I Do!

We have just returned home from our wedding in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain followed by our amazing honeymoon in Tunisia. More posts to come but wanted to share a few pictures that came in from family and friends. Also, check out our wedding announcement, printed in Martha's Vineyard's Vineyard Gazette.

A note about my bridal gown (text as it appeared in our printed programs):

The bride's gown is made exclusively of antique materials, including even the thread with which it was hand-sewn by Mimi Prober of Mimi New York. The skirt and train were fashioned primarily from vintage Spanish silk lace, but the most important part is the bodice: created using the Mexican lace from the gown worn by the bride's mother when she married her father in 1977.

Sam (left) with his father and brother at the welcome reception

My brother escorting my mother down the aisle

Our wonderful wedding photographer, Pierre Richardson, sent us this sneak peek of the professional shots. 

Mass Transit

This Labor Day was our final visit to Martha's Vineyard this season-- always a bittersweet occasion. Though both Sam and I have spent summers on the Vineyard since we were small, we wanted to do something new this year and it turned out to be the unquestionable highlight: a sunset sail aboard "Mass Transit" (get it? Martha's Vineyard is in MASSachusetts?) The boat was 106 feet in length and was built entirely by hand by a man named Nick. Mass Transit is still a work-in-progress, and has been for the last 25+ years, but she is beautiful!

Brotherly bickering over who gets to be the captain

Nick, the actual captain

Bravo, Mr. Koons (also, Writer's Block)

Finally made it to the exhibition "Jeff Koons: A Retrospective" which is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art. I enjoyed this show very thoroughly, which is why I am embarrassed to admit that I currently find myself unable to concisely explain what I saw; for now please allow these iPhone photos to suffice. Hopefully the vocabulary that I am obviously lacking in this moment will come to me later, at which point I'll revise this pitiful excuse for a blog entry.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Decided to turn a humid, lazy Sunday into a quasi-productive one by brushing up on my lemonade-making skills. Flavors du jour: strawberry, lemon/lime, mixed berry.

My Baby Brother has a Masters Degree

Alternate Post Title: When Did We Grow Up?

With 26 years under his belt and now a masters degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, my brother is not exactly a baby anymore. BUT, he will always be younger than me, is forever subject to endearing nicknames that embarrass him to no end, and will never lose his ability to bug me just by breathing. For these reasons, he is and will always be my baby brother, and I one proud big sister. Did I mention that his undergraduate degree is in engineering? The built environment is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

View from our hotel window

The graduate!

Commencement speaker John Legend processing

Necessary afternoon pick-me-up

Grandma and Grandpa came too!

April Showers

Kim is the loving mother to my favorite pooch in the world, Milton, and when I found out that she was going to be a mother to a human baby too I immediately volunteered to (and by "volunteered to" I mean "begged her to let me") throw her a baby shower. Kim is an Australian expat living here in New York City, so with her relatives living on the other side of the world, it wasn't too hard to convince her to let me play hostess.

How cute is this invitation by Red Stamp?!

Thumb print guest book by Say Anything Design

Exploring Andalucía

The purpose of our mother-daughter trip to Spain was official wedding business, but that didn't stop us from taking some leisurely detours of our own. We flew to Seville (as opposed to the usual Jerez), and to be honest, we thought we would regret it upon realizing the intensity of our itinerary. On the contrary, we found ourselves immediately reenergized upon landing and spent a wonderful day exploring the city. We then took the train to Jerez where we went to an amazing flamenco performance before finally "calling it". And that was only day 1.

Gardens at the Alcázar in Seville

Stonework detail (Alcazar of Seville)

Not the worst place to work remotely (from our apartment in Jerez de la Frontera)

Visiting Arcos de la Frontera

View from the top of Arcos de la Frontera 

Zahara de la Sierra

Ronda

The oldest bullfighting ring in the world (in Ronda) 

Important meeting with the florist to discuss centerpieces 

The best part of wedding planning: tastings!