Tuesday, May 11, 2010

the vacation coma

sorry it's been so long since the last post! i have been out of town since the 28th of april and am slowing coming out of the vacation coma--you know, that fuzzy lapse of time between getting home and actually being productive again?  yeah, that's where i'm at.

my brother's wedding was 100%, positively, absolutely beautiful.  they were married on the beach in destin, florida.  the sky, the water and the sand all seemed to be the same hazy color and the clouds were just blowing like crazy above, like they were chasing each other. it was a simple, sweet ceremony and my heart is full knowing that they are happy and in love.

afterwards, everyone came back to our beach rental and we had a laid back reception in the back yard around the pool.  unfortunately, zack's "friend" who was supposed to come and cook for everyone bailed 2 days before the wedding, so my mom and i whipped up an awesome meal for 30 people just.like.that.  event planner extraordinaires.  

zack wanted aunt janice's shrimp as an appetizer.

a baked spaghetti so big and so heavy that my dad had to get it out of the oven!
...along with the biggest salad i think i've ever made--complete with au naturel decor we got off one of the palms outside.

i forgot to take a pic of the shrek punch, probably because it was gone so quickly, but i'll post a recipe for that, too.  it makes the prettiest, brightest green color (hence the name) and was so pretty with pineapple slices for garnish.  (and was especially good if you had some out of the pitcher that we spiked.....)

luckily, the house we stayed in had really cool serving pieces using as decoration around the tops of their cabinets so we were able to be resourceful and use all of their tropical, colorful bowls and platters for what we needed. likewise, we hauled out the artificial plants and palms and the furniture from inside to outside to use.  


we used the glass breakfast table and a grass hula skirt as the table skirt for the cake table.


and here's the sofa table from inside that we used to put the wedding favors and signing plate on. (you're listening to the cd right now, by the way.)  it was an awesome combination of the songs they used in the wedding, along with some of their personal favorites.  they were a hit!  some to note:
ashton walked into "heavenly day" by patty griffin.  it is a MUST download if you don't already have it. i told her that if that song had been out when i got married, it is most definitely what i would have used myself.  but it wasn't out then.  neither was digital photography.  moving on.
they walked out to....wait for it......the chorus of "good hearted woman" by waylon jennings.  you know the one..."she's a good hearted woman in love with a good timin' man..."  it was SO them.

after all the excitement, we were pooped and decided to stay the next week in Destin because it is just so darn nice down there.  we spent our time doing a whole lot of nothing and it was perfect. fun times with a fun family.  
thank goodness i brought my tripod! 
from l to r:  my hubs, me, my mom, my dad, my new sister in law and my brother
i even read these books:
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
i'm not sure how i even picked this one out at barnes and noble...it was just sitting out of place on a shelf and the cover intrigued me, so i bought it.  it was a hauntingly beautiful read and very well written.  i've always said that a good book/movie is one that you are still thinking about days and weeks later.  this is one of those.

The Shack by William Young
i think i'm the only person in the free world who hadn't yet read this one, and i can't honestly say i even "read" it because we rented it on audio cd at a cracker barrel in alabama and listened to it the whole way down and the whole way back.  if i had to describe it in one word:  deep.  but i got it.  i'd like to re-read it, with my eyes and not my ears, and see what more i could get from it.  i thought it was a beautiful book, but found myself questioning a lot of the way the author personified the Trinity and how he perceived revelation.  but i won't get into that.

so, that brings us back to the real world.  vacation coma almost over, allergies back in full swing and the huge stack of mail FINALLY sorted through.

up next--several projects---finishing up the kitchen remodel (which i promise to post pics of just as soon as it's done) and starting zack & ashton's nursery.  just wait till you see it.  can't wait to have it all done!

2 comments:

About Us said...

wow - what a great post. by the way you described it, i actually felt like i was there on the beach with you! it sounded like the most perfect wedding and it makes me want to get married again! tell them that for me! :) AND i'm downloading heavenly day right now. BEAUTIFUL! yeah i'm with ya - why wasn't that around when we all got married!?

lindsay said...

thanks, amanda! --you definitely need to download as much patty griffin as you can! she is amazing. (and she's coming to charlotte next month...)