle the adventures we have throughout this fun period of our lives (this may be more for our own posterity sake, but if you can't find anything amusing on YouTube, enjoy these entries).

Please do post comments on the site with questions or suggestions you have you think we should include. You can always email Eric or Julie directly as well.

New Year's Party 2006

Hi All - For those of you who are regular readers, thought we'd share with you some pics from our first official soiree. We had a nice time seeing Eric's family down in Costa Mesa over Christmas, although it was bittersweet as Adrienne was still in the ICU due to complications from her most recent surgery, so much of our visit was up at the hospital in Hollywood. But I'm glad we could at least all be together. Hopefully she'll be released this week and we will be back down there this weekend and with luck we can have a nice celebration.

Our New Year's Eve was a bit more traditional. Eric and I prepared an 8-course meal for our friends. We ended up with 10 guests (plus one dog), and since Eric did most of the heavy-lifting in the kitchen and we were so well organized, it was fun and relaxing for both of us as well as our guests. Eric and I had a blast cooking together - another thing we have in common. Everything was homemade, from the ravioli to the sherbet and it all turned out pretty yummy if you ask me. What was even better is I was so exhausted the next day that Eric ended up doing all the dishes (I'm so lucky!)

New Year’s Eve 2006

Dinner Menu

Hors D’oeuvres
wine pairing: various bubbly

Santa Cruz Artichoke Soup
wine pairing: White Burgundy (unoaked Chardonnay)

Tuna & Red Onion Salad
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

wine pairing: Sangiovese

Blueberry Sherbet

Rack of Lamb with Spinach and Pignolas

Mixed Salad with Beets, Kumquat, Fennel and Chervil

wine pairing: Syrah

Assorted sweets and cheeses and nuts, and dates

wine pairing: Austrian Eiswein

Wedding FAQ's

Answers to the frequently asked questions we're getting

What to wear?
Eric is wearing a snazzy Ralph Lauren tux and I'm wearing a long white dress. It's an afternoon wedding, so other than the wedding party black tie is not necessarily (but if you have a tux, feel free to dust it off), but everything else is game as far as I'm concerned. I think general wedding attire should be fine: most of the ladies will wear sassy springtime cocktail dresses and men will have a jacket and tie. But if you want to pull out your old kilt or other sequin gown, or other entertaining outfit, by all means. Whatever makes you comfortable.

Are kids welcome to the ceremony?
One more thing about the sitter situation - someone asked me about having them at ceremony. I think it would be great to see them there (so I get to see them all). We will definitely have a couple the sitters on call at the church to play with them in case an hour long ceremony gets too long for their attention spans. Please contact Laura (info below) if you need help with sitters during the reception as soon as possible. Again, while I'd love to have them all, we're far over capacity for the hall, so there's just no space for them to sit.


Are kids welcome to the reception?

I've had a few questions about kids being invited to the wedding. While we would love to be able to extend invitations to all our favorite little munchkins, unfortunately we are seriously be bursting at the seems at the reception hall (I think we'll be more than 20 people over capacity), so unfortunately we just can't cram in any more bodies, so only children who are in the wedding will be able to join us for the festivities :( I hope you all understand the dilemma.

The good news is you get a fun night out on your own and Laura has graciously arranged for her 17-year old, very responsible niece and her friends to help out with the baby sitting. Please contact her if you would like help in securing a sitter and if you have specific needs. I think most people are staying at the Cow Hollow Inn, so we would probably have 2 to 4 kids per sitter in various rooms at the hotel. We'll also have some helpers at the church and the reception hall to keep kids in the wedding occupied (and then bring them back to the hotel on the shuttle if they reach their limit before you do). Please email Laura or give her a call if you have questions 925-254-6768 (mailto://wittenberg@comcast.net/)

We're not sure how many girls we can get, so if you do want help with sitters, please contact Laura as soon as possible and let her know if you have special needs.

What type of ceremony are you having?
The whole 9-yards. It's a full mass with Eucharist. Catholics and Episcopalians will feel comfortable, but for those of you who aren't, this involves standing, sitting, kneeling, reading and lots of singing (and we expect everyone to sing). Father Jason says it should take about an hour. We'll also have some fun surprises that we hope will keep you entertained.

Where are you registered?
While your presence is gift enough for us, people keep asking where we're registered. Eric's the king of the kitchen so it's pretty fun shopping with him. All our registry items are at Bloomingdales and Target. For those of you who don't have a Bloomies near you sorry for the inconvenience - unfortunately Macy's didn't have the china pattern we wanted. Everything is available online these days. I always hate to pay retail, so here are some ways around paying full price
* I just got an email from Bloomies with a 10% off coupon for people you purchase registry items online. BWCFTAF.
* Our china pattern is Haviland Amaryllis, which is readily available a lots of online discounters such as upscale gallery , paris jeweler, and I'm sure several others. FYI, we didn't register for the full setting (we don't really need a dozen more tea cups and saucers), rather we selected separate items: dinner plate, dessert plate, and soup cup, and a few chargers (for smaller parties). Plus the pickle dish and a large platter.

What's for dinner? And who's the caterer?
Wendy, of course. If she can cater her own wedding, pulling off brides maid duty and preparing your meal, will be a piece of cake. And while Eric's no longer at Niman Ranch, we hopefully will get some yummy meat anyhow. Of course, we'll have a great wine selection.

Will there be cake?
Yes. Ron really wanted some - and we found a delicious one.

Where are you going on your honeymoon?
When we first started dating we both said we wanted to visit Southeast Asia and we decided top on that list was Malaysia and Singapore. We leave Monday afternoon and will take an 19 hour flight to Singapore and then to Kuala Lumpur (named the most affordable big city in the world) for 3 nights. Then we'll head over to the Tioman Island in the on the east coast of Malaysia, which apparently is where they filmed the Bali Hai portion of South Pacific. We'll be staying at the island's fanciest resort, Berjaya Tioman Beach Resort, which is still quite affordable. After 3 nights in paradise, we'll head back to civilization and spend 3 nights in Singapore with Eric's cousin, Jason and Misha.

Wedding Travel & Hotel Info

We're all set for April 21st, 2007 in San Francisco. We've finally picked a set of hotel options we think will satisfy everyone.

OFFICIALLY RECOMMENDED HOTELS
Cow Hollow Motor Inn
Doubles - $91 / night (parking included)
2190 Lombard Street (at Steiner)
415-921-5800
www.cowhollowmotorinn.com
This is a nice motor inn just 3 blocks from the Church. The rooms are quite large, and clean and nice, and the staff is very nice and professional. You are close to tons of shops and restaurants and it's a great option. There are also some Suites available for families who want to spread out. It's not super fancy, but it's definitely nice, and an awesome price and super convenient for weekend activities! (Shuttle buses will take you back here after the wedding).

NOTE: you will need to call to book these rooms, as the $91 rate is no longer available online

While there are plenty of rooms available, we've also reserved a block of rooms there under "Tucker-Legrand Wedding". The hotel has a 2-night minimum on weekends, but they're waiving that minimum for us. For those of you who are local, you might want to use these rooms. If you do have any problem booking the room, please email me and let me know (julie@smartsco.com).

Laurel Inn
$169 - 199 / night on group rate (parking $15 / night)
444 Presidio Ave (@ California)
800-552-8735 or 415-567-8467
www.thelaurelinn.com
For those of you who want more of a stylish weekend, the Laurel Inn is situated in the Laurel Heights district. It's a 5 - 10 minute drive or cabride from both the church and the reception site as well as near some luxurious boutiques and restaurants in Presidio / Laurel / Pac Heights district. The rooms are modern and clean and a cool bar "G-Bar" is there in the lobby.
Note: we will be blocking about 10 rooms for the group rate (which I believe is about $20 less than the regular rate) by Christmas. You should book these as soon as possible. They will released any that have not been booked about 6 weeks before the event.

HOUSE RENTALS
Families may want to consider this option. There's a great site with lots of great homes available to rent by the day or week. http://www.vrbo.com/


LUXURY OPTIONS- Nob Hill
For those of you who are looking to treat yourselves to high end vacation and have the true San Francisco experience, we highly recommend some of the historic hotels on Nob Hill.

• Huntington Hotel and Spa - Rooms start at $350. There's a really nice spa there and they offer varous spa and "romance" packages.
  Tel: 415-474-5400
• Mark Hopkins - The "Top of the Mark" is where all the soldiers heading to the Pacific would meet their sweethearts. A historic and lovely Intercontinental hotel and they just had a renovation, so all the rooms should be pretty nice. Rooms start at $259.
  Tel: 415 392 3434
• Fairmont. Another important piece of California history, the Fairmont was the first major building to finish after the 1906 earthquake. But don't worry, they also had a recent rennovation. Lots of restaurants the the full "luxury hotel" experience. If you don't want to splurge on staying there, it's always a fun place to grab a drink. I think the rates begin around $350.
  Tel: 415-772-5000

If none of those recommendations float your boat, there was a great little piece on staying in San Francisco in the New York Times, that's an interesting read, and if you're not into the group hotel thing, some interesting hotel suggestions. San Francisco is filled with charming boutique hotels, most of which are managed by either Kimpton Group or Joi de Vivre Hotels. You really can't go wrong with either, and we'll definitely have a great group option for those of you who want to be in a hotel with the rest of the friends and family, which is always fun.

Please let us know what type of activities you might be interested in us arranging for: VIP wine tastings in Sonoma, bay cruises, golf outings, restaurant suggestions.

There's lots of info at the SF Convention and Visitor's Bureau site.

Check back here for more details.

Holiday Greetings

Hello Friends & Family. We hope the 2006 holidays are treating you well. We have been very busy, so apologies for not getting a nice letter into our holiday cards. Not only did we move in November which was quite an adventure (but we're now happily settled in), but we've had several other big changes in our lives. First of all, Eric's job at Niman Ranch was eliminated with the new management. This was truly a blessing and he's quite excited about new opportunities where his skills and experience can be put to better use. While I'll certainly miss the employee discount on the yummy meat, it's probably good for our cholesteral levels not to be eating so much of it. (And don't worry, he left on good terms with everyone, so we should still be able to get a good deal on meat for the wedding).

While Eric's thrilled about the opportunities for his future career, there was an even more important reason that he needed to move on. Most of you have heard about Eric's sister Adrienne. She is a very dear person to the entire family and anyone who has met her is very blessed. I had asked her to be the maid of honor (along with Wendy) in the wedding. Unfortunately, as many of you know, Adrienne has a very rare genetic disorder called NF2. This disorder basically disrupts her tumor suppressing gene, and she has many non-cancerous tumors on her nervous system. While they tumors are non-cancerous, they continue to grow. Until this past Spring, Adrienne was in quite good shape (she did lose her hearing a few years ago and had balance issues). However, the past few months the tumors on her spine have been growing quite rapidly not only reducing her mobility dramatically, but causing her a horrific amount of pain one can't even imagine. She has had several surgeries (including one last week), but these tumors are very difficult to remove without destroying the nerves. We pray every day that the doctors can treat these tumors and heal her pain. She had some major respiratory issues as a result from the last surgery, but it sounds like she's finally coming out of the critical phase, and the plan is to begin radiation in three to four weeks.

But the blessing of all this, is that Eric has had a lot of time this past month to go help out his parents when they really need it. He's been spending quite a bit of time down in Orange County working on the books for his parent's company (and being the math geek that he is, is having quite a blast doing it). So it really has been a wonderful thing that he has the opportunity to help out his family and the opportunity to find the perfect professional home for him.

As for me, I'm just trying to get my life all organized. SmartsCo is continuing to put out new products and we're about to have some exciting news which will involve some positive changes that will provide more stability in my life. More news on that soon.

With all the wedding planning and life changes, we haven't had much opportunity for adventurous trips or anything. We have been able to spend lots of time with family and I've really getting to know the extended Legrand family better. Eric's brother, Michael, has been working a lot in SF, so he's been a good proxy for Eric while he's home. I also was able to fly out to St. Louis to after Thanksgiving for my "bonus mom", Laura's birthday. As always, it was a delight to see Heidi & Chris, Augie & Krissy, and Wendy and Shawn, but even more precious little nieces and nephews - Denise, Marie, Anna, Jonathan, and Addie - they keep getting more and more fun as they get older, which is a suprise. We had a rockin' party dancing until the wee hours (at least 9:30 if not 10:00 pm!). We also got a chance to pick out flower girl dresses for the wedding which as a blast! (Have I mentioned there are 8 of them and 3 boys? - I'm told it's the British way.)

I'm not sure how the time got away and it's already time for Christmas, but here we are. I'm off to join Eric in the OC tomorrow. We're praying that Adrienne will be strong enough to come home from the hospital for Christmas. We look forward to seeing you in 2007.

Love,
Julie (& Eric)

Our Wedding Party

Friends, Family, and lots of kids

I know when I go to weddings I'm cursious about who's involved in the wedding and how the bride and groom are related to each person. Here's a preview of some of the people who are in the wedding.

Best Man - Michael Legrand
Eric's younger brother. While they're quite different (Michael is all about football, Eric's more into ballet and gourmet stuff), they have a lot of fun together (especially on the ski slopes), and he really makes me laugh all the time. I look forward to his speech. (Michael's in photo above on right with Julie's brother, Jamie).

Stand-in Father of the Bride - Jamie Tucker My brother Jamie will be walking me down the aisle and standing in for my father (Jim Tucker) who passed away in 1997. I'm sure he'll make my father proud.



Mother and Father of the Groom - Ron & Diana Legrand You can't really ask for nicer in-laws and I'm so lucky to have been welcomed into their family. They are so supportive in helping us pull off this wedding - it means so much to us. They are an excellent example of what makes a happy and healthy marriage.


Maid of Honor - Adrienne Legrand
Eric's dear sister. We're praying that Adrienne will be strong enough to join us for the wedding as she's such an important person in Eric's and now my life. However, her NF2 has really been aggressive lately, so we just don't know how strong she will be come April. We're praying she will be able to come down the aisle and be next to us as we say our vows.

Matron on Honor - Wendy (Wittenberg) Shay
Julie's bonus sister (and caterer!). A superstar if there every has been one. Wendy and I have been through a LOT together and have been friends since high school (actually I was closer to her older sister Heidi back then). When I moved back to SF, Wendy welcomed me with open arms and we have been inseparable ever since. (Wendy is in the pic at left on the front right).

Stand-in Mother of the Bride - Laura Wittenberg
When my parents both passed away 10 years ago, I was "adopted" into the Wittenberg family and I'm so lucky to have had a family I can count on. Laura will be covering mother of the bride duties on the day of the wedding. (Laura is pictured on the left with Wendy and two of our flower girls).



Flower Girls
Denise Sallee (age 11)
Marie Sallee (age 9)
Anna Sallee (age 8)
Mikayla Smith (age 5)
Malea Jenkins (age 5)
Grace Snavely (age 4)
Susanna Snavely (age 2)
Addie Wittenberg (age 2)

Ring Bearers
Michael Roach (age 7)
Jonathan Sallee (age 6)
Brett Roach (age 3)

Yes there are lots of children - not sure exactly how it will work, but I'm pretty sure it'll provide some laughs. We have so many special friends and family in our lives and we glad to involve some of them in the wedding vicariously through their children.

The Sallee clan are the children of my "sister" Heidi (Wittenberg) and her husband Chris, who not only was my friend in high school, but we also both were in grad school St. Louis at the same time (Heidi in med school, me getting my MBA). The Sallee kids are pros at walking down the aisle and they're also pretty darn good dancers, so you can look forward to them keeping everyone pretty entertained.

Mikayla Smith (pictured right) is the daughter of my good friend, Carrie, also from high school and we can wait to see her curly locks all at the front of the aisle.

Malea Jenkins is the Diana's "granddaughter" and the daughter of the Legrand family friends, Bob and Tina Jenkins. Malea and her brother Braden are very special to the Legrand family and we're thrilled Malea and join us on the special day.

The Snavely girls (left) and their new infant sister, Clara) are the daughters of Eric's friends from Wheaton College, Mark & Kelly. Eric was good friends with Mark in college and formed a very special bond with the girls when Mark and Kelly moved to San Francisco.

Addie Wittenberg is the daughter of my other "brother" Augie and his wife and my dear friend, Krissy (pictured at right). She's just starting to talk (a lot!) and living in Eagle Colorado, should be learning to ski any day now (Eric's looking forward to hitting the slopes with her).

And last, but not least, are the Roach boys, who's parents Josh and Beth are Eric's cousins from San Diego. A charming and talented duo and I'm sure the flower girls will be fighting over who gets to dance with them.

We're keeping the formal "wedding party" small, but will have special roles for other family members and friends who will be our readers, ushers, etc. More to come on these folks who are formally involved in the wedding.

San Francisco Activities

Our Suggestions

Julie your cruise director here with some suggestions on other activities for you during your visit to San Francisco. Below are suggestions of our favorite things, but you can also try out some of the other standard activities. Here are some coupons.

Again, while it's sunny California, with the cool air from the Pacific it rarely gets very hot, so do bring sweaters and a somewhat more than light jacket (leather or rain coat). We also have quite steep hills, so comfy shoes are a must.

Wine Country
We highly recommend visiting wine country. We prefer Sonoma as it's less commercial (and crowded) than the Napa Valley, but you really can't go wrong with any place. We will be arranging for a self-guided tour for our guests at some of our favorite wineries (and SmartsCo clients) , and we'll post this later. Again we have Luxury a tour planned for Thursday, April 19th leaving from Cow Hollow Inn. It will run about $75 per person. I think there are a couple spaces left, so email me if you want in. I'm going to pull some strings at some of my favorite wineries complementary tastings and special treatment.

Baseball
It's the season and the Giants are in town (A's are away). They're playing St. Louis on Wednesday and Thursday and Arizona Friday and Sunday (sorry - Saturday's is not an option for you). The stadium is downtown and super easy to get to. To purchase tickets>>

Ballet
We're huge fans and season ticket holders for the world-renown San Francisco ballet. They're performing Friday & Sunday of wedding weekend - well worth if you enjoy ballet. To purchase tickets>>

Cherry Blossom Festival
Often our spring begins as early as January, however in Japantown there's a festival the weekend of the wedding. We've never been, but it looks pretty fun. Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival site.

Shopping
San Francisco Center - brand new and quite swanky
Union Street
Hayes Valley

Ferry Tours
Our city on the Bay offers several lovely ferry opportunities. Some of our favorites are below. Unfortunately it's not an integrated system and the ferries leave from different places (either Fisherman's Wharf or the Ferry Building - typical of our very disjunct public transport system in general), so check carefully where your ferry comes from. Blue & Gold Fleet offers simple Bay Cruises or lots of options for most of the options below, but there are others noted below as well.
Alcatraz. Reserve well in advance!!! It's totally touristy, but definitely worth it.

Angel Island & Tiburon. The Tuckers have always loved Angel Island and Tiburon, and you can either take a picnic to to Angel Island, or simple cruise over to Tiburon for lunch at Sam's . Ferry Schedule

Sausalito, which has several lovely shops and restaurants. Ferry Schedule

Spa & Beauty Services
San Francisco has some great spas where you can treat yourself.
Hair - if you want a quick blow dry or "do" before the wedding, Blow Salon is a few blocks from the Cow Hollow Inn and very affordable.

Spa treatments
Some of my favorites
Spa Radiance - near the hotel
Bliss Spa - cool music - at the W Hotel
Spa Fusion - at the Hilton Union Square
Tru Spa at the Hilton in Chinatown
International Orange - a San Francisco Award winner

Day Trips
Carmel & Monterey - 2 hours south of SF. Georgeous setting. Fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium. Beautiful shops & restaurants.

Point Reyes Station - 45 minutes north of SF. Be prepared for windy roads, but a lovely little jaunt.

Muir Woods - 30 minutes north of SF. If you've never seen the redwoods, this is experience not to miss.

Moss Beach - 30 minutes south of SF. A great activity with or without the kids. The Tucker family went here a great deal when we were young to look at the tidepools. You can also grab a drink (or less than yummy food) at the Moss Beach Distillery which is known not only for its stellar views, but there's also apparently a ghost who lives there. If you do want to see the tide pools, you need to go around low tide During wedding week low tides are as follows:

Day        High      Tide  Height   Sunrise    Moon  Time      % Moon
        /Low      Time    Feet    Sunset                    Visible

W   18      Low   5:59 AM    -1.0   6:29 AM    Rise  6:59 AM      0
 18     High  12:27 PM     3.9   7:44 PM     Set  9:52 PM
 18      Low   5:25 PM     1.5
 18     High  11:37 PM     6.0

Th  19      Low   6:53 AM    -1.2   6:28 AM    Rise  7:41 AM      3
 19     High   1:33 PM     3.6   7:45 PM     Set 11:08 PM
 19      Low   6:06 PM     2.0

F   20     High  12:20 AM     5.9   6:27 AM    Rise  8:32 AM      8
 20      Low   7:50 AM    -1.2   7:46 PM
 20     High   2:45 PM     3.4
 20      Low   6:53 PM     2.3

Sa  21     High   1:08 AM     5.6   6:25 AM     Set 12:18 AM      16
 21      Low   8:51 AM    -0.9   7:47 PM    Rise  9:31 AM
 21     High   4:07 PM     3.3
 21      Low   7:52 PM     2.6

Su  22     High   2:03 AM     5.1   6:24 AM     Set  1:17 AM      25
 22      Low   9:57 AM    -0.6   7:48 PM    Rise 10:36 AM
 22     High   5:30 PM     3.4
 22      Low   9:14 PM     2.8

more to come...

About Us

They say good things come to those who wait, and I will certainly attest to that fact. For those of you who know both of us, I think you'll agree that we're pretty perfect for one another. For those of you who don't, a quick summary:

We met on a volleyball team that was assembled by our mutual friend Dan in Spring 2002. We were both dating other people, but hit it off from the beginning (Eric even attended first SmartsCo release party). We sort of lost track of each other for a few years, and then in spring of 2005, we both found ourselves newly single and ran into each other again at one of Dan's parties. We found we had a lot in common and started finding more and more excuses to spend time together -- more volleyball, going on a brewery tour, wine tasting, dinners, etc. And then, one evening after a few glasses of courage (wine), we decided we wanted to be more than friends. And it's been fantastic ever since. Everything is just easy and natural and we have so much in common. Here are just a few of passions that we share:

• California. We're both natives: Eric grew up mainly in Southern California (his folks are in Costa Mesa now), and Julie’s roots are in the Bay Area (Moraga)
• Food and wine. Eric is a fantastic chef – Julie’s happy to serve as sous chef and to select the wine.
• Skiing. Eric is a fantastic skier and skied freestyle competitively in Colorado when he lived there in Jr. High. Julie started skiing in her late- 20s, but has loved it ever since. While Julie can’t really keep up on the crazy runs Eric zips down, they are able to enjoy their chairlift time together.
• Professional interests. Both Eric and Julie are survivors of unfulfilling careers in software (Eric was a programmer and Julie was in management consulting and product management). He's now pursuing his passion and has a new career in the food industry at the delicious natural meat company, Niman Ranch, while she’s trying to write about food, wine and other of life’s greatest pleasures at the company she co-founded, SmartsCo. While our new careers seem to be much less lucrative (to date – hopefully not forever) than our old ones, we are both much, much happier.
• Music. We're both former high school musicians - Eric on the trumpet and Julie on the flute (and dabbled with piano). (NB – Anyone who loves music enough to subject themselves to the ridicule and social ostracism that's comes with being in band, is okay in my book). We both love going to opera, plays and enjoying the cultural activities San Francisco has to offer.
• Reading. We’re both proud non-subscribers to cable TV and are avid readers. One of our favorite pastimes is sitting home on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by the Sunday NY Times, The New Yorker and other books and magazines and sharing what we've learned with one another.
• And many more common interests from sailing to cheesy movies to learning sign language, and much more. The list is endless.

But the most important thing we have in common is our shared family values, spiritual beliefs, and life goals. We're confident we have a bright future together.

Engagement Story

It's official - we're getting married on April 21st!

Eric proposed on Wednesday, October 4th, and while I was pretty sure it was coming soon, he certainly caught me off guard. Eric had given me a call that afternoon to see if I wanted to eat dinner that evening - it was a busy week and I wasn't expecting anything special. So when he arrived at my house I was in jeans and a t-shirt and in the middle of cooking up some leftovers. While we had been discussing the topic of marriage for some time, when he pulled me aside and told me he wanted to ask me a question, I was completely taken aback. And he asked me, I said "yes"! Then he pulled out a beautiful 3-stone diamond ring (which we learned in the bridal porn this weekend that it signifies the past, present and future) and told me dinner reservations at one of my favorite restaurants in Russian Hill.

While he had dinner reservations at one of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, given the state of shock I was in, my frumpy attire, and the fact I had some pots on the stove, we decided to stay in and enjoy the moment just the two of us. So Eric ran out for some champagne, and I put on a nice little black dress and quickly set a bit of a more romantic setting and finished cooking up up our meal. With Eric around, even leftovers are quite delicious: we had pork he made for football with the boys from Mario Batali's NASCAR cookbook, and I prepared an arugula and peach salad with pinenuts and feta cheese, sauteed new potatoes, and green beans. And it was perfect and relaxing to just be alone and enjoy the moment and start planning our future. After dinner we did run out and grab some cheese and wine at a Frascati, a cute neighborhood restaurant.

While I couldn't have asked for a more perfect moment (I had always thought I'd want my engagement to be very private), Eric had been working on more romantic settings, but he needed to proposed before our trip to visit his family in Costa Mesa for the weekend. His mom, Diana, had told him she wanted us to be engaged before we came down so we all could plan the wedding over the weekend and had been calling him every day to see if the ring was ready yet. Eric's sister, Adrienne, has had a pretty tough spell these past few months and we hope that her helping us plan this wedding will bring joy and excitment for her. Her parents had been so busy helping her out lately, so when we arrived at the house we were completely shocked to be greeted by over 20 members of the family. With all that's been going on, it was truly overwhelming that Ron and Diana not only were able to assemble all their family, but also put out a wonderful meal, decorations, and so much more. I feel so blessed to be welcomed into such as wonderful family with open arms and it was so special that they were able to join us to begin celebrating such a special time in our lives.

We're busy working on plans with all the details for the wedding, which I'll post all the information you need on this blog site as things get lined up. We have picked April 21st for our wedding date and we are looking forward to being surrounded by all our our friends and family in San Francisco as we start the next phase of our lives together.

Feel free to post comments to the site or email me or Eric with questions.

Directions

Copies will be made available at the hotel and church


To St. Mary the Virgin
2325 Union Street (@ Steiner)
From Cow Hollow Inn
Cross Lombard
Walk 3 blocks up Steiner - church is on the SW corner of Union & Steiner




Driving
If you are planning on driving, the church does not have a parking lot and street parking is very limited. Your best bet would be to try Pierce heading towards Broadway. There are a few paid parking garages a few blocks up Union Street and a good one on Fillmore & Lombard. You may want to allow for up to 30 minutes to find parking as Saturdays can be problematic.

To the Log Cabin
1299 Storey Avenue (@ Fort Scott)
SHUTTLE SERVICE Shuttle service will be take people from St. Mary’s to the Log Cabin immediately following the ceremony. The shuttle will be running between the Log Cabin and St. Mary’s with at stop at the Cow Hollow Inn from 8 pm until midnight.

BY CAR - not recommended if you're not familiar with the location
There are several permanent signs directing you to the “Log Cabin” as you continue through the park. We will also have signs indicating “Eric & Julie” for you to keep your eyes peeled for.

Enter the Presidio at the Lombard Gate. The easiest way to get there is:

• Head west on Union St (0.5 mi)
  
• Turn right at Lyon St (0.2 mi)
  
• Turn left at Lombard St (this is the Lombard Gate) (0.1 mi)
  
• Turn right at Letterman Dr (0.3 mi)
  
• At the second stop sign, turn right at Lincoln Blvd (approx 1.2 mi)
  Follow Lincoln Boulevard westbound towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Pass the Bridge Toll Plaza entrance and continue on Lincoln Boulevard beneath the overpass.
  
• Turn left at Storey Ave (217 ft)
  The Log Cabin will beyond the softball fields on your left. Main parking lot is right next to Log Cabin, overflow across from softball field.

Wedding Schedule

Hi All - Many of you are asking what type of activities will be taking place. More details will follow, but here's a brief preview.

Friday, January 19th
Engagement party for SF crew hosted by our dear friends (thanks all)

Sunday, March 25th
Shower for Julie, hosted by Eric's family and friends in Costa Mesa

Weekend of March 31st
Eric's bachelor party in Vegas, Julie's bachelorette in Santa Cruz

Thursday, April 19th (optional)
Optional wine tour for anyone who wants. Please let me know if you are interested in as soon as you can, so I can look into pricing and all that.

Morning of Friday, April 20th (optional)
women
manis and pedis - please contact Julie if you want to participate
men
golf tourney - please contact Eric if you want to participate

Afternoon of Friday, April 20th
Wedding Party
3pm (ish) - rehearsal at St. Mary's
4:30 - 7 (ish) - rehearsal dinner
All guests
7:30 - Meet a location tbd for no host drinks. We'll also provide recommendations of our favorite restaurants nearby

Saturday, April 21st
3:30 pm (ish) - Wedding Ceremony at St. Mary the Virgin Church
5 (ish) pm - 11pm (ish) - Reception at the Log Cabin in the Presidio
11pm - post party for the hardy (Final Final - of course)