blogging about daily life from Griffin, Georgia

THE wedding

Category: Personal | Comments (0) | Valerie @ June 23rd, 2007   

There are few weddings I’ve been to that have taken my breath away. My sister’s wedding was definitely one of those. Let’s face it…as girls, we are all obsessed with weddings, especially when it comes to our own. Cecilia, however, was obsessed at a different level. Her experience as an event coordinator at The Ritz Carlton for 5 years made her even more detailed when planning her own. The entire weekend was bliss, if you will, and the wedding itself was one that any girl would dream of for her own special day. I was honored to be a part of it.

Brittain was too young to experience it fully, but she still had the joy of being there during the picture-taking. I loved what Shawna Herring captured while she was there. It was wonderful having her there for the few minutes that she was, and the photos were unbelievable. Here are a few of them:


a mini-vacation

Category: Personal,Pictures | Comments (0) | Valerie @ June 23rd, 2007   

Spending time with Pam Aiken is always a blast. Those of you who are reading this may not know who she is, but Pam (and her husband Stewart) are long time friends of my parents. Stewart and my dad were fraternity brothers at Tech and they have stayed close ever since. We will forever be indebted to them for so many reasons, but one is because the help they gave to Cecilia and me at BOTH of our weddings. They served as the coordinators for both of our weddings and made it so that Cec and I were able to sit back and relax while knowing that every detail was taken care of.

This weekend Pam invited me, Mom and Brittain to her home for some visiting and catching up. To go anywhere with Brittain these days takes a lot of planning. It doesn’t matter if we go somewhere for 3 weeks (not that we’ve done this :-)) or 1 night. It seems that packing for either takes the same amount of time and preparation. However, this trip was different because Pam’s house is outfitted for any child. With about a million grandchildren of their own, (I have no idea how many they have now, but I’m guessing it’s about 10) the whole house is baby safe and she has enough toys for any child to be content for weeks. Not only was it a fun and relaxing night away for Mom and me, but Brittain felt as if she was on a vacation as well. With more toys than she knew what to do with and with a comfy crib that seemed it was just for her, we all had a blast.

Thanks for such a great night, Pam. We can’t wait to see you again!

Getting to know Pam:

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Even Marilyn made a surprise visit to meet Miss Brittain:

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Mimi and Brittain:

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Marilyn playing “This Little Piggie” before Brittain said goodnight:

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And…we’re back!

Category: Fun,Personal,Pictures | Comments (0) | Valerie @ June 21st, 2007   

Long time, no see, right? Yes, I know. We seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth the past few months, but don’t worry, life as I think I remember it is slowly coming back.

This past Saturday was Cecilia’s wedding. It was a fabulous event and I was honored to be a part of it. Cecilia did everything right with this. Aside from choosing the right guy, she and Matt together planned a wedding that was right up there with Queen Elizabeth, if you ask me. After Easter, it seems like we all hit the ground running with assisting with the planning. Cecilia had done all the background work. She came up with all the ideas and knew exactly how she wanted it to be. My job at this point became to help execute these ideas. And let me tell you, it was a LOT to execute. However, when the day came and we all had the pleasure of experiencing this amazing day with Cecilia and Matt, it was so worth it. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. It came off without a hitch and it was a day that none of us will ever forget. I hope to have some pictures to show soon!

As I was busy with the wedding, I wasn’t able to give Brittain my undivided attention as I have gotten used to. It’s amazing how much I missed her!

The Sunday after the wedding, Mimi, Aunt Susan, Brittain, and I all decided that we were in much need of some R&R. I was singing at a dinner at the Lake Oconee Ritz Carlton (where Cec works) on Monday night so we all decided to take a mini-vacation to relax. Sunday, the 4 of us left for Greensboro and we settled in for a 2-night stay. It couldn’t have been more fun. We relaxed, spent time together and best of all, Brittain experienced her first time in a pool! She loved it, and you know that I took plenty of pictures to prove it!

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Taking a break from the hot sun to drink some ice cold water:

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We started out in the baby pool, which was slightly heated, but eventually moved to the big pool (which was quite cold). Brittain loved both of them and enjoyed the refreshing, cooler water of the adult pool:

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She enjoyed being fed ice chips by her Aunt Susan:

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Brittain also took advantage of “The Ritz Carlton Experience”:

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Each evening, the hotel provides an area to make S’mores (and also provides the ingredients to make them). We wanted to experience this! Not only did Brittain enjoy watching her Aunt Susan catch every marshmallow on fire, but she also got her first small taste of chocolate. Yummmmm!
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To end the evening, we played at the Ritz playground:

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Jeff Holland, Aunt CC’s co-worker and good friend joined us for a few minutes of playtime:

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Before we left on Tuesday, Mimi went and enjoyed some relaxation at the Spa. Aunt Susan, Brittain and I decided to take a beautiful walk by the lake:

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