They say it’s rare to make good friends after college– like really truly life long friends. If that’s true, I’m one lucky girl. I didn’t find just one friend, I found a whole group. And I got to see many of them this weekend when we were in Pittsburgh celebrating one of our favorite couples– Liz and Tony.
On Friday morning we left Arabella and Baxter with my parents and headed to Pittsburgh. I met the girls for nail appointments in Shadyside and Jarmon hunkered down at a coffee shop and worked. It was a fun start to Liz’s wedding weekend (for me, anyway!). We drank champagne and talked about all of the fun to come.
Our nails were finished quicker than expected, so we shopped a bit on Walnut Street before heading to our lunch reservations at Girasole. I’m always amazed at the number of people “lunching” on weekdays in Chicago (a luxury I enjoy often thanks to my unusual work schedule)– and I was even more amazed at the number of people lunching on a Friday in Pittsburgh. The place was packed and we had an excellent meal, per usual.
After lunch Mandy and I made an emergency stop at Banana Republic to pick up a pair of khakis for Jarmon to wear to the rehearsal dinner. Then we headed to the hotel to check-in. (Jarmon was going to meet us there later to save time). Unfortunately, our check-in did not go as planned. Our reservation– which I made over the phone and distinctly remember confirming the days of– was wrong in the hotel’s system. The hotel staff was extremely rude and basically told us to come back the next day. We were already running late for the rehearsal dinner and didn’t have time to find another place to stay. Luckily, Mandy and Will were standing there and offered for us to crash with them. So we had a little slumber party Friday night– the shining moment of which was me pumping in the corner of the room while poor Will inevitably felt horribly uncomfortable. #ThanksOmni
ANYWAY. We met in the lobby about 20 minutes later and took an Uber to St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland for the rehearsal. It was incredibly organized and very obvious that the ceremony on Saturday was going to be perfect.
After rehearsal, we headed to dinner at Casbah. The food was excellent. I thought the salmon was especially good. The pasta– chosen because pasta fest at Casbah is one of Liz and Tony’s favorite date nights– was also on point. When we got back to the hotel we had a few drinks in the lobby and called it a night.
Saturday was all fun from morning until night. Mandy and I hit Starbucks before heading to the bridal suite for hair and makeup.
Thank goodness for Mary steaming our dresses, which were VERY wrinkled from traveling in our suitcases.
We took some photos in the beautiful floral robes Liz bought for us before eating lunch and slipping into our dresses.
Once everyone was ready we took some photos in the bridal suite and by a fountain across the street from the hotel.
The ceremony and reception were both beautiful. The reception was at Oakmont Country Club. I had been there a few times for work, but never socially. It was cool to be there for fun. Liz and Tony got to take some spectacular photos on the golf course. The bridal party was in a few of them too. It was fun to see everyone piling into golf carts in their evening wear.
After the reception we headed back to the Omni where we partied late into the night.
Jacqui gets the VIP award for finding a pizza place that was still open (Cafe Milano) and ordering enough for all of us.
Jarmon and I didn’t do too bad for two old parents– still smiling at 2am!
On Sunday morning, we attended the farewell brunch before hitting the road back to Mt. Pleasant to see Baxter and Arabella.
Weddings are (almost) always fun, but they are especially fun when it’s one of your very best friends getting married. Getting to see good friends start their happily every after is a very special treat.
The photos in this post were all taken by me. Why take so many photos you ask? When I got married, some of my most favorite photos were taken by guests on their cell phones. Perhaps most notably, Jarmon’s sister’s mother in law (not sure how to simplify that). She took hundreds of photos during my wedding weekend and I cherish every one of them. My photographer was wonderful, but Diane caught things the photographer never could have. I’ll never be as good as Diane, but I do try to pay it forward by taking photos that I might want to have if I were the bride. I always hope amateur photos will be as special to others as they were to me.
Oh and in case you were worried what Arabella and Baxter were doing while mom and dad had so much fun– they were getting spoiled rotten by DD and MJ. Weekend activities included, but were not limited to– a visit from Uncle Larry and Aunt Marge, a visit from cousins Pammy and Debbie, a visit from neighbors Lisa and Ellie, endless time in the jumper, countless new toys and games of fetch AND Arabella’s first parade (the Glass Festival parade… where I’m told she also enjoyed her first taste of a snow cone). This was our first time legitimately away from Arabella overnight– and we all rocked it.
When Jarmon and I got back to Mt. Pleasant we got a visit from another neighbor whose mother I went to high school with. She brought us a giant pink bunny for Arabella that was printed with her name and birthday on it’s huge floppy ears. I was a little concerned about how we were going to get it back to Chicago on the plane (after all, we were traveling with a baby, a dog and a large evening gown) and jokingly suggested that maybe it should be Arabella’s special stuffed animal to look forward to at DD and MJ’s house. MJ put an end to that idea quickly telling me she would charge us rent if we left it behind, ha! So we carried it on the plane– and I’m so glad we did. Arabella LOVES it and so do we.
Trina Orlando 