Hallelujah! The England Recap Post

Hello blog world!

Finally, I am making time to do this. I'm ashamed that I haven't for the past couple weeks. I had an amazing trip to England, so it was difficult to say the least to choose just a hand full of pictures. I put it off while I jumped full force back into my internship while traveling back and forth to Charleston to get my apartment ready with my lovely roommates. Friday was my last day working for the Open Land Trust after working there for three summers! I'm going to miss everyone so much! My boss, Ann is literally the best mentor and role model ever. I only hope that I can find such an amazing internship in Charleston next summer--but I'm very optimistic :)

Anyways, back to my trip to England!

Of course we were there to relax and visit family. But one of the biggest reasons we were there was to meet my gorgeous baby niece (my third!), Kitty Alexandra.

adorable.

Meeting this sweet, little girl made my whole trip.

The second big reason for our trip was for my oldest sister, Lisa's wedding to her fiancé, Andrew! It was a small civil ceremony of 80 guests in the historic library of Dulwich College, a very prestigious British boys prep school.

very Harry Potter-esque, right?

My sissy planned the whole wedding herself, which I thought was very impressive. It was a very intimate and elegant affair.

This is my favorite picture of the beautiful bride

 My two older nieces (Meghan and Jessica) along with Andrew's niece were Lisa's flower girls. I was absolutely obsessed with Lisa's choice of color palette, which included glistening champagne and ivory with a pop of royal blue. 

the bouquets were rustic, yet sophisticated.

Lisa looked absolutely stunning in her ivory, handmade tea-length gown. She and Andrew were beaming. It was a truly beautiful ceremony. I was honored when Lisa asked me to read a passage during the ceremony. Being the Communications major that I am, I was more than confident with my public speaking abilities. After making it half way through the passage I looked over at Lisa and Andrew and saw how happy they were, and got completely choked up! I was so embarrassed, but the emotion was very sincere, so I couldn't be too mortified. After I took my seat my nieces were honestly very confused to see me crying. They kept patting my back and saying it was ok..so cute!

Here's a quick shot of what the sisters of the bride wore!

And a shot of all three girls with the father of the bride

...and let's not forget this precious baby!

 After the bride and groom made their exit, we made our way to the reception which was down the street in a very British pub called The Crown and Greyhound. We used the reception hall upstairs, where we wined and dined on the ultimate British fare. Guests were served Pims cocktails garnished with lots of fresh fruit with hors d'oeuvres, including this extraordinary creation...

 a pork pie inscribed with the bride and groom's names! (the pub did this without telling them, ha!)

Then tea was served! It was a traditional "cream tea", which consists of English, hot tea served with golden scones, clotted cream and jam. Tea time is one of my absolute favorite things about England.  A forth meal during the day dedicated to sweets? I'll take it. 

This is actually a picture I took of another tea time during our trip, but it was too perfect for this post.

After tea had been served, as we nibbled on our scones, it was time for the toasts. Flutes of champagne were passed around while my dear dad paid tribute to his oldest. Anyone who knows him also knows how loud and outgoing he is! But when it comes to his daughters, I think he gets a little nervous :) Despite his nerves, he graciously led the reception in toasting to the newly weds.

And finally, cake was served! The cake was made by one of Andrew's closest friends and it was handcrafted with such exquisite detail! It was light, delicious and perfect for this summer wedding.

Keeping with British tradition, Andrew and Lisa cut the cake with her grandfather's sword. I love this tradition--taking notes for my future wedding :)

 The wedding was such a beautiful event--full of so much love. It was also a great reason for our family to all come together, which isn't easy when you live on different continents!

So cheers to Andrew and Lisa!

Until next post...

Over the Pond

Hello hello!

This will have to be a quick post letting you all know that I am officially on my way to the United Kingdom! I'm so overwhelmed with excitement.

We are going to attend my oldest sister's wedding and to meet my baby niece! On top of that, I get to see all my family members from my mother's side as well as my middle sister and her children. It shall be quite the family reunion!

I'll try to post a few updates while I'm "over the pond", but you can definitely look forward to a elaborate British wedding post when I return.

Hope you all have a chance to take a little getaway of your own...

Cricket, Cricket

Hello darling readers,

I know it has been over a week since I've posted. I'm quite ashamed as usual. I tend to get caught up in working and then just laze around or hang out with friends and family. Honestly, most of the time my laptop is off in its case. I have an iPhone which almost eliminates the need for a computer on a regular basis. I can look at everything on my phone! But that is no excuse. 

I have lots of great pictures from Ben and Jill's wedding weekend, and I can't wait to share a few with you all! That will be my next post.. Maybe with a few pictures from Hunter's graduation and our trip to Florida! 

I'm pretty ashamed that I have yet to upload those pictures!! Next Thursday I'm going back to Florida for my final visit of the summer before Hunter moves much closer to me (4 hours closer to be exact!)

I feel like the summer is absolutely zooming by. In two weeks, I'm off to England for sixteen days. We are making the trek across the pond for my oldest sister's wedding, to meet my sweet baby niece (her name is Kitty Alexandra, how cute!) and to visit with both my mother's and father's sides of the family. It is going to be quite the family reunion.

And I'm sure I'll be able to make a little time for some London shopping :)

Pictures will be up soon!

Day 2

Hello everyone (or Hunter as soon as he becomes my first follower!),

I think I was expecting to have 100 followers as soon as I created this blog, but instead I'm going to have to be begging my loved ones to follow me or at least pretend to for a while, and I'm coming to terms with that.

Today I spent a lazy day at home, and I am still ignoring the piles of unpacked bags that I brought back from college 2 days ago. I should really get on that, but it's quite an undertaking. I think it's about that time for me to be doing a big spring..well summer cleaning. I need to go through my closet and PURGE it. So I can make room for the new things I plan to find at cute yard sales and thrift stores for my little house and closet for next year. I'm living with five (yes, five) other girls in a beautiful historic house in Charleston, South Carolina. I'm beyond excited for it!

I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself I should probably tell you a few things about myself:

• My mother is a wonderful, British lady and my father is a Kenya-born retired British Army man. And I was born in South-Williamson, Kentucky a little after they emigrated to America. Yay for first-generation Americans!
• We moved to beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina when I was a year and a half and I lived there until I was 18 years old.
• I have two older sisters, one who lives in Indiana, and the other in London. I also have three, absolutely beautiful nieces. I couldn't be a prouder Auntie!
• I stayed in the South, choosing to pursue an undergraduate degree at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, and I cannot get enough of the city. Hands down best place to live. A cosmopolitan city that maintains its Southern charm AND is right on the beach, doesn't get much better.
• I am studying Communication and minoring in Hospitality and Tourism, in hopes of becoming an event planner, specifically weddings.
• I became a tour guide at the College, because I love it so much and I can't resist anything that involves talking to new people. 
• I have some of the best friends someone could ask for, most of them stayed close, but one special gal moved to Pittsburgh. Separation anxiety is an understatement. 
• Oh yeah, I knew I was forgetting someone. I have a wonderful boyfriend of almost two years (if you count all the courting and what not) and his name is Hunter. We've also been long distance for the majority of that time, and it has been one of the most amazing, as well as difficult experiences of my life thus far, but in July we will be long distance no more! He's going to grad school in Charleston. With this guy, things always seem to fall into place. I couldn't be luckier. 
• I'm back in Beaufort for the summer working at my town's land conservation organization, and plan on spending my days reading Charleston Wedding magazine out in the sun, trying my hand at cooking and getting this blog up and running. Oh and a two-week trip to England to meet my newest niece and attend my sister's wedding! 

It should be quite a summer, and I'm so ready to see what the rest of this year brings me. I hope you guys will enjoy being along for the ride!

Here are a few pictures just in case you are curious:

And that's all for this post! Can't wait for my next, I can feel a blogging obsession forming...