Amelia and Brian are married!- July 30, 2011

Eric's cousin Brian and his wife Amelia had a beautiful wedding on July 30.  It was a perfect evening wedding at a gorgeous venue in Northern Jersey called the Rockleigh.  It used to be a country club but now is exclusively a wedding venue.  

We all were staying at the same hotel so we hung out in the afternoon and then took the shuttle over to the wedding.  We had lots of time to take photos.  

 Lois, Mom P, Lex, me, Meg, Andi, Janet

 Lex, me, Meg

 Mel and Mom (brother and sister)

 The whole clan!

 Mom and Dad looking shnazzy!

All of us

Getting ready for the big event

Almost ceremony time

View behind us

Brooke and Michael

Walking down the aisle

Ceremony

They are married!!!!

Sheila and David

Brothers

James Bond-like

Brothers and sister

Meg and Dan 

Lex and her imaginary date :) :) :) 

Mel, Mom and Joel-brothers and sister

Siblings and their spouses, so cute!

Cousins

Let the dancing begin!  The band was absolutely amazing, the dance floor was constantly packed and everyone was having a blast!

Lexy, AKA the best dancer at the wedding 

Lex and Michael tearing it up

The beautiful bride and groom

Lex and mom

Dan and Meg

Amelia's nephew, amazing dancer-in-training!  He was awesome!

Not sure about our faces, but we sure were having fun!

Mom and sons 

Michael and Eric 

Mother of the bride

Lois

Casey

Robert and Judy

Freddie and Lindsay

Aunt Denise

We're all laughing at something

They were awesome!

Sisters Casey and Lindsay

Linnea

Mom, Lois and Michael

Linnea and Freddie

Nicole

The star, Lexy

TJ

Mother of the groom - Sheila

Groom, mother of the groom and friends

After the wedding was over at 1:45, we headed back to the hotel.  The hotel bar for some reason (even though it was in NY) closed at 2:30...but the party didn't stop there,...thanks to Dad P's awesome planning skills, we had an after party complete with cold drinks and food.

It was a wonderful event and so great to see everyone for the first time in a year!
Congratulations Amelia and Brian!  We wish you many years of happiness together!

Hello 28 and the big 30!-Celebrating in NY

July flew by and pretty soon it was time for us to head back to NY for some family time.  My birthday (the big 30), Eric's (the big 28) and my mom's all fall within 2 weeks of each other so we'd planned a trip home.  Eric's cousin also was getting married the week we were planning on going home so it really worked out perfectly.  We were able to see a lot of people we hadn't seen in a year and get our NY "fix".   

We flew in to NY on a Thursday and stayed with my brothers in Brooklyn.  On Friday night we'd planned a little get together with some friends to celebrate our birthdays (5 days apart) so that afternoon, we headed into Manhattan to get ready to go to 230 5th-the rooftop bar.  We got there early so we could get a good group of seats before it got super crowded.  

My hip and hot friend, Sara with her adorable daughter, Aria.

 Milk and margaritas..why not? 

 My mom and Aria

It soon started raining...notice the water on my dress..we thought we could stay outside...

 Beautiful Aria!

The rain became a bit too torrential so we had to head inside

 Me and my beautiful mom.

 Me and one of my besties, Cindy

Luckily, the weather cleared and it ended up being an absolutely gorgeous night!  The weather was perfect and the air so clean.  My photos of the Empire State Building (within arm's reach) didn't show up so well but it really is a wonderful venue and I'd recommend it again.  

 Jon-Carlo and Alex

 Me and Eric with Sal Rose in the background :)

 Jedd, me and Jon-Carlo with Melody to the left of Jedd 

Melody, who is like a sister to me with my brothers

 None other than Sal Rose...our first visitor in Paris

 Cin, me and Mel...looks like we've all been rained on...oh, that's right, we have!

 Papa G and Eric 

Me, Eric, John and Cin

Thanks for everyone who came out to celebrate..sorry I missed a lot of you, photo wise :(

Until next year...

Uncle Al

On July 24, 2011 we received the sad news that Eric's great-uncle Al passed away.

Most of my family is in Italy and the we don't have much family in NY.  Growing up, our close friends became like family.  I was 7 when my grandfather (my only living grandparent) who lived in North Carolina passed away so when Eric and I started dating, I really took to the older members of his family to fill a void in my life.  Eric is so fortunate to have so many relatives and I am so lucky that they have taken me in as a member of the family.  

Since Eric and I started dating, Uncle Al was unfortunately plagued with health issues.  Right after I met him, he needed to have part of his legs amputated due to complications from diabetes.  We visited him in rehab after the surgery and when we asked him how he was doing, he would always respond, "not bad, no complaints."   No matter what, every time we spoke to him, in person, on the phone, or in letters, he'd never complain, he was always positive.  This is something we loved about him and made us we loved so dearly.  He a hard worker, a life long proud marine, and a role model to us all.  We loved writing letters to him and receiving his response, just days later.  No matter what, he was always positive and hopeful.  We visited him whenever we were home and are so grateful for our time with him.

May you rest in peace Uncle Al.

Our Anniversary-July 10, 2011

Our anniversary was fast approaching and we most definitely did not want to let the day go by without a celebration so Eric suggested we go up to Lake Conroe, a lake about an hour from Houston to picnic, swim and ride our bikes.   The entire weekend was a special one for us, reminiscing about our special day and remembering all of our loved ones celebrating with us.  It's amazing how fast time flies by and all that has happened in a year's time.  Eric and I both agreed that an anniversary is different than celebrating any other yearly event because we can remember the day we made the commitment to each other and spent the evening dancing and reveling in the most special day of your life.   

We woke up early, packed our bags, and headed north.  

Some views

We found a nice spot by the water, and then went for a bike ride.

Then we came back and went for a swim in the warm lake, ate some food and relaxed.   It was a beautiful day, not terribly hot and just relaxing.  We headed back to Houston about 30 minutes before it started pouring, great timing.  

We spent the evening with a bottle of champagne watching our wedding video.   That video gets me every time!!!  So happy we have these tangible memories. 

What a wonderful year it has been and to say I am grateful to have such a loving, supportive, kind husband would be an understatement.  Here's to many more happy years together!!!