a Tucson adventure

Last week my family and I (minus Hank, he was on a business trip in Chicago), headed down to Tucson to celebrate my cousin Ryan's graduation from University of Arizona. It was so nice to head down to their neck of the woods for once. Aunt Pat is my Mom's sister and she and her husband, my Uncle Bob, have four boys. Before we even lived in Arizona we would come out to Tucson to visit them from NJ, and I have so many great memories of when we were all so young- visiting Old Tucson, Mt. Lemmon, desert adventures, and lots of laughs. Whenever we all get together I can't help but think about how neat it would be to have four boys. Originally I wanted a girl at some point, but whenever I'm with my cousins I feel like I could be the mama to a bunch of boys just like my Aunt and be so happy.

So anyway, Ryan (the third oldest) graduated UofA so they had a party at my Aunt and Uncle's. Their home is so beautiful and it's always such a treat to enjoy a cool(er) desert night. The night was full of Mexican food, way too much cake, some badminton on their sports court, lots of longing glances at the crystal clear pool, and some trampoline jumping. It was a great night.

Sarah, Henry and I drove down together, and on the way down we of course made the hours fly by with so much girltalk as Henry snoozed away. On the way home it was no different...until I looked down at my odometer and realized that my gas light was on. And had been on.  We were on the long, desolate stretch between Tucson and Florence, about 35 miles between each point. I checked my "range" and it let me know that I had 5 lovely miles left until we ran out of gas. In the middle of nowhere. With little to no cell reception. In 90+ degree heat. And a baby in the car. My worst nightmare. BUT luckily my parents, sister and Abe were in front of us, so my iPhone managed to grab a signal and let them know what was up. I fully anticipated running out of gas...but guess what? My fabulous, wonderful, super car got us all the way to the gas station. We may have been running on fumes, but we got there!

So lesson learned- check your gas levels before engaging in intense girltalk sessions.

All in all though it was a wonderful day and I'm so happy we got to celebrate with Ryan. Unfortunately (and REALLY regretfully) I only used my phone's camera that evening, but these are still good representations of our night, however embarrassingly bad the photo quality...

I sure love my family.

My sister's wedding (image heavy)

Yesterday was absolutely perfect. My sister's wedding was a total success, from the dress, to the hair and makeup, the ceremony and reception, the food, the photos, everything. She's so happy, and that's the best thing in the world. The morning started off slowly, and my sister and her best friend Ashley came over to my Mom's to wait for Nikki to arrive with her arsenal of MAC products. I hardly wear any makeup outside of my usual foundation, blush and mascara so it's always really fun to get totally done up for events- lashes, shadow, liner, we did it all. I love it and love wearing it for events like this, but I'm not much of an everyday makeup kinda girl. It was great though having Nikki "prettify" all of us and she did an amazing job. If you are in need of a freelance makeup artist in Arizona, let me know and I can get her your contact info. She's amazing. After makeup Lauren headed over to Cosmo's to get her hair done by our dear friend Rhonda, and that turned out beautifully as well. The rest of the day zoomed on by and before we knew it we were headed over to the wedding venue.

Lauren and Abe got married at The Antique Wedding House in Mesa, AZ. It was the perfect place for the size of their wedding (75 guests), and the people there were incredibly accommodating from the very beginning stages of planning, to throwing a fabulous party last night. Lauren and Abe definitely give it their stamp of approval for anyone looking for an adorable and affordable place to say "I do."

The ceremony was beautiful and there wasn't a dry eye in the audience as Abe and Lauren read their vows. When Hank and I got married we had close to 300 people, and I have to say that I kind of preferred the intimate group that they had in attendance last night. I loved being able to look around and see almost every single person I love. There were faraway friends and family, dear friends from childhood, and you could just feel the happiness that settled right there under those twinkling lights. So, at 5:30pm, Lauren and Abe became husband and wife, and just like that their new life began.

The rest of the evening went by far too quickly, as good times often do. The Best Man and I each toasted the bride and groom, and after eating a delicious dinner we all watched Lauren and Abe's first dance to "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher. Afterward Lauren and my Dad danced to Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle" and Abe and his Mom danced to Lucero's "Mom." I cried through both songs for different reasons; my father made me tear up first, and then again when I imagined dancing with Henry one day at his wedding. Talk about emotional!

The whole night was perfect. Everyone was up and having a great time, and I didn't see my sister without a smile on her face the entire night. So much dancing, so many drinks, smiles and laughs, photos and old stories. At the end of the night when Abe and Lauren pulled away in their limo I felt such happiness knowing that my sister did indeed get her dream wedding.

Hank and I got to bed very late after playing designated driver for a certain set of parents that had a bit too much fun (hi Mom and Dad! haha!) and I felt hungover myself when we woke up. Can you get a hangover from straight fun? I think so. The rest of today was spent with our best family friends and our family, eating and hanging out at my parents. The Grants came by after their night at the Marriott, and we all saw them off on their honeymoon to St. Lucia!

I was running around like crazy so I didn't get many photos, but I'll share what I have then post the professional photos when my sister gets them developed! These are a mix of D-SLR, my small Canon, and iPhone pictures. Congratulations again Abe and Lauren!






















 




  
















this morning:













 

Wedding Eve

Tonight is the night before my sister's wedding...and it is still a little surreal that tomorrow I will be standing up, next to my sister, watching her marry Abe! Where has the time gone? Last night was the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner, and it was a lot of fun. Lauren's friends are the sweetest things in the whole world, and I've basically grown up with a couple of them. And like I've said before, it's still shocking that my baby sister is about to become a wife. Crazy. But before I go to sleep in preparation for a busy, busy day tomorrow I wanted to post a few photos! The night went by quickly- the rehearsal was at 5pm and then we went back to my parents' for a luau in their backyard. The food was beyond delicious and we all sat out back under the glow of the tiki lamps, girl-talking it up until it got too late. It was tons of fun, and a great start to such a happy, celebratory weekend. Today I woke up early, and Henry and I ran quickly to Nordstrom to try and find another bridesmaids dress for me. My sister allowed us to pick our own dresses as long as they were black, and silly me bought mine two months ago and hadn't tried it on since then. I put it on yesterday and it was way too big, but luckily I found a much better one right away. Afterward I headed over to the golf club where my family was enjoying drinks and lunch on the patio. All of our family and my parents' best friends are in town from NJ/NY so you can imagine how fun and silly everyone gets. I treated myself to a Shirley Temple (yum!), hung out for a bit, then left when they headed to the pool so Henry could take his nap. Everyone came back to my parents' for dinner, and we ended up spending the rest of the night in the backyard, talking and laughing until my cheeks hurt. So much fun. Now, time to get some sleep before the big day! Have a great day everyone- I'll be updating photos via instagram (danihampton) and twitter throughout the day, so feel free to follow along. xoxo!