All photos courtesy Caitlin Nobilé

Marriage, II

So, I got married. And now there is photographic evidence!

After a bout of rainy and cool days, the weather completely threw us a bone for our wedding weekend. The day before we joined our in-town guests and, in place of a rehearsal dinner, cheered on the Yankees to a win over the Seattle Mariners (excluding, of course, the secret Boston Red Sox fans in attendance). I ate fried food and sausage and peppers. Just like any other day-before-your-wedding, no? The day of our wedding was perfection, with clear skies, warm weather, and just about the greatest forecast a girl could ask for. The ceremony and reception were beautiful, and I felt so loved surrounded by family and friends, many of whom came from very far away to celebrate with us!

Going into things, based on our budget and taste, I knew rather than a large reception we really wanted a small-party setting. We wanted to make a relaxing setting for our local and out-of-town guest to come together. And in my book a party means a party. So, we brought in a mariachi band, bluegrass music, and loads of tacos and Coke, mixed them with our great guests, and a perfect evening was made.

You can see the rest of our wedding photos here: matthewnicole.tumblr.com

St. Thomas, USVI

Marriage

There’s something to be said for selfishness, and the past two weeks I have been nothing but. I selfishly spent a week with some of my very best friends and my family, and I married my best friend on what ended up being one of the loveliest days this spring. Then I selfishly jetted off to a piece of paradise — the first long vacation I’ve had in a long while. I wish I could tell you where I took the photo above, but I honestly can’t remember. When you’re relaxing you sort of forget where you are.

The semi-before photo. No after photos occurred, sadly.

Have you ever tried making brownies from scratch? A few days ago I tried making a batch of Mark Bittman’s brownies. It felt like the last time I could take time to bake or cook much before the wedding. Our friends and family have already started coming into town and it doesn’t leave a lot of free time. But the excitement and fun makes up for the downtime, of course.

So, how did those brownies taste? Well, funny you should ask. As they were cooling I was being an expert at life, and as I shook my salt shaker to salt the pasta water the top popped off, with salt landing all over the counter and the brownies. I tried pretending I could just dust those tiny mounds of salt off, but even faking it they were terrible. Moral of the story: don’t let me use the salt shaker, or at least don’t let me do so near any baked things.

 

From last night’s dinner: tomatoes and oven fries

I’m still amazed how fast time goes by. It’s the oldest story in the book, but when you’re young each day drags by and every Christmas seems like a thousand years from the next. And now, well, now I sneeze and check the clock and three days have gone by.

Wasn’t it just last week I was bundling up against the cold winter and eating lots of warm soups? Now, despite the chilly spring rain, we’re creeping up on banned-oven days. You know the kind, the days that are too hot to even look at any source of heat for fear that your brain would surely melt. Those are the days you move as little as possible, retreating to a cool place to watch Friday Night Lights (Go Tim Riggins!).