Thank you

As I wind up the wedding posts, there are a few people whose generosity was endless in the days prior to our wedding that I would like to thank.

Thank you to my parents,

who ran more errands than I can possibly count, planned tricky logistics, and all-around unselfishly gave their time weeks prior and the day of. I can't think of the words to express my gratitude; you move me to tears.

 Thank you to my Aunt Robin,

for the most beautiful and perfect wedding flowers I could have ever dreamed of. I showed my aunt several pictures of flowers I liked and before I knew it, she had a complete breakdown of exactly what I needed to order. She went so beyond her call of duty; she was willing to do a million more flowers than asked. She worked the entire week before my wedding round-the-clock to create a record number of bouquets of flowers, bridal party bouquets, corsages, and various other floral decorations.

My grandmother's house was open, so my aunt took over the house with flowers. My aunt stayed there, with the air conditioning uncomfortably low, all week...even developing sinus pressure because of the cold temps! You rock my world Aunt Robin.

Thank you to my cousin Tana,

who took off the entire week of work before my wedding to help. She made signs, ran errands, and even sat with me more than once while I practiced my makeup. She stayed up late every night with me to help finish decorations, soothe my worries, and listen to me sing petite feet repeatedly. She is the #1 reason I didn't have to be really stressed out the week before my wedding. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you so much.

Thank you to Jake Brown,

who played the role of groomsman, DJ, and dad that night. One of my aunts told me later that she saw him at one point using one hand to control some stuff on his laptop and the other to push a stroller back and forth trying to get his son to fall asleep.

Jake and his wife Megan were so thoughtful throughout the whole process and my family kept telling us how sweet our DJ was (we agree). Thank you so much Jake and Megan.

If you're getting married in St. Augustine or anywhere close by, we can't recommend Jake and Megan enough. Check out their adorable website here.


....
Thank you also to my brother, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, Ian, Jess, Keeley, Brennan, Uncle Eric, Uncle Chris, and Uncle Jim for your incredible help in setting up and enduring much stress the day of. Thank you also to Max Soelzer for officiating. And lastly, thank you Jordan Burch for our beautiful photos and being such a joy to have around on our wedding day.

Watermelon Margaritas

We had a few family and friends over Sunday night and I made watermelon margaritas. Juicing a watermelon is so satisfying; you get soooo much juice. (I have a container of leftover in the fridge if you want some.)

I'd tweak the ratios a bit if I made these again, but I may have messed them up by quickly making a mass quantity. If I did follow the right ratios, then I'd add a little more lime juice and a little more tequila for that margarita bite that seemed to be missing. They were good though; they just tasted like a good watermelon cocktail. Adjust as you see necessary.

Makes 1 Margarita: 

Chili Salt Rim
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder

Cocktail
1 lime wedge
2 ounces blanco tequila
2 ounces watermelon juice
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce Simple Syrup


I love summer. Do I have to go back to work next month?

Painting

I broke my rule about never paying for a large canvas (here I posted about how easy they are to make.) We don't have a drill around anymore, and with a 40% off coupon, buying one isn't too bad. Well except I bought a 48"x48" canvas and thought it would fit in my car....nope. I walked home from Hobby Lobby carrying the canvas. Pretty funny. Luckily our house is just a little less than a mile away.

I've been feeling inspired to make a bunch of stuff lately, so I'm trying to cram it all in before I go back to work in August.

Happy Birthday, Brad!

Happy Birthday to my big brother - the quirkiest and sweetest brother I could ever ask for!

Our Wedding Day - Favorite Moments

Our wedding day was perfect. We debated having a wedding or eloping for a long time; I think we were actually still debating what to do up until the last possible time we could. We're both pretty practical, so the arguments for eloping made sense to us. The last call was in December when we realized we would never have the opportunity again to have all of our closest family and friends together in one place.

I can't imagine now not having done it. The planning, stress, and money were without a doubt worth it. We had such a special day and nearly everything was as good or better than we imagined.

Here are some of my favorite moments from our wedding:

Getting ready. I had a pretty relaxed time getting ready. I think the key to being calm getting ready is having alone time. I had an hour completely alone - it was so relaxing. I was nervous, but didn't have to small talk to anyone during that time and could just get myself together. My friend Lauren did my hair and it was great to have the room quiet while she did my hair, too.

First look. Instead of waiting until walking down the isle to see Eric for the first time, our photographer helped us set up a first look before the ceremony. I hid at the top of the court house stairs and she positioned Eric's back to me. Getting to see him alone was really sweet and in doing so we were able to knock out a lot of our photos before the ceremony. This allowed the picture time after the ceremony to be really short. I would suggest this to anyone planning a wedding; we got to jump into cocktail hour and visit family and friends before the dinner started.

Being outside. My #1 wish for our wedding was to have it completely outside. I love outdoor weddings. We found a great venue on the bay in Pensacola with lots of outdoor room. All week it was calling for a high chance of thunderstorms for our wedding day. I sat on pins and needles watching the weather, and the day of it rained in the morning and then turned into a gorgeous day. We couldn't have been luckier.

Having all your close friends and family in one place. There are no words for how amazing it is to have so many special people in your life in one place.

Eric's dad officiating. Eric's dad officiated, making our ceremony even more heartfelt. Our script was personal and intimate thanks to Eric's work in writing it. Writing your own vows is a detail I would recommend to never skip, too.

Thank you to everyone who traveled and shared this day with us. Proper thank yous to some special people that helped us tremendously coming soon.


  All photos by Jordan Burch Photography.

Vietnamese Slaw

I love the slaw you get at Vietnamese restaurants - cabbage, mint, green onions, vinegar, sesame seeds,.. YUM. Found a recipe here that I like that uses Napa cabbage, sesame oil, rice vinegar, mint, scallions, cilantro, ginger & almonds. (How can you go wrong with that many herbs?)

 We're back from traveling from Meg's wedding and I have another month before I go back to work full time. I'll be posting more wedding stuff & pictures from our honeymoon soon.