Another Wedding Weekend

This time we went home to AR for a wedding. I blogged about going home for my friend's bachelorette party in April and now it was time for the wedding. I made sure I went down early enough in the week so that I could spend some time with my family and friends and still be able to help Whitney out.

Whitney is one of those really creative and crafty people which is probably why we had so much fun as kids. For her wedding she decided to decorate with paper flowers. I am already a fan of paper flowers and have used them to decorate parties in the past, however I did not know that Whitney was making over 300 paper flowers!

 Whitney and I have known each other since kindergarten so it was really special that I got to be a part of her big day :)

I just thought the picture below was too hilarious not to share. I don't even know how many people were back there trying to figure out how to bustle the dress!

We all had beautiful bouquets with peonies (my fave!) and the paper flowers were used as decorations.You can see some of the paper flowers in the background of the picture below behind the happy couple. Keep in mind this is June in Arkansas so if the groom doesn't look too happy its because it was 97 degrees and everyone was trying not to melt :)

The ceremony was outside at two in the afternoon which was just a smidge hot but the reception was inside and wonderfully air conditioned :) My family was at the wedding too which made for the perfect opportunity for a family photo, everyone is even smiling!

Such a fun trip home and a few much appreciated days off work! Now if I can just make it through July John and I are going to Alaska in August!

Wedding Weekend

For Memorial day weekend John and I rented a car and drove down to DC for my cousin's wedding. We left Friday after work with the entire rest of the population of Manhattan, it took us an hour just to get off the island. Once we did though traffic wasn't bad and I managed to immediately scope out the nearest Sonic :)

We got in really late Friday and then got up early Saturday for the Indian ceremony. I had never been to an Indian wedding ceremony and it was really neat to see. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures until Sunday at the reception.

My cousin Michael and his beautiful bride Shelli

Me and John

Below is my cousin Laura who works in NYC but used to live in Boston and recently moved to DC, it's quite the commute every week but I love having her here. We get to hang out and usually get dinner once a week; who would have thought two girls from AR would be hanging out together in NY!

We took Rosie with us to DC too since we rented a car. She had a blast in the hotel because it was carpeted and she could actually get traction :) There was also a window all the way to the floor and this is how she spent the entire weekend!

You know me, any trip out of the city makes me happy and this one was particularly nice because I got to fit in lots of my favorite things I can't get in NY (ie. Target, Kohl's, Sonic). John even got to go to Chick-Fil-A, one of his faves although he doesn't like to admit he likes fast food :)

All in all, super fun holiday weekend!

Easter Weekend

For Easter I flew down to AR for a surprise bachelorette party for my oldest friend Whitney. Her wedding isn't until June but all but one bridesmaid lives out of town. Whitney thought she wasn't going to be able to have a bachelorette party and so we decided to surprise her and all come in town for Easter. We were all waiting at a nail salon while the one bridesmaid that lives in town brought her in. Whitney had no idea and it was so much fun to see her reaction!

After getting our nails done we got dressed up and went out to get drinks and dinner. For a bachelorette party it was pretty tame but I think that's just what Whitney needed :)

My trip to Little Rock was so quick I really didn't have time to do a whole lot else. I quickly tried to see as many people as possible and get in some cheese dip while I had the chance!

Connecticut Outing

The first weekend in April I took the train to Connecticut to visit with some old friends. I was really excited to get out of the city but the whole train ride I just kept thinking that its April and there are absolutely NO leaves on the trees. The weather and the seasons in the Northeast continue to baffle me! 

It was still beautiful and a really nice day. I didn't really wear appropriate clothes to go hiking because I didn't know that was on our agenda but that's what happens when all the communication is between guys :)

The park was called Lover's Leap and it had a beautiful iron bridge that was built in 1895!

As you can tell from most of my posts I really enjoy getting out of the city every once in a while :)

Boston Weekend

For the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday John and I took the bus to Boston. We both had Monday off so we thought it would be a great time to go visit some friends and get out of the city.

We got up early and took the bus Saturday morning and got into Boston around lunch time. After checking into the hotel and grabbing lunch we met up with some friends and headed to the aquarium. John used to have a salt water aquarium and is always interested in visiting aquariums any chance he gets :)

The aquarium had a huge cylinder shaped tank that had tons of fish including the turtle above and the sand tiger shark below! There was a ramp around the tank and you could walk around it in circles so you really got to see everything in the tank. They even had question and answer sessions at the top.

This aquarium had their sick area behind glass so you could see what went on. They had two turtles in isolation tanks and even had the turtles' charts posted. One of the poor turtles had to have a lung biopsy!

On Sunday we decided to do the Freedom Trail, unfortunately we couldn't get an official guided tour but luckily our friend Rebecca who moved to Boston in August played tour guide for us. She did a great job walking us around the city and explaining the landmarks :)

Mother Goose is supposedly buried in this cemetery as well as Paul Revere. His actual headstone is the one to the right and the larger one was added later.

 The old state house which sadly now has a Ruth's Chris steakhouse in it.

The Parker hotel where we were staying is supposed to be the birthplace of Boston cream pie so we definitely had to try some. It's not as pie-like as the name sounds, really more like a cake but it was still good.

My first trip to Boston turned out to be so much fun, we'll definitely have to go back sometime when there's not snow all over the ground :)

Blogger MIA

So I've taken a little hiatus from blogging. I didn't really mean to be absent for almost three months but somehow here we are.

John and I have been working like crazy lately. In March the person I worked directly with was let go and I ended up taking over her projects. Work for me has definitely been a lot of long hours and stress lately. John like usual is just working on too many things all at once. He has a full time job, a side project with a group of people and then his own side project. Its amazing he has time to eat and sleep!

Anyway, summer is right around the corner and there are definitely some things to look forward to like upcoming weddings and a trip back to AR. I'm going to post some of the things from months ago that I never got around to posting so that I can start fresh for summer :)

San Francisco

For Presidents' Day weekend John and I took a couple of days off and went to San Francisco. It was supposed to be a getaway from the winter here in NY but it ended up being rainy and pretty chilly. It was still really great to have a little break from work, visit some friends, and we did end up missing a snow in NY while we were gone :)

The first day we were there we walked around the Mission district and had some pretty good Mexican food and then went to the Fisherman's Wharf area and checked out the sea lions. For the most part it sprinkled on and off but we did have to seek refuge in Ghirardelli's ice cream shop during one down pour :)

The second day we took a drive up to Muir Woods which is home to some of the oldest redwoods in the country. Apparently redwoods are the tallest living things, the tallest being 379.1 feet tall in Redwood National Park. I've never seen redwoods and these were pretty amazing. Even though it was rainy and cold we were in the middle of the forest and it was still so beautiful!

On the way back from Muir Woods we stopped at the lookout above the Golden Gate Bridge. It used to be a military lookout with giant guns to protect the bay during WWI and WWII. The guns aren't there anymore but its a really neat view of the bridge. Unfortunately since we were so high up it was insanely windy, I think the rain was falling horizontally at that point. John took a picture just because it was so funny.

We finally got a nice sunny day the last day of our trip so we decided to drive up to Sonoma and check out wine country. Our awesome host Mandi offered to be our designated driver which was so sweet of her! We even stopped by the Golden Gate Bridge again to take a picture while it was sunny. 

Sonoma was absolutely beautiful! We checked out several vineyards and got to sample all kinds of wines. We both had a lot of fun, John enjoys wine a little more than I do though and he might have had a little too much fun :)

The whole trip was really great even though the weather didn't always cooperate so nicely. We love to travel and I especially like to get out of the city every once in a while :)