California Girls

For an unprecedented third time in five months, my group of college girlfriends got together for a major event in one of our lives. In this case, it was Kirsten's wedding day. It has not yet been mentioned in this blog that my core group of friends from UF, known fondly as the EIGHT, are not only some of the coolest girls in the continental United States, but are great about traveling any distance when one of the group gets hitched. In addition to this, we also convene for an exclusive EIGHT bachelorette party for each engaged girl. Though we live in cities across the country, we have traveled to Vegas, California, Texas, Illinois, Georgia and Florida for party weekends and weddings. Kirsten was the sixth of the EIGHT to tie the knot, and now the pressure is on Jaime and/or myself to find someone to put a ring on it so we can all congregate again soon!

And so the EIGHT all traveled to Ventura, CA for the wedding in late September. Most of us flew into LAX and piled into a sporty RAV4 for the trek to the site of the wedding. Traffic was slow, but a stop for In N Out burgers kept spirits high, as did our illegal parking spot outside of a medicinal marijuana clinic while we waited for our food. God bless California! After arriving in Ventura, we met Kirsten and the wedding party at a local restaurant and the EIGHT reunion was underway.

Reunited and it feels so good!



While the wedding party did their wedding party duties on the morning of the wedding, the remaining five of us explored the beach town of Ventura. A long stroll down the beach provided plenty of time to catch up with the ladies and, per usual, afforded me a healthy sunburn.

Catching up on the beach



Beautiful Pacific Ocean



Our main quest for the day was to find a good Mexican joint close to the ocean for lunch. Mission accomplished! We found a spot on the Ventura Pier that provided staples like tacos and beer, and set us up nicely for a walk down the pier when we were done. All around, a relaxing prelude to a great evening wedding celebration!

Long walk off a short pier...



What a day for a wedding



Highlights from the wedding included the fun photobooth, a great video put together by Kirsten that provided a walk down memory lane and the toast given by her sister that brought up how K used to go by the name 'Spike' as a child. We are all still laughing about that one (well, maybe not Kirsten)! I finished out my California vacation by spending a night with Jaime in Cardiff before flying home to Austin on Monday.

I'm getting married today!



Just missing the bride



vW, Pratt and Sass



The handsome couple's first dance



The EIGHT



So many chins, so little time



To the EIGHT - I love you girls. Six down, two to go!

My Best Friend's Wedding

I'll be the first to admit that leaving Australia was much harder than I had expected. And if I wasn't returning to the States to attend the wedding (eight years in the making) of one of my very best friend from college, I'm not sure that I would have come back! I returned to Austin for a brief three day layover, and I mean that in the most literal sense of the word as I was lying in bed for most of that time. The jetlag combined with lack of sleep during my last weekend in Oz nearly did me in! One of the few things I did during my short stay in Austin was meet two of my favorite partners in crime for some Mexican food, margaritas and a much needed catch-up session.

Has anyone seen our other Bree?



My next stop was Cashiers, NC, en route to Clayton, GA for the wedding. This worked out perfectly as I got to visit with my grandparents, eat at my favorite local bbq joint, spend a night with my parents at their mountain house and be reunited with Bailey! The drive to Clayton was less than an hour from there and the wedding festivities got underway the next day.

12 Bones with Big Daddy and Jean



After much anxiety and concern about the weather holding out for the outside wedding, the day turned out to be beautiful and the ceremony went off without a hitch! There were even some gunshots off in the distance...we were in rural Georgia after all. Meghan and Mike have been dating since we were in college at the University of Florida, and they looked so happy on their big day that it brought a tear to my eye (or was that tear because I'm now one of the last single girls still standing?).

The beautiful bride



Kirsten, the next to get hitched (and my twin separated at birth)!



JoAnn, who recently learned what a french fried potato was...



The party following the wedding was one of the best in recent memory. We danced until late into the night and then Jaime and I apparently raided the fridge and ate the O'Malleys out of all of their cheese. Very strange behavior, but it made sense to us at the time!

Where the girls are the fairest...



J-Pratt, vW and Metzger



The 8 (including a stand-in for Beatriz...the resemblance was uncanny!)



Cheers!



Jaime and I were lucky enough to get to spend an unexpected extra night with the newlyweds in Georgia before hitching a ride with them down to Florida. Bailey also got to come along for the ride. Once in Orlando, I had a fabulous time with my family and friends. My niece stole the show of course; she is just too cute for words (me, biased?). I made sure to sneak in a few days at New Smyrna Beach and hit up two of my favorite NSB institutions - Mon Delice Bakery and JB's Fishcamp. They did not disappoint!

Love her to pieces



This explains why my phone bill was so high this month!



Swimming at the club



My dad always says the ocean cures everything. I think he's right!



Ahhhh...



Just some of the ambiance at JB's



They also had a picture of Tim Tebow hanging from a pipe...love this place



One of the best parts of Meghan and Mike's nuptials was that we got to celebrate them again the next weekend at a party in Orlando. The Florida girls were in attendance, as was Jaime, who also stuck around an extra week to be there.

Comedic duo: V-Dub and the former O'Malley



Apparently we love big belts



Bailey and I are now safely back in Austin, catching up with our friends here and figuring out our next move!