Megan & Andy

I mentioned yesterday that we spent this past weekend in my old hometown of Cleveland, and the impetus for this trip was my friend Megan's beautiful wedding to a great guy named Andy.

Megan and I have been friends for a very long time (by my calculations, it has been about 23 years). We met when my family moved in across the street from her family, and Megan bravely came over to introduce herself to my shy self. We spent years playing together in my yard, having sleepovers, furnishing Megan & Meghan's Club (a little attic space in my room), dancing in my basement and all sorts of other fun things. I remember sitting behind the lilac bushes in my backyard with Megan, talking about what our weddings would be like someday. I remember Megan saying she wanted to wear a beautiful white gown and carry purple lilacs, while her bridesmaids wore purple gowns and carried white lilacs. Purple has always been Megan's color.

Well, nobody carried lilacs, but Megan's wedding turned out to be every bit as purple as she always planned. It was all just so very Megan.

Megan and Andy met a little over a year ago at a mutual friend's wedding reception. Megan has always had the highest standards for men, but she knew very quickly that Andy measured up. When I saw her last August, she was just giddy when she talked about him and you could easily tell how completely smitten she was. It seems the feeling was mutual, and Andy officially proposed on New Year's Eve (with a gorgeous amethyst ring, of course). Megan and Andy became husband and wife on June 23. I was (and still am!) so, so excited for them!

Eric and I arrived at the ceremony a little before the start time so I could go downstairs to see Megan before things got started. She had asked me to be a bridesmaid, but with Ellie and all that going on, I had to decline. However, she still let me keep VIP status so I could catch a sneak peek of her before the rest of the guests! I was so excited to see her and she looked so gorgeous. I was able to pray with her, her parents and the bridesmaids before rejoining Eric for the ceremony.

Pretty purple aisle, just waiting for the bride

Ever since my own wedding, I always love to watch the groom as the bride makes her grand entrance.

Andy's face when he first saw Megan coming down the aisle

Megan's uncle officiated, and he did a fantastic job. Her ceremony was probably the most moving, and certainly the most personal that I have ever been to. It started with Megan and Andy facing their guests, so that we could get a look at the happy couple right away, instead of having to wait until the very end like you usually do.

They're perfect!

Megan's uncle had asked each of them to write their own individual answers to a few questions, such as "what are you thankful for?" and "what qualities to you most admire in the other?" As part of his message, he read selections from their responses. They wrote such heartfelt things about each other. I loved hearing what Andy wrote about Megan, because I could nod along as he described my friend so perfectly. And I loved hearing what Megan wrote about Andy, because I don't know him very well yet and I loved hearing more about the man he is and what makes him so special to Megan.

After the message they exchanged vows, rings, and lit the unity candle.

Megan saying her vows

Exchanging rings

Lighting the unity candle

They also took Communion together, and then prayed quietly together. It was so beautiful to watch. God is so good to have brought these two together.

Communion

Praying

Before too long, it was official - they are husband and wife! They shared their first kiss and then exited the church to the rousing sound of bagpipes (again, very Megan!).

First kiss!

Outside, the guests lined the path from the church to their car to blow bubbles as they made their exit. What a wonderful day!

The new Mr. and Mrs.

Love!

And they're off!

We had a little bit of free time between the ceremony and the reception, so Eric and I hurried back to my grandpa's house to take care of Ellie. I have to mention that my mom also came to Cleveland for the weekend so she could see all of us, which was so nice. Especially nice was her willingness to babysit so that Eric and I could go to the wedding and reception sans baby. This was the first time we have both left Ellie, but we knew she was in good hands. Naturally, I thought about her constantly and missed her terribly, but it was also so nice to have an evening out with my husband.

All dressed up before the reception

My hair is done, I'm wearing real clothes, and I'm drinking wine amongst other adults. I NEEDED THAT.

The reception was held at the same venue where Megan and Andy first met, of course! And it was every bit as purple as I thought it would be, and again, very Megan.

Reception room

The cake, surrounded by trays of donuts. YES, DONUTS. Any wedding that involves donuts is a-okay in my book.

Candy buffet. I hit that bad boy HARD.

The newlyweds!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner (which I ate really fast - apparently having a baby has trained me to scarf down my food in record time), some wine, and all the festivities.

Cutting the cake

First dance and Father-Daughter Dance

Dancing the night away!

Us with the happy couple

Unfortunately, the night wore on and this mama needed to get home to her little one. My mom did a great job babysitting and Ellie was fast asleep when we got home (even despite some neighborhood fireworks!), but I wanted to relieve my mom from duty and rest my tired self. Sorry to have had to leave as early as we did, Meg!

It was definitely a fabulous wedding, and one I was so beside myself with joy to attend. Meg, I'm so glad to have had you as such a good friend for so many years, and I'm so happy that you've found the man of your dreams. I can't wait to get to know him better and to make more fun memories with the two of you as a couple. I wish you a lifetime of nothing but happiness and love! Congratulations!

Meghan and Megan!

Grass

Well, we're back from a long weekend in Cleveland, where I attended my friend Megan's beautiful wedding and Ellie got to meet some new relatives, including her great-grandfather. We rented a car and drove there, so Ellie experienced her first road trip, and I'm pleased to say that we all came out of it relatively unscathed.

I have lots of pictures to share with you from the weekend, but while I'm making some edits and getting my thoughts together for a recap, I thought I would just share one of my favorite series of photos from the weekend: Ellie sitting in the grass for the first time, in my grandfather's backyard. She wasn't sure about it at first, but then she decided she was not offended. That grass was a-okay by her.

"Um. What is this?!"

Checking it out

"Hey Dad, are you seeing this stuff? It's not so bad."

She has made her peace with the grass.

She even spent some time laying back and relaxing.

Stretch! (And frog legs.)

Grabbing on

Pretty girl

Oh, my sweet baby girl! I just love her to bits.

Stay tuned for more pictures and recaps from our trip coming up later this week!

It's That Time Again!

Time for me to take a moment to plug yet another of my sister's awesome shows. TAMPA/ST. PETE AREA FRIENDS: LISTEN UP!

My beautiful, talented sister is in another production with the freeFall theater in St. Petersburg. This time, it's the classic Cabaret. If you are not familiar with Cabaret, here is a brief synopsis taken from the show page on the freeFall Theater website:

The legendary 1966 musical smash with score by Kander and Ebb is set in pre-war Weimar Germany in the seedy world of a Berlin cabaret called The Kit Kat Klub. While tensions build outside with the rise of the Nazi party, the care-free abandon of the bohemian world of the club is interrupted. Battle lines are drawn and the world of the cabaret begins to parody the politics outside its doors. The season ends with freeFall's stunning production of this beloved classic.

For more, you can also read this article from the Tampa Bay Times about the show.

So, you're intrigued, right? You know you want to see it! All the information you need can be found on the Cabaret page of the freeFall Theater website, but I'll go ahead and give you all the details here, too:

• The show starts this Friday, June 22, and runs through July 22 (my birthday, and I'm planning to go that day!) at the freeFall theater: 6099 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.
• Showtimes: Thursdays at 7:00 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
• The show is two hours long with a 15-minute intermission, and is recommended for adult audiences.
• Cost is $37 and tickets are available here.

So please, if you are in the Tampa/St. Pete area, treat yourself to a night (or afternoon) at the theater and check out my sister Heather and the rest of the cast of Cabaret at the freeFall theater!

Usual disclaimer: I am in no way compensated for this post, nor is my sister. The freeFall theater doesn't know I exist and the only benefit to my sister from me posting this is a larger cheering section in the audience when you all GO SEE THIS SHOW!

Father's Day, aka Ellie's Big City Adventure

First of all, a warning: It is safe to assume that any post that is entitled anything along the lines of "Ellie's Big Adventure" will probably contain an obscene amount of pictures. You have been warned...

We had such a nice day as a family for Eric's first Father's Day! His weekend really got off to a great start with two full days of golf (with work people) on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was our family day.

Ellie and I gave Eric his gifts first thing Sunday morning. His gift from me was a framed print of Amen Corner (from Augusta National...you may notice a golf theme here), and Ellie gave him a framed picture of herself in her finest golf-wear:

My little golfer girl

Eric had once told me that he just wanted to see Ellie hold her little wooden golf club in her hand, because he thought that would be awesome. Well, my dear, not only did she hold it, but she really looked the part! Big shout-out to Etsy for the whole ensemble. I just can't decide if the argyle diaper cover or golf shoe booties are my favorite part.

She even re-wore some of her golf outfit on Father's Day, so she was quite festive:

"A whole day to celebrate Daddy?! Whoa, awesome! Count me in!"

To celebrate, we decided to have a day in the city. We took the PATH to 33rd Street, where we stopped for some shopping (my fault) and a snack for Ellie before continuing northward. We also had to make a stop at Crumbs for a Father's Day cupcake for Eric. Hey, it was a golf cupcake! The theme must continue!

Ellie's all, "where's MY cupcake? Rude."

From there it was on to Times Square for Ellie's first experience with what could probably be described as the Overstimulation Capital of the World.

Ellie and Daddy

Ellie and Mommy

The whole family!

There was lots for her to look at, but she handled it all in stride...for a while.

Aaaaand, we're done.

Of course, before leaving Times Square, we had to subject our poor sweet baby to a quick bad parenting moment:

Oh boy.

Yeah. We had our baby take a picture with the Naked Cowboy. Hey, he's a New York City institution, no? Yeah, I know. Shameful. Even Ellie couldn't believe it.

What a look of shock and disbelief!

My poor baby.

From Times Square we headed westward to our old neighborhood, to show Ellie our old stomping grounds. She was treated to some of the great sites of Hell's Kitchen (more specifically, the sites within about a three-block radius of our old apartment), including our old apartment itself, the Colbert Report studio, DeWitt Clinton Park (where Achilles and I spent many an afternoon at the dog park), and The Daily Show studio.

Ellie in front of our old apartment building and The Colbert Report

Ellie at DeWitt Clinton Park

Ellie hoping for a Jon Stewart sighting

Oh, how I miss our old neighborhood. Sigh.

We then made our way over to Daisy May's, our favorite NYC-area BBQ joint. We picked up our favorite meal and took it over to the Hudson, just past the Intrepid, where we had a lovely picnic.

Napping while we wait for Daddy to get our lunch

Ellie admiring the Intrepid

Picnic time!

By that time we were about ready to head home, so we caught a ferry back to Hoboken - Ellie's first boat ride!

Ellie says, "I'm on a boat!"

And that was our big Father's Day outing! By the time we got home Ellie was all tuckered out, so she settled in for a nice nap while Eric and I relaxed. The rest of the night consisted of salads and cupcakes for dinner, a bath for Ellie, and a nice early bedtime for everybody. Even though Eric's Father's Day Celebration really turned into Let's-Take-Pictures-of-Ellie-In-Front-of-NYC-Sights Day, I think we all had a nice time!

Happy Father's Day, Eric! You're the best!