A Weekend in Pictures: Wedding Edition

I couldn’t let this magical weekend go by without recapping it. My cousin’s wedding was beautiful and joyful and I had such a great time. Let’s recap the weekend in pictures:

My weekend kicked off on Friday afternoon with a facial. I really don’t know if these quarterly facials are making any kind of difference in my skin, but they feel really, really good and I get some great tips from my esthetician. This facial was super relaxing and I think I might have fallen asleep at some point.

Later on Friday, I picked up my mom so we could look for shoes for the wedding (nothing like the last minute, eh?) We visited four different stores until I finally found something that would work. I’ve been wearing the same pair of nude heels to all my fancy events for years now, and I felt like it was time for an upgrade.

Also, there were Lucy snuggles after our shopping adventure! I love how excited she always is to see me!

I had a very lazy Saturday morning! I slept in, read, played some games on my phone. It was really relaxing. I wanted to be well-rested for tonight’s festivities! Lila joined me for snuggles, too.

I’m really proud of myself for getting in a quick workout before the wedding festivities started of course they got a marquee hire so they could have space for everything. I was contemplating switching my workout day to Sunday but I wasn’t sure if I’d be up to a workout if things got crazy at the wedding, ha. I did a 20-minute class and it felt good to get my sweat on!

Wedding look! After my workout, I took a shower and then started getting ready—I did my skincare routine, curled my hair, and did my makeup. I wanted to be able to leave my place by 3:30 to head to my mom’s, as we were going to take a Lyft to the wedding together.

I immediately started crying when I saw this display at the front table in the reception hall. It was such a sweet touch, but also a hard reminder that the two people who deserved to be here the most (my grandparents essentially raised my cousin and her twin sister) weren’t going to be. It’s so hard to have these big family milestone events without them.

Oh, this wedding. You guys. Even looking at these photos makes me emotional because I’m just so happy for my cousin. From the moment I met Natalie, I knew she was it for Sara and their love is so joyful and pure and deep and strong. They are each other’s perfect match and watching them commit to one another was a blessing.

I cried like a baby throughout the ceremony (my other cousins, who were her bridesmaids, told me they had to stop looking at me because I was making them cry, haha), especially when Sara talked about agape love in her vows, which is a term our Pops talked about a lot and even named his business after. They handed out fans before the ceremony started, which came in handy for drying all of my tears! I was a mess.

The reception afterward was also a ton of fun! I definitely broke my no-alcohol rule, but it meant I could let loose and have fun! Also, I didn’t have any reaction to any of the alcohol I drank so that’s good! I’m glad I was able to just enjoy myself, dance all over the dance floor with my family, and get super silly with my mom. We had a great time and it was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long, long time.

I stayed over at my mom’s on Saturday because I was obviously in no state to be driving and got to enjoy lots of Lucy snuggles. She was up at 2am, 4am, and 7:30am—oof. I do not envy my mom having to deal with that every day! (She’s not always like this, sometimes she’ll sleep through the night. I like to think she was just so excited that her sister was sleeping over and she wanted to play with me!) I didn’t sleep well at all, as I couldn’t get comfortable on the couch. I was up from 2am-5:30am myself and since I didn’t bring a book with me, I spent the time on my phone, catching up on past issues of The Count of Monte Cristo and email newsletters I had saved. So at least I used the time wisely? Eventually, I was able to fall asleep for a few hours until Lucy woke up again.

I came home around 9 and the girls were very happy to see me! (Or happy that they could finally get some treats? Who knows.) I missed them a lot, even though I was only gone for one night. How I’m going to make it through four nights without them in August is beyond me. I’ve become so incredibly attached to them by working from home and not traveling/doing much this past year and a half. After giving them treats and love, and eating breakfast, I headed right back to bed and conked out for a good four hours. It felt divine!

And the rest of Sunday was spent being lazy (reading, watching episodes of Superstore, taking a hot bath) and productive (grocery shopping, laundry, tidying apartment).

What a weekend, one I won’t soon forget!