THE wedding post. Part 1

So now I'm going to bore you with all the details of my wedding. 'Cause, you know, it was my wedding, and therefore the best wedding ever. Of course I'm biased, but (get ready for some shameless bragging) we actually received emails from guests thanking us for inviting them and telling us about the great time they had. The wedding was kinda the talk of the town for awhile. Now how many people can say that? (No more bragging for at least one post. Pinky swear.)

On to the pictures. And there are a lot. Bear with me, people. I started with over 1,100.

Let's start with the "getting ready" shots.

Ah, the Manolos. Aren't they gorgeous? I dragged the husband (well, then fiance) all over NYC one weekend to find these. He was a trouper.

This is not me. I don't do blonde. Except for that one time a few years back. But that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, this was the inspiration for my hair.

And here you can see how close we came to the inspiration 'do, while the amazingly talented Alayne of Make Me Fabulous makes me, um, fabulous.

And here's the other side, with my vintagy flower. Too bad my hair will NEVER look like that. Thank God for extensions ;)

My mother is still smiling because this was only the start of the 30 or so minutes, one wedding planner and one matron of honor it took to button my dress.

It's almost like my mom and I hadn't just spent 3 hours upstairs getting ready together ;)

The perfect backdrop. A gritty, white wall. I love these pictures.

How cool is this?

Ryleigh Cayman, i.e., the cutest flower girl ever. Please ignore the fact that my boob is trying to escape.

Mom-in-law, Sis-in-law, Bride, Mom

Daddy's little girl, all growed up.

My handsome groom, showing off the most perfect wedding gift ever. A Breitling Superocean Heritage 46. ha. I learned A LOT about watches shopping for this bad boy.

The boys outside the church, doing the infamous "lookaway".


Gabriel James. What a handsome (and well-behaved!) ring bearer.

That about does it for the pre-ceremony festivities. Stayed tuned for the ceremony shots. I know you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation. Humor me.

(All photo credit goes to Joe and JP Elario of Joe Elario Photography.)

Happy Half Birthday to ME!

Yes, I'm one of those annoying people who celebrates (well, acknowledges) her half birthdays. I don't know why. It's not like anything exciting happens. In fact, I'll be working (if you can really call showing houses working, 'cause it's actually kinda fun) today. But I do get to attend a wine fest gala later this evening. Maybe I'll just pretend it's really a dinner in honor of this ever-important occasion.

Here's to the last 6 months of my twenties. Eek.

Working for a living...

...is not something I'm necessarily fond of. But since I'm partial to shopping, keeping my car full of gas, eating and paying my mortgage, it's undoubtedly necessary.

I seem to be in a bit of job-related funk lately, though. But don't get me wrong, I LOVE what I do.

See, I'm smiling because I want to help you buy or sell a house.*

The problem with this business is, I have to stay insanely motivated to succeed and be known as a good agent. (Although in the eyes of my past clients, I already am the World's Greatest Real Estate Agent!**) And right now, I'm not that motivated. I think getting married had something to do with it. I went from super-agent extraodonaire, selling a butt-load of houses a month, to doing nothing so I could focus on the wedding and honeymoon. And then it was Thanksgiving. And Christmas. And New Year's. Seriously, who wants to work during that glorious time of year???

But now it's January and I have no excuse for my slacking. I know in my head what I need to do, I just need someone to kick me in the ass and make me do it. Any takers?

Enough complaining. Maybe I should do some work now. Since I am, you know, at work ;)

*I loathe this picture. Any guesses as to my age here?

**I have proof. Although I don't think the testimonial release form my clients signed mentioned blog-posting, so I'll keep those words of praise to myself.

I buried my blow dryer this morning...

I'll set it up for you:

30 minutes before I had to leave the house, soaking wet hair...

Click.

No response from blowdryer.

"BABE!!!!!!" All husbands can fix broken blowdryers, right? Not this time.

Three choices:

One, call it a day and put a hat on. Two, go buy a new one, return home, do hair, get to work incredibly late. Three, attempt the unthinkable and try to style hair without a blowdryer.

In a completely un-Carolyn-like fashion, I didn't freak out, and decided to go for option three.

I went into our bedroom, round brush in hand, and attempted to blowdry my hair in front of our space heater. ha. So much for ingenuity. (In case you're wondering, it actually did dry my hair... and inject about a year's worth of static.)

Back to the bathroom. After spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to tease some life into my limp, lifeless hair (Snooki would've been proud), I threw in the towel.

Good thing I look good in hats.

New York's Newest Supermodel

I'm kidding, of course.

The model lifestyle and I just don't agree: I could never deal with all binge drinking (well, maybe that...), purging, cocaine and carrot sticks.

But check out the ad below:

Someone, i.e. my florist, Kris Ann Blanchette of Fleurtacious Designs, thought that my wedding pics (courtesy of the amazing Elarios of Joe Elario Photography) were ad-worthy for this month's edition of Capital Region Living. If you're lucky enough to get your hands on a copy (er, drive to the grocery store and pick one up for free), I can be found on page 25, in the 2010 Bridal Guide section.

And if you're really lucky, I may even autograph it for you ;)

Non-resolutions.

So I'm not the New Year's resolution type. I think it's ridiculous to commit to something on January 1st and have forgotten about it completely by January 31st.


So instead, every year, I try to improve something about myself. Just a small thing. Something I know I can stick to that will better my life and relationships.


Last year I decided I'd try to complain less. I couldn't stand that my identity with some friends was that of a negative, glass-is-half-empty one. I'm truly not unhappy with anything in my life, not to mention the fact that I smile ALL THE TIME, so I'm not exactly sure where all the negativity and complaining came from.


I think I did fairly well with my 2009 non-resolution. I really made a wholehearted attempt to think before I spoke when I knew it might have resulted in a complaint. Too bad I'm the only one who seemed to notice ;) Maybe I'll keep working on that this year.


My 2010 non-resolution is to really maintain my running routine. Since my high school track days (I was a discus/shot put girl... imagine that), I've continued to make a half-assed attempt to be a "runner". By attempt, I mean a couple times a year I'll take up running and really commit to it for oh, about a month. Then completely stop, eat everything in sight, drink endless amounts of wine and hate myself.


So to ensure that I stick to it this year, I'm going to run at least 3 road races. They'll probably be 5ks, so don't think I've completely lost my mind trying to train for 3 marathons or something. I just need a little push. And hopefully the 5ks will do it. I'm getting old people, staying in shape is far harder than it used to be. I NEED to keep running. I'm hoping that by putting it in writing, I'll hold myself accountable.


In fact, I went out this morning for a quick run. It probably wasn't the smartest thing though... it was about 25 degrees with wind so strong it could've blown Dorothy back to Kansas. I almost died. Literally. I thought my lungs froze. Off to a good start, I am.

Happy Twenty Ten

That bugs me. It's two thousand ten. Twenty ten sounds silly. Just my opinion.

Hope everyone rang in the New Year as uneventfully as me :)