For those of you who are long time readers, you know that I went to Syracuse University for my undergraduate degree. My love for Syracuse has no bounds. I chose to go to school that was 5 hours away from home (by car) which may not be far for many people, but for me and my family was quite a distance. It meant it was not always easy to go home for even a weekend (especially not having a car on campus for 3 years) and it meant that I was fully on my own for the first time in my life in a brand new place with nobody that I knew.
Beyond just cheering (or crying over) the basketball team at Syracuse, my love for the school is so strong because it is where I grew up, received an education that set me up at a job I love, and where I made lifelong friends who were a family, support system, and source of non-stop entertainment, love and laughter.
My senior year I lived in an apartment with 4 other girls. Across the hall from us lived our 4 guy friends. The 8 of them had been living together since their freshman year and although I had been friends with everyone since that time as well, was a new addition to the living arrangement (except for one of the girls whom I had lived with for a semester in our sorority house.)
From day 1 of this living arrangement, it was an absolute blast and amazing experience. I could write post after post about hysterical stories of encounters with neighbors, random dates, cooking disasters and victories, late nights studying and watching TV, snuggling in any of our beds, and just complete shenanigans and fun all around. It was a crazy, wonderful, loving and fun experience.
This past weekend the entire group got back together again to celebrate the first wedding from our crew. My former roommate Kristina, on Saturday was a glowing, beautiful, smiling and radiant bride, marrying her long time friend and now husband, Brian. Our crew traveled in from South Carolina, California, Atlanta, Puerto Rico and all over New York to celebrate the day and it was an absolute blast.
On Friday after work I flew to White Plains, New York and was picked up from the airport by my friend Kimmy, who I would be sharing a room with for the weekend. She slyly told me that she'd seen a few of the others but everyone was sort of just laying low for the night and we'd meet everyone for brunch in the morning. Sounded okay to me, and we head back to the hotel, and to my pleasure when we walked into the room, I was greeted with a surprise birthday party, balloons, cookie cake and the most amazing t-shirt ever made. This surprise seriously made my night after a somewhat stressful day!
We had a great time goofing off and catching up, before doing the responsible thing and calling it an early night (who have we become?!) I knew I had to get up early to get a run in because even when you are traveling and celebrating, training does not stop!!
With the help of some of my friends I had done some research and found a few places to run nearby and ended up finding a local group run that started at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. That timing worked out well for me so I decided to give it a try. I was up early, wanting to try and get there on time and ate my pre-run breakfast in the bathroom with my fingers because I couldn't find a spoon and that's how I roll.
I didn't end up meeting up with the entire group, but one of the local run club members met up with me and showed me a great path and run around Rockland Lake and down by the Hudson River. He ran 14 of the 16 miles with me and helped me keep my pace up even when I was running on tired legs and through some tough hills. My pace was not the same as it was the week before, which is fine - that run was likely a fluke. But it was also coming off a step back week, flatter, and I was more prepared for it I think. We did stop a few times on the run on Saturday as well, which I don't really like to do because it is not how I plan to run the actual marathon, so I don't really like doing that. However, I felt good finishing my 16 mile run on Saturday and it was a beautiful place to log some miles!
Afterwards I showered and changed back at the hotel and gave Kimmy tons of gratitude for snagging me a pre-brunch snack from the hotel breakfast before then going out to brunch with friends around noon. My coffee, eggs and bacon were amazing and I continued to hydrate and recover from the run in the morning by doing a bit of lounging back at the hotel.
The wedding ceremony started at 6:00 p.m. so our actual festivities started around 4:00 p.m. with some drinks and getting ready before catching the 5:00 p.m. shuttle over to the wedding venue.
The ceremony was simple and beautiful, they were married by a close friend of theirs outside under a gorgeous sky and backdrop. Every detail of the ceremony was gorgeous, from the lemonade and iced tea stand to the custom sunglasses they had for guests to the music playing.
Everyone in attendance I think fell in love all with Kristina and Brian's ADORABLE 8-month old baby girl Sadie, who was "flower girl" for the ceremony. She was pulled down the aisle in a custom red wagon, pulled by Kristina's sister and maid of honor, Kimberly. Sadie's gown was hand made by Kristina (she was a fashion design major at Syracuse) out of her mother and grandmother's wedding dresses.
Kristina looked absolutely stunning and was one of the happiest, most smiley brides I have ever seen -- which really is no surprise since she is always laughing and smiling as a person.
It was a gorgeous ceremony and an amazing party afterwards with tons of food and custom drinks and an insanely gorgeous cake made again, by the Maid of Honor, Kristina's sister, who is an incredible cake decorator/baker/pastry chef. They have a talented family, what can I say?
Despite my tired legs from the morning's run, I danced my face off at that wedding, jumping up and down, getting low, spinning and twirling, and all around having an amazing time with some incredibly beautiful people that I hadn't seen in far too long! All the feeling and memories of the year we lived together came flooding back and it was easy and comfortable and totally wonderful. It was even better as I had the opportunity to meet or spend more time with many of the significant others of my friends who I haven't been able to spend time with before. It has been nearly 5 years since we were all together!
Of course, after the party was the after party. And the bride and groom were closing down the bar, which was amazing to see.
This morning Kimmy and I slept in before she took me to the airport where I've been forever due to some delayed flights. However, it was great to be able to get the memories down and accounted for and relive through my photos the wonderful 48 hours that just transpired.
Congratulations to Kristina and Brian and their beautiful little daughter Sadie Maeve on the beginning of their marriage together!!! Thanks for including us hooligans in your day and throwing the best party of the summer. XOXO.
We had a great time goofing off and catching up, before doing the responsible thing and calling it an early night (who have we become?!) I knew I had to get up early to get a run in because even when you are traveling and celebrating, training does not stop!!
With the help of some of my friends I had done some research and found a few places to run nearby and ended up finding a local group run that started at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. That timing worked out well for me so I decided to give it a try. I was up early, wanting to try and get there on time and ate my pre-run breakfast in the bathroom with my fingers because I couldn't find a spoon and that's how I roll.
I didn't end up meeting up with the entire group, but one of the local run club members met up with me and showed me a great path and run around Rockland Lake and down by the Hudson River. He ran 14 of the 16 miles with me and helped me keep my pace up even when I was running on tired legs and through some tough hills. My pace was not the same as it was the week before, which is fine - that run was likely a fluke. But it was also coming off a step back week, flatter, and I was more prepared for it I think. We did stop a few times on the run on Saturday as well, which I don't really like to do because it is not how I plan to run the actual marathon, so I don't really like doing that. However, I felt good finishing my 16 mile run on Saturday and it was a beautiful place to log some miles!
Afterwards I showered and changed back at the hotel and gave Kimmy tons of gratitude for snagging me a pre-brunch snack from the hotel breakfast before then going out to brunch with friends around noon. My coffee, eggs and bacon were amazing and I continued to hydrate and recover from the run in the morning by doing a bit of lounging back at the hotel.
The wedding ceremony started at 6:00 p.m. so our actual festivities started around 4:00 p.m. with some drinks and getting ready before catching the 5:00 p.m. shuttle over to the wedding venue.
The ceremony was simple and beautiful, they were married by a close friend of theirs outside under a gorgeous sky and backdrop. Every detail of the ceremony was gorgeous, from the lemonade and iced tea stand to the custom sunglasses they had for guests to the music playing.
Kristina looked absolutely stunning and was one of the happiest, most smiley brides I have ever seen -- which really is no surprise since she is always laughing and smiling as a person.
It was a gorgeous ceremony and an amazing party afterwards with tons of food and custom drinks and an insanely gorgeous cake made again, by the Maid of Honor, Kristina's sister, who is an incredible cake decorator/baker/pastry chef. They have a talented family, what can I say?
Despite my tired legs from the morning's run, I danced my face off at that wedding, jumping up and down, getting low, spinning and twirling, and all around having an amazing time with some incredibly beautiful people that I hadn't seen in far too long! All the feeling and memories of the year we lived together came flooding back and it was easy and comfortable and totally wonderful. It was even better as I had the opportunity to meet or spend more time with many of the significant others of my friends who I haven't been able to spend time with before. It has been nearly 5 years since we were all together!
Of course, after the party was the after party. And the bride and groom were closing down the bar, which was amazing to see.
This morning Kimmy and I slept in before she took me to the airport where I've been forever due to some delayed flights. However, it was great to be able to get the memories down and accounted for and relive through my photos the wonderful 48 hours that just transpired.
Congratulations to Kristina and Brian and their beautiful little daughter Sadie Maeve on the beginning of their marriage together!!! Thanks for including us hooligans in your day and throwing the best party of the summer. XOXO.
BEST WEEKEND EVER! Love you, roomie! Also, so glad my toothpaste has now made it onto the blog!!! Wooo!
ReplyDeleteKimmy, you and your toothpaste are blog famous always. Thank you for being one of my most loyal readers!
DeleteIt must have been such a wonderful experience to reunite with your old friends to attend your roommate’s wedding. The pictures came out great, and the venue looks really amazing. I’m also expecting to have an enjoyable time this weekend as I’ll be attending my close friend’s wedding at one of the beautiful LA venues.
ReplyDelete