The Essama Family

Actually, this might qualify me for Worst Bestie Ever

2009-05-22T16:22:00.005-04:00

I still haven't put up pictures from Christine and Rommie's (dubbed Chrommie by many) beautiful wedding on Saturday, May 2! I swear, I didn't make this up, but my dog ate my camera cord. So I am running around trying to find a new one so I can put my pictures up!

In the meantime, please enjoy a few snapshots Laura took that day and expect a long detailed run-down of the days events ASAP! Christine looked so beautiful and Rommie looked so happy on what was a picture perfect day, despite repeated calls for rain!

What a pretty lady!!!!

Besties in the limo celebrating post nuptials!

The Happy Couple!

ConGRADulations* Caryn!

2009-05-22T16:16:00.004-04:00

Congrats to our good friend Caryn who graduated today with her MBA from the University of Maryland!

*This was stolen from Laura, who is oh so clever!

Worst Bestie Ever

2009-05-22T16:09:00.004-04:00

I neglected to celebrate the 30th birthday of my bestie, Laura, on Wednesday, May 20th! I love you Larry!!

We are going to The Wine Kitchen in Leesburg next week to celebrate, where they informed us that Tuesdays are Flight Night. Flights of wine of $9. I smell trouble.

Getting ready for Christine's wedding

Blame it on the a-a-a-a-alcohol...

We mourn the passing of a good friend

2009-05-21T22:34:00.009-04:00

The Essamas are mourning the loss of a good friend, Hans Huber, loving husband to our dear friend Christine (Kohlmeyer) Huber. Our hearts are heavy with his tragic and untimely passing last Thursday evening. He was a great man who will truly be missed and he loved his wife so much--their love and happiness was so evident to everyone around them.

The family has asked people to consider making a donation to the House of Ruth, (Hans first asked Christine out at a benefit they were attending for this organization). The House of Ruth serves women, children and families who are striving to overcome domestic violence, homelessness, mental health disorders and substance abuse by building safe, stable lives and helping them to achieve their highest potential.

Please visit http://www.houseofruth.org/ and click on Contribute on the left.

Please keep Christine, her family, Hans' family and their plethora of friends in your thoughts and prayers.

You left us too soon Hans, but we are better people for having known you.

Robb (Hans' best friend), Hans and Belinga at Shelly's in March

Who reads this thing anyway?

2009-04-20T17:30:00.003-04:00

Much like the rest of you bloggers out there (I think?), I feel like no one reads my blog. Granted, not like I give you much to read considering I've been REALLY bad at blogging lately, but ignore that for a second.

I just added the Follower gadget to the right side of the page and I noticed my Knot friend Christina is following my blog (thanks!!), so if you please, will you go list yourself as a follower too, so I can be one of the cool kids? I will in return become a follower of you and will put your blog link up on my faves.

Come on, pretty please? With sugar on top?

I am going to be better at blogging, I promise!!!

1 year (already?!)

2009-04-19T15:03:00.001-04:00

This post will be short because I have pictures and will do a full run down when I have time, but I needed to acknowledge our 1 year anniversary somehow!!

We headed to New York for a really quick weekend--saw a show, went to a yummy dinner, had a great bottle of wine (courtesy of my Dad!), hung out with good friends and ate lots of meat.

We also toasted our 1 year with our toasting flutes, ate the top tier of our wedding cake (really not that bad for 1 year frozen cake!) with our cake serving set. The only thing I managed not to force my dear husband of 1 year to do was watch our wedding highlights. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to and had to majorly coax him to even agree to the 7 minute highlight reel, but we were very tired from our whirlwind weekend and I of course needed to watch last week's Hell's Kitchen and the new episode of the Tudors. Maybe I'll "surprise" him one of these days and pop it in. I'm sure he'll love that, ha!

I will post tonight and give you a more detailed recap along with pictures!! I can't even post up a picture from last year because my internet is acting screwy, so stay tuned!

CAK and HJH unite!

2009-04-03T11:12:00.013-04:00

This past weekend, the husband and I attended the beautiful wedding of our good friends Christine and Hans at the Willard Intercontinental. The Willard is a gorgeous historic hotel in downtown DC. Christine is the first of our 2009 Knotties to tie the knot and the wedding certainly didn't disappoint!

Since it was the first day of the Cherry Blossom Festival, one of Christine's major themes was obviously cherry blossoms--you could find them on her programs, monograms, altar flowers, etc. We walked into the Willard and wouldn't you know, they had plastered the entrance and the hallways with cherry trees--it was beautiful! (Of course I didn't take a picture, I was too busy admiring).

The ceremony took place in the Crystal Room and was performed by none other than Ken Knapp, the same person who married Belinga and I and Jacqueline and Todd (and Jacqueline's sister Kristen and her husband Ben). We all heart Ken!

The Hubers are married by Ken!

The Essamas almost one year later with Ken!

Everything was great, the food was yummy (beef tenderloin and sea bass) and dessert was a huge hit! We had a trio of sorbet with fresh berries, wedding cake and as if that wasn't enough, there was a crepe station. Oh man those crepes were good. Sorry people, I'm not Mrs. Broad, so I didn't take a picture. Her flowers were to die for, the cake was pretty and they personalized each table with a restaurant that meant something to them and to their guests. We sat at PS7, which is a restaurant that we celebrated their engagement at, along with Maggie and Mitch's. A great time was had by all!

I'm not sure the pictures do the flowers or the cake justice. The flowers were all vibrant shades of pink and the cake looked amazing and smelled (and tasted!) really good!

The gang minus Henrik!

After the wedding, we hit up Shelly's Back Room, one of Hans's favorite places (and Belinga's new favorite) for cigars and bourbon/scotch. Christine also had personalized cigars and matchboxes on hand. No detail was spared here people--she's an uber planner! :-)

Favorite, though blurry, picture of Hans in his element

Congratulations to the Hubers!!

For more of the 9 billion pictures I took, click here.

Happy 30th Blair!

2009-03-12T17:48:00.007-04:00

This past weekend, I traveled up to Boston to help my good friend Blair celebrate her 30th birthday in style! We had a blast! Her mom and brother and another good friend, Allison, came up from Miami and there were a lot of Boston friends to her celebrate on Saturday night at Sonsie on Newbury Street.

The festivities started on Thursday evening with a yummy dinner at the Top of the Hub, the restaurant at the top of the Prudential building. The 360 degree views of Boston were awesome and the food was really good!

Friday, we went to see the Shephard Fairey exhibit at the ICA--he's a well-known Boston street artist who did the iconic Obama poster that you saw everywhere during his campaign. Then, during lunch at the Barking Crab, where I had steamers for the first time, we stumbled upon a stroke of genius! We decided to go see Dirty Dancing on stage. Anyone who knows me know I freaking love that movie and have been dying to see it! It was very similar to the movie, but not quite as awesome, but still a good time.

One of Fairey's numerous stickers around Boston

Saturday we had a late lunch, then grabbed balloons and cake and headed over to Sonsie to decorate and setup. Lots of Blair's friends showed up and a good time was had by all!

Yummy cake with awesome candles I got for Blair (please note the awesome "30" confetti on the tables. I LOVE confetti.)

Sunday was major recovery day, we ordered some yummy Thai food, then it was off to bed for my majorly early flight on Monday morning!

Jonathan and Blair

From left, Blair, me, Allison, Cheri, David (Blair's brother)

Happy 2nd Birthday Frank!

2009-03-03T11:48:00.002-05:00

Today is Bella's good friend Frank's 2nd birthday! A few months ago, we had the pleasure of pupsitting for Frank while his parents were off playing. Here's a picture of the good friends behind our puppy gate!

Happy 1st Birthday Bella!

2009-03-02T23:33:00.000-05:00

Sunday was Bella's 1st birthday! We unfortunately didn't have a puppy party for her, a) because she really only knows 2-3 dogs, and b) because we have no backyard. So we decided to celebrate alone and make hamburgers and cupcakes in honor of our favorite pooch. I also bought her a cute furry pink hat that says "I'm one" which did not please her. But it made for a cute picture!

Happy Birthday Pretty Girl!

Happy Birthday Chin Strap!!

2009-02-05T16:53:00.004-05:00

Happy "Big One" to my favorite wearer of Chin Straps and deserter of Northern VA, Caryn! We miss you and wish we were celebrating with you! Hope you have a wonderful start to your 30s!

Congratulations to the Nilsens!

2009-02-05T16:48:00.003-05:00

A few big events have taken place that require I resurface from the Land of Non-Bloggery. The Essamas good friends Rachel and Henrik tied the knot on January 23rd in New York, to be followed by a larger celebration on Long Island in October. We are so happy for them and welcome them to the wonderful world of marriage!

Grattis Nilsens!

Big Day!!

2008-12-16T11:35:00.002-05:00

Today is a day of firsts in the Essama household! I signed up for my first 10 mile race, the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, which is taking place in DC on Sunday, April 5th, 2009! I am really excited about it but also pretty nervous because I really haven't run since the wedding. But I'm excited to start up again and hopefully I'll be in tip top shape for all the weddings this spring! :-)

Today is also Bella's first day of doggie day care!! Thanks to her friend Frank for the referral, hopefully she will be a tired, happy puppy at the end of the day!

Happy Birthday Mommy-o!

2008-12-12T10:19:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Mom!! Thank you for everything you do for me (which I know I don't always thank you for!) You're the best!

We're going to chow on some sushi later and maybe get crazy and go see a movie. :-)

PS: Bella also thanks you for all the times you take care of her when her mom and dad aren't around!

Big Fat Liar!

2008-12-08T14:17:00.004-05:00

Husbands. You gotta love 'em. Lately we've been stuck in this rut of one of us doing the same chores over and over, so we've been making a concerted effort to help the other one out a lot more. So my gracious hubby said he would go run some errands that I would normally do to alleviate some of the constant errand-running pressure off of me. So 5 days ago I ask him to go pick up my prescription from the Target pharmacy. I still had some left, so no biggie right? Well, day after day goes by, in sometimes typical husband fashion of constantly forgetting to do things he'd say he'd do. Fine, no biggie. But yesterday, I'm out all day and text him, reminding him to pick it up. I come home, don't see anything, ask him where the prescription is. He proceeds to tell me that the Target pharmacy is closed on Sundays. Hmmm, odd, I don't recall this being true and sort of doubted him, but then I felt slighly bad and realized I'm not always right (even though I am 99.999999% of the time), so give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't even compulsively go check online to see if he's full of crap, I trust him.

About an hour ago I get an e-mail entitled "I lied." I was wondering what it was in regards to and it says "Target Pharmacy is open Sundays oooppppsss!!!" My response: I KNEW IT, YOU BIG FAT LIAR! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO GO PICK IT UP! YOU OWE ME BIG TIME!

Just when I was becoming less neurotic, he pulls a fast one on me. Alas, I'm not mad, I'm actually quite amused that I know him so well and totally knew he made up that story about Target being closed. Hopefully my arteries won't harden and close up before he picks up the prescription tonight!

Oh and then, he has to go and do something so super nice, that I can't stay slightly annoyed at him, like putting away all the laundry I was supposed to put away that has been in the dryer/on top of the dryer/on the bed in the guest bedroom, saving me hours of having to fight off the dog while she tries to run away with our underwear and socks.

Ah husbands...gotta love 'em! :-)

Turkey for Me, Turkey for You...

2008-11-24T14:19:00.002-05:00

Can't wait for Thanksgiving this week! Not only is it a short week, but I get to break out the fine china and have the hubby's family over on Thursday for Thanksgiving. And I can't wait for a 5 day weekend, woohoo!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Salut 16!

2008-11-14T12:28:00.004-05:00

Today marks an amazing milestone for me and Larry. Today is the 16th anniversary of SALUT! What is Salut you ask? Salut is a way of saying hello and goodbye in French, which we learned way back in 1992 in Mme. Guida's French class. For some reason, this greeting has stuck with us for years and we STILL say Salut almost every time we speak. Back in 2002, we went to France to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Salut, which was SO fun. Of course, it was also pre-digital camera age (at least for us anyway), so please stay tuned for some scanned highlights of our French getaway.

I threw the gauntlet down today and said we have to go back for Salut 20 in 2012. Anyone else want to experience SALUT with us??????

Happy 30th Birthday Jacks!

2008-11-14T11:59:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to Jack D who enters her 30s today! Can't wait to celebrate with drinks later tonight!

Oh look, there I am in the background! Jack D and awesome "Broad" Caryn!

Happy Birthday Rommie!!

2008-11-12T12:32:00.002-05:00

Happy 28th Birthday to the Essamas good friend Rommie! Can't wait to celebrate with a Skins victory on Sunday night!

Wedding Video!

2008-11-10T13:26:00.002-05:00

I am rather proud of my technological prowess in figuring out how to upload the highlight montage of our wedding to YouTube. So sit back and enjoy!

History

2008-11-07T10:30:00.003-05:00

All I can say about the election on Tuesday is Wow. Regardless of your political affiliation it was history making and incredible to see the enormous crowds in Chicago and all the spontaneous celebrations around the country and the world. It was really interesting to see and cool that we are a part of history. I didn't even grow up in the 60s, but I never thought I'd see a black president. And to see all the African Americans (and other Americans and people around the world) who were so emotional and touched by Obama's election was really cool to witness. I teared up a little too. It really was incredible.

I don't know about you guys but I plan on going to the inauguration, sorry work! :-) This is one of those times when living in DC (and by living in DC I mean I really live far away in the suburbs but it's close enough that I can pretend like I'm still cool and have a life) has it's bonuses!!

Ha, look at what I just found on Google Images:

Bella's First Halloween

2008-11-02T20:25:00.008-05:00

Since we don't have kids [yet], you all will have to settle for ridiculous pictures of our poor dog in costume on her First Halloween. I personally think she really enjoyed her costume, once she stopped struggling while I put it on her. The hat was a must. Belinga was not very pleased at what I was subjecting her to, but what does he know??

If you would rather see cute real babies, please see here and here. Oh and here's a bonus of our friend Renea and Trey's baby, Graham. Dying of cuteness!!!

Long Overdue Big Congrats!!

2008-11-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Jacqueline and Todd who completed the Marine Corps Marathon last weekend on a beautiful fall day. Big props for all their months of training--you guys are awesome!!!

6 Months Ago Today...

2008-10-19T17:18:00.005-04:00

April 19, 2008...

6 Months later...

Today marks our 6 month anniversary and I realize many of you will scoff and say "6 months? Who cares?" but nevertheless it's a milestone! We had a fun time going up to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland where we hiked a 5 mile trail that we swore was probably closer to 10 miles. But it was a gorgeous fall day and the scenery was very pretty! And it wore Bella out, finally!

Here are a couple more pics from our hike:

We followed up our very tiring hike with dinner at The Palm restaurant...mmmm filet oscar, yum!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Hooray for Lauren and Andrew!

2008-10-19T17:00:00.001-04:00

My friend Lauren's husband is finally back on US soil permanently after a long 15 months (the first 15 months of their marriage no less!) in Afghanistan. Congrats Lauren and Andrew--glad you made it back safely and can't wait to meet you!

Bella's Beagle Buddies!

2008-10-19T16:31:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday I took Bella to the Leesburg Canine Country Club for a Beagle meetup. I was ridiculed by quite a few people for taking her, but I'm glad I did. She had such a good time and running around for 2.5 hours made her pooped for the rest of the weekend, which is a good thing. She never gets tired!

Check out some of her new friends below:

Running after other dogs is fun!

Bella became bff with this Puggle named Ralph

Oh boy, I love playing with other dogs!

Bella was so tired she was trying to rest but Ralph and the pervert (get out of Bella's crotch!) Maizy, who kept humping Bella, wanted to play some more

Holler if you hear me!

2008-10-17T15:35:00.004-04:00

Gas was $2.75 in Sterling last night. WOOT!! Who knew we'd be so excited to see gas at that price?

My good friend Blogger Larry made a good observation the other day. All those people who locked in $2.99 gas with Chrysler/Dodge, etc. are probably PISSED!

Oh well, I was happy!

We're off to Sugarloaf Mountain tomorrow, fun!

Temporary Break

2008-10-15T12:24:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the temporary break in blogging folks but our rascal Bella chewed through the internet cable at home and for some reason the wireless isn't cooperating on our desktop, so you will have to wait for more posts.

Stay tuned for a LONG overdue post on Christine and Hans's engagement party, Bella's adventure at the dog park with her other Beagle friends and this weekend escapades. It's our 6 monthiversary and we will be celebrating with dinner at The Palm and going on a little day trip to see some fall foliage and take a hike/do a picnic with the pup. Oooh and stay tuned for my new hair also coming this weekend--don't worry, nothing too crazy, just trying to touch up the 3 inch dark roots growing...

Good luck tomorrow!!!

2008-10-10T16:08:00.001-04:00

Good luck to my good (and brave!) friends Christine, Jacqueline and Todd who are all running the Baltimore Half Marathon tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday Luke Alexander Beglis!

2008-10-07T22:53:00.005-04:00

Laura, Jim and big brother Damien welcomed Luke Alexander Beglis tonight at 8:12 pm. Everyone is doing great and Luke is a cutie pie! He weighed in at 9 lbs, 6 oz. and 21 inches long.

Mom, Dad and Luke!

Proud Aunties!

You'd think it was our kid... :-)

Halfway there...

2008-10-07T16:22:00.002-04:00

Just heard from Laura and she's only halfway dilated. Still no sign of baby! S/he doesn't want to come out yet!!

Stay tuned.

Eagerly awaiting Baby Beglis #2...

2008-10-07T12:37:00.002-04:00

Laura was induced at 6:30 am this morning and as of about 12 noon, there was still no good update to give on the arrival of Baby Beglis #2. We'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday Mary Kate--I mean Kristen!

2008-10-06T22:34:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to our good friend Kristen who rocked out in Vegas over the weekend to ring in the final year of her 20s! Wish we could've been there to celebrate! Here is Kristen, doing her best Mary Kate in my veil!

Future Mislehs Engagement Party!

2008-09-22T12:19:00.004-04:00

Sorry I'm a little tardy in posting, I didn't have any pictures and my trusty photographer just sent them to me (thanks Ronya!)! :-)

On Saturday the 13th, we hosted at our house (along with the bridesmaids) an engagement party for Christine and Rommie. I think it was a pretty good success, minus the fact that it decided to be 96 degrees that day and our AC decided it should stop blowing cold air b/c it was too hot and there were too many people in the house. It was a casual barbecue and football watching fest, with lots of yummy food made by the bridesmaids, Miss Peggy and various Mislehs. Special shoutout also goes to my mom who I roped into making us chicken kabobs and to my poor husband who spent hours outside in the heat over the grill firing us up the yummy burgers he made. The BMs and I couldn't have done this without a lot of help, so thanks everyone!

Although we didn't get many pictures from the day, here is a fun shot of the Mabrook (congratulations in Arabic) cake Krissy brought and the couple cutting the cake--we all teased them it was good practice for the wedding!

Can't wait until May when they tie the knot!

Just Call me Mullet Troll

2008-09-17T15:01:00.002-04:00

Whatever your politics may be, this is a fun little game to play to see what your name would be if you were Sarah Palin's kid. With names like Trig, Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper (at least the girls got somewhat decent names! The boys were shafted!) there is a new website where you can input your first name, middle name, last name or any combination of all of those to see what your name would be.

I am lucky enough to be Mullet Troll Palin. I really don't think anyone can top that. I do challenge you to leave comments and tell me what yours is and I'll judge if it tops Mullet Troll.

Enjoy!

http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html

Scarred for Life

2008-09-08T22:14:00.003-04:00

Our poor innocent sweet little puppy was scarred for life today, and I think her Dad was too a little. Belinga took the pup out for a little walk while I made dinner tonight (aw what a sweet little suburban couple) and all was going well until they came across a precocious little Indian boy. He was very inquisitive and asked Belinga a lot of questions about little Bella.

Boy: Is your dog friendly?

Boy: Can I pet her?

Boy: How old is she?

Boy: What kind of dog is she?

Boy: Where are her private parts?

ERRRRRRRRR (cue sounds of record needle scratching). WTF did this little kid just say? Oh wait, gets better.

Boy: Is she hot or cold?

Boy: Will you show me where her private parts are?

Belinga didn't really know what else to do, so he pointed in the general direction. Bella felt dirty. She came home and crawled into bed, wondering what had just happened.

Happy Birthday x 3!

2008-09-08T10:15:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to my good friends Liz (5th), Kera, (7th) and Christie (8th) who all had birthdays in the last 3 days! I miss you all and hope you had/have wonderful birthdays!!

90210 2.0

2008-09-03T10:05:00.003-04:00

A bunch of girls and I got together last night to watch the newest version of our beloved Beverly Hills, 90210. They've now shortened it to just 90210 (duh) and it's a jazzier more up-to-date version of our fave that was on the air from 1990-2000.

The Peach Pit looks like Starbucks with Nat as a barista, the kids are way richer and flashier and there were several tie ins to the old 90210 which I loved (Hannah Zuckerman-Vazquez, Erin Silver). Loved that Kelly had a kid, who we all think Brandon is the father of (sadly not Dylan like I was hoping it would be). The new parents are definitely no Jim and Cindy Walsh and the mom is bit too understanding of her hubby having a kid with Naomi's whorebeast mom (I don't care if he didn't know it was alive, he knew he got her pregnant!) It is weird though how similar the new Brenda and Lori Laughlin look, isn't it?!

Anyway, I'm hooked for the time being. I hope it doesn't suck. I know next week won't when we get to see Jackie Taylor-Silver again!!!!

PS: I totally called the jazzier version of the theme song and am glad they kept the original "Duh nuh nuh nuh, Duh nuh nuh, Ch Ch" (my poor attempt at phoneticizing the old theme song)!

PPS: Why did none of my principals look like Rob Estes?

PPPS: I am glad there is an Iranian on the show, supposedly, but #1 I don't think they even mentioned he was Iranian, #2 it's Beverly Hills, there ought to be like 8,000 Iranians on the new cast, lbh, and #3 why do I not see him eating kabobs and rice like I did all my childhood?!?!

Congratulations Caryn and Brett!

2008-09-01T11:01:00.002-04:00

Belinga and I attended the lovely nuptials of Caryn and Brett on Sunday in Washington, DC. It was our first Jewish wedding and we loved all the traditions that went into it, like the circling of the groom, the beautiful ketubah, the yichud (bride and groom alone time after the ceremony--we wish we had gotten some alone time on our wedding day!). You could tell how happy they were and of course it was no wedding without Caryn crying! Their rabbi made them write reasons why they loved each other and read them out loud--there wasn't a dry eye in the house!

Then we moved on to cocktail hour which was delicious! Ahi tuna, lamb lollipops (which I'm not ashamed to admit I stalked the poor servers for), mini weiners, gazpacho shooters, corn pancake thingies and an Asian station with shu mai, dumplings and spring rolls. Dinner was fabulous with beef tenderloin, Chilean sea bass, twice baked potatoes and broccoli. Dessert was awesome--we had mini sundaes in shot glasses, key lime pies on a stick dipped in chocolate and a yummy wedding cake.

Their band had everyone dancing and Caryn was a sight to see during the Hora, she was screaming and laughing! We had a wonderful time and wish the happy new couple all the best. They will be honeymooning in Australia for three weeks, yes! three weeks! And though it's hard to realize, Caryn doesn't actually live here anymore, she's moved on up to NYC and she will be missed greatly! Thanks for a wonderful time!

Our furbaby

2008-08-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

For all of you knotties out there, you know how cringeworthy that blog post title is. :-)

Many of you have been patiently waiting for pictures of our new pup Bella! We got her over 3 weeks ago and life has certainly been hectic with her! She's a handful, but a cutie!! She's about 5 months old and a beagle/Shepherd mix.

I guess this is what having a kid will be like--taking numerous stupid pictures of her from various angles because she's just too cute to sort through them!

Enjoy!

The Tooles!

2008-08-26T23:16:00.014-04:00

As per usual lately, I am way late in uploading these pictures to the blog, but I wanted to give a long overdue congratulations to our friends Michael and Jenni who got married on a beautiful, mild August day about 2 weeks ago on August 9th. The weather was ridiculously gorgeous for the middle of August and everything was great! I was honored to be a reader at their wedding and surprisingly made it through my reading with barely choking up.

Jenni was gorgeous and Michael wasn't too shabby looking either! :-) They enjoyed an awesome honeymoon in Hawaii and Michael swears it wasn't only because of the Lost tour that he just so happened to be able to go on while there.

Sara and the beautiful bride

Michael and his mom

Jenni and her dad

The happy couple! I am really good at reading

The New Tooles and their Wedding Party

To see all 180 pictures I took of the wedding, check out my album: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarajavad/MichaelAndJenniSWedding?authkey=0VCf8uNfpZE

Congrats Michael and Jenni, we're so happy for you!!

Happy Belated Birthday Rachel!

2008-08-25T14:45:00.003-04:00

On Saturday a few of us girls helped Rachel celebrate her 29th birthday. We got to see her new place, which is very nice and homey and above all, got some nice quality girl bonding time in! We ate delicious cheese from Cheesetique in Del Ray, thanks to Lauren, had some great organic Chinese food, followed up by my masterpiece of peanut butter chocolate chip cake! Oh and there was definitely wine involved, duh. And a mean game of Taboo.

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

Happy Birthday Kissy Bell!

2008-08-21T11:25:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to my bestie Christine!

Happy 4 Month Anniversary to Us!

2008-08-19T16:29:00.000-04:00

4 months already! Wowsers!

Happy Birthday Monika!

2008-08-06T11:54:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to one of our good friends, Monika! We hope you have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful year to come!

It's a Girl!

2008-07-31T12:10:00.006-04:00

The Essamas would like to welcome the newest addition to their family--Bella Essama! Bella was rescued from the Humane Society of Fairfax County on Sunday, July 27th. Bella is a 5 month old beagle/German Shepherd mix and she is the cutest thing ever! Her first few days she was very quiet and cowered to Hokie, the cat, but she's coming out of her shell now and enjoys howling and chasing the cat, much to Hokie's chagrin.

Bella enjoys long walks with her Mom and Dad (but not peeing during those long walks, she saves that for inside the house), having delicious treats and hates her crate.

Stay tuned for a little slideshow of Bella sleeping and being cute. For now, here is her mugshot from the Humane Society.

Caryn's Shower and Bachelorette Party

2008-07-24T17:26:00.008-04:00

Longtime blog reader and good friend Caryn had her shower and bachelorette party this past weekend! Many of her friends came in from out of town to help her celebrate a weekend full of fun!

Saturday night was the bachelorette party which started off with a dinner at Marrakesh Palace in Dupont. Caryn did a little routine with the belly dancer, which provided us with much laughter. Then her BMs created this great game named Monogamy (based on Monopoly) which made Caryn answer questions about her life and shenanigans--it was hilarious!!! We had fun bar hopping around Midtown and Adams Morgan (see picture below).

Sunday afternoon was Caryn's shower, which I must say was so thoughtfully organized and fun! It was a traveling theme, as Caryn and Brett do a lot of together, there were different stations related to places they have been or are going, with related food. For example, there was shrimp on the barbie at the Australia station and little pigs in a blanket for NY. They even made the chair she sat in look like an airplane chair, complete with neck rest, headphones, barf bag, seatbelt and airline magazine.

She got a lot of great presents from her friends and some very meaningful ones from her family--of course she cried a lot!! A great time was had by all!

Can't wait for their big day at the end of August! They will wrap up the Essama Wedding Tour of 2008!

Jenni's Shower and Bachelorette

2008-07-24T16:24:00.003-04:00

I'm almost caught up on everything I have been remiss in blogging about over the last month or so!

Last month, The Essamas good friend Jenni celebrated her bridal shower and bachelorette party. The shower was really nice, with a Hawaiian theme. Yummy food and a great sherbet punch was enjoyed by all.

We then headed into the city, where Jenni's good friend and BM, Christine, was able to hook us up with a nice table at the Park on 14th. We had our own table with our own security guard and waitress who served us all night long. They played great music and a great time was had by all!

Looking forward to Jenni and Michael's wedding in a couple weeks!

Fun fact: Sara and Christine set Jenni and Michael up at a happy hour at Whitlow's almost 2 years ago on Halloween b/c we thought they'd be perfect for each other! Little did we know just how right we were!!!

Happy Birthday Megs!

2008-07-23T17:45:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to my only female cousin Megan (or Meggie, Megs, Meg-goozle as one of the assorted names I like to call her)! She turns 17 today and is now a senior in high school--good grief, where does the time fly? I seriously remember when she was born!!

Happy Graduation Alex!

2008-07-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

My little brother Alex graduated from high school on June 17th in Irvine, CA. We are so proud of him and all of his achievements (all 5's on his 9 AP exams, a ridiculously high GPA, won the Science Medal given to only one senior every year). I can remember when my munchkin was a little baby and now he's all grown up.

My dad and Karen threw him a dinner celebration attended by his family and a few close friends and we surprised him with his graduation present--a 2 week trip to the Western US and all the national parks.

Alex is off to Berkeley next year! Congrats Zander!

Striking a pose

Alex, Karen, Dad and Miriam, his girlfriend

The whole gang--minus a fewAlex in front of the great memory board Karen and Dad did for Alex. On the back of it was a map and itinerary for his surprise trip!
Gratuitous shot of us at the beach

Congratulations Jacqueline and Todd!

2008-07-22T15:26:00.004-04:00

As I try to catch up on everything that fell by the wayside in the last month or so of chaos, I would be remiss if I didn't congratulate our good friends Jacqueline and Todd on their marriage on June 14th! As she likes to say Hurricane Jacqueline came into town that day and forced the outdoor ceremony inside, but a great time was still had by all!

Fun fact: Belinga and I originally wanted to get married on this date since our anniversary is June 15 and we could continue to celebrate it that day. This was really a shameless attempt to not have to remember another anniversary date. :-)

Happy Birthday Belinga!

2008-07-21T12:24:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to my husband of 3 months who turns a sprightly 33 today! We are celebrating both of our birthdays with a yummy meal at The Palm tonight, can't wait!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-07-16T10:42:00.005-04:00

I'm not ashamed to wish myself happy birthday! Today I turn 29. Wow. I really can't believe I'm almost 30. Where has the time gone? Looking forward to celebrating with drinks tonight--hope you all will join us at the Ballroom!

And look at what I was just surprised with from my awesome friend Laurie:

Thank you so much, how sweet! And thank you to everyone who has sent me warm wishes on my birthday--it's so nice to have such great friends and family!

Congrats Laurie and Brad!

2008-07-15T12:35:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Brad Bell who got married in Denver on June 7, 2008. Denver is a beautiful city and their wedding was fabulous. We got to meet a lot of new friends too, Brad and Laurie have fun friends!

Mrs. Scull, Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Essama!

Honeymoon pictures!

2008-07-14T23:51:00.003-04:00

Yes, I'm fully aware our honeymoon was 3 months ago, but it's never too late to look at the pictures! :-) I captioned them all for you too. You can pop out the small slideshow below to enjoy the pics in their full size. :-)

Enjoy!

I know, I know

2008-07-09T14:05:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever! The last month has been one of the craziest! Two weddings, a graduation, a shower, a bachelorette, oh my!

I have lots to post up and update you on and I know I still haven't put up honeymoon pictures! I will slowly do all of this this week. I'm sorry to all my friends who have had exciting things going on and I haven't mentioned them. But I haven't forgotten, I promise!

Two things to note: I've started boot camp again...why you ask? B/c I'm insane. Second, Laurie, my awesome friend from Denver has now started her own blog. I've linked her, she's the Denver Download.

More to come soon!

The Moment You've (Er, I've) All Been Waiting For...

2008-06-03T01:10:00.002-04:00

Drumroll please!!!!

Our wedding pictures are finally online!!

I think there are a ton of really great pictures, though I do wish I had some more professional pictures with my friends at the wedding. Not posed mind you (or even posed would be fine, but even candids!) I feel like I didn't get a lot, if any, pictures with my guests, which kinda stinks, but I suspect there are a lot of pictures out there still floating around that I haven't seen. If you haven't sent me your pictures yet, please do!

To see our pictures, go to www.sendtoprint.net and the event code is "sarasteve2008".

Enjoy!

Teaser pics!!!

2008-05-30T00:01:00.003-04:00

I thought I was going to get all the professional wedding pictures today, but they will be put online on Monday instead now.

But our photographer did send us a couple of teaser pictures!!! I can't wait to get the rest of them!!!! Enjoy!!!

This one wasn't posed I swear!

Jackie D takes over Dewey!

2008-05-29T16:58:00.007-04:00

Congrats to Jackie D who celebrated her bachelorette party in Dewey this past weekend! Good times was had by all (or so I hear b/c I could only stay for one day unfortunately!) But lots of fun memories were made including 9 Finger Man, Google Mumbai, Poo Dollar and Quarter, and the origins of the nickname Liam.

Here are some of the highlights:

Cute group pic!

Standing under Kristen's Umbrella Ella Ella Eh Eh Eh Eh...
Baby Beglis already hearts beer!
Ride 'em Jackie D!

Congrats Meg and Chris!!!

2008-05-28T17:00:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to our friends Meg and Chris who got married in North Carolina this past weekend!

Update

2008-05-27T17:50:00.002-04:00

Well, EVERYTHING doesn't suck, just almost everything. Luckily a few doctors are on the plan, but not all, which is super annoying.

And State Farm was the easiest by far! I didn't even have to prove we're married--I just said we are and they take my word for it! At least SOMETHING was easy!

Only 5,398,239,272,273 other places to call now.

Stay tuned.

Why?!

2008-05-27T16:44:00.002-04:00

Why didn't anyone tell me that getting married was going to be a major bureaucratic, red tape, PITA nightmare?!

Between switching insurances (who knew that one Blue Cross Blue Shield isn't accepted by another--and btw, word to the wise, make sure you actually research if your current doctors take the new policy instead of just assuming that b/c they're both BCBS that everything will be the same), filling out forms, faxing in documents, hours on the phone--this is so ludicrous!!!!!

OMG seriously, why did I not call the doctors before I dumped my insurance? How stupid was that?! But I figured nothing could be worse than my terrible high deductible health plan. Of course though, I found it and switched over to it. Gotta love your husband's "local bank" health plan!!! Grrrrrrr.

It's Official!

2008-05-22T13:54:00.002-04:00

I am now officially Sara Javad Essama, much to Belinga's delight. I went to the Social Security office this morning and 10 minutes later I had a new name!

Now on to the DMV tomorrow along with the 5,847,736 other places I'm going to have to notify.

You know what I find weird? So I obviously don't have my new Social Security card, that will come in the next 2 weeks. But they give you a letter/receipt that says what your new name is and that you've applied for the new card and it's coming soon. You use this to notify the DMV and I guess everyone else--I mean, Social Security is majorly official.

Well, apparently the letter is not good enough for work (despite it being enough to change my Social Security benefits, my voter registration, all my bank accounts, etc.). Work refuses to change how my name is displayed on such important things as the telephone screen and our internal associate look-up search until they have OFFICIAL proof from Social Security, i.e. the new card.

I think Jack D's sister would say DEAR CRAZY to this! (Did I get that right Jack?)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!!

2008-05-20T00:47:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to the best bestie ever! I will probably get in major trouble for posting this picture, but I found it randomly while looking for pictures of Laura to post up. This is from the summer we all celebrated our 25th birthdays and I think it shows how awesome Laura is. :-)

Rock on Larry!

ONE MONTH!

2008-05-19T12:00:00.001-04:00

Wow, I can't even believe it has been 1 month since we got married!

That also highlights how pathetic it is that I have yet to upload honeymoon pictures. I will however, let you know that I did try to post them tonight, but my cord seems to have gone missing...

I'm sorry!!!

Happy Birthday x 2!!

2008-05-08T15:04:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday to our little munchkin Damien who turns a whopping 2 years old today! Look at how handsome he's getting. Big Papa (aka Belinga) thinks he will definitely be a "playa" one day.

Another Happy Birthday is in order to our good friend Mary who turns XX today! :-) (I'm sure she'll love me for this picture, but it's the only one I could find of me and her! Sorry Mare!)

Congratulations!!

2008-05-06T23:55:00.005-04:00

It's been a busy 2 weeks since Mr. and Mrs. Essama have been traipsing around the globe!

Congratulations to who I affectionately refer to as "The Other Christine" and Hans--they were engaged the weekend after we got married!

They are planning a 2009 wedding and we wish them all the best as they start their newly engaged lives together!!

WE'RE BACK AND MARRIED!

2008-05-06T23:42:00.002-04:00

More to come as soon as I stop being so lazy and upload honeymoon and non-professional pictures that friends have sent me.

But for now, enjoy this picture--I promise I will write more soon!

2 days left!

2008-04-16T22:51:00.002-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's almost here--can you believe I've been blogging for about the last year leading up to the big day?

I've been running around like a crazy person for the last few days doing last minute errands, etc. No matter how organized I have been up to the big day, I feel like you can't really do everything and things get left to the last minute to do. So it's been a bit hectic!

Not sure I will get to post again before the big day and then we'll be off on the honeymoon--but we'll be back May 4 and I will put up honeymoon and wedding pictures for everyone!

Thanks to everyone who has listened to me talk non-stop about boring wedding stuff for the last year--it bored me too most of the time and I know it's sometimes the only thing I ever talked about--so thanks for sticking around, lending a listening ear and for being there for me!

And never fear--the blog will return, newly dubbed as "The Essama Family" where you can hear about our boring lives post wedding, so don't stop reading!

Love, Sara

Me Love Cookie!

2008-04-13T21:54:00.006-04:00

I spent a rather productive Sunday baking dozens of cookies. Why, you may ask? Well, #1 I came up with this hair-brained idea related to the wedding and I wanted to do it myself (with some help from Laura (and Damien!). And #2, it's a secret, but suffice to say, you'll find out on Saturday!

I'm in the 10 Day Forecast!

2008-04-10T11:53:00.003-04:00

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

Mostly Sunny

High: 75

Low: 53

HOLLA!!!!

I do

2008-04-10T11:47:00.002-04:00

That was Belinga's response this morning when the Clerk of Loudoun County Court asked us to confirm our identities and affirm we were entering into marriage without being currently married or being related to each other (so far as we knew).

Both me and the lady laughed when he responded "I do" instead of "Yes," which is how I responded. Well, hey, at least he's practicing!

So we have our marriage license finally! Let me tell you, if you have the choice, get your marriage license in Loudoun County!! There wasn't a soul there at 9 am at the courthouse, you can fill out the application online, so you just go in, pay $30 in cash, take an oath and you're out. It was about 5-7 minutes total. (I'm not sure if you have to be getting married in Loudoun County or just the state of Virginia...I there is conflicting info out there. She asked us if we were getting married in Virginia in the next 60 days, not if we were getting married in Loudoun County in the next 60 days.)

I can't believe it's next week!

Happy Birthday Ronya!!!

2008-04-08T11:25:00.000-04:00

Hope you have a great birthday, not working on a proposal! :-)

It's Official

2008-04-07T23:26:00.002-04:00

I've hit "Holy Cr*p there's only 12 days until the wedding" full on panic mode. I was wondering when it would occur and it's here. Officially.

It just seems like there are an OVERWHELMING number of minute details that need to be worked out and everyone is looking at me like I should/need to have the answers. Like where is the top of the wedding cake going to be stored at the end of the night? Who is responsible for taking all the gifts/cards home? At what exact moment in time will I be ready to go with everything on to take pictures?

And my mind is turning to mush. I keep forgetting things. Things that I should've done like over a week ago. But I keep forgetting them. And whereas before I was constantly waiting on people to get back to me, now people are waiting on me to get them info on programs, menus, escort cards, etc.

But I'm excited! And nervous! Yikes! Where did the last 13 months go?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2008-04-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

Happy 29th Birthday Maggie!!

Happy Showers!

2008-03-28T10:30:00.003-04:00

After 4 days on the Eastern Shore for work, I am off to Boston/New Hampshire this weekend for Laurie's bridal shower! Should be fun times, I can't wait!

Because of that, I am unfortunately missing Jacq D's bridal shower this weekend, but I wish her a wonderful shower and hopefully she knows I'm there in spirit!

Hope everyone has a great weekend--3 more weeks people, 3 more weeks!

PS: Good luck Kera Bagera at the marathon this weekend--I am there cheering you on in spirit too! You will do great, you can do it!!

Crab + Bacon = Delicious.

2008-03-25T00:05:00.002-04:00

Belinga and I, along with his dad, went to our food tasting on Saturday (while I was trying to contain myself from the excitement of Christine and Rommie's engagement!). We tasted lots of yummy things!

For Rommie and Michael, we have bacon wrapped scallops as hors d'oeuvres, along with a few others that we haven't quite nailed down, but yumminess includes brie, beef, and chicken satay.

For the entree, we're doing a duet plate of steak au poivre (pepper encrusted filet) paired with a crabcake topped with--WAIT FOR IT--bacon! Um, how could it get more delicious you ask? It can't!

Dessert will be wedding cake along with some form of dessert which we haven't decided upon yet, but maybe something on the lighter side since dinner will be rather heavy, as will the cake.

I'm drooling here in my hotel room on the Eastern Shore (hun!) where I'm stuck for work until Thursday. Try not to miss me too bad!

Less than 4 weeks--EEEEEEEEKKKK!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

2008-03-23T22:20:00.002-04:00

One of my best friends, Christine, and her boyfriend of over 3 years, Rommie, got engaged on Saturday!!!! Belinga and I are so happy for them, they are such a great couple and great friends of ours. We wish them all the best and look forward to an early 2009 wedding! :-)

And bonus points to Rommie for proposing with his mom's diamond! Congratulations to the happy couple!!

Happy New Year!!

2008-03-20T15:43:00.001-04:00

For those of you not down with Persian/Iranian customs, today is the New Year! So Happy New Year!

Or as you would say in Farsi: Eideh Shomah Mobarak

Did you get that? Great.

Here's a little background on the "holiday" and its roots: http://www.persianmirror.com/celebrations/noruz/noruz.cfm#hist

With New Year comes the setting of the "Haft Sin" or "Seven S's, each representing something different: http://www.persianmirror.com/celebrations/noruz/noruz.cfm#haft

Oh, I did neglect to mention that on Tuesday we "jumped over the fire" as Christine put it. That is referred to as "Chahar Shanbeh Suri" and here is some info on that: http://www.persianmirror.com/celebrations/noruz/noruz.cfm#chahar

Man, I wish I had taken pictures of Belinga trying to say the little phrase in Farsi while jumping over a Yankee Candle in our dining room. :-)

Iranian New Year was always fun as a kid b/c it was a random holiday I got to take off and basically go to a park and barbecue with other Iranians. It was also marked by wearing all new clothes from head to toe and getting money from your elders. As I've gotten older though, my "new" items seem to get less and less each year, last year it was a new pair of underwear and this year I couldn't even muster that so I sported a new pair of knee high stockings. Wow, so exciting.

Also, now that I'm older, it sucks b/c I now have to give money to the people who are younger than me! Which I totally call BS on, no fair! I liked being a "kid" when I had no responsibilities!

Ok, the history and culture lesson for today is done! :-)

1 Month to go!

2008-03-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

1 Year Anniversary

2008-03-17T14:45:00.003-04:00

Today is the one year anniversary of Belinga proposing to me in Baltimore! Hard to believe it was a year ago and that there is only 1 month left until the wedding!

Here is a picture of us several hours after he proposed, as we were celebrating with all of our friends!

We Survived!

2008-03-17T14:42:00.002-04:00

Belinga and I survived our respective bachelor and bachelorette parties this weekend! We both had an AWESOME time--I was in Baltimore with 19 of my closest girlfriends and Belinga had a more intimate bash with 5 of his friends in Vegas.

Stay tuned for pictures!

This weekend!

2008-03-14T11:29:00.002-04:00

Fit like a Glove!

2008-03-13T15:34:00.002-04:00

I went for my first dress fitting on Tuesday evening with the famous Angie from The Knot and everything went perfectly!

Though I was hoping my dress would be WAY TOO BIG for me, it actually fit like a glove and only needs a little taking in at the bust.

Of course I have scheduled 2 more fittings with her in case I lose a billion pounds in 5 weeks. :-)

Now if only my veil will arrive from being lost in Nebraska for 2 weeks...

PS: Sorry to disappoint, but sadly I am NOT wearing the Hello Kitty dress-though it did come in a very close second!

President of Fitness

2008-03-09T13:32:00.004-04:00

I finished an 8k this morning!!! For you folks who can't make the conversion, that's 5 miles!!! My goal was to finish in 1 hour and I did exactly that, which was amazing to me. I had never run more than 2 miles without stopping before but I actually ran the ENTIRE 5 miles!!

For this feat, I have now been dubbed the President of Fitness. Christine, who also ran it with me and finished a few minutes before me, is my Vice President.

Congrats also to Jacqueline, Todd and Erin who also ran the race!

Chicken Kebab for the Soul

2008-03-08T23:02:00.002-05:00

Belinga and I, along with Rommie and Christine and a few of Rommie's friends, went to the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour tonight. It was FREAKING hilarious!! All the comics were of Middle Eastern descent and joked all night about what I affectionately call "being brown". By far, the funniest to me was Maz Jobrani who is Iranian, like me. Listening to his Persian accent and making fun of Iranians was so funny! If you have never seen them, go on You Tube and search for Axis of Evil Comedy Tour or check out their DVD, they were truly funny! Although I'm sure once the show let out the people on the street were like "WTF is going on--it must be an Al Qaeda convention!" I'd never seen so many brown people in one place! :-)

People always ask me the difference between Arabs and Iranians, check out Maz explaining below:

Happy Birthday Laurie!

2008-03-07T13:00:00.002-05:00

And only 90 days to go til her big day!

Congratulations Laura and Jim!

2008-03-06T13:09:00.002-05:00

The Beglises are welcoming another bambino to the world this fall to join older brother Damien! Congratulations!

Click here for more details: http://babybeglis.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Blair!

2008-03-05T16:29:00.002-05:00

Oops, dress is here

2008-03-04T16:48:00.001-05:00

My dress just arrived! I spoke too soon...but it's still 2.5 weeks late--JERKS!

WHERE THE *&#^&$ IS MY DRESS?

2008-03-04T15:36:00.003-05:00

We are now at 2.5 weeks overdue and my dress is still nowhere to be found. The shop alleges that it finally arrived in their store last Friday and that they sent it to me on the same day. This was after I talked to them on Thursday and they said the manufacturer would be sending it on Friday and would take 7-8 business days to arrive to the shop in North Carolina. So I'm not very confident that they have any clue what they are doing.

I am also now on appointment #2 for alterations, had to cancel the first one, and if the dress doesn't show up this week, I'll have to cancel appointment #2 also. But I guess that gives me more time to (try to) starve myself. Damn you food, why are you so delicious?

Beware people, I might end up wearing this down the aisle:

47 days and counting!

2008-03-03T16:06:00.002-05:00

I have gotten lots of things done lately, so many details, so little time!

Got both of our wedding bands
Finalized cake flavors (this cake is gonna be awesome!)
Booked shuttle transportation for guests from hotel to River Creek and back

Still left to do:

Get marriage license
Sign contract for rental items (chairs, linens)

Nothing major though, just lots of mundane details! I am getting pretty excited and can't believe it's just around the corner!

Bridal Shower!

2008-03-03T15:11:00.012-05:00

I'm sorry it's taken so long to update the blog--it has been a busy month for me and we're inching closer to the wedding!

Two weeks ago my awesome bridesmaids threw me a wonderful shower. Lots of people came from near and several from far, which was so wonderful! I had a great time and appreciated all the great gifts I got, but especially enjoyed the company.

A really special thank you to my bridesmaids, who put in so much time, energy and effort into creating a great shower for me. I can't ask for better friends.

And another special thank you to everyone who came from far away (Laura, Blair, Laurie, Karen, Kim & Ayden, Meg) to share my special day with me. I had the best time!

Wedding Day Survival Kit with Champagne--CRUCIAL!

My sister embarassing me highly with inappropriate lingerie
Karen and Kim came from far away to be with meBelinga's Mom, me and my Mom

My gorgeous cake! It was DELICIOUS!

My girls!

LOST

2008-02-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

I know this isn't wedding-related, but I couldn't go without commenting that the best show on television finally came back last night! It's been a long 8 months without my friends Sawyer, Jack, Kate and Hurley and I was happy to see it return, even if it is only for 8 episodes (damn you WGA...)

I don't want to give anything away b/c I know several of my blog readers are a couple of seasons behind (ahem, hurry and catch up!) but it was good stuff! And of course, as usual, it just prompted a trillion more questions. So if you would like to discuss, just e-mail me.

Oh and plus, looking at this every Thursday night isn't too shabby either:

Invites sent to calligrapher!!

2008-01-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

I've hit another milestone in the race up to the wedding day! The envelopes have been sent off to the calligrapher for her to do her magic! I'm so excited to see what they look like all put together with everyone's names on them. I can't believe it's getting so close...

You know, I was thinking, I have been so blessed with working with such great vendors. Everyone has been so accomodating, so helpful, so cooperative--I hope this lasts through the wedding day!!

My shower invites rock!

2008-01-29T10:30:00.000-05:00

Clearly I have issues posting to the blog in a timely manner, but I just wanted to tell my bridesmaids that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my shower invitations! They are absolutely perfect! Cute, match my colors, but not overly matchy matchy, they are so cute!

And thanks to Rommie and the Halstead for letting us take over! :-) I can't wait, I'm so excited!

Oh gosh, now what to wear...

Congratulations Maggie and Mitch!!

2008-01-09T15:06:00.000-05:00

One of my best friends from college and one of my bridesmaids, the illustrious lawyer Maggie, got engaged to her awesome boyfriend/now fiance Mitch on December 30th! Rachel, the other Christine and I, along with our significant others, all went out to dinner last Friday to celebrate and gave them some toasting flutes to commemorate the occasion. It was Belinga's bright idea to pour beer into the flutes. :-)

Congratulations you two!!! We are so happy for you!

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-26T16:19:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a nice holiday and Santa was good to you this year! Santa was beyond good to me, I'm so thankful for my family and friends!!

Not much to report this week and next with the holidays, except we are going to Lebanese Taverna for a rehearsal dinner tasting tomorrow night with me, Belinga, our moms and my brother Alex who is visiting from California.

As soon as we hit 2008, I think time is going to FLY by...I'm starting to get a little nervous! I am doing a walk through of River Creek with my day of coordinator in a couple of weeks, invitation design is being finalized and put into process, and plans for the shower and bachelorette party are in full swing!

So stay tuned--if you have questions about any of the events, don't hesitate to let me know!

Boot Camp, Session 2--check!

2007-12-20T17:36:00.000-05:00

If any of you are following my Boot Camp saga, tomorrow marks the end of Session #2. I wasn't quite the avid boot camper this session as I was last session, but that laziness is gone and will be marked by a drastic improvement in attendance come the start of the year! (Whatever--you get up every day at 5 am!!!)

I wanted to show you guys the awesome shirt my awesome friend Laurie sent me to encourage me to stick with it!

4 Months!!!!!

2007-12-19T17:04:00.001-05:00

Guess what is 4 months from today?!