Wedding Weekend in NYC

What a fabulous 4 days we had in New York. Anthony and Josh's wedding could not have been more perfect. It was beautiful. It was fun. It was awesome. I wasn't prepared with how emotional I would be during the ceremony. Luckily, a squirrel distracted me and I saved myself from being a blubbering mess. More on the squirrel later. Hang on....here we go..........

Maggie, Coco and I arrived on Thursday afternoon. We wasted no time in getting down to business. Wine and cocktails, of course. Bottle of red. Bottle of white.......sing it with me. Love me some Billy Joel.

Thursday wasn't about Anthony and Josh. It was about this special lady - my MOM!! We celebrated her 60th birthday on Thursday evening with a cocktail party at Anthony and Josh's apartment building. Lots of friends, lots of booze and lots of fun! This gift from one her best friends is so appropriate. She knows us well. I love it.

After cocktail hour(s), we all split up and went to dinner at various places. Several of us headed straight to Kefi - one of our favorites. Mediterranean food. Delicious. Laid back. Coco's favorite. No pictures of the meal. Sorry.
After a great dinner, we met up with Anthony and Josh and his friends. They picked the bar and of course, we had a blast. It was so much fun! Awesome music. And then they started a drag show with some crazy, funny entertainment. I'm probably not using the correct terminology (drag???). That's Tina Turner up there on stage, I think. Or maybe it was Pat Benetar. I can't remember. All I know is that it was hilarious. And fun. So fun that we stayed out til 3am. WHAAT??

The next morning, we weren't feeling so hot. But we bucked up, ate lunch and went down to see the 9/11 Memorial. Or tried to. The actual Memorial tour is sold out until mid-November. So....just in case you're thinking about going to NYC to see that - book ahead and plan. We did not. Therefore, we saw lots of construction. Just being down there is pretty surreal. There are lots of plaques and memorials all over the streets. It's sad. Ten years later and it still made me cry.

The new tower going up - it's going to be bigger and better.

 See that church in the background? As the towers were crumbling, people were running for cover into that church. This cemetery withstood it all. And so did the church. Some of these tombstones date back to the early 1800's. Pretty cool. And if you know Coco....you know she's fascinated by cemeteries. Maggie likes this kind of stuff too. They're two peas in a pod, I tell ya. 

 One of the many memorials....

Okay -- on to brighter things. The "rehearsal dinner" was on Friday night. We would've missed it had my aunt not informed us that it started at 5pm. For some reason, I thought it was 7.30. Don't ask. We made it and enjoyed some margaritas and mexican food!

 The 3 siblings....

 Josh, Shannon and Anthony - Shannon and Anthony used to live together until she flew the coop to move across country to L.A.  - she's responsible for all of my Chan Luu jewelry. I love her. 

 Josh's dad giving his toast. Both of Josh's parents gave very moving toasts. Sweet and funny.

Erin, me and Courtney  - not sure where Mags was??? Taking the picture, I bet.

We planned to go home and go to bed early on this night, but we ended up drinking wine at the apartment until 2am. We solved the world's problems for sure. I think we covered every subject out there. No joke. And then we had the BEST turkey sandwiches EVER....according to Maggie and Courtney. Maybe I wasn't drunk enough??? 

On Wedding Day, I had to be in hair & make-up at 3pm. That sounds super fancy, doesn't it?? Well, it was. Anthony arranged for the hair and make-up guru's at Good Morning America to make us beautiful.

See?? Here was our room. Right next door to Robin Roberts dressing room. 

Patrick doing Mom's hair

 Handsome boy.

The grooms bellying up to the bar before the ceremony - cold feet?? I don't think so. These two were the happiest I think I've ever seen them. 

Anthony and I 

 The grooms and me! 

The ceremony was in Madison Square Park. It's hard to put into words how awesome it actually was. Austin and I stood up with Anthony, so I don't have any pictures of the actual ceremony, but I hope to get some once the professional pics come in. There were probably around 150-175 people. There were also strangers standing outside the park by the fence - taking pictures and videos. People were crying. People were cheering. It was just incredible. Anthony and Josh's previous roommate and friend, Carrie officiated the ceremony and did a wonderful job. 

She was funny and she made it personal. That's the best kind of wedding! 

As we left the park, Anthony and Josh had baskets of noise makers for everyone. We all grabbed one and did a "Wedding March" to the reception place. Try and picture 150+ people walking along the streets of Manhatten with nosie makers - let me help you - People were honking and screaming Congratulations!!! out their windows. People were high fiving Anthony and Josh as they walked. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. It was so nice to see people ACCEPTING this MARRIAGE. 

And being genuinely happy for them as a couple. 

We arrived at the reception site and the real party began. They wanted it to be casual and lots of fun. They chose one of their favorite spots in NYC and reserved the downstairs room. Good food. Great music. Lots of booze (again) and wonderful friends and family!

Mason jars filled with flowers and tied with twine

The cake - they also served mini pumpkin pies (Josh's favorite) and several other bite sized desserts.

That's my bouquet over to the left - Gorgeous and modern.

Anthony and Josh making their entrance --- love the TEXAS flag behind them. You couldn't wipe the grins off their faces. 

The party began with a country music band - they were great...though I don't think these New Yorkers really appreciate country music :) 

Austin wasted no time in grabbing a pretty girl to dance. The kid's got game! 

Lots of dancing - and this was before the DJ even started. 

Steve and my Dad wanted a picture with some pretty ladies - this was after several Scotch's :) 

 And of course, Austin had to jump in. Pretty ladies?? Austin is always right there. 

Look at him with his thumb up. We're trying to get him to break out of his shell. It's difficult.

 Goofiness

 Family pic!

Josh and Anthony got up on stage to thank everyone - Still smiling.

And then the real toasts began. Austin.....of course. You know how he loves to make toasts. 

The funniest part was - my mom told Austin to make it short and sweet. Only 2 sentences.

He did his 2 sentences and got a huge round of applause, so that opened the gates for more talking. About 5 minutes later....he decided he was finally finished. 

And then Miss Lara gave the greatest toast of all times. Everyone was crying because they were laughing so hard. She has such a way with words. I wish I could remember some of the one liners she threw out because they were great! I know someone has to have the whole thing on video. If I get my hands on that, I'll post it......fo sho!

I guess Maggie and I both forgot to pick up the camera for the rest of the night and the trip because that's where the photos end. Let me assure you - we danced the night away. I've never seen my dad dance so much. I don't think any of us left the dance floor until the DJ quit. So much fun!! 

We were all sore the next day. I seriously had shin splints. 

I was looking forward to the trip to NYC, but I don't think I realized how much fun it would be and how much I would enjoy watching Anthony and Josh start this new phase of their lives together. I'm so happy to welcome Josh into our family....I just hope he can handle it :) 

CONGRATS Anthony and Josh - I love y'all so much!!! 

Thank you for including me in such a special time in your lives.