Wedding Weekend Part 2

Saturday morning I woke up, earlier than I would have liked, but full of excitement, ready to start the day. The morning was spent setting up and getting ready/beautified. The mothers were at the salon starting at 9am, my bridesmaids and I followed a little later.

The girls hanging out

The final product of my hair

The flower girls with their hair done

The bridesmaids getting ready

 The dress took a while to get on, but once we did that (it took a team), I headed outside (yes it was freezing cold) to do our first look and pictures of us and the bridal party…here is a preview

The girls watching the first look. Yes, the lake is frozen

Out in the woods

It was windy and freakin' cold

Boys will be boys

 Right after all the pictures were taken, we went inside to thaw out. I don't have any pictures of the ceremony yet, but here are some pictures of the party open bar reception!

 

1st Dance

 

The Chair dance, yes it was scary

Craig Cole…catcher of the guarder!

Melissa Corre…Catcher of the bouquet!

The whole weekend was a blast. Chris and I are so grateful for everyone who has contributed to making this weekend special. That includes everyone who was able to attend, all those who helped, and anyone who supported us during the way.

Wedding Weekend Part 1

Last weekend was a magical weekend:) I got hitched! The event officially started on Wednesday December 11th when multiple out of town guests arrived in Seattle. Thursday morning, after all i's were dotted and t's were crossed, the caravan headed up North to the great country of Canada. Thursday night involved eating and drinking at our favorite German restaurant in Harrison Hot Springs and cards against humanity.

Friday was a little more hectic. 1) because it was only one day away from my wedding and 2) because we had to change hotels and getting into our room took forever. The day was beautiful though.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner. It was held at a restaurant called Morgan's Bistro. We have never eaten there before because they are usually closed in the winter, but they happened to be open and able to take a very large group. Morgan's Bistro did a wonderful job attending to over 40 people, making delicious meals, and setting a romantic ambience.

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. On top of that, it was my brother's 24th birthday (lucky Friday the 13th), so of course, we had to sing him happy birthday.

The dinner ran late, but we still managed to head over to a pub to meet the rest of our out of town guests.

Chris and I went to bed (later than I had hoped) excited and nervous for the events of the next day...

Jet Setting the West Coast

Okay, that is a slight exaggeration, but my last few weeks have been up and down the coast.

Two weekends ago I travelled up the Californian coast to San Francisco to hang with my little brother. The weekend was perfect. We had no plans but managed to pack our time with lots of fun stuff. We walked from Ben's place in Pacific Heights to the Embarcadero.

View from the top of Pac Heights

 Found a wine tasting room in Ghirardelli Square (after eating chocolate at Ghirardelli)

 Ate at Pier 39 (and drank a few drinks)

On our walk back, we stopped at the Buena Vista for my 1st Irish Coffee

By the time we walked back up to Pac Heights the sun was setting. This picture was a must!

On Sunday, Ben and I ran to Alamo Square. We felt so good, we decided to run to the beach. Not realizing the time, when we got to the beach, I only had an hour to get back and ready to leave for the airport, so we cabbed it back to his house.

The next day when I was back in Orange, I walked into my apartment to find this…Apparently it had been so windy that a tree blew over. Glad I missed that.

The next week went by quick (which I am glad it did), because Friday, I flew home to Seattle. I didn't tell anyone I was coming home because Chris and I were heading up North to take care of some wedding stuff. It was a very relaxing and (wedding) productive weekend.

This coming weekend (as in right now), I am heading down to Temecula to run my 29th half marathon. This race is going to be interesting for 2 reasons. 1.) I am injured. My knee has hurt since my last half marathon in August thus causing reason 2.) I have not run longer than 8 miles in the past 2 months and no more than 6 miles in the past 6 weeks. I plan on "doing" this race and not necessarily running this race. If I didn't set a goal to run 30 halfs by the end of this year I probably would not be participating in this race, but I am not one to not complete a goal I have set. So here's to not hurting my self worst.

I will update you on the race soon, plus some taping techniques that can be done to help with knee pain.

That Was a Hot One

Here is a little (late) update on my Labor Day Weekend.


It technically started last Thursday night when I met some Seattle friends who were in town to run the Disneyland half for dinner at Gabby's in Old Town. Third time is the charm, the food was even better than last time I ate there, plus the company was fabulous. It was totally worth going to bed late! A week ago Friday was a little tough, but I did have the opportunity to take a long nap when I got home from work before picking my mom up from the airport. Oh yes, apparently my mother is making it a tradition to come down to visit on Labor day. It may just be a 2 year thing because I will definitely be back in Washington at this time next year. Friday night was relaxing. My mom and I just chatted and went to bed (relatively) early.
Saturday of Labor Day weekend we woke up at a leisurely hour, made breakfast and headed up to LA to meet with some friends which entailed shopping for wedding jewelry, chocolate, amazing food, a drag show, and catching up. That is the synopsis, here are some more details.
I have mentioned this jewelry in a past blog post, but Bonnie (our friend who we visited) makes jewelry that I may have purchased  as wedding jewelry and maybe a little something else (not for the wedding) for me. I am not going to show you what I bought for the wedding, but you can check out her website and try to guess what I might have bought (or buy something for yourself)...Love and Piece Jewelry. I will show you the earrings I bought (oops)
On Sunday, before heading back to Orange, we went to West Hollywood for brunch. We ended up going to Hamburger Mary's where they were currently having Drag Brunch.
Monday morning, which included not working (since it was a holiday), my mom and I went down to Newport Beach and ran along the back bay.
What do you do to deal with the heat?

Another wonderful thing that occurred last Saturday night was this…

Yes, that is an 11lb chocolate bar. No I did not eat the whole thing.

Drag brunch is exactly what it sounds like. A drag show while you eat brunch. I actually had a burger (hey the place is called Hamburger Mary's) while listening to the wonderful "Whitney Houston" and  a little Disney's Pocahontas. It was fabulous!

 It was a beautiful day, but definitely a little too hot for my liking. You can tell by the glisten on our bodies. After the run and before my mother had to leave, we walked around Balboa Island. Here is what we saw.

 A woman trying not to get sun burned (but looking ridiculous)

Someone who obviously did not listen to their parent's when they said it was time to go in after the 4th of July. 

This has been the weather lately…

And this is how I have been dealing with it...

Apparently I melt when the temperature hits over 90 deg. This is why I am a true Seattle Girl!