Married at the Fort

Old barn at Fort Edmonton
Two weddings to go to this year (which is a bit of a slow year for us actually) and they're both within a week of each other. I guess the good wedding dates fill up quickly. After the New York extravaganza we came home to a much more relaxed style of wedding for David & Monica out at Fort Edmonton. This was another wonderful wedding that almost makes me want to do it all over again. Almost. If Col and I were to have married in Edmonton I think that this venue is probably as close to perfect for us as you could get. It's quiet, has a very outdoor touch to it and yet is remote enough to really have a good time without bothering anyone else.


The signing table


The lovely married couple

David & Monica had a live band as entertainment which was an excellent idea and thankfully they weren't playing covers but all of their own original material. Not only that but they had the very cool name 'Red Shag Carpet'.

Red Shag Carpet


David & Monica setting the dancefloor alight

And now that all three of the musketeers (Kim, Col & Monica) have signed on the dotted line and found their true loves it's time for the last of the three photos.

The circle is now complete

A New York wedding

The first time we met Brett was at our own wedding last August and by that time he had already swept Jill off her feet and proposed to her so we were very interested to see who this mystery man could be. As it happens, he's a great guy and the two of them couldn't make a happier couple. We were invited to their wedding and after a few hems and haws about the cost of flights out to NY twice in 6 months we decided to throw caution to the wind and go anyway. I mean they only get married once right? Boy are we glad we went.

Jill & Brett have obviously been planning things for a while (with a large amount of help from Jill's mum) because we had an absolutely magic time. This is Jill & Brett at the rehearsal dinner which all the out of town guests, family and the bridal party were invited to the night before.


The bride-to-be and her groom in the middle of a roasting speech

I could compare and contrast their wedding with ours all day and all night, but in the end it was all about the same thing. A celebration of love between a very special couple in front of friends and family. They just happened to live in New York and have a little grander idea of what a fairytale wedding would be like. I think I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking about one of the most stunning weddings I've ever had the pleasure of attending.


It was a black tie affair, so we went suitably attired


The flowers and vines on the huppah were amazing


The wedding and reception were at the Metropolitan Club


Cherry blossom trees framing the aisle to the huppah. The Metropolitan Club was such a beautiful venue they could give guided tours of it


I may be overdoing it on the flowers but they were just so beautiful


We were at table 9. All of the cards were hand drawn calligraphy


Vase for table centerpieces. This is at my eye level


Baby lobster (de-shelled) for appetizers


The lovely couple

I have a lot more photos and even more memories of the night (up until a certain point anyway ;-) but there's only so much web space on flickr for me this month and there are still more things to talk about since my last blog update.

The Guggenheim

We finally made it to the Guggenheim Museum on this trip after balking at huge crowds on a very rainy day in January. I'm very glad we got in there and had a look around as it is one of the best designed art galleries I've ever seen. The building itself is as much a work of art as the actual pieces on display. You start at the top and work your way down the spiralling ramp that opens on to the middle of the building and you can never get lost. It is simple yet devastatingly interesting with organic lines that wrap the whole space and lead the eye onward ever onward to the next piece of art just around the bend. We even got a vaguely interesting photo from the ground floor which is the only place that photography is allowed. Pity the currently displayed exhibition of an Israeli architects work wasn't a bit more appealing or we may never have left!


The atrium

NY = food

There's an indelible link for us between New York and food and this trip did nothing to sever that connection. Apart from the yums at the rehearsal dinner, wedding and Sunday brunch we also had an introduction to a brand new way to eat breakfast and a very cool Mexican restaurant.


Even the cutlery looks good

I've never ever had Indian for breakfast before. Well maybe once on Brick Lane in London but that was more of a very very very late dinner than a true breakfast. Dave and Sarah managed to discover an amazing Indian dish called dosai that you can eat for breakfast and I don't think my conception of Indian cooking will ever be the same again.


Our food exploration guides for the weekend

Dosai are basically a savoury pancake that is wrapped around a core of some sort of spicy potato and onion concoction and served with incredible sauces to dip into. And let me tell you, they taste really really good for breakfast.


This was the crazy one, somehow fried to stay in a perfect cylindrical shape. Nice and crunchy!


The more regular but still just as tasty dosai

United Nations of New York

The Big Apple
We had a whistle stop trip out to New York for Jill & Brett's wedding (which is the subject of a separate post itself) and had a little time for sightseeing while we were there. Dave & Sarah were once again gracious hosts (they seem to be getting an awful lot of practice at it too!) and we decided to go for a tour of the United Nations building where Dave is working. It was truly awe inspiring to see all the different stuff that goes on in there and try to grasp the enormity of what they're trying to achieve in the world. Very humbling.


An obvious message but an effective one


UN Security Council chamber


Mosaic presented to UN by Nancy Reagan


International girl


UN General Assembly

Golf

My new obsession for the season is golf. With a borrowed set of clubs and some exceedingly good weather for golfing with some of the guys from work I set about spending long periods of time walking in the outdoors chasing the little dimpled ball.


Swing comments and analysis gladly accepted

It's great fun, the season here is woefully short so you have to make the most of it while it's here and it gets me out of the house when Col is trying to catch up on sleep after a night shift at the hospital.

Lake photography

While at the lake we didn't get the best weather so had to go looking for interesting things to do. Of course overcast weather can often be the very best for picking up colour in photos so I went on a bit of a macro binge with the following photos.


Pansy


Bugging the daisies


Spikealicious


The aging process


Hot spot


Set piece


Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Trip in the new car

Colleen and I got out to the lake on our own for the first time since the wedding last year and also the first real road trip in the new car. I'm happy to report that it is an absolute dream to drive on a long distance trip, has great overtaking pickup and the satellite radio was delivered mere minutes before we set off. This was a blessing and a curse because we were able to pick up the hockey game (playoffs hockey for Edmonton is a big thing around here) the whole way there and the whole way home. We won one of the games and lost the other, but still managed to sneak through to the finals against the Caroline Hurricanes. The result of the series unfortunately went against the Oilers but they put up a good fight and everyone in Edmonton was pretty damn pleased with how far they got considering they last won the Stanley Cup in 1990.

The weather out at the lake was not the best and far too cold to swim in yet, so we spent most of the time indoors which was a shame. Still it's always good to get out there and with no-one else on the beach at all it was a very quiet peaceful retreat for us.

Weirdly the logs that we had stripped on the last trip out had grown some sort of fungus on them which turned them into this...

Strange mottling on the cedar stringers