Wonderful Wedding Weekend!

I know it's been forever, but I'm baaack!!!! 

Ian's family (mom and sister) came up from Virginia for site-seeing, lake life and of course... wedding planning!!!!

First Stop: Bridesmaid dresses

After watching countless movies and episodes of Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids, I was a little nervous about trying to find dresses for 5 out of 7 of my bridesmaids.  It was also Sam's first time meeting everyone, while I love everyone dearly I kept picturing those nightmare bridesmaids of the show and going NOOOOOOO!!!!!

My BA Bridesmaids!

Finding 5 dresses that look absolutely amazing on my bridesmaids... easy as pie.  I think it was pretty easy because I had already done my research and knew which color (wine), fabric (satin) and styles (short) I wanted to give the girls to choose from.  So, when we got there the consultant took them to a wall and they each picked out 3-4 dresses that they liked and wanted to try on.  After a flurry of trying on and sharing dresses, the girls all found the dress that fit them perfectly! The great thing about them is that you do not have to shorten them to wear them again!!!  :)

Me and my girls in their dresses (all will be in the wine color)

Second Stop: Finding Alice's Dress

After the girls found their dresses we convinced Ian's mom to try on dresses.  Okay, in reality we just had to say "It's happening" and she was int he dressing room.  If I was impressed by our consultant's ability to remember everyone's style, name (kinda), and size, I was blown away by her suggestions.  It only took three dresses to find the PERFECT dress! I don't have the pictures but it may or may not look like this dress

Complete with ADORABLE shoes!

Step Three: The Guys

Since we were in the plaza, it only made sense to run over to Men's Warehouse and pick out tuxes for Ian, the Groomsmen, and our dads. It's not nearly as much fun to go tux shopping, we just got to look at the mannequins and dress them up with various jackets, vests and the ties.  The guys will be wearing Vera Wang (yup... Vera Wang) and looking oh so fly.  Another item checked off the list!

Step Four: The Guest List

This step is pretty self-explanatory, but it's DONE!!  We all finally sat down and went over who was coming, who would get plus ones, and who we might need to apologize to later on.  We ended up with 150 people to invite, which means we have a little wiggle room for adding people later or maybe giving plus ones.  Looking over the list, it's going to be an amazing crowd and I cannot wait to see everyone tearing up the dance floor of Church Landing!

Step Five: Getting the Mount for the Rehearsal Dinner

When we first started looking for venues, we took at look at the Mount Washington, THE boat on the lake.  My mom loved this boat, and would point it out to us whenever it drove by the cove, we even went on a few cruises.  So figuring out a way to incorporate it into the wedding would mean so much to my family and I, since we would be honoring my mom in some way.

Mom with my sisters and the Bickfords on the Mount

Anyways, Since we couldn't make it work for the wedding (not enough time), I got creative and thought... rehearsal dinner!  It's perfect, the 40ish people who will be at the rehearsal will be downstairs and any guests who are coming up on Saturday (majority of the guests) can join us for a 2.5 hour dancing and dinner cruise around the gorgeous lake. 

So we all drove up to the lake for the day Saturday to show Alice and Sam Church Landing (loved it), tour the mount and enjoy lake life.  The instant Alice saw the room she said "I'll take it" and I almost cried, I am so happy it's insane.  Having our rehearsal dinner on the Mount is just going to be an amazing experience for all involved, it's perfect! 

The Mount Cruising Along

  Step Six: Enjoy Lake Life

Okay, so it's not really wedding planning in terms of my check list. It was amazing to take Alice and Sam around the lake and watch them fall in love with it.  There is something special about being up there, you need to experience it to understand how truly special and wonderful it is.

The Stricklers soaking up the sun

Sam driving the boat, Ian pouting in the back

Gorgeous Sunset before heading home

Step Seven: Skin Care & Accessorizing

Ian had to work Sunday and so us girls decided it was time for some shopping and pampering.  First stop, Target where we found adorable outfits, books galore, some home/dorm furnishings and of course... shoes.  Not only did Sam and Alice find the perfect shoes for their dresses, they were on sale.  I consider that a huge success.

From there, we went to get some facials a la Mary Kaye Cosmetics.  It was so much fun to sit around the table with a bunch of women and learn how to apply foundation (a skill I lack), which moisturizer to use and the proper way to remove eye make-up.  I'm not having them do my make-up for the wedding, but my skin is silky-smooth today!

Step Eight: Pat yourself on the back for a job well done

 After a busy weekend, we all sat down to watch a movie and enjoy some Mike's Pastries.  Mmm, this is the high-life!!!

The Power of Three

No, I don't mean the Charmed ones (although I do secretly love that show!)

I think I've watched every episode at least twice!

You know how they say that bad things tend to happen in threes?  Well, that theory was proven correct yesterday and here is why.

1. We found out that the house on Maple we wanted had multiple bids close to asking price.  Apparently Ian and I do not think that having a pool and a 2 car attached garage is worth $20,000.
2. Ian found out that the job he was waiting to hear back about isn't actually open.  They decided to keep the guy and let him retire in a year or so. 
3. The Bruins Lost and Ian was "heartbroken"

In an effort to stay positive and look for the good I'm going to turn these three negatives into awesome Golden Moments!

1. A new house opened up yesterday, within our price range, and the kitchen looks really nice.  We are looking at it today, fingers crossed!
2. In an effort to keep Ian at Harvard, they gave him a raise and are looking into giving him Friday off (not ideal but an improvement).  They also said that they are looking in to helping him get his Masters in Operations Management from Harvard, so that's awesome!
3. Ian loves the Bruins, which clearly means we made the right decision in moving him up here.  A stretch I know, but a girl's gotta try right?

Just like that, three Golden Moments!

Strawberry everywhere and I LOVE it!!

So, I absolutely LOVE fruit, I mean who doesn't?  What are my favorite you ask?  I'd have to say, bananas, watermelon, grapes, pineapple and of course STRAWBERRIES!  So it only seems fitting that I dedicated a weekend to consuming strawberries.

It all started on Friday when Ian made a smoothie using strawberries, bananas, and blueberries.  So good and refreshing!

From there I went to book club where we had strawberries with each course.  It started off with a delicious strawberry drink, dinner was lasagne with a spinach and strawberry salad, and ended with strawberry shortcake dessert.

Mmmm

My wine charm, perfect for book club

Best. Dessert. Ever!

On Saturday, I went to my girlfriend's house for a gender reveal party.  When she went in to figure out the sex of the baby, she had the doctor write it on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.  She gave this envelope to the baker, who then used either pink or blue frosting inside the cake to indicate whether it was a boy or a girl.  That way the couple has no idea and they only find out once they cut the first slice.  It was amazing to be there and share that moment with them!  (okay no strawberries, but there was a fruit salad!)

The cake, it had a fish theme

What is it?

Yay it's a boy!!!

Sunday was hot as heck, so what do I do?  Go to the lake, the beach, or stay inside?  Nope not this girl, I jumped in my car and went over to Kaitlyn & Jay's for strawberry picking.  They are so tiny, I couldn't resist chipping them up and putting them into into water for strawberry ice cubes.  So excited for my strawberry water this week!

Kaitlyn filling up the box

The Hilberts hard at work

Beautiful color and oh so sweet

Trivia night with the Hilberts!

My love for trivia started when I moved to Boston and my girlfriend Jenny and I started going to Davis for trivia nights on Wednesday and Thursdays.  It's a great way to get together, feel good about yourself for the seemingly useless facts you have remembered, and learn something while you are at it.

 Did you know that 40 when written out, is the first number spelt in alphabetical order?

Anyways, we stopped going for various reasons, mostly because of moving around and away from Davis.  However, my love for trivia has not gone away and I always jump at an opportunity to see if I can put those useless facts in my brain to good use.   So, when Kaitlyn and Jay asked Ian and I to join them for their night out we couldn't help ourselves.

We almost won last week, we were tied (no idea how that happened).  We lost the tie breaker (see the last question) Some interesting factoids from that night.

• The turkey, tomato and avocado sandwich is no longer available, unless you request it
• German Shepherds, on average, bite more humans than any other dog.
• Marylin Monroe had a 6th toe
• Purina is the largest brand of dog food out there (they stock in in Market Basket)

Last night was a quiet night, apparently people thought that staying home watching the Bruins Game was a better choice than trivia.  False, I say trivia trumps hockey any day, plus there are TVs in the bar.  Some interesting facts from the night

• The turkey, tomato and avocado sandwich is back on the menu!
• Chinese is the most spoken language
• New York is made up of 50 islands
• Ketchup has it's own website... wait what?

While we were playing, I noticed that the ketchup bottle had a QR code on it... the conversation went something like this.
Kendra: Did you know that this bottle has a QR code on it?
Kaitlyn: YES!  I made Jay do it last week because I was curious!
Kendra: Oh yeah?  Where did it go?
Kaitlyn: Ketchup's website
SILENCE
Jay: You mean Heinz's website? Ketchup isn't a brand
Kaitlyn:... yeah (laughter) it's not funny guys!

Stay tuned for more interesting factoids from trivia night with the Hilberts!

Graduation and Father's Day

What a fantastic weekend!  We had perfect weather (despite my burn), had a great time with the family, managed to run/walk 4 miles, and capped it off with the girls coming over for dinner.

Tried to get a picture of her giving the speech!

Saturday morning started with chaos around my apartment as Wes, Ian, and I all tried to get ready to head up to NH for Becca's graduation.  I wish I had a camera because Ian + Wes = the most adorable thing ever.  I love that these two get along so well, it makes me so happy and I feel so lucky! 

Becca's speech (she's the co-president of the NHS) was perfect.  She managed to bring mom into the speech in a way that people who knew her understood, but to everyone else it was just a nice quote.  Her speech actually brought tears to everyone's eyes and she still managed to make everyone laugh, I was so proud!

After graduation, we all went back to the house for a family BBQ and pictures.

Becca and her brothers, LOVE!

Her cake!

Family photo time!

After the BBQ, my dad, Jillian, Nonni and I all piled into the car and did a little house hunting.  Yep you heard right, Ian and I are house hunting!  I'm so excited and nervous to finally get out of the apartment situation and own my own place.  I cannot WAIT to be able to paint walls, change the flooring, park wherever I want, have whoever I want over, not worry about the noise, have my own backyard, and most importantly have something Ian and I can really make our own.  Sadly, we haven't found anything yet but I haven't (completely) lost hope, we'll find something!

Instead of chopping and stacking wood on Sunday, our Father's Day tradition, the family got muddy at the Ruckus Run.  This is the 3rd year I've done it and I honestly cannot think of a better family bonding experience.  It's amazing to me that we were able to complete a 4 mile mud run; going through mud, running up and down hills, scaling walls, tackling cargo nets, and navigating through very muddy wood trails.  We were laughing and joking the entire time, we didn't worry about our time and waited for each other after every single obstacle. Then we took our medals and free food and drove home smelly and exhausted.

The Bassi Bunch after finishing the muddiest course we've seen so far!!!

After taking a shower, as you can see I was covered in mud and smelled terrible, I relaxed for a few hours before getting dinner ready for the girls who were coming over for dinner.  It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend.  We ate delicious food, including black bean and avocado brownies, drank some wine, and caught up.  We've all left Pearson and all live in different areas so it's always nice to get together.  Sometimes it makes me sad that we don't live closer or all work together, but when we chat and I see how happy everyone is, it just makes me smile.  It makes me smile because despite the fact that it take a bit of coordinating and a lot of effort, we LOVE getting together and making plans.  It's a rare quality to have in friends, normally when you move away you talk every now and then, but these girls are different and I'm so grateful for them!  Plus I'm seeing them this Friday for Book Club, yay new books!

HASHTAG LakeLife!!!

Seeing as how my job requires me to be on and understand the various social networks and how i have two (now three) younger sisters on Twitter, it only seems fitting that we have come up with a hashtag (#) for the summer.  We all love to be up at the lake, especially during the summer so it only seemed fitting to have #lakelife as our official motto. 

While I spent last week in VA, I did spend Memorial weekend as well as the weekend after opening up the house and enjoying Lake Winnipesaukee to kick off the summer.  

Here's a quick snapshot of the past few weekends spent at the lake.  It's going to be amazing summer!!

First boat ride of the summer.  It was so windy out!

View from the top of the fire tower of Red Hill

T and I at the top of Red Hill!  The first of many hikes this summer

Trying to capture the entire view with the iPhone, it doesn't do it justice you HAVE to be there!

Kaitlyn and Jay came up for a weekend!

Yummy drinks for lunch in Wolfeboro

Boat ride around the lake!

Words to live by, painted on the bridge going to Long Island

View from Lago of Meredith Bay, See Church Landing?

Church Landing - they have a wedding tent up, so excited!

One moment we're out on the deck, the next a crazy wind storm hits

Which is quickly followed by the sun and calm water #lakelife!

It's picture time!

So, I was at bookclub the other day and mentioned my blog to my girlfriends.  I was explaining how I have all these blogs in my drafts with just the pictures because I pull them in from my phone, but never sit down to actually write anything.  So Jenny recommended that I just add the photos, a caption and call it a day.

So here it is, my life for the past few weeks!

At the Paint Bar with my old roomies, showing off my creative side!

Waiting for Jules to be "hooded" and named Dr. Jillian Bassi!

The fam at Dr. Bassi's graduation!

Jules with my grad gift, flowers made out of maps of places she's been while in school!

Back at the Paint Bar for Hawaii

Sister Photo Bomb before Becca's Prom!

Becca and her Prom date!

Ian and I started running in the morning!

Enjoying the gorgeous day by relaxing on my porch with a great book and a cup of coffee!

Life has been crazy these past few weeks (in a good way!) and I didn't even photograph it all!  My dad is also selling our family home so we spent weeks cleaning out the house, going through old things and either selling or throwing out stuff we won't be using anymore.  Last weekend (after Becca's prom) we had a HUGE yard sale and got rid of a ton of stuff that we just had lying around the house or tucked away on some shelf somewhere. I even sold my beanie baby collection (or part of it, there are some I just can't get rid of) to a woman who will be bringing them to Guatemala as a Christmas present for the kids, how sweet!

I'm really trying to go out more instead of just coming home after work.  It's really helping and I'm finding that I'm enjoying my alone time a lot more, hence the book and coffee on the porch!  

Look at that... I ended up writing anyway!!!