Thank You For Being a Friend...

Sofia journeyed to Southern California for the second time in 2 weeks on October 1st. She's getting to be a pro at flying. Too bad we don't have anywhere else to go, since we have the travel thing down pat. This time we flew into Burbank...such a convenient, simple airport. No shuttle to the rental cars, they are right there. It's a bit of pain to walk down the stairs when you get off the plane, but the weather is almost always nice there, so I guess it doesn't matter. Holding a baby and climbing/descending stairs kinda freaks me out, so I took it very slow. We survived.

Daddy & Sofia pose by the bird. The pilot leaned out of the cockpit to say hello and
was very impressed that this was Sofia's 3rd flight.

The reason for our trip was that Susie and Curtis tied the knot on October 3rd at the beautiful Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, near Pasadena. Susie is one of my best friends from college and I was honored to stand up for her as one of her Matron of Honors. The weekend was absolutely perfect, great weather, fun rehearsal lunch, a great hotel close to Old Town Pasadena, walking distance from tons of restaurants and shops. Susie really thought everything out and her planning and attention to detail was obvious all weekend!

Right before this was taken, Karissa and I were wracking our brains for a cute "wedding day" gift for Susie. Karissa said "how about a picture frame?" and I said,"I hate giving picture frames without a picture in it." So we grabbed groomsman Matt and had him take a few shots of us with Susie on their wedding grounds. Karissa ran to Walgreen's to have it developed first thing in the morning, then jetted to Macy's for a frame and viola! Perfect wedding day gift for the bride.

Suz and Curtis practice their walk down the aisle.

View from the amazing Presidential Suite that Suz somehow ended up with!

The bridal photo shoot.

Adorable, one of a kind cake topper.

Delta Zetas keeping warm at the reception.

Susie & Curtis were so kind to hire a babysitter to watch Sofia and another baby just a month older than Sofia. They were just about 100 yards from the reception site. Susie even bought a bouncy chair just like Sofia's special chair at home. A lifesaver!

Steve and me just a few days from our 4 year anniversary.


Susie and Curtis (well, I think mostly Curtis) wrote the ceremony that was performed by a very distinguished and amiable judge. Curtis is a television show writer (Check him out on youtube.com in the Curtis Kheel Experience Parts 1 & 2) and therefore quite proficient in such endeavors. My favorite parts of the ceremony, other than it's overall wit and charm, were the "readings" that were chosen. Instead of the typical 1 Corinthians 1-13, (which features Steve's favorite verse: "I am only a resounding gong" - he insists the gong is me), Susie and Curtis continued the wedding's theme of television playing a huge part in their lives. They selected the theme songs from the Golden Girls (Thank You For Being a Friend), Friends (I'll Be There For You) and Family Ties (Without Us). It was hilarious to watch the audience catch on and snicker. A testament to this fun loving and funny couple!
Congratulations Susie & Curtis!

Up, Up and Away

aThis past weekend we ventured to LA for Claudine and David's wedding at LMU. We were feeling confident after our successful trip to Tahoe last month and we decided we'd take our chances and introduce Sofia to a faster mode of travel. Although, this mode of travel required more coordination than our remodel. My lord, there is a lot to think about when traveling with an infant: Do we check the car seat base or attempt to strap the seat into the rental car sans base? Should we send Daddy to get the car or illegally take the child on the rental car shuttle? Bring the birth certificate so that I can prove that my 3 month old is not over 2 years old. Bring the car seat and stroller through security, but then check it at the plane - but don't forget to get a claim ticket from the counter. And you actually need the baby and the stroller there to get the claim ticket. They should not be sitting in the Sharks bar. Exhausting.

Then throw in transporting multiple containers of frozen breast milk for use by babysitters at the destination. Trips to Target for an appropriate cooler. Emails to TSA to confirm that we could actually travel with said breast milk. Exhausting. But, now that we've done it, we're pros. And we're doing it again next weekend! Thanks to Claire and the other Amy G. for all of their traveling expertise.

We had to keep Daddy from being too squawky too.

Back to the reason for the trip - Claudine's wedding. Claudine is a close friend of mine from LMU who was both a Delta Zeta and in Belles with me. I really wanted to attend her wedding if at all possible and I'm so glad we made it happen. She was a stunning bride. No surprise there, as Claudine is one of the most put together people I've ever met. Everything was uber classy and stylish, but understated and comfortable at the same time. It was a mini LMU reunion which made it even more fun.

Special thanks to Jen, Meredith, Brent and Nikki for babysitting! Jen and Mere presented an open offer for babysitting services way back at my baby shower in March. I thought maybe they were just being nice, but when Jen brought it up again in August, we decided to take them up on it. Hopefully they don't regret their offer...turns out Sofia didn't sleep AT ALL the entire 6 hours she was there. Ouch. They were also watching Amy-Jo and Jeff's adorable little tyke, 16 month old Enzo. Enzo was passed out on the floor when we returned from the wedding, while Sofia was chillin' in the borrowed bouncy seat (thank you Spriggs family) wide awake. Oh well, she slept great for us back at Embassy Suites. Thanks for tiring her out, guys!

Friday night before the wedding, we dined at The Counter with the Effertz crew and Marie's boss George and his wife Shannon. I understand a good time was had by all...Sofia and I were in the car.
Jackson found Ratatouille on the iPhone much more interesting than the screaming baby.

Sofia is not nearly as impressed with her first Ice Blended Mocha as she should be. We stopped at the Coffee Bean on the way to Canter's Deli where Steve intended to get a pastrami sando and bowl of matzo balls. Unfortunately for us, Canter's, which is usually open 24 hours, was closed due to Rosh Hashanah. Plan B turned out to be take-out from Nate & Al's in Beverly Hills.

Parents gone wild! OK, maybe not, but we were quite happy to be out.

The Class of '98 table - Marie, me, Amy-Jo and Jayme

Fun times with the youngster DZs.

Claudine and David looking blissful. Congrats!

The Fizz-Geralds Tie the Knot

On Friday, August 21st our friends Jeff & Greta tied the knot in a lovely ceremony at a spot called Nestldown in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Jeff is a chef at Dio Deka Greek restaurant in Los Gatos and they catered the meal which was, not surprisingly, delish. It was great to spend an evening out with the family - Jen, Nick and Michael were in attendance too. The wedding had tons of cute, personal details...a photo booth, a candy bar stocked with all their faves, a s'mores pit, a signature drink coined the "Fizz-Gerald" (their last name is Fitzgerald), personalized wine labels on all the wine...I'm sure there was more I'm forgetting or just didn't notice! Thanks for a great time Jeff & Greta!

The happy couple right after they exchanged vows...for the second time.
Apparently, there was a covert private ceremony at Santa Clara Mission the week prior.

Michael, Jennifer & Nick looking fresh even though it was HOT.

I think I had my camera set on purple accent...that pond was actually icky brown.
Steve, Vincent & Michael

Best man Jim Foley brought up volunteers from the crowd to share his feelings with the bride and groom.

Individually wrapped s'mores. Brilliant.