Wedding Season

Wedding Season Has Officially Begun!

I have spent the last two weekends watching couples say "I Do". 

Wedding Weekend #1

The first wedding was for John (Chad’s brother) and Leah. The Rehearsal Dinner was on Saturday night at the Alabama Theatre. The theatre sign read “Congratulations Leah & John”!

The wedding was on Sunday at 5:30 at the Botanical Gardens. Rain was in the forecast but other than one loud thunder sound at the beginning of the ceremony, the weather held off until right after the sparkler send off as the bride and groom departed. The timing of the weather could not have been better! I’ve always heard it is good luck when it rains on your wedding day.

John’s Groom’s Cake was very creative and unique. He requested a Donut Tower and his mom molded the top donuts to read “I Do”. 

John and Leah make a beautiful couple and I can’t wait to spend more time with the Newlyweds!

The Rehearsal Dinner was May 5^th (CINCO DE MAYO) and I happen to LOVE HOLIDAYS!! A couple of my friends were in town and after the Rehearsal Dinner, Chad and I met them at Pablo’s to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. After Pablo's we went to the Back Nine to dance and hang out.

  

From left to right: Keri, Morgan, Lacey, Erin, Sushannah, random band guy that jumped in the picture, me, and Mellie

 From left to right at Back Nine after Pablo's: Chad, Jeff, me, Shelby, Sushannah, Erin, Keri, Chris, Morgan, Lacey, Mellie, Mike, Collin

 with Lacey

with Chad

Wedding Weekend #2

I had never been to Winston Salem so not only did I get to go to an amazingly planned wedding and reception, I also got to see some of Winston Salem. Chad and I flew into Greensboro last Friday and after a short 20 minute drive in a rental car we headed to downtown Winston Salem for dinner. I am a fan of Trip Advisor anytime we are going on a trip. I’ve learned you can’t just look at the number of stars beside each location; you also have to see how many reviews are written. One person saying something good about a place means nothing. How are you supposed to know it isn’t just the owner? After I searched Winston Salem Restaurants, I found a place called Foothills Brewing. 

I guess I should mention that I love doing wine and beer tastings (I can’t wait until BrewFest the first weekend of June). After reading more about Foothills Brewery, I learned it is the only local brewery in Winston Salem. Decision made! Once we arrived at the restaurant, we learned we were seated right where the Director of Mad Men had just been sitting. Clearly, I’m easily amused.  We ordered food and a Beer Flight to sample 6 of the beers brewed at Foothills.

I also ordered a Carolina Strawberry. I highly recommend this beer if you enjoy a fruity/different tasting beer. It’s like Strawberry Wine, but beer…

After dinner and drinks we went to one of the groomsmen’s houses and Chad was able to see lots of his friends from Samford. It was nice to meet several of his college friends and see a few that I already knew. Saturday morning we woke up and drove to Wake Forest University to run through campus. The university was already out for Summer Break and the campus was relatively empty. We followed another couple down a trail and ended up in Reynolda Village. Then on our way to see the Reynolda House and Gardens we found another trail and got to do some trail running. We ended up doing a little more trail running than we wanted. We thought the trail would come back out instead of just dead ending, this isn’t the first time we have been wrong. After finally making it back to the car, we headed back to 4^th Street which was downtown and our favorite street in Winston Salem. After checking back in with Trip Advisor we decided on Hutch and Harris. Chad went with a lunch special of breakfast food (toast, potatoes, eggs, sausage, and grits) and I had the salmon pita with sweet potato fries **if you are ever in Winston Salem, this is a MUST!! We sat outside and had a mimosa. The weather was perfect.

Wedding Time = 5:00

before the wedding with Chad and then with Amy

The wedding was beautiful and the groom’s dad performed the ceremony. The bride and groom are both from Winston Salem and now live in Houston. After the ceremony, we headed to the reception and were greeted with teas, a sushi bar, Mexican tapas, and glass bottled cokes with striped straws.

Everyone socialized while anticipating the arrival of the newlyweds and then it was time to head outside for dinner under the tents. With approximately 600 people in attendance, you can only imagine the size of the tent.

The ‘His’ and ‘Her’ Menus read:
His – Mushroom Ravioli with Marinara and French Bread, Fish and Chips in a Cone with Ketchup, Hot Sauce, and Tarter and Vinegar
Her – Mini Chicken Pot Pies, Roasted Vegetables, Beef Tenderloin Medallions

Every layer of her cake was a different flavor – Oreo, Strawberry, Coconut, Vanilla, Chocolate, and it was all iced in buttercream. Like John, Christian also opted for a “cakeless” Groom’s cake. Christian’s “Groom’s Cake” was a milkshake bar (chocolate, vanilla, and/or Oreo).

The band/mini-orchestra was very entertaining and we had a great time dancing.

After the sparkler send-off we headed back downtown to Finnigan’s which is an Irish Pub. 

Below is a picture of a few of the girls at Finnigan’s.

Our flight Sunday was not until 2 which gave us enough time to stop by Old Salem and Salem College before heading back to the airport.

I enjoyed two back to back wedding weekends, but I did miss seeing my mom over Mother’s Day and I am super excited about mom, dad, and Millie coming to Birmingham tomorrow! I'm truly blessed to have such a fun and loving family. Here we are on Christmas Day!

Athens & the Aegean Tour

I just got back from ... GREECE!! It was my first trip to Europe and I had an amazing time. A group of 33 of us flew from Atlanta to Paris and then to Greece! Needless to say, DAY 1 was spent in the airport.

As soon as we got to Greece we checked in our hotel, headed to see the Acropolis, and then walked through Plaka (a district surrounding the Acropolis with lots of shops and taverns). We saw the Acropolis illuminated at night and during the day. We spent DAY 2 and DAY 3 in Athens.

We tried some typical Greek food (gelato, taziki, lamb, moussaka, baklava, giros) and ouzo which does taste and smell just like black liquorice.

Then we left for our cruise to the Greek Islands on the Louis Cristal.

 

Considering the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic happened while we were on our cruise, I was perfectly okay with practicing with my floatation device. 

DAY 5 - First stop of the cruise = Mykonos

All the houses are white with little blue, red or green windows. We went for a walk around town and saw Little Venice and the wind mills.

As beautiful as Mykonos was, it was my second favorite stop. You will see why soon.

Meanwhile - back on the boat we were taking place in several cruise boat activities. We learned some new Greek words in our Greek language class and here are a few I remember:

Good Morning = Kalimera
Good Evening = Kalispera 

Hello / Goodbye = Giassou

Efcharisto = Thank you (maybe it's a southern thing, but I definitely used this one the most)

Please / You are welcome = Parakalo

We also took a Greek dance class; my favorite was the Zorba. Then we helped the bartenders shake a few drinks.

 Day 6 - Mehaba (Hello in Turk)

Kusadasi, Turkey 

We woke up in the port city of Kusadasi. Right away we went to an excursion to Ancient Ephesus, this amazing ancient city is close to the river Meander.  The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

After lunch on board we got to the island of Patmos and saw lots of monasteries including the Monastery of Saint John. We enjoyed local pastries and once back on board we began getting ready for the Greek night.

Day 7 - Rhodes

Rhodes is the biggest island of the Dodecanese archipelago located in the South East Aegean sea. It is a medieval city founded by the knights of Saint John on their way back from Jerusalem. Rhodes has been famous since antiquity as the site of on of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Colossus of Rhodes.

That afternoon we left for the beach. The water was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Instead of sands the beaches there have stones that are definitely not soft on your feet. If we could take the water in Greece and the sand from the beaches in the gulf, we could have one PERFECT BEACH!!

The water was FREAKING FREEZING.

Then it was back to the boat for the Captain's Dinner

Day 8 - HAPPY SANTORINI DAY!! Yes, we were VERY EXCITED.

Day 8 - Crete and Santorini
We had two ports of call and we woke up in Heralkion, Crete. It is the third largest city in Greece. Most of us walked to the center to see the local market and we saw the fishermen fixing their nets on our way.

That afternoon we arrived in Santorini (my favorite stop of the entire trip and when you see the pictures you will know exactly why). The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions that occurred over 3,600 years ago and left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash. Santorini is the most amazing of all the islands because half of the island was destroyed due to the giant volcano that sits in the center of the caldera. Lacey and I took an excursion to visit Oia. Oia is the most picturesque village on the island of Santorini and it remains one of the foremost tourist attractions of the Aegean Sea. Maybe it was the blue roofs, but I think it was the white buildings and stone paths that made Oia seem so peaceful and relaxing.

Day 9 - Back to Athens

We left the Louis Cristal and from the port of Pireaus we drove to Cape Sounion. The drive was beautiful, close to the coast. We first stopped in a nice district named Glyfada where we got the opportunity to enter  a beautiful church dedicated to St Constantine and Saint Helen. We heard the Byzantin songs it was a great experience and everyone was getting ready for Greek Easter which would be in two days and one week after our Easter. After a break for coffee and some free time in Glyfada we continued to Cape Sounion to see the temple of Poseidon before heading back to Athens to check into the Golden City Hotel. 

 

Day 10 - We woke up and headed to the airport for 27 long hours of travel time!! Below is a photo of me and Lacey saying goodbye to Marianna. After experiencing Athens, the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Pireus port, Delphi, Mykonos, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Patmos, Heraklion in Crete, Santorini, Corinth, Cape Sounion, any many more places, I owe a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Smith and Explorica (especially Marianna) for all the planning. 

 I love traveling and can't wait to see what's next!! 

Giassou

xoxo