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Our Trip to the UK

After a whirlwind 13 days in the UK , we’re back in Texas and only slightly jetlagged (well, I wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for Isla’s 4:30am wake-up hollers across the house for cereal!). We landed in Manchester, then drove north 2.5 hours to Grasmere in the Lake District of England (most gorgeous place ever, seriously). We were there for two days, getting a royal tour from the Eskridges, who vacation there every year, then drove further north for 2.5 hours to Glasgow, where I have aunts/uncle, cousins, my grandmother and some of our very best friends. We were there for three days, then headed to Aberdeen, which was a similar drive, but towards the eastern coast. I was born in Aberdeen and grew up in a village called Catterline, which is about 20-25 minutes away from Aberdeen. We spent time with dear friends and their gorgeous children there, then I got to act as a tour guide and showed Sasha and the girls where the house I first came home to and the one I remember vividly living in as a young girl. We drove by my old school, park, etc. It was such a special day. After our tour, we drove 2.5 hours north-west to Inverness, where my sister, Jill, was getting married. We stayed in houses at Achnagairn Estate, which was nice to be able to see everyone in the communal kitchen, living room, etc. We went to Loch Ness (no Nessie sightings!), Urquhart Castle and the Botanical Gardens while we were in Inverness, but the majority of that portion of the trip was for family time and of course, the wedding! We had the rehearsal on Wednesday and the wedding on Thursday – everything went off without a hitch. It was truly a dream wedding. Jill looked like a princess, and Kevin, a prince (Harry and Meghan!). The food was amazing, the castle was magical and the dancing was unmatched. On Friday, we drove due south for 7.5 hours, which didn’t feel awful, given that we’ve done the 16 hour drive to Colorado multiple times. It was a dream trip. I loved spending time with our family and close friends, most especially my Granny Jill, whom the girls call GG and truly love so much. Isla never wanted to leave her side, and Emi followed her around yelling, “GG! GG! GG!”. I want to go back and do it all over again tomorrow – not just so we can eat Indian food every other meal. As for now, I’ll relive each moment through the hundreds of photos I’m sharing below!

Just missing my dad for this to be my favorite-men-in-the-world photo!

Our Wedding Pictures: Part 2

Et voila – the second half of the wedding (you can see part one here). We had custom cocktails, delicious food, hilarious speeches, and lots and lots and lots of dancing. There was a good mixture of Scottish and Serbian dancing, and of course, plenty of bouncing around to Miley and T-Swift (yes, he’s 32). I was a hot, sweaty mess at the end of the night, as I feel I should have been. I could not have dreamed up a better wedding for the two of us. I’m so happy to have these pictures and go through them time and time again. Love y’all – thanks for reading!

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Wedding Venue: The Carneros Inn

Wedding Coordinator: Brooke Baglietto (at The Carneros Inn)

Florist: Julie Stevens

Dress: BHLDN

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

Bridesmaids Dresses: J. Crew

Hair and Makeup: Katie Donaghy of It’s a Date at the Powder Room

Photographer: Ryan Ray

Vegan Cupcakes: Fat Bottom Bakery

DJ: Aaron Long

Cake Toppers: Ready Go Wedding Co. on Etsy

Paper Goods: Papellerie

String Trio: Synchronicity Strings

Groomsmen Kilt Rentals: Kilt Rental USA

A Proud American

I became a United States citizen in December 2011. It was such a special day for me – one that I will never forget. On that day, I (officially) became a proud American, and I cheesily waved my little flag around during the ceremony as we sang the National Anthem. I’ll never give up my UK passport or citizenship, as that is my heritage, but I have embraced all things American (especially the accent, which I’ve had for years and years). My mom took a picture of me during the ceremony, which I thought I’d share (sidenote: this was before Instagram let you remove borders!). On this day, let us celebrate this beautiful country and remember all of the people who have died for our freedom, including a friend of mine, Dimitri Del Castillo. May he rest in peace.

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PS These pictures were taken before Instagram let you remove borders!

PPS Featured image via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Honeymoon Series: Croatia

Sasha and I love to travel, and I think we’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves to pick the perfect honeymoon spot. We talk about it often, but have landed on nothing. Sasha is getting his MBA through the University of Texas at Austin weekend program, so we are limited for dates, but we’ll make it happen (just not immediately following the wedding in July).

I’m going to share some of the places as we explore them – the first being Croatia. We talked about doing a trip to Scotland (where I was born) to visit my family, then flying to Serbia to see his relatives (both his parents are from there), then doing a short flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We could take a cruise along the coast, or rent a car and do a coastal drive. I am literally entranced by the pictures of the Croatian water. I have probably looked at thousands of pictures of this gorgeous country, and I’m seriously obsessed. 
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