Wedding day!

First thing's first- brunch!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the brunch since none of the gals had any make up on just yet in preparation for hours that we'd spend at the salon.  However, I do want to tell you about this delicious brunch place called Riva at Scituate Harbor.  It was a-mazing!  The food was delicious and the area was beautiful.  A big thanks to Penny's aunts for putting it together for all the gals!

Next, we headed over to Salon Serode in Pembroke, MA.  The owner, Michael, was beyond entertaining!  He ran around, serving wine to the girls, telling us ridiculous stories and doing everything short of breaking into a full-blown Broadway show.  Our hair, on the other hand, turned out absolutely perfect and GORGEOUS!

The Bride admiring her amazing do

Michael working his magic on Denise

Then we headed upstairs to get our make-up done.

The Bride getting her make-up done

The Bride when all was set and done

After everyone was finished getting puurrty-fied, we headed back to Penny and Tim's house to slip into our dresses and help the bride get ready.

Penelope posing for the photographer (and I snuck in there)

The photographers showed up and I had to put mine away and let them do their job.  But I did manage to snap a couple of pictures of the flowers when they arrived.

Bridal bouquet

Bridesmaid bouquets

Once everyone was dressed and photographed, the trolley showed up to pick up the girls and head over to the Chapel.

St. Theresa's Chapel is located in Marshfield, MA and the ceremony was just beautiful.  Needless to say, the Bride was stunning while all the gals cried their eyes out.

Once the emotional part was done with, the bridal party climbed back in to the trolley while the Bride and Groom shared an intimate drive in the limo.

Posing with my husband and the mother of the Bride

Of course, we celebrated a bit.

The Bridal party toasting the Bride and Groom

We all spent some time at the boat dock taking more pictures and then joined the guests at the Atlantica Restaurant in Cohasset, MA.  The reception was unbelievable with delicious food, dancing, and lots of family and friends to help celebrate this special occasion.

Jon and I at the reception

Unfortunately for you, I spent more time hanging out, eating, and dancing than snapping pictures.

The Bride enjoying the night

Hanging out with Jon's/my in-law cousins.

And when the party ended, we hopped back on the trolley and headed back to our hotel in Hull.

Bride and Groom...or I guess officially Husband and Wife!

Penny's grandparents - married for over 50 years!

Yours truly - celebrating our 3 year anniversary this July!

Who says the party has to end?

That's it folks!

Congrats Penelope and Tim!  We wish you guys a happy, long marriage! 

And Tim?  Welcome to the in-law family.  Current population - 2.

Penny's pre-wedding fun

My sister-in-law got married this weekend to an upstanding gentleman named Tim.  We couldn't be happier!

We started off the weekend on a Friday - Jon and I had a very long drive ahead of us.  When we finally arrived at the South Shore, Jon dropped me off at a nail place for mani/padis.  After all - what kind of a wedding weekend is it without a bunch of girls chit-chatting in eagerness while getting their nails and toe-nails scrubbed, manicured, and painted?

Oh, and of course, a couple bottles of champagne.

And 2 bottles of champagne make for 2 happy gals.

the Bride with her Maid of Honor.

After the awesome mani/padis, the ladies headed back to Penny and Tim's house to get changed into our formal wear for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

The Bride and Groom

And, of course, more champagne.

Then we headed over to the Chapel for the rehearsal.

Some bridesmaids with Penny's bouquet

A couple of ushers with their mom

The rehearsal dinner was held at Raffael' s in Hull, MA.  The view was AMAZING and the best part?  This was our hotel!

Tim's dad giving a speech to the Bride and Groom

Toasting the Bride and Groom

Penny's dad with Bonnie - I love this pic of the two of them

Penny sharing a cute moment with her dad

Jon and I at the rehearsal dinner

After the dinner, the wedding party wasn't ready to settle down, so we went over to the bar area for some drinks and dancing.

Bridesmaids serenading the Bride to Africa by Toto

And that concluded our eventful Friday.  Next - WEDDING DAY!

Flashbacks are so fun

I have been reading some blogs lately the feature pictures from their past and it got me thinking about mine.  I love looking back at the past - makes me laugh and often be thankful for my present and looking forward to the future.

So join me as we take a stroll through my memories of the younger days.  I do not promise that it will be pretty, but it will be entertaining.

This is a picture of my sister and me.  We were playing dress up.  We used to always play dress up with my grandmother's scarves.  I have no idea what was so exciting about them, but we spent hours entertaining ourselves at her house.  We used to also build forts from her couch cushions.  What's with children and their imaginations?

Me and my prom date.  This wasn't actually my prom; it was his senior prom.  I was still a junior.  At the end of the night we decided to go to the school-sponsored after-party (I was a straight edge and then some).  Anyways, right when we got there we saw a huge bouncy castle and decided to give it a try.  My prom date got in first and bounced twice before he took his own knee to his own nose.  When he landed back on the bouncy floor, it took about 3 seconds for me to realize that he had broken his nose.  We spent the rest of our prom at the emergency room.

My oh my this brings back memories.  This was around Christmas time.  I spent a lot of Christmases with my friend Kerry because my family did not celebrate Christmas on the same dates (we go by the old calendar).  For whatever reason, my friend Darren's family was also there.  I think we all thought it would be funny to take a pic on the stairs-  Kerry, D, me; Kerry's brothers who are twins: Jason and Jeff, my sister, and D's brother Jason.  D, Kerry and I were in the same grade in High School, while Lana, Jeff, Jason, and Jason were also the same age.  I miss these days.

My two best friends on one of our summer breaks during college.  This night we caught up on our college days at one of the local DD and this crazy girl started picking on us.  We didn't seem to understand why, which only made her angrier until she eventually threw her ice coffee all over my car.  Drove me nuts!

 My roomy Heath-bar and our friend Elissa in college.  I went to a Massachusetts state school and was placed in a quad with 3 Jersey chicks.  What are the chances?  Elissa might as well have been one of our roommates - she was Heath's friend from back home and therefore also from Jersey.  I was surrounded by Jersey chicks!  Heather's getting married this year - I can't wait!  I loved these gals.

Technically is hiking really just walking through the woods?

I guess it just doesn't sound as good if you say, "Hey, want to go for a walk through the woods?"  Somehow, going for a hike sounds a bit better. 

Anyways, Jon and I took the dogs for a hike this afternoon after work.  Usually, by this time we would have gone on dozens of them, but somehow this year has been a very busy one, leaving no time for a decent hike.

This time we went to Bittner Park located in Guilford, CT.

I think this might be one of my favorite parks in the area because there is this gorgeous trail that goes along the water.

The dogs are big fans too.

They love galloping along the trails and then taking a quick turn for a dip in the water.

They just can't get enough of the cool fresh water.

Drinking it, laying in it.

A different story than when you try to get them in the bathtub.  But that's neither here nor there.

Cailey is a little less enthusiastic about water than Travis, but she tries her best not to chicken out.

Especially when we throw some sticks in the deep end.

I swear there is some rule about not getting gremlins wet.  I wonder why that is.

Now unfortunately, I ran out of battery right when we got there.

Too bad because we also encountered awesomely cute tree frogs, a deer, and some cows.  I guess that will teach me a lesson or two about charging up the camera before we go for our long walks in the woods.

Gladkov Apple Pie

Apparently, I'm on a Russian kick lately.  I just can't get enough of some of those traditional food I ate as a kid.

This delicious piece of pie/cake/crumble is the Russian Apple pie.  I honestly still don't know if it's technically pie or cake or what it is, so we're just going to keep calling it Apple Pie because that's the easiest thing I can think of.

One of the best parts about Russian food is that everything is super easy to make and takes very few ingredients.

What you'll need:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3 apples

See?  Who doesn't have this stuff laying around?

Start by preheating the oven at 350 degrees.  In the meantime, mix eggs and sugar in a bowl with a hand mixer on a fast setting.

You'll want to mix it for about 3-5 minutes until it's really well blended.

Add flour and mix on the slow setting.

There, that looks good.

Set aside and cut up some apples.  You want really thin slices.

Add the apples to the mix we just made.

You want to make sure that the apples are really covered in the gooey-ness.  Then spoon the whole thing into a rectangular glass pan.  If you like your "pie" soft and mushy, use a smaller pan.  If you prefer that it is crispy and thin, then use a larger pan.

This is a smaller pan only because Jon doesn't like it crispy.  If I had my way, I'd use the biggest pan I could find so that it comes out crispy.

But I guess this will do as well.

Put the whole thing into the pre-heated oven for about 40-45 minutes.

The top should be nice and tan with a little bit of a crisp (or a lot of a crisp if that's what you prefer).

Now here is a Russian trick - cut the whole thing into diamonds.  Yes, you heard me, diamonds.  I have no idea why we have always done it, but my mom did it, her mom before her did it, and therefore, I do it.  It's the Russian way.