They say when you marry in June....

I woke up early on a sunny Saturday in June...



...put on my Sunday, errr, Saturday best...

...complete with rosebud shoes...



...tied our shiny new rings to a pretty ribbon and placed them carefully in my bridesmaid's pocket...

...grabbed my bouquet...

...and headed to the chapel, err...I mean, vineyard...

...to marry my Ryan...

...it was as magical as I always hoped and dreamed my wedding day would be.

The End.

But really...

It's just the beginning.

Bejeweled

When I arrived at home, I found Ryan perched on the couch accompanied by two little square boxes.

I peeked at Ryan and as he smiled his mischievous smile, I jumped for joy. Our wedding bands were in the house!

We put them on one another and kissed. Just like we will in three short weeks. Ryan said that we should take them off and hide them. I suggested that we practice wearing them so it wouldn't be such a shock to our fingers on our honeymoon. I won. So we cooked artichokes, walked to the river and then headed to Home Depot, all adorned in our shiny new rings.

When we got home, Ryan carefully placed our rings back in their little boxes where they will wait until our big day....I hope I can stick to the rules because you know what they say, "a deal is a deal."

Bachelorette Bash

The time was here. Time to celebrate my last days of being a singleton.

Time to bust out the tents, don the swimsuits, and revel in spiked lemonade, wild ladies who are oh-so dear to me and of course, incredible eats.

Let me tell you, my seesters and friends did not disapoint. They decorated, baked, shopped, whispered of their plans for weeks and arrived with their party hats on and ready to go...














Things I never want to forget:

Ryan/John Cena and his man parts
Rachel's party favors. One word: adorable
Emily's construction paper cutouts.
Tracey's linen pants that I tried to steal. No such luck.
Erika's swimsuit. Need it. Badly.
Trevor's outfit. 80's technicolor at it's best.
Christy's survival kits, complete with feminine products in case of a camping emergency.
Amanda's lasagna. Best ever and I got the receipe.
Lisa's lemonade. Dangerously delicious.
Circle time on the lawn.
Baby Logan who was the only male present and who hardly uttered a peep all day. Just smiles.
Trampoline time.
Hide and seek at midnight. Finding Trevor and Rach in a tree.
Trevor's crash and burn. Ouch!
Rachel delivering hot coffee and cream and sugar to the camp site at 11PM. Top that.
Rachel's homemade english muffins, cinnamon bread, cupcakes, anatomy cake, garlic bread, fruit salad. Seriously. This is not a joke. She ROCKS.
Hearing all my friends share their favorite moments and stories about me. Unbelievable.










It was perfect I declare.


*all photos courtesy of Brooke! Thank you sister for capturing this day so well. xoxo

Sunny Shower

Today I was showered with sun, amazing gifts and love at the Kelly bridal shower! It was a perfect day for a poolside garden brunch...and I felt special all day long.

Some things I would like to remember always:

The tables - oh my! So pretty
David's bloody mary's and mimosas- YUM
Laura's quiche and fritatta
The cheese table
Bride and Groom Shari's Berries - unforgettable
The sun, oh the sun
Quilt from Grandma Phyllis
Note cards from Dinha, with our MONOGRAM!
Logan's patience
Trevor's outfit-perfect
Ryan showing up with roses for his mom, lilies for me and a flower for my mom. He said he picked what each of us would like, lilies because they are my favorite, roses because who doesn't love roses and something that my mom can plant in her garden. Dreamy.
Unloading and unwrapping gifts afterwards with my seesters and Ryan and then piling on the couch for a movie.

Showery Shower!

It is the night before my first bridal shower and it is raining! Good thing I love the rain and consider it to be a sign of good fortune...

So tomorrow the morning will arive, I will drive to Napa with curlers in my hair, will put on my new Anthro dress and fuschia pumps and will head over to my grandma's to be showered with love and well wishes from so many amazing women. What more could a girl want? Maybe just a knight in shining armor named Ryan Kelly. Perfect. Done.

A year ago today...

A year ago today Mr. Kelly and I decided to go on a moonlight stroll.

A year ago today Mr. Kelly said that he was going taking me to see the biggest, grandest Christmas tree around.

A year ago today I snuggled against Mr. Kelly (because he is always so warm) and tried to coordinate our steps as we walked on a path at Capitol Park.

A year ago today, the tallest, brightest Christmas tree came into view and we snuggled on a cold, metal park bench to stare at the beauty.

A year ago today Mr. Kelly gave me something very sparkly and asked me to be his wife.

I said yes and that I never wanted to leave that bench and did not want that moment to be over. Mr. Kelly said it was just the beginning.

Then we had ice cream.