Off to NC!

We're off the Charlotte this afternoon for Christina and Mark's wedding (pray to the weather gods b/c it's nasty here and LGA can get really backed up in Summer storms). I can't wait to see friends, especially those who don't live in NYC. Linds is flying in from Dubai and none of us have seen her since last year. I have necklaces for four of my ladies to say thank you for their years of friendship. It's so rare that we're all together, so I thought this was the perfect time. It's going to be a fun weekend at the Ballantyne. The hubby is bummed though b/c the golf course is closed.

I'm wearing this dress that I picked up last year for $40 during one of J Crew's final sales. I made a necklace to wear too, a triple-strand of pink peruvian opals. Pics to come!

This will be the first time we'll be leaving Vella in NYC. I'm praying she behaves for Erica and Drew, most importantly at bedtime and in the morning. She totally knows something is up because we took her crate over to their apartment last night and we packed our bags this morning. Be good Vella Violet, see you on Sunday afternoon!

Show us Your Life Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

I'm participating in Kelly's Korner "Show us How You Live." Today's theme is your wedding party and flowers, so it's a fun way for those of us married a few years ago to reminisce!

We were married September 29, 2006 in New York City. I'm from VA and my husband grew up on Long Island, so it felt right to have the wedding here in NYC where we met. We had the ceremony and reception at Tribeca Rooftop, which in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful venues in the City. The weather was gorgeous after a stormy morning and we were lucky enough to have the ceremony outside overlooking Manhattan. For those of you who haven't picked up on this, my husband is Jewish and I'm Catholic. Interfaith marriage is fairly common here in NYC, so ceremony planning was surprisingly easy and both faiths were represented. We had a rabbi and a priest who incorporated traditions for both sides of the family (and we had a very fun hora at the beginning of the reception!).

I had three bridesmaids, my sisters and Matt's sister. They carried hydrangeas, which are my favorite. My bouquet was white amaryllis and our Moms carried white dahlias. We carried this them to the tables and used all white flowers, hydrangeas, dahlias, orchids, etc. And before I forget, the bridesmaids dresses were JCrew and they wore necklaces from KEP Designs.

We opted for almost all film when we chose Sheri Whitko as our photographer and we couldn't have been happier with the pictures! That said, it's almost three years later and we still haven't ordered our album or pictures...I know, I know, it's pathetic. I plan to get to it in August before our three-year anniversary. So the pictures I have are those shot by family and friends. Enjoy, Happy Friday!

Brazil

It's being storming all day and I was reminded that we were in Brazil one year ago this week! Why did the storms remind me of this? Well, we sat on the runway at Newark for 4 hours, made the 12-hour flight, missed our connection in Sao Paolo and arrived in Rio almost 24 hours after we left our apartment. Fun! We had a great time in Brazil, but it was exhausting on so many levels. We went to a wedding in Rio (by the way, they have a room with nothing but candy and desserts at Brazilians weddings! Yum!), then we were off to Praia do Forte, Salvador and Natal. Brazilians speak Portuguese...I'm fluent in Spanish. Doesn't help and it's actually offensive to try the old Spanish! So, I could read everything, but he had some trouble getting around. All in though, we really look forward to vacations and I'm glad we had the opportunity to make this trip. The husband works crazy hours, so we take every vacation we can get.

We'll take another big trip later this year or early next year. The current contenders are Northern India or South Africa.

6 Years Ago

I was looking at old pictures and stumbled on pics from our 2003 trip to Guadeloupe. Matt was heading to B-school in early August and this was our last trip before his two-year stint at Cornell. I wasn't a huge fan of the island, but we always have a good time. Wow, we look young in these pictures!

Living Room Before and After

Goodbye seller's bad taste! No more leather, fake trees or vertical blinds. Here's the rundown:

Couches and Chair - Rowe

Tables - Stanley

Rug - Pottery Barn

Glass Pieces - Pottery Barn

Window Treatments and Hardware - Pottery Barn

We still need some accessories, but it's come a long way! Notice Vella's bed...she has one in the living room and one in our master bedroom. Spoiled puppy dog!

Front Yard Before and After

The Russian Olive came out and at my request, tons of blue hydrangeas went in to fill in the space! Nothing says Eastern Long Island or New England to me like hydrangeas. We also added some planters on the front steps. With lots of rain this Spring/Summer, everything is in full bloom.

We also had another small area cleaned out. I don't have a "before" on this area, but lets just say it was overgrown and hideous. The landscape company chose butterfly bushes, verbena and an ornamental maple. We couldn't be happier.

Doggie Social

We are attending this on Saturday (yes, I'm already thinking about the weekend). And under NO circumstances are we leaving with another dog. And I mean that, practice some self-control Rosedales!

Etsy Store is Open for Business!

I love making jewelry and I'm thrilled to start my Etsy store! Jump over to Etsy and happy shopping. I look forward to sharing this adventure with all of you. A special thank you to Sonya Szostak for designing my logo and all of her advice!

First week of July Recap!

• Met up with Adrienne and her little guy Dax on Wednesday evening in Central Park. This was followed by a trip to Amy's Bread since we both needed a pre-dinner snack...I'm obsessed with this bakery's "Cinnamon Crunchies." Best ever. Run there.


• Celebrated my birthday. No numbers needed. I'm the proud owner of a new iPod Nano. Thanks to everyone for the cards, flowers and messages!


• Made the trip to WH on Thursday night, with a quick stop at Phil's Pizza in my husband's hometown (Vella likes sniffing out the crumbs and the owners love her).


• Dinner at Docker's with friends M and C . Gorgeous sunset sitting outside on the Bay and great company.


• Saturday at the beach!


• Watched fireworks from our yard. Vella just stared and stared. It was pretty cute.


• Long run on Sunday. Yuck.


• Sunday at the beach!


• Left WH at 9:30 last night...we got in every last minute that we could out there!

It was a wonderful long weekend! The weather was picture perfect here on the East Coast. So much more Summer to come. Totally unrelated, the husband and I realized last week marked 8 years together. Um, where did all of that time go?!?