All my Siblings Married!

Well, that’s my brothers and I all married off now!  I spent early August on a nice little holiday that was broken up into 3 parts: 1 part London, 1 part Michigan wedding (EPIC!), 1 part Michigan lakeside cottage.  Not too shabby, methinks!  I will warn you, this is a picture-heavy post…

So the festivities began with a visit to London, just Trent & myself – a pre-vacation if you will.  We spent the better portion of a day in Greenwich Village, eating ice cream and dumplings, inspecting the craft stalls, and stopping at the meridian (GMT, that is!).

But we also visited a sweet coffee shop called The Attendant. It was an old refurbished public toilet and we enjoyed our treats while sitting at urinals.  It would be safe to say that the trip to London saw us mostly eating and strolling.  That’s how we roll…

Vacation part 2 was the big event!  The wedding –  my younger brother, Steven and his lovely Gina, aren’t they adorable?!?

They got married at Orchard Lake Country Club in Detroit and it was a whirlwind of family (lots of family!), cake, food (and taking pictures of food!), photos, dancing and the gorgeous bride and groom!

That’s not a mountain, that’s a cake.

I ordered these heels online and they were a little taller than expected… they didn’t stay on all night of course.

My lovely mother posing with us – we coordinate well, eh?

What is a wedding without a photobomb?!

Yes, I did photograph each course. there were four!

Full Disclosure: I borrowed this photo from Gina’s cousin, it’s just too perfect!

My older brother Rich, with his gorgeous wifey, Nicole!

I had made my Kat Strapless Dress (pattern by Grainline Studios), and it not only did it fit, but it stayed up through all the dancing!  I’ll do a follow-up post with more dress details soon, for the sewists out there!

Okay, next day, with the help of a bloody mary and family brunch, we recovered enough to travel up north to the family cottage on Crystal Lake for vacation Part 3.  Growing up, we spent 2 weeks of every summer up here but I haven’t been able to make it back in years, so this was really special.  Especially since the bride and groom came too!  They delayed their Hawaii honeymoon to be with us – how sweet!

We even had time to visit the special spots of Beulah, the wee lakeside town by the cottage:

The famous Cherry Hut, for some cherry pie a la mode!

The Yarn Market, where, believe it or not, I bought wool for my first project!  My aunt Shelley bought it for me and sat with me back at the cottage, teaching me to knit!  It was just a garter stitch scarf (somewhere back in storage in Florida) but I love it.  The shop was closed, so I didn’t get a visit this time.

Here’s a new spot (to me at least!) for the area, Crystal Lake Alpaca Farm!  The boutique was shut (although the owners had offered to open it for us, but we hadn’t known if we’d be able to make it or not), but the alpaca came out when tantalised by the hay.  Look at how happy I am!  Oh, the appearance of a wee kitty helps too!

Also, we stopped by local and famed printer, Gwen Frostic.  We stocked up on cards and a desk calendar, just in time for the printer to appear!

And we wrapped up the visit in Frankfort for some microbrews.  Here, my dad & his wife Donna presented us with some keys to the new lakehouse – OK, brothers, let’s get planning for our next visit!

I’ll admit, it was really hard leaving the family to return to Scotland, but it had to be done.  Those times were special, and I cannot wait for the next get-together!  I think there will be babies on the horizon, too!