Date Weekend

Last weekend was practically a full weekend long date with the plans we had. It's nice to get this time now because pretty soon lacrosse is going to start and we will have minimal time together. Friday night after work we left town and drove to Columbia. We had dinner with Alex and Paul for Paul's birthday. After dinner it was a fun, low key night hanging at their place. Saturday morning it was pretty mild outside. We went for a short walk in the woods near their house before it was time to head home. 

Paul and Tom 

there was still some ice left on the trail and in the water

After our short hike we had to head home for our Saturday night plans. Tom gave me tickets to the Bloc Party concert as a stocking stuffer for Christmas. I have never heard or listened to Bloc Party but he thought it would be a fun date night. It was fun indeed. We tried a couple different dinner spots to watch the first Blues game of the season but all were full. We ended up at Picadilly on Manhattan and had a great dinner on their covered deck. After dinner we went to the Pageant. Both the opening band and Bloc Party put on a great show. We had a blast. 

I really enjoyed watching the drummer. He had a big
personality and was wearing no shirt and jorts! 

Not So Much Love in Philly

I've gone to Philly many times for lacrosse stuff. My first trip to Philly was 12 hours after moving home from college and before I ever started coaching. I have now been many times. It's usually absolutely freezing so I try to avoid leaving the hotel. Since it is a convention in the hotel that isn't difficult to do. This year the weather was great. I was excited to get out of the hotel on Saturday morning and go for a run. I was out in shorts and a fleece jacket and it couldn't have been more wonderful. The famous Rocky stairs were just 1.5 miles from my hotel. I must admit I have never seen the movie but I was very familiar anyway. I ran down there and snapped a few pictures. 

 It was a lovely morning in Philly but it was slightly foggy. I ran the Rocky steps a few times and captured a couple cool shots from the top.

The City of brotherly LOVE with the flags and steps in the background                                                                                     

Me at the top of the Rocky steps with foggy Philly in the background                                                                                            

After a lovely day running and going to lacrosse sessions I decided I would head to the airport. I went a bit early because I was afraid of the weather in st louis. I really didn't want to deal with cancelled flight. I wasn't able to get on an earlier flight so I waited five hours for my later flight. When it came it was unfortunately a small plane. We got on, waited for 50 minutes and took off for DC. When we got to DC we started to land then flew back into the air. We then circled the airport before returning to Philly. It was SO very frustrating.

When we got back to Philly they had to rebook me on a 7:20 am flight to St. Louis. I was frustrated beyond belief but booked my flight and headed to a hotel. When I got there I enjoyed a blue moon to reward myself for a crazy day of "travel"

I woke up in the morning to a message from United. My flight was cancelled. Frustration. They rebooked me on a 11:10 flight. I watched Big and face timed with my buddy, Joe. That flight was cancelled also. Finally, I got on a 2:05 flight and headed home. It was beyond frustrating. What a weekend. 

My Love for a First Look

I know so many people who just got engaged and, therefore, have thought a ton about my own wedding planning process since I loved it so much. It was really and truly one of my most favorite parts of life thus far. One of the best parts of our wedding day was our first look. I decided I loved it so much I wanted to share more about it with others. 

When Tom and I first met with our photographer she started to ask us a bunch of questions we hadn't even begun to think about. Some of the questions we simply could not answer at that time (16 months before our wedding). However, one question she asked was, "Would you guys like to do a first look?" Tom first asked what a first look was and then immediately said NO. A first look is when the bride and groom break the tradition of not seeing each other before the wedding. Instead they have a formal time before the wedding to see each other. This time is captured by the photographer. Therefore, when the bride walks down the aisle the groom has already seen her in her wedding dress. Tom was being all traditional and immediately said, "No, absolutely not!" I could appreciate his view. However, through the course of the conversation we decided the first look was best for us for the following reasons: 

1. We both get a little crowd shy and HATED the idea of so many people staring at us during this intimate time.

2. Our ceremony and reception were at the same site and it would be very difficult to get good pictures if we were going to have the reception immediately after the ceremony. We would miss our whole cocktail hour and still may not have enough time. *this was our main deciding factor. 

3. We liked the idea of having our first time seeing each other completely focused on us. This was both for us and our photographer. Our photographers had nothing else to capture except for us seeing each other. 

4. We got to pick a gorgeous spot for pictures of the two of us. They couldn't have turned out better. 

With that being said, I was in my friends wedding back in 2008. She did a first look. While I didn't fully understand it at the time I did know the pictures were gorgeous. I included some of her photos to show just how great and different a first look can be. 

Lizzie met Tom out on the deck of the mansion where they got married. 

He waited patiently as she crept up behind him

He was all smiles as he turned to see her. 

And she was so excited when he finally looked

Then there were tears 

and hugs

Lizzie's first look was totally precious and something I remembered from her wedding day. I still wasn't convinced I would want that for myself but after having my own first look I could not be more sold. Tom and I both say it was a favorite part from our day. He was dropped off by his groomsmen and waited in the park. I was dropped off by my ladies and walked to meet him. We had fifteen minutes just the two of us. It was a perfect way to start the day together.

Tom awaiting my arrival

Me walking to meet Tom

My anticipation is all over my face.

Tom takes a deep breath

Getting ready to tap his shoulder for him to see me!

We had two photographers at our first look. One was up on the bridge and one was down level with us. We got two views of so many great shots. The aerial shots from the bridge were an awesome surprise when we viewed our photos a week later.

the shoulder tap

The EXCITEMENT and JOY... I waited for this moment for so long

and hugs

lots of hugs (from another angle)

my sweet husband asked me to model my dress for him

we had many precious private moments

And he got to tell me how he thought I looked...without a hundred plus people listening

then he modeled for me

and we had a good laugh

and we had more moments of just chatting

and checking out my hair

and kissing my hand

and telling each other just how excited we were that our wedding day was finally here!

And then, when our moment was over, we remembered there was a photographer there. And we smiled for her. 

I would not change this part of our day for anything. If we did the day over and had 4 hours between the wedding and reception we would still do a first look. Sure, we broke the tradition of seeing each other as I walk down the aisle. However, neither of us felt that made that moment any less special for us. We loved having our time together to get our jitters out, talk about the day and tell each other how great we thought the other person looked. All the family, friends, food, dancing, toasts, kisses and kind words helped make our day what it was, but it never would have been the same without our first look.