4 posts tagged “family”
The late twenties are a strange and wonderful time in life. About half of my friends are married (or practically married) and starting to have children. I, on the other hand travel home for the holidays unaccompanied and split my time between the parents (family #1) and friends (family #2). It's the time in life where you 'get' why you called 8 women aunt so-and-so growing up when your parents only had one sister a piece. At a certain point, the friends that you hold near and dear to your heart for years and years- who you stand next to as they get married, and love their children like they are your own become family plain and simple.
This is my second family...best friends, Shannon and Tara, husband to best friend (Tara), Lavonta and my gorgeous goddaughter, Talynn.
I will miss you all until I am back home in April for Tally's 1st birthday...until then, muah!
A few weekends ago, my brother, Vince and my cousin, Corinna both came to SF to visit. Corinna just graduated from De Paul University in Chicago and Vince had just moved to Merced (UC Merced). In celebration of their recent life changes, Jamie and I hosted a weekend o' SF fun.
My brother and Corinna, who is more like a sister than a cousin, have always been extremely close. My mother started calling them Guido and Maria when they were about 13. They are both incredibly bright, funny, talented and good looking (lethal combo, aka I didn't quite know what I was in for!).
Although I have been living in the city for over two years, I had never been to Alcatraz. So, when Corinna mentioned that she'd like to go, I didn't resist (at least she didn't want to go to Pier 39!). It turned out to be a gorgeous day! Gotta love indian summer.
I finally downloaded my pictures from Tracy's wedding week in Tampa last month. It was fun to review them after a month. We packed more into those 6 days that we ever thought possible.
Day one: Jamie and I arrived in Tampa where we were greeted by the bride and groom. We made our way to their very cute apartment and celebrated with a brew! A few hours later, it was off to dinner.
I don't remember the name of the restaurant but i do remember ordering a pasta dish that came out in the biggest bowl i had ever seen. It was the most ridiculous portion size ever. I did get it to go but ended up not eating it. The sheer size of the entree kind of ruined it for me.
Day two: Although intentions were to wake up early and spend an entire day at the beach, we woke to an extremely overcast and somewhat chilly day (figures). Eventually, we made it to the beach, but not before picking up some provisions.
A few hours later, we headed to a small beach-front bar/grill and enjoyed some cheap eats on the deck.
Meet Tony and Greg, aka, Gaylord, who provided hours of entertainment throughout the week. He was a good sport, i'll have to admit.
Needless to say, there were lots of stories and laughter. I can't recall which story this was, but it was obviously hilarious....to my dad.
The Man, the Myth, the Hoff
Day three (I told you we packed a lot in: Islands of Adventure
The picture on the sums up that whole day. Tony sported one of the creepiest mustaches ever. Tracy put her shades on him to put it over the edge.
Later on that night, we made our mark on Jimmy' Buffet's Margaritaville where Jamie stole the show with her dance to "Pour Some Sugar on Me". There may be a YouTube video of that somewhere.
The Wedding Day: Well, technically, all the photos of are the post reception party (Hard Rock Tampa). Glad we took pictures to remember the event!
Just a little happy!
My fabulous cousin, Tracy recently got married in Tampa so naturally the family gathered from near and far to celebrate the occasion. There many pictures from the actual wedding I'm still waiting to get back but in the interim, my dad sent some of the post wedding (prefacing for the tired, worn out look most of us possess)/Father's Day photos. It was the first time we were ALL together.
This last one is a photo of Lionel, me and my dad at the rehearsal dinner. The highlight of that evening was the driveway turned Las Vegas casino where my Uncle Jimmy's (father of the bride) challenged that he could create 12 foot tire marks from a peel-out. The guessing ranged from 3 to 15 feet; actual distance 72 feet. I'm still trying to locate the pictures of those tracks. Good old fashioned family fun (classy!). In case you were wondering, the groom won the pot.
