Bob's Wedding

At the end of July I flew to Washington for my brother's wedding. It was a great wedding on the peaks of Mt. Baker. We were lucky enough this time to have almost the whole Everett clan together for this years wedding. The only one missing was Emily. She joined us a few days after the wedding (she was busy traveling around Europe at the time of the wedding.)

The night before the wedding family and close friends got together for rehearsal dinner at a local pub. We had some amazing fish and chips and chicken. After rehearsal my parents and I took my cousins to a great local ice cream place for desert.

Below is a picture of me with my cousins Jonathan, Katie and

Daniel.

Mom and Dad at rehearsal dinner.

The morning of the wedding was full of excitement. Lee had left a bag of bridal things at home. The wedding was taking place at Mt. Baker about an hour or so away. Everything turned out just fine though; some of Lee's amazing friends met us half way and brought the bag to us. The rest of the day went off without a hitch. While Bobby and Lee were getting married their friends were at Lee's parents house decorating for the reception. The ceremony was short and sweet over looking valley's and mountains. A friend of theirs married them.Their friends did an amazing job decorating the tables and buffet; everything was very natural and woodsy.

Their cake was nontraditional but looked great. It was so realistic.

There were delicious fresh berries to go along with the cake.

Lastly a beautiful picture of the bride and groom at the ceremony site. It was just breathtaking!

P.S. I must apologize for neglecting the blog. My plan is to try and post at least once a week. More posts to come about the trip to Washington.

Jimmy Buffet & Chinatown

One of the things my parents and I all wanted to do during their stay was to visit some of the great markets we have here. The first was the Kailua market right where I live and the second was the market in Chinatown. It was very large (3 different buildings) and was full of food items I had never seen. They had everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to pigs heads and brains. It was quit an experience.

Their vegetables were gorgeous! They were so vibrant and abundant.

Even though is smelled of meat and fish there were some amazing looking fish. There was just so much color throughout the market. The prices were unbeatable too!
After Chinatown we headed to Waikiki. I had been waiting until my Dad got into town to try Jimmy Buffets new restaurant, The Beachcomber. It was really neat! The whole place looks like you are under the water or sitting on the beach looking out at the beach. They have booths that were under waves and palm trees all over the place. Of course it wouldn't be a Jimmy Buffet restaurant without some great music. Each booth had a t.v. showing music videos and every night they have live music. To top it all off they had great drinks and food!
This is the dessert that all three of us shared and we still weren't able to finish it!
After lunch we walked down the main strip and took a few touristy pictures.

Little Lizabeth's Wedding!

After NC, MA & NH I finally ended up in Alabama for my amazing friend, Elizabeth's wedding. I was there a few days before the wedding so we had time to just hang out and relax.

I finally got to meet lovely little Molly and she was nice enough to help us make Elizabeth's bow bouquet for the rehearsal.
All the events really started on Friday. Elizabeth's grandma's threw an amazing bridal luncheon. It was at the old town jail which was turned into a really great cafe. It was really cute because they left two of the cells so you could still see the past in the present. They went all out with beautiful centerpieces and everything. It was a lot of fun for me because it was the first time that I was meeting many of the ladies. Here is a picture of all the ladies who attended the luncheon.
After the luncheon we headed home to get ready for the rehearsal. There was a little stress due to the grooms men's vests not being on time but while we getting ready for rehearsal they finally arrived. I think the UPS guy was a little scared of us because we ran to the door and he sort of tossed the box at us. I think he was afraid we might jump him. The vests were finally the last piece of the puzzle. After the excitement of the vests we headed to the church for rehearsal, followed by the rehearsal dinner. Everything went smoothly that night and rehearsal dinner was a blast; great food and great conversation. Below is a picture of the bride and groom at rehearsal and of course Elizabeth is in her signature color...purple! Somewhat of a theme for the week.
Finally it was here, wedding day! Elizabeth, her mom, her sister and I woke up early and headed to the site of the reception to set a few things up. Once we were done it was looking pretty good. After the reception site, we stopped for some food on the way to the church to let the florist in. Our stop at Chick-fil-A was quit an adventure. To keep it short that is the only time Elizabeth cried all day. It ended up being pretty funny once we all realized that chicken sandwiches is what pushed her over the edge. Once the florist arrived we were getting really excited because the flowers were so beautiful! We left her mom and sister at the church with the florist and Elizabeth and I headed to the hair salon. After the hair salon everything seemed to fly by. We headed home to pack up the car for the wedding. Below is a picture of me and two of the bridesmaids hanging out before the wedding.

The next 4 hours we hung out, got ready and took pictures. Everyone was so excited once Elizabeth was in her dress. She made such a beautiful bride!

The ceremony went smoothly and before we knew it we were off to the Westin for the reception. The rest of the night was full of good food, lots of dancing and CAKE! Check out their beautiful cakes!
It was so great to not only be there for Elizabeth's wedding but be a part of it. I was so happy to be there and share in the joy of her big day. The very next day I headed back home and Elizabeth and Caleb headed to Sonoma, CA for an amazing honeymoon full of wine and hot air balloon rides!

There are so many more pictures so if you would like to check them out go here: Elizabeth's Wedding

Cary, Boston, & Westmoreland

5 Time Zones and 2 days later, I finally arrived in North Carolina for my three day visit with Sally. It was so great to see her again! It makes me really wish I lived closer to her and Elizabeth.

For those who don't know Sally is getting married August 1st...which happens to be the same day my brother is getting married. Since I can't make it to her wedding I decided to visit her before the big day. While visiting Sally we were hoping to do a few wedding things. That didn't quit work out but we still had a great time! The wedding dress ended up not coming in when it was suppose to but the invitations did! So we got to go pick those up and they are beautiful! Daniel, Sally's younger brother was in a male fashion show one night so we went to that.  We went all out and made signs and everything.  It was very amusing.  It was the first time though that I really felt old!  All the teachers that were there were my age...which was just really bizarre.  I don't feel like I have the ability to teach 18 year old kids or even to get them to listen to me.  It was just weird!  I also got a glimpse into what the wedding is going to be like; Beth did a fashion show of the bridesmaid dresses, lovely J.Crew dresses of course and Sally, Laura and I walked to the country club where the reception is going to take place.  It is a gorgeous

 ballroom with a huge chandelier and a staircase leading down to the dance floor.  It is going to be amazing!

Sadly my visit with Sally and the Cunningham's was way to short.  Three short days later we were already heading back to the airport.  It was so great to see Sally though and get a glimpse at what her wedding will be like.  

Next I was off to Boston for Anthony's (brother-in-law) graduation from Suffolk.  My parents picked me up from the airport and we immediately went back to the hotel, changed, then met up with the whole Desroches group at the Cheesecake Factory.  This trip was extra awesome because I got to meet even more Desroches family members that I hadn't met before. The draw back of the trip was his graduation was in Boston and it was FREEZING!  

Sunday was the graduation and Anthony was so nice and gave me one of the four tickets to actually go to the graduation.  I felt very honored and was glad to be there and represent for Gil.  The graduation was nice and they had some great speakers.  Right after the ceremony we headed to the docks to board our dinner cruise.  We did the same for Gil's graduation 2 years ago...but I have to say Anthony's dinner cruise was much nicer; better DJ and better food.  It was such a great night full of dancing, cake, presents and lots of pictures.  The more time I spend with the Desroches family the more I love it.  I love how Anthony and Brian consider me a sister and there were little things through out the weekend that just showed how much they consider me a part of the family.  It was a great weekend and so nice to see everybody.  

The very next day after graduation, Mom and I woke up and went to Anthropologie so I could finally spend my birthday gift card.  I got an adorable black and white cotton dress.  Then it was time to get in the car and drive home!  I was very excited to get to go home for a day...well not even a day...less than 12 hours I think.  We left Boston a little later than we thought, therefore we got home a little later than expected.  We stopped at an awesome diner on the way home where I had amazing mac'n'cheese!  Very diner-ish!  Once we got home we got ready for dinner.  My parents planned to take me and a few of my girlfriends out for Mexican.  It was so great to see the girls again.  We had a great dinner and just caught up.  Then it was home and to bed because we had to wake up the next day and drive back to the airport in Boston!  Yes, Boston!  I told you I was home for less than 12 hours!

Once back in Boston, I said goodbye to my parents and boarded a plane that would eventually take be back to Alabama...viva Ohio.  I know...I don't understand airlines either.  I was finally on my last leg of my trip and getting ready to begin the most action packed part of my trip.  Elizabeth's Wedding!  I will write a separate post for that.

Even though the next week was going to be packed with events my first week back on the mainland was a great one...full of a lot of airports and and too short of visits with friends and family.

Oh, I almost forgot.  While visiting Sally I was able to meet up with my parents really good friends Jim and Renee Bayha.  We met them when we lived in Germany and I was only 3 years old.  The last time we lived in the same place was when I was in the 6th grade in NC.  It was really bizarre to see them again but also really great.  Their kids are all grown up now which was weird because last time I saw there son he was a baby!  

Well that is it for this post.  

Onto the wedding of my little Elizabeth!