9.10.11

Oops. I completely meant to blog before I skipped town for my brother Lane's wedding. But it was one of those fun/crazy weekends (in between nearly killing my paper cutter as I finished making all the wedding programs, that is). And then I ended up leaving a day earlier than planned. And then I left in my usual mad rush of To Do's and Did I Forgets.

But now that I'm in the family rental house, there's nothing to do but relax.

HA!

Weddings in this family are madness. We laugh more than most and enjoy each other to the fullest, but that's despite our labor camp pace and the exhaustion that comes with artfully completing a million tasks that together produce an effortlessly crafted look. If you were reading me back in my own wedding planning days, that will sound familiar. If you weren't, see this.

I wish I were exaggerating, but take a peek. This is the staging area not for the wedding, mind you, but for the rehearsal dinner. My mom could open a party supply store.

Today I achieved many things. These did not include enjoying our pier on the Intercoastal Waterway, or hitting the beach, or finding earrings for tomorrow night's bachelorette, but they did include dicing 30 jalapeno peppers, painting directional signs, making and bottling rum punch, putting an entire wagon full of chicken parts into bags of jerk marinade, testing a beans and rice recipe for Friday night, squeezing what felt like 400 limes, and more. So we're busy. But we're smiling. How could we not with these two in the mix?

The official wedding events begin tomorrow with Nicole's bachelorette party. Then Friday, a reggae-themed cookout to kick things off (yes really). And a wedding on Saturday that's sure to be gorgeous, mostly because my mom was involved, but for me personally because I get to walk down the aisle with my groom again.

There's so much more I wanted to write about my brother and my soon to be sister-in-law. How she found her shoes because they were profiled in the issue of Brides that featured my wedding. How great she is, and they are, and their daughter is. How happy everyone is to be here, for them.

I'll take pictures, and I'll report back. But until then, I'll be b-u-s-y. Very, very happy. But busy. And maybe also sipping quite a bit of our patented "Love Potion # 9.10.11" toasting punch for Friday. (Please tell me you get the pun. I keep telling my mom... everyone will get it, really.)

Cheers, everyone!