Food

Food has been ordered. Here is what we got:
Moros and Christianos: rice and beans
Picadillo Cubano: Seasoned beef hash
Pollo Criollo: Chicken
Lechon Asado: Roasted Pork
Yuca con mojo: It is a root that is kinda like potato in flavor. It is delicious
For cakes we got a chocolate type called the Domino and A vanilla cake with Guava cream cheese.
For full descriptions please go to www.pambiche.com
We feel that this should be a good amount of food and are eager to taste all of our friends and families dishes as well.

Rsvp

Hey all! Things are going pretty good. We are trying to lock down food for reception and that should be done soon. I just wanted to post this reminder to RSVP as soon as possible as we are getting close to one month before the big day. Another thing that would be awesome for those that are flying in is what day and time you will be coming. We may be able to pick you up but due to how hectic things will most likely be, some of you may need to find a another way to hotels/our house. When we get all of the flight times down we can coordinate all the details better. For those unable to make it we understand that it is tough times with the economy in such bad shape and look forward to spending time together with you in the future. Take care all
Andy

WOOT! Our wedding rings came in the mail today.

We tried them on, and debated whether or not to start wearing them immediately. We decided to wait for the ceremony... that way we have double the times of excitement.

Wooo!!!

You can check a similar ring out right here.

More places to stay

A few other options than hotels......
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/vac/1055513898.html (this is right near where the wedding/reception is)
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/vac/1054924180.html

or for most likely the cheaper/alternative route
http://www.portlandhostel.org/
Single rooms are about 50ish bucks but dorm beds are 20ish.

This one is in the NE but not too far.
http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/oregon-portland-blue-plum-inn.html

The Jupiter hotel might be a bit on the expensive end but it seems pretty hip
www.jupiterhotel.com

So some of these may work better than others. If anyone has any questions about specifics don't hesitate to contact us.

Where to stay: Hotels and Guesthouses

A few folks have been asking us where they should stay.

Firstly, lemme tell you about our area of Portland.

Portland is divided up into North, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Our favorite, and where we live, is the Southeast section of Portland. We live just south of the Woodstock neighborhood, in a district called Brentwood-Darlington.

Nearby west/east streets include Flavel and Johnson Creek to the south, and Duke, Woodstock, Steele, Harold, Holgate to the north of us. We're not far from Powell either, and Powell is kind of midway between us and the wedding events. We're on 68th Street, and the closer you get to the river, the lower the number. The further from the river, the higher the number, and the closer you are to a suburb named Gresham.

The wedding events will be around the Hawthorne and Division areas, near 50th and 60th Streets. This area is about 20 minutes from our house.

Hopefully, if these hotels and guestrooms are full or not to your liking, that description of the area will help you with location based hotel decisions.

On to our list!

Briarwood Suites
7740 SE Powell Blvd
Portland, OR 97206
(503) 788-9394‎
briarwoodsuites.com
Pet Friendly, per the reviews I found via google here.
This is on 77th and Powell, which is not the greatest area, but it's definitely not the worst.

Motel 6 Portland Central
3104 SE Powell Blvd
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 238-0600‎
motel6.com
Reviews here

The Bluebird Guesthouse
3517 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 238-4333‎
bluebirdguesthouse.com
Great reviews and in a great location. Book early!

Courtyard Portland Southeast
9300 SE Sunnybrook Blvd.
Clackamas, OR 97015
(503) 652-2900‎
(503) 654-6754‎ - Fax
marriott.com
This is actually in Clackamas, Oregon, which is where Steph works. It's a 10-15 minute drive from our house, and near highway 205. A pretty straight shot from the airport to the hotel, it would only take you 20-30 minutes to make the drive once you got your rental car at the airport. It had good reviews. It's maybe 40 minutes away from Steph's uncle's home in Gresham, so not the best location if you want to visit those folks too.

Holiday Inn Express, Portland
9707 SE Stark St
Portland, OR 97216
(503) 252-7400‎
(503) 254-8441‎ - Fax
hipdx.com
decent reviews, on 97th and Stark.

Andy will be posting more hotels and guesthouses. Stay tuned.

RSVP Here!!!!

Please RSVP by April 23rd with the following information:

Name(s):___________________________________________

• ___accepts with pleasure
  
• ___declines with regret
  
• ___accepts with regret
  
• ___declines with pleasure

___# of vegetarians ___# of vegans

Methods:
via website (welcome to our site, dearies!!)
via email
via telephone
via snailmail.

{we choose to assume that if you've found our site, you have other methods of communication with us and will not be posting our phone numbers up here...}

Registered!

We registered at Target. You can click here or go to https://www.target.com/, then search for "Stephanie Martinsen" and pick the second registry in which Andy is listed first. Or search via our registry ID, which is 013399700160893.

Wedding Invitation Phrasing

After 10 years of friendship,
we joyfully invite you to our
wedding celebration.

Please join
Andrew Ryan Brown
and
Stephanie Michelle Martinsen (Gormley)
in the following events
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
Memorial Day Weekend

+<3+
The Short Wedding Ceremony
in which Andy & Steph become an honest man and woman
at The Top of Mount Tabor
SE 60th and Salmon Street
at 11 AM

+<3+
The Small Reception for Out of Town Family and Friends
at which we will dine on burgers of meat and veggie
whilst playing outdoor games
at our home
during the afternoon

+<3+
The Dinner and Reception
featuring delicious food from local family & friends
and catered in part from our favorite restaurants
at The Eagle Lodge
4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd
6pm

+<3+
Dancing and Celebration
at which the Charleston to the Robot are encouraged
at The Eagle Lodge
immediately following the dinner

http://andylovessteph.blogspot.com

Registry

We do not currently have a registry in place. It has been undetermined where and if we will have one. We originally thought that because so many are travelling from far away that them coming would be the greatest gift we could receive. Some however insist upon a more tangible gift. I personally would love a big city slider grill or perhaps a snuggie (google those for laughs). But seriously a homemaid gift, or a small gift from the heart would be awesome.
As to my previous post about hotels, I know some are chomping at the bit about booking places to stay and I hope to travel to a few local hotels this week for rates and overall awesomeness.
Have a good week and hope everyone stays warm.

Books

I'm sure it won't surprise anyone to know that we are avid readers. I think we both really appreciate science fiction and horror fantasy. One book by an author I adore has recently been made into a movie. A bit of a kids movie, if you're the sort of parent who wants their kids to not be able to sleep at night. Well, at least that's the sort of book the movie's based on.

Coraline's got a little horror fantasy, a little creepy crafty, and features a little girl...

ugh... gotta finish this later.

Wedding Update

We went downtown and reserved Mt Tabor from 10 am - 12 pm on May 23. It feels good to have yet another piece of the puzzle locked down. My next main project is to do more research on hotels for those visiting. I would strongly suggest that people get a hotel on the east side, it makes travel for all easier and it will most likely be cheaper. Although I have never stayed there I hear that the Jupiter Hotel is a good place to stay. It tends to be a little more expensive but it is "Hip". Still more research to come, I will eventually post what hotels are good and their strengths and weaknesses. Another idea I thought of was perhaps if people want to rent a house or apartment for however long they will be staying in town, it might be more cost effective and a good time as well.
Andy

Rings

I think we're going to order them from ballandchain on etsy. We sized ourselves per instructions on the internet. I'm a 9, and Andy's a 12. I think we might double check our results with a "real" sizing at a "real" jewelry store. The only thing is, I don't want to waste a local jewelry store's time, and I don't want to get hassled by one of those chain jewelers' sales people. Hmmm...

Andy and I really like those silver knotty pine rings. I hope you do too, but it's ok if you don't :)

<3
steph