Mr. K and I have had a really busy schedule these last few months. We’ve been to weddings, bridal showers, graduation parties, etc. I took so many photos that I wanted to take a moment to share the highlights of some of what we’ve been up to.
1. Sonoma Valley Wedding. We attended a wedding in Sonoma Valley. I was a member of the bridal party so I also got to experience staying in a house in Sonoma Valley that we rented for the weekend. The weekend started with a rehearsal dinner complete with a roasted pig.
Unfortunately because of the cooking style, the skin was inedible.
I’ve never experienced renting a house for a weekend, but I thought it was quite neat. It’s like being in your own house and everything is provided: towels and toothpaste (sealed travel sized ones) in the bathroom, tea bags and pots and utensils in the kitchen, dvds for the tv, etc. The house we stayed at was quite interestingly decorated. A lot of people who came for the rehearsal dinner were having fun just checking out the maze of a house which included these naked statutes and really enormous shower and tubs.
My favorite part though, was waking up to the deer grazing on the lawn.
The boys’ house was much more modern with a ton of natural light. I especially loved the kitchen. Luckily the guys took advantage, even baking their own bread.
The wedding was of two close friends of ours, so of course we had a lot of fun. I thought these wedding seat placecards were ridiculously adorable, made out of wine corks, which fit the Sonoma Valley theme. The reception was held at Ramekins Culinary School, so of course it was good. I couldn’t capture all the appetizers being passed around unfortunately since I was camara-less for most of the night. Here’s a few shots from the dinner menu.
2. San Diego Wedding
Another recent wedding we went to took place at Twin Oaks and Gardens in San Marcos. This was such a whimsical and romantic wedding spot. There were a lot of touches throughout as you walked the grounds and a lot of places to take photos, such as a swing set, birdcage, and more.
This was the wedding of Mr. K’s cousin and it was huge. Nearly 300 guests, mainly coming from Mr. K’s large family. In many ways, this wedding was a little bit of deja vu for Mr. K and I. First, the couple getting married met and fell in love while going to school at UCSD, just like us. Second, Mr. K and his cousin have the same last name. The bride had the same last name as me. Crazy right? I did a total double take when I saw the wedding invitations. And attempting to find our names on the seating chart when everyone had the same last name was quite confusing.
I imagine this is what our wedding would had been, if Mr. K and I hadn’t insisted that we wanted a small wedding. Mr. K’s parents helped trim the guest list, but it made things a bit awkward when we ran into several of Mr. K’s extended family at this wedding that were not invited to ours.
Nevertheless, this was one fun wedding party. Not only was there open bar all night long, but there was a a dippin dots station after dinner, a taco truck vendor that came in late into the night, and lots and lots of cake. I don’t remember the last time I was so stuffed at a wedding. It was definitely one of the most extravagant and fun weddings we’ve been to and we couldn’t be happier for the couple, who also gave some of the most touching personal vows I’ve ever heard too.
3. Ducklings
A few months ago, we noticed some duckling at a nearby pond. I absolutely love ducklings. After that, we went to visit often. I’ve never given much thought to the mortality rate of ducklings until now. When we first came upon them, one mother duck (I named her Fran) had five babies and another one (Mabel; I have no idea why I chose such old fashioned names) had twelve. Each day, we saw the duckling population diminish little by little. Finally the numbers stabilized, with Mabel at 5 and Fran at 2. The ducklings were getting quite big and I was visiting them daily to make sure they got enough food. (I made sure to feed them multigrain bread with low sugar. Mr. K thought I was crazy for specifying healthier bread.)
Then last weekend we came back to find that Fran was down to just one duckling. I was quite devastated, wanting to take them all in and protect them. Now she and her one duckling are quite wary of everything. They start walking away when I approach until I feed them, and even then Fran is on the watch for danger. At least Mabel and her ducklings seem to be doing well. I’ve been waiting for some sort of recognition after visiting them almost daily for a month. Finally, this last week, when I started to approach, the ducklings actually started running towards me!
5. Puppy Update
Some visits home meant quality time with my family dog, Mochi. Mochi has always been on the chubby side, loving food more than anyone. Recently, my sister moved home and she put Mochi on a strict diet. No more human food, very minimal dog food and lots of exericse. Now she’s lost a ton of weight! You can’t really see it from the front, but her waistline is so tiny. It’s given her more energy and she seems healthier. It doesn’t stop her from standing right next to you when you are eating though, hoping for some scraps.
I also got to see my brother’s girlfriend’s dog. As you may recall, Zephy lived with me part time since he was a puppy. Now he lives near my parents, since my brother’s girlfriend moved up north to be near him. He’s still as lively and curious as ever. I miss the little rascal.
Well this post is getting quite long, so I’ll stop for now and share other things we’ve been up to at a later date. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!
Whoever roasted the pig like that definitely does not know Carolina BBQ like their name calls them. I have never seen the skin like that before and I am currently a NC girl.
What kind of dog is Mochi? He is so cute and reminds me of my dog.
Mochi is a dachshund and chihuahua mix. =) I guess the catering company wasn’t very good then. Boo.
I would be super sad to see a whole roast pig without edible skin! That’s like some kind of national tragedy. I love that the little ducklings started coming towards you after you’ve been feeding them – so cute! And of course I love the puppy photos. Puppy photos always put a smile on my face!
Heehee, yes puppies are always endlessly adorable. I know, why would you make the skin inedible?? Sad sad wasted skin.
I “aww”ed at all the stories, haha. The ducklings are adorable! I had a few ducklings as pets when I was young and boy do I know how hard it is for them to grow up :\ The wine cork placecards are SO cute! They look like little Lego-people 🙂
I’ve been pestering Mr. K that we should have ducklings, haha. Yes, I love the wine cork people! So cute. The photo is a little small, but the boy corks were dressed in suits and tuxes, the girl ones were wearing white and had flowers on their heads. Some had smiles drawn in, some are winking, all very cute. We kept ours and have them on a shelf displayed at home.
Everyone else’s comments were about the animals, but I want to talk food 🙂 What a shame about the whole roasted pig. All that potential crispy pork skin gone to waste.
I was sad about the skin too! They got the pig from a Carolina BBQ caterer. Several people asked about the skin, but the person dishing it out told us that the way they cook it, the skin is leathery and unedible. So sad. The couple actually got the idea for the pig because Mr. K and I had it for our wedding rehearsal dinner with the traditional lechon. They didn’t know the skin would end up inedible.
OMG. Your ducklings are so cute. A mama duck and her ducklings would fly into sis’s pool/yard EVERY year. They would just reside in her yard and swim in the pool for several weeks. And there was a time that ducklings could not get out of pool so sis made a makeshift ramp to help the baby ducklings. Have you seen the ducklings at Webb Park in RB. Sis and I discovered why ducklings disappear – the underwater turtles nab them 🙁
Is Mochi your mom’s baby that you told me about? Me and sis’ chihuahua’s name is Mochi too! Except our Mochi is super skinny and acts like a cat.
I was telling Mr. K that maybe we should have a pool or pond so ducks will come over. I didn’t know the turtles eat the ducklings! Yup, mochi is my mom’s baby. How funny that yours is named Mochi too!
Awww, mochi is so cute! It’s nice to know that he is at a “healthier” weight. I like his “eyebrows”! TC likes Zephy’s ears! 🙂
I love the eyebrows too. =) Yup, the ear is still up. haha.
Your duckling story was so cute!!!
Haha, thanks. =) They are growing up super fast. I’m not sure what I’ll do once they are all grown up.
Awwww, Zephy’s really cute. He’s got that ultimate mutt feature…one ear “works” and one doesn’t!
Hehehe, his ears never cease to amuse me. It’s so hard to photo him though. He is so hyper all the time.