Happy Halloween!

I'm not much of a Halloween fan, but we went pumpkin-picking last night and I just couldn't resist this cute fat ol'pumpkin of a pug:)



See how nice and round our pumpkin is??


Hahaha...his hat was a little big:)


His ear kept getting lost in his hat! He's sporting a Van Gogh look here:)


I promise he only looks pathetic here, he really loved his costume:) It was a like a giant blanket!


Happy Halloween, Everyone ~ Hope you all have a very lovely and fun weekend!

Introducing...Megan & John McDonald!

This has taken me far much longer than I thought to post, so before more time passes I thought I better make good on my promise to post wedding photos from Megan and John's wedding in Chicago! So without any further delay, here's the beautiful couple and some details from the big day...

The ceremony was held in a gorgeous, historic building in the heart of Chicago:


Sealing it with a kiss:


Being introduced for the first time as husband and wife:


The beautiful bride:


The first dance:


The gals from Saguaro...hard to believe it's been over ten years since we've all been friends:


Last but not least, we managed to grab a photo with the Father of the Bride, Brad, who's been a close family friend all these years and was a gracious and wonderful host to everyone that weekend:


Congratulations again to Megan & John! We all had so much fun and can't wait to see what the years ahead hold for you both:) As a side note, this has been wedding season for us this month, so guess what??? More wedding posts are on their way! This last weekend marked the THIRD wedding we've been to in THREE weeks! WOW! What else will I blog about now that these weddings are over? My material is dwindling to say the least:) I have some fun ideas cooking...so stay tuned!

Chicago

A little over a week ago, Ty and I met up with Becky and my mom in Chicago for Megan and John's wedding. Since the wedding wasn't till Sunday, that gave us the weekend to pal around Chicago and have a mini-vacation of sorts. Though it was a packed weekend with wedding festivities and the time went by quickly, we all had a ton of fun!

Becky and I on the Riverwalk in Downtown Chicago:


Mom, Becky and Ty - You can see how bright the sun was here, not a single cloud in they sky the whole time we were there! AND it was over 80 degrees!


Me, Becky and Ty:


More of the same, but from a different view...I had to post this one because my Mom was so proud of herself for getting a boat on the river passing by while taking the pic! Way to go, Mom;)


Now it was Mom's turn for a pic with us...


Then finally, my favorite picture from that weekend...Ty was feeling the whole Chicago/Sinatra feel and decided the lamp-post made for a beautiful dance partner!


Stay-tuned for wedding pictures, they'll be up shortly!

A little shout-out to the Cooper's...

I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier! While we were walking around Old Town Monterey, we saw this little spot and had to snap a picture for Kelley and Patrick! You never told us you have your own museum and store ?!?!?! Clearly you're a big thing in Monterey:)

Montery, Pacific Grove, and Carmel...Part IV

Yikes! I did NOT realize how many blog posts this was translating into, but I guess I'm really making up for lost time here:) I promise we're almost done! On our last full day of our mini-vacation, Ty surprised me with a wine tour of the area we were staying. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun this was! They let you drink on the trolley and it's such a beautiful way to get another view of the beautiful countryside that area is home to.

BUT before I get too ahead of myself...after we got home from Carmel, we shared a glass of wine on our patio and that got Ty thinking..."Hmm...isn't the 51st Annual Montery Jazz Festival going on right now?" We looked and it was!!! So by the time we finished the bottle of wine, it was decided...we were going to the Jazz Festival! Who cares if it's 2.5 miles away! We'll walk and it will be fun:) (Note to all...walking back from a night at the Jazz Festival was not fun.)

Ty "thinking" about the Festival...


Once we decided to walk the 2.5 miles to the Jazz Festival, Ty and I realized we'd need a hearty dinner...so Taco Bell it was! I didn't want to take my purse, so Ty attached our camera like a holster to his jeans, so the rest of the night it was his pretend gun...here he is in Taco Bell showing me his moves:)


Another...we weren't satisfied with the first pic, cause his hand was blocking the "holster." Haha...yes, this is what we do when we're on vacation!


I was hungry...


Yay! We made it!


Waiting for one of the concerts to begin - and this was the last picture before our camera died! We were so bummed...guess we shouldn't have wasted so much time in Taco Bell taking dumb pictures:)


The next day, ready for our wine country tour:


One of the wineries we visited:


Proudly displaying our new purchases among MORE flowers!


Heading off for more wineries:


Yummy grapes:


At another winery:


Showing off the grapes...wow my hair was bad! It got super windy on the ride so what can you do?


Haha...Ty proudly showing off more of the vineyard, like he grew it or something:)


So apparently we took a lot of grape pictures...


After the trolley brought us back to Monterey, we went back to the Wharf to capture some final pictures right after the sunset...so pretty!


I love the clouds here:


And here...then it was time to say goodbye!


That's it!!! I think we're finally done with our trip pictures! It was such a great time and a beautiful place to check out, I can't recommend this area more, lots to do and see and very relaxing at the same time:) Hope you all enjoyed the pictures...we're heading to Chicago next week so stay tuned for another trip soon!

Montery, Pacific Grove, and Carmel...Part III

After our first day around Monterey, Ty and I decided to DRIVE and not WALK to check out more of Pacific Grove and Carmel. This was a wise move on our part and our feet were grateful!

Ty in Pacific Grove - I love love all the Cypress trees that grow in this area, so pretty!


On our way to Carmel, along one of the many beach/scenic stops we made...


We had to learn how to re-master the self-taken portraits with our new camera, it took a little work and this wasn't the best, but they got better as the day went on:)


More of the view - look how gorgeous and blue the water is!


Along the drive are all these pro golf courses - this is where Pebble Peach is and I would learn to be better at golf if I could play here:)


This is the "Lone Cypress" that grew on this rock out in the ocean and is over 250 years old.


This is the home that overlooks that view above...can you imagine? This house was just RIDICULOUS, seriously one of the biggest homes I've ever seen.


Carmel Beach - you can see how the golf course literally goes right up to the ocean, love it!


More of the golf course and the pretty homes...


Ty and I soaking up the sun on the beach, which was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to...perfection!


Waves...


One final pic before we started back on our scenic drive.


After leaving the beach we drove up into the hills, and this is what we saw:


More of the same...I was in love with the view here!


Alright - this ends Carmel! After our little excursion we headed back to Monterey where we spent the last day of our trip. I have a few final pics from the rest of our trip that I'll try and post later, but they aren't nearly as beautiful as this last bunch...but they're pretty comical! Stay tuned...