a post as big as TEXAS!

Pull up your cowboy boot straps folks, it's gonna be a big post!! Summing up our trip to Dallas, Tx to see Corie and Emery tie the knot is no messing around. What a weekend it was. For one, it was the wedding of Ryan's childhood friend Emery (I got the pleasure of meeting him in high school) and his college love, Corie....two people who are so ridiculously in love and perfect for one another that we couldn't wait to watch them say I do. AND, it was a big weekend for Ryan and me because we left Emma for the first time as we set out to enjoy a mini vacay.

We started out bright and early on Friday. Emma helped her Grandma see us off at the airport. She was so cute and interested in everything going on. I did what we all thought I would do which was break into hysterical tears as we said goodbye. Boy, was that hard....Ryan was upset too but he held it together and looked waaaaay cooler than me :) (typical!)

"ooooooh mom, you're SO embarassing!" (get used to it, beanie!)

We stayed at the Hotel Adolphus. Very cool, old fashioned place in downtown Dallas. They even had a high tea every afternoon which was pretty neat to see people going to....I'm talking tea, crumpets, and fancy hats :) I'll admit, the hallways kind of reminded me of the movie, The Shining but overall a cute place.

As soon as we got into town, we settled into our rooms and hit the town for some exploring. Here we are at the intersection of Murphy & Main looking like total tourists ;)

very cool upshot courtesy of my architecturally inclined hubby

That evening, Aaron had made us reservations at Samar. OH my goodness. It's a tapas fusion restaurant that had options from Spain, the Mediterrenean, and India. Each of us got one from each region and shared....18 tapas later we were all full and happy and totally impressed. Best meal I've had in a LONG time.

We also had probably one of THE best cocktails I have ever had. Gin + limoncello with a sprig of rosemary....unbelievable. They call it the Cyprus Rose and we'll be making it around the Murphy house sometime soon so stop on by! ;)

we had the funniest waiter who kept us entertained throughout the night. how do we repay him? by making him take pictures of us, of course ;)

Here's Ryan, the lover of all things spicy, getting a little run for his money with his Indian dish :)

Here are the girls after almost losing our lives at the hands of a crazy taxi driver!!!

OK! Now on to the main event. Corie and Emery's wedding! I didn't take pictures at the ceremony but suffice it to say it was perfect. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. The church where they were married was beautiful and it was a gorgeous place to start off what I'm sure will be long and wonderful marriage. Emery and Corie spent alot of time writing little paragraphs about each person in the bridal party, many of whom we went to high school with, so it was really funny and really cute to read while we waited for the ceremony to start. One of the paragraphs was a prelude of what was to come later that night (I'll get to that in a bit!)

Then, we headed back to downtown Dallas to the Tower Club for the reception. 48 stories up is a room with floor to ceiling windows and the most amazing view of downtown Dallas. It was GORGEOUS. Very Sex And The City. Everyone looked great and wore huge smiles and it was obvious it was going to be a great night.

the ladies

the gents, looking FABULOUS if you ask me!

with my beautiful bestie :)

the girls with the gorgeous bride :) corie, girl, you rocked the dress like we knew you would!

my handsome hubby with the handsome groom!

Ok, so remember those little paragraphs emery and corie wrote? in emery's post about adam, a great high school buddy, he made mention of adam's mad breakdancing skills. not willing to upset the crowd, adam threw off his tux jacket and showed us all how its done. i love how this picture captures him in action AND got corie and emery's monogram too!

ryan was a dancing machine and by the end, my feet were sore, my body ached, and my voice was hoarse from singing :) as new parents, we don't get out much and we don't get a chance to spend a whole lot of time with the friends we love so dearly. this trip was so special to us and while we came back more exhausted than when we left, it was SO worth it. and at the end, it was like a huge GIFT to get to snuggle with our little Emma bean again!!!

to all the friends we enjoyed the weekend with, we love you! thanks for such a great time :) to corie and emery, Y'ALL throw one heck of a party. congratulations on a day you will never ever forget. may the love and laughter we all experienced on 10.23.10 stay with you forever!!!!

cheers!