Kristin & Phil's Wedding = Beautiful & Crazy Fun Weekend!

So in keeping up with the Blog Catch-Up Day I'm writing one more....

I realized that I never posted images or wrote about our friends' wedding on Captiva Island in Florida at the end of October!  This wedding was gorgeous!  Simple, lovely touches, a laid-back beach vibe and dolphins swimming by, can't beat it!  The stunning ceremony, officiated by our friend Dena, was followed by a completely fun and delicious reception!  Also, the place where both the ceremony and reception was held, South Seas Resort, was simply fantastic.  And we were transported around the island by practical and whimsical trolleys, bonus!  

Also at South Seas Resort there is so much wildlife (insert obvious joke about all of our silly wild friends at the end of a night of drinking and celebrating here).  We had manatees outside of our hotel room, little lizards scooting about, dolphins and grouper nearby and amazing birds perched about the resort.  

And to top it off, my Grandma and Papa joined us on Sunday for lunch which was so fantastic!  

Thank you Kristin & Phil for an amazing weekend!!

She Said Yes!

Last weekend was apparently "Let's Get Engaged" Weekend!  I had a feeling that one of my closest friends was going to be getting engaged and I was at the edge of my seat all day.  I've been hearing little hints about it happening from my own husband and from Krista herself.  I wasn't sure how it was going to happen but I knew it was supposed to happen before Thanksgiving.  When she told me Friday that her weekend plans included a trip to the Empire State Building my jaw dropped and I knew that I would have to have my phone glued to me all of Saturday!

Saturday was also the day that my mom was visiting and first stop was Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station.  I don't know the complete history of this place but my mom does and she's always wanted to stop in for a cocktail and last Saturday at 3pm she headed there to wait for me.  This place is beautiful and more people should spend there time here either before catching a train or as soon as they arrive in Manhattan, or at any other point.  It feels very Old New York.  It felt even more like that while I sat there sipping my Pimm's Cup and taking it all in.  Much to our surprise, this place was packed...with a surprise engagement party!  After we moved from the bar to our seats the happy newly engaged couple entered and all of Campbell Apartment, including my mom and I, started clapping and tearing up!  How amazing to be in a place with such history and such happiness.  Sure the couple would look around and see all of the people they love and then my mom and I, complete strangers, but we still had a fantastic time.  We were engagement party crashers!

We then traveled uptown to visit with one of my mom's friends from college and I continued to check my phone constantly, waiting for a sign that Krista too had gotten engaged.  It wasn't until later in the evening, around 9pm, that I got a text saying "U knew."  YES!  And he did it in a perfect way!  No, it ended up not being the Empire State Building.  Instead it was MOMA, Krista's favorite museum.  After I got to speak to her on the phone I proceeded to call our friend Nora so we could share our happiness.  And wouldn't you know it, one of Nora's friends from her home in Maine got engaged the very next day!

It's such a fantastic weekend when you get to share in the joy of a couple who are so excited to start their life together.  And an even better weekend when you get to share in several couples' joy.  I, of course, am also super excited about all of the planning that we're going to embark on soon.  Tony and I had Krista and Eddie over the next day for a bottle of champagne and we were the first people they had seen since the engagement.  That giddy happiness when the girl can't really stand still and just keeps smiling, and the guy looks so relieved because he's been planning this for such a long time and in the end...she said YES!

Congratulations Krista and Eddie!  I love you guys!!!

I give thanks for kitchen tools and butter…

…Because apparently those are the secrets to doing your own Thanksgiving!  This year my new hubby and I decided to stay in Brooklyn and host our very first Thanksgiving with wonderful friends and family.  I was determined to make as much as possible and to be the most able hostess, and make our home look picture perfect!  After all, when you’re beginning your own event planning business you should be able to host your own small dinner party as well, right?

But back to the tools and the butter….Butter is in just about EVERYTHING!  Milk makes quite the appearance at Thanksgiving as well.  And armed with my dairy aid pills, I was ready!  If you can’t let loose and eat whatever you want on Thanksgiving, what’s the point?  Now because we were just married a couple of months ago we suddenly have all of these amazing tools that make your life so much easier when preparing food!  The Kitchen Aid mixer….Beautiful!  And then there’s the Cuisinart Smart Stick which comes with a blender and a food chopper (and others), it’s what I call a time saver and brilliant!

I did my best in adding hints of sustainability to our Thanksgiving as well.  Sure there are those things that are just Thanksgiving Day staples, like jellied cranberry sauce and crescent rolls, that I had to make sure made their way to the table.  But our potatoes and sweet potatoes  and onions were from a local farmer’s market and our apples that went into the Apple Cobbler (along with the butter of course) were from Red Jacket Orchards from upstate (a staple of the Union Square farmer’s market).

The menu was great and mostly my mom’s (Thanks, Mom).  Christina, my sister-in-law and lover of cooking and baking, made several pies, provided the cheese platter and was an integral part of our mashed potatoes.  The images above show all of the other side dishes that I made, including stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin gingerbread trifle, and apple cobbler!  I have never made this much food in less than 24 hours ever before!  And it was tasty!  I did however cheat on the turkey…that was pre-seasoned and from Whole Foods. 

So for all of those people out there who think that doing your own Thanksgiving is completely daunting and overwhelming….well, you’re kind of right.  But it’s so much fun and so rewarding as well!  Just get yourself some fantastic kitchen tools and plenty of butter and you’re set.  And I only cut myself once!  Success!!

Design Elements + Wonderful Photographer = Happy

So after thinking about it a little bit more I couldn't just let the evening go and only post one picture!  So here are a few more to enjoy.  These were some of the personal touches...from the self-packaged favors in a wheel barrow (from my family's backyard) to our candy station on platforms of wood from my aunt and uncle's home in VT!

First Official Picture is up!  The first reason that this took so long is my own procrastination.  Well let's face it, it's the whole reason.  But procrastination of various forms.  The first being that it took some time for us to get our new office area up and running so before now I was without an accessible work space.  The second was my procrastination on learning how to upload images to my blog!  Did you know there was an icon and directions!  Crazy!  But here's the first pic!  And as soon as I get this re-sizing down, we're in business!