Run now. Beer later: August 2011

It's FINALLY time for my summer wedding recaps. This summer johnny and I had the pleasure of attending not only one but two fabulous weddings. Both weddings were unique and perfect for each couple.

* I would like to include a disclaimer that there are no food pictures in this post because I wanted to focus on the celebration of love. With that being said both weddings had INCREDIBLE food and thank god for silk dresses because they provide plenty of room for cake :)

Aaaron and Amy, wedded bliss in a secret garden

Johnny and I arrived at the botanical garden a bit early. He has never been and it was the perfect opportunity to take photos and pick out our favorite flowers :)

Look at that handsome man, his date must be one lucky gal.

If you think its a good idea to take a picture of yourself sitting on top of a bronze tortoise thing again, it was EXTREMELY hot!

Love is in the air.

Okay, okay enough of us and onto the real love birds...

They rode into the garden on a tandem bike for two instantly bringing tears to my eyes.

Aaron and Amy wanted to keep their neptuals small and intimate. She wore a stunning cream colored dress with a black bow. Aaron wore a matching cream shirt with slacks in essense they both looked perfect for a cool sunday afternoon ceremony.

Aaron and Amy held a quaint, casual, country style wedding in Steamboat's botanical garden. The botanical garden is a gorgeous place to get married with everything from its beautiful blooming flowers to grass lawn next to a pond.

After the vows we headed over to the reception area to enjoy speeches, dinner, cake and dancing.

I know I promised not to show pictures of food but their wedding was catered by Rex's and had the most incredible mac 'n cheese ever (it had bacon)!

I might have received a few glares when I went back for thirds, fourths, fifths... I think if they had a scale for my plate it would have weighed 3 lbs but thats what weddings (Thanksgiving and the Superbowl) are for.

Once we had full bellies it was time to boogie down. Even though I haven't been to too many weddings this was the FIRST wedding that include hula hooping.

We had a blast and feel so honored to have been invited to share in their special day.

Kevin and Jessica, a fairy tale wedding in Vail

I feel it is my duty to show (tell) you the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In this case the truth is my hair is stickily straight and gains the little curls I attempt with the help of old lady curlers. In honoring the truth I am forced to show you this silly photo of myself on the car ride to Vail. In my defense Johnny was an usher for their wedding and we had to rush from work to Vail so I worked my magic in the car.

While I sat in my curlers Johnny drove us as fast as he could to Vail. Once we got to Vail we had an incredible dinner at Campo de Fiori, it was a huge coincide that their rehearsal dinner happened to be at one of our favorite vail restaurants. As promised I did not take photos but was extremely pleased with my dinner :)

One of the greatest parts about weddings is getting to see long lost friends like Andy and Angela. Andy and Johnny met when they were in pull-ups and have been friends ever since. I met Angela through Andy and simply adore her. It's truly wonderful when we get time to catch up with old friends.

In case you are wondering Angela is holding up the money clip Kevin gave Johnny as an usher gift. I love that idea it was engraved with his initially and that way Johnny can carry a piece of them with him everyday!

After an amazing night of dinner, dancing and catching up with old friends it was time to head to bed because Johnny had a very important job to do...

In Johnny's words "he was made to wear suits." He looked amazing :) In my opinion he had the third most important job of the day (aside from the couple and the priest) to make sure that no one walked down the isle before the ceremony.

When he caught me trying to sneak down the isle (yeah right) he made this face

It looks like he successfully completed his job. Congratulations to Kevin and Jessica, may your marriage be long and joyful filled blessings, love and laughter.

We took a few photos outside of the church before heading to the reception.

As soon as we found our table I reached into my purse to take a picture of the adorable name holders. Each person had a tiny pair of wooden skis to hold their name tag to fit into the ski town theme.

Jessica told me that she and her mom did all of the wedding details without a planner! I must commend her because they did a fantastic job and the reception was absolutely breathtaking.

Photo opp time....the handsome groomsmen Andy (redhead), Andy H (the big guy) and Greg (franchise).

Notice the differences between the before and after. In the before its light out and Andy Hill is yet to give his best man speech, in the after the sun has gone down and its time to celebrate with the bride and groom.

May your love be as endless as the circle of your wedding rings.

This weekend Johnny and I made the hour and a half drive to his parents condo in Copper. On Sunday I competed in my first triathlon (post coming soon) and we figured we would make a weekend out it. After sitting in the car for what seemed like forever I was famished, surprise-surprise. I used Johnny's fancy iphone to yelp search restaurants in Frisco and came up with the "Lost Cajun," it had received 4 stars and sounded like a little piece of southern heaven in the middle of a Colorado ski town.

From the outside it looked quaint with its log cabin exterior and cozy picnic tables. After finding a seat at a table outside we were presented with the menu and two samples of red beans with rice and crawfish etouffee. It was refreshing to have samples before choosing what to order.

After the log drive I decided to order a glass of white wine and was surprised to find the plastic cup it came in. I know it was a laid back atmosphere but the wine tasted like it came from a box (not that I had a problem drinking it but it tasted like freshmen year of college).

After being disappointed with the wine I felt very flustered to say the least of what to order. I asked the waitress if they had a salad because everything on the menu was fried and her response was "we have coleslaw."I do love fried food but was in the mood for something a bit lighter.

Johnny's interpretation of my indecisiveness....

Since Johnny knew it would take me awhile to decide what to order he followed suit and ordered an Abita, a Louisiana beer, that they poured into a paper cup (odd).

We bravely decided to test our luck with the fried shrimp po-boy and seafood gumbo.

The food failed in its photographic appeal and taste.

The gumbo was EXTREMELY salty and almost inedible. I was brave enough to try the potato salad which tasted like it came from the grocery store pre-made display. Honestly, I was very unimpressed to say the least. I stole a couple of bites of Johnny's shrimp po-boy and french fries. Both of which were salty but made a little better with ketchup (the universal problem solver).

After being thoroughly disappointed we made the executive decision to head down the street to Vinny's one of our favorite restaurants for a recovery drink. We left so fast that johnny left his sunglasses and we had to get them the next day if thats any indication of how we felt about about our dining experience.

Since Sunday was race day we decided to enjoy the breath taking view from his parents condo and grill out on Saturday night.

The gorgeous view makes me feel so fortunate and lucky to live in such a beautiful place (it's okay if it makes you a little jealous ;)

His parents bought the condo when he was eight and he has had the pleasure of riding the super bee lift ever since.

Sometimes the most amazing meals come out of simple ingredients. Considering we were leaving in the morning we didn't want to buy too many ingredients. The perfect solution to getting your veggies and CHEAP.....salad in a bag!