Our Tales of Two Cities: little of this...little of that....weddings and movies

I love weddings :) I loved my own...but really love enjoying them as a guest and getting to drink, eat, and dance while celebrating friends and family getting married!

We didn't really realize we had so many weddings this summer, till they were upon us, but we had 4 between July and August and one more to go on Halloween weekend! It has been really fun and given us a good excuse to travel to VA which we love.

The last weekend in July went to Charlottesville, VA for Nick's friend's wedding at a beautiful estate called the Clifton Inn. Really lovely outdoor wedding with a fun band!

The Clifton Inn

all dressed up!

You may recognize some of these handsome guys

Pretty table decor

blurry pic of the jon and jessica reda!

with good friends, Trace & Natalie

In between work and weddings, we enjoyed some summer NYC festivities! We live a block away from the Hudson river, which has an AWESOME river park that we enjoy every day. The park goes from the tip of the island in battery park all the way up to the 100's. I think our portion is the nicest though. It includes a boardwalk with lawns and grassy areas and benches along the water as well as a running and biking path...along the water there are also big piers. Some have been turned into grassy parks, some are for events and some are big buildings that house gyms, soccer fields, driving ranges, trapeze schools (yes really), some are ports for the city, and much much more. (google "chelsea piers")

There have been Hudson River Park summer events all summer...concerts, kids movies outdoor, salsa dancing, live jazz and adult outdoor movies. We decided to go watch "Julie and Julia" one thursday night. We got sushi, a bottle of wine, a blanket and found a soft spot on the concrete. It was pretty fun!

At the movies!

Edamame, anyone?

outdoor movies on the hudson

Then we were headed off to another wedding for our friends Colin and Cherie at Smith Mountain Lake in VA. LOVED making the drive to southwest VA...especially since we won't be able to go a VT game this season. Also loved being on the lake. We stayed in the condos at the lake community where everyone stayed and where the wedding was held....somehow our condo become the "party condo" which made for fun times and interesting stories. Saturday during the day we rented a boat from the local marina...the boat sucked, but we all had fun skiing (or trying to) and riding around. The boat kept shutting off at idle and having to be started up again...repeatedly. Nobody in the group but myself had driven a ski boat before, so I was left to figure this out and restart it every time. Eventually the marina came out and gave us a new boat, just in time for me to ski!

me skiing

Nick skiing

me skiing some more

The wedding itself was gorgeous...on a deck on the lake. Colin and Cherie aren't very traditional, so everything was a little different and cool. I loved it! The ceremony was short...and by short I mean, bridal entrance, vows, rings, kiss and done...5 mins tops! So we pretty much ate, drank and danced from 5pm to 11pm...so much fun. The food was amazing, nick and I ate an entire platter of these tuna ceviche edible spoon hors d'ouvres to ourselves...can't help it when the server comes right back to you everytime! The bartenders were great and the dj rocked it out. needless to say it was fun. Sunday was also great...pretty much my perfect day...hanging out at the lake, boating, skiing and swimming. We should've left to drive back to NY around noon, but we just couldn't tear ourselves away so we didn't get home till 2am, but it was worth it.

umbrellas for the sun