Windy City Wedding

Since last time checking in here we have been on the go, go, go. Last weekend was the long awaited and fabulous wedding of Karen and Matt. To say it was nothing short of beautiful would be a massive understatement. Anyone who knows me, knows that wedding (and babies) are my Achilles heel. I cry at strangers' weddings, needless to say, watching one of my best friends get married came very close to being a sob fest...except I remembered that I had $65 worth of make up plastered to my face and therefore pulled it together.

Thursday we had the rehearsal at Loyola and a fabulous dinner at Wildfire (so hard to be at Wildfire and not have flight of mini-martinis, thank heavens for Clausthaler). Addie was spoiled with gifts of her very own tiara and rhinestone bracelets, while Karen was slightly embarrassed by her bridesmaids sporting a wearable version of the note that rekindled her and Matt's relationship. By the time we rolled into bed at midnight we had logged an 18 hour day.

The celebrating continued on Friday with daytime manicures and pedicures after a girls trip to the Aroma Workshop to create signature perfumes. Addie and Andy napped and off we headed to downtown - first for a delectable dinner at Quartino's and then chilly, but lovely, boat cruise of the skyline. The little lady thought downtown was amazing, was awestruck by the Magnificent Mile, was astonished by the beauty of the skyline and thought that the bicycle cab we took back to the car was "weary , weary cool".

And then it was Saturday. We got our hair done, faces painted and zipped into our finery.

Karen redefined what a relaxed bride is with laughter and smiles. The ceremony was breathtaking at the chapel on Loyola's Lakeshore campus, followed by photos inside Wrigley field, at the Magnificent Mile, on the museum campus, and of course, where it all began, at Mulligan's.

The reception was perfection down to the last detail - from the beautiful atrium cocktail hour, to the specialty drinks, to the dance floor flanked by antique cars. There was a Chicago style hot dog cart (sweet heavens!), moist delicious cake, and more desserts than I ever imagined (chocolate mousse shooters, martini glasses full of fresh berries, ice cream sandwiches - OH MY!). The dancing was non stop - as was the laughter. A night focused on celebrating two wonderful people and filled with with our dearest friends -can't get better than that!

Carolina Bride

Most of the day was full of little smiles, a few tears and nervous giggles. The sky constantly changed moods, threatening to rain. The ceremony had to moved inside, but the wedding was happening no matter what Mother Nature's intentions. Chicken salad sandwiches and fruit salad was washed down with Sparkletinis.

Hair was coiffed. Makeup was applied. The photographer, cake and flowers arrived right on time. Slowly friends and family started to show up - the nervous giggles and small smiles faded away to grins and all out laughter. The wedding coordinator (aka: Brian) kept us on time and on task.

The dress was on...the bride was ready. The groom was waiting. And then the tears came - her's not mine. The 'oh my god I'm getting married' tears. The 'this is the day I've been waiting for' tears. The 'I'm about to walk down the aisle with my father to my husband' tears. The 'crap I'm crying and I have $70 worth of make-up on' tears.

I blotted a tissue to her eyes and said it was time to breathe...and walk her ass down that aisle. And through the tears, she smiled, gave me one those Christie looks and said "But these are good tears".

By the time she made it to the end of the aisle she was all smiles - and so was he. And so was every guest in the room

And then they got married. And their happily ever after started.

And the bride? The bride was fabulous.

Her Turn

We're on our way to watch them say "I Do".

What a weekend it will be!

Wedding Weekend

I am finally awake enough, and functioning enough, to review the grand wedding weekend. I've got some great pictures, but first, my comedy of errors is well worth sharing:


Friday started off lovely and ended lovely, but in between it was a bit rocky. Addie and I were heading to exercise, which we planned to duck out of early so that she could go to the neighbor's and I could go get my nails done with all the ladies.

• Comedic Error No. 1: On our way to exercise sweet child of mine hurled. Everywhere. All over herself. All over the car seat - chunks of putrid, curdled milk. I pulled over the the side of road, scooped out all she deposited, stripped her down and gave my poor sobbing child a wet nap bath. Once we got home she got a bath, the car seat got a hose down, I got a shower. The nails and neighbors were cancelled and we spent the day watching cartoons and cuddling.

The rehearsal went just fine. Everyone seemed relaxed. Addie was feeling good. Dinner was delish. Oh wait, did I mention that as Rick and Kim were pulling into the church parking lot Rylan also hurled, filling up his car seat. Yep.

• Comedic Error No. 2: After ushering the gentlemen out of the house to go golfing Saturday morning I quickly tidied the house and set out the food for the lunches. I threw Addie in the shower with me, packed our over night bag and ironed our clothes for the wedding. My beautiful, borrowed green dress - wrinkle free. My royal purple wrap - wrinkle free. Addie's dress - wrinkle free. Oooops - I noticed her sash needed pressing, so I did. And when I say I did, what I mean is I put the iron on the ever delicate fabric and burnt holes right through it. After a few moments of panic I simply cut the sash off. Of course as soon as I did that my darling daughter looked at me and said "Mama, you hurt my pretty dress". Yep.

Addie and I got to Brian and Kelly's house without a problem. We received the flowers, went over the inventory and made sure we had everything we needed. We stayed a few minutes longer to see the bridal party and then we took off - both to give them space and to get Addie napped.
Kiddo fell asleep on the way to the hotel and slept for almost two hours. When she woke up I put on my make up, fluffed her curls and grabbed our shoes to go get changed at Kelly's and grab the flowers for the church.

• Comedic Error No. 3: When I went to grab our shoes I discovered that I had packed one strappy high heeled sling back and one high heeled sandal. F*ck. Yes, I am pretty sure that was the word I uttered. I quickly called the husband to see if he could bring me a shoe to the church, he didn't answer, thankfully, as I probably would have ended up with three different shoes. Addie and I sped off to Target where I bought the first pair of black nice looking shoes I could find. They're fine. They scream I am a MOM and they cost me over $30. Ridiculous? Yep.

Addie and I made it to Kelly's house with time to spare. I got dressed. I got her in her tights and shoes (dress to go on in church parking lot). The bride looked stunning. The bridesmaids were beautiful. The mother of the bride was glowing.

• Not-s0-comedic Error No. 4: I get the flowers loaded into the car. I got Addie loaded into the car. I grab the programs from downstairs and I am good to go. But not so much. Somewhere in they last minutes I put the programs down, the programs that a bridesmaid designed, and I leave. We got to the church - flowers got handed out and pinned on. Flower girl and ring bearers looked adorable and were poised to go. I took a breath - and then someone asked: Jessica, where are the programs?. I can almost guarantee you that the word I uttered was the same one I said at the hotel. Panic set in? Yep.

One of the wonderful ushers grabbed directions and the garage door opener and raced off to the get the programs. He probably missed a fair chunk of the ceremony, but guests walked out of the ceremony with the programs in hand.

I think that is when I exhaled.

All the other stuff?

The bride? Gorgeous.

The groom? Beaming.

The ceremony? Tasteful and lovely.

The reception? Open bar, cake, chocolate fountain and dancing.

All that stuff, the truly important stuff, was absolutely perfect.

Now on to the pictures...

Tomorrow Uncle Brian and Aunt Kelly are getting hitched.

I can safely say that we're all thrilled that he conned Kelly into saying yes - but I can think of one little flower girl who is ecstatic.

Congratulations Uncle Brian on making one of your smartest, best decisions....

Friendship and Love

We have returned from our whirlwind weekend in Chicago celebrating the best things in life: love, friendship and adorable babies. Roberto and Keelin got hitched on Saturday, and on Sunday Addie turned ONE (much more on that later).

We arrived in Chicago Friday afternoon about the same time as Steve and Tamar, allowing all of us a minute or two to visit and enjoy each other before the festivities began. We were joined shortly thereafter by Brad and Jess, Gramma Kathy and, best of all, the reason for our visit: Mr. and Mrs. To Be, Roberto and Keelin.

A few hours later, Addie was out for a walk with Gramma and Andy and I were at the wedding rehearsal. After sharing a wonderful dinner at Salvatore's (mmmm, ricotta spinach pasta. mmmm, open bar), we headed back to the Hyatt for a night cap or two.

Saturday was busy with hair, makeup, bagels, kitkats, pretty dresses and then the main event: Keelin and Berto's wedding. I have had the honor of being in several weddings, and never before have I been with such a calm, relaxed, overjoyed bride. Keelin loved the hair, the fussing, the bagels, the gorgeous dress, but all she really wanted was to get down that aisle and hold Berto's hand...

As has been well documented in other shared pictures and blogs Saturday was nothing short of phenomenal. Addison enjoyed how her voice echoed in the church, how floofy and prissy her dress was and loved all the attention her Chicago friends lavished on her.

Andy and I had an amazing time...being back among our closest friends, telling stories, laughing - a lot.

And on a sappy, girly note ~ Watching two people you love fall in love with each other is so incredible. I was pretty much non-stop boo hooing most of the day Saturday. Purely happy tears...for heaven's sake I am welling up now. What has happened to me? I used to be so darn tough.

I did a horrible job taking pictures...I left that up to the pros and the rest of the paparazzi. But what a great excuse to come back to the Windy City...and how hard it was to leave yesterday.