Season Finale: A Photo Essay ( With Captions!)

I have just arrived home from my 2 week trip to Connecticut and Mass. The weather was amazing and spending time with my family and very best friends is always priceless. I only have one thing to say about the wedding : OVER!

Without further digression;

Lydia of EllipsisAmpersandAsterisk
with her adorable Eski-Poo, Audrey. Lydia, who I've been friends with since I was 15, showed me what's going on in the Hartford, CT scene on more than one night but the best part of it all was afterhours at her apt with wine, Audrey Hepburn on the TV,little Audrey on the couch, and Andy Capp's Hot Fries.



The beautiful Hermione, the kitten my mother bought me when I graduated college who tried to blind Reigna on multiple occasions after I moved in with Richy. She now lives a happy and dog-free life with my sister in Newington, CT.




My sisters bachelorette party which I threw at her house.



The mural Richy painted back in 2003 at our old friend Jack's club the Enchanted Garden, at 88 Pratt St in Hartford. The club has changed owners and names many times since then but this huge airbrushed portrait of Dali remains.



West Beach, Westbrook, CT. I have lived in many states and towns in the last five years, but this one place I have lived every summer of my life. My mother now lives here full time. I took a drive the morning after the bachelorette to do some thinking, and got a few beautiful shots of this quaint beach town.




The view from the car of the houses lining the beach road.



The town beach from the huge concrete and stone jetty.



The view off the other side of the jetty.



On a clear day, you can see...... Long Island.



The jetty itself, from the middle.



The friendly staff at the Penny Lane Pub in Old Saybrook, CT. I escaped the family on a Sunday afternoon for Nachos and Pinot Noir. I also had my rehearsal dinner here back on May 4, 2006.
I had a fabulous time with my family, but they own half the street in Westbrook that my mom's house is on and cousins and their children were overflowing out of my Grandma's turned Aunt's house and I needed some ME time.



Bohopoetgirl, you're not in South Beach anymore: Connecticut's take on sky advertising.



My cousin's daughter Bel, who my whole family is obsessed with saying is a Mini Me. I don't know if the world is ready for that!




A day at the beach.



The view from my smoking spot. Also, Extreme Home Makeover: Lynne Ave Edition.



The view from my aunt's new rooftop deck


My very favorite beer, Magic Hat #9, crafted in Burlington, VT, and sold no closer to South Fla than Savannah, GA




Connecticut Postcards



Magic Hat's Summer Variety Show, including Summer 08 (a delicious malty nut brown ale,)Hocus Pocus, a light citrus infused take of number #9, Circus Boy, a hefeweizen that tastes delicious with an orange wedge, and of course, the award winning apricot infused #9. A must have for any New England summer cookout ( we don't BBQ in CT, btw... We cook out)




Bridget, who has been around since I was 14.. and has lived to tell the tale! Bridget used to sneak out my basement window every time I did... Only she would get me caught running around my mom's comforter with dirty paws!




This is what Bridget enjoys doing with my hair elastics... 13 years and it still cracks me up every time I find one in her food bowl.. I mean, why the food bowl Bridge? why?



This is Lily, Hermione's "big boned" sister. Lily has a boyfriend, a grey stray chubby chaser we named Billy Joel ( he's looking for an uptown girl). When he sprayed the door, Lily somehow snuck out about ten times in an hour... Ohh young love..





The cute and well behaved Rotty, Madeleine. She lives in a Miami comes to Hartford upscale loft in an old tire factory called the Design Space. Maddie belongs to my good friend Shana, the owner of Mariel The Shoe Bar. You should see her personal collection of shoes! Shana has always had amazing fashion sense, even when we were 11. I can't go in her store without buying a pair, and now she has 2 stores! Don't worry, So Fla, according to Shana (her nickname), we should be able to buy online soon! Click HERE to go to her website.




And her super cool logo



Sauce for 14... Made with all fresh tomatoes from my aunt's garden. Not a drop remained, even though 4 of the 14 were children!




The B.O.A.T Sandwich at Saybrook Point Inn and Spa (Thick cut locally cured Bacon, Kalamata Olive Tapenade, Arugula and Heirloom Tomatoes, on charred peasant bread. My sister and I got Mani Pedi's here the day before her wedding, and I got married here myself May 5, 2006. Since I hadn't been here since, I came up here for my own personal moment one night days before to ensure that I didn't say a word about my own wedding when we were there.



Look Mom! No Make-up! The limo ride to the wedding. Bridesmaid on my left, my littlest sis and youtube phenom/blogger extraordinaire Lianna J on my right.(click on her name to go to her blog)




Attack of Bridezilla!!!!



My hair for the wedding, which was required to be professionally done and up and was not allowed to have anything in it but a few overpriced pearl screws. I had my hairdesser make a headband out of my own hair and screwed the pearls in it. I got my inspiration from pic from an upcoming epi of Gossip Girl, on Serena, natch.



I'd already photographed every other pet I saw on my trip, so I saw no reason to leave little Abby, my bff Jessica's grey cat out of the essay. This is her window.




And Sampson, who, like a true Siamese, never quits his bitching but I love him anyway.



The Agility Champion of SNEAK (Southern New England Agility something) whose eagerness to please, dedication of his owner (Jessica), and little, little legs have won him numerous trophies and ribbons.



Jessica holds a ten week old Yorkie puppy at our cookout: His name is Mickey, and he is so fine....



And finally, full moon over Worcestor, MA... AKA Midnight the cat at Midnight...





But there's nothing like coming home to your very own babies!

Conjunction Junction, What's Your Dysfunction??

Man I am sure having a minor meltdown over here over the Things That Might Go Wrong over the next 12 days. I can't find my copy of R's credit card with my name on it that I rented my car in.. I can't find my amex, the only other card I haven't cut up in my overzealous attempts to stop living above our immediate means. They don't accept a debit card to hold it, they don't accept someone else's card, cash is useless. Oy vey gevault! My name is on the credit card account but I don't know if that's gonna fly in Boston... OMG what if I get stuck in Boston and I don't even have my laptop because my idiot ass never bought a proper laptop case... OMG... My stomach feels funky and I am so very anxiety ridden. I have been working on my maid of honor speech.... in my head... On paper, I've got zilch. At least I brought my flash drive. It's the next best thing to having my own puter I suppose. Wishing I had an Iphone and being jealous of R, esp because he doesn't even know how to use the internet... Maybe I should be looking for my copy of that credit card instead of blogging about how stressed I am?? That's a thought....

All About My Sister's Wedding

That would be a great Jeopordy before and after answer, I say! I'm sitting in my garage chain smoking and drinking regular coke from a can as I bawl my eyes out like a little girl. My little sister is getting married, and it's to the most amazing guy for her I could have ever dreamt up. Because I was 3 and a half when she was born, and my photographic memory that somehow made it through my college experiment to see how many brain cells I really needed, I remember everything. Her first step, the way my mom would set her up at the beach on a towel with a family size bag of jax and a sippy cup of sprite and the kid was in heaven. I remember her first step in our first house in Ellington, how she grabbed for the coffee table, with my mother and I cheering her on, pulled herself up with the most heart-melting smile and started tottering across the room.
I remember when she started dating.. How none of them ever really got her, really understood how amazing and big hearted and unique she is. Until she met Rico. The two of them were instantly inseparable, their first song w as that one by lighthouse that goes, "And there's you and me, and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose and there's you and me, and all of the people and I don't know why, I can't take my eyes off of you.."And when I met him, I was so greatful that they had found each other. Because life is so much better with true love in it. I remember how quickly they knew they wanted to marry each other. And here we are 3 years later 2 weeks from what looks to be the best wedding this family has seen since, well, mine. ( Sorry, I'm not known for my modesty) And I'm reading this wedding detail email as I am planning the bachelorette party and when I get to the sentence the limo is coming back to take Ricardo and me home I just totally lost it, I couldn't imagine 2 people who deserve the happiness they have found together more. I'm happy to see my sister get married, I am beyond thrilled to see my sister get married to someone that is so right for her and loves her so much. I am still bawling my eyes out by the way, so I'm going to have to end this here, as I'm having a hard time typing.