Maggie and Lee's Wedding in Wimberly

Last weekend D and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my good friend from elementary school (and junior high, and highschool, and college, and as young professionals in the ATX before she moved away), Maggie. Maggie and Lee really know how to throw a wedding. It was held at Old Glory Ranch and was the perfect setting for a fall wedding. And we were blessed with perfect weather, the first weekend in a long while where it wasn't scortching hot. When we left, the thermometer on the car said 59 degrees!!!

When we walked out of the chapel, to the string quartet playing "The Eyes of Texas", we were greeted by these adorable little donkeys carrying buckets of beer.

Here's Darryl looking sheepish with the awesome donkeys. He loved them and I reminded him that I had recommended them for our own wedding cocktail hour but he shot them down. Now who's sorry? Beer donkeys are freaking awesome.

The Old Glory Ranch floral design was unbelievable. I should have taken more pictures, but I was ill prepared with only D's camera phone. Look at how fab these fall floral displays are. And they were ALL over the place. Clearly no expense was spared on the floral design. One of the most beautiful weddings we've ever attended.

Cocktail hour.

Maggie the beautiful bride and my preggo self.  First time a stranger has asked me when I was due, I'm starting to show!  We had to leave a bit early to take care of our dogs and get my preggo behind to bed, so we didn't get to see their grand exit, but I hope to see it in the photos from their photographer's website!

Second Wedding Anniversary!

While a ranch in the Texas Hill Country was no Buckingham Palace, I couldn't have asked for a more fabulous wedding day.

Two years ago today I.....

Waited anxiously to get this party started....

Shared vows with my wonderful husband...

Took silly pictures with our wedding party

And danced the night away with our closest family and friends...  Can't wait for all that the future holds!

Wedding Porn

A couple gems from Carli at Inked Fingers of Janet and Ben's big day!  Can't get over how lush and green everything was. 

Why Wedding Photo Booths are THE BEST!

It was a beautiful wedding.  Ben totally cried as Janet came down the aisle.  Not like a single composed tear, but like kind of an ugly cry.  Except it wasn't ugly, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in a wedding. 

 Darryl and I enjoyed ourselves immensely....

As did Molly and Buckley......

And Amelia and Jason....

And Christine and Parker.....

And Cami and Chase...

And all the bridesmaids.....

And all of the bridesmaids, a few of the groomsmen, and Darryl :).


They used Magnolia Photo Booth.  Check them out, they were cool!

Wedding Weekend

Looking forward to a lovely weekend with Miss Janet (far right) and Mr. Ben (far left) making a Darryl and Kelly sandwich, to celebrate their nuptials!

Finally no longer a bridesmaid, Janet's a bride!  Will post photos of her fab day for all to drool over!

Dog Days of Summer

(not one of my pups, random interwebs pup, but he's cute!)

To be honest, I feel pretty guilty about writing this post.  I'm a big fan of living in the moment and my favorite time of the year is summer.  But for some reason, I am SO READY FOR THIS SUMMER TO END.  For many reasons, this summer has been a frustrating one.  Our kitchen renovation was a bit stressful/involved combined with minimal free time since we were invited to one million weddings, baby showers, wedding showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, reunions, etc.  Now, I guess that means that people like us and we're blessed to have all these friends, which I am grateful, but after a while not being the master of your own weekends, well, they just start to feel like another form of WORK.  I was off doing something fun most weekends but after a while, constant social obligations stop feeling fun, which is something I didn't realize until this summer.  I am definitely suffering from social burnout.  I was so concerned with being there for my friends and not wanting to miss any of the fun, that I forgot how much I need down time.

Combine that with a bit of a bumpy patch in my actual work and weather forecasts all next week of up to 104, kind of makes me just want to fast forward through the rest of this month.  So here's what I'm looking forward to in September.

Gardening-I have been out working in the garden beds as often as possible, but it's one million degrees.  I've been prepping the beds for the fall planting and getting my seedlings in the ground so we have good production when it cools off.  Combine that with having to be extra vigilant with the watering schedule so the seedlings don't scorch and shrivel, let's just say I'm looking forward to reaping some of those rewards.  Planted string beans, flowers and will be adding broccoli and cauliflower transplants in Sept.

Getting Back On a Regular Workout Schedule-Summer's social calendar has kept me busy or out of town (or hung over) most weekends.  I have had to double time my home chores in the week/been so drained after work that I have been spending most of my weeknights doing crap around the house.  However, with some recent changes at work and having my weekends back, I'm looking forward to getting my life back in balance.

Some Welcome Pampering-I've recently discovered Groupon and Living Social so I've booked a nice facial and eye treatment as well as planned some lovely meals out for me and the hubs.  Plus I'm looking forward to buying some fall clothes.  With some recent weight fluctuations (see lack of working out above) and financial strain from renovations, I've had to cut shopping and some restaurant dining out of my usual routine.  It'll be nice to buy a couple new pieces for fall.

One More Wedding-Yes, I've been complaining about having too much crap to do on weekends so this may be a contradiction, but C&P's wedding weekend will be fun if I can avoid letting work get in the way.  I'm doing my darnedest to get ahead at work so I can relax and celebrate their nuptials.

Vegas!!!!!!-I'd be lying if I said the promise of this trip isn't what's keeping me from sticking my head in the oven right now (okay, I know, I'm being so dramatic).  We're going at the end of the month with 2 other super fun couples.  The weather in Vegas that time of the year is ideal and I know we're going to have such a good time.  I am a big believer in weekend getaways and Vegas is my favorite spot, can't wait!

New England Vacation

We flew into Boston and picked up a rental car and drove to Gardner in north central Massachusetts and were greeted with my aunt's homemade clam chowder, lobster rolls, and blueberry pie.  The next day we went out to their camp on the lake.

Here we are in a totally nonchalant candid and unposed photo picking blueberries.  My aunt's pies were from the berries picked at their camp.  We showed them how to grill corn (Yankees don't know how to do that, crazy!) and grilled burgers and hot dogs, munched on Cape Cod potato chips and drank beer from the Wachusett Brewery.  

 

After lunch Darryl (middle) went on a kayak expedition with my dad and uncle in the pouring rain.  Staying on the porch and drinking beer was more my speed.

Later that day we attended the rehearsal dinner in my aunt and uncle's back yard and hung out with all the fam.  The next morning we went to the wedding, here's me and the folks above.  Look how good we are in our primary colors, almost like we planned it.

Here's me and Darryl deep in conversation at the wedding reception with my cousins.  After a lovely visit in Gardner and my aunt's homemade pancakes every morning (who knew you can make those things from scratch?) we went to spend the day in Boston.

Here we are at Cheers (replica) at Quincy Market where we had lunch.

After lunch we went on the longest most boring tour of our lives (but it was good exercise), then ended up here at Paul Revere's grave.

After a long day walking the Freedom Trail, with brief detours to the North End's Feast of St. Joseph, we settled in at Legal Seafood for a lobster dinner.  I made Darryl wear his bib.  He's getting pretty good at this lobster stuff, much better than when we first met.

Bellies full of lobster and wine we strolled along the dock.  That night my mom and I hung out in the Logan Hilton Airport Executive lounge and watched the sun set over cups of tea and petits fours.  All and all, it was a wonderful time with the family and a wild success for Darryl's first trip to New England!

Bachelorette Party Recap

A couple weekends ago we celebrated the bachelorette party of a certain Ex-Yankee and as documented by the lovely Mrs. Collins.  Janet and I planned the brunt of the affair, but Christine's other bridesmaids, who live far far away and were not able to attend contributed generously in both finances and spirit.  We started out the morning with all sorts of yummy breakfast treats and a Bellini bar inspired by the shower I attended thrown by the Waspy Redhead (fyi, if you don't have a blog I can link to, our friendship does not exist, kidding). 

We visited 3 wineries, Becker, Grape Creek, and Torre di Pietra.  These photos are from our last stop, because I was very busy with the important business of pounding as many glasses of wine as possible and couldn't be bothered to take photos.  Classy, I know.




Amelia's torso...seriously, I can't be friends with anyone without their own blog...





I made Janet hide behind the arbor and make tiger noises.  We.  were.  drunk.





I'm just goign to stroll through this vinyard with my glass of Dirty Girl.  Note that Janet and I felt the need to break into the "Dirty Girl" song a la Rob & Big.  Who else knows that song?  Favorite thing about that show and also favorite thing about Janet.





Frolicking in sundresses in a vineyard. We should be some sort of ad campaign for sundresses.  Or wine.  Or something completely not related to either.




The other Kelly and the bride to be deep in conversation, taking in a rockabilly/country band.





We played a naughty scratch off game on the car ride home.




And here were the favors I made with the hub's graphic design help.  Took a bottle of Becker Chardonnay and made custom wine labels.  Note that this was all the hubs.  I ride the short bus on all things computer graphic-ey.

Wed Night Shenanigans

Unfortunately, I can't post what I've been up to tonight because it involves:

A) Shopping more than I should have at Anthropologie (I went in to return stuff, I don't know how it happened, I'm so ashamed!  Trying to painfully decide what to part with and return whiiiiich will probably lead to another spree, thus the cycle continues, ugh.)
B) Bachelorette Party prep (of which many of the guests/guest of honor are loyal readers) and I want them to be SURPRISED so I'm keeping that stuff under wraps
C) Spent the night searching Austin for mini quiches and no one really wants to read about that (but seriously, if you know where I can get them, let me know)
D)  All of the above

So as far as the bachelorette party prep goes, no worries my lovelies, I am photo documenting it like a good little blogger, so expect a post Monday-ish?  As I'm working away on my little projects, I'm watching Dear John, which I can't decide if it is sweet or cheesy drivel. 

Darryl's on his way home from the airport, just flew in from a business trip in New Jersey.  There was a bit of an incident involving the New Jersey Turnpike and a trip past the Statue of Liberty rather than the Newark Airport as he'd originally intended, but he's on his way home now, safe and sound. 

That's all for now, kitchen remodel kicks off in 48 hours, busy, busy!

One Year Anniversary

If you're reading this, we've jetted off for a romantic long weekend in Belize to celebrate our first wedding anniversary!  Here's a few memories from the happiest day of our lifes.  The best advice I can give brides to be is to plan a wedding that is going to be genuinely fun.  We had such a blast!

Thanks to all our friends and family for having the night of our lives with us and supporting us in our first year as Mr. and Mrs.

Marie's Bachelorette Party

While all the details of bachelorette parties are not public fodder, I will say that we had a blast, starting the night off with pole dancing lessons at Brass Ovaries. While the class we attended in Vegas for my party was pretty phenomenal, these ladies were no slouches. They put on a good class at half the price, I highly recommend them and may need to plan a birthday excursion there. If you've never done a pole class, you'll love it, it's a fantastic workout, you'll be so sore in the morning. The best part is you don't even realize how hard you're working out because you're having so much fun.

Afterwards we went to Malaga for some tapas and pitchers of sangria. Following dinner, we had some miscellaneous bachelorette shenanigans including a scavenger hunt and the urge to show off our new talent and do fireman spins on every pole-like object within a 40 mile radius.

me and the lovely bride, Marie