Congrats, Joe & Nadia

The pictures are a little late, but last weekend we traveled to Canada to watch my cousin, Joe, marry his long-time girlfriend, Nadia. They were a stunning couple — the few blurry pictures here certainly don't do them justice.

We drove up to Crystal Beach on Friday and spent the evening with Marty and his parents. After walking along the water Marty made a fantastic dinner and we settled in for some good conversation with John and Pat, his parents. It was just as this conversation was winding down that I realized I have made the first major packing disaster of our marriage. I'm a very meticulous packer, which is why I usually pack for both Heath and I. As a testament to the fact that I may be losing my mind, I packed heath several shirt and tie options, remembered his belt, shoes, black socks and several changes of clothes. The only thing I forgot? The suit itself!

Marty and John volunteered a couple of suits on hand, but they were either too short (think capris) or too big (think Ronald McDonald)...wasn't happening. I, of course, was mortified. Heath earned major husband brownie points by handling it quite well.

Our solution? We went to The Bay, a popular Canadian department store, and bought him a handsome suit first thing in the morning. We made it to the church just as my dad, aunt, sister and grandmother were parking. Thank goodness!

It was a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards, we headed to the Tolomeo house for some light refreshments and food before heading back to the hotel to change for the reception.

[the ceremony]




[drinks and snacks]








The reception was amazing. A real feat of Italian hospitality. In addition to a generous open bar, six-course dinner and dessert/pizza buffet rolled out around 11, music included both a band and a DJ as well as these fantastic party favors which are hard to describe here, but trust me...they were great.

It was wonderful to see all 310 guests get up to dance and celebrate with Joe and Nadia — even grandma couldn't stop dancing.









For those of you wondering, "What happened with the suit?" ... we returned it the next day after a lovely breakfast at Starbucks with my aunt. It was the perfect rent-a-suit.

On the way home, we stopped in Fremont to meet all of Susan's brothers who were at the lake for a family reunion. It was a wonderful opportunity to fill in some of the family puzzle pieces and enjoy at least a couple relaxing hours at the lake.

It was an awesome weekend! Big thanks go out to Megan for watching Violet while we were gone.