Cincinnati

Ok, so i am not in much of a mood to blog, but am throwing one up anyway. As you can guess it is going to be mostly pictures and not much writing. But usually when I say that it ends up being more writing than I had expected.
Last weekend DKNY, BH, Mateo, Coriander, Ando and I all headed back to Cincy for the weekend. Yep, that's right just for the weekend....and we drove. We left on Friday afternoon around 4:00pm and arrived in Cincy around 3:00am. Of course we went straight to bed to get ready for Saturday.
On Saturday Ando and I needed to stop by our rental property, aka the house we couldn't sell, and then we stopped off to see Jenster, Mo and Taca. After our quick stay in the P-Ridge Ando and I met up with my parents for lunch at, where else, Skyline. We also picked up some presents from the wedding that trickled in after we had already came back to NYC.
There was one last stop on Saturday before we needed to start getting ready for the wedding that night. Target was our destination for a wedding card and a father's day gift for my dad. I didn't find anything for my dad, but we did have success with the card and ended up seeing Mateo, Coriander and JB by pure chance.
We are finally at the reason we all came back for the weekend....a cousin wedding. The wedding was an outdoor affair at Pyramid Hill Sculpture park in Hamilton. It was a beautiful setting for a wedding. I must say there was some sweating going on during the ceremony, but nothing that we all couldn't handle. There were plenty of beverages to make sure we stayed hydrated as well.
On Sunday we all packed up and headed back to NYC. We arrived in the big apple around midnight. So that is right we spent 23 hours in a car and were in Cincinnati for 33 hours. Quite a weekend!
I spent about as much time in a car as in Cincinnati; there is no baby on the way to try this trip in the future.

Camping

Last weekend was the perfect time for some camping! We still have the car from driving it back to NYC after the wedding. We wanted to take advantage of the car so we decided to go camping in the Catskills.

Six of us left on Friday afternoon to head up and set everything up before the other 4 got up to the mountains after work. But needless to say we didn't get up to our campsites till much much later than we anticipated. Ando and I left our apartment at 2:45 to pick everyone up and head out of the city which means we got to our campsite at........9:00pm. Yep, it takes forever to get out of this city apparently and it is even worse when it is raining. The Catskills are only 2 to 2 1/2 hours away so we thought we would be there by 6:00 or 6:30, but how wrong we were.

Once we finally made it to the campsite, after a half hour check in...ugh, we had to set up all the tents in the dark. It is a bit tricky setting up tents in the dark with one flashlight, but we managed. Since we got to the campsite so late and had to set up tents all we did that night was grill some food and then head to bed.

On Saturday we all went for a hike straight up a mountain. It was an intense climb up to the plateau on plateau mountain! Once we got up to the lookout we sat down for some lunch and a nice lay in the sun. Joel was enjoying his break so much that he forgot he took his glasses off and laid them on his chest. When he sat back up the glasses went off the side of the mountain. Luckily there was a little flat ground down below and he was able to get them back.

After lunch we kept hiking a little further before turning around and going back down the mountain. Everyone hikes down a little differently so there were three separate groups going back down. CB Radio, Joel and Ice were in the first group; Myself, Ando DKNY and BH were in the second group and the last group was Goose, Coriander and Mateo. On the way down Joel tried yet again to lose those glasses of his. He slipped on a tricky little leaf and slid off the side of the path down the mountain a little. He even did a somersault before being stopped by a log. Luckily he was just fine and the glasses even stayed on his head.

After the hike we had a little snack before dinner and then took a small nap. BH and I also played on the swing set and teeter-totter. The teeter-totter was terrible; I could stand higher than it went up in the air. But the swings were a lot of fun! Dinner was delicious that night. We made some kabobs for the grill with three different types of meat. And BH made some Mexican corn for all of us. The day of camping was a rousing success.

On Sunday morning we packed up and headed back to NYC. But first we had to have a jump start from the ranger. The minivan battery died with all of the opening and closing of the doors. We had to keep everything in the van because we were in bear territory. We really didn't want to have to encounter a bear, but really that would have been BH's job. We came up with a bear hierarchy and BH won the top spot of talking the bear down because she has the most experience. Well her job is most like talking to bears. If something would happen to BH then Goose would be next up. He did the most research on the bears so he was the next logical choice. Luckily we didn't need the bear hierarchy and we all came out alive.

I went camping for the first time in awhile; there is no "Catskill" on the way.

Wedding Festivities

So the wedding is over and the thank yous are almost finished so I guess it is time to start blogging again. Planning a wedding takes up a lot of your time....too much if you ask me. I am hoping that I will now have more of it, plus we are getting settled into the new digs which helps.
I apologize for not giving you anything in between the apartment crawl and the wedding, but you will just have to get over it.
I will start with the bachelorette party. It was way back when, well the last weekend in April, and tons of friends came to NYC to help me celebrate. It was awesome to see everyone again and I felt so honored that everyone came so far. Saturday was a fun filled day of brunch, sorry Teed, shopping and of course drinking. We went to a couple of bars and just had a good time. I am sorry to say, not really, that there was no veil, suck for a buck shirt, or any of the other "awesome" bachelorette things. In fact I don't think anyone knew it was my bachelorette party and that is the way I like it! Overall it was quite a great weekend!
Now onto wedding time; Ando and I left to come back to Cincy on the Wednesday before our wedding. We had some errands to run on Thursday and Friday before the big day. And the most important of those was getting the marriage license. We couldn't get it sooner because both of us were not in Cincinnati at the same time 60 days before the wedding. Getting the license was rather smooth and didn't take much of our time. Now, making a seating chart, that took most of our time. Sitting tables of guests next to others they know was a little bit challenging, but it all worked out in the end.
Friday I got to do a little relaxing with my sister at the spa. We both got a massage, manicure and pedicure. After the day at the spa it was time for rehearsal. Ando and I were late to our own rehearsal, go figure. We were the last ones there. Rehearsal was quick and painless and the dinner after was quite delicious. We went to Nicholson's, where the beloved unicorns were, and drank some good beers and ate some good food.
Saturday, of course, was the big day! My day started at the hair salon while Ando and the boys set up the reception hall. I know we left boys to set up the hall! After my hair was finished I got my makeup done and dresses at my parents house. Then it was time to head out for some pre ceremony pictures. Oh, and there was some champagne drinking while getting ready as well.
Ando and I met up at the park along with the bridal party and our families. The weather held out for most of the pictures, it wasn't till the end when the rain rolled in. Luckily it was a passing shower and didn't stay around too long. I haven't seen all of the pictures yet, but the ones I have seen on the sneak peak blog are pretty good. There are a couple that I am not a big fan of, but I think the photographer did a good job and I am excited to see the rest.
The ceremony started at 6:30, but we got to the church way before that so I had too much time to think and worry about walking down that aisle in front of all those people. The longer I sat there the more nervous I got. Once I was finally walking down the aisle I was fine. So Ando and I got married! Oh how long, I mean short, it has been since I started this blog with that tag line about Ando and I getting married. It has finally happened; we are officially husband and wife, but my last name still isn't the same as his.
Ando and I hopped a ride with DKNY and BH to the reception. The reception flew by in my mind and I wish there would have been a little more time. I did get to eat, which people kept telling me that I wouldn't, but I made sure I got something in me for all that talking. And boy was there a lot of talking. I feel like I didn't get to talk to everyone and then the night was over. I was so close to seeing and talking to everyone, and then doing some dancing, but the night ended. Time flies by when you are having fun right? I had a great time, so much so that I wanted the night to keep going.
Ando and I headed back to our hotel room downtown and low and behold there was a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. We topped the night off with our own bottle of champagne and the strawberries! Overall the day was a smashing success, at least in my eyes!

Ando and I finally got married; there isn't a wedding night baby on the way.





For more pictures you can go to the photographer's blog and just scroll down to Ando and I.