♥ Fortmann Brewer Wedding ♥

July 18, 2009
Michael Fortmann and Adelaide Brewer are married!!!
It was the wedding of the year! The location: San Diego.
Mom Dad and I drove down to San Diego with Isabella and Sophia in tow. We made it down there about 1pm and needed to get all dolled up by 2:30pm to catch the buses that took the wedding crowd from the hotel to the church. Before loading the buses we quickly got a few fun snapshots of the family!

the Colantonio ladies

the heads of the Colantonio Clan

mom, Arnaud & me

the men of the day - Michael's entourage

Once we were all on the buses we had some more snapshots. There was a little ways of a drive so what better than a small party....


Arriving at the church Mom caught a glimpse of Arnaud and took these great photos.

my other big brother being led by his parents in church

the beautiful couple at the altar

The ceremony was very wonderful. It really embraced the couple and made the day very special. Everything comes full circle. Arnaud and Christine were a couple in the bridal party. At Arnaud's wedding, was coupled with Michael!

After the mass, we all went back on the buses and headed back to the hotel for the rest of the festivities. First off we had a cocktail on the terrace out on the harbor.

Here it looks like Michael is scoping out the party...
The cocktail hour was so much fun. There were so many faces that I haven't seen in years. And it was even more interesting going up to folks that knew they should know who I was but didn't entirely recognize me.

Arnaud and Jessica

out on the harbor

mom and Marlene

a cute picture of mom and me

Allan and I cheesing it up for the camera

some of the boys - Shane and Kirk

After the cocktail the rest of the evening began. Before the newlyweds were introduced each couple from the bridal party had a 30 second dance as they entered the room. Arnaud and Christine got Beat It by Michael Jackson. Arnaud wore white socks to do the moonwalk...Christine did the crotch grab...and then they did a fight sequence with butter knives!!!!

the newlyweds

Mrs and Mr Fortmann

Brian and Karen

the martini bar with a luge

centerpiece

some of the bridal party cheesing it up
Michael going for the garter...

father daughter dance :-)

couples' dance

my sisters!!!

By the end of the night Addie was wearing the "sunday funday" over her gown, and everyone was dancing on the stage...

And people were greatly enjoying their glow sticks ;-)
Though I am not sure the limbo was what they had in mind when they thought of glow sticks...
The following are now photos taken post 1am...we're still going strong...
especially dad...
All night long the live band just kept the party going. To be honest, as they continued to play I kept forgetting we were listening to them live, they were that amazing!!!! The wedding was absolutely amazing, and it was really nice to get together with my extended family and share in the love of the night! It truly was phenomenal.

The Day Java Needed Surgery...

Over the weekend Java got into a little trouble and got a huge gash on heer hind leg. It was really big but she did a good job at keeping it clean. We kept an eye on her and finally this morning, first thing, I brought her tp the vet. He agreed that all it was was a gash. That she probably jumped down from a chain link fence or something of the sort and her leg got snagged and caught in it. So poor little Java stayed at the vet while I went of to work. I don't even know how many stitches total she has. But there are quite a few. She's now home wearing an e collar. I also have some antibiotics and pain meds for her. She'll be getting the sutures removed in about 10-14 days!

home from the vet. I took the e collar off of her just for a little bit. The teal bandage on her front paw was where the catheter was placed during surgery.

not really enjoying that e collar

the stitches from the top angle

the stitches wrap all the way around underneath

A Summer Evening in Southern Cali...

July 11th was the day I took the GRE for the first time. Luckily Morgan had planned a night out with a bonfire first and then hitting up a bar after. It was so fantastic of her to get the group together and see everyone again. Lately I have been pretty MIA seeing as I have been studying relentlessly for the GRE and the CBEST and soon the CSET and retaking of the GRE and looking up schools....you get the point. My appearance at social gatherings has dwindled to nothing, so the invite for the CDM night out was extremely welcomed. First we met at Morgan and Cindy's apartment, and wrapped up all the dips and chips and drinks. We made our way down to Big C and had a sunset picnic, a small group of four of us. It was a splendid time. We watched the sunset and stayed well past bedtime, talking and joking and finishing Morgan's very potent yet delicious Sangria!

the picnic

Cindy enjoying the Sangria

a little bit of picture taking
enjoying the amazing weather while eating and drinking

Pierrick, Cindy and Morgan

the gals

Cindy, Morgan, Me and Lindzi

After the picnic we went back to the apartment to get out of our beachwear and into clothing more suitable for a bar. More gals joined up with us and we walked on over to Landmark to enjoy a night of dancing and drinking and meeting new people.

Amy, LeeAnn, Morgan, Me and

Sandy

quick self shot of the event planner for the evening...THANKS MORGAN!!

showing some love to the camera

Lindzi, Sandy, LeeAnn, Pierrick and Amy

extra kisses just for the camera

Thomas and Me

another quick groupie shot, as always James surrounded by his girls

My two new frenchmen friends, Thomas and Pierrick, that were so awesome to talk with all night in French....it honestly felt like I was back in Paris for the evening. I have expected Lauren Meredith or Leanna to come up to me. Wish you girls were missed.

Morgan Me & Amy

Its nights like these that make me so thankful for living in such a wonderful area. The weather is always beautiful and the summertime is always filled with fun nights out. Morgan, thanks again for organizing it, we MUST do more picnics.....every summer Saturday perhaps?

Independence Day '09!

Fourth of July this year was very laid back. I went to the beach, and discovered Thousand Steps. I stayed there for a bit. Well as long as I could stand the heat that is!

Then, around 8:30 or so in the evening mom, dad and myself headed on over to the Fortmann's place to watch fireworks. We had such a wonderful time catching up, especially since Christine is now back from Hungary!!!! YAY! As soon as we arrived Christine had prepared the inside of the traditional Fourth of July cake we always make. It was quite impressive, I think we hold the guiness book of world records in the making of a perfectly proportioned half-flag cake!

our "Half Flag"

Everyone enjoying a glass of wine...

Just in time for the fireworks, we stuck the cake in the fridge and headed on up to the gazebos to watch the shows. I believe we counted about a dozen shows in our full panoramic view of the area!

reunited!

night views...

Here are some video clips that I took from atop the hill -->

It was a very nice evening. After all the finales, we went back to the house and watched the Macy's Fireworks show on TV and munched on some cheese, crackers and grapes and sipped on wine. We finished the evening with tea and our lovely Fourth of July Cake!

Parents' Holidays '09

For Fathers Day this year dad was landing at the San Diego Airport at 10:30am. So instead of trekking all the way back up to Orange County we decided to give him a surprise and explore a little of San Diego that we didn't know. We had lunch at Sally's Seafood which is behind the Hyatt in the Harbor, overlooking the water. The location is fantastic! And we were all very pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food. Mom at a fresh lump crab sandwich with avocado, dad took the portobello panini, and I ordered edamame and the Hawaiian roll with poke tuna. We topped that off with a lemon cream mousse cake which was a perfect end to the meal.

After the meal we decided to walk along the water. And to our great surprise we stumbled upon Seaport Village. It was very cute, and the ambience with everyone out and about enjoying the sun was great. There were street performers, odds and ends shops, and music playing. It was really a pleasant surprise.

And for Mothers Day this year we took a day to ourselves and enjoyed the coastline. We took mom to Huntington Beach and enjoyed the sun and the nice weather. First we went for a drink at the Huntington Brew Co. while we waited for out reservation. And we walked the pier, and enjoyed the live music at the small amphitheater area, along with seeing artwork at the fair.

We then went to dinner at Duke's which was very good as well. It has more of a Hawaiian fish theme. Mom ordered the halibut cooked with many spices, I had seared ahi along with asian vegetable salad and dad ordered some specialty ono. Everything was really cooked extremely well. We ended the meal with a slice of key lime pie, and a chocolate molten cake!

Unfortunately we did not take many pictures of the three of us on Father's Day. Blonde moments yet again, both mom and I forgot our cameras!!! But at least I found some pictures of the places that we did get to enjoy on these two very special days. I hope that both of the days were special and look forward to coming up with more ideas for next year :-)

Site-Seeing in Boston on my own

While out in Boston, I took the commuter rail to go Downtown. I attempted at following the freedom Trail, but I suppose I was having many a "blonde moment" and therefore walked around town completely by memory and found all the sites. I think that doing it that way really made the day more interesting, and made me feel like I was a local just walking around making the most of a sunny Boston day. Without a map and refusing to look at Google Maps on my Blackberry, I just walked around and found all the sites. Boston really is such a great city, with all its public transportation and rich history.

A Bostonian Weekend

For Memorial Day, I was lucky enough to dart on over to the East Coast and visit the "Bostonians!" It was such a great time, and we did so many activities. The first full day, Saturday, we went so Isabella's swim lesson, then played at the park all afternoon. On Sunday, we went to the zoo in the morning and luckily made it home in time to watch the rain and the hail finish out the day. Monday, we picnicked and flew some kites. Well attempted, let's just put it at that. Tuesday I took the commuter rail to Downtown Boston and played tourist. And Wednesday we did a long lunch out near Arnaud's work, and I got to visit his lab. So instead of trying to write out all the festivities and try to recount all of the endless fun times, I have put up a slide show that is self explanatory. It was a fantastic week, and I cannot wait to see the munchkins again!