November

O....K!

I'm here...hanging on by a few threads but here!  And I'm blogging...trying to squeeze it all in.  So there is a lot going on in our lives right now (quitting jobs, starting new jobs, moving to name a few...all within a month)...but I will just run you through some highlights.

We did a wedding tour...3 wedding weekends in a row!  Annapolis for Chris & Meghan (Casey's bro and new sis)...awesome.  Dewey Beach, DE for our friends Greg & Jenn...right after our power went out so it was a very nice break from our reality.  Bethesda, MD for our friend Cifa who got married...beautiful wedding and we got to see Swartz (casey's hubby, matt) again, 2 weekends!

The weddings were really fun and gave Nick and I some wonderful reasons to go out and have a good time celebrating our good friends!  Weddings are great because not only are you watching two people make an amazing commitment to each other, but you get to dress up, eat good food, have a few drinks and see other friends all in one place!  I was also sooo thrilled that Casey & Matt got to meet Waverly in Annapolis!

cute newlyweds

first night out sans baby!

not a great photo, but we are having a great time!

 yay Aunt Casey!

 good job Case, support the head.

 sporting a bow that Casey & Matt gave her :)

I think this picture speaks for itself.

Here are some of the other things that happened on these wedding weekends.... Waverly got to meet close friends Tina & Joey...they came up to NYC for their anniversary and spent Friday night with us :)  We had a fun night surprising them with our news of moving to their town and having a great dinner out!

Waverly could fit right into the Cavucci family!

We stayed with close friends Cherie & Colin in Dewey Beach who have a baby about a month older than Waverly.  It was fun to see them both playing on the ground and I love talking all things baby with  Cherie.  So nice to talk and hang out in person rather than over texts and facetime.  Colin & Cherie are such calm people and have great senses of humor...both of which were needed this weekend since we were staying with them after losing power from the hurricane.

Waverly & Nash playing...soon after I realized her clothes were a bit too snug.

The weekend we were in Bethesda/DC we also went house hunting. We were in a tight time frame...TIGHT TIME FRAME...to find a place to live by December 1st. With 3 weeks to find a place to live and move and only 1 morning to look at places...I actually experienced a what I think a mild panic attack might feel like, but I recovered by the time we got to the wedding, haha.  A friend of mine who saw a post I put on facebook ("hey who knows of a place for us to live"...was the gist) works in real estate and showed us 4 places that saturday morning and 1 of them worked out.  2 weeks later - application went through, lease signed, checks cashed...new address in Alexandria, VA! Phew.

Cifa wedding...her first wedding and sleeping right through it!

beautiful centerpieces

townhouse we found to rent!

So....that's the 1st half of november.

Second half....my 30th birthday, Thanksgiving, and packing to move. See, I told you were are squeezing it all in!

30th B-Day....I definitely feel 30, but then also can't believe I'm that old. I'm not sure if it's having a baby or where I'm at with my career...or just kinda more tired than usual, haha. I can't pinpoint it, but I feel it.

Regardless of how I feel...my family made me feel great!  My parents and brother/sister-in-law/neice came to visit and we had a great weekend.  Lots of fun watching my 2 year old neice get to know Waverly and getting to spend some time with everyone.  We celebrated with cake, presents, and a big night out in NYC!  Andy, Shannon, Nick and myself headed into the city for dinner while my parents watched the girls...great babysitters!  We had a delicious and fun dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the west village...Extra Virgin.  Wine, Food, Being in the City with my love and my family...wonderful!  This was really our first date night out as new parents and it was fun :)

Granddaddy

big cousin. little cousin.

smith fam + waverly

uncle andy!

W:  "what are you doing in my play gym?"

shannon's meal at extra virgin...so cool!

hardly a great picture, but it's what I got from our dinner out!

Thanksgiving...I cooked!  See my next blog post :)

my little turkey.

Now...we pack!  Saturday...we move!  Just push through it...that's what I keep telling myself. Packing...moving...with a baby...and a head cold...and more stuff than I've ever had. phew. pushing through it.

Goodbye New Jersey!

What a week!

Last week was one of those weeks...a full blown roller coaster.  Luckily we were strapped in tight and rode it out.

I'll start with the not so sweet moments since it's always nice to have a happy ending.

For starters I came home from Virginia with a solid start to the cold Nick had the previous week.  Sore throat, cough...yuck.  I blamed Nick for my miserable state all week...poor guy, but hey, I'm pregnant so I get to blame someone else!  This progressively got worse as the week went on, but I called the drs office on Tuesday to see what meds I was allowed to take...mucinex, cough drops, and vitamin C tablets were my defenses.  Then I had an appointment on Thursday and my Dr was nice enough to tell me that I could take Robitussin...praise be...it's what finally got rid of my congested cough and sore throat!  Gotta love a laid back doctor who allows you to take some meds since you're miserable and in your 3rd trimester!

I am now caught up on sleep and feeling so much better :)

Secondly Cole fell sick...if anyone knows what it's like to have a sick dog...or be "sick as a dog"...its no joke.  Starting Monday evening and going into Thursday we had to take him outside every 2 hours like clockwork...that means Monday and Tuesday night were dreadful.  He must have really wanted to prep us for the new baby.  He couldn't keep anything down or in...too much detail??  So sad...and normally I can pinpoint a cause but for the life of me could not figure out what he could've eaten.  No toys were missing or destroyed, nothing in the house was awry...I walked him Monday and never saw him eat anything outside.  Finally a vet visit was made on Wednesday which proved inconclusive so it seems he just caught a bug.  I felt so bad for him, but since I was feeling sick too, it was really Nick who took the brunt of it.

Cole recovered around Thursday / Friday in time for us to drop him off in Delaware with my mother in law for the weekend.

Lastly my car was sick.  The AC broke and I got it fixed, but came home with a LOUD squeaky rattle. Never good to come home from the shop and have to take it back in again.  PLUS a small crack caused by a rock turned into a huge long crack...I would love to be the winner of a new car right now.  Know any contests?  The rattle got repaired free of charge (booyah!) today and the windshield is being replaced Friday...sigh.

Now amongst all this...we were leaving town for a long weekend for a wedding of some of our close friends...this is where the good things start...

One of my best friends had her baby girl on her due date, Monday June 4th!  Sophie Lynn Peddicord arrived pretty smoothly and is just a precious little bundle.  Great job Tray - congrats again to you guys :)

Tuesday was our 2nd year anniversary!  Somehow I put my cough away and we got a neighbor to let out Cole so that we could keep our plans to celebrate in NYC for the night.  We've been wanting to try Mario Batali's restaurant in the West Village, Babbo since we moved to NY, but it is one hard reservation to get!  They only take reservations a month in advance and even if you call (like Nick did) exactly a month in advance there are people who have called before you so times are limited!  crazy.  But we got a table and loved it.  I really want to go back when I can drink wine because they had a tasting menu with a different wine pairing for each course....uhhh, awesome!  In the meantime delicious bread, pasta and veggies did the trick :)

buffalo mozzarella with squash and zucchini

nick had black spaghetti! risky.

happy...in the West Village at Babbo!

That night Nick surprised me with tickets to see Wicked on Broadway too!  I've been dying to see it and he really wanted to see it too...so he splurged.  It is a FABULOUS show...singing is amazing, dancing is fantastic, the set is phenomenal and so are the costumes.  We both said it was the best Broadway show we've seen.  The main character, the Wicked Witch was amazing...her voice was impeccable.  The set was so cool and the costumes and dancing were just fantastic.  I also really loved how they tied in the story Oz, but didn't show any part of the "Wizard of the Oz".  Such great writing.

cool set.

Wicked!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

29 weeks in Times Square!

Finally the end of the week came and we made it down to Washington DC to see our friends Natalie and Trace get married!  They are such great friends of ours...Trace and Nick were friends at Virginia Tech and Natalie and I LOVE hanging out together. We've taken trips together and try to visit whenever possible. One day we plan to all live in the same neighborhood...don't disappoint, Nat!  ;)  They are truly one of those couples that everyone was so happy to see get married...they were best friends in high school, started dating between VT and JMU in college and now live in Boston...their relationship spans 14 years!  Their wedding was a blast...Nick was a groomsmen and looked handsome, I put together my best maternity wear and we had a great weekend.  It was so fun to see a lot of friends we hadn't seen in a while and to be in DC....Baby G and I danced the whole reception with a few breaks for water and the candy bar...obviously.  Congrats again to Trace and Natalie!

yay!  Natalie was a GORGEOUS bride.

Bridal party flash mob...awesome. Here is the video

wish this was a full length shot b/c I had navy blue snakeskin 3" heels on!  They lasted a while...till flip flops :)

Our Wedding!

Casey did an AWESOME job describing our wedding...thanks!!! I thought I'd add my two cents in as well.

First of all, I know I've said thank you many times, but thank you again to my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and Casey for all your help in the last minute details. I REALLY appreciated everything you did that week and wouldn't have gotten it all done without you.

The whole weekend was just awesome...it's amazing to see how it all comes together and then you can just sit back and enjoy being around everyone and celebrate the marriage! And celebrate we did.

Nick got in late Thursday night and we got up pretty early to get our marriage license, which is much easier than I thought! Then he played golf with friends and family who were in town and had a blast. I went to a bridesmaid luncheon with my bridesmaids and some family members in town. I loved having some time with all the women...having a great lunch at the Jefferson and getting to thank them for their love and support.

Bridesmaids at the luncheon


The rehearsal dinner was so much fun...it was at Hard Shell in downtown Richmond. The food was great, the wine was awesome and it was fun to see our friends and immediate family all together. I loved the intimate atmosphere of the restaurant. We had a really great time and got to enjoy a few humorous and touching toasts as well. Nick and I love nothing more than spending time with our loved ones over good food and drinks....so this was perfect.

our table


groomsmen


with Kathleen and Tracy


Then the wedding day....it was perfect. It was exactly how I imagined it and more. Well I didn't imagine it being that ridiculously hot, but regardless. I loved getting ready at my parents house where I grew up and having everyone be able to relax and eat as we got our hair and makeup done. It's always a little stressful to make sure everyone is happy with their look, but regardless of how they felt...I thought every single woman was gorgeous! Absolutely looked their best. I must admit I was pretty worked up and nervous, but as we drove over to the gardens it all turned into excitement.

Getting ready with my "borrowed" hokie garter (which I gave to Casey, she passed to Tina who passed it back to me) and my "blue" ribbon


When we arrived at the house in Lewis Ginter gardens, I loved seeing the tents up, chairs set up, the band getting ready, and the cake and flowers all coming in....I thought to myself, wow...the wedding is here!! Everything was beautiful from the flower arrangements and bouquets to the design of the cake...to my adorable little cousin, Claire, as the flower girl. The girls got in their dresses and looked AWESOME and I got in my dress...it was all happening!

Claire...my adorable flower girl


Bridesmaid Bouquets


Wedding Cake


Centerpieces...love my walmart lanterns, thanks for the inspiration, kat!


Getting married in the garden was amazing...I loved the greenery and trees. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed getting married outdoors. Until the thunder rolled in...haha. Nick and I focused on being present in the ceremony as strong winds blew things in my hair, thunder rolled during readings and vows, and raindrops started to drop during the last song. Occasionally I would wink at him or squeeze his hand to say "it won't rain...don't' think about it". There were also some very ironic and symbolizing moments in the ceremony, when the readings talked about "when the sun won't shine" or how our recessional song was "here comes the sun". But rain did come...just after we walked down the aisle. Luckily everyone got up and under the tent just in time and it down poured for about 15 mins. Just enough to cool things down a bit until the sun came out again. Also just enough to make for a great story and not a disastrous tale! All in all, I wouldn't have it any other way...I love the way it all happened and as my brother said "only my sister would push it to the limit and have it work out just fine". haha.

Walking the aisle with Dad


my dress...loved it :D


little bit of weather...no big deal, thanks casey!



Mr. and Mrs Nicholas Gupta!


The reception flew by, but I can tell you this - the food, wine, and beer were delicious and we got to enjoy it all thoroughly. People were on the dance floor from the first song the band played to the very last....and people rocked out. I saw some sweaty dancing fools, which I ended up being myself. The toasts by Casey and Josh were sooooo wonderful...thank you! The length of the wedding was perfect and we had a great exit. I loved it all...wouldn't change a thing and would love to relive it one more time. Most of all I'm just so glad everyone had a great time...we heard rave reviews about the food and the band...two things that make a great party. All we wanted was for our loved ones to have fun and I believe we succeeded.

Our first dance


Enjoying our dinner


Go Hokies!


singing on stage


Cutting the cake


Dance...dance...dance


Exiting with bubbles



Definitely a weekend we'll never forget...and will replay forever in our minds. Thank you to to everyone for their best wishes, love, and support which got us to this day and will surely carry us into our future.

p.s thank you for everyone who took and posted pictures...anyone else, send them along!! BIG THANKS, to our photographer, Sarah Cramer Shields - CramerPhoto, she is the absolute BEST for documenting a special time in your life. check out her blog here