Birthday Weekend

What a wonderful weekend it was. 27 doesn't really feel any different... just one year closer to 30.

Friday night was a low-key dinner with my dad and grandmother and Jarrett in Boston. It was a perfect way to kick off the weekend.

Saturday my trainer kicked my butt given I would be eating in excess at Mistral, it was a good idea as I did. This was my first time there. I had been to Sorellina and Moo, and I'm dying to try their others. Sorellina was excellent, and so I was beyond excited for the opportunity to try Mistral. And what better excuse than my birthday? We started with the beef tenderloin, mashed potato and truffle oil pizza (aka had a piece each and wrapped the rest up) PURE HEAVEN, then the tuna tartare (which was probably the best I'd ever had), and finally Jarrett had the Half "Whole" Roasted Duck with Wild Mushroom Risotto, Dried Cranberry Gastrique while I had the Escalope" of Veal Milanese, Buttered Heirloom Tomatoes & Basil, Soft Corn Polenta. AMAZING.

And then finally, we headed to Gillette Stadium to watch the Pats beat the Bengals and shutdown TO and 85. Here are some pics from Jarrett's droid.

Love is in the air. A Labor Day Movement.

What a fabulous four day weekend it was indeed. We started with a light drizzle and a lobster bake for the rehearsal on Friday. Hurricane Earl missed us luckily. I was able to spend some QT with the girls, Nicole and Nick's family and friends and really get excited for the weekend. I had so much fun with their families and friends I had never met, and loved to meet and get to know the people Nick and Nicole share so much of their time with.

The location was STUNNING. Even more beautiful in person, and the weather held out most of the day, with the exception of a minor rain storm during pictures. It stopped just in time and even gave us a couple of rainbows :)














*photos courtesy of Kerri.

I can't believe they are off on their honeymoon. I can't believe Nicole's wedding has happened. A year ago Nick proposed, and here they are married!

The Matron of Honor speeches were a success. Both Kerri and I laughed and then cried, and swore we wouldn't. Jarrett said I was even funny, quite the compliment. We danced and danced and danced...Trisha *almost* caught the bouquet, much to TJ's dismay. Like a Prayer is a lot longer of a song than we thought and I was able to make it almost halfway through the reception before changing into flip-flops. I am so happy for Nick and Nicole, and I was so lucky to be part of their special day.

And so now, we have a week off without a wedding event of some sort. An amazing weekend planned with a nice dinner for my birthday and the Patriots game on Sunday. And then another wedding weekend to celebrate with some more fabulous people and 3 more to go. When you initially think about 6 weddings in a year, it's slightly overwhelming, however...I'm now feeling lucky we are able to celebrate all of these special days.

Bad Wife, Bad Bad Wife.

and good, sweet, wonderful husband.

In the whirlwind that was our anniversary, I forgot to mention the most suttle, sweet and thoughtful gift my husband gave me. Not the amazing suite, not the amazing dinners (although those were absolutely perfect) But a rose. But not any rose, a paper rose to honor the traditional gift of paper for the first anniversary.

Thank you babe, I love you.

Post-Anniversary

I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger, but things have been busy. The combination of travel, anniversary, work, puppies and the usual craziness of life and blogging has taken a back seat.



I will say, our anniversary was fabulous. Charlotte was different than I was expecting. The wedding we attended was smack in the downtown area at this gorgeous and fabulous restaurant high above the city, which I learned is nothing like Boston. Best analogy, think financial district on Sunday when everything is closed. The city is owned by BOFA and seems to shut down on the weekends because no one is working. Even Starbucks was closed. However, Chic-Fil-A did reopen in time for me to have my chicken mini's for breakfast and the Epi-Center was .2 seconds away with bars, bowling, Coldstone, CVS, Five Guys...the list goes on. I wish I had time to visit some other places. Some of the homes were STUNNING, and I know there was many bars we just didn't know to visit. We also ate like kings and queens, and my stomach is still trying to recover. We opened some fabulous wines, drank a lot of champagne and toasted to the past year being so absolutely wonderful.


And the Ritz...oh my god. Words do not even describe. From being upgraded to a suite, to massages, to being wished Happy Anniversary in more ways than one, boy do they know how to do customer service. No wonder people pay the extra $$. All I can say is well done.









So now the countdown begins to Nicole's wedding in 13 days!! And a MOH speech I need to perfect

7 days!!!

....and single digits until our 1 year anniversary. Cannot believe it. A week from now we'll be celebrating the wedding of our two friends, and celebrating with some fine dining, some relaxation and pampering :)

I found a website that features the "traditional gifts" you should get each other. And I can already tell you, we AREN'T doing this. We'll definitely be spoiling each other with expensive dinners. We'll definitely be opening the amazing bottle of Silver Oak my mom got us, and we'll definitely be eating our cake that I fear will be disgusting but Jarrett assures me will not. But apparently we were supposed to get paper? Yes, paper. Or the 'modern' tradition of PLASTIC?! wtf.

Check it out: http://www.happy-anniversary.com/year-of-marriage/index.html.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_anniversary

According to this, I don't get diamonds until the 60th. GOOD GOD.

The Month of Love

Love is in the air.

What's up with the cheesy posts you say? Well, in 14 days Jarrett and I will celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. It seems strange to say one year given we've been together for almost 8 years! But in honor of this and the upcoming nuptials of our friends in the next few weeks, I figured I'd get a little sappy.

This was the quote we put on our wedding programs, and I just adore it. I hope you all have found someone who makes you happy, who allows you to be you, and loves you regardless.

Finally I have found a place into which I fit perfectly, safely, and securely. With no doubts, no fears, no sadness, no tears... this place is filled with happiness, and laughter, yet it is spacious enough to allow me the freedom to move around, to live my life, and to be myself... This wonderful place, which I never believed really existed, I have found finally... Inside your arms, inside your heart, inside your love.

Happy Engagiversay!

Is that even a word?

Two years ago, I was completely surprised during dessert after an amazing wine dinner at La Campania by Jarrett when he asked me to marry him. I can't believe it's already been two years and how amazing my life is because of him.

Already counting the hours until we enjoy dinner there! T-8 hours...

I'm getting nostalgic

When you are in your mid-late 20's, summertime means wedding season. It's when you hear all of your friends boasting (or complaining?) "I have 6 weddings, what about you?" and every weekend seems to be planned for you with showers, bachelorette/bachelor parties and Fridays are taken off to travel to the venues.

If you asked me a few months ago, I was a little anxious about the amount of weddings. To me it was stressful to think almost every weekend in July was booked and about the amount of money I'd be spending. Now, those all hold true, but tomorrow is our 2 yr engageiversary, next month is our ANNIVERSARY (WHAT?! already?) and Nicole's bachelorette is this weekend followed by Veronica's shower and bachelorette. This has me a little teary eyed when watching any love story and looking through photos of our wedding. I'm not kidding, I could tear up just looking at the hubs at any moment. (and... NO I'M NOT PREGNANT) Maybe it's that I just watched Bethenny Getting Married?

I spent about 2 hours looking through our wedding photos on facebook last night. I am so happy to share in the special days with these amazing couples and going through the photos made me more than excited for their upcoming days. Here are a few of my favorites:

Tomorrow night, Jarrett and I will be doing what quite possibly might be the most romantic thing, is going to the scene of the crime, 2 years later- La Campania. Ahhhh amazing. Love you JJB!

eat, eat, eat, all day long...

If you know Jarrett and I, you know we are foodies. We love fine dining, we love the experience, the wine to pair with dinner, the conversation, ambiance etc. We aren't food snobs, we still visit Chili's... (we just cannot resist their nachos) but when we splurge, it's on food.

Many of you also know, last year instead of Christmas presents, we saved and saved and saved and sent ourselves to NYC and dined at Daniel (3 Star Michelin rated), Le Bernardin, and Per Se. Yes, if you watch Top Chef you'll know all of the chefs! (Daniel, Eric, Thomas) It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life, and will always look back at it fondly. It may seem rediculous to spend 4 hours eating, or having a cheese course for $35/person...but it's simply magical.

And in just 26 days, Jarrett and I will be jetting off to New Orleans for JazzFest and some amazing food. Notably, we'll be visiting August and Commander's Palace, among others. (And yes Top Chef fan, you know these too) Sometimes I think I'm spoiled, but then again, I'm just lucky.... we both work hard, and play hard, and well, eat hard? No, that doesn't quite make sense-but you get the point.

Here's to yummy food, great wine, and even better company and the hopes you all enjoy food the way we do ;-)