Celebrating Christmas

Since we started dating, AJ and I have been pretty good about splitting the holidays between our families as best we can but this year, since we'll only be home for two days, we're doing everything we can to maximize our time with both families!

What makes this a bit easier for us is the fact that our families have different traditions. Being from South America, AJ's family opens their gifts at midnight on Christmas morning while my family has always had the tradition of waking up early Christmas morning to open gifts. Growing up, my sisters and I always had to go to bed early on Christmas Eve so Santa could come. 

This means that this year, AJ and I will get the best of both worlds! And, because we want to see both our families on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, we are doing just that rather than being with one family one day and one family the other. 

So, this evening we are hopping on a 6:51 Amtrak that will get us to Stamford around 10 (if everything goes well!) and we'll go straight to the Cabrera's home for the night. I'll go to my Mom's the next morning to help her prepare Christmas Eve dinner (which is eaten around 1 in the afternoon). We typically do the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner of fish, although we don't make 7! We'll eat an early dinner with my family and in the afternoon we will meet back up with the Cabreras to go to 7 o' clock mass. From there, we go to AJ's uncle's house for a later dinner (we'll be eating a lot I think) and wait until midnight to open presents! It will be very fun to see AJ's little cousins and siblings ripping through packages and boxes with excitement. When the festivities die down at his uncle's and everyone heads to bed, we'll drive back to my mom's in the middle of the night to sleep there so that we can wake up and open the presents under my mom's tree on Christmas morning! See, best of both worlds, really! My family also eats Christmas dinner around 1 o' clock so we'll spend the morning and early afternoon with them before going back to AJ's uncle's where all his family will still be. They spend Christmas day in their pajamas and make ceviche! That is a very good tradition in my eyes! So, we'll be back to spend time with them again before we spend the night at my mom's. We have to wake up first thing on the 26th and drive back to Boston because AJ has to work in the afternoon!

This is a photo from Christmas last year, a little over a month after we got engaged and it is so crazy to think how quickly the past year went by! How is it Christmas time already? I love this time of year and I always feel anticipation leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but this year is different because now the anticipation is less about gifts and the festiveness of Christmas morning. This year, the anticipation is all about seeing our families and hugging and kissing them and catching up! Not to mention, we'll get to meet this little guy!

My mom went and bought herself a Christmas puppy, Stuart! We can't wait to meet him!

Wishing everyone a very happy, joyous, and blessed Christmas! May all your days be merry and bright! Safe travels!

Apple Banana Bread for a Chilly Day

Yesterday morning, I was faced with the perfect storm for baking. I had overripe bananas sitting in my fruit bowl, an abundance of apples, and a chilly morning blowing cold wind past my window. It was all I needed to make a warm and comforting loaf of apple banana bread.

I've made this recipe a few times. I made it the day after our wedding as soon as we got back to Boston. I changed the recipe a bit this time but it's still just as good! (The recipe below is different from the one in the photo above.) The bread is tasty, sweet, and pretty healthy too! It calls for whole wheat flour, apple sauce, just a little bit of sugar, and there is no dairy or oil at all!

The smell that it fills the kitchen with is delicious and it's really easy to make. You only need one bowl! This bread is delicious by itself, toasted, or topped with a generous scoop of cream cheese, a pat of butter, or a spread of cranberry apple butter (Trader Joe's has a great one!). Enjoy!

Apple Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 C sugar
1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/3 C apple sauce
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional: chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl mash bananas with a fork. Add diced apple, sugar, flour, applesauce, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and anything else you want to add.
Pour into a greased or non-stick 9 inch loaf pan.
Bake for 35-45 minutes.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes and transfer to cooling rack.

Let me know how yours turns out! What are your favorite recipes to bake on chilly days?

Thanksgiving Plans

Can you believe Thanksgiving is one week away? I can't. It came up so fast—everything seems to be happening so fast this year! It'll be Christmas and New Year's before we even know it!

This year, Thanksgiving will be a brand new experience for me. It'll be the first Thanksgiving I experience as a wife, the first Thanksgiving I won't be with my family, and the first Thanksgiving that I will be doing all the cooking myself! I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull it off.

Because of AJ's job, we knew that he wouldn't have much time off around Thanksgiving so we opted to stay here and spend the holiday together and go to Connecticut the following week, when AJ will be able to take more time off so we can spend more time with family.

AJ still has to work on Thanksgiving but only a half day so he should be home by 1. That'll give me enough time to prepare a midday Thanksgiving dinner while watching the Macy's Parade—I love it! It makes me want to watch Miracle on 34th Street, too.

It's just the two of us and I've never cooked a big meal like this so I am trying to keep it as simple as possible so that I don't have to worry too much about something going wrong. Instead of a whole turkey, I'm planning on making just a turkey breast in the crockpot using this recipe. I also want to make a homemade cranberry sauce and I think this recipe looks good and easy. Sweet potatoes are a must but I want to try something different since we tend to eat a lot of sweet potatoes on a weekly basis.  I thought I would do a casserole with the marshmallows, but I found a little recipe for sweet potato puffs you can do on the stove top and that looks really yummy! I'll also do gravy and stuffing but I'm just going to have my mom tell me how to make those. For dessert, I plan to make pumpkin bars and these praline bars. I love pecan pie but I've never made on before and this simple recipe looks just as good!

To make the day a little more special, I brought two sets of our fine china that we were gifted at our wedding. Every time I think about using them, I think about the Thanksgiving episode of friends when Monica finally uses her China but they break all over the floor. Hopefully that won't happen!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Any turkey-cooking tips?

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Macbeth has the best quotes for Halloween. Right now I'm eating an early lunch, listening to an Alice Munro Podcast, and waiting until it's time to go to my TA class. Last night I ventured outside of our apartment for the first time since getting out of the hospital to go to my fiction workshop. I'm feeling much better and I'm hoping I don't get tired today, then I'll know I'm on the mend.

I'm also thinking about tomorrow—HALLOWEEN! I love festivities and holidays but I feel like Halloween isn't that easy to celebrate when you're too old to trick-or-treat and you don't have kids to take trick-or-treating yet. Also, I doubt kids trick-or-treat in this building. So I came up with a fun idea that's kind of festive and halloweeny for AJ and me to do tomorrow.

AJ has to work Saturday so he got tomorrow off! First thing in the morning, we're going to bundle up (it'll be low 50s tomorrow) and head out to walk through and explore all of the old cemeteries near us in Boston. We'll start in the Boston Common at Central Burying Ground and then go to Tremont Street to Granary Burying Ground and Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Then we'll walk to the North End to do Copp's Hill Burying Ground. On the way home, we'll grab sandwiches at Bricco.

At night, I'll make kettle corn with Halloween M&Ms and we'll watch Dateline. Originally I wanted to get some Stephen King movies but AJ doesn't love sitting for movies and those movies are long so instead we'll watch Dateline, which is even better, and maybe some Halloween episodes of our favorite TV shows. And maybe I'll wear my pumpkin costume while we watch. Who knows?

I'm excited for Halloween this year and I hope everyone has a fun, festive night! What are your plans?

To Do List for October

This is a fun month and every year, when October roles around, I want to squeeze as many fun and festive activities into the month that I can. I'm a little worried about doing that this year, you know with the whole wedding and grad school factoring in, but this is the first year that I'll be spending the whole month of October in Boston and in my favorite state, the one that I think is quintessential New England and the most ideal for Autumn. So here's a list, that will be ever changing for the next few weeks, of what I would like to do this October.

1. Go to Salem. We're about 30 minutes from Salem, by car or ferry, and I doubt you could find a more festive place this time of year. We went around this same time last year and it was crazy packed! Witches and people in freaky costumes crowded the streets and there were so many vendors and delicious smelling food stands, it was wonderful but hectic. I was going to bypass this trip this year because of the craziness, but Marina and her boyfriend might be going and we will definitely join them if they do! I won't pass up a free ride to Salem! Plus, it's always fun finding the places where Hocus Pocus was filmed.

2. Go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch. Again, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this this year. It's not the easiest thing to get to an orchard from Boston when you don't have a car, but if Marina visits, I will insist on making a stop in Ipswich or Danvers to pick some pumpkins and apples and enjoy hot apple cider and apple cider donut holes.

3. Watch Hocus Pocus. I've already done this a few times in August and September, and I'm sure I'll do it a few more times this month. I find it necessary. Amok amok amok amok!

4. Go to the Boston Book Festival. It's not really festive for Fall, but it's this month, it's nearby in Copley Square, and maybe there will be free books!

5. Eat Halloween candy. Is it bad that I already bought our Halloween candy? I had a CVS coupon that was expiring soon so I bought it way ahead of time! I already poured it out into a pumpkin dish, too. So far we've been able to hold out.

6. Go to the Boston Common Pumpkin Festival. This one I've never done or even heard of before but in my quest to find festive activities within the city limits, this popped up! It looks like it's mostly for kids, but I'm sure there will be pumpkins and pumpkin flavored baked goods so I'll be there. For those interested, it's in the Common on the 19th from 4:30-6:30.

7. Make Kettle Corn with Halloween M&Ms. AJ and I love putting M&Ms in our popcorn and I thought it'd be fun to make kettle corn for a movie night on Halloween, since apparently I'm too old to trick-or-treat on Beacon Hill. I already bought the M&M's, they have peanut ones that are Fall colored I guess, and others that are supposed to taste like candy corn!

8. Eat chili and pumpkin corn bread. I already bought both so this will definitely happen at some point. I also want to drink a pumpkin beer.

9. Watch Halloweentown, Halloweentown II, and Halloweentown High. This is a given and one of my favorite parts of October! These movies remind me of childhood.

10. Make apple pie. I already did this when AJ's family visited but there's no such thing as too many apple flavored food in the Fall! I should do pumpkin pie too, but my mom always makes apple pie and it's easy for me to follow her recipe.

11. Watch Stephen King movies. I don't  feel like there are really any good, scary, and well-made Halloween movies out there in the world. But there are two Stephen King movies, which are thankfully available on Netflix (not to stream though—boo), that are kind of Halloween-y. Rose Red (which is super long and you have to order two DVDs on Netflix for) and Salem's Lot. The former has a haunted house (and Marnie from Halloweentown) and the former has vampires (the scary kind, not the Twilight kind). I'm insisting, much to AJ's unhappiness, that we watch both this month.

12. Decorate the apartment. This is already mostly done. I have a festive wreaths, two small pumpkins, two small white pumpkins, mums, and a few other decorations I've been given. But I really want to get those sticky decorations you can put on windows so that the people walking down Charles outside can see—although I'm not sure if the building or neighborhood allows that. Also, I need more pumpkin smelling candles.

And one more reason since 13 is a good number for October.

13. Get married. This is the only really important thing on the list and the only thing that I will, without a doubt, be doing this month.

The First Sunday In October

Today, the first Sunday in October, was the epitome of Fall as far as weather goes. It was sunny but chilly and you definitely needed a jacket if you were walking in the sun. AJ and I filled today to the brim!

We started the day off really early, 6:30 am early. We got up and walked down Beacon Street to Mass Ave to go to Crossroads Irish Pub to watch the Manchester United game. We usually do this if there's a weekend game.

After the game, we came back home and AJ watched more soccer while I did lots of homework. At 11:30, we walked across the Longfellow Bridge to Cambridge to go to the Cambridgeside Galleria. I had to make a return and AJ had to pick up an order. We shopped around a bit—I need new jeans but they were all too long! And we smelled lots of yummy smelling and not so yummy smelling candles at Bath & Bodyworks. 

We came back home and changed into warm clothes, our building hasn't switched over to heat yet. I lit a pumpkin candle, made a pot of pumpkin spice coffee, and got back to homework while AJ watched football. I fell asleep on him around 4 and then started making dinner at 5.

I tried a new recipe for dinner, 5 ingredient white chicken chili. I used 4 cups of chicken broth, one can of pinto beans, a little over 1 cup of cooked chicken, 1 1/4 cups of salsa verde, and 2 teaspoons of cumin and I topped it with avocado. I was nervous because AJ doesn't like chili, and I always get nervous when I try recipes for the first time, but we both loved it! AJ cleaned the pot he liked it so much. So I'm glad that was a success. I also made loaded baked sweet potatoes with parsley, bacon bits, and a blend of Mexican cheese. It was a successful dinner.

Now we're watching the Pats game and I'm trying to get more homework done even though my brain doesn't work as well as it gets later into the night.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I hope tomorrow is as happy a Monday as can be!

September Update

I've been neglecting my blog again! I hate when this happens—and it seems to keep happening—because once I go a few days without blogging, it becomes even harder to get back into it! But I'll try to now.

The past few weeks have been buys ones for us. Two Sundays ago, AJ went back to CT for an appointment he had and stayed there for 5 days until I met him there. I went back on a Thursday after class and stayed until the following Monday morning. While there, I had a few appointments to tie up some wedding details and spending time with the people I missed. On Monday, Mom drove AJ and me back up to Boston. I brought quite a few more shower gifts and more clothes to have here at the apartment so it took me a little bit to unpack, not to mention I had a lot of homework to get done over that weekend.

We had a few days to get settled back in and then this past Friday, AJ's parents, siblings, and grandmother came to visit! We spent this weekend showing them around the Public Garden and Boston Common, eating at Quincy Market, going to Mass, eating Upper Crust Pizza on the roof, and spending time talking and hanging out together. It was really fun and it's hard to believe that the next time we'll see them it will be at our wedding! Which is 20 days away, by the way. Crazy!

AJ's family just left about two hours ago and we promptly fell asleep watching football. Tonight we're going to a Black Keys concert and tomorrow we'll be back to our normal routine. It's crazy how quickly the time is flying by.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

AJ Turns 24

AJ and I celebrated his birthday on Friday. He turned 24! He opened his card and gift in the morning while we ate blueberry pancakes and turkey bacon. 

Celebrations really started that night! We tried a different restaurant in the North End that we'd never heard of before called La Summa. It was quieter because it's off the main drag. The prices were good, even better than most restaurants in the area, the setting was romantic, and the service was just right!

Not to mention the food. The food was delicious! We were hoping our expectations would be met and they definitely were! We couldn't stop talking about it. We started with their bruschetta which was prepared in a way I've never seen before. The slices of bread were big and thick with large chunks of tomato and mozzarella melted on top. For our entrees, AJ got the house special which included chicken, veal, sausage, peppers, and mushrooms served with homemade tagliatelle. The sauce it was cooked in was the best part! We both cleaned in his plate quickly and soaked up the left over sauce with fresh bread.

 I ordered the pollo limone which was a thick slice of lemon chicken with mozzarella, served with artichokes, spinach, and homemade spinach tagliatelle. It was just as good and such a big portion that i still have some in the fridge! We were very impressed by the food and the portion size, especially for the great price! I'm so glad AJ enjoyed in his birthday dinner, it would have been a bummer if the food and experience were bad!

After stopping off to buy a little bottle of limoncello, we came home to eat the birthday cake I made him the day before. It wasn't really a cake, but AJ loves magic bars, so I baked them for him in a round pan and cut it up like a cake. Magic bars are like 7 layer bars; the bottom is a layer of crushed graham crackers (or corn flakes) mixed with butter, than chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, coconut, all covered with condensed milk. It's his favorite treat—my grandmother makes them the best—so I thought it would be perfect for his birthday, even though it's not really a cake.

Oh, and I could only find pink candles.

Boston Has Been Good To Us

 We've been here for a full week now and have enjoyed our time to the fullest. There's a lot to do every day and we're taking advantage of it! Here are a few perks from our time in Boston so far:

I had my orientation this past Thursday and had some down time between events so I wandered over to Brattle Book Shop, one of my favorite places in Boston and a book lover's heaven on earth. While browsing the outdoor shelves, I came across the above book which you may recognize from past posts about my love for Elena Ferrante (are you sick of it yet?). I don't know how that copy ended up there—it's not available in the US until September 2nd. I checked the copy, flipping through pages and looking for any signs that it might be an advanced proof and as far as I could tell, it's the real the deal! At the end of the day I came home, told AJ about it and where it was, and the next day it was sitting on the kitchen table with a new mug as well. I'm still reading Russian Winter (I'm over halfway through and loving it!) but as soon as I'm done, I will jump right into Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. 

This is AJ in his element. He's a big Manchester United fan and it just so happens that the same year we move here, a bar on Beacon Street becomes the official bar for Manchester United watching in Boston. AJ was excited to have a fun place to watch the games and even though we're not bar people, I thought it would be an experience. However, because the games are played in England, the time difference means that many games are first thing in the morning. So, at 7 am yesterday morning we rolled out of bed and made our way down Beacon Street for a 7:45 game at the bar, Crossroads.

We had breakfast sandwiches, potatoes, and coffee while watching the game among other rowdy fans. The man who organized the game watching at Crossroads introduced himself to us and said he liked having a community of fans together for games. It wasn't too crowded and it was very laid back, probably because it was so early, and we had a great time! I'm sure we'll be back for more games. 

Last night we went to Mass in the North End at St. Leonard's church. This weekend, the North End is celebrating the feast of St. Anthony so we knew there would be a lot going on down there. After Mass, we headed down Prince Street to Thacher Street where the original Regina Pizzeria location had set up an outdoor patio for diners to eat al fresco and watch the people milling about the food stands that had been set up in the streets. Of course, there was a line but I really wanted to eat there and we decided it was worth the wait. While in line, the procession of St. Anthony made it's way down the crowded street. There were trumpets and drums and people pinning money to the ribbons around St. Anthony's likeness. 

Our wait in the line was probably 30 minutes long, seating was limited, but the line moved faster than I thought it would. We ordered a crostini appetizer that was delicious and split a small pizza that had chicken, mozzarella, and peppers. Regina's Pizzeria is well-known in Massachusetts and has been in business since 1926! Their crust recipe is 80 years old and is probably the best pizza crust—it's crispy but not too thin—and the mozzarella is the best I've ever tasted! We both agreed the pizza was perfect and we'll be going back for more soon!

We could've stopped eating after the pizza, but the streets were filled with tempting smells from all the food stands set up around us. The most tempting smell was fried calamari. AJ bought a plate of that while I opted to buy myself a dessert of fried dough bites, covered with melted butter, honey, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. They were delicious, but not as good as my mom's pizza fritta. We walked among the heard of people and listened to the music that a local band was performing—they sang old school Italian songs as well as current pop songs so it was a fun mix! 

The smell from the cigar stand added to the feel of the night. Pizza and pasta and fried seafood were available at most food stands and there were plenty of cannolis being eaten from Mike's Pastry's stand—not to mention the huge line that was at Mike's real location on Hanover. 

Our last stop was at a drink stand where already drunk vendors were selling mixed frozen drinks in keepsake mason jars. I got a banana daiquiri and AJ got the piña colada. The prices were steep, $12 each, but you got to keep the jar and get a free refill. We listened to a bit more music and I sang along as the band played Che La Luna before calling it a night and walking back home to Beacon Hill. 

It was a fun night and personified the fun times I had hoped for while living here, and it's still only our first week! And what a great weeks it's been. Soon I'll be starting school and AJ will start working his new job and real life will set in but I have a feeling that, while living in Boston, doing something we've hoped to do since we started dating, it will never really feel like real life. 

Life Lately

We've been in Boston for just a few days now and we've already managed to squeeze in quite a few fun activities and a lot of necessary ones! Here's a rundown of what we've been up to!

On Monday we

stopped by Marshall's to pick up some bathroom essentials and hair clippers for AJ
split a Tom Brady sandwich from DeLuca's on the Charles River Esplanade
grocery shopped at CVS
lifted weights at the gym among far too many meatheads
ate pasta, salad, and chocolate chip froyo from Richardson's for dinner while catching up on Dateline

On Tuesday we

went back to the gym (earlier to avoid the crowd)
tried to blowout my hair and failed miserably
grocery shopped at Trader Joe's and accidentally bought cashew butter (what?)
(I) got school mandated blood work done to prove I am immune to the chicken pox. AJ got to wait for me and listen to me whine all morning
took the T and bus to South Boston—new for me—so AJ could go to his new workplace for a drug screening. He peed in a cup, I waited for him at the beach
ate deliciously marinated chicken and undercooked sweet potatoes for dinner

Today I want to soak up the sun by sitting on the roof with a good book. There are only so many days left to tan before the cold sets in up here in New England! Also, I have to go back to Trader Joe's to return the cashew butter and buy olive oil. And more sweet potatoes. I could eat those for every meal.

On Thursday I have my grad school orientation! The nerves set in back in June but I'm looking forward to getting started and seeing what this is all about.

Bridal Shower

Last weekend, my mom threw me a beautiful bridal shower! She had wanted to make it a surprise but when so many people are involved, little slips are bound to happen here and there! So I kind of knew I was having a shower and I guessed it would be our last weekend in Connecticut but the people that came, the festivities involved, and the beautiful gifts I was blessed with were all surprises to me!

I was kicked out of my mom's house on Saturday afternoon and told to sleep at my grandmother's. Meanwhile, my mom, sisters, family friends, godmother, and AJ's parents were all at my house getting things ready! On Sunday morning, AJ picked me up from my grandmother's and took me to church. Apparently, we had to kill time before going to my house so we drove aimlessly for a bit before heading home.

making an entrance

When we walked in the door, I was amazed at all the hard work and planning that my mom and family had put into the day. The house was filled with people spread out between the family room, kitchen, and living room. There were decorations galore and delicious food that exemplified the bridal brunch my mom had planned because she knows I love brunch.

Mom even planned the food to represent me! There were plenty of munchkins from Dunkin' Donuts, because those are a childhood favorite. Cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese. Rosemary chicken and honey baked ham. Chocolate covered strawberries. Croissants. Quiche. Fruit salad. And she made mini pancakes on a stick, garnished with a blueberry. My stomach is growling as I write. Plus, there were mimosas and iced tea.

After everyone had enough to eat, the men that came (AJ, his dad and brother, and some cousins) retreated to the basement with a few bottles of wine while the ladies moved into the living room to open gifts. First, everyone went around the room to say how they knew me which elicited kind words in Spanish from AJ's grandmother, tears from my grandmother, and laughs from those who chose to share stories.

All of our guests were extremely generous and thoughtful in their giving. I was overwhelmed with appreciation and the feeling of being so loved by so many people all at once! In all honesty, I was more touched by the number of people who came and helped so much than by the gifts themselves.

too beautiful to eat!

Once all of the gifts were opened, we hurried to the cake! My mother-in-law made the cake. It was three tiered and she made the flowers to match those on the invitation for my shower! The bottom layer, which was quickly devoured, was a vanilla cake filled with cream and raspberry jam. The second layer was chocolate with Nutella filling, and the top layer was chocolate cake with coconut and dulce de leche filling. It was to die for! Everyone asked to take a piece home.

Along with the cake were the cookie trays. Cookie trays are a tradition in our family, they are made for every baptism, first communion, wedding, and some birthdays too. My mom's cousins pitched in and did lots of baking for the cookie tray and oh my goodness were those cookies amazing! There were so many different kinds, too! My grandmother made magic bars (AJ's favorite) and biscotti, some plain and some with cherries. My sister's godmother made chocolate marriage cookies and pignoli cookies. My grandmother's friend made anisette cookies with icing and sprinkles. My mom's cousins made almond biscotti and butterfly cookies. My godmother's daughter made butterballs and her delicious and addictive chocolate chip cookies—that is one recipe I'd do anything to get! All the cookies that did not get eaten are now sitting in my mom's freezer! Maybe post-wedding I'll pull them out for a treat.

As for the favors, my mother-in-law made adorable cupcakes for everyone to take home and my godmother specially ordered chocolate hearts from my favorite store, The Chatham Candy Manor. The Candy Manor has always been a special place to us and she knew I'd love that she thought of it!

It was a wonderful day filled with love. I could not have imagined a better bridal shower! Keep reading for more photos from the day!

Mom had this made, now we can keep it in our apartment!

my sister Sarah, Mom, me, my grandmother, Marina

my amazing mother

everyone blew bubbles while I cut the cake. marina stood on the table to get a better angle

photo credit to AJ. he took this while we killed time outside before the party

my moms and grandmothers. I'm so blessed with these ladies!

cake and photos

the most important women in my life, mom and sisters.

when we first walked into the party. my left eye gets super squinty when I'm really happy

marina's longtime friend, Katelyn, who has been a maid of honor many times before and therefore made my ribbon bouquet

my pretty sisters

and with my new sister!

of course

my sweet godmother