Nate and Kat's Wedding

 My brother Nathan and his longtime girlfriend Kat got married in a simple but lovely seaside ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island on Saturday, September 28th. I haven't seen any of the formal pictures yet (and I'm sure my hair will be a windblown mess in most of them!). These are the ones I took.

Pre-Ceremony

Here are Sam, Rocco, and Shane. It was unintentional, but they're lined up in order of height. If John had been there (we missed him!), he would have been between Sam and Rocco.

The wind made Sam's hair fly back funny! Mine too!

The Ceremony

A joyful occasion!

I loved Kat's hair and her vintage-looking dress. And Nate looked very nice in his suit.

Exchanging of the rings

This was a cool symbolic thing they did with a cord binding them together.

My niece Hayley got this perfect shot!

Post-Ceremony

If we hadn't been dressed up, it would have been fun to climb down the ladder to the rocks and beach below. I only let Sam get about this far.

I copied the photographer and got a few shots of my parents with the happy couple. (My dad should have removed his sunglasses!)

A popular kite-flying spot was nearby. Wind = kite-flying success! 

The Celebration

We had a very nice and delicious dinner that evening at a mansion in downtown Newport. Nate and Kat didn't want a reception, just an elegant, low-key dinner with close family and friends. (If I get re-married, I might want to do something similar.) 

Between courses, we explored the mansion. We found a red room! My mom was fascinated by the red ceiling.

Hayley lining up her shot! She's good at pool.

Hayley and Kyle. Maybe they'll be next!?

Jennifer and me and an elegant set of velvet curtains 😄

We went up to the rooftop and checked out the cool views of Newport at night. 

After the dinner, some of us stayed at a motel on the outskirts of Newport. I went from the elegant and beautiful Vanderbilt to a motel room with Band-aids on the bathroom wall to cover up holes (presumably?). It's a good metaphor for how my financial situation changed with the divorce—from riches to rags (very relatively speaking!). How fitting! 

😮

 

😂

The rooms weren't bad, though. This was my mom and Jennifer's room.

Back to the main event...it was a lovely day and place for a wedding, and I'm so happy for Nate and Kat. May there be many great game nights in our future...in which I beat them both at Clue many times over! 😄

Back at The Breakers Once Again

 Thirteen years ago, I took Sam (and John) to see The Breakers, but of course, Sam wasn't even two yet and doesn't remember it at all. So I took him again when we were in Newport for my brother's wedding a few weeks ago. The Breakers has always been my favorite Newport mansion. I usually go at Christmastime (and again and again!) so it looked a little empty inside without the Christmas decorations. 😄 But it was still very grand and beautiful, of course.

I was already dressed up for the wedding. How appropriate!

Enough pictures, Sam! (He'd taken too many, which he does to tease me.) 

I really do think this might be the fanciest dining room ever.

These chairs are weird and not very comfortable looking!

But this porch though 😍 This is one of my favorite parts of the house mansion.

I should have stood in a more ladylike way. Feet together!

A kind passerby took a picture of me and Sam together. 

It's still weird that John isn't here for things like this. I miss him.

Then we walked around the grounds, which are extensive and beautiful. 

This tree would be SO FUN to climb!

Mansion side. The symmetrical beauty!

Sam took way too many pictures of me again, and it took me awhile to comb through them to pick out the best ones. He's a stinker. I like these pictures, though, so it was worth it!

With sunglasses...

and without

I think it's neat that behind the backyard is the world's largest swimming pool, the ocean. And I like that this can be true of the smallest, humblest house, as well. 

The back of The Breakers. This is where you can see that second-story open-air porch that I like so much. My mansion in heaven will have one of those. 😇

Beautiful landscaping

Next-door neighbors. Can you imagine living next door to The Breakers?

Selfie

😍😍😍

That was our monthly dose of culture for September. And what a lovely dose it was, too!

September Selfies

 I don't do a lot of selfies posts anymore because I've matured (😆), but I still do them sometimes when I've had a vain month. 😁 And also when the lure of using the alliterative "September selfies" is too great to deny. 

I think I'd just woken up from a nap. I look like I'd just woken up from a nap.

Here's me and my kitchen trash can. 😄

I caught on to the fact that the trash can was in the background and altered my position!

This is pretty nice other than the ray of light slicing across my forehead!

Here I am in my favorite fall owls shirt (and my only fall owls shirt). Ironically, I'm wearing it again today as I write this!

What can I say, I liked the way I looked that evening. The headband was working for me.

I should wrap this up by saying something clever and witty, but I think I expended it all in the intro paragraph. 😆