Wednesday, August 5, 2009

New York, New York

I didn't mean to be absent for so long, but July turned out to be incredibly busy! I started a new job, spent a week in NY, finished up loose ends in the "paper suite" for my sister's wedding--including making 2 different sets of favors--and got addicted to HBO's Entourage. I could have gotten a lot more accomplished had it not been for that.

I have to start this post with a picture of my niece Violet. She is TOO CUTE! The last time I spent a good amount of time with her was last August and she was about 16 months old and didn't want much to do with me. She loved my husband, but was happy to ignore me. This year was a completely different story and I ate up every single thing she did! She is 2 now and talks so much and does so many cute things that she's hard to resist. Here we are blowing bubbles:

She kept popping them and I kept getting sudsy water in my mouth but she's so sweet I didn't even care.

Sweet? Look at that face! As my Grandma Peg would say, "She's a sketch!"

And here's Violet's Mommy, Emily, and "Muck" (the rest of us call him Mike) on their wedding day:

That picture pretty much sums up the tone of the day: The wedding was casual and fun, and everyone was really happy. They had a beautiful day and got married on their property--30 acres of wooded area in upstate NY--it was great!

This is Emily, my mom, and me. (Oh, did I mention Arvin was the wedding photographer?)

And here is a picture of the invitations I made for them:

I will, at some point, have more detailed pictures ready for show and tell, but for now, this will have to do. Their colors were fuchsia and different shades of purple (can you guess why? Hint: Miss Violet) and I think they turned out really well (yes, if I may be self-indulgent for a moment). I have a lot more photos of the individual enclosures, as well as the favors and, someday, I will do a great big blog post all about them!

The day after the wedding, my mom's side of the family had their annual "Pool Party" up at my Grandma Peg's house. It's the first one I have been able to go to in years (since moving to CA) and I was so, so excited to be there this year. Each year, "Granny" (as she is called by her great-grandchildren) gets her picture taken with her great-grandchildren on the diving board and I like this shot because everyone (except for Violet who looks a little confused about what is going on) is laughing, including "Granny!" (From left to right: Grandma Peg, Violet, Sam, Gracie, Mallory, and Marty.) Remember Mallory from this post and how innocent and quiet she looked? She was totally hamming it up for these pictures, shouting "Cheeseburger "at the top of her lungs and laughing like crazy!

On our last full day in NY, Arvin and I (that's us!) took a drive out to Bully Hill Winery for lunch (we make it a point to go there each summer). They have great food, great wine, and an amazing view of Keuka Lake.

I took this photo on the way back to my parent's house in the moving car! I can't believe how great this picture came out--and Arvin was surprised, too. He has no faith in my photography skills. But those are vineyards in the foreground and Keuka Lake in the background. It really is beautiful there in the Finger Lakes and I miss it a lot. Our trip to NY was way too short--only a week--and it was both wonderful and sad but I am grateful we got to go and see everyone, especially my 2 grandmothers.

Hope you all have a great evening!

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