have kindly sponsored
I had such a fantastic weekend. First, and maybe the best part, was that it started early. Thanksgiving was on Thursday and I spent the evening surrounded by all my mates, completely gorging myself on turkey and all the trimmings. Everyone loves a holiday like Thanksgiving where the main focus is eating and drinking - oh and of course giving thanks the, ah, real focal point of the occasion.
On Friday my flatmates all went down to Brighton. Even though I love them, it was so nice having the place to ourselves for a weekend. Gareth and I ate like kings off all the Thanksgiving leftovers, saw a film, went to a gallery, did a pub crawl - well sort of, we never really made it past the third pub, and saw an incredible blues band. In fact we thought we were so lucky that when the bartenders at one pub started selling tickets for their pot luck drawing, we bought two tickets and then we were having so much fun we missed the drawing.
Sunday we spent the day at Greenwich market and topped it off with a welcome dinner for a new flatmate that we have somehow acquired. I say somehow since it seems our little flat is near bursting so this new addition will be tested I am certain.
The first test came during dinner when she asked me whether I planned on keeping my name after the wedding. This whole issue has been causing me problems and I am completely indecisive. On one hand I am proud of my name, especially since it was given to my grandfather by the border control at Ellis Island when he moved to America. He was always very proud of it, and now with my sister and I the last generation to bare it, I feel myself clinging to it and all it means to me. At the same time, I like the idea of Gareth and I becoming a family together, and because of this I am really warming to us having the same surname.
It is silly in a way. Gareth has no preference and is not encouraging me one way or the other. But he has mentioned that combining our names might sound pretentious in this country. I do not really fancy the idea of hyphenating my name, but I am in a bit of a quandary as you might imagine.
29 November 1999,
Stacie Lewis