Maid of Honor Perks

Last week my sister, aka the bride-to-be, invited me to a come to a tasting event at the caterer's she's using for her wedding's restaurant location. She picked me up after work and we drove out there, and walked into a room full of delicious free food. It was set up in stations - there was a station for salad, pasta, entrees, desserts, and cake, and a bar as well. There was also a fabulous trio playing some classical wedding music. There were a few other tables where they were trying to sell you their services for their wedding, but no one was super pushy about using them and let us relax and enjoy our food in peace.

The salad station was my favorite - it had a salad cocktail theme to it. The salad toppings were all laid out individually and you told them waiter what toppings and dressing you wanted and then he put it all into a drink shaker and then poured out the salad into a martini glass.

How creative! My sister and her fiancee picked out some amazing food and I'm so excited for them - less than 1 year now until the big day!

Wedding Plans

Wednesday night I accompanied my sister to try on her friend's wedding dress. While I can't show you any pictures of her in the dress (in case the groom-to-be might see them), I can show you a picture of her friend's baby showing off her chops on the piano:

...and with my feet

I can play with my hands...

Wedding Plans

My sister is getting married September of next year and they have a date and a venue all set! Hooray! Saturday my sister took me to the venue site so I could see it. I don't know what I was expecting, but it blew away my expectations. The venue is called River Farm and it is very historical - it was owned by George Washington from 1760 until his death in 1799. The site is now the American Horticultural Society Headquarters so there are TONS of beautiful flowers all around the house.

My sister was set on having an outdoor wedding, and after seeing the venue she chose, I can see why she fell in love with the site. This is the front of the house:

This is the side of the house which overlooks the Potomac

And this is the beautiful garden out in the backyard (I love all the benches)

I got distracted and forgot to take a picture of the tent, so this is from the venue's website:

I am so excited for her, and now that they have a venue and a date, I feel like all the other pieces will start to fall into place. I am so excited and can't wait for the big day!

Pictures

 Long overdue, but here are some pictures from the boyfriend and I's roadtrip to Ohio a few weekends ago for my friend's wedding.

Welcome to Ohio!

My hometown!

The wedding venue

The wedding ceremony

The boyfriend at the wedding looking handsome

My high school friends and I at the wedding

Indians Game

The boyfriend and I at the Indians game

Also, here are some pictures from the 4th of July fireworks at Iwo Jima

And, just for fun, me with some SkinnyGirl Margarita

1st Day of Summer

Today is officially the 1st day of summer, although it feels like summer has already been here for quite a while. This weekend I was in Ohio with the boyfriend for a high school friend's wedding, which was a blast. The wedding was out in Amish Country so it was super peaceful and relaxing and quiet out there. While we were there, the boyfriend saw my hometown, met my high school friends, met my Grandparents and my cousin Jenny, and also saw the awesomeness that is Cleveland.

Since I've been back from my trip, my mom has been in town visiting which has been fun. She leaves tomorrow morning though. Last night we went on a bike ride down to the mall, to the grocery store, then to dinner, and then I unpacked. Tonight we are having dinner with the boyfriend. And tomorrow night I have soccer - needless to say it's been quite busy around here, but hopefully this weekend will be more relaxing.

Royalty

When I was London I brought back a few of these flags for my sisters and my friends from work.

I could only get a certain number of flags, and one of co-workers Lisa expressed interest in having one, so I enlisted the skills of the boyfriend to re-make the flag with Lisa's head in place of Kate's on the flag. He is amazing at Photoshop and the flags came out amazing looking (I used some straws at work to complete the flag look), and I decorated her desk with the flags. She loved it and says she is never taking the flags down. Big thanks to the boyfriend for his great work!

Exciting News!

Note: not her actual ring, but sorta close to it

Yesterday, my sister Amy got ENGAGED to her boyfriend of 4 1/2 years! She is the 1st of the sisters to get engaged so this is ultra exciting for us all. Even more exciting is the fact that she asked me to be her MAID OF HONOR! I am so touched, honored, thrilled, and excited to be her maid of honor! I will of course update everyone on the plans as they unfold. I am also grateful that she was able to share her special day with me and the boyfriend. So much excitement around here!!!