Year in Review 2009

Well, it's finally the end of the year.  I'm currently in Belize and I've scheduled this to post on December 31, so hopefully it worked.  Truth be told, I'm pretty sad to see 2009 go...it really was a great year for us!!  So many big birhdays and 2 gorgeous weddings.  We were SO busy!!  Here's a little recap of some of the good times.

January 1, 2009 - We hosted a New Year's Open House for the McCarty family.  It was like a "Welcome to the Family" party for me and Christine.  I think we passed.

January 11, 2009 -  My 30th Birthday.  All in all, it was a fabulous day.  I only cried twice. 

February 6-8, 2009 - Ryan and I make our first trip out to Jackson Hole together.  We spend the weekend skiing, eating, shopping and taking care of all the wedding stuff.  It was one of my favorite weekend getaways ever!

February 14, 2009 -  I make a romantic Valentine's dinner for Ryan and I.  First live lobster I've killed by boiling it alive.  I cried...again  It was delicious, but I have bittersweet feelings about this day.  Please pray for my soul.

February 27-March 1, 2009 - While Ryan is fishing in Arkansas, I travel to Naples, Florida for some sunshine (and a little fishing of my own) and a nice visit with Mike and Erica.  Mike arranged for my first ever helicopter ride over the city and up and down the coast.  It was so amazing!  And, this was the first time I had stone crab...I cannot wait to go back!

March 14, 2009 - Ryan and I attend the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown St. Louis with friends.  I'm really looking forward to celebrating St. Patty's next year since I'm now officially Irish.

April 5, 2009 - My great friend Brooke threw me my very first bridal shower!  I loved every single second of it!  I'm pretty sure I cried when I left (I did have a lot of champagne). 

April 11, 2009 - Mally turned 8 years old.  And we celebrated the 30th birthday of my amazing friend Kirsten in Columbia with a pub crawl.  So much fun!

April 18, 2009 - We celebrated Ryan's 29th birthday with a mexican fiesta!  Margaritas, nachos, and a taco bar.  It was a blast.  And even though I wasn't feeling well (I threw my back out doing something...and cried), we still had a fun night.

April 21, 2009 - We mailed out the invitations to our wedding!  It was a pretty exciting day at our house.  Until 1 day later when we hear that they were crushed in the mail and arrived in pieces in people's mailboxes.  More crying.

April 30, 2009 - Ryan was inducted into the MICDS Hall of Fame for being the most bad-ass water polo player in the history of the world.  You know you're jealous.

May 9, 2009 - My bridesmaids threw me an absolutely incredible bridal shower for family.  I have the most amazing friends and family in the whole wide world.  Tears of gratitude.

May 15, 2009 - My little brother Timmy graduated from my alma matter, University of Missouri with a degree in Engineering.  Proud tears.

May 30 - June 2, 2009 - Ryan and I vacation in Location X.  Not a lot of tarpon luck this year, but fun in the sun nonetheless.

June 6, 2009 - Celebrated Stuart's 30th birthday aboard the Pamela.

June 7, 2009 - Ryan's parents' friends hosted a Couple Shower for us at Lorenzo's on the Hill. 

June 13, 2009 - My bachelorette party!!  Good times were had by all.  At least the part I can remember was good...

June 16, 2009 - We get a surprise visit from Ryan's college roommate Nick and his wife Anna.  They're driving across the country (from Connecticut to New Mexico, to Alaska and back).  We took them to a Cardinals game.

June 26-28, 2009 - The girls travel to the Lake of the Ozarks to celebrate Jacquie, Alison and Heather's birthdays!  We rented a condo with a pool and hot-tub.

July 3, 2009 - I had my final dress fitting at Saks.  I didn't want to take her off.   Tears of happiness that it fit. 

July 7, 2009 - Ryan and I left for Jackson Hole.  First thing we did upon arriving...get our marriage license.  Woo hoo!

July 10, 2009 - Bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner.

July 11, 2009 - Ryan and I got married.  Yay!  This was defiinitely the biggest hightlight of the year.  We got married in the mountains, surrounded by 60 of our closest friends and family members.  Talk about blessed.  Tears of joy.

July 18, 2009 - Had to say goodbye to good friends Amanda and Greg as they began a new adventure in San Antonio, Texas.  More tears.

July 31, 2009 - Celebrated Julie's 30th Birthday with BBQ.

August 1-2, 2009 - Spent the weekend fishing and pontooning at Sayersbrook Bison Ranch, celebrating the engagement of Nick and Claire!

August 22, 2009 - Spent the evening with the crew at Fast Eddie's Bon Aire, celebrating Kasey's 30th birthday (a little early).

August 28-30, 2009 - Ryan and I drive up to Chicago to attend Justin and Christine's sangria party.  We made it to a Cub's game while we were there.

September 12, 2009 - Family reunion weekend at the Farm.  I can't seem to find any pictures of this... 

September 18-20, 2009 - While Ryan heads off to Vegas for Justin's bachelor party, the girls head to Miami for a weekend of fun in the sun for Christine's bachelorette!

September 26, 2009 - Team Pretty in Pink kicks some ass in the Annual Charter Golf Tourney.  I win the trophy for Longest Drive and Julie wins for Closest to the Pin! 

October 3-4, 2009 - Ryan, Mally and I head down to the Current River for a weekend of floating and fishing.

October 10, 2009 - Celebrate Iris's birthday at the very last Cardinal game of the year. Followed by dinner of tapas at Barcelona.  Seriously, where are all my pictures?

October 24, 2009 - We all celebrate Billy's 30th birthday.  Michelle cooked an amazing meal.

October 31, 2009 - Ryan and I were part of the wedding party when Justin and Christine took the plunge.  They tied the knot at Galleria Marchetti in Chicago. 

November 7, 2009 - MU v. Baylor football game.

November 13-15, 2009 - Kasey and I spent the weekend living it up in New York City!

November 20-22, 2009 - While Ryan was with my family at Deer Camp, I spent the weekend in San Antonio with my friend Lindsey visiting Amanda.

November 26, 2009 - Ryan and I spent our first major holiday as newlyweds with his family in St. Louis.

December 2, 2009 - I got my first pair of Christian Louboutins.  Oh, holy day.  Love these babies.

December 12, 2009 - Attended my MIL's surprise 60th birthday party!  Dinner that evening with family and friends.

December 19, 2009 - Celebrated Christmas early with the family.

December 22, 2009 - Celebrated the engagement of good friends Dave and Morgan.

December 23, 2009 - Left for our honeymoon in Belize!!

Adios Amigos!

I'm outta here!  In a few short hours (12 to be exact) Ryan and I will be hopping on a plane for Belize!  Don't worry dear readers, I'll be thinking of you from my beach chair under the palm trees.  I promise to have a cocktail for each and every one of you!  I'll take lots of pictures (my camera is back!) to share with you when I return.  Have a very merry Christmas, a fabulous New Year and enjoy every day in between.  Love ya!

Muah!
xoxo
Sara

Happy Holidays - Visiting the Family

Since Ryan and I won't be around next weekend for Christmas, we spent this past weekend at "The Farm" (aka my dad's house) over by Centralia, Missouri.  All three little brothers joined us there for a holiday feast and gift giving extravaganza!  It snowed pretty hard on the drive over, and by the time we got there, we had about an inch of snow.  Friday night was spent playing board games, looking at wedding albums, catching up with everyone, and getting our drink on...of course. 

Timmy surprised us all with a new addition to the family...a little Boston Terrier named Pippin.  He's about 5 months old and must have been abused.  Timmy found him on the street, with a broken tail and a detached retina, cold and scared to death.  He's just about the sweetest and happiest little dog in the world right now and loved beyond belief.  He fit right into the pack. 

Satuday we ventured over to Fulton, Missouri to have lunch (and more drinks) with Uncle Ron and Aunt Jane, along with my cousin Alesha and her daugher Eva who were in town visiting from Iowa.  It was so great to finally meet Eva and get a chance to catch up with the family. 

I think Eva could be my child. 

Saturday night was our classic holiday dinner, complete with ham, rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and crescent rolls.  It was mighty delicious, if I do say so myself.  Dinner was followed by our gift exchange.  We gave the parents a bunch of printed and framed photos from the wedding.  And everyone else got a stocking full of goodies. 

Timmy got a shotgun.  Yep, we're that kind of family.

Kyle got Nicorete.

Dad & Kelly got pictures, movies and a new coffee maker.

Chris and Linsdey got stuff for their new house.

Mally got a monkey that she destroyed within 42 seconds.

By the time we left on Sunday, we were all exhausted and completely worn out.  This is the sign of a great weekend.

Custom Wedding Dress Sketch

What a great reaction to the wedding dress sketch on our staircase I posted about yesterday!  I'm very excited to be able to share this with you all.  Here are a few more details...

A while back, I blogged about these amazing custom wedding dress sketches by Megan Hamilton (her etsy shop can be found HERE).   Megan Hamilton, a fashion design graduate of Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, PA, took her degree to work in New York City and spent many years designing for companies like Macy's and David's Bridal using her illustration skills to sketch new wedding gown designs. With a photo of your dress (add a fabric swatch for extra oomph), Megan will create a design-style sketch and send it in a sleek black folder.  Designs could be just the wedding gown, gown and tux/suit combo, or gown with the bridesmaid dresses. Or, if you're a two-dress bride, this would be the perfect way to capture the look of both dresses! I think this is such a creative and fantastic way to preserve the memories of your special day in a one-of-a-kind custom-made piece of art.

When I saw Megan's work, I immediately had to have one.  I loved my dress so much, I wanted an amazing keepsake to have to always remind me of it.  This was the perfect idea.  I sent Megan some links to our wedding pictures, along with a couple Monique Lhuillier ads for the Celestine dress that were in bridal magazines.  I chose to have my gown sketched with Ryan's custom-made suit, complete with his green Thomas Pink tie and fly boutonniere.  Megan even added a splash of green on his tie to match our colors.  I had the sketch framed at Michael's (with a 60% coupon) for about $90.  I promise to take some better pictures once my camera gets back from the camera doctor, but here are a couple.

MIA - Chicago

So sorry everyone.  Last week I was in Chicago for work and now I'm sick, so blogging has been a little difficult.  But I promise I'll be back soon with a few posts before we leave next week for Belize!  Stay tuned...

Chicago was f-ing COLD.  This is a picture from the window outside the conference room at my seminar last week.  Not sure if you can tell from the picture that it was snowing at a 90 degree angle.  Weird.  Thursday had a windchill of negative 27.  Needless to say, I cabbed it 3 whole blocks to my seminar.  I spent 2 full days getting a "mini MBA" at the University of Chicago and learning accounting/finance for lawyers.  Damn, that crap is tough to understand.  It completely eliminated any desire I might have been harboring about getting an MBA.  No thanks!  I'm just not cut out for the world of finance...he keep talking about Warren Buffett and I kept thinking about Jimmy Buffett.  I couldn't get "Volcano" out of my head all day and I was dying for a margarita by the time I left!  I'm not sure I learned anything. 

This is my delicious ice cold pomegranate martini that I had at the hotel lounge overlooking Michigan Avenue.  Dinner of blueberry salad and really amazing curry mussels.  Plus, the hotel was located directly in between Neimans, Saks and Burberry...so basically, it was the best hotel ever. 

I do NOT want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Don't you just love that song?  I do!  I sing it proudly every year and I mean every word. 

There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage

I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage.

I can see me now on Christmas morning,

creeping down the stairs

Oh what joy and what surprise

when I open up my eyes

to see a hippo hero standing there!

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do

No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses

I only like hippopotamuseses

And hippopotamuses like me too!

For years and years I've been convinced that hippopotamuses like me too.  I'm an animal person.  I like to give out treats and table food.  I'm likable, right?  This is how I've been picturing me with my hippo...

Don't we look happy?  And hippos are SO cute.  We've been raised to believe that hippo are very sweet large (yet graceful) animals.  You remember the dancing ballerina hippos from Fantasia. 

Remember this big lovable hippo from Madagascar?

And you've all seen kissy-kissy hippo pictures.  They're such romantics.

And baby hippos are just about the cutest thing EVER.

Don't you just want one so bad?  I did.  UNTIL I watched this hippo show on the Discovery Channel.  It started off like this...

Mama hippo and baby hippo are in love.  They're bonding over these first few months.  They play together.  They eat together.  Mama watches baby hippo sleep.  Mama teaches baby everything.  She's the best mama in the whole wide world.  Baby loves mama.  Mama loves baby.  Awww.

  Enter BAD bad horny angry male hippo.  Grrrrrr.

Male hippo wants to mate with mama hippo (so typical).  Baby hippo is in the way.  Mama hippo protects baby hippo.  Mama to the rescue.

And THEN...

Mama hippo runs away, male hippo attacks baby and baby hippo dies. 

WTF?!! 

What kind of eff-ed up show kills the baby?  Are you kidding me?  Screw this shit.  I do NOT want anything to do with these hideous beasts.  You can keep your damn hippo, Santa.  To hell with that.