Hey everyone.
Lauren and I decided it would be a cool idea to start a blog together. We thought it could be a nice way for us to fill anyone in on what we are up to as personally and quickly as possible. We hope to update it weekly, with this post being our first.
Last Saturday was our wedding day. It was a culmination of a little over four months of feverish planning and execution. It wasn’t problem free, but most of the details went smoothly. The ceremony was short (10 minutes) but sweet. It was held in front of the fountain at Applegate Park, one of the few picturesque places in Merced to get married outside. From there, we went to De Angelo’s for our reception. Mike, the manager at De Angelo’s, took great care of us and our guests. He made everything so easy and look so good. All we had to do was show up. If anyone reading this needs a place to host a large-ish gathering of people, go see Mike. He rules.
We left the reception around 4:30pm and ventured across the street to change and hit the road. Rick’s parents (Lauren is typing now, hi!) got us three nights at The Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina, CA. The drive there was nice, except for an insect massacre on Rick’s windshield. The room at the resort was amazing. There was champagne chilling on ice when we arrived, as well as silk rose pedals strewn across the bed and surrounding area.
The second night we ended up eating at a restaurant that we had eaten at on our first trip away together, two years ago. We didn’t realize that our first vacation together was in Marina, CA until we started driving around the town.
We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday and that was ok. Fisherman’s Wharf was a drag. Lots of clam chowder salesmen.
The day after we visited the aquarium, it rained. It didn’t rain hard, but it made us want to cuddle up by the fireplace and read the paper…not really. We watched cheesy dating shows on MTV and VH1 and tons of Food Network shows. We live without cable right now, so mindless dribble is a welcome treat.
For our fourth night we stayed at the Beach Inn in Santa Cruz, CA. The drive down to SC wasn’t too horrible, but once we got to the hotel the rain and wind picked up. It blew trees down in the area, causing the hotel to lose power. We decided that the only thing to do was to walk to the nearby downtown and find something to do. The wind and rain made it difficult to see. We couldn’t figure out what to do, so we went into a Border’s bookstore and picked up a few books, The Office trivia board game, and an umbrella (which promptly failed once we tried to use it outside the bookstore). We walked back to the hotel, changed out of our soaked clothes, and played our board game until the power came back on. For dinner we ate at a small restaurant a half mile away or so. This time we used our heads and took a taxi.
The drive home was very scenic. We took a longer way than we needed to, but it was worth it. We ate at Casa de Restaurant for lunch. Rick had a buffalo burger, which he says was bland. I had a veggie burger melt thingy…
We’re home now. Rick went back to work today, I go back on Monday *tear*. Six days in, married life is great. We got some pretty nice kitchen stuff at Kohls and a new comforter and sheets at Target. Now we’re just planning for what’s next…
So yeah, hope you enjoyed our first entry. More to come!!
R & L
