Marissa and Peter's Wedding

What a whirlwind of a past two weeks this has been!  First, and foremost, Seth got a new job!  Hooray!  His old employer really wasn't a good fit for him (or anyone else apparently since they have such a high turnover!), so Seth had been looking for a new job for the last few months.  He went in for an interview with a new company, MarketSmart, on a Friday morning, and got offered the job that same evening...they must recognize that MegaSeth talent within :)  Seth gave his notice and has been enjoying some much deserved time off before starting his job next week.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect either, because he didn't even have to use vacation for our trip to L.A.  Speaking of which, we had such a good time!  For those who don't know, my sister Marissa got married to her new husband Peter.  We first met Peter (who is such a great guy!) in January when Seth and I went to visit them during New Year's.   And before we knew it, their wedding weekend arrived!  On Thursday, Dad, Seth, and I headed to BWI and were off to L.A.  We arrived pretty late, but not too late to avoid a stop by In-N-Out Burger - yum!  When we got to our hotel, Marissa had nice welcome bags awaiting us (which made me realize how many small details we still have left to take care of - yikes!) and it was time to rest up for the weekend ahead!

Friday was the rehearsal dinner.  But before that, Dad, Seth, and I headed to Santa Monica Pier for a stroll and then ran to Beverly Hills for lunch.  For those who aren't familiar with the Real Housewives, Seth and I are huge fans - and our favorite season was Beverly Hills.  For lunch, I made reservations at my favorite housewive's (Lisa Vanderpump) restaurant called Villa Blanca, which is right by Rodeo Drive and all the craziness that is Beverly Hills.  Although Lisa wasn't there, the food was good and I was happy to hear that she was off filming a new season <3

Villa Blanca <3

Pepe Roman and Mista Seth on Via Rodeo Drive

After a busy morning, we headed off to the rehearsal dinner and it was so much fun!  The entire wedding weekend actually took place in Marissa and Peter's backyard.  They have been constructing a guest-house/party room in their backyard and doing a lot of landscaping changes to get ready for this, and it looked wonderful!  The soon-to-be newlyweds hosted a delicious buffet and a top-shelf, open bar :)  The highlight for me was the toast that Dad gave ( click the link to watch http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100113388969569&comments) - who knew Pepe had that in him!? :)  Anyway, it really was fun to have all of the family together and to get to visit with other friends and family.

A hand-drawn family tree was part of the decor!

The Wedding Party at the Rehearsal Dinner

After a fun night rehearsing and partying, the Big Day had finally arrived!  We had some time before the ceremony, so Dad, Seth, and I headed to Manhattan Beach to try some fish tacos and enjoy the beach (before heading back to lame, East Coast beaches!)  Soon enough though, we were changing into our wedding clothes and off to the ceremony.  Marissa (as did all of the bridal party for that matter) looked beautiful and the ceremony was short, sweet, and screamed 'Marissa!'   They had so many nice little touches - from mints in the bathrooms, to a live band, to delicious food - which helped the evening to turn out wonderful...2 thumbs-up!  During her toast, Marissa even gave a shout-out about our upcoming wedding - so thoughtful!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and danced the night away til we couldn't dance anymore!   

As Husband and Wife - Marissa and Peter...Congratulations!!!

Joe and Marissa gettin' down to the music!

The Lovebird Cake - yum!

After all was said and done, all still wasn't said and done :)  Marissa and Peter hosted a farewell brunch for all of their family and out-of-town guests - YUMMM!!!  Brunch may well be my favorite meal, so to have an omelet station, delicious pastries, and fresh juice/coffee is heaven!  After stuffing our faces to the max, it was time to say our goodbyes and head to LAX for our flight home.  

Brunch Time :)

Dad forgot his salad fork...so he improvised with his fingers :)

Well, that about sums up Marissa's Wonderful Wedding Weekend.  We had such a good time and are so happy for Marissa and Peter, and to them we say "Bendiciones!"  And now, only 18 days til we see them (and hopefully you!) again for our big, fat, Utah wedding!!!  

New York, New York!

Hola amigos!  It's been yet another busy week, but busy is good :)  Last week, all I could think about was New York City...and before I knew it, the weekend was here and it was off to NYC we went!

If you remember, a while back I bought some tickets to a comedy club in New York.  Seth and I went to check it out and had a good time, so this time we made it into a trip and brought Brooke and Amy along with us for a reunion NYC style!  It's funny, because when the three of us lived across the country, New York was always our meeting spot...and now we are close enough to make it up in only four hours - yay!

New York on the way to the Holland Tunnel.

Amy and Brooke getting a nap in to rest up for the trip!

After making it safely to our hotel, we changed in our boating clothes and headed up to the New York City Yacht Club.  One of Amy's clients at her bank is a member, so she got us the hook-up :)  Unfortunately, the bar/restaurant isn't open on the weekend, but we did get to tour the place - pretty cool!  And who knows, now that we've seen it, maybe we will join one day with our own yacht :)

Brooke and Amy in the Yacht Club elevator.

NYC Yacht Club lounge.

After our tour of the Yacht Club and some good old fashioned shopping, it was back to the hotel to freshen up and meet Kristin (Brooke's cousin) and her boyfriend, Rob.  We ate dinner at our standby, Breeze Thai Cuisine - cheap food, cheap drinks, and SOOOO good :)  During dinner, I made friends with our table neighbors (this cute lady from Transylvania!) and actually gave her our extra ticket to the comedy show.  Speaking of which, the show was good...but I think Brooke's bantering back and forth with the comedian and all that ensued after (including a $215 free tab!) was my favorite part haha!  What happens in New York stays in New York :)

Me and Brooke pre-dinner dancing and ready for  a fun night!

Me, Brooke, and Amy at Breeze.

Sunday it was up and at 'em (at the last minute before check out time of course) and off for a nice lunch at Benito I in Little Italy.  It was delicious and a perfect day to eat outside and soak up some last little bit of New York City...there's nothing like it!  As lunch was coming to a close, Amy realized her purse was open and her wallet was gone...but luckily she had misplaced it in her shopping bag :)  And good thing she found it too, because we still had more shopping left to do!

Amy, Seth, and Brooke in Little Italy.

Bon Appetite!!!

After a food coma and more shopping, we hopped in the car and headed home to D.C. and back to reality...and now we're counting the days (8 of them) til we head to L.A. for my sister Marissa's wedding...and it's only 33 days til our own!!!  Til the next time - much love and lots of smiles!!!

DC Pride 2011

Hey there!  I figured I'd try to get this post done before hitting the hay for tonight (cause otherwise my tired, feeble mind might forget everything that happened this weekend!!!)  So anyway, as you can see, this weekend was DC Pride and needless to say I am exhausted!

To kick off the festivities, Seth and I volunteered with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - an organization that monitors gay and lesbian activity/portrayal in the media) for its fundraiser called "Thank GLAAD It's Friday."   Basically it's a cocktail hour where people drink and mingle.  It was fun and Seth and I were assigned the best job - drink and mingle with the guests :)  We met some new friends at the event and, after, we all went to the Shake Shack (a transplant New York burger place which is sooo good!) and then headed home to our sweet little daughter :)

View of the PRIDE ready city from on top of the Donovan House!

Speaking of burgers...great meal, just not the best idea the evening before you have a 10K haha!  On Saturday I was up at 6:00AM to run the "Lawyers Have Heart 10K" in Georgetown.  Luckily, due to the heat (it has been FREAKING HOT here for June!) they changed it to a 5K, so my tummy managed to make it (and I actually beat my old 5K time, so maybe the burger wasn't all that bad!)  DC is probably the only city in the world that could have a race with JUST attorneys/law students...and there were 5,000 people that ran, so it's kind of crazy to think how many people practice law here (I think it's like 1 in 7 or 8 people!)....and soon I will be one of them!!!  Also, I had to laugh because in the e-mail they sent changing the 10K to a 5K, they emphasized the legal liabilities involved...oh lawyers :)  By the way, thanks to Mom, Dad, Carol, Brooke, and Steven for your generous donations - our school won the fundraising challenge!  After the race was over we headed off to the dog park for some play time...and we saw the cutest thing: nuns playing tennis in their all-out nun attire!  The picture below is pretty blurry (I was trying not to be TOO obvious that I was taking a picture haha!) but I figured I'd post it anyway just because :)

At the starting line of Lawyer's Have Heart 10K (well, 5K!)

Super blurry, but our best attempt to catch this on camera :)

Before too long, it was off and away on the good ol' Metro to head downtown for the parade.  This year we actually marched in the parade (with GLAAD) and had a great time!  It's always fun to see so many people out to support the cause.  We met some cute ladies on the Metro from the Unitarian Church who reminded us of our Mommas and Aunts...so maybe next year you will have to march with us ladies :)  Anyway, we actually made some new friends at the parade and ended up celebrating with them on Saturday night.

This couple just got married!

The parade route was packed with supporters!

This dog was decked with lays/beads for Pride!

After a late night, it was another early morning thanks to our grocery deliver and a very fun visit with my cousin Jose Antonio and his girlfriend, Rosanna.  They are visiting from Puerto Rico and wanted to see the city, so they came down for brunch today (Dad even made his way up here too for a bit!).  By the time we made it downtown, it was midday and at the peak of the hotness, so they decided they just wanted to walk through the Pride festival and call it a day!  It was nice seeing them, and hopefully we will be able to see them on their home turf in lovely PR sooner than later :)  

The Pride Festival with our the Capitol building in the background :)

After getting home today, we ended our marathon of a weekend by heading to a cocktail party on U St. and grabbing some Mexican food at Alero.  By the time we got home and walked Honey, we passed out and (luckily for us since we forgot to set an alarm and still had stuff to do before the week began) were awakened at 9:00PM by a call from Mom :)  Now it's just about time to call it quits for the night and get some sleep, so I'm gonna sign off for now with lots of love.  Happy Pride :)

The Dog Days of Summer

Howdy ya'll!  Well, summer is here with a vengeance (my Mom calls it the 'dog days of summer') and I for one am not ready!  Today, I was standing and waiting for the Metro and DRIPPING with sweat!!!  It really is ridiculous and way to freakin early for it to be this hottttt!  Let's just hope it's not a pre-cursor to a deadly hot summer to come...

Aint I purdy when I sweat!?!

But I digress, it's also the dog days of summer cause of Honey :)  We sure love our little bundle of joy and just got her enrolled in a doggy Health Plan (luckily for her, it's not Obamacare hehe!)  Also, we even took her to get her nails did and, this time, she did good and is loving the results of her mani-pedi!  

Aside from that, we've been enjoying summer and staying busy.  I am still loving my job (it will be four weeks tomorrow, crazy huh!?) and am pleased with my grades (although I'm still freakin waiting on two more dang it!).  Seth is keeping busy with work and all of his Mega Seth skills.  We've also been spending a lot of our free time working out all of the little details for the wedding (which is in like 45 days - yikes!) and planning some more fun adventures for the summer!  Also...our wine making kit came, so I'm about to start a brew of 12 bottles of Chardonnay this weekend - uhoh!!!  I'll let you know how that goes :)

The Artful Winemaker has arrived - wahoo!

Anyway, it's almost the weekend (so I guess I'm a little behind on this weeks post, aren't I) and I'm looking forward to it.  First of all, it's Pride Weekend here in DC, so we are volunteering with GLAAD and excited for all of the festivities!  Also, to top off the weekend, my cousin Jose and his girlfriend are here for the weekend (they flew in from Puerto Rico to see the Black Eyed Peas in New York, which by the way we will be visiting again next weekend, but I digress again!) and they are going to come down and we get to play tour guide - yay!  

Me with my cousins Maritere and Jose at lunch in Baltimore.

Well, that's as good a recap as I think I can give at 11:30PM on a Thursday night :)  I'm off to bed, but lots more stories to come after the weekend.  Until then, live, laugh, and love - xo!

Summer Lovin

Summer is officially here and I'm loving it!!!  Since being back from Mexico, all I've wanted to do was lay out on a beach and get a tan...and (while not at the beach) I have been lucky enough to lay out some :)

First things first: work is great!  I love working with my Judge and everyone in chambers - they are all wonderful!  It's been really good so far: I've worked on cases, done research for the Judge, and am helping to write memorandums that will soon (hopefully) turn into published opinions :)  Also, it's pretty fun to sit on the bench with the Judge during court and observe court from a new angle.  I sure am a lucky boy (even though I have to get up at 5:30 to get 'er done!)

This past weekend, however, it was no work and all play for us :)  We enjoyed Memorial Day weekend to the max!  Mom, Dad, and Carol came up to our casa on Sunday for some pre-Memorial Day BBQ chicken, Baked Mac'n'Cheese, and cake - yum!!!  Had a good time with the familia and then had a good time the following day at the pool :)

Poolside at Fort Totten - loooove it <3

The rest of the weekend was super laid back - dog walks, shopping, and dinner/a movie.  We FINALLY saw "Bridesmaids" and it was hilarious!!  Seth almost peed his pants I think haha!  And now, it's almost time for another weekend :)  Speaking of which, TGIF in 2 hours and, since it's Friday tomorrow, I gotta finish strong which requires me getting to bed so I can get up and get my work out in before work...the wedding is less than 2 months away after all and wedding pics are great diet motivation :)  Until the next time - xo! 

Hello Mexico!!!

 Hola!  Como esta?  Well I am muy bien, although I'd be more bien if I were still in Mexico :)  Last week, Seth and I packed up and headed to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for our girlfriend Carly's wedding.  It was so much fun and we loved getting to see our Salt Lake friends, it's always a good time!  After getting in, we checked in to Hotel Casa Ticul (this cute little 20 bedroom hotel by the beach) and headed off to grab some food and meet our friends on the beach to kick off the vacay :)

Seth lounging at the hotel...I think he passed out from the heat!

Each day, the maid folded our towels into something different :)

 The first day, after breakfast (which three little Mexican ladies made for us every morning!), we headed over to Las Mamitas Beach Club where we literally laid on the beach ALL day!  Much needed R&R, especially considering the next day was spent from dawn til dusk on a tour of the Mayan ruins of Tulum and Coba.  It is cool to see so much of different cultures, both the ancient Mayans and the modern day Latinos.  We hiked around the pyramids and temples and learned about all of the symbolism (and kind of scarily accurate predictions!) the Mayans incorporated into their lives.  Contrast that with walking down Fifth Ave. where I was asked (in a Mexican accent): "Hey my friend, you want to buy cigars? (pause) Or something better!?"  And he wasn't the only guy offering up "party favors," you literally got bombarded at night with peddlers on the street...but I loved every second haha!

Las Mamitas Beach Club...pictures say 1,000 words!

The Mayan ruins at Tulum.

Seth and I on the beach at Tulum.

The largest Mayan Pyramid in Coba.  Ah-mazing!

Sunday was wedding day and it was wonderful!  Carly and Paul's wedding was at the Playcar Palace Resort and, as their guests for the day, it was all you can eat/drink ALL day...and it was so good (and much needed!)  The wedding was at 6:00, just in time for the perfect weather and sunlight to make the ceremony beautiful!  Carly looked amazing and the ceremony brought me to tears...twice!  After the vows were said and champagne toast was done, we ate some more and enjoyed a live mariachi band to kick off the party...which ended up moving to a club downtown where we danced until 3:00AM!

Paul kissing his bride, Carly <3

The mariachi band

Me, Seth, Jarrett, Dave, and Whitney after dancing.

Monday it was up and away and back to DC (although we did so in style, because I got us upgraded since the airline had problems with our seating assignments!).  I was a little sad to say goodbye, especially because I really do enjoy being able to use my Spanish with my Latino hermanos :)  At the airport, we ran into Kody and Ben (more SLC friends) and said one final goodbye...but it's officially less than 2 (yes, TWO) months til we're back in SLC for the big day!  So hang tight, enjoy your day, July's almost here, but now I'm off and away!

God Bless the U.S.A.

Well, I had thought this week was going to end with a BORING Blog Post, talking about how lame my week has been (studying, sleeping, eating, repeat...well, maybe a little more eating)...but boy was I surprised.  This evening, as I was finishing some Property Exam Prep., I got a News Alert that President Obama would be holding a Press Conference, but it didn't say what it was about.  Due to the abnormal nature of the Press Conference, I was pretty sure that it would be some big news...little did I know HOW big!  Ding dong, the witch is dead...Osama Bin Laden was killed by a U.S. air strike!  I first found out via Twitter (before any news sources actually reported it) and then, to my pleasant surprise, had it confirmed by the President.  It truly was a moment in time I can say I will honestly never forget!  This all started back with September 11th, 2001, and it is such a tribute to our country, our leaders, and our soldiers to have it end like this...and I truly can say I'm PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!

Now, while I do have exams, History trumped tonight and, after the announcement, Seth, Honey, and I hopped in the car and headed down to the White House to be a part of it all...so I will let the pictures and videos tell the rest of the story, but until til the next time, God Bless you all and GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

People starting to gather in downtown D.C.

People celebrating outside the White House.

So many people came together so quickly!