Susie got married!

Susie got married!!!  Chris' family and I headed to Sacket's Harbor, NY for a beautiful backyard wedding. Look at this view of Lake Ontario! 

Both families came together to pull this wedding off and it was intimate and lovely.  She's lucky to have this view of the lake and to be sharing it with her husband Damien. They seemed very happy with their dogs and home renovation projects, and we were happy to meet his kind and warm family. 

Here we are in the midst of the wedding enjoying the views and snapping photos! 

And sparkling night lights to finish off the night.  I was so impressed with Susie and Damien --- she made her own cupcakes with intricate frosting and they really made the space welcoming and comfortable for everyone in the days leading up to the event.  Chris' parents and Damien's parents are also troopers! 

And here we are --- one week away from our own anniversary of our wedding last year :) 

A couple of final observations...

- Sacket's Harbor is real rural, I mean REALLY rural. There were 4-5 houses on this country road and nothing else.  A nice reprieve from the bustle of city living, but I don't think it is for me. I'm surprised to know someone who lives in such a rural town! 

- I forgot how hot and muggy the East coast is and I don't miss that...but I do miss all that greenery

Wedding 2.0 - The Video

I'm catching up on wedding related posts here, so please bear with me! 

Wedding planning in the 21C is all about online searching, and it can be pretty overwhelming. But I came across a fun quiz that determined whether you are someone who likes to revisit memories via video or photos, based on current media consumption habits.  I like watching videos, according to the quiz. 

This helped us decide, among other things...like aging parents and friends and family that live far away, that we wanted a video!! 

I think our videographer did a great job, and I'm so excited to see that friends and family make an appearance in the video.  I do wish more people, like Chris' extended family were captured as well, but I still think it is a good representation of our day.

Please enjoy! 

Wedding Video

pswd: sc

Caveat: This video was supposed to be 10-15 minutes long, but I think our videographer got overwhelmed with where to cut my dad's speech and ended up leaving the whole speech in. It's about 30 minutes long.  

Music: Above and Beyond, Treasure.

Happy Halloween!

Isn't this terrifying?!!?!?!  Why are Chris' lips so red?! My parents met an artist (as they often do) who offered to draw a portrait of Chris and I after my mom told the artist that I had just gotten married.

This is the result! My mom and I couldn't stop laughing when we saw this....and I thought it only appropriate to share on Halloween night, because it is so incredibly terrifying!!!

june gloom

There is such a thing as June Gloom.  And then there is May Gray.  For some odd reason, June and sometimes May are cloudy in Southern California.  I often wake up to windows filled of white where you'd expect blue skies.

These days, I find myself restless, anxious, and unable to sleep. And it doesn't help the sky is gloomy. I'm shocked that in 18 days, EIGHTEEN DAYS! Chris and I will be hosting a marriage celebration for some 100+ people.  I feel incredibly unprepared for this and I think I'm most likely forgetting things, very important things, the kind of things all the wedding planners who I interviewed kept eluding to, but wouldn't dare share. ...but then on the other hand, I'm just super excited to share experiences of LA with friends and family coming from afar, and to just see everyone together in one place, meeting each other for the first time, or reconnecting after years. And then...I'm like fuck it. At least I know the food will be good, the venue is unique and very L.A., there will be alcohol, and if everything isn't perfect, or even close to perfect,---perfect meaning not fancy enough, our friends and family will forgive us.  

In the face of a million gazillion options and logistics, and desires to create the environment found on my many pins on pinterest, I find myself frozen in the fear of making the wrong decision. Which is ridiculous. But ...not surprising.  I've always done better when I had less options, but wedding planning is anything but having  limited options (at least in the U.S.). With the clock ticking---work starting to become demanding, and will be until the wedding, and decisions that absolutely NEED to be made at this point, I know Chris and I will be forced to make decisions--whether they are the right ones or wrong ones- something is going to be done. On that note, back to researching options!  

post-marriage, pre-wedding

Moving to a new city as an adult isn't so hard when you are married and have a built in friend to discover the city with.  Chris and I, however, have been extremely lucky.  Some of our closest college friends live here and some people who we knew, but have wanted to get to know better, also live here. We've also been fortunate enough to meet people who are new to LA and don't yet have their lives filled with a set group of friends. They are willing to explore and discover LA and all it has to offer together.  We are even luckier that many of these friends are experiencing similar life milestones together, like being newly wed or soon to be wed. I never thought too much about this before, since being in school somewhat ensures everyone around you experiences similar milestones together, but this is not something to be taken for granted. I am thankful everyday for this. 

My favorite girls in LA threw me a post-marriage, pre-wedding party at Malibu Wines! 

Look at that spread of food! Portos!! yum~~

It was interesting to hear perspectives from everyone about Chris or about me, or about our relationship! It was a lot of laughing, food, and enjoying the sun and music, and of course the beautiful atmosphere of lightheartedness, flowers, and California ease.  Though I have to admit, being the center of attention was far from comfortable. 

I am so blessed. If not anything, I have always been lucky with having amazing people in my life.