Grand Theater, Wausau: Our Wedding Venue

This August we were married and I haven't shared anything about how it went on my blog yet!  So I thought I would do a few posts on some of the highlights and tips that I have for other brides planning their weddings.  First was the venue...and choosing a wedding venue was SUPER duper tough.

Adam and I both grew up in the country but we love our lifestyle in the Twin Cities.  So, picking a wedding venue back in Central Wisconsin was really difficult.  We wanted a vibe that we'd be able to find in Minneapolis but didn't want it to be so cutting edge that we scared our families and friends back home.

So after looking at a lot of expensive and boring bowling alleys, hotels and hall rentals decorated with antlers and cedar logs we had one last place to check out.  While we never knew anyone that's had a wedding there, we toured the ARTsblock/Grand Theater's "Great Hall" in downtown Wausau...and fell in love.

These pictures were taken by me when we were scoping out the location

For the first time throughout the whole venue search I could see myself in a wedding dress and could envision the starlit ceiling, the bar lit up with old neon and our guests hanging out on the patio, and the whole thing finally started came together.  In addition to their gorgeous backdrops, there were a few other things that made the decision easy for us:

• The staff was extremely accommodating and willing to work with all of my non-standard ideas and requests.
• The area around the Grand Theater is gorgeous.  Cobblestone streets, a park, a water fountain and a bright red British telephone booth...what more could you ask for?
• The Grand Theater allowed us to choose our caterer.  While they had a list of preferred vendors, they worked with us and were extremely flexible.  At many other venues you are given a limited list of choices (all of which are typically overpriced).  In those situations, they know that you have to choose one of them and are most times unwilling to negotiate pricing or work with you on a custom menu.
• You can choose your dessert.  You want an ice cream bar, cookie bar or brownie bar?  Great.  Also, you can choose who you want to cater it.  No cake cutting fees or any of that shenannigans that couples can get wrapped up in.
• Reasonable alcohol prices.  There were other places that wanted to charge us nearly $4/glass when you take gratuity into consideration, with no options for half barrels.  Based on the fact that we went through six half barrels that evening, and we had warned them that it could that or more, we're confident we made the right choice.
• We had a rain backup, since we were able to rent out the theater if we needed to with a few days advanced notice

Grand Theater's bathrooms, among many other things, are gorgeous!

The outdoor patio is fenced in and gives your guest a LOT of room to go outside .

So it was decided, the Grand Theater it was!  Now, how in the world am I going to do this?  Since I've never been to a wedding there...I had no ideas to work from and literally started from scratch, and only knew one thing...  DON'T FIGHT THE VENUE.  What I mean by that is:

• If there is a prevalent color, don't try to pretend it's not there or that you can cover it up
• If it has a certain style, don't try to pick something drastically different 
• If it has a certain aspect or flair, don't try to fight it
• If you don't like what it has to offer, then don't choose it

While I had originally imagined a rustic chic style wedding, that quickly changed when I saw the art deco elegance of the Grand Theater, and I decided not to fight it.  But instead flatter it.  Thus started my "art deco", "theater", "gold" and "1920's" wedding search.  Since I love that time period and musical theater, I decided to 100% embraced the direction that the venue was naturally drawing me towards.

In terms of the themed details, here were a few of my favorites I plan to talk about in other posts:

• Wedding Playbill
• Favorite Things Menu
• Cookie Cart
• Popcorn Bar
• Photo Booth

Here's a few of the details in pictures:

Can't wait to share more details in the next few weeks!  Here's the venue information in case you're interested in learning more.  

The Grand Theater
401 4th Street
Wausau, WI
54403

Website: http://www.grandtheater.org/
Great Hall Details: http://www.grandtheater.org/facilityrental/greathall.aspx
Theater Rental: http://www.grandtheater.org/facilityrental/grandtheater.aspx

Wedding Photos Taken at the Grand Theater:
M Photography
Carissa Christine Photography
The McCartneys
The McCartneys
The McCartneys

Restaurant Review Guideline and Ethics: It's Time

Earlier this week on his podcast, Andrew Zimmern gave his two cents about how much he dislikes Yelp, how it's on his "shit list" and why he feels that restaurant reviews should be left to the experts.  There is a summary of it here, and within his podcasts he goes onto mention that the site is dangerously unstable and that it gives a forum for uninformed morons to take down a restaurant.

After hearing this, I checked out a few of my favorite restaurants reviews on Yelp and shockingly, was appalled.  An alarming number of the people posting to my favorite restaurants were down right mean, biased, overly critical for no reason, and childish.  In short, Andrew was right.  There are a bunch of idiots out there taking down what have been, are, or could be successful restaurants.

While I agree with his frame of thought, I wasn't angry.  What I felt more than anything was disappointment and asked myself this question: if being part of a community website is a privilege, not a right, then why are we letting people like this ruin our community?

For example, check out some of the unclassy reviews from this "Elite Reviewer" who when reviewing a Jewish style deli, writes the following after having a four out of five star experience "Way to break the cheap Jewish stereotype with exemplary customer service" or comments about a waitstaff "staff who might as well be replaced by guard dogs or just goats".  Nearly everything that she wrote lacked class.

While I don't expect Urbanspoon, Yelp or any other community website to police every comment for their respective content guidelines since it's a totally unrealistic request,  I do expect more out of us.  As members of this community, we need to step up and start policing ourselves and keep it classy.

So listen up: foodies, casual restaurant goers, and 19 you year olds out there that know how to use the internet (but don't know your butt from a hole in the ground).  We're kicking it old school and bringing it back to the basics, with a set of restaurant review guidelines that we should all be able to pledge our allegiance to as functioning members of society.

As a responsible member of a community, when reviewing a business within the hospitality review website:

• Thou shall not write reviews online that thou would not say to the owner's face
• Thou shall not threaten nor extort a business in any manner
• Thou shall not add irrelevant content that won't affect a potential customer's experience
• Thou shall not only write about negative reviews if thou wants to be seen as credible
• Thou SHALL write reviews that thou would be proud to show thou's grandmother or boss
• Thou SHALL assume that thou's review is being viewed every time the business is searched for online
• Thou SHALL remember that service industry employees and business owners are people, that are part of families
• Thou SHALL be a good Samaritan and flag inappropriate reviews to keep thou's site clean of scum

While I know that the battle upon review websites has only begun, let's see what we can do to show the professional reviewers out there that we're not uninformed morons and that we can be responsible.  

As to those people that are uninformed and hateful morons... if they've proven that they're not capable of handling of the responsibilities and affects that the world wide web now offers...then let's ask that their irresponsible and potentially harmful reviews be removed. 

Well, now that we've had he pep talk...I leave you with two hilarious videos of real actors, reading real Yelp reviews and a story about a unique use of one restaurant's negative reviews:

Can you think of any guidelines that I've missed?  Do you think that I'm dead wrong?  If so, why?  Any thoughts on the issue?  

Your Name is Ann Marie Too? Wha?!

This is the story about last weekend, when I got to meet my blogging idol, The Pioneer Woman.

While Ree started out blogging and still does, she has also branched out a bit.  She now has multiple books that have been on the best-sellers list, has been featured and performed guest appearances on quite a few TV shows and now has her own Food Network Show.  Oh yeah, .and she's been challenged to (and won) a "Throwndown with Bobby Flay" which is what I'm most jealous of!

When I read on Twitter that she was coming to the Mall of America to do a book signing, I was beyond excited!  So I packed grabbed her cookbook, my iPad so that I could read while waiting (which I found out was dead in line---super), and ventured off to the MOA, where no sane Minnesotan goes from November-January.

While in line, since my iPad was dead, I compiled my list of things that I wanted to tell her.  As the hours rolled, by I got more excited by the minute to tell her all of these things cooking in my head:

1.) First, to ask if that is Marlboro Man watching over you, very husband-like, from the balcony? If so, when I get out of this line, do you think that he'll sign my cook book on the page that showcases his cowboy butt?  Is that weird?  Sorry...

Might not look like him in this photo, but, sure did in person...plus, the CASE hat had me wondering.

2.) Thank you for introducing me to hound dogs!  She was the person that got me to fall in love with hound dogs...and now I have one that she's signing a "Charlie and the Christmas Kitten" book for.  Yeah, I know that it's pathetic, I don't even want to hear about it.

3.) Thank you for running around field filled filled with poo to take pictures!  Sometimes her pictures of the farm life make me hurt for small town life (and even tear up on certain days when city life is really getting me down).  This country-girl-gone-city enjoys it more than you know!

3.) Thank you for introducing me to blogging!  I have been reading her blog since 2007 when I was forwarded a link to her "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story" series that she had written about how her and her husband met.  Which is now a published book and apparently is no longer posted on her website (tried to find today).

Back in 2007 I didn't know what blogging was and I sure has heck didn't know who these people were.  Yet, I found myself spending hours reading witty, quirky and funny commentary on things that I thoroughly enjoyed.  While it took me quite a few years to start, I ended up with one blog that I didn't like, and took over a year to establish  what I want to write about...I think that I've finally found my stride.  So, thank you for opening this door for me!

Now that you can see how excited I was to meet The Pioneer Woman, let's get back to last Sunday and all of these oozing compliments that I wanted to share with my idol.

She is probably the only thing that would get me into the Mall of America during this time of year.

Holy horse poo, I'm almost there!  There she is!

I made it!  It was my turn to tell Ree how great I think she is and ask my questions!  Here's how it went:

Ree: opens her cook book to page where my name is 
Ree: "You're name is Ann Marie?  Mine too!?"
Ann Marie: "Oh my gosh, I had no idea!  That is crazy!"
Ree: "It's even the same spelling, with no "e""
Ann Marie "Yeah, I've had quite a time changing my name this summer without the hypen in there."
Ree: opens the Charlie book
Ree: "Who's Wallace?"
Ann Marie: "He's my dog, I don't have any kids...so he's the next best thing."
Ree: "What kind of dog"
Ann Marie "He's a cute little beagle mix."
Ree: "That's great!"
Ree & Ann Marie: taking one picture that was a fail and then one better one

Ann Marie & Ann Marie

Here's how the the commentary running through my head went, illustrated in purple:

Ree: opens her cook book to page where my name is 
Ree: "You're name is Ann Marie?  Mine too!?"
Ann Marie: "Oh my gosh, I had no idea!  That is crazy!" OMG, now she thinks that I don't read her blog and I'm some kind of creep getting my book signed because I watch the Food Network or something!?
Ree: "It's even the same spelling, with no "e"" Seriously Ann Marie, how could you have missed this one?
Ann Marie "Yeah, I've had quite a time changing my name this summer without the hypen in there." Honestly Ann Marie, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Why in the WORLD would she give a donkey's behind about your silly issues with your name change??
Ree: opens the Charlie book
Ree: "Who's Wallace?"
Ann Marie: "He's my dog, I don't have any kids...so he's the next best thing." And now she thinks I'm a weirdo because I'm having her sign a book for my dog.  Holy crap, I am a weirdo, what am I doing??
Ree: "What kind of dog"
Ann Marie "He's a cute little beagle mix." I am so nervous I could puke, why am I sweating?
Ree: "That's great!"
Ree & Ann Marie: taking one picture that was a fail and then one better one
Ann Marie: Oh my goodness.  I totally forgot to ask her about Marlboro Man, among everything else.  I wonder if I can turn around and go back and ask?  Oh man, there is a security guard packing heat there that will probably take me down if I try to turn around and ask.  CRAP.

As you can see, while my intentions were there.  But, the execution was extremely poor.  Dangit all to dog biscuits.

Maybe the next time that she comes to the Minneapolis, I can just cut to the chase and give her a letter with my "thanks" instead of acting like a freak-o-la.

Or, maybe I'll get just as mental and sweaty as I did this time.  Oh man.

Mrs. Captain Crunch?

You know how that school yard taunt went, "well if you love it so much, why don't you marry it?".  As a kid growing up I always thought that was such a stupid saying. But today I found myself wondering if that might not be such a bad idea.  Because I'm addicted to Cap'n Crunch.

Once I have one bite, I can't stop.  It's salty.  No wait SWEET.  No it's CRUNCHY.  Mehhhh...my mouth hurts and the roof of my mouth is bleeding!  Hold up...or are those my tastebuds being put into overhaul? 

While I'm trying to figure out which it is, why not have yet ANOTHER bowl of Cap'n Crunch?

Back to original question.  I mean, if Captain Crunch were an actual navy man that led the charge on crunchy, salty, sweet goodness...is there a possibility that I could marry him?  While I thought at first this might be a spectacular idea, the more research that I did, the more that I thought marrying an imaginary cereal superhero might not be such a good idea.

What does "Crunch-a-tize me" even mean?

1. First of all, I found out his real name.  It's Horatio Magellan Crunch and his current job is "Commander of Crunch" for Quaker Oats Company.  No this is not made up and he actually has a facebook page.  While his full name demands respect, he comes across as being kind of lazy and markets himself as "Cap'n Crunch".  For me, that is just not going to cut it.  I need a man that speaks proper English and is proud of his name and heritage.
2. Horatio is definitely my senior, being born in 1963.  While my hubby is two years old than me and I have no issue with people dating older or younger...a few years is different than a few decades.
3. Chances are good that the Cap'n has a life supply of his namesake's cereal.  In turn, that means that I would eventually have so many cavities that the need for full mouth dentures would be required.  In addition to that, I would weigh a metric ton.
4. On Family Guy, they portrayed him as a cereal killer...and I just don't have time to get caught up in all of that drama or legal hassle.

So for now it looks like the Cap'n will have to wait.  But in the meantime, I've found some recipes for you that looked WAY too good not to mention:

Cap'n Crunch Recipes
Cap'n Crunch French Toast by The Hungry Housewife
Cap'n Crunch Cookies by Miss in the Kitchen
Cap'n Crunch Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Marshmallow Frosting by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Cap'n Crunch Chicken Tenders by Jennifer Richmond on SHEKNOWS

Wallace's Ruff Week

Wallace has had a pretty ruff week and a half.  Between naps and meals, he's had some other occurrences that proved to be the bain of existence.

Forget the Treat, this is a TRICK
As I mentioned on facebook, Wallace found trick-or-treating very confusing and against everything he stands for.  First, people in strange outfits with flashlights come in our yard and we proceeded to open the door for them. Then, they say one of the only recognizable words in his four word vocabulary,"treat" and they THEY get the candy. He thought the whole thing sucked and that it was a pretty raw deal.

Doglight Savings Time

Since Sunday our dog has been been even lazier than normal (if that is even possible).  He doesn't get it and all that he knows is that his internal clock is seriously out of whack.

Party Lines

Unfortunately for Wallace, our house is next door to a polling location SIDERANT: ours is at a church.  Ever wondered why we vote where we pray?   Click here in case you're interested in reading a great piece about it!  Since the traffic starting at 6:30 AM and ending at 8:00 PM was crazy, little pooch was not allowed outside without strict supervision and his standard walking agenda was severely affected by us, and our neighbor's, civic duties.

Where do you think you guys are going at 6:45 in the morning?  Walking?  No?  What does voting mean?

Pupcorn Mayhem
Wallace would make the worst hunting dog on the face of the earth since he nearly pees himself whenever he hears anything that sounds remotely like fireworks or gunshots.  So, you can imagine the scene that occurs in our household when I want to make my one of my favorite things in the world, homemade popcorn on the stove.  

When I went to make popcorn this week I was really excited to use one of our wedding presents, a non-stick ceramic pot.  After the popping was done and the kitchen was filled with the amazing popcorn smell, I slid the pot off the stovetop.  BOOM!!.  And I don't mean "BOOM" like the popcorn that I made was amazing...I mean "BOOM" as in the ceramic pot exploded right in front of me and Wallace.  He beelined to the nearest corner and shook for about a half an hour.

Sorry to whoever gave this to us for a our wedding!  Opps!

Since I had just taken the pot out of the original package, I referred back to the instructions to see if there was anything that I had missed.  Turns out that a ceramic pot that is microwave, oven and dishwasher safe....does not mean that it is stovetop safe. So back to square one with our old pot.

On a high note, he learned how to catch popcorn in his mouth after we made a new batch!

Friday Houdini Fiasco
Well, not exactly sure why or what possessed him to do this...but...Wallace escaped his kennel on Friday.  Luckily our neighbor recognized the sad looking little beagle limping around the park howling his buns off at 3:00 in the afternoon and brought him to her house to call us.

In the process of escaping, Wallace injured his front paw.  I was genuinely concerned about it and was planning on taking him in on Monday...the next incident happened this morning.

Big Buck Hunter
While raking leaves hungover this morning, a four point buck strolled into our yard.  Imagine my shock when our "injured" dog that has been hobbling around for 24 hours went into a dead sprint and proceeded to chase a buck through our yard, into the park and then multiple blocks while Adam screamed his lungs off.

In closing, it's pretty hard to have sympathy for this gimp after witnessing the big buck hunter scene. 

Why You Should Vote Tomorrow

I don't give a flying hoot who you vote for, but, you sure as heck better vote tomorrow. And after hearing a myriad of excuses over the last few months, I made a small list of reasons that I think that everyone should:

1.) Do you like to complain?  

Then voting is a great way to ensure that for the next four years, you have that right.  If you don't, then you sure as heck can keep your mouth shut until the next election since you made the decision to not to do anything about it and sit on the couch.

2.) To beat the stereotypes of people under 30.

Do your parents and grandparents think that you don't have a clue about what is going on in the world?  Then prove them wrong, take some time to research your candidates and do your civic duty to shut them up.

3.) Do you care about someone that does or could get access to public funding?  

For example, do you know someone that might benefit from Breast Cancer or HIV/AIDS research?  Well, a lot of those programs get federal or state funding.  By voting for candidates that support your causes, you're helping to make sure that your causes are considered.

4.) Do you have any idea how ridiculous the general public is?  

There is a reason that candidates are spending money on those silly negative commercials.  Because there are TONS of people out there that believe them!  Yeah, I know.  It might sound ridiculous but it's true.  While I know that it might seem like you're just canceling someone's vote, at least you're doing that!

5.) It's your money.  

Chances are that you pay thousands of dollars a year out of your paycheck in taxes.  So why wouldn't you help to ensure that your money isn't being p*ssed away?

6.) Do you have kids, ever want to have kids or have grandkids?  

Well, where do you think that decisions are made for education programs, school budgets, teachers unions, daycare regulations and school lunch programs?  Turns out it's primarily by the local, state and federal government that WE put into office.

7.) Do you know a Veteran? 

While some veterans don't mind either way if you vote or not and I even personally know multiple veterans that don't exercise their right to vote for various reasons, their VA benefits are provided by the government.  Which means that our government decides what they get.  Shouldn’t you have enough civic duty in you to take some time to vote for people that you feel are going to ensure that veterans get good healthcare and pay?  

If you're still reading this that you probably saw something that made you think you should vote tomorrow.  But it turns out that you're only half way there and don't know where to start.  So let's continue with the most common excuses that I could think of with some solutions.

But I'm Too Busy To Learn About Politics This Late

What is that?  You say that you're too busy and you don't want to "waste" a vote?  Well, then take 30 minutes to look at your candidates websites tonight and decide who you think most accurately represents your causes and ethics…and who you would trust with your wallet.  At the end of the day, that is what the large majority of America does so don't feel bad.  So instead of sitting on Facebook or Pintrest tonight, why not find out a little bit about your candidates and take the time to vote tomorrow?

But I Don't Know My Candidates

Well, luckily I've found a few resources that will help sum it up.  Essentially you type in your address and it spits out your options on candidates.  Then you can go to their website to see what their agenda looks like.   Or even better, google them and see what others are saying after checking out their website. 

Find My Candidates in Minnesota (by address) 

Find My Candidates in Wisconsin (by address)

But I Don't Know Where to Vote Tomorrow

Not sure of where to vote or what you need to bring?  Luckily I've found some sites that you punch in your address and then give you your nearest voter location: 

Where to vote in Minnesota

Where to vote in Wisconsin

But I Still Can't Figure it Out

I'm putting a unique offer on the table.  If you have read this, went through all of the steps and for whatever reason you can't figure out who your candidates are, what you need to bring to the poll or where your local poll is, PLEASE  email me at annmariescupoftea(at)gmail.com.  I will be watching my email all day and will provide you with a list of your full list of candidates, where to vote, and what you need to bring to the polling location.

So, a big "THANK YOU" to everyone that is going to be going out to the polls tomorrow!  As to those of you that are making the choice not to vote, I challenge you to think long and hard about why you won't be partaking in something that millions of other people across the world wish that they had the right to do.

Can you think of other good reasons that people should vote?  Do you have a good reason that you won't be voting?  I encourage comments!

Operation Fridge Was a Success!

I was going through my blog post history and realized that I never said if I had kept off the pounds for two months in order to win my French double door fridge...

Well, I did people!  I lost the 15+ pounds and kept it off for more than two months (now six months).  While my hubby hasn't ponied up yet on the French double door fridge, there are some architectural issues that came between me and my dream fridge.  Namely, the spot where our current fridge stands is too narrow and too shallow for my dreamboat fridge.  Which means that a kitchen renovation will be necessary to install my dream fridge.  Yeah, that is not going to happen right.  

SO while my fridge dreams are currently on hold, I'll live.  Turns out that it really isn't as bad as I thought it was that most of my issues had to do with sharing a fridge with roommates versus having a crappy fridge.