My Martha Stewart Weddings appearance

Yesterday, I was a guest expert on Martha Stewart Weddings Sirius Satellite Radio show. After an exhaustive security search (would you like a pap test with that?), I took the elevator up 36 floors to the Sirius studios, and THAT was amazing. They were setting up the equipment for Ben Harper's appearance on one of the shows, so it was just me and the roadies in the waiting area. I saw a very familiar-looking man over by the counter, and the lifelong Giants fan in me said "Is that Carl Banks?" Rather than approach and be wrong, I just sat it out. Darcy Miller, editor of Martha Stewart Magazines, walked in and greeted me so warmly, I forgot how in awe I was about *where* I was. As we walked through the lineup of studios, there was the NFL studio with -- you guessed it -- Carl Banks's lifesize player cutout on the wall. So it was him. I have the Giants in my DNA, so I would probably recognize any of the players from the 80s and 90s. Being an adult now and far removed from my family's regular attendance at Giants games, I'd probably trip over Jeremy Shockey now and not recognize him. But I digress.... the Martha Stewart Weddings segment went really well. We bounced around between talking about wedding vow renewals (my book Renewing Your Wedding Vows was the topic of the day) and jewelry, what to throw at the wedding couple, such as birdseed, etc, and my own engagement. I think the gorgeous ring Joe gave me got more airtime than I did ;) But I'll take it. This was a fantastic opportunity, which leads to great things.

Speaking of great things, Joe and I spent the evening at Home Depot getting our primer and painting supplies, some fire extinguishers, looking at doorknobs -- the great details that have been in my 'snapshots' for so long. We're a day away now...and it's going to be pure magic to have Joe carry me across the threshold, have our champagne toast with the bottle of Prosecco that the engagement ring store gave to us, and have our first moments in the house be all about the dream come true of our new life together. It's just like getting engaged -- the very first moments are all about the deepest meaning: the relationship and the promise of building a beautiful future together. So, again just like a wedding, even though there's a *ton* of stuff to do, that's when we take that moment to say the right words, and make it all about Us. And then we rip into the carpets and do the demo work that we've seen on every home remodeling show we've ever seen. My Dad, having been sick for so long, has a new pinkness in his cheeks with the renewed sense of meaning -- that he's needed for advice on carpet clearing ("roll up the sections, tie them with twine, and throw them out the window so you don't hurt your backs.") This all takes away his jitters about having eye surgery on Monday. My mom can't wait to see the butterfly wallpaper in the kitchen before we start ripping that out. Joe's mom is going to come over and help us with the shelf liner paper, and has taken a few days off of work in case we need her for anything. And Joe's brother might be on board to help up rip out the old paneling in our office. And in the middle of all this, the entire week will be me working on my laptop and letting the plumber in, the air duct cleaners, the carpet cleaners, the hardwood floor measuring people, and whoever else shows up waiting for a check ;) Since I donated all of my furniture to various charities and missions, there's not much for the movers to bring over, so I'm not going to schlep as much stuff over on my own. My back is finally a bit better, and I'd like it to stay that way so that I can join Joe in painting our ceilings and walls and trim without massive doses of Motrin.

I'm just so excited that this is all finally starting...we've waited so long.