To Have & To Hold

Wedding week continues! Check out Monday's post here.

Lauren & Ryan could not have asked for better weather the day of their wedding. Clear blue skies, not too hot, not too cold, a slight breeze at best. This all lead to an absolutely beautiful outdoor ceremony. Beautiful not only because of the perfect weather, but because two friends were declaring their love for each other. They chose the sweetest readings, I totally teared up during their vows, and they were announced husband & wife to a crowd of cheers. I'm telling you, it was perfect.

 Groom & Best Man waiting patiently

 Here comes the bride

 The readings

 The vows

 Wohoo! ;)

 And they're married!! Check out that view, unbelievable!

The Details

First off, our hotel rooms were loaded with amazing welcome baskets.

Cocktail Hour tables. Love the hydrangeas underneath floating candles

The food was delicious!

The Party!

The handsome groomsmen!

 Friends flew in from Denver for the occassion

 J was also this lucky guy's best man out in Boulder, CO

 First dance

 J did a great job with his speech!

 Isn't Lauren's dress amazing! Absolutely loved it

 Groom, father-in-law, husband

 And the dancing begins

 Special dances

 Love my second parents <3

And lastly, the photo booth! This was SO much fun!

Congratulations Lauren & Ryan! We are so happy for you. Wishing you a lifetime of love & laughter. <3

L&R Pre-Wedding Festivities

A week of wedding related posts has begun!

The past two weekends have been full of wedding-related festivities and I have been dying to share. So sorry I've kept you waiting.

We'll start the week with the wedding J was in Memorial Day Weekend, and end with the bridal shower thrown for my sister yesterday. So many great details & photos.

The wedding we attended last weekend was for one of J's closest friends, Ryan. Their friendship dates back to elementary school and they have remained close ever since. So when J was asked to be his best man, he couldn't have been more honored.

Ryan met Lauren during college, and I have to say, we I hit it off right away. She is an absolute sweetheart, with great fashion sense! If I remember correctly, one of the first nights we hung out with Ryan & Lauren, we ended up doing karaoke in a local bar. Yikes! ha. Bonding over karaoke surely makes us friends forever.

Leading up to Lauren & Ryan's wedding last Sunday, we attended the rehearsal dinner Friday and a family/friends cookout Saturday. The bride & groom have a great group of family & friends who all headed down to the Plymouth, MA area to help them celebrate.

Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal dinner was held at one of my favorite restaurants in the town I grew up in, Carmela's, lucky me! The food was delicious, but the company was even better. The groomsmen got some pretty sweet gifts too!

Engraved flask, dice, cards in an engraved box. And some booze to fill the flask of course. :)

Handsome groomsmen. J, wtf is that smile? ha

After dinner, we headed down to the Plymouth waterfront for drinks

Bridesmaid, Bride, Bridesmaid's father

One proud mother of the bride

Ryan with his future wife & in-laws!

Saturday's Cookout


The cookout the day before the wedding was held at the groom's family's house. It was so nice to spend a few casual hours with everyone, getting to know Lauren's family who had flown in, hanging out with old high school friends, and getting to know more of Lauren & Ryan's friends from college.

Mother of the Groom making the bridesmaids bouquets. She does amazing work at her shop - Candy Jay & Designs in Bloom

 High school friends

 A gift for the bride & groom - a Magnum of wine everyone signed. How awesome is this?!

From the cookout we headed back to Plymouth for more fun. Everyone stayed at a hotel right on Plymouth waterfront, able to walk to the bars, restaurants, etc. Talk about convenience!

 College friends

 Lauren, her brother, and cousin

 Cheers to Ryan! 

Tomorrow's post will be all about their fabulous wedding! Stay tuned.

Fun Fact Friday

Just keeping you in the loop with what's going on over here.

1. This weekend is my sister's bridal shower. It's being thrown at my parents' house & hosted by my mom, myself, and Jackie's bridesmaids. I cannot wait. I am so excited to see my extended family & friends and meet some of Adrian's. And I'm really happy my mom agreed to host it at her house. Although it's more work than renting a venue, I'm looking forward to the laid back feel a home shower brings. And I'm really excited about all the decisions we've made too! (which I'll fill you in about next week, post event).


2. This past weekend J was the best man in a friend's wedding and we had SO much fun. The bride & groom have the best family and friends and we made sure to celebrate all weekend long. Posts to come next week!

3. I've decided I need something to train for/ work for. While training for the half-marathon I had no problem getting up, at any hour, to make sure I got my workout in. In the two weeks since the race, I have totally relaxed my workouts, as in, I've hardly done anything. J, on the other hand, has been meeting up with a friend every morning to workout in a nearby park. Burpees, sprints, push ups, sit ups, you name it. And he's really enjoying it. Having someone to meet up with helps him stay on track. So, I've decided to start the Jamie Eason LiveFit 12-week Trainer. It's a 12-week strength training course that lays out your daily workouts for you (there is also a diet portion, but I won't be following that). Do you know how nice that is when you work out at 5:30 am? You mean I don't have to think of my own game plan for the gym?? Sign me up! Oh, and it's free which is great. Why not give it a try?

4. I've completed the first 3 days of the program and it's been great. Day 1 was chest and triceps and let me tell you, I am sore! My typical arm workout focuses on biceps and triceps. I close to never work my chest muscles. Day 1 included 72 pushups. Right?! Let me say that again, 72 pushups. 3 sets of 12 wide pushups and 3 sets of 12 narrow pushups. More than I've done in the past year, definitely. More than I've done in the past 2 years, probably. Day 2 was back and biceps. I'm curious how my back is going to feel by the end of today. It's not too sore yet, but maybe it's just being overshadowed by my chest muscles. If a sore chest means I won't have that fat bulge in strapless dresses this summer (you know what I'm talking about) then keep the pushups coming! This morning was legs & calves. I don't think I've done barbell squats since college. Yikes. If I'm walking funny by the end of today, you'll know why.  These legs were a bit shaky by the end of this workout.

5. Thursday morning I decided to try out a new breakfast for J & I. You know our love of overnight oatmeal, our typical breakfast at least twice a week. But yesterday morning I was in the mood for something else. I had bookmarked the Fitnessista's serious cereal recipe a few weeks ago. Since we typically use almond milk these days for our oatmeal, we don't always have regular old skim milk in our house. But my milk of choice for cold cereal is still dairy milk. So when our fridge had a fresh bottle of dairy milk and no soy or almond milk, I knew it was time to give this a go. Ummm....you have got to try this recipe! It's ridiculously easy and sooo good! I am craving it right now as I type this. It will definitely be making its way into our breakfast routine.

6. Speaking of food. J was reading an article last night that listed out the top reasons men breakup with women and vice versa. Apparently, one of the top reasons women breakup with men is because of diets that vary too much. Really?! I am very fortunate that J will eat just about anything I put in front of him. He is so willing to try all these new healthy recipes I'm currently digging and that means a lot to me. He finally caved and tried a Larabar yesterday and then texted me to tell me it was actually good. Ha! Told you so darling. :)

7. I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Get ready for next week, wedding posts all week long! Wahoo! Recaps from the amazing wedding we just went to, a recap of Jackie's shower, and a few great wedding detail posts. I hope you're excited.