Well needless to say we have been extremely busy this past week. We were in Columbia, SC Sunday & Monday filming for the NBC station there. We were quite relieved on Monday at noon knowing that voting was over for the week. We finally got to relax and layout. We headed home late Monday knowing we would be leaving today at 11:03am to fly to NYC. I studied until about midnight for my esthetics test after packing. This morning was pretty hectic, I was at school at 9 taking my test while Dom was getting a haircut due to his unsteady hand while trying to trim his hair yesterday (large nick in the side of his head, haha).

We flew 1st class which was an awesome surprise, my 1st time. We checked into the hotel where we were greeted with mint towels at check in. Walking through the marble filled lobby, it smelled of fresh flowers. There are 3 huge crystal chandeliers throughout. We are now sitting in an amazing hotel room at the Essex House. Just beautiful! Right by Central Park.

We are heading to dinner with my college roommate, Lindsey’s cousin Shannon, who lives here in NYC. We are going to BlueRibbon, a sushi place a few blocks away.

We are staying very confident and positive.

Only 2ish weeks to go…Thanks again for all of the support & votes!

See you LIVE in the AM…

WOW do Cara and I have a new respect for the people on American Idol. Its funny to think that being on national television in front of millions of people would be the easy part. Worrying about votes and getting as many as possible, I feel like I am aging by the minute. All in all though, this is one of the best things that both of us have ever been a part of.

We would like to thank everybody again for the votes!!! After this, only two weeks left!

Back on Hilton Head we are spending the majority of our free time getting votes! We need to say a big thanks to OHIO UNIVERSITY!!!! These crazy northerners invade our little island once a year for a much needed break from school. The past two nights we have received so many votes from yall its crazy!!! Thank you in advance for your support and stay with us to the end!

Today we are headed out to Hilton Head Motor Sports for a party they are having to meet some people and generate votes. Then, we are off to the beach to relax.

Thanks to everyone again for your support!!!

Well, we got back to the hotel about an hour and a half ago and it was a mad dash to let EVERYONE know as soon as possible that our number had been changed to TWO!!!! So, I think we did what we could and the word is out.

We were really sad to see Matt and Buddi go. They were awesome people and would of loved for them to make it to the end with us.

Thanks to everyone who watched this morning!

Now it's back to work getting anyone and everyone you know to vote for us! The next five days will revolve around getting votes! Please email your friends, co-workers and who ever you could think of for help!

Voting started over today with a fresh slate so everyone is even! I'm on a timed computed right now so I will post more this evening....

Thanks again to everyone!
~Dom and Cara!

Hey ya'll... I am at Cara's house getting ready to head to the airport and back to NYC. Our flight was delayed an hour and a half which will put us into the city around 10:30. We are missing dinner, but thats ok. We both have sooo many emotions going through us right now its not funny. Scared, excited, anxious, really happy. I know its to be expected but....

Tomorrow is going to be fun, and we're praying that we make it all the way. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers tonight that we actually will be able to sleep, and tomorrow, that we can kick everyones butt in the competition. haha

Thanks again to everyone for following this craziness..

Now I know this might sound crazy, but if you have to, you can read it a few times: Cara and I went to a New Kids on the Block Concert this morning. Yes, you read it correct, at 7:30 this morning, Cara and I were standing in the FREEZING cold rain to watch the original boy band haha. Even though we started in the rain, it didn’t last long. We quickly moved to Dean and Deluca for coffee, tea, heat and a roof. Our view was actually better there anyway. We wore our Yellow “team taxi cab” Race to the Altar shirts and we definitely got us some new voters. We met a huge group of people from South Carolina, including a girl from Ridgeland and a girl from Bluffton. (small world)

After our morning adventure we went back downtown to Nathan’s to relax and watch movies. Cara got a great nap in and I got to play some video games. It’s currently 7:25pm, it’s still raining and its 49 degrees. I am really missing Hilton Head and the south right about now.

The past hour or so Cara and I have been going through emails and facebook messages from sooooo many different people. We both want to say, and really from the bottom of our hearts, how much we appreciate everyone’s support, prayers, and votes! The only way we could even come close to having our dream wedding is with your help. This has been such a great experience so far and we both feel its not even half over yet. If you haven’t heard yet, last year there was over 200,000 votes and less than 500 separated first and second place. I said that to say, if we do get chosen as the couple, I want EVERY person to know that each and every vote really did make a BIG difference and ya’ll were a huge part of our wedding. There is no way I could say thank you enough or explain how indebted and grateful we are.

THANK YA’LL SOOOOOOO MUCH!

THE BIG DAY:
Well needless to say yesterday was a whirlwind!! We started off the morning at 4:00AM running on barely any sleep. We headed over to NBC studios at 5:30AM where we 1st saw the set outside and we were pumped!! Cara thrives off of being creative and we couldn’t have asked for a better challenge. We then went in the green room and began getting ready, hair, makeup and all.

8AM we were standing in the plaza, hopefully where we will be walking down the aisle in 1 month. We got to meet Matt & Meredith, what a surreal feeling.

We even got to meet Kathy Lee!

And the challenge begins…what was broadcast showed an accurate account of our morning. We basically tried to stay calm and just started working. I followed Cara’s vision, simple, elegant and classy. We were very happy with the outcome. Cara said she would have worn it as her dress. The only thing the cameras didn’t show is that Cara pricked her finger pretty bad with a safety pin and was bleeding all over the fabric. She kind of had to direct me at the end as to what to get done because she couldn’t keep touching the dress.

We were happy with the choice of “East Meets West”, that is exactly what we would have chosen.

After the fashion show we did satellite cross talks with the Columbia NBC station.

We then checked out of the hotel and headed to stay at our friend, Nathan’s, apartment.

I had to show Cara Canal Street, an experience you have to see for yourself.

Well needless to say we were beat by the end of the day and Cara was not feeling well.

We went to bed by 8.

THURSDAY:

Cara and I took it pretty easy today considering we both were not feeling too well. We walked down to ground zero. A very somber feeling. Construction everywhere…

We then walked through China town, and had lunch at Little Italy. Soooo cute and good!

We ordered in sushi and had a relaxing night. Tomorrow we’re are going to head to the Today show and watch “New Kids on the Block” then to Central Park and who knows where else…

New York rocks…but holy crap is it cold. We got on the plane it was 80 degrees, we got off it was 51 with 30-40 mph winds. The first thing Cara noticed was how every car honks, hahaha. I have had the best two days with Cara. Yesterday when we arrived, we drove straight into town and checked into the hotel. We are staying in midtown, on East 51st street and Madison Avenue at the Rockefeller Center Hotel. It is incredibly nice. Very modern and contemporary, just the way we like it. Yesterday afternoon and evening had nothing scheduled with NBC. We decided to meet one of my best friends, Nathan, who lives in the city and goes to NYU at his apartment in Soho. He suggested a restaurant called Blue Ribbon and that is where we went. It was a great introduction for Cara to NYC dining. I surprised Cara with a random stop on the way home in Times Square. After that we went back uptown to our hotel and called it a night.

This morning we got up, earlier than expected with a phone call from Mrs. Alagna telling us about the article that the Island Packet published today. We got up shortly after and ate breakfast and hung around until our first 11:30 AM meeting with the rest of the couples and the TODAY Show producers. It was a rather intense meeting with lots of rules and things to expect on the show. (much of which cannot be commented about) That meeting ended at about 1:30

The next scheduled thing wasn’t until dinner at 6:00 so we had a few hours off. We ate a little, went to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and walked around Mid-town. We got back to the room around 3:30 and I decided to go to the gym; Cara hung around the room, relaxed and watched TV.

Six O’clock came quickly and we went to dinner with the rest of the couples at Fresco by Scottos. It was AMAZING!!!!! Cara had Mozzarella and tomato with artichoke hearts, red endive, and a basil pesto topped with a drizzle of Balsamic reduction and Olive Oil. Entrée was a simple spring mix salad. I didn’t have an app because I had a 64oz New York Strip. OH MY GOD!!!!! I will post pictures tomorrow. Dinner’s finale was two servings of six different desserts…… need I say more!

We then headed back to the hotel bar called Johnny Utah’s. It was a trendy bar with a young crowd. Sort of a south west swing to a NY bar. There was a mechanical bull and Cara and I decided to give it a run. She did amazing and I think I held my own.

It’s ten o’clock on the dot and about an hour past our bedtime. We are getting up at four AM and need some sleep. See all of you tomorrow and I hope you love us….