I’m back!
After more than a year and a half of planning, it finally happened . . .
I know I griped a fair amount on this blog (and on Twitter, and on my personal Facebook account) about how exhausting and infuriating I found the preparation process, and my opinion still hasn’t changed. But seeing all our hard work come together into one big, beautiful, chaotic day was incredibly rewarding, and I’m so, so glad that we chose to see it through. We were so lucky to have as much support from our family and friends as we did, and being able to celebrate the start of our married life with all of them really was a dream come true.
All gushing aside, the wedding wasn’t the only thing keeping me so freaking busy this month. Two days after we said our I dos, my husband (!!!) and I flew to Italy for our ten day honeymoon. We started our trip in Trieste, this beautiful, multicultural city along the Adriatic that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire before it was annexed by Italy after World War I. We stayed in this lovely old villa up on the hillside, where breakfast was served on the terrace each morning and an adorable white cat snoozed on the couches when guests weren’t using them. Our days were spent visiting ancient Roman ruins, as well as tourist sites like Castillo Miramare, which belonged to the former Archduke Maximilian I, and the Grotto Gigante, the world’s largest tourist cave.
Then it was on to Venice, where we stayed on the island of Lido, which was a short vaporetto (or water bus) ride away from the main city. Its beach town vibe and comparatively low number of tourists made it a refreshing change of pace from the crowded Piazza San Marco, Rialto Bridge, or even some of the other artsier islands like Murano or Burano that tourists like to visit. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed exploring each and every one of those places, and I can totally understand why it is they’re so popular. At the same time, my favorite parts of Venice were the quieter, less populated corners and side streets where regular people lived.
The honeymoon itself was a wonderful whirlwind, and I had a great time. But now that the traveling and celebrating are behind us, it feels so good to come home to our apartment and begin putting my life back in order. We’ve still got thank you notes to write and wedding presents to put away and so many pictures to sort through, but we’ve also fallen back into our normal routines for the most part, and that’s exactly how we like it.
So what’s next?
After two months (or a whole year, really) of being too busy and distracted and decidedly not creative, I’m eager to get back to writing. I started revising an old short story in between wedding preparations and my day job, and I’d like to finish that in time to submit it to an anthology next month. I’ve also been planning out my next manuscript, a YA thriller about teen girl vigilantes online, in the hopes of being able to start writing it before NaNoWriMo. And I have another short story idea knocking itself around in my head that is dramatically different from anything I’ve ever written and very Halloween appropriate. 🙂
Otherwise, I’ve got my birthday coming up in a couple more weeks and another belly dancing performance looming, although this one won’t be nearly as intensive or as public as Pride. I want to get back to my guitar practice and start putting together my Halloween costume, since my husband and I actually have a kickass idea this year. I want to spend more time with my husband that doesn’t involve logistical discussions about seating charts and phone calls to be made, and a hell of a lot more time with my friends.
As much fun as it was sometimes to have this huge, exciting event looming on the horizon, I’m much more excited about being out of the spotlight and going back to my regular life with its smaller, more personal joys. And hey, hopefully a more regular blogging schedule will be one of them. 🙂
What has your September been like (since I’ve been wildly out of the loop for so much of it)? Anything exciting, or fun, or different to share?