Monday, May 28, 2007
At home it's almost summer
Here it's 50 degrees outside. And raining. It will be June in three days!
Speaking of marriage...
My Grandparents' 55th wedding anniversary is on June 7th! After Kate's wedding, I went up to visit them. Here are a few pictures from Cleveland.
Mom, Virginia, and the Shug on the porch:
Shug and Grandpa with Dawson,the dog.
Virginia relaxes in her chair:
Mom, Virginia, and the Shug on the porch:
Shug and Grandpa with Dawson,the dog.
Virginia relaxes in her chair:
Marriage
Kate and Andy got married on May 19, 2007. Hooray! It was a fun and happy time for all of us and it was also great to be home and back in good old New Orleans for a few days.
No wedding is complete without some kind of bachelorette party. For Kate's party, we planned a pool and pizza party at the hotel where we were staying. When Kate arrived, we gave her a bridal swimming suit which read, across her bottom, "Andy's." One of the bridesmaids made her a swimming veil, we gave her a fake bouquet, put a Miss America style "bachelorette" sash on her, and ordered her out the door and through the hotel to the pool. Many pizzas, daiquiris, slices of cake, and inappropriate card games later, I kicked the bachelorette and all of her "hens" out of my hotel room. Fortunately for him, Jim had not arrived yet, but when he did get to New Orleans, he found our room decorated with black and yellow striped "Caution Wild Girls" tape.
Kate enjoys a beverage:
Showing off her bootie with her bridesmaids. Leigh made us all "Bridesmaid" tee-shirts, as well as the veil.
Getting into the pool:
Mom and Dad snuck in to take some pictures:
Girls in the pool...the neighbors were thrilled. At one point a little girl came to her hotel window and shook her finger at us. But, miraculously, no one called and complained about the noise that was being made. There were some LOUD women at this party...
Someone brought "Billy Bob" teeth.
Liz helps Kate drink some champagne out of her bachelorette shot glasses:
Still no complaints as the party moved to the courtyard--Bachelorette Mad Libs and a card game with X-rated cards caused a lot of laughter. Fun!
Mom and Dad joined us after dinner out. We were partying outside of their door, so there was no way they could avoid us:
On Friday, we gathered at the site of the wedding for the rehearsal. Despite the rehearsal, I still messed up in the wedding...actually, ALL of the bridesmaids, except for Melissa, the first one out, walked to the wrong place. Jim missed the rehearsal, but made it in time for the rehearsal dinner.
Kate and Andy look very serious as Fr. Rocky goes through the service with them:
Happy bridesmaids:
The best part about the rehearsal was the rehearsal DINNER, which was at Mother's, one of the best restaurants in the world (according to us).
Jim, fresh off the plane and with no sleep, was incredibly social and friendly and happy (as usual):
Will was in from Iowa, too!
We have really cute little cousins. Jessica and Sylvie show off their Mardi Gras masks.
Will also couldn't resist the Mardi Gras masks:
Colton isn't too sure what to think of that.
Someone let Gene work in the kitchen. He made the Debris.
The toasts were eventful and abundant and full of inappropriate comments and allusions to embarassing life events. Especially Dad's. Which will not be repeated on this blog.
After the rehearsal dinner, we attempted to sit and talk in several of the courtyards at the hotel. Let it be known that the volume level was about 1/16 of that of the bachelorette party, but the management was called by crotchety hotel guests not once, but twice. So we moved on...to bed.
On the big day, all the bridesmaids and other important women got to go to brunch at Brennan's, hosted by Aunt Sue. It was really good and we ate strawberries and cream followed by some sort of extra special Eggs Benedict and Bananas Foster, which Kate made. Even though the flames were about 3 feet high, Kate did not set herself or the building on fire:
While we were gorging ourselves in Brennan's, Jim and the guys were eating one pound hamburgers at Port of Call. Suffice to say, we were pretty satiated for the rest of the day.
After the brunch we got our hair done, got coffee, and waited for everything to start. I got this once in a lifetime picture of Mom getting her makeup done by Jimmy. We were flabbergasted. Mom has NEVER in my 30 years of life had her hair or makeup done.
The professional photographers were there are this point, so I stopped taking pictures. I ironed all our dresses and we drank some champagne. Kate remained very calm throughout. Then, when she put on her dress, she started to get a little flustered and nervous. She looked BEAUTIFUL! We were ushered down to get ready for the ceremony, walked in, had the wedding, Kate cried and laughed, Andy comforted her as she tried to get through her vows, they kissed, we walked out...and then the party started.
The band was a Cajun band, who ROCKED. At one point, the bassist was standing on top of his bass while playing it (he was pretty skinny).
I danced with Cole a little bit:
Certain guests really enjoyed the open bar:
Kate and Jim looking SEXY (or, in Jim's case, lecherous):
The cake was delicious! Kate and Andy cut it and then fed it to each other.
Then the bridesmaids were instructed to pull on some strings hanging out of the cake. Inside the cake and attached to the strings were some charms. My charm was a heart for "Love forever." That works! The only unmarried bridesmaid got the ring, which means she'll be the next to get married. All us married ladies were relieved to know that we will continue to be married and don't have to plan to get married again.
The bride:
In Andy's family, everyone who gets married drinks out of this chalice and so far none of those who have, have gotten divorced. He has a lot of relatives, so this cup commanded a lot of attention (and concentration from the looks of it) and the bride and groom drank their toasts out of it:
Eventually, Jim and I remembered to dance:
But Kate was really a dancing fool:
After the wedding, the bride and groom sailed off in their horsedrawn carriage...well, once they could get out of their parking spot, which was hard since there was a traffic jam.
We were stuck hanging out with this guy and without a carriage:
Just after this picture was taken, Dan ran into a sign post. He didn't seem to notice.
No wedding is complete without some kind of bachelorette party. For Kate's party, we planned a pool and pizza party at the hotel where we were staying. When Kate arrived, we gave her a bridal swimming suit which read, across her bottom, "Andy's." One of the bridesmaids made her a swimming veil, we gave her a fake bouquet, put a Miss America style "bachelorette" sash on her, and ordered her out the door and through the hotel to the pool. Many pizzas, daiquiris, slices of cake, and inappropriate card games later, I kicked the bachelorette and all of her "hens" out of my hotel room. Fortunately for him, Jim had not arrived yet, but when he did get to New Orleans, he found our room decorated with black and yellow striped "Caution Wild Girls" tape.
Kate enjoys a beverage:
Showing off her bootie with her bridesmaids. Leigh made us all "Bridesmaid" tee-shirts, as well as the veil.
Getting into the pool:
Mom and Dad snuck in to take some pictures:
Girls in the pool...the neighbors were thrilled. At one point a little girl came to her hotel window and shook her finger at us. But, miraculously, no one called and complained about the noise that was being made. There were some LOUD women at this party...
Someone brought "Billy Bob" teeth.
Liz helps Kate drink some champagne out of her bachelorette shot glasses:
Still no complaints as the party moved to the courtyard--Bachelorette Mad Libs and a card game with X-rated cards caused a lot of laughter. Fun!
Mom and Dad joined us after dinner out. We were partying outside of their door, so there was no way they could avoid us:
On Friday, we gathered at the site of the wedding for the rehearsal. Despite the rehearsal, I still messed up in the wedding...actually, ALL of the bridesmaids, except for Melissa, the first one out, walked to the wrong place. Jim missed the rehearsal, but made it in time for the rehearsal dinner.
Kate and Andy look very serious as Fr. Rocky goes through the service with them:
Happy bridesmaids:
The best part about the rehearsal was the rehearsal DINNER, which was at Mother's, one of the best restaurants in the world (according to us).
Jim, fresh off the plane and with no sleep, was incredibly social and friendly and happy (as usual):
Will was in from Iowa, too!
We have really cute little cousins. Jessica and Sylvie show off their Mardi Gras masks.
Will also couldn't resist the Mardi Gras masks:
Colton isn't too sure what to think of that.
Someone let Gene work in the kitchen. He made the Debris.
The toasts were eventful and abundant and full of inappropriate comments and allusions to embarassing life events. Especially Dad's. Which will not be repeated on this blog.
After the rehearsal dinner, we attempted to sit and talk in several of the courtyards at the hotel. Let it be known that the volume level was about 1/16 of that of the bachelorette party, but the management was called by crotchety hotel guests not once, but twice. So we moved on...to bed.
On the big day, all the bridesmaids and other important women got to go to brunch at Brennan's, hosted by Aunt Sue. It was really good and we ate strawberries and cream followed by some sort of extra special Eggs Benedict and Bananas Foster, which Kate made. Even though the flames were about 3 feet high, Kate did not set herself or the building on fire:
While we were gorging ourselves in Brennan's, Jim and the guys were eating one pound hamburgers at Port of Call. Suffice to say, we were pretty satiated for the rest of the day.
After the brunch we got our hair done, got coffee, and waited for everything to start. I got this once in a lifetime picture of Mom getting her makeup done by Jimmy. We were flabbergasted. Mom has NEVER in my 30 years of life had her hair or makeup done.
The professional photographers were there are this point, so I stopped taking pictures. I ironed all our dresses and we drank some champagne. Kate remained very calm throughout. Then, when she put on her dress, she started to get a little flustered and nervous. She looked BEAUTIFUL! We were ushered down to get ready for the ceremony, walked in, had the wedding, Kate cried and laughed, Andy comforted her as she tried to get through her vows, they kissed, we walked out...and then the party started.
The band was a Cajun band, who ROCKED. At one point, the bassist was standing on top of his bass while playing it (he was pretty skinny).
I danced with Cole a little bit:
Certain guests really enjoyed the open bar:
Kate and Jim looking SEXY (or, in Jim's case, lecherous):
The cake was delicious! Kate and Andy cut it and then fed it to each other.
Then the bridesmaids were instructed to pull on some strings hanging out of the cake. Inside the cake and attached to the strings were some charms. My charm was a heart for "Love forever." That works! The only unmarried bridesmaid got the ring, which means she'll be the next to get married. All us married ladies were relieved to know that we will continue to be married and don't have to plan to get married again.
The bride:
In Andy's family, everyone who gets married drinks out of this chalice and so far none of those who have, have gotten divorced. He has a lot of relatives, so this cup commanded a lot of attention (and concentration from the looks of it) and the bride and groom drank their toasts out of it:
Eventually, Jim and I remembered to dance:
But Kate was really a dancing fool:
After the wedding, the bride and groom sailed off in their horsedrawn carriage...well, once they could get out of their parking spot, which was hard since there was a traffic jam.
We were stuck hanging out with this guy and without a carriage:
Just after this picture was taken, Dan ran into a sign post. He didn't seem to notice.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Kent hike
This will probably be the last blog for a while, because I soon will be off to celebrate Kate's wedding and I probably won't have a lot of time to blog in between!
So, I leave you for a while with some beautiful pictures from our most recent country walk.
A forest of bluebells:
A gnarly tree:
IN front of the aptly named Carpenter's Arms:
The road leading to Churchill's house (we never actually saw CHurchill's house because there were tons of people there and also it involved walking down a hill that we didn't want to walk back up again):
Jim sits on a bench commemerating a lady who preserved the area we were in:
Throughout our walk we heard something that sounded like someone cutting a tin can with a bowie knife...and it turned out to be: pheasants!
Here is a picture of one that Jim tried to scare out of the field by jumping around and making monkey sounds. Just as he did this, two runners came out of nowhere. You can add that to the list of things that the English think Americans are--nutters.
We love daylight savings time! We walked about 15 miles total, missed our train, and it was still daylight when we got home!
So, I leave you for a while with some beautiful pictures from our most recent country walk.
A forest of bluebells:
A gnarly tree:
IN front of the aptly named Carpenter's Arms:
The road leading to Churchill's house (we never actually saw CHurchill's house because there were tons of people there and also it involved walking down a hill that we didn't want to walk back up again):
Jim sits on a bench commemerating a lady who preserved the area we were in:
Throughout our walk we heard something that sounded like someone cutting a tin can with a bowie knife...and it turned out to be: pheasants!
Here is a picture of one that Jim tried to scare out of the field by jumping around and making monkey sounds. Just as he did this, two runners came out of nowhere. You can add that to the list of things that the English think Americans are--nutters.
We love daylight savings time! We walked about 15 miles total, missed our train, and it was still daylight when we got home!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Monday, our last day
On our final day in Italy, I got up early to go put money in the meter so that we could park our car all day without getting a ticket. It was about 7:30 when I headed out and the only other people around were Italians, going to work and opening up their shops. It was so peaceful.
When Jim woke up, we ate a couple of pastries, slammed some coffee at the hotel restaurant, checked out, stashed our backpack behind a chair, and headed to the Duomo. We got there around 9:30 and this was the scene. Can you find Jim?
We stood in line for about 45 minutes. There were signs all over the place saying that no shorts were allowed, and I was wearing shorts so I was sure that when we got up to the ticket counter, they would turn us away...but they didn't! We were in!
Getting to the top of the Duomo involved walking up about 500 steps, in a narrow passageway without windows and making frequent stops while "traffic" got backed up. At one point, I got pretty nervous about being stopped on the stairwell with no way to get out, but then I got over it. We were behind a group of young Italians who were laughing and goofing off and that made me happy. Some people were very pious and quiet while in the Duomo. Some people shushed other people (there was lots of shushing going on at Sant'Antimo, too. The Italians are serious about their churches!)
Going up:
We finally made it to the first tier of the dome, where we could see straight down into the nave and up to the gruesome scene on the ceiling. On the ceiling is a painting of heaven and hell and all that comes between. Hell was most interesting to us, as it featured various devils eating and killing people, women with six teets, people writhing in pain and agony, a six headed monster....we never got to the Jesus and God part because we were so busy looking at the torture scenes.
From the top of the dome, we could see across the city and could look down on people in a tower next to us.
Then we had to line up to get down again, which took almost as long as getting up. It was worth it, though. I love the Duomo!
After the Duomo we went to the Duomo museum, which featured statues that had been removed from the outside of the Duomo, restored,and displayed. Jim was very excited about the models of the dome and used a model to show methat the "statue of that guy with the pointy hat used to be right there." Even though he went to Catholic school almost as long as I did, Jim obviously never got a good look at the pope. We marveled over the relics of saints-things like fingers in ornate boxes-and saw a famous Leonardo Da Vinci sculpture.
After so much religion and seriousness, we needed a break. We walked through the leather market, where lots of people selling fake designer purses were lined up along with the licensed merchants. In London, the people who sell illegal things are a little more discrete. In Italy, the guys set their goods up on tables made out of carboard boxes or on sheets and when the police come around, they fold everything up nice and neat. I think the key is not to get caught selling the goods. You can hang around on the corner with a sheet full of fake purses slung over your shoulder, though, and no one bats an eye.
After the leather market, we went to the indoor food market, which was full of meat and cheese and veggies! Jim posed next to his favorite new food: Lard.
There were also some delicious pigs' feet!
We enjoyed one last cappucino before leaving Florence:
And then a piece of coconut that we bought on the street:
And we were off again, heading back towards the PIsa airport!
On our way to Pisa, we decided to stop off in Lucca, which is about thirty minutes north of Pisa. What a wonderful town! Napoleon lived there, too, and his wife Marie somethingorother played a huge part in making it the beautiful place that it is now, with lots of trees and gardens and a peaceful stream running around it. On top of the city wall, there is a paved path, where people were walking and biking...and that's when we saw the double bike and it called our names.
Into the Lucca wall:
Jim on the paved path:
Some Lucca Buildings and scenery:
THE BIKE!
Every couple should ride a double bike. We think we're going to buy one because we both had permagrin the whole time we were riding that thing.It was kind of hard to balance and Jim kept trying to get all dare devilish...and it rained,so we were FORCED to stop in a frozen yogurt shop and eat some yogurt until it stopped raining (sort of). We want our very own double bike, so that when we get annoyed with each other or in a bad mood, we can just hop on it and ride through London like big goofballs!
Sadly, we DID have to go back to Pisa, return our Fiat, and queue for the Ryan Air flight back home. There was lots of groaning and moaning amongst the passengers on our flight (no one wanted to go back home) and when we all got back to Stanstead airport, the lines for customs were incredible. We got home at 2am, slept for a few hours...and it was back to reality.
We miss Italy! (but we still love London)
When Jim woke up, we ate a couple of pastries, slammed some coffee at the hotel restaurant, checked out, stashed our backpack behind a chair, and headed to the Duomo. We got there around 9:30 and this was the scene. Can you find Jim?
We stood in line for about 45 minutes. There were signs all over the place saying that no shorts were allowed, and I was wearing shorts so I was sure that when we got up to the ticket counter, they would turn us away...but they didn't! We were in!
Getting to the top of the Duomo involved walking up about 500 steps, in a narrow passageway without windows and making frequent stops while "traffic" got backed up. At one point, I got pretty nervous about being stopped on the stairwell with no way to get out, but then I got over it. We were behind a group of young Italians who were laughing and goofing off and that made me happy. Some people were very pious and quiet while in the Duomo. Some people shushed other people (there was lots of shushing going on at Sant'Antimo, too. The Italians are serious about their churches!)
Going up:
We finally made it to the first tier of the dome, where we could see straight down into the nave and up to the gruesome scene on the ceiling. On the ceiling is a painting of heaven and hell and all that comes between. Hell was most interesting to us, as it featured various devils eating and killing people, women with six teets, people writhing in pain and agony, a six headed monster....we never got to the Jesus and God part because we were so busy looking at the torture scenes.
From the top of the dome, we could see across the city and could look down on people in a tower next to us.
Then we had to line up to get down again, which took almost as long as getting up. It was worth it, though. I love the Duomo!
After the Duomo we went to the Duomo museum, which featured statues that had been removed from the outside of the Duomo, restored,and displayed. Jim was very excited about the models of the dome and used a model to show methat the "statue of that guy with the pointy hat used to be right there." Even though he went to Catholic school almost as long as I did, Jim obviously never got a good look at the pope. We marveled over the relics of saints-things like fingers in ornate boxes-and saw a famous Leonardo Da Vinci sculpture.
After so much religion and seriousness, we needed a break. We walked through the leather market, where lots of people selling fake designer purses were lined up along with the licensed merchants. In London, the people who sell illegal things are a little more discrete. In Italy, the guys set their goods up on tables made out of carboard boxes or on sheets and when the police come around, they fold everything up nice and neat. I think the key is not to get caught selling the goods. You can hang around on the corner with a sheet full of fake purses slung over your shoulder, though, and no one bats an eye.
After the leather market, we went to the indoor food market, which was full of meat and cheese and veggies! Jim posed next to his favorite new food: Lard.
There were also some delicious pigs' feet!
We enjoyed one last cappucino before leaving Florence:
And then a piece of coconut that we bought on the street:
And we were off again, heading back towards the PIsa airport!
On our way to Pisa, we decided to stop off in Lucca, which is about thirty minutes north of Pisa. What a wonderful town! Napoleon lived there, too, and his wife Marie somethingorother played a huge part in making it the beautiful place that it is now, with lots of trees and gardens and a peaceful stream running around it. On top of the city wall, there is a paved path, where people were walking and biking...and that's when we saw the double bike and it called our names.
Into the Lucca wall:
Jim on the paved path:
Some Lucca Buildings and scenery:
THE BIKE!
Every couple should ride a double bike. We think we're going to buy one because we both had permagrin the whole time we were riding that thing.It was kind of hard to balance and Jim kept trying to get all dare devilish...and it rained,so we were FORCED to stop in a frozen yogurt shop and eat some yogurt until it stopped raining (sort of). We want our very own double bike, so that when we get annoyed with each other or in a bad mood, we can just hop on it and ride through London like big goofballs!
Sadly, we DID have to go back to Pisa, return our Fiat, and queue for the Ryan Air flight back home. There was lots of groaning and moaning amongst the passengers on our flight (no one wanted to go back home) and when we all got back to Stanstead airport, the lines for customs were incredible. We got home at 2am, slept for a few hours...and it was back to reality.
We miss Italy! (but we still love London)
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