Weekend Recap: Visitors from the East

We had some lovely guests over the weekend...Danny's sister, Mel, and her husband, Arthur! We were worried about the weather going in as they were predicting rain, but the universe listened to my request and actually gave us really nice weather overall.

Friday started with a trip to the Denver Biscuit Co. I had a terrible time deciding what to get...really wanted to try the Strawberry Shortcake, but ended up going with the Schooner. Delicious! A warning: breakfast here might require a nap following your meal.

That night we went to see In the Heights. Loved it! The energy in this musical is phenomenal. The music is great. It's just so much fun. Highly, highly recommend it! Mel gave me the original cast recording, and I plan on listening to it all afternoon. Here's a taste...



Saturday was full of cocktails, yummy food, great friends, a punching bag machine, and late night pizza. A really good day and a great night.

We had so much fun with Mel and Arthur and really wish they lived closer to us. Come back soon!

A Sibling Getaway

My brother and sister both came to visit for a loooong weekend last week. We had a blast! Here are a few highlights:

Yummy sushi dinner on Dad, all the way from Tennessee (Thanks, Dad!)


Wandering around downtown




Our first ever NBA game - Nuggets vs. Pacers



2 days of skiing/snowboarding on fresh powder in beautiful weather




Ice butt


A cute puppy face


Curling!


A fun joke on Mom :)


Can't wait for the 2nd annual Sibling Getaway!

under the boardwalk, down by the sea

well, strike the "under." we were on top of the boardwalk.

while we were in southern california for jen's wedding, we spent a day wandering around huntington beach. my mom & her friend, brenda (seen below), actually grew up there, so there was lots of reminiscing. the weather was gorgeous; it was a little cool that day, but it was clear (as in smog free), and the sun was shining.

a wedding AND a baby

this time two weeks ago, my family and i were in southern california because my cousin, jennifer, was getting married! the big day was june 6th, and it was lovely...lots of love and lots of sunshine; both of which are clearly evident in the picture below.



the ever adorable john, nephew of the bride, served as flowerboy. there was some concern by his mom, stacey, that guests might think he was the flowergirl given his long, blonde, curly locks, but i think his tie (of course, removed as soon as he got to the end of the aisle) set the record straight.



the wedding location was small and intimate. we hung around there a while after the ceremony waiting for our family photos with the photog, so in the meantime we snapped a few of our own. my little brother and i almost have the same hair color in this picture. almost.



sometimes it scares me how much i look like my mom and that i never noticed it until a couple years ago. isn't she pretty? this bodes well for me (and danny).



immediately after taking the following picture of jen & lee and getting excited because i could tell how great the next pictures would be, my camera flashed a mean little red light at me telling me it had no power left. that's the problem with a camera battery that lasts forever; you forget to charge it at all.



danny was at the wedding too, by the way. unfortunately, he didn't make it on film the memory card before the camera cut off (my mom took some pictures, but she's kind of slow on the upload). we did manage one poor quality camera phone picture which i promptly made danny set as his iphone background (to make him that guy). shockingly, he hasn't removed it yet.



now, for the second half of the the title of this blog post: a baby. the beautiful family below is going to be welcoming a new baby in december! i am beyond excited. seriously. beyond. john's going to have a little brother or sister in a few months! have i mention that i was excited?



it was definitely a great weekend for our family - a wedding and a baby all in one weekend! congratulations and excitement all around!

seems that us girl cousins are grown ups now...how weird.

wedding recap: friday rehearsing

after the trip to the courthouse, we headed up the mountain to the lodge where the wedding and reception would be held the following day. some key wedding party memebers were still in transit, so i went over the details with cheryl, friend and coordinator extrordinaire. i gave charlie her flower girl basket;she collected leaves and nuts, so she could practice dropping things on the ground. eventually, everyone arrived & we were able to do a couple run-throughs...i won't say that everyone really knew what they were supposed to do, but at least they had a general idea & cheryl took good notes.

while we were doing the rehearsal outside, a group of people were setting up for an even being held at the lodge that night. the lodge was full of autumn decorations including mums which was a key item we had yet to purchase. my sister spoke with the woman in charge & asked if we could have the mums and a few other things for a donation to her charity (can you tell she negotiater for a living?). deal!

by the end of the rehearsal, i was reaching my wit's end. i knew the questions and answers were important, but everyone was asking me some kind of question..."what time do you want to cut the cake?"..."what time do you want to leave the reception?"..."what time should i get here tomorrow?"..."when do you want to do the first dance?"..."is it okay if i wear this?"..."what should i wear?"..."you asked for a wooden sign, do you still want that?" i couldn't take any more. i was tired of being the only one who had answers, so after that moment, i was done with questions. i told people if they weren't sure of something to either ask someone else or make it up. i honestly wasn't a bridezilla kind of bride, so i was fine with whatever they came up with. that moment was my only "freak out," and i was totally fine once my no-more-questions decision was made.

from the lodge, my maids of honor, flower girl, and mother of the flower girl, and i made our way down the mountain to the small nail salon i go to to have our nails done. yes, even charlie. she picked a fabulous shade of yellow for her fingernails & gabbed away with while the rest of us took our turns.

next on the schedule was the rehearsal dinner which was held at a local mexican restuarant, casa blanca. we convinced them to let us reserve the patio for the 50 or so people we were expecting. it was so much fun! we had our closest friends and family there, & they were there to celebrate us. it was wonderful.

















one favorite moment that was not at all embarassing was when my dad made everyone (yes, everyone) stand up and introduce themselves & explain who they were in relation to the bride and/or groom...there was speech giving. some of which was helped along by some margaritas beforehand. my little brother gave a very sweet speech that even got him a little choked up.



my sister gave one too, in the style of a lawyer presenting to a jury.



an unintentional effect from her speech was that part of it made danny's grandmother feel like she had to stand up for her family & me a little taste of the threats my siblings (who really love danny) had been doling out to danny...oops. my maid of honor, natasha, gave a wonderful speech that i'm sure was lost on some family members, but it meant so much to me.



all in all, a basically perfect night. from there, it was off to gather all the stuff we needed for the next day & head to the hotel to rest up for the big day!