Dr. and Mrs. Wolson

Our last wedding of the 2013 wedding season was this past weekend.  To sum it up, Elton John may have said it best: "Can you feel the love tonight?  It is where we are."  This weekend was so full of love that it was palpable.  

The weekend started off with a little time at the pool with Sam's family.  It was nice because I had the opportunity to tell Lisa and George how much it means to me and how honored I am to wear their mother's diamond in my engagement ring.  

Sam and I were also able to show his parents some of the wedding planning we've been doing over the last several months.  It was neat too because our tastes are similar to Pete and Margaux's and we were able to see some of the same themes from our plans at their wedding on Sunday.  Rich and Sue helped us pick out our Save the Dates too!  I made a bunch of mockups for Sam to check out last week and he picked the two he liked the best for them to decide between.  

We met up with all of the out of town guests and local friends who were staying at the hotel for drinks at the hotel bar on Saturday night.  While everyone was mingling it gave me a chance to talk to Leo about it and thank him for picking out such a beautiful diamond.  I told him that I love him and I will always think of him when I look down, and he told me that he loves me too.  It was a really bittersweet moment because it's so evident how much he's aged in the 10 years Sam and I have been together, and he's really starting to show his mortality.  I guess that it reminds me a lot of Papa Hunter and Papa Santi too, which can be a little hard to think about.

The Celniker/Marcus family kept the party going with dinner at Red O.  Here's my Instagram pic from dinner, we were sitting on the patio watching the sunset and enjoying some yummy food and delicious beverages but most importantly fabulous company.  It was nice finally meeting Pete's relatives (who are also related to Sue, Lisa and George) from the East Coast.  We also had a great time catching up with Sam's cousins.  We don't get to see Dan, Sean and Mikaela often enough and rarely all together.  I get to chat with Mikaela on the phone every so often, and I keep up with Dan a little bit online when he posts interesting articles, but I really only get to catch up with Sean when we're in person and we don't get to see him very often.  

On Sunday, I spent a few hours with Miss Margaux in her suite with the ladies from her bachelorette party and we had a great time watching her get her hair and makeup done.  It was really, really fun to see all the girls again and the vibe in the room was awesome.  Margaux seemed totally calm and relaxed, all the girls were so happy to be there with her and it was just the nicest afternoon.  

Plus, the Niners won!

At about 3pm I headed down to Sue's hotel room where she and Mikaela were getting ready with Lisa. Mikaela did a great job on Sue's hair and makeup and it complimented her dress fabulously.  Lisa wore a gorgeous dress (perhaps from Sean's wedding) and looked really beautiful as well.  The boys all looked very dapper in their tuxes, and for the first time, I really felt like I was part of the family when we grabbed a drink in the hotel bar before we headed down to the wedding. 

The best part was that Sam made it to the wedding!!!  He was waiting for us when we arrived at Cafe la Boheme and looked so handsome in his black tux with his red tie and red pocket square.  We were all looking so good the photographers took a bunch of photos of the whole family while we were standing in the courtyard.  In fact, we were the subject of a BUNCH of photos in the courtyard.  :-)  Then it was time to head on in and take our seats.  It was really interesting, we all were seated at our tables and then Margaux came in from outside, walked across the dance floor and up to the beautiful giant fireplace to meet Pete.  They were married right there, with all of us sitting at our tables, and it totally worked.  Margaux had been saying she wanted a non-wedding feel and without an aisle and the rows of seats it definitely seemed a little more intimate and personal and fitting for their personalities.  The vows were just amazing!  They memorized their own vows and they weren't short little things!  They were just so heartfelt! 

After dinner, Sam and I did a little bit of dancing, but the DJ portion of the night seemed SO short!  It was fun though, and Sam and I got to dance a bit.  It's funny to think the next time we're all together at a wedding it will (probably) be ours unless one of the other cousins has a REALLY short engagement.  

Sam and I had to drive in tandem home after the wedding was over since he had to come up after being on call.  Because it was late and  we talked on the phone the whole way back and then fell into bed and passed out!

All in all, this was a WONDERFUL wedding weekend and I am so happy for Dr. and Mrs. Wolson!

Celniker Family Time

Sam's family is coming into town this weekend for Pete & Margaux's wedding.  Everyone will be in LA - George from Texas, Dan from Washington DC, and the rest of the family from NorCal.  It's going to be really fun!

It's also our first time seeing the whole family since we got engaged, so that's going to be really fun too!  Actually, it's going to be the fist time I've seen Sam's parents since he proposed too.  I'm definitely excited to see everyone!

Actually, we'll get to meet the New York cousins for the first time too.  We're going to dinner at Red O with them on Saturday night while Pete has his bachelor party and Margaux relaxes with Ingrid and her girlfriends.  

I think after dinner, the plan is for the cousins to go out for a drink to celebrate Sam and my engagement.  We'll see how that goes... it will probably depend on what time we all get to leave dinner.  But regardless, it will be really good to see the cousins.  Dan is coming into town on Friday and the word on the street is that he'll be staying with us Friday night before heading up to LA to stay in the hotel with the rest of the family.

Unfortunately, Sam and I aren't staying up in LA... he is on call on Sunday so he has to be in Orange County so there's no benefit to us staying up there.  Also, we won't have to pay for Hunter to be here with our dog sitter if we're home with him.  We will still have her come and walk him about midway through the time we'll be gone on Saturday and Sunday, but that's significantly cheaper than having her stay overnight.  

Anyway, it will be really good to spend time with the whole Celniker side of the family... the Galles, Burkharts and Celnikers!

Airoso Wedding Weekend

Wedding Weekend Recaps are so challenging- there is so much time to condense into one post!  And on top of that, I have so many photos to share!  So without further adieu, here we go!  

Couldn't miss an opporunity to snap a photo of my alma mater as I passed through Davis on my way to the hotel in Old Sacramento.  So many wonderful memories on that campus... so many wonderful friendships forged... so many wonderful people I was able to collaborate with.  I wish everyone well!

 Here we are in Sam and my hotel room, but Sam didn't come into town until Friday night.  So on Thursday, Marlena and I split the room.  We got ready for the rehearsal dinner, relaxed a little after our long travel days, and caught up on how life has been going for each of us lately.  It made me really wish that we live closer... Orange County to Chicago is just such a long way and long time to travel.  After the rehearsal, we went down to the hotel bar and had a drink while we watched the end of the Golden State Warriors victory- go Bay Area!  It was really fun spending some time with Lena.

Sam missed his flight to Sacramento and flew into San Francisco at 11:15pm instead.  Papa offered to pick him up for me and meet me in Vacaville... what a life savor!  So we didn't get back to the hotel until about 1:40 AM the morning of Jackie and Joe's wedding.  I think I was running mostly on adrenaline that day because I know I didn't get as much sleep as I needed!

Joe's sister, Emily

Luckily the wedding was great- we were running a little behind with hair and makeup, but I think the wedding was only about 15 minutes later than it should have been.  Jackie looked absolutely gorgeous (as always) and it was really fun to hang out with her mom and her sister and all of the ladies who are most important to her and Joe.  After the ceremony we took what felt like a million photos and it was a little chaotic because we all wanted to get to the wedding PARTY as fast as we could... but I think that we got some great shots, especially with such amazingly photogenic bridesmaids and groomsmen!  

I was totally blown away by the centerpieces on the tables at dinner.  They were really pretty and so simple and kind of perfect for a backyard wedding reception.  Joe's parents did an amazing job on their yard and it was really impressive to see the transformation from Thursday's rehearsal to the real deal on Saturday night.  It was a lot of work, but everything paid off and everyone survived!

I really loved getting to know Joe's sister, Emily, and his brother's fiancee, Shannon.  (Emily is in purple in the photo below)  They are both pretty loud but in a great way and they treated all of us like we were family all weekend long.  Shannon was especially helpful on the day of the wedding when we were sequestered in Joe's grandma's trailer and it was swelteringly hot outside.  She ran and got us drinks, food, etc. Pretty much anything we needed!  I am really happy that Jackie is marrying into such a wonderful family that will have her back and Joe's throughout their lives. 

 Our table was bridesmaids and dates, and the hair and makeup team.  We had a great time!  It was especially nice to see Katy and Emily Nester who I haven't seen in ages.  I guess that's the most fun part of a wedding weekend; catching up with all the people you are connected with throughout the bride and groom's lives.  It is really something magical and the wedding itself was not enough time to see all of those wonderful people I am connected to through Jackie.  I hope that soon we'll be able to catch up without the wedding madness, but I doubt that.  We have spread so far across the country.

 And here is the beautiful bride, Jackie.  One of my dearest friends.  One of my college roommates.  One of the girls I know will always be there for me no matter what I need.  I am blessed to have friends who are as supportive as Jackie and it was an extreme honor to stand up with she and Joe on their day.

And then there is my date... my wonderful, handsome boyfriend who took a late night fight to be able to be there with everyone on Saturday night.  Who caught a ride to the wedding with Megan whom he'd never met because he know I was committed to bridal party stuff the day of the wedding.  

Spending time with Sam was great.  We don't have as much time to spend together as we would like now that he's deep into his second year of residency.  Luckily we have 3rd year on the horizon and hopefully that will be significantly better in terms of hours spent at the hospital, time spent sleeping and ability to enjoy his free time.  I know I am personally hopeful for a little more responsibility shouldered at home but that's a topic for another blog post... so let me refocus on the wedding weekend.

Boy, don't I look great with that cigar?

It was also really nice for Lena and Sam to get to spend some quality time together - I don't think they have really gotten to know each other over the years because Sam was out of town when Jackie and Marlena came down to visit Southern California and he hasn't been able to go up to NorCal with me when I've traveled to visit the girls at Jackie's house.  Obviously, he wasn't invited on our girls trip to Chicago two summers ago when Jackie and I flew out to visit Marlena and see her skit at Second City.

And seeing Heidi and Jared is always a good time.  I can't wait for Heidi to start her wedding planning and hear about all their details.  I mean let's face it, I love this stuff!  Putting on big events is stressful but it requires organization, logistical strategy and lots of planning which are three of my strengths.  

One of our next couples tying the knot!  Dan and Tina came and met us for breakfast before we headed back to the airport on Sunday morning.  We had a great time catching up and we hope to get together again soon... though we will probably see them next on their big day in July.