White Wedding

Speaking of Big Fat Italian Affairs, on Saturday my cousin Raymond married Erica. 

Actually, if I'm keeping it real, his name is really Little Ray.

Not to be confused with Little Bobby or Little Tommy, two other cousins of mine.

And definitely not to be confused with Uncle Ray, Uncle Bob, or Uncle Tom, all uncles of mine. 

Do other families do that?  Call the Jr. "Little"?  I think it might just be us.  Well, in Little Ray's case, he's really Ray the Third.  Because my grandfather was Ray...but we didn't call my Uncle Ray, Little Ray--oh no.  You know, this is one of those conversations that I'm going to go ahead and save for when I'm with my cousins because something tells me that this might only be interesting to them.  In fact, this may not even be interesting to them.  This may only be interesting to me.  So, I'm stopping.  Back to the wedding!

Raymond's father, my Uncle Ray, died a few years ago.  Although they lost their dad when they were much younger than I was when I lost my mom, I feel like I have a special bond with Raymond and his siblings because of what we have in common and have been through.

Here is a picture of my Aunt Abbe and my cousins Stacey and Evan, Raymond's siblings.

I am the oldest of 11 grand kids on my mom's side.  Here are three of the four female cousins.  My cousin Ronelle is missing from this picture, probably because she was busy taking 298 pictures that night. 

TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT.  And she wasn't the hired photographer for the event or anything.  I have horrible forgot-to-suck-it-in-dancing pictures to look forward to being tagged in on Facebook thanks to Ronnie's 298 pictures of the blessed event.

We are not this bronze. 

It's just that "Auto Correct" is a horrible feature on Microsoft Picture Manager.

Also, I think my hairdresser went a little too short with the bangs, no?

I had an awesome time at this wedding, and loved seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I wish we could get together more often, and I treasure the times that we do. 

Thanks for a great night, Ray and Erica.  Have an awesome time in Bermuda!

OK, I DEFINITELY think she went too short with the bangs.

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Whirlwind Weekend

I had quite a weekend.  It could take a few days to cover it all.  Let's start with Friday, shall we?

My brother Marco and his fiancé Nelly marched on down to City Hall and got themselves married.

It was a joyous occasion, and I wish Marco and Nelly all the best.

Adriana and I were the witnesses, and of course we took our jobs very seriously.

Yes, that's gum in my mouth.

A wedding is not gonna keep this fist from pumping.

Now, this was my first City Hall wedding, and it was a lot like the ones I've seen in movies and on TV.

My wedding was more of a Big Fat Italian Affair, and this one was more of an intimate one.  Both so very different but both are just as meaningful to the ones involved.

Congrats, guys.  Keep control of the triggers. 

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Life, in list form

1) We are moving right along w/r/t potty training. Over the weekend we had a couple of very good days, so underpants were purchased. And then Tuesday was not a good day, and so now three pairs of Tinkerbell underpants are sadly sitting on top of the laundry pile. We are firmly in that “must have diapers, pull ups, underpants, wipes, and toilet paper ready at every given moment stage.” This is not really a fun stage, huh?

2) We are gearing up for a trip to Myrtle Beach. Greg’s parents live there so we're going for a visit. Traveling makes me nervous to begin with, and traveling with a toddler makes me psychopathic. Even though we are not vacationing in the Congo, I have this feeling that if I forget to pack something very important there is no way we will be able to get it once we are at our destination. Which is bananas, I know, but I can’t help it. As a result I have made 14 lists of things that I need to bring. My lists of necessary items take up more room than said items.

3) Someone needs to tell my face that it’s not perched upon the neck of a 14 year old. Adult acne, like potty training, is not a fun stage.

4) I have two weddings to attend this weekend. Which means that I will be spending more time in Spanx than I really prefer to. This also means that at some point I must get thee to a pedicurist.

5) I don't know what happened to the layout on the blog.  Apparently, it's disappeared.  Seeing as it took me approximately 3 months to get the former layout on the blog, I don't think that you should hold your breath that I'll be able to get a new one on here post haste.  Hope you like green.
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