Heather + Tyson

The wedding locale was absolutely beautiful. It was on the property at The Hawk and Ivy bed and breakfast. And although I would be hesitant to recommend the b&b (due to the quirkiness of its owners), the property is incredible.

The old tobacco barn has been redone and is so cute with all its strung lights and country feel.

Seriously, this place is insane! Obviously my phone doesn't do it justice, but you can get an idea of how awesome it is.

The night before, at the rehearsal dinner, there was a time to toast the soon-to-be newlyweds. I couldn't pull myself together enough to make one, but as I sat there taking in everyone's sincere and heartfelt words of love and encouragement, I couldn't help but smile, inside and out, for how excited I am to see Heather and Tyson journey together as a couple in this life.

Heather is my kindred spirit. Our friendship has seen us through some of life's tougher times and I am so grateful for that. We have always been able to have the deep conversations, no matter how much time has lapsed. I know I can share anything with her, even if it's that I disagree. But mainly we are kindred spirits because we can share that life is hard and life is ugly sometimes and yet still remind one another that in the day-to-day grime there is beauty and there is love, and it is worth it.

Heather, your joy on your wedding day was absolutely infectious. You were truly a radiant bride. I couldn't be any happier for you that you have found someone that makes you smile, that gets lost in conversation with you, and that I'm sure indulges your "would you rather" and "what if" games. Love each other well, as the connection you have is beautiful. I'm excited to get to know him more as the years go by. I'm excited to see where the wind takes the two of you, together.

After the ceremony and after some picture taking, it poured rain, hail storm and all.
And then it was over in 5 minutes.
And there was a little cool relief from the heat.
Somewhere in there is a metaphor for marriage.

Oh happy times!

Fortunately for everyone, I don't have video prove of the dance that was performed so elegantly by yours truly, Heather, MK, and Hava (Heather's twin sister). But, to give you an idea of the dance concept, you can watch THIS video.

And, I end on this note. Because this is Heather + Tyson. And this is love.

Atlanta to Asheville.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive,
and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
-Anais Nin-

{Mary Kay, Heather, Me}

I always say that I would never want to repeat junior high, but I would do it a million times over if it meant the difference between having and not having these two friends. A week ago yesterday I flew to Atlanta to meet up with them for a Girls' Trip right before Heather's wedding (post to come!). And, we had a great time. I'm not sure I've laughed so much in a long time.

The first night we stayed in Atlanta at The Artmore Hotel, which is a cute, renovated boutique hotel. We totally lucked out as we got upgraded to their largest suite. It was a 2-bedroom apartment. I'm not kidding when I say the room was bigger than my own apartment. When we got there we had a bottle of champagne waiting for us (thanks babe!). It was the perfect way to toast to the beginning of our trip. When we first got the the hotel, it was almost like 7th graders reuniting with how giddy the 3 of us were. After we calmed down a bit (and turned down free Jerry Seinfeld tickets - what were we thinking?), we headed to our dinner reservation at South City Kitchen.

Good gracious, the food at South City Kitchen was delicious. As one yelp review said it, "Put some south in my mouth." We started the evening with fried green tomatoes with goat cheese and delicious cocktails. I then ordered the Southern Caesar Salad that had fried okra, grit croutons, and grilled shrimp with a side of macaroni and cheese. It was incredible and I am determined to attempt a recreation of that salad. Finally, we ended the night with cheesecake bread pudding, and yes, it was as fabulous as it sounds.

The next day we hit the road and drove up to Brevard, North Carolina. We stayed at The Red House Inn, making my first bed and breakfast experience a huge success. There was a little cottage in the back of the house that we stayed in and it was perfect, complete with it's own back porch.

Somehow I was unaware of the fact that there are so many amazing chocolate shops in North Carolina, I seriously ate my weight in chocolate during the four days I was there. The chocolates below, clockwise from the top right are: honey hazelnut, raspberry, lemon mint, and espresso. My favorite was the lemon mint. The mint in it was fresh, not extract, I thought the truffle was creative and refreshing.

Breakfast at the Red House Inn is a complete English breakfast. There was scrambled eggs, roasted tomato, ham, sausage, mushrooms, beans, and an english muffin. I ate it ALL.

While enjoying our breakfast, we enjoyed the entertainment of seeing a white squirrel! Who's ever heard of a white squirrel that's not albino? I guess they are quite the show stopper in Brevard as many tourists are so fascinated by them. I can understand why, this little guy was pretty darn cute.

Thursday morning we drove the final stretch to Asheville, a quick 45 minutes from Brevard. There is nothing quite like a rode trip with girlfriends.

I am incredibly thankful for those couple of days reconnecting with some of my oldest and best friends. There is something about being completely known by other people. I know that I can be myself, my whole self, because there is full acceptance. And, knowing that these two put up with my awkward jr. high self to be my friends either proves that they are too great or too crazy for words (or perhaps a mixture of both). Those few days full of laughter, remember whens, practicing the wobble, heartfelt conversations, sharing dreams for the future, and Heather's nurse stories were good for my soul. Good for my soul.

Even though arriving in Asheville was the end of our Girls' Trip, it was the beginning of wedding festivities and there was plenty of fun still left to be had. Here's a look at the vacation house we stayed at in Asheville. It was called Green Gables and was really quite cute.

Up next: The wedding!!