American Adventure Part 3: The City of Brotherly Love and Even More Weddings

After the family day bbq Andrew and I headed back to Woodstock with Mom and Dad to do some of our own wedding fun. Monday and Tuesday passed quickly and uneventfully and soon Andrew and I were on the road again headed for Philly. We spent Wednesday night at Aunt Deb's in New Jersey to relax for a bit.

We saw a wild turkey while we were driving around. Yummy turkey

Thursday we drove into Philly around lunch time so we grabbed my old college roommate Jackie and headed to Pat's for Andrew to have a traditional Philly cheesesteak. From there we hopped the train into the city to wander a bit before meeting our old professor Morna Livingston for a drink. It was so great to catch up with her, she was our design 2 professor freshmen year and stayed my adviser throughout college. She was an inspiration to me because she is incredibly intelligent and a photographer to boot.

Mmmhhhhh Pat's

Me and Jackie

Jackie, Me and Abbey

After grabbing dinner at a brewery downtown we called it an early evening and crashed out. Friday Jackie and I gave Andrew a tour of Philly U before heading downtown for pizza at Lorenzo's (this trip was really all about food). After that we walked around Independence Mall so Andrew could get a bit of history before going over to Elfreth's Alley, the oldest residential street in the US. Morna happens to live there and she had invited us to stop by and see her house. It was incredible to see inside because I've always wondered what those houses look at inside, it was awesome.

The pizza is as big as my face

On South Street all the trash cans are painted up all funky, love it

Independence Mall

The Liberty Bell as seen from outside, we were too lazy to wait in the epic line to get in

Elfreth's Alley

The Rocky statue

View of Philly from the Art Museum steps

The Philadelphia Art Museum, one of my favourite places in Philly

That evening I left Andrew with Jackie's boyfriend Kyle and his friend Dan at our local bar from college while I went for Chinese food at our old favourite place, not quite the same as I remember it to be. After dinner we met back up the boys for a few drinks before meeting some of my other friends at a bar in Manayunk. We didn't manage any photos that night because we it was one of those times where pulling out a camera would have ruined the moment. It was a great evening out and made me miss being home.

When we woke up Saturday we met Jackie and Allison for a quick breakfast before hitting the road. This road was not taking us towards my parents house though but to Mystic, CT instead. There we met up with my parents, Jess and PJ, plus the whole Morris gang. After dinner we all convoyed to the Shaw house, the parents of Ken Shaw, the man who married Sarah Manz (the second wedding we were attending in the states, getting confusing enough yet?). The Shaw's were having everyone over homemade ice cream to say hi the night before the wedding.

Jackie, me and Al

Sunday was the other big day so we drove back to Mystic and headed to the wedding. It was raining hard all day until about an hour before the wedding and it managed to dry out and the sun shone brightly all afternoon. The wedding was held on the lawn facing down to the ocean, absolutely beautiful. After the wedding cocktails were held outside so we mingled on the porch looking out to the ocean, it was great relaxing in the sun with everyone.

There were many touching moments during the wedding that got us crying, I'm so glad that we were able to get over to the states for at least one of the Manz family weddings. Our table was all Swenson and Morris kids which provide for a great evening of conversation and laughing, as it always does. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone knowing that we were leaving for the next few months, luckily there was a brunch the next morning at the Shaw's that most of us were able to attend. We didn't bring our camera with us so once Dad has written his blog I'll post that link with all the photos.

And that wraps us up our amazing and busy American Adventure. We are slowly getting back to normal at home but it's going to be a bit of an adjustment, look out for some boring blogs in the next few weeks until the next adventure.

American Adventure Part 2: Weddings, Golf Carts and More Weddings

We woke to a beautiful sunny day on Thursday so we spent the day lying in the sun, swimming and napping, the perfect cottage day. Of course Friday we were back up and at it leaving early so that they could drop me off at a spa in Vermont to meet Michelle and the other bridesmaids for some pedicures. We had the rehearsal in the afternoon before going into Burlington for the rehearsal dinner at Sweetwater. It was very good food and a nice chance for everyone to spend some time together before the craziness of the wedding day.

Gail had arranged a table for my parents and some of her cousins near the rehearsal dinner so they could see Michelle and Justin too and Jess, PJ and Andrew stopped by after visiting the Magic Hat Brewing Company (jealous) and having dinner at Boves (even more jealous, my dad used to stop by here on his way home from work to bring the pasta sauce home for dinner, it was always such a treat). With the formal rehearsal out of the way Gail invited some people back to her house for some drinks before us girls settled in to be well rested for the next day.

I have to admit that I have not cried as much at a wedding as I did at Michelle’s. it started first thing in the morning when Michelle and I sat on her mom’s porch, I think we only managed a few words to each other before we both started tearing up. That set the way for the rest of the day. We took over a hair salon for the morning to snack, drink mimosas and chat while oooing and awwwing over each other’s hair-dos. From there we went to the Catamount Country Club where the wedding and reception was taking place. The country club has a second floor the looks down to the first floor from a balcony and this is where we got ready and could peak down to guests and the groomsmen gathering down below.

Michelle was pleased that everyone was running a bit early for the day so we had plenty of time to calmly get ready before we need to go down for the ceremony. To get to the ceremony site we drove golf carts down, and by ‘we’ I do mean that I got to drive. I drove Michelle’s little sister Natalie who I was walking behind. It was a beautiful sunny day and before you know it we were all standing up front crying along with Justin as Michelle walked down the aisle. The ceremony was short but very sweet and soon we were back in the golf carts to drive around to a few sites for photographs. Back at the clubhouse we were announced once the photographs were done and they quickly got to the speeches, more crying and dinner.

Since the wedding was at a country club we were given access to the driving range

Dad was the only one of the three of us who had good form and actually hit the ball

The night was filled with dancing and it seemed like before I could blink they were announcing the last song. We managed to spend a bit more time with Michelle and Justin since they stayed at the same hotel with us before leaving bright and early for their honeymoon. One wedding down, one to go.

Even though it's a bit blurry you can see
Mom and Dad dancing away in the background

The garter toss, the best part is that it ended up on top of the A/C unit and they had to climb up to get it down

Andrew, Jess, PJ and myself met Mom and Dad at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory for a tour and the breakfast of champions before continuing back to the cottage for a big family bbq. Andrew and I finally got to meet Crew, the first great-grandchild who is absolutely charming. It was another beautiful sunny day that we all took advantage of swimming and chatting on the beach.

We spent some time exploring the Flavor Graveyard to see what didn't last long

And now we are off for our next week of adventures so stay tuned for the rest of the US fun.

Coming Soon, American Adventure Part 3: The City of Brotherly Love and Even More Weddings....

American Adventure Part 1: The Surprise and Red Sox Nation

Well here we are, after a year of planning and sneaking around Andrew and I are finally in the US. We arrived a week and a half ago late at night after traveling for 20+ hours.

Our firt meal in the US was Mexican food sitting in the San Fran airport:

Saturday morning we got up early to go to Nana and Papa’s for a tasty breakfast that included some of my favourites, bagels and American bacon, yum. After breakfast Andrew stayed with Mom and Dad and Nana and Papa to spend the day relaxing at the cottage while I drove up to Vermont to pull off the ultimate surprise.

This adventure started last year when one of my best friends, Michelle Codding, told me she was getting married and asked if I could be in the bridal party. I sadly had to tell her that it just wasn’t going to be possible since we were already planning on being home for Christmas that same year and we couldn’t afford two trips to the US in one year.

After I told her the bad news Andrew and I talked and he said that we would find a way to make it work, and so the plotting began. I decided that since I had already told her no this might be the perfect time to pull off an amazing surprise. It was with the help of Justin, Michelle’s now husband, her mom Gail and her sister Caitlin that I ended up on Gail’s doorstep last Saturday ringing the doorbell waiting to see Michelle.

We were a bit concerned that Michelle would have figured it out but her reaction to seeing me standing on the front porch made us realize she had absolutely no idea. It was amazing to see her so surprised and happy, she even agreed that I could still be in her wedding, which is good because I had the dress and everything.

Once we were done crying Michelle and I were given a few hours to catch up before some of the other girls arrived to get ready for Michelle’s bachelorette party. Everyone was glad to see me, and glad that we no longer had to watch what we said to Michelle.

For Michelle’s bachelorette party we started with a nice family style Chinese dinner at a place called Single Pebble in Burlington.

Caitlin and Stephanie dressed Michelle up with a tutu, sash and hair piece

After dinner we stopped by a bar on Church Street to drop off her little sister Natalie with her parents before going on to dance all night to 80s hits at a place called Metronome. We had a great time and there were some amazing moves shown off on the dance floor.

Me, Caitlin and Stephanie

Sunday morning, when Michelle and I finally managed to stop talking to each other, I headed back to the cottage for a family bbq with Mom and Dad, Nana and Papa, Grampy, my cousins Brian and Kris, their mom Deb and her boyfriend Ernie and Kris’ dad Willis. Quite a group and the first of two family gatherings.

Monday we played pretty low-key since it was an overcast day with a bit of rain. Tuesday Andrew and I drove down to Boston where we wandered the city for a bit before meeting Mom and Dad at An Tua Nua for dinner. After dinner we slowly made our way over to Fenway to our freaking amazing seats about 7 rows behind home plate. If Andrew wasn’t a Red Sox fan before he certainly was by the time we left that night. We had beer delivered, jumped up and down to get home runs out of the field and did the wave. It was a great game and the perfect way to spend a warm summer evening.

Since we weren’t in any hurry on Wednesday we wandered the city a bit more before driving back to the cottage. We only stayed there for a few hours before driving back to Boston to collect Jess and PJ from the airport around 1am. Luckily they had slept on the plane so PJ was happy to drive back to the cottage.


Boston Public Library



Boston Museum of Fine Art

Coming Soon: American Adventure Part 2: Weddings, Golf Carts and More Weddings....