Emily and Michael's California Jewish Wedding!

I finally snagged our computer long enough to upload some pictures from Emily and Michael's California wedding! I've known Emily and her sister Anna for about as long as possible. They've always been a part of our family's life and they are like little sister's to me. When we were kids, my mom used to babysit them on a regular basis and then when I got old enough, I babysat them quite a bit. They are such sweet girls and it was so wonderful to spend some time with them and get to see Emily's new husband, Michael, again!

The wedding was so much fun! Michael is Jewish and Emily recently converted and the wedding was chock full of Jewish traditions. It was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I've been to. I loved how there was GORGEOUS singing throughout the entire thing. I have quite a few videos of the singing, but Blogger takes forever to upload so you're missing out. Sorry! And the reception? Wow... they know how to party!! Josh and I had never been to Jewish wedding before so it was interesting to see.

It started out with us attending the Tish. This is where the bride is in one room with all the women and the groom is in another room with all the guys. I don't have any pictures from this because I forgot Josh had the camera in his pocket.

Anyway, in the girls' room, we all introduced ourselves and how we knew the bride and then just offered up any stories about Emily or offered advice. It was very laid back and really, pretty cool. There were only about 15-20 of us in there.

I hear that the guys' room was a little more.... entertaining. Something about the groom and groomsmen taking shots, a lot of "advice" and what not. We heard them hootin' and hollering through the walls! Josh said it was pretty crazy.

Oh, and I didn't feel bad taking pictures or video during the ceremony (I didn't use a flash!!) because like half the other guests were!! Normally, I wouldn't dream of it, but since it was so laid back, I did it anyway :) Plus, my parents weren't able to go so I knew that they'd want to see!

After the Tish, we all went up to the rooftop for the ceremony. While we were all making our way up there, Emily and Michael were downstairs signing their Ketubah. Here's the setup on the roof. Very simple, but it was really pretty. Their Chuppah was really pretty too. Michael and his dad made it and the canopy for it was made out of old t-shirts from Emily and Michael's childhood. The ceremony started at sunset and it made for a gorgeous evening.



How did that get in here??



Here is their signed Ketubah. I wish I had a good close-up picture of it... it was GORGEOUS.

Michael's parents walking him down the aisle

This little flower girl was hilarious. She came out of the door just squalling. When she reached the end of the aisle, she just stopped and had this petrified look on her face. Poor thing! Michael had to go down and grab her

Ahhhh... the beautiful bride, Emily with her aunt and uncle! I just love the smile on her face. She was positively beaming all night

Here's Emily doing the Hakafot - the bride circles the groom 7 times.

This is them standing under the Chuppah, wearing the prayer shawl Emily gave Michael that morning. While they were wearing this around themselves, the Rabbi (who was female, by the way... I found that interesting! I didn't know a woman could be a Rabbi) recited and sang the Sheva Brachot (7 wedding blessings) over them .

The ring exchange. I found this interesting too... They put the ring on the index finger closest to the guests. After they recite the ring stuff, they can then switch it over to the normal finger.

They did break the glass and everyone yelled Mazel Tov, but I was taking a video of it so I have no pictures. It was pretty fun

Here's a close up of the top of their Chuppah. Very fun!

Me with Anna, Emily's sister. I just LOVE these girls!!!

Us. Cheesing for the camera

This was one of the most delicious wedding cakes I have ever had. I'd almost say it rivals our wedding cake (which I thought was amazing).

The Challah. They did a blessing over it and then passed it around to eat

The inside of the ballroom was decorated so elegantly. So Emily!

Here's the Hora!! So fun! We were all dancing in circles around them.

I have more videos of the reception than I do photos because pictures just didn't do it justice. Those guys know how to PARTY. Seriously, as soon as the music started, the dance floor was full and they were literally jumping around and gettin' down. It was really fun. They also did a lot of dances where we all had to join it. It was way fun! We left before the party was over because they just kept going and going and going!

The newlyweds and us

They both gave a little speech before cutting the cake. Very sweet

Despite cries of "Smash it in his face!!!" from Anna, both Emily and Michael were good little newlyweds and appropriately fed each other nicely. These two are major foodies so they actually ate almost the entire piece of cake which I haven't seen many couples do!

Anna caught her sister's bouquet! (Notice the shoes she changed into? This girl is the most tomboy chick I have ever in my entire life met!)

They had a brunch the next morning at the hotel we all stayed at, which was fun. It was nice to get to visit with them again since we'd come all the way out there. Emily looked absolutely fabulous (as usual... she's actually a stylist in LA) and like she'd had hours of beauty rest. In reality, from what I hear, they had an after party after the reception so they were probably going on like 3 hours of sleep!

Emily and Michael at brunch. Aren't they adorable?

It was a simply beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple. Josh and I were SO glad we got to go. I pray that the Lord blesses their marriage and works in their lives!

Observations on California

We made it back from our trip! It was awesome and we got to see and do so much. I hope to put up some pictures soon, but in the meantime, I would like to share a few observations...

1. Palm trees make everything look better, nicer, and less scary. Irving Mall really should invest in some tall palms. That place is scary.

2. In-N-Out is good, but it's still just a burger. Personally, I think Airways in Arlington is every bit as good.

3. There is apparently a new fashion trend for women where you wear tights and a short/crop top. I'm not talking about just tight pants or even leggings, but TIGHTS. Where every minuscule detail of your legs, thighs, and butt is on full display for the world to see. Half the time, they wear midriff baring tops too. I don't get it. I kept wanting to tell them that they forgot to finish getting dressed. So tacky. We even saw one girl that had a small hole right forming on each cheek, I guess from leaning up on the wall or something. Normally, I would inform a woman if she had an embarrassing situation going on, but honestly, she didn't appear to care. Besides, with her outfit, it's not like she was hiding anything anyway... I really, REALLY hope this trend doesn't catch on here.

4. There is WAY too much money in LA.

5. On the subject of LA, it is like a whole other planet. It's bizarre. The people are weird, the highways are stupid, and it kinda smells funny. I was so happy to get out of there and head down the coast! The only good things about LA are Kara, Emily, and Michael.

6. Arnold Schwarzenegger is waaaay shorter than I imagined him to be. I really expected him to be a lot taller.

7. Hotels.com lies. Ok, that's not an inclusive California observation, but it's still truth. We booked a room at a hotel in Santa Monica and when we arrived 30 minutes later, it was like night and day from what they advertised. They didn't even really have a parking lot and there were homeless people literally sleeping on the doorways. Now, I'm not judging, but I was not staying there. The entire neighborhood made me feel unsafe. Not cool. We called hotels.com to cancel and tell them their advertising lied. Long story short, we ended up still having to pay for the freaking room even though we weren't staying there. Then, rather than booking through them again, we called a hotel directly (after we physically checked it out!!) and got a cheaper rate than hotels.com quoted us! Yeah, I would NOT recommend using that website.

8. I think there are more homeless people in SoCal than anywhere else. It made me so, so sad.

9. All the guys and gals between 15 and 25 years old in Southern California look the same. Bleached blonde hair and dark fake tans. Oh, and tights. (Seriously, I still don't get this fad..)

10. Parking meters in Beverly Hills are stupid. Parking tickets in Beverly Hills are even more stupid.

11. Rodeo drive is highly overrated. I guess it was kind of cool to see but I was too afraid to go in any of the stores. I was afraid they'd treat me the way they treated Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman except, well, I'm not hooker. And I was fully dressed. And since I'm not a hooker, I obviously don't have a rich "customer" so I couldn't go back in and pull a Julia Roberts on them after spending beaucoup bucks elsewhere. Oh, and I don't really like that movie. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it all the way through. Just that part. And I'm really not a hooker. Promise.

12. This is also not strictly California, but, Jewish weddings are absolutely beautiful. Even the modern weddings are so steeped in tradition. Oh, and the singing was gorgeous. It really made me wish I could have witnessed an Old Testament wedding to see how things have changed and how they're likely still the same. Now if they would just accept Jesus Christ as the risen Savior...

13. Watching the sunset over the ocean is awesome. Don't get me wrong, I still love the bay sunsets of NJ, but this was a nice change.

14. Granville Cafe really, really, really needs to open a restaurant in the DFW area. I started craving the Uptown Mac & Cheese about 5 minutes after I finished my plate and the craving hasn't ceased since.

Dinosaur Playmat!

I wish I could claim creative genius on this project, but alas, I can't. I found a tutorial online here and had at it.

I made dinosaur playmat for a super awesome little boy who just turned 3. I had so much fun making it! I kinda want to make one for myself to play with!

Here's a full on view of the whole thing. The green material is grass, the grey is rock, there's a lake, a river of lava, volcano, palm tree, and that brown thing is a cave.



Close up of the cave


Here's a close up of the palm tree


Just a few different angles with the dinos

The backview where the velcro is

And here is what it looks when it's all folded up... a giant volcano with lava handles!

I really had a blast making this and it was fairly simple to make.