From September 28th - October 9th Cliff and I were lucky to be on the east coast to celebrate the weddings of two great couples and spend time with family and friends. It was amazing. Lots of smiles. Plus, I got to dance. Sometimes I even got to dance with Cliff. It was a pretty epic week.
Part I: Sam and Steve's Wedding
We took the redeye out of Portland on Thursday night so that we could get into Pittsburgh with enough time to join into some pre-wedding activities. We didn't sleep at all. Maybe two hours of bad napping at the most. We did get quite a few Biscoff cookies so that helped. Kathy and Jill lovingly picked us up at the airport. What did we do first? Cracker Barrel of course! We don't have them around here and I miss then dearly. We ate biscuits, hash browns, gravy. You know all the essentials. We stocked up with cheap candy and went to go get our nails done.
Cliff went with the boys to run errands and Sam and the bridesmaids got manicures and pedicures. How girly! It's been a really long time since I've had a pedicure and I was really ticklish. Also, it was pretty funny as in college Kathy, Jill, Sam, and I were together all the time and never once was getting our nails done a considered activity. Was not on our radar. I think it was more fun because it was such a foreign group activity. Also, BIG thank you to Jill who is letting me steal some of her photos to post as I only took one Sam and Steve wedding photo the whole time we were in Pennsylvania.
The wedding was at this beautiful farm (pond, donkeys, rolling hills, geese, silos, awesome barn). The best part is that the bridal party got to sleep onsite in one big house. Slumber party! Sam and Steve grilled out for all of us at the rehearsal dinner. It was really nice to be able to hang out with everyone. With very limited sleep, Cliff and I still managed to stay up until 10:00pm. When we woke up the next morning we felt like new people. Seriously. It was like Cliff and I had finally arrived at the party.
The wedding was so beautiful. I cried a whole lot. Sam and Steve are wonderful together and we had all been waiting for the day when they finally got married. Sam was glowing and Steve was a dressed up version of his amazing self. The setting was unbelievably beautiful and the food was super tasty. They did a family style dinner with brisket, chicken, grilled veggies from the family farm, mac and cheese, pumpkin tortellini, mashed squash, and roasted potatoes. I ate like a pig but who's really surprised. We also got to see a real life cookie table in action! We heard about this PA/HH tradition at our fake wedding back in 2008 as our co-couple was from that area. Well, let me tell you. I'm totally sold on cookies tables as they are amazing. Sam's aunts baked thousands of cookies in preparation for the big day. Thousands! I sadly didn't get to eat any (so many of them hand nuts/touched nuts) but Cliff said it was the most consistently delicious array of cookies he had ever had. And that's a compliment. As if the day wasn't already good enough, THERE WAS SO MUCH DANCING! I love to dance. I'm kinda bad at it but that night I didn't care. I danced like I was back at Emerson as a freshman at Hand Me Down Night. I was a dancing machine. Dancing. Machine. I was sore the next day. I had so much fun. The best part, Cliff danced with me for two and a half songs! We didn't dance that much together at our own wedding. We hadn't danced together that much since junior year of high school (after which Cliff knew I liked him so he stopped wooing with dancing as he really hates it). The whole night was magical.
Oh, there was also a photo booth. That was pretty fun too.
Part II: Time with the Family
The next day we dropped Kathy and Jill off at the airport, rented another car (a Ford Focus), and drove the five and a half hours back to Maryland. We ate our take home caramel apples at a rest stop someplace about an hour north of the PA/MD border.
The following day Cliff flew back to Oregon as he had work and I got to spend time with Mom and Pam. It was really wonderful to spend quality time with them. Over the next four days we played slots at the new casino at Anne Arundel Mills, installed a new front gate on Nanny's fence, drove to Virginia to eat lunch with Dad and Grandma, visited Arlington, shopped, ate Sweet Frog frozen yogurt, and celebrated Pam's birthday at the Gaylord Hotel. I didn't take nearly enough photos but look these happy faces!
I also got to meet Mom's new dog, Sam. He is a big guy (about 150lbs) but is really sweet. He just wants to lay on the cold bathroom floor and be pet. Weanie and Wibble are falling in line and you can tell that they like him too.
I wish there had been more time but it was really wonderful just to hang out and talk. Next time we will need to go on an adventure. I'm trying to talk them into coming out to Oregon. My fingers are crossed.
I also need to mention that Mom and Pam saved the day quite a few times by lovingly taking three trips to the airport. Thank you!
Part III: Andrea and Joe's Wedding
As if the trip wasn't already awesome enough we got to celebrate another fantastic couple. Andrea and Joe got hitched and we got to be a part of it. Sweet.
Nicole and I got to see Andrea and Joe's new apartment (nice work guys), get our nails done, and help put together the wedding flowers. Cliff took his second redeye in eight days and got back into town just in time to put up directional signage and be apart of the rehearsal dinner. Cliff did a reading and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid along with Nicole and Andrea's fun friend Cat. I sadly didn't take any photos leading up to the wedding but Cliff took a few shots from the front row during the ceremony and then various folks used our camera to document the day. Score.
Andrea looked beautiful. Joe was so handsome. It was a little cold (in the low 50's after being in the 80's and 70's all week) but that didn't matter. We are all really happy to have Joe officially apart of the Lyddane clan. The day was so much fun. We got to see family that we haven't seen in years. Plus, there was more dancing. The Wileys and the Minters really know how to break it down. Even the Lyddane men got into the action. And I got to dance with Cliff yet again (thank you Stephen for documenting!). Dancing makes me so happy. Oh, we all also got to hear how Stephen has the most amazing, beautiful hair ever. Seriously, both women and men were jealous. I heard several conversations. It was awesome.
Once again, the food was delicious. We seriously lucked out. For the rehearsal we got Beefalo Bob's BBQ (I miss BBQ soooooo much!). For the wedding, there were tons of appetizers (crab drip, artichoke dip, various bruschetta, zucchini fritters, and something with tuna). I sampled them all except for the tuna as I was never able to corner a waiter while they still had them on their tray. That was just the beginning as we also had salad, chilean sea bass on grits, and filet with mashed potatoes. Best filet ever in my opinion. And the cake was chocolate and raspberry (very Andrea). I ate two pieces plus several chocolate covered strawberries. Also, I got two shirley temples. Always a good day when you have a shirley temple. Apparently I like to eat like a pig at all weddings.
It is hard to believe that four years ago yesterday Cliff and I got hitched. Weddings make me happy. Being married rocks. Seeing friends and family also rocks. Life is beautiful.
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