Spencer + Jillian’s Wedding

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Howdy chicas!

Btw, I used to start ALL my notes to friends in high school like that. I thought I was like, so cool.

I’m back and better than ever. Or maybe just tanner than ever. But in my book tanner is better so I deem this a win-win.

We actually returned from Mexico last week,  but due to working every day, volleyball practice and baking delicious pumpkin-oatmeal chocolate chip cookies the blog post suddenly became my last priority. The truth hurts.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

The first portion of the trip was a weekend in Seattle. We flew in on a Friday night and enjoyed a deeeelicious dinner cooked lovingly by Bryan’s mom along with vino and dessert. I felt like the Queen of England only tanner and more fabulous. We fell fast asleep that night and awoke the next morning to what else, but rain. Despite the gloom, we managed to pull on our tennie runners and hit the pavement for a quick 2-miler. Bryan alerted me that he could walk as fast as I was running. I think he was just jealous of my glamor-pace.

After showering we headed out to Kirkland to meet up with my mom, sister Megan, Auntie Connie and Aunt Judy for a late breakfast. They were 45 minutes late. They came in the door yelling. Everyone one hugged Bryan instantly. I love my family.

That night we went to Bryan’s “little bro” (frat term) Spencer’s wedding and were lucky enough to attend with awesome friends which made it all the better.

Before the wedding at Bryan's house

I know. I look like a glass of peach iced tea.

The wedding took place at the Annie Wright School in Tacoma. The wedding was held in the school’s chapel and it was really cool and interesting to walk through the halls of this historic school to the chapel. The reception was at the Washington State History Museum. Yes, another educational and interesting venue. It was held in the lobby section of the museum but guests were also welcome to wander through the exhibits.

The Dress Up Exhibit

Coppin a Feelskie

Warming my hands by the "fire"

We ended up finding a table nestled in it’s own little corner where Bryan, Kyle, Melissa and other friends could really drink our hearts out catch up. After the buffet dinner, I anxiously awaited the cake-cutting.

*Note: If I ever attend your wedding and you notice that I am lovingly watching you and your honey slowly cut your wedding cake and happily feed it to one another, know this: I am actually not watching you in adoration. I am thinking “cut that GD cake now and get outta my way so I can get a corner piece. THANKS”. All with a smile on my face.

After housing two pieces a normal serving of wedding cake, it was time for some bubbly and my fave – dancing. Bryan, myself and all his buddies quickly found ourselves on the dance floor so I made sure to snap a pic while I could.

Frat Bros

Bros Fo Life

Hey!

Needing Lipstick

After one too many glasses of wine and getting my song request rejected by the DJ, I thought it was high-time we skedaddle. Melissa was lovely enough to DD for the evening and I thank her endlessly for giving Bryan and I a lift home.

PS- What kind of DJ doesn’t play “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus?!

The next day we awoke fresh as daisies. Hungover daisies, but still daisies.We went out to Issaquah for lunch to visit more with my mom, sister Megan, Auntie Connie, Cousin Mike and his wife Karen. I like saying “sister Megan” and “cousin mike”. I think I’ve read too many Berenstein Bear books…

My Personal BB Fave

We sat around the table with a smorgasbord of goodies, including my favorite Yiddish treat, boyos. Boyos are kindof like a cheese-cracker except on acid. These babies are highly addicting. I love having Jewish relatives!

After lunch, we headed back to Bryan’s and prepared a pizza as an appetizer for Bryan’s dinner birthday party! Bryan’s mom Mary made champagne chicken and it was to die for. We also had a decadent chocolate dessert and of course, plenty of vino. Not only did Kyle and Melissa join us for dinner, but also LeAnne and Joe and Bry’s real bro, KC. It was a real treat hearing about all the funny stories from WSU and Bryan’s fraternity. Although I’m not a Coug, I feel like an honorary one when I’m around this group.

The next morning we awoke around 4 am to make our 6 am flight to San Diego connecting to Cabo! Yippee! B’s Dad Greg was sweet enough to be our shuttle driver for this trip so we didn’t have to worry about parking.

After getting through security we settled down to enjoy my favorite Seattle establishment.

The Bux

After downing a large coffee we boarded the plane and we off to our magical trip in Cabo!

Up next – Our amazing 7 day trip in Mexico!!

Stay tuned y’all.

Let Them Eat Flan

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We are officially on vacation!

Well, technically Bryan is still at work but he will be off in 4 short hours and then it’s really official.

You heard right, at 5 pm, Bryan and I will be flying to Seattle, staying for 2 days and then taking off for Mexico on Monday! Ole!

Other excitements include:

  • Staying at Bryan’s house in Redmond and spending time with his parents (awesome folk).
  • Attending his buddy Spencer’s wedding on Saturday with friends.
  • Getting to see my Mom and sister who are randomly coming to Seattle this weekend.
  • Frolicking.
  • Gallivanting.
  • Slayin wedding cake.

We’ll also be celebrating Bryan’s 28th birthday with his parents and friends. I LOVE birthdays so this makes me happy.

Mini-Saxaphone

Last Wednesday, I decided to throw Bryan a little surprise party myself!

Cupcake theme, obv

Birthday Irish Trash-Can

Baaad Eyeshadow

Dessert Sampler- Cheesecake, Red Velv Whoopie Pie and Italian Creme Cupcake

Singing

‘Twas a great time indeed. Thanks to Holly for helping me set up and Lorie for seeing it through to the end.

In terms of my Mexican adventure studies, here is all I feel I will need to know:

  • Don’t follow a group of random senors down a dark alley way just because they promised chihuahuas and flan.
  • Do not eat a street taco after you ask if it was prepared in sanitary ways and he holds up a bottle of anti-bacterial gel.
  • Always haggle. Always.

In terms of my Spanish?

“Hola. Me llamo Natalie. Uno cerveza por favor.”

And most importantly?

“Me gustaria la golosina”. (I would like candy)

Thrifting is the New Black

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Yesterday I went thrift shopping with my homegirls Holly and Jess.

Attempting to keep to our tight budgets, we smartly shopped the aisles of Jackson Hole thrift stores. Namely, Browse ‘n’ Buy and Beautiful, Thrifty and Rich. Personally, I am a fan of any name that replaces “and” with “n”. It’s just better.

Another good one is “lil”, but that’s neither here nor there.

I scored at The Browser, purchasing two books for my upcoming trip to Mehico. The first is “Catch Me if You Can”. The book that inspired the movie and written my Frank Abagnale.

We'll See

The other is “Debutante Divorcee”, by Plum Sykes. I’ve read Bergdorf Blondes and was entertained so I figured what the hey.

And, the cover is pink.

Like a Moth to the Flame

I also have a Jodi Picoult novel, in case things get rough with these two hail marys.

Other treasures (or “traysures” as my Dad says) included a cute summery hat for Jess and a dip-warmer for Holly. Holly LOVES her dips. In fact, we once organized a dip party. The theme was dips. We played that song that goes, “I put my hand upon your hip, when I dip you dip we dip” on repeat.

I swear more people came

Another item I picked up? TOMS.

Bossy

They were never-been-worn and the color was super cute. The shoes themselves however? Ugly. I guess the only saving grace is that by purchasing them, a small child somewhere has got a pair of shoes…oh wait…they were second-hand. So I guess that makes me a wanna-be philanthropist with $15 thrifted Toms.

Oh well, at least people will still walk by me and think, “There goes an awesome girl with trendy shoes for a good cause and a nice dye-job.”

#Win.

Now I must figure out a dress for Bryan’s fraternity brother, Spencer’s wedding in Seattle. All the Seattle girls will probably be clad in trendy color blocked frocks (uber trendy at the mome) while I will be rocking an older sister cast-off circa 2004 if I don’t figure out a solution.

Worn this baby maybe 2478259 times

After the wedding, we will be jetting off to the land of chihuahuas (babies) aka Mexico. So this week is gonna be a whirlwind.

Other to-do’s include:

  • Apply self-tanner nightly
  • Try to repair pedicure from 1 week ago to avoid getting another pedicure
  • Paint nails with light pink Essie polish *To be purchased
  • Get roots touched up
  • Go to gym and improve body
  • Pack suitcase (Bryan and I are sharing one for Mexico)
  • Clean home

Don’t you love coming home to a sparkling clean apartment after a long trip?

Now if only there was a way to have warm, peanut butter cookies waiting  upon arrival as well as a stiff gimlet.

And maybe a What Not to Wear marathon. Just sayin :-).

All in a Days Work

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I have the day off!

Ordinarily, I have 2 days off in a row but lately they have been split. Now, instead of procrastinating on to-do items like laundry, going to the bank or trips to the recycling center, I pounce like a tiger and knock em out faster than the Missoni collection at Target. Which I am ticked that I missed. Oh, the perils of life in Jackson.

On today’s list:

  • Bank
  • Laundry
  • Vacuum
  • Recycling
  • Work out
  • Go to volleyball practice
  • Paint nails
  • Figure out how to lose 5 pounds before Mexico

Thrilling.

In other news, I joined this gym.

Jackson Hole Health and Fitness

I was a member before and I am pumped about re-joining and probably doing Jazzercise. And Zumba. Yes, you heard me right.

These are the highlights. The low-lights?

  • Stupid boys lifting waaaay to much wight and have doused themselves in Axe body spray.
  • Crickets who are running 10 miles at a 7 incline on the dreadmill. *Crickets are what I call people who are ridiculously skinny.
  • Really old men on the recumbent bike, wearing short-shorts. And you know why…
  • Overly enthusiastic class instructors who try to get you to come in and join their class because nobody is in there. I have to admit, I always feel bad for these goons and end up shlepping myself into the group exercise room out of sheer pity.

In other news…

I have re-gained my Kitchen Aid paddle attachment…RTR (raise the roof)! Which means the abundance of cupcakes, monster cookies and maybe peanut butter and jelly bars.

I have successfully renewed my passport. Which I annoyingly had to rush (and pay en extra $60) because I waited too long and our Mexico trip is just weeks away.

All for now.

Have a great day you little jarnickles.

My New Favorite Hike

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Ok guys. I have news!

Yesterday, B took me on what I think might be “the world’s perfect hike”. Well, according to Natalie that is.

What, you ask are the components necessary for this bold statement? Literally, it’s in bold. And I will tell you.

It’s simple.

A nicely groomed, happy trail…TWSS.

4,000 feet of elevation gain over 7.2 miles. So basically, you’re stair mastering continuously. Bombskie workout.

A restaurant at the top. Hello waffles. Hello Natalie.

A tram that carries you back down.

Shopping at the base.

These things made hiking to the summit of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (aka to the top of the tram) pretty awesome.

We started out around 8:30 am and after a quick stop at Elevated Grounds to fill up our Sigg and add 2 pumps SF Vanilla to my house-brewed coffee, we were on our way.

All hail Yuban.

Yuban

We reached the village at around 9 and made our way to the trail head, conveniently located right outside of the Four Seasons. With the smell of bacon, mimosas and Chanel No.5 wafting out the door and under my nose I pondered if I should ditch Bryan and poach the hot tub instead. Reluctantly, I pressed on heading up the path to catch up with Bryan. Glancing to my left I realized just yards away from where we were walking, I had learned to ski. Ca-reepy.

Killing it off the Tram

As we passed the lovely houses by the Four Seasons, I thought “Who lives in these places? Yuppie, snobbish, east coast families who play tennis, wear Burberry and visit they’re ‘modest cabin’ 2 weeks a year?”. If so…sign me up! Although I would rather play golf and wear Ralph Lauren. So there.

Not sure what I'm doing here...

The start!

The first hour or so of our hike was really beautiful and relatively flat. We had stupidly left our bear spray behind so I made sure to bust out a couple musical ditties every now and again to scare any Berensteins away. These included hits from the Biebs, Glee and that song that goes “Love me, love me, say that you love me!”. Once the trail opened up we were no longer in danger of coming face to face with a bear but another quite ominous enemy was upon us. Hills. Big. Ass. Hills.

Pretty View

The hills on this hike varied from smaller, more gradual inclines to full-on butt burners. Bryan suggested we take a rest halfway through, at about 3.6 miles. However, as we passed the halfway point sign, I urged him to keep going. As he let out a whoop-whoop and congratulated me on my obvious core-ness, I smiled because I really just didn’t want to sit down, let my legs tire and run outta juice. Which, maybe is a little hard-core?

Sustenance

Life Saving. Also - My face is wide.

Towards the top, we stumbled upon a photo shoot taking place on a beautiful look-out point. As we trudged past, I asked one of the production assistants what it was for. Hoping it was a battle scene for an upcoming movie starring Johnny Depp or even better, Real Housewives of Orange County on vacation I got pretty excited! He then informed me it was for a web series called Yoga Today.

Meh… Can you imagine those skinny OC beeyatches hiking around in the mud in Jackson? Priceless.

Paparazzi Shot

When we reached the top (10,450 feet), we were swarmed with tourists, bundled up as if it was -25 in the middle of January. Cue fanny packs, jerseys, bright white tenny-runners and Jackson Hole logo gear. Of course, they had all taken the tram up to the top of the summit. Not like us bad-ass locals :-). We quickly used the bathrooms, debated ordering a waffle from Corbett’s (which we shot down in favor of sandwiches at home), snapped a pic or two and hopped on the tram for the 10 minute ride down.

Money Shot

Our Chariot (aka The Tram)

After the quick ride down, we downed some vitamin water zeros and strolled through the shops. While shopping we saw skis. Bryan was ogling and I was crying.

Upon our return we made ginormous sandwiches, drank beers and vegged out on the couch all day.

Actually, Bryan took a nap and I wisely popped in a glorious Amanda Bynes movie while I could.

Sydney White – how I love you.

Carey + Chris Wedding Recap

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I’ve been to a lot of weddings.

Maybe not as many as my pal Whitney (best photog this side of the Mississippi *bible) but quite a few.

And I’ve seen it all.

  • The bride walking around the outdoor reception barefoot, holding a beer bong in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other.
  • A reception with ZERO decorations, yet there was a giant, gaudy swan ice sculpture.
  • 15 minute- long maid of honor toasts that were dominated 100% by inside-jokes, leaving anyone who wasn’t BFF’s with the bride completely clueless.
  • A wedding where water wasn’t free…in July. Yep, please fork of $3.50 per bottle if you don’t want to pass out from heat exhaustion or…alcohol consumption.
  • Baked potato bar.
  • Vows that included the groom comparing the growing love for his bride to his staggering DVD collection.
  • A wedding which included the mother of the groom playing a professionally recorded version of “That’s What Friends are For” with her singing, replacing the word “Friends” with “Moms” during the mother- son dance (hello run in sentence, ending with parenthesis!). Thus making the title “That’s What Moms are For”. The song also included a monologue of the mother talking to her son.

I’ve also been lucky enough to attend some beautiful, elegant weddings as well. But those pretty much pail in comparison to the ones with pinatas. Sorry.

My friend Carey and her new hubby Chris put on maybe one of the most gorgeous weddings I’ve ever been to.  Carey and Chris got hitched at Carey’s house, which happens to have a historic barn on the property. Every single detail screamed Carey, down to the individually wrapped pears to the locally baked cheddar bread on each table.

We kicked off the festivities with a bachelorette party of course. It was held on the rooftop of a building in downtown Spokane and was totes SATC.

Centerpieces

Da Bride

Happy Bachelorette Goers

Thongs are sexy

Helpful Literature

Rehearsal

The Church

Crazy Church Choir

Plenty of Kiddies

Wedding Day!

Bridal Hair

Chedda Bread

Bridal Bouquet

Bridal TOMS

YUM

Huckleberry Riesling Time

Photo Booth!

Megan LOVES Her Petit Fours

Whitney (Photog) and Nicole - Yee Yee!

Cutest

Click here to see a sneak peak of their pics (taken by Whit of course).

I love you Carey. I love you Chris. I love you Jackson & Lucy. So happy to share your special day.

PS – I took a picture of my butt on one of the disposable cameras. Don’t be mad.

Totally Whelmed

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Chastity: I know you can be under-whelmed and I know you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be “whelmed”??

Bianca: I think you can in Europe..!

What a great motion picture. Awww…RIP Heath.  And btw, whatever happened to Alex Mack?

As of late, I have been feeling a bit whelmed. Allow me to deconstruct:

  • I started helping out coaching volleyball at the high school.
  • I have been working part time in an art gallery.
  • I am still working full time at Elevated Grounds.
  • I have been planning/preparing for Carey’s (bestie) bachelorette party and wedding!

Helping out at the high school for volleyball has been a blast. Apart from my arm literally falling off on the first day, I am loving it. One of my favorite “Top 5” lists of all time, includes “The Top 5 Most Embarrassing Things You Can Do When Playing Volleyball”. I should note that I have not only seen these things happen before me, but also completed each one myself.

  1. Shanking a serve straight into the ground, only to have the ball bounce quickly off the floor and hit you in the face.
  2. Getting faced with a serve.
  3. Setting the ball to yourself and hitting it over…in a game.
  4. Backspin, chicken-winging and running into the ball cart.
  5. Hitting the back wall of the gym with a ball during hitting lines. No topspin.

So far, I have not displayed any of these awesome, yet rare acts in the gym. Thank the Lord.

FAIL

Moving on, I have started working very part time in an art gallery. Grand Teton Gallery to be precise. I have always been an art-lover. I know about the greats, Picasso, Renior, Dali. However, galleries here in Jackson Hole are quite a bit different. Enter cowboys, indians, mountain landscapes and the occasional billy goat. It’s taken me a little while but I do think the art is beautiful.

Lastly, Carey’s wedding is this Saturday. HOLLA. I am pumped. My other besties Holly and Bekah are hosting her bachelorette party along with me and my sis Megan and mom are helping out too.

Vintage

I’m also pumped for the wedding day, where the bridesmaids are doing pre-wedding yoga, gettin our hairs did and prolly having a bottle glass of champagne.

Yes, we did this all the time in college

I cannot wait to see my nephew Jackson, who is going to be a little old man by now. I also get to spend some much needed QT with my little sis Amy. She basically rocks my socks off and I anticipate LOTS of YouTube watching, froyo eating and “Wee Sing Christmas” quoting.

The sad part? Bryan cannot make it because he is in another wedding on the exact same day, here in Jackson. I tried to get Lorie (the bride of the wedding he is in) to change her wedding date,  but apparently the fact that invites had already been sent, down payments had been paid and family from all over the US had already purchased plane tickets meant that changing the date was a no-go. Some people can be so selfish :-).

Other recent haps/obsessions of B and myself:

  • Floating in oddly shaped intertubes down String Lake. And downing delicious BLLs.
  • The Tudors.  Which has been contributing to Bryan using his British accent far more frequently and finding myself looking at tiaras on ebay.
  • Eating semi-sweet chocolate chips for dessert. Straight outta the bag.
  • Going to Koshu and roboting hard until 1 am.

It’s a good life.