I’m on the left of the splicer who puts my costume to shame

My dress is an 80s Jessica McClintock prom dress I found on eBay.

The splicer costumes above were made by Erica G. — see the link for more of her amazing designs!

You can see more of my photos from the convention on my Flickr.  This year I was only able to attend Friday evening and Sunday.  Will and I signed up for the Halo 3 tournament but were unable to compete because Will didn’t get off work on time.  I overslept Saturday and missed the parade Next year I plan to purchase the weekend pass (and score some autographs!)

If you’re attending D*C 2010 please let me know so that we can meet up!

Sorry it took so long to publish the details I only had 2 days of class last week but my teachers still managed to schedule 2 exams and a project. The rest of the week I was busy showing off the ring to Will’s massive family and gaining 5 pounds (literally) from Thanksgiving dinners within hours of each other Anyways…

How It Happened

I knew it was coming. Not only have Will and I been dating for 6 years but also Will made the mistake of telling me the ring was ready I didn’t know the exact day, however.

Saturday night (Nov. 22nd) Will took me to a fancy local restaurant for dinner. After eating we went back to his place.  As usual, both of us immediately picked up our computers.  A few minutes later Will told me to check my Facebook wall.  He had posted a link to ilovesidney.net — a domain he purchased for his proposal He then kneeled and presented me with my beautiful ring.  My best friend said that “he knew the key to my heart was through the computer.”  I answered “yes”, hugged and kissed him, then instructed him to hire a better webdesigner

About the Ring

William had it custom made for me based on a design I picked out a few years ago.  It’s GIA certified with a laser inscription (you can see it inside the stone under magnification!) Our jeweler Nick works solely from referrals, so if you’re looking for amazing diamonds at a great price I strongly recommend his services!

Other Details

We’re having the ceremony on the beach in Destin, Florida. I had my heart set on May 16th, but many sites are already booked so we may have to push the wedding to June or August.  I hope to meet the wedding coordinator and set a concrete date within the next 3 weeks (which means a trip to the beach soon!) I’m converting ilovesidney.net into our wedding website. I’ve already started brainstorming designs. My semester ends next Friday so I will be keeping everyone informed of the details!

P.S. — Thanks so much for all the sweet comments on Twitter and Flickr! And special thanks to Meggan, who mentioned me in a beautiful blog entry

I’m always terribly grumpy on the last day of a Florida vacation. Additionally, I was pouting because William forgot to purchase a promised purple Maneki Neko for me from a local giftshop (my birthday is this weekend and Nekos are hard to find.) My BFF Rachael ousted me from my mood by introducing me to a squirrel she met while packing the car.

She said he came right up to her, so she fed him some peanuts. I wish I had a video of him burying the nuts in the nearby landscaping. He’d pat the pine needles with his tiny hands… it was adorable! I’ve never interacted with a wild animal. I felt like a Disney Princess

If you’re interested, you can see more photos from our trip on my Flickr account

Along with sending me a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers, Will wrote me a sweet message: (he usually gives me a blank card )

Sid,

Thanks for being the best girlfriend I could ever want. I am so lucky to have you… who else would watch Dune with me at 2 in the morning! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love,
Bob

This will be our 5th Valentine’s Day together! My gift to him will be dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant this weekend. We couldn’t go out tonight because I have a Compilers test tomorrow

How was your day? Did you have a Valentine?

(More Christmas Presents)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I still have not mailed Christmas goodies to my penpals Hopefully, I can take care of that either tomorrow or Thursday. If you sent me a Christmas greeting to my Tuscaloosa address, I haven’t received it since I’m currently in Florence with my family.

I want to thank to Brigitte, Tracy, Cori, Becka, Kachii, Rin, Meggan, Cristina, Ashley, Mendifae, Rebecca, Malin, Nan, Brenda, Hev, Meghan, Ang, Nanda, and Afef for the encouraging words regarding my surgery recovery! Also, in case you missed it, I posted a before/after pic on Flickr

I bought school supplies today. I always love shopping for new notebooks and pens!

The pink notebook is for Cal 3 notes, homework and scratch. Since I’ve been out of school, I have yet to use my Hello Kitty datebook. The stickers are for my online pen pals

I’ve been living with my parents since December, so I’m going to be quite lonely in Tuscaloosa. In case you didn’t know, it’s just me and my pets living in my apartment. The whole roommate thing really isn’t my style Will is going to be in Atlanta until August 10th I’m guessing I’ll be back and forth between Florence and Tuscaloosa. Will’s bro, Michael, is taking classes this summer, so maybe he’ll let me hang out with him.

What are your plans for the remainder of the summer?

I bought a betta fish for my 2.5 gallon aquarium yesterday. I haven’t had much luck with fish in that aquarium, but I read that bettas don’t need much space, so hopefully he’ll do okay. Since I leave the light on, the temperature stays around 75-78°F. The tank also contains a bubble stone and filtration device

I’m currently taking suggestions for possible names. I named him Phobos I was thinking about naming him Mars (the red planet) but thought Phobos (one of Mars’ moons and Sailor Mars’ crows) sounded better.

Did you know that keeping a betta inside a vase is dangerous to the fish? I remember when that was a huge fad. Poor fishies I always put too much trust in the pet shop employees. Some know what they’re talking about, but most don’t. I originally housed 2 goldfish in my 2 gallon aquarium because the pet shop guy said they’d be fine. Needless to say, the fish were overcrowded and soon died. Helpful advice: when purchasing any type of animal, don’t be impulsive like me. Research! The web is a wonderful tool

When I arrived in my hometown yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my street sign was up! My dad named a street after me The sign was originally misspelled (Sydney instead of Sidney), but apparently the city realized the mistake and corrected it.

My birthday weekend was great. I love seeing my friends. Although they only live 45 minutes from Tuscaloosa, it’s still hard to get together. William used to live with Andy (future lawyer) and Alan (future dentist) so they are like brothers to me. We used to play some intense Halo games

In web related news, I’ve completed the Website page and I’m working on the Exits. I’m rewriting most of the content, so it’s a tedious process. When I finish all the content pages, I think I’m going to try my hand at Wordpress themes

Last night, William took me to my favorite store in the world — a boutique called Private Gallery — and bought me my birthday present…

It’s a straw and leather Francesco Biasia handbag… great for the summer! The girls in Private Gallery told me that the bag was featured in the April 2007 issue of Lucky Magazine, which excited me even more.

Will also surprised me today with a yummy birthday cake…

And the cutest sketch of a bobcat EVER…

(For those of you that don’t know, Will’s nickname is Baby Bobcat) South Park fans may get a giggle out of the reference to Man-Bear-Pig

Tomorrow my best friend Rachael, who lives in Nashville, is coming to visit me. We’re going to Birmingham (Alabama’s big city) tomorrow night to visit my dental and law school pals and celebrate my big 2-3!

Anyways, I need to get some sleep before the big night. Thanks again for all my birthday wishes!!