Fireworks: Purple

Oh, hello!

So I had a lovely little adventure the other weekend:  I journeyed to Napa for my cousin's wedding.  And - oh. my. word! - it was so beautiful! 

You might have read about my preparation for the trip here, but that was a bit sardonic.  Now I'll tell you the fun bits of the actual destination. :)

So, we stayed the weekend at Mont La Salle - mission and vineyard.  It was built in the 1930's and there are still "brother's" (basically monks) in residence.  Everything there was so lush and peaceful! 



[Entrance to Mont la Salle]



[Main courtyard - set up here for the reception]

[Beautiful statue of Mary in one of the gardens, the bell-tower (which they did ring for the wedding), and the chapel itself]



[The called my bedroom the "closet room" - but it was actually quite darling!  And looked out over the courtyard and bell-tower]



Saturday was the wedding itself and, as I've said before, I loooove dressing up.  I had decided to go vintage for the occasion and even bought a tilt hat!

 



[A shot of the updo.  I hadn't dne this one before... but I'm pretty sure I could duplicate and perfect it for future events :]





[The finished product]



[My mom and I waiting for the wedding to start]

[Mom + Dad - he picked his tie to match her outfit.  They're cute like that!]

[My cousin Karen and her husband Hunter - lovely couple!]

[The reception... under twinkling lights]

[Dance floor]



[Sparklers to end the night]

It was a fabulous weekend to spend with family and celebrate marriage.  In the words of Captain Jack:  "Weddings!  I love weddings!!"  Seriously, though, it's a joy to be a part of covenant-making and new names.  The celebration reminded me what a significance God places on covenant.  It's a thing almost too beautiful and powerful to handle.  But how worth it to walk through life rooted so deeply in covenant with other people.  That is worth celebrating!

Thoughts for Thursday

Today you get a random post from Samara :)

I've tried to join the awesome "Friday Haps" gig that my friend Ashley started... But am I a disciplined writer? Ha! Nope.

So anyway..... you get some fun finds and random thoughts today.

* Yesterday, twitter brought me great joy when I came across the trend #BooksWithOneLetterMissing. Basically, you take a title remove 1 letter and explain the changed meaning of the work.  Examples:

“@Daladoir: Word War Z: Post apocalyptic world where the letter "Z" is the main nemesis. #bookswithonelettermissing” I would read that :)
— Samara Surface (@iwaitandhope) July 24, 2013

50 Shades of Gre: an irresistible guide about the nastiest secrets of the graduate exam #bookswithonelettermissing
— Santiago Quintero (@UnCocodette) July 24, 2013

The Audacity of Hop : the exploits of the Easter bunny #bookswithonelettermissing
— King Erroneous (@King_Erroneous) July 24, 2013

Things All Apart - a comedy about a man trying to assemble IKEA cabinets. #bookswithonelettermissing
— Samara Surface (@iwaitandhope) July 24, 2013

I could go on and on... nerdvana :)


* Ok... This couple did the most darling Moonrise Kingdom engagement shoot EVER!! And they actually look like grown up versions of Sam + Suzy!

Aren't they just perfect!! Nailed it with the costumes, suitcase, old books, and that meadow looks like it's straight from the film!

* If you haven't read it yet... This is a fascinating post on how and, perhaps, why the Pixar films are more interrelated than we ever dreamed.  "The Pixar Theory" by Jon Negroni.

* Also check out his post on Inception.  Pixar and Nolan - this guy knows what's important. (At least, imporant to me :)

* I'm unbelievably excited about Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge and thrilled for his parents!  Both Will and Kate are so genuine and I'm wishing all the very best for this little guy :)

* Is it weird that I'm a strong fan of people whose work I haven't experienced yet?  Let me explain.  I love Emma Watson.  I think she's darling!  She's smart and sweet and still strong.  [Alliteration, much?]  She won me over years ago when she stepped out in that fantastic pixie cut! 

Confession:  I have yet to see a single film she's in.  Yep, you read that right.  I've never seen a HP film, I haven't even seen My Week With Marylin or Perks of being a Wallflower. [Don't worry - they're on the list!]

But seriously... whether it be Emma Watson or Neil Gaiman (haven't even seen one of his DW episodes yet... but I did buy Stardust on my last Powell's trip - so there's a thing) or some other artists, I find that once I know about them I'm immediately drawn.  I guess I just admire their personality.  Following them on twitter must suffice until I actually get around to their experiencing performances or pieces of art. 

* What's keeping me from reading / watching all those wonderful things?  Well, currently, it's a ginormous, contemporary, fantasy series by Patrick Rothfuss.  I just finished the first book, Name of the Wind.  It was pretty good.  I picked up the second book yesterday and it's a whopping 1,000 pages!  I haven't read something that long in over a year - and I'm giddy with excitement.  I think it will make a wonderful travel companion this weekend as I am off to...

* Napa!  I'm flying down this Friday for a 2 night trip.  My cousin is getting married at a vineyard down there and I'm just stoked to be going.  I had to think about it and I haven't been to California in 3 years.  Haven't been on a plane in 2.  What the heck, people?  Needless to say... It'll be so good to travel further than Portland :)  Also... super excited because I bought a genuine vintage tilt-hat for the occasion.  I'll post pictures when I get back.

* I still need to blog about my Mumford Memorial Day Weekend.  It's been a crazy two months.  I apologize.  I'll try and make it fantastic.

Ok... I should get back to "productive stuff."  Let me know if you check out any of the links or if you have thoughts about the rest. 

Happy Thursday :)

Missing England... well this didn't help! haha... but seriously, I am in love with this wedding!

[What an incredible location in the English countryside =]

[love how ethereal it looks... and, of course, love the top hat]

[ <3 ]

[cuuuute!]

[fun]

[loooove this!]

[ahhhh!!!]

I'd like to promise that I will NOT have a destination wedding... but I can't really plan that far in advance right now. This summer when we visited the estate that Jane Austen's brother owned (a gorgeous country manor house complete with sheep and an enclosed garden =), they informed us they do weddings. A girl in our group grabbed the info brochure, handed it directly to me, and said, "You're going to need this." Oh my!
It does look like something out of a dream:

sigh...England, I'm trying to get back. In the meantime, I have my memories and my dreams =)