To make you believe in love...

I went to a wedding in Northern Ireland a few weeks ago...

It was near the little town of Downpatrick, which is where St. Patrick is buried!

in this freaking gorgeous old flour mill called The Mill at Ballydugan.

This wedding was extra special for so many reasons:

#1 Tammy & Pete are one of those couples that so obviously belong together...they make you believe in real, wonderful, happy love.

#2 It was the first time all of our college friends had gotten together in 6 years!

#3 I got to leave my surgery rotation for a few days and be reminded of how many wonderful people and places there are in the world.

The day before the wedding we spent some quality time getting nails done, picking up the marriage license, putting together favors, and setting up the tables.

Don't worry, my next post will be entitled "Why Tammy should be a wedding planner" with all the wonderful little details of the wedding.

In Britain, they don't do formal rehearsal dinners, so after the rehearsal, we had a ladies dinner, which was pretty rocking since not all of us make it to the hen do (aka bachelorette party).

Some more friends arrived...more reunions...and possibly some tears. :)

Morning of the wedding we were up early to get all prettified.
They were geniuses, taking us from this:

and this...

to this!
(the girl on the left was like our personal beauty manager...spray tans: check!, nails: check!, makeup: check!)

We went back to the Mill, shimmied ourselves into dresses, sipped champagne, laced, clipped, zipped, and buttoned the beautiful bride into her dress, and took photos with the photographer (which I can't wait to see!).
We also got to watch everyone arrive, including the groom to which Tammy remarked:
"Ooo, he looks fit!" (aka attractive)
I hope I say that on my wedding day.

The ceremony was beautiful and perfectly them:

*Pete was crying as soon as the music started.
*Pete was so worried about not saying "with God's help, I will" instead of just "I will" that he said it at the wrong time.
*Pete and the preacher made jokes during the ceremony.
*In Britain, they sign the marriage certificate during the ceremony, and Tammy surprised Pete by having one of his good friends play and sing "You are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne while they were signing. Pete cried again.
* I loved that at the end of homily the preacher said that he hoped their love would continue to be an inspiration to people. Because that's exactly what it is.

Oh, I also backed into the standing candelabra during the ceremony, which dumped hot wax all over my back! Luckily none got on the dress, but it took all my self control not to yell in the middle of the ceremony and Sarah had to scrape the wax off my back before we recessed back down the aisle. Ha. So graceful, this one.

After the ceremony, more professional photos.
So can't wait to see them!

If you ever get married in Northern Ireland, check out Sarah Fyffe Photography.
She was great, even if she did just refer to me as "the tall one".

This is just a photo of Meeshpups getting the party started,
because that's what happened next.

Mr. & Mrs. Gilpin!

The lovely bride at the best meal I have ever eaten in Britain. For serious.
I would also like to give the shout out that Pete gave one of the best speeches I have ever heard during dinner.

As darkness fell after dinner, we ventured outside to set off sky lanterns.

So pretty!
This one really looks like a fire bird, doesn't it??

Then the party really started.
Sophie and Meesh demonstrating how the photographer kept wanting us to stand.
Hip out!
Nailed it!

First dance!
True love!

Impromptu wedding party circle around the bride and groom. Why not?!

This little guy was the ringbearer and allstar dancer of the night.
I'm pretty sure he made his rounds with all the ladies.
Stud.

This is the first time Neil has gotten Steph to dance in 4 years of dating.
I told you it was a special day.
Also, can you guys get married next? Kthanks.

Crazy dancing!

4th year flatmate love.

Cutting the cake, which the mother of the bride made and the bride iced! For realz.

They also had jars of candy.
(Marissa and Jenna, take note.)

A damn fine lookin' bunch of rugby girls if I do say so myself.

Impromptu scrum for old times sake.

Line out too. No big deal.

This couple knows how to get down.
Exhibit A: the bride

Exhibit B: the groom

The ladies at the end of the night.

Sadly I had to leave at 8am the next morning.
But it was all so worth it.
I couldn't be happier for the Gilpin's!
And it was amazing to see everyone.

October Highlights!

Prepare for an onslaught of photo happiness!
I realize we're WELL into November, but it took me a while to download so.many.photos!

We kicked off October with a party.
Like a college party.
With a keg.
And flip cup.
And a late-night dance party.
Clearly we do not do this often.
It was fun.

These ladies wore this to the party. So I guess it was a little more chill than a college party.

The boys stepped it up. Matt wore his wolf shirt. Big night.

[Me picking up a new first year friend to drive him to the party.]
P: Oh, is it the theme party??
[pause]
Me: Ha, no. This is just what I wear on a Friday night.
[pause]
Me: Wait, what would the theme be??
P: I don't know...Ke$ha?
Ouch.

Dance party finest.

Best thing to do the day after a party?
Go to a Ciderfest!

Incredible Farmhouse burgers.
Unlimited cider samples.

Hayrides!

Did you see the sky today. Talk about blue!
(Bonus points for naming that movie)

Unlimited pie samples!

It was a gorgeous day, so we hung out in the orchards for a while.

We leapfroged.

Lounged. In apple trees. Don't be jealous.
Ok, you can be jealous.

Dangled.

Pie + overalls + oversized tires. So happy!

To round out an all-star weekend, we went on a sunrise hike!
This entailed waking up at...

3:15am.
Not a typo.

These were the smart ones with functional headlamps.
Those of us without light walked in between these generous light-sharers.

We hiked Hunger Mountain, which was about an hour and half up with an awesome rock scramble up the last part.

And when we got to the top we saw
THIS!!!!

For some reason, I really wasn't prepared for how strikingly beautiful it would be.
Oh, and cold. Very cold. So we huddled.

"...and I thought
how the sun

blazes

for everyone just
so joyfully
as it rises

under the lashes
of my own eyes, and I thought
I am so many!
What is my name?

What is the name
of the deep breath I would take
over and over
for all of us? Call it

whatever you want, it is
happiness, it is another one
of the ways to enter
fire."
Mary Oliver

Banzai!
Welcoming the sun.

It was so worth waking up at 3am.

Post-hike. Pre-amazing, post-hike breakfast!

Then this girl had a birthday with the best theme ever:
Glam + Potluck of her favorite foods

Luckily for us her favorite foods include bacon wrapped scallops, fettuccine alfredo, and ribs.

And this was the weekend Matt was in town!
We so glam.

We so glam, at karaoke!

That's right.

The Giant Pumpkin Regatta!

Where people race in Lake Champlain in giant hollowed out pumpkins.
In other words, amazingnessrightbeforeyoureyes.
Can you spot the dragon and viking lady?!?!

Puff the magic dragon takes an early lead.

A battle starts mid-race.

The new objective: tackle other people out of their pumpkins.

Objective accomplished!

So many great party themes in October.
This beauty:
Mix viewing Madonna's Immaculate Collection DVD
+
Dressing up as a Madonna in one of the videos
+
Some fun, hilarious women
=
Awesome.

Erica's Birthday celebration!
We sent her on a scavenger hunt around town to find her present (a guitar!),
Followed by a Southern potluck dinner.

Fried okra via chopsticks!

Sampling aaaaaaamazing jalapeno, goat cheese hush puppies!

Mint iced tea in mason jars.

Pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, creamed corn, cajun fettuccine alfredo, veggie gumbo...delicious.

Imaginary double dutch. Always a crowd pleaser!

Pasciullo sisters know what's up!

Amazing women from all points of the birthday girl's life...sister, high school, college, med school...

After the party, I crawled into bed with my friend Annie and woke up 2 hours later at 4:30am to my alarm.
Annie: Where are you going?
Me: The airport.
Annie: The airport?
Me: Yep.

So that I could fly home for the wedding of my wonderful friend from high school!
Isn't his wife gorgeous?

The high school boys.
Love this picture.
Especially the groom's white man overbite.
Nice work, gentlemen.

Hey-oh!
Dance party!

Sexy Ho!
(Don't worry, it's her nickname...)

I'm pretty sure I stated this after a couple of glasses of champagne, but I wanted to publicly say that I am so glad my guy friends married such amazing women.
Not that I'm surprised.
I'm just glad I get to be friends with them now too.

The stunning couple just before they retired for the night.

Oh but the weekend didn't stop there folks!
Next morning I drove to Athens to watch my sister (this one) play soccer for UGA.
The best part of that drive:
Getting a voicemail from my friend in Burlington who didn't know I was home saying he hoped I was enjoying the cold, rainy Sunday, as I drove with the windows down. 85 and sunny.

Proud big sisters.
(p.s. Check out that crowd! It was packed!)

Family dinner post-game. Mexican food. Obvi.

We called our missing sister, the one who lives in Zambia, from here:

M: Hey! We're heading out to celebrate Independence Day!
Me: Oh, awesome! Independence from who?
M: [pause] England? [pause] I'm not sure...[pause] Let me check. [pause]
Yep, England.

Family picture in our pseudo-matching outfits which we trotted around town in all day. Hilarious.

Sisters at a post-game party.
(We left a seat for you Marissa!)

Back to Burlington,
our friend Mark & Annie got us in the mood for Halloween by hosting a
Butternut Squash soup eating,
Caramel Apple making,
The Shining watching
party.
Yep.
October breeds great theme parties.

I'm proud to say I wasn't the most scared person watching the movie.
Not even the second most scared!
That was definitely a first.

Annie makes studying the kidney pretty.
I just had to share.
And to note that we successfully completed learning the heart, lungs, and kidney during October also.
Not all fun and games, my friends, not all fun and games.

1st years vs. 2nd years Flag Football game!
Undefeated 2 years running!

I played! (And I didn't tear my LCL this year, Mom & Dad. :) )

Touchdown!

Erica is fierce. Don't mess.

I had to include this picture because it sums up happiness for me:
Making Halloween costumes with my friends,
waiting for pizza to arrive,
having just finished a course,
and won a flag football game,
covered in mud,
wearing a PBR headband.
Why? What does happiness look like to you?

For Halloween, we went out celebrating this guy's birthday.
The theme was gangster.
I think they nailed it.

Later we met up with everyone who had gone to the official Halloween party.
These are the costumes we made!
Characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Click here to see how awesomely close their costumes were.

The ladies: Gangster, Toph, Maple Tree, Gangster, and Katara

The rest of the weekend was spend hibernating from the cold and rain.
Drawing.
Watching movies.
Painting nails.
Making pumpkin cookies.
Reading Real Simple and Vogue.
Perfection.

Look, Mom, we used the cookie cutters!

I used this recipe.
They approved.

Yay October! What a month!?!