Wed

Wedding day came & went on June 25, 2011 for Lawson & Katie!

We started the day at the pool at the hotel (that's Nick in the pool):

We didn't take any ceremony pictures (or that many in total) because we were enjoying the day. But here is what was taken.

Here we are at the Yacht club:

With the bride & groom:

Want to see more of Katie's dress? Here it is (feather accent included):

She looked ridiculously fabulous. Her waist was teeny, and she glowed with radiance & happiness that day! We DANCED our butts off-- Lawson & Katie included. The cake was vanilla, chocolate, AND red velvet. There was awesome shrimp gumbo and tomato pie bites (hard to explain, easy to eat). It was literally a PERFECT wedding.

...and then we lit the sparklers.

No, there was no fire. BUT we did set off the smoke alarms at the Yacht Club. I think everyone was a little too lit to call the fire department and tell them "false alarm". 

So after the newlyweds left, we welcomed the finest of the city of Charleston:

The next day, we left Charleston with happiness in our hearts and M&M's in our bellies:

Congrats you two!!!

Rehearse

Like mentioned in the previous post, we traveled to Charleston, SC to celebrate the wedding of our friends Lawson & Katie. Nick was a groomsman, and Stephanie was the #1 cheerleader for the weekend. Lawson & Katie are our "BFF" couple. We have spent so many nights eating, drinking, and most importantly laughing with them, so we were so excited for them to commit to the rest of their lives together.

The rehearsal was at the same location where the reception was to be held: The Carolina Yacht Club. Stephanie got there early and took some pictures.

Here's the water next to the venue:

Here's the venue for the Saturday night reception (2nd floor overlooking the water, of course):

Look at the flowers! They're perfect!

We attempted a self-portrait (we have been working on this for 5 years...):

The bride and groom on their last night before marriage:

Nick and Lawson:

After the rehearsal dinner, Lawson's parent's friends hosted a party in the next room-- there weren't too many pictures taken (probably a good thing), but it was a great start to the weekend! We had a blast; it is so much fun celebrating the people you love!

Husk

We like food. A lot. More than a lot. We like eating it, cooking it, looking at it, smelling it, rolling in it....wait. Kidding on the last one (kind of).


We were excited that we had the fortunate opportunity to head to Charleston this past weekend for our friends Lawson & Katie's wedding (post to follow). 


Nick's friend John mentioned that we should head to a place called Husk for some grub. Little did we know it was right around the corner from our hotel.

Someone told me it is the oldest hotel in Charleston:

We walked outside of the hotel looking for food. Look what we found next door:

As their website says, "the kitchen reinterprets the bounty of the surrounding area, exploring an ingredient-driven cuisine that begins in the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in Charleston." AKA-- right up our alley. 

Local, sustainable, somewhat organic:

When we walked in, there was even a board with a bunch of ingredients and where they came from that day:

We sat down, and even the table decor was ingenious (dried okra and beans in dried corn):

They're known for their cocktails (though the bar was not yet open when we went):

So we started with some rockin' cocktails. On the left is Nick's Barrel Aged Manhattan and Stephanie's Southern Screwdriver is on the right. Check out the ingredients here (we're talking house-made citrus vermouth and jalapeno macerated vodka):

For our appetizer, we enjoyed BBQ bologna sliders with cabbage and carrot slaw:

For lunch, Nick ordered the cornmeal dusted catfish with roasted red pepper sauce on top of fried cabbage with mustard and country ham crumbles:

Stephanie ordered the almaco jack with herbed butter on top of glazed (with butter) beets:

We were too full for dessert, but when we make it back to Charleston (whenever that may be), we'll be heading back. Hopefully with a visit to the bar and including dessert!

If you'd like to see the menu for our lunch (yes, the exact one they change daily), you can see it here.

HOBY

We have been part of HOBY (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) for a few years as a couple. Stephanie became involved when she went through the program itself in 2002 as a sophomore in high school. She brought Nick into the program in 2007- just a year into dating - and he has been involved ever since. After 2002, she was hooked, and HOBY has become a passion and part of many friendships and good times for us.

To put it simply, HOBY is leadership development for high school sophomores. Fewer than 1 in 5 civic organizations are including young people in their work--and less are focused not on underprivileged, but on  tomorrow's leaders. For a great YouTube introduction, see this video.

We spent a few weekends back at Georgia Southwestern State University with 250 OUTSTANDING high school sophomores from across the state of Georgia as they learned about how to be a better leader (and as a side-effect, person) in this changing world.

Nick's group was the Cardinals, but they did this ridiculous dance called the Bernie (explanation here). Here's a picture of Nick's Cardinals:

Stephanie's group was a little more reserved, but awesome nonetheless. They were the Marlins (get it, baseball theme?). Here's a picture of her team:

And yes, I said there were 250 high school student Ambassadors:

We believe in HOBY, and we are taking on some pretty big roles in the next year for the 2012 seminar. More to follow, but if you would like more information (especially how to donate **wink**wink**), check out GA HOBY's site.

We love HOBY; you should too.

Rock

In 2008, we first attended the Georgia Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Rock the Cure, a fundraising event held at the Sweetwater Brewery. If you'd like to learn more about the cause, click here: JDRF. If you'd like to know more about Sweetwater (who wouldn't?), click here: Sweetwater.

Fast-forward to 2011, we are still loyal attendants, enjoying not only the beer but the music. For those at our wedding, you may recognize the band. We actually fell in love with them in 2008 when we first heard them play at Rock the Cure--that's why they played our wedding!

They are not only amazing musicians, but they're good guys. They have a great career ahead of them, especially because they have formed a simultaneous group with a female singer called Homefront. You can hear more about them here: Lost City and here: Homefront.

So if you'd like to book them for your event, I am 100% certain they would be up for it.

Now for the ridiculous camera usage:

Photo Shoot:

And again:

One more:

Now for Kristi and Jason:

They're getting married in August:

Kristi kisses Jason:

Erin (Tatas) and Nick (Nicky Ray):

A little later on:

Nick loves the Johnsons:

Like John and....Leslie:

The Coyote (Stephanie's company) group shot:

With our significant others:

And other group shots:

It was such a fun night--we're so lucky to have good friends to share our lives with!

Nick agrees too:

Goodbye

Our friends Sev & Libbie have caught the "Colorado Bug" and are moving to Denver this week. A few weekends back, we attended a party at their house to say goodbye.

There were no tears- just hugs, drinks, and most importantly, dancing!

Nick, Steph, Sev, Libbie, & friend (sorry dude, don't know your name)

Dancing fiends

A few drinks in

We'll miss you two! We can't wait to come visit in Denver!