The Wedding Roast... err... toast

"I've got the microphone and you don't,
SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY!"

- The Wedding Singer
My husband loves an audience. Loves. An. Audience. And he got one this past weekend when he gave the toast for his sister's wedding. Dan + microphone + captive yet drunk audience = his idea of the best day ever.
Oh yeah, and it was also nice for him to see his sister get married.

Emily and her hubby Dan looked so happy. Yep, her hubby has the same name as her brother. And, yep, my Dan worked that into his speech. He also worked in playful jibes about her being a vegetarian ("I wish you a long marriage filled with love and absolutely no... chicken, steak, or pork"). There was even a long-running joke about her obsession with the New Kids on the Block as a kid. He went so far as to read a fake congratulations e-mail from NKOTB's Jordan in a crazy Boston accent during his speech. Wicked funny. It brought down the house.

If Dan's the funny one in our relationship, I guess I'm more... detail oriented. I just have to share some of the sweet touches from this wedding.
First, the venue. They chose the Valentine Museum's courtyard. Here's where they said their vows. Dan and I got there an hour early, so I snapped a bunch of pictures before the guests arrived:




Emily had a welcome table with black and white wedding photos of all her family members.

Pretty shot of one of the tables and, of course, the cake:

I loved the wild flowers in the mason jars. Dan and I were the "take the gifts to the car people" and when we were packing, my MIL said I could keep a few of the jars. I'll be "pinteresting" mason jars soon to see what I can do with all of them.





Emily came up with her purple and green color scheme because most of the flowers growing in the garden were those colors. Practical and pretty, no?





Okay, enough details! Time to meet the happy couple:

Em didn't really like the idea of having a troupe of matching bridesmaids, so instead she let her two closest friends pick their own dresses. She's pretty much the opposite of a Bridezilla, and you know these girls love her for it. One of the bridesmaids even joked about her laidback attitude by making her a shirt for the bachelorette party that with these words on the front:

Please stop calling it "my special day".

The back of the shirt? It said, "No, I haven't been dreaming of this day all my life." It was freaking hilarious, given that we know Emily is pretty low key about this whole thing.

Dan walking his mom down the aisle. I love this picture of her so happy.


Not a dry eye in the house:

Afterwards, we had crabcakes, pecan chicken, and squash ravioli while sitting around the courtyard. The wedding planner packed a few boxes of leftovers in our car afterwards, and since the bride and groom left immediately on their honeymoon, we got to keep it. All of that food made for a rock ass lunch the next day :)

This is the last picture I took before it got too dark and we started drinking /dancing in a giant circle. (Sidenote: I think it's so fun and cheesy and great when people make a dance circle at weddings and then people jump in the center one at a time and cheer on each other like they're on Soul Train. It's awesome.)

Do they look happy or what?

Equally as happy as a certain other Dan I know, who retorically asked me after the wedding, "Everyone thought my speech was funny, huh??"

It was his special day, after all.

Harry Potter

Nerd alert: This post is about Harry Potter.

If you don't know the terms "horcrux", "the golden snitch", or "Deathly Hallows", then feel free to skip this post. Or read it and judge my family and me for indulging our dorky side.

If you do know all of the above terms, I like you. Holla, fellow nerd!

The Harry Potter obsession started slow, with me reading the first one as an assignment in my college children’s lit class. That grew to me discussing the book with my suitemate and another friend, both of who were fans. That led to me convincing my sister to read it…

Fast forward six years: Harry Potter has become quite the book club discussion in our family. We all read all seven books, and even Dan, who refused to crack a single one, has seen all eight movies with us. That’s over 4,000 pages of reading and 16 hours of movie watching that we dedicated to Hogwarts, people. This total does not even include the two hours we waited in line to see the final movie, thus ending our obsession with the little-wizard-who-could.

As we left the theatre, however, I couldn't help feeling like we needed one last Harry Potter hurrah. So, when I was at the beach last week, I decided to participate in Young House Love’s Pinterest challenge, where people create something based on an inspiration photo found on said website. I thought it would be fun to create a Three Broomsticks’ dessert buffet as the final goodbye to the series we all loved.

First, I scouted out inspiration images on Pinterest, like...

this creamy butterbeer:

via here

this golden snitch idea:

via here

And this peanut butter trifle

(No, the dessert was not in the book, but trifle is very English, so it fit.)

via here
My photos of what I did came out pretty horrible, but I thought I’d share anyway.

First, here I am donning my dad’s Redskin… errr… Griffindor scarf, holding one of the golden snitch chocolates:



I decided that us Muggles needed a buzz, so rather than making the uber-complicated, virgin butterbeer from the inspiration photo, I just combined butterscotch schnapps and cream soda.

I think my sister enjoyed it! And I do love that it looks like Bethany is downing some hardcore drink, like scotch on the rocks, in this picture:


I stuck feathers into Rocher chocolates to make snitches:


I put out Bertie’s Every Flavor Beans that a student gifted to me this year:


And took a funny picture of my mom trying to choke down the soap-flavored one:




Other flavors we tried included cherry, marshmallow, black pepper, chocolate, and sausage, to name a few. My dad even tried an earthworm one.

And lastly, I made this sinful trifle. My pictures may not be as pretty as the Pinterest one, but I think it was a hit with the fam. Click on the link under the inspiration photo if you want to try this crazy rich recipe as it has all the steps. Basically, you mix peanut butter chips into brownie batter and bake. Once the brownie has cooled, you cut it up into one inch cubes. Then, you prepare vanilla pudding and mix in peanut butter and a little bit of vanilla extract. Finally, you unwrap mini Reese cups. The last step is the most fun: you layer the brownie, then the pudding, then a little bit of Reese cups until your trifle glass is full. Holy calories, Batman!





The day after I made this dessert, I saw my sister and her boyfriend with my camera and his computer open to Photoshop. They kept chortling sneakily before finally calling me over. What had they been up to? They took photos of me off the camera and Photoshopped me right into the world of wizardry!

They took one of the pictures of me wearing the famous scarf:

and inserted me into a Quidditch crowd!

They took this photo of me from our Italy trip last year:


And had me keeping Ron dry, with my wand at the ready!

Anyone else in on the HP obsession? It's okay to admit it. This is a "nerd safe" zone.

The Monument 10K

"Veronica and I trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. it might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild." - Ron Burgandy

If anyone had asked me three years ago to go running, I would have grimaced and responded something like, "Meh..."

But I have to say that there is one event I do love to quasi "train" for and that is the annual Monument 10K in Richmond. I ran it for the first time three years ago and couldn't get enough of the energy and people watching. And I finally understood the concept of running/ jogging/ limping long distances for that runner's high.

You're right, Ron Burgandy. Yogging is kind of "wild"!

Anyhoo, in an effort to have a better experience than last year's pathetic show, I actually prepared somewhat this time around. My sister Bethany joined me (her first 10K!) and we rocked it out! Or at least we deluded ourselves into thinking we did.

Here we are letting out a victory woop when we saw a camera man at mile 6:

I thought I'd also share a few things we saw along the way...

* People dressed for the costume contest, like the girls above dressed as "toilet paper mishap."

* An Elvis impersonator singing hits

* Over 40 bands, ranging from classical to rap to hard rock.

* Yoga gurus sitting in giant lotus flowers and channeling calm to the 40,000+ runners

* A couple with a sign that read "Free high fives!" joyfully slapping outstretched hands

* People cheering from row house balconies, drinks in hand at 9:00 in the morning

* A bull dog donning VCU gear in support of the bball team being in final four

* A family giving away Krispy Kreme donuts to negate any calories burned :)

Awesome signs

Starting with my favorite...

But here are a few more...

As we began the race, this one freaked us out: Next rest stop: 6 miles.

This one made us feel like total bad asses: If it were easy, I would be running it.

One written by a Jillian Michaels on Red Bull: YOU CAN WALK WHEN YOU GET HOME!!!

And this one was just hilarious: Chafe now. Brag forever!

And inspiration:

On a serious note, we also saw many runners with signs emblazoned with messages of love and hope for loved ones with cancer. Some were running for family members that had passed, including one woman who had lost her mother only two months before. I can't even begin to imagine such a loss, and our hearts went out to everyone who carried these signs. Every time my sister and I saw one, we also looked at each other. I guess she was thinking the same thing I was, about how lucky we were to be healthy and running together on that beautiful, spring day. It's probably the most significant reason why I've enjoyed running this 10K every year, feeling that immense gratitude.

Just do it #15: Turn 30 in style!

So... I turned 30 this past Friday. And you know how I was kinda worried about this birthday? It ended up being fabulous! I spent the weekend...

* seeing a new city

* hanging out with senior citizens

* eating in a haunted house

* feeding alligators

* partying at a piano bar

* and puking

Woo hoo to my thirties!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. :)

Anyway, Dan and I made the trek down to Savannah late Thursday because I had dentist and doctor appointments during the day. After an 8+ hour car ride and finally crashing in a Super 8, we were tired and cranky. I was feeling a little low about turning 30 the next day for a few reasons too long to go into now (though looking at myself in the flourescently lit mirror and feeling ugly and finding one strand of hair that had turned all wiry and gray probably didn't help.)

But then, the next day we awoke to perfect weather, drove to the beautiful B & B, and had the most fantastic day ever! We pulled up to this house:

I can't say enough about the Catherine Ward House. It had a stunning interior straight out of Southern Living magazine:

We dropped our stuff off in the top room of the guest house, which was the most chic, comfortable room we've ever stayed in. I mean, we're used to Super 8, people. A double shower? Robes? Working fireplace? Flatscreen behind two way mirror? I think we're officially spoiled for a lifetime.

Our room had a private balcony with a view of the courtyard: I just had to snap pictures of all the pretty touches, so forgive the constant flower pictures in this post.

Loved the little koi pool they had...

The B & B was located about a block and a half from Forsyth park, where I completely fell in love with Savannah:

How can you not love a city that is a postcard snapshot at every turn?

We grabbed lunch and walked through all the squares. And no, there is no end to Dan's penchant for cheesy photo ops...

The below picture is in front of the Mercer House, where the murder took place in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We listened to the book on tape on the way down to make the time go by faster, and it wasn't until we listened to the author's interview at the end that we realized it was a true story.

Don't worry, the over-the-top southern drawl on the book on tape caused Dan to use a car-razy Savannah accent the entire time we were here, a la Michael Scott during the episode of The Office where he hosts a murder mystery party in "Savannah". The joke wore thin after his hundredth, "I do declare..."

Anyway, after walking around for a while, we went on the Savannah Home Tour, an annual spring event. When we stood in line to check out the first house, Dan nudged me and whispered, "Look around! We're the youngest ones here!" Let's just the majority of people interested in architecture and home design would have received a senior citizen discount. But I didn't care. I relax after school by checking out every design blog out there, so touring extraordinary houses is my idea of a good time.

Unfortunately, there was a strict no camera policy, even on the exteriors, but trust me, the homes were gorgeous. My favorites were the ones that were classic brick and wrought iron details on the outside, but when you enter they were Domino modern. There was one kooky mansion that had bright lime green walls and a coffee table made out of books and the craziest artichoke light fixture I've ever seen.

After the home tour, Dan and I went to Leopold's classic parlor for banana fosters ice cream as this trip was one big eat-a-thon and toured around some more.

Later that night, Dan and I ate at the Old Pink House, a Savannah restaurant known for three things: being on the Food Network show The Best Thing I Ever Ate, the pepto bismal pink exterior, and having a 212 year old ghost who, according to legend, is still seen by the occasional cook. I'll go into the meal on my next post, but let me just say it was absolutely amazing. And fattening. Pure Savannah decadence.

And we finished my birthday by going to a piano bar where we sang along as the dueling pianists banged out "Sweet Home Alabama" and Sir Mixalot's "Baby got back". Classy.

I'm usually not much of a drinker, but Dan coaxed me (peer pressured me?) to try a few of the "Savannah shooters", which got me hammered. We walked the mile back to our B & B still singing and drinking from our "travelers", with us commenting how awesome it was to be in a city where you can actually finish your drink on the walk home.

Yeah... two hours later I regretted having that traveler. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, people. I got so sick. I was curled up in the fetal position. I wanted to die.

But then I was like, "WOO HOO! I THREW UP ON MY THIRTIETH! I'M STILL YOUNG AND IMMATURE!!"

Best. birthday. ever.