Wedding Season is here!

With 7 weddings on the calendar to attend this summer, it is safe to say that wedding season is in full swing!!!  Ben & I have been looking at the calendar for a while now noticing how very busy we are going to be!!  I thoroughly enjoy this time of year & it makes me want to get married all over again!  

I am especially excited about being a part of my friend Erin's wedding in June & all the festivities that have started leading up to her big day.  I already blogged about her bachelorette party at the beach, & her wedding showers started off with a Mexican themed "Around the House" shower a few weeks ago.  

Cheryl, me, Erin, Ashley, & Nicole

Then last Thursday was a Mexican themed Miscellaneous shower for my wonderful friend Ann who was getting married this past weekend!  Ann and I were attached at the hip for years when we were younger & goodness knows the stories we have together.  She moved up to Iowa recently with her fiance, so it was great seeing her again & celebrating her upcoming wedding day!  

Katie, me, Ann's friend, Hallie, Ann (the bride)

Then Saturday was wedding hopping day!  Ben & I had 2 weddings to attend & luckily, they were scheduled far enough apart that we were going to be able to attend both.  First, we went to Laura & Daniel's wedding in Fairhope.  Laura was Ben's classmate in high school & a friend of ours at Auburn and Daniel was an SAE with Ben and his big brother in the fraternity.  They are such a wonderful couple & we are so happy for them!  

Ben & I (before the heat drained me from looking normal)

After enjoying their reception for a while, we headed to Mobile for Ann & Ben's wedding reception.  Thank goodness the sun was starting to set by then because the heat here in May was INTENSE & my hair & makeup had completely gone to the wayside by the time we arrived.  Sweet Ann was so happy & looked gorgeous! 

My parents were there & a lot of friends from high school were there; we had a great time dancing & I reunited with another friend that we went to school with until 8th grade, Lindsey!  

Kelli, Lindsey, me, Jennifer

After a long night, Sunday the partying continued!  We went to a Linen Shower for Erin & she got so many big plushy towels I think everyone at the party could have had one to bathe with! 

I am honestly exhausted but full of joy for all the happiness in all of my friends lives right now!  The fun is sure to continue & we have weddings the next 2 weekends to attend & I can't wait (Ben on the other hand doesn't exactly "look forward" to these events like I do! ha ha).  

Leigh's Baptism

After a fun weekend at the beach with the girls, I woke up early Sunday morning, had help cleaning the house, everyone said goodbye, packed up the car, and rushed back home.

Leigh's Baptism was scheduled for 9:30 AM Sunday morning at St. Paul's Church, and I pulled up to the church right when it ended.  I was so upset that I wasn't able to actually watch my niece be Baptized, at the church that I grew up in & was married in, but I did everything I could to get there as soon as possible!

Ben & I with Leigh

After church, all of Will & Amy's family & friends went over to their house for a celebration of Leigh's special day.  Leigh looked precious in her baptismal gown & all the food {catered by Bay Gourmet} was great.

The whole Kennemer family!  This is the very 1st time we have ALL gotten in a picture together & it's a good one!  Definitely going in a frame...

L to R: Ben, me, Don, LeJean, Will, Amy, Leigh, & Adam

Leigh w/ her godparents.... the younger siblings Adam & Melissa (Adam's face is priceless as Leigh started to throw a fit!)

Despite the downpour that ensued all afternoon long, it was a wonderful celebration & we love Leigh!

Erin's Bachelorette Weekend...

... not ME Erin, the other Erin... my good friend for years now, THIS Erin, who is getting married on JUNE 26th!

We have had many many memories and fun stories and a great friendship over the years... you just never know what fun 2 Erin's can get into!  I am honored to be a part of her special day & was so glad to be able to host her "last girl's weekend" Bachelorette Party at our beach house down at Ono Island this past weekend.  We had T-shirts made & all the paraphernalia ready for 9 girls to party! 

The weather was gorgeous all weekend & the pool was our best friend.  Friday was laid back, waiting for everyone to arrive, laying out by the pool, cooking Pizza at the house for dinner, and a little lingerie shower fun & games! :)  

Saturday morning we were back out by the pool for a while before it was time for some yummy lunch at Tacky Jack's!  This is the view from the top deck of the restaurant: 

We all wore our matching T-shirts, but the cute design was on the back, so you can't see it here.... Erin & Erin:

After lunch it was back to the pool!  One of our friends Catherine has a 6 month old precious baby girl, Callie, who she brought over for a little while.  She had such a good time with all of us & we ooh'ed and aah'ed at how absolutely adorable she was in her yellow bathing suit & sun hat!  

That night went to dinner at COBALT.  There was a band playing outside and the weather cooled off a little bit so we sat outside & it was nice.  We finally got a group picture of all 9 of us (even though it's a bit blurry since I didn't have my good camera with me this night)...  

Erin & Erin at dinner

After dinner we headed back to the house b/c we had someone coming to pick us up.... the PARTY BUS!  There was a music festival going on at the beach that weekend so we knew that taxis would be hard to find going out that night.  We decided to go ahead and rent a party bus to take us out instead!  This was our fun ride (driven my Mr. David)

everyone on the bus [clockwise from L]: Catherine, Ricki, Erin, Erin, Nicole, Ashley, Rebecca, Cheryl, & Collin

We went to Rum Runners, a dueling piano bar, & they put the bride up on stage & sang her a "sweet" little song about getting married... it was hilarious!

It was such a fun weekend with the girls & I can't wait for Erin's big day!  Love you Erin & I am so happy for you and BJ!! :) 

Day w/ our Mothers

We had a wonderful (& busy) Mother's Day this year.  After church, Ben & I went over to his parents house to visit & have a late lunch.  This was Amy's 1st Mother's Day with Leigh & LeJean's 1st Mother's Day as a grandmother.  We took a round of pictures with everyone.....

LeJean & her sons/granddaughter

daughters-in-law & granddaughter

grandparents w/ Leigh

LeJean with ALL her kiddos

Leigh has gotten so big at 4 months old now!  She is so smiley & controlling her head, trying to roll over, & such a sweetheart! 

After lunch we visited with Ben's grandparents before going over to my parent's house.  I typically never have pictures at the Kennemer house & only have pictures at my parent's house.  This day it was the complete opposite.  Everyone was over and we enjoyed the back porch, had an awesome dinner, played with Bennett (who has gotten so big, is completely potty trained, such a big boy 2.5 year old, cracks us all up, is full of energy, and so much fun), but didn't take a single picture of it all!  We headed home after a long day celebrating our selfless, beautiful, & inspiring Mothers.  

Happy Mothers Day!!!  

New York New York

*** CAUTION: extremely long post with TONS of pictures ahead! ***

When Natalie calls up & suggests a Girl's Trip, how can you say no to that?!?  So a few months later, we couldn't believe it when the day was upon us (Friday April 30th) & it was finally time for Natalie, Rachel, & I to go on our first ever big trip with just the 3 of us sisters (well, & the baby girl in Natalie's tummy too)!  

The Setzler Girls were on a plane for NEW YORK CITY!

We could not stop laughing when playing with the photobooth on my new Macbook on the plane.  We even had the people in the seats behind us laughing at the crazy images we were coming up with!  

We took a car instead of a taxi from the airport to our hotel & he took us the scenic route (it was a funny story that this guy w/ a limousine company offered to take us in a town-car instead of us waiting in the LONG taxi line at the airport & we made him show us his credentials & business card so we could make sure he was legit... hey, you never know...  this was when we realized we had always traveled to New York with our parents before!).  

There are SO many bridges in NYC, many of them seem recognizable from movies or TV... 

After a quick detour through Times Square hunting down a restaurant for lunch that didn't work out, our first stop was lunch at the CARNEGIE DELI.  Apparently a lot of celebrities come here & there are signed pictures all over the walls & you "get" to sit at big tables with other people.  Here I had pastrami for the 1st time ever & we ate sandwiches nearly a foot tall!  

Next were a few necessary wardrobe changes at our hotel (THE SHERATON) & then we were ready for shopping: Bloomingdales...H&M!  

*photo credit: Rachel*

We worked up quite the appetite & took a taxi over to a fun little place called the YUCA BAR for dinner.  While waiting for our table we walked around a little park across the street.

*photo credit: Rachel*

We almost lost our table from staying in the park so long, but we snagged it just in time & had possibly one of our best meals of the trip.  The homemade guacamole, salsa, & chips appetizer didn't last long at all.  

Then we all 3 shared all of these *tuna rolls *tilapia tacos *lobster quesadillas (it sure is a good thing none of us are picky & we all 3 like everything... we shared a lot this trip)

Saturday morning we went to a place called FLUFFY'S right by our hotel for breakfast before catching the subway to SOHO for the day!  

I had to snap a picture of this little place in SOHO as a shout out to my Alma Mater AUBURN b/c of the Orange & Blue and say WAR EAGLE!  

The only thing that suffered from all our shopping were my feet.... I could have shopped all day, but I guess I didn't bring the correct shoes this trip.  I'll know for "next time" (hah, whenever that is) but this day had to be cut a little bit short anyway since we had a 5:30 dinner before our play & my feet thanked this fact! 

We headed back to the hotel on the SUBWAY & if you haven't read Natalie's post about our trip you should... not only because it gives another perspective & tells lots of the funny stories, but I'm mentioning it now because she told the story of our run-in with this crazy "rando guy" on the subway that luckily we walked away from with a funny story & lots of laughs rather than a fight... you should go read it...

so we got ready & went to an early dinner at BEACON

*photo credit: Rachel*

and then it was time..... for WICKED!  I have been hearing Natalie talk about this play forever (since she had seen it in Chicago) & I had heard both Rachel & Natalie sing the songs from the play numerous times but really didn't know much about it other than "Wizard of Oz related".  I have seen quite a lot of Broadway plays and really LOVE them so I was looking forward to it (minus the migraine I got  right before the play started)

i couldn't resist posting this one :)

It did NOT disappoint!  Amazing music, singing, storyline... definitely recommend it! 

So, did anyone hear about the whole Times Square Car Bomb scare?  Yeah, that was this night, Saturday May 1st.... it was discovered around 6:30pm & we were walking in & around Times Square to go see WICKED from 7-8pm (we got done with dinner pretty early & the play started at 8).  We were only a few blocks from the car bomb & blocked off streets but didn't know anything about it until the next morning when we woke up.  Our parents & Ben, however, were at home & saw it on the news that night while we were already asleep & worried about us all night long.  

Anyway, after the play we originally planned on going to get dessert at Serendipity but since it was so late we decided to walk back toward our hotel to find somewhere to eat closer... 

And we discovered this mecca of dessertly goodness at LINDY'S! 

Sunday morning we were ready for our last full day in The City.  We headed over to COSMIC DINER for breakfast.  Then we strolled the streets since we had a little bit of time to kill since nothing was open that early!  

Then we caught the Subway over to church!  One of Natalie's friends recommended us to go to this church while we were up there & I am so glad we did!  

There were people from all over the country & the world visiting & I even sat next to a man from Connecticut who comes all the way to church there every other Sunday because he loves it so much.  He had 3 daughters & loved that us 3 sisters were there worshipping on his row that morning.  He even said that one of his daughters watched the service on the live feed on the internet & could probably see him in the pews talking to me & would say "dad, what are you doing."  This man was hilarious, & we thoroughly enjoyed the service!  

From church we went shopping at Macy's and then lunch at Bergdorf Goodman's.  While we were at lunch I felt like any minute one of the Housewives of New York was going to walk through the door.  I didn't even attempt to take a picture of us there b/c we would look too "touristy" in such a nice place.  I did have one of the best salads I have ever eaten there, too!  

This was my 4th time in New York & I realized that every other time I have gone was in December or January!  The weather was in the 80's this whole trip & I was SO looking forward to really exploring Central Park for my 1st time.  We did the touristy (but smart) thing to do & took a Rickshaw through part of the park:  

*photo credit: Rachel*

It was crazy how everyone was laying out all over Central Park as though it's their version of the beach.  I mean, it was a beautiful day, and if I lived in New York I think I would have spent my Sunday the same way!  

The park is as picturesque as it appears on TV, movies, pictures, etc... I wanted Ben there to take me out in one of those rowboats! 

That building on the left is from Ghostbusters...

John Lennon tribute...

We attempted to take our own pictures a few times... but this one took quite a few tries to get us all in the frame... 

*photo credit: Natalie*

Luckily someone walked by & offered to take our picture for us (it's very odd that I look short in this picture... I must have been downhill)!  

*photo credit: Natalie*

From there the Rickshaw driver took us ON THE STREETS to get us to our final destination a little bit faster...

...the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art)!  

We arrived with only about an hour and a half before they closed but we still decided to see what we could.  I found out later that a few of the exhibits were closed because the MET Costume Institute Gala (you know, where all the celebrities were in town & wearing pretty dresses) was the NEXT NIGHT, so we just missed it!!!  

We wen to the Picasso exhibit & saw his huge body of work: 

Monet:

& then went back to the hotel to relax before getting ready for dinner!  This was our last night so we were ready for a big nice dinner at BLUE FIN.  

*photo credit: Rachel*

We had sushi for an appetizer, a delicious bottle of wine, & you may notice there in front of me is a savory LOBSTER! :)  ahhhhh it was so good! 

seeeee that perfect claw?  

After dinner some random guy asked Rachel out for drinks, but she kindly declined & we found out that he worked for the NY Post.  They had just left a Press Conference about the Car Bombing & were asking us all about our experience with it during our trip & if it had affected us any.  This guy's NY Post photographer friend offered to take our picture & he changed a bunch of settings on my camera & then began snapping away about 15 pictures.... it kinda freaked us out & we were laughing to ourselves & wondering "why in the world is he taking so many?"... in the end, I don't really even think I like the settings he did to my camera... the lighting looks weird...  

But with that we said goodbye to Times Square & goodnight.... 

We woke up early the next morning to a gloomy day & decided that with rain on the ground & plane tickets in hand, YES, we really must go home now.  We had such a fun girl's trip & I think it may be dangerous to make this a regular thing, but we must!  (I'll defend that by admitting that we did a WHOLE lot more shopping/looking/browsing/walking than actual BUYING on this trip... Ben was proud of me!).  

Love you sisters, thanks for such a memorable trip! When's the next one?

(2 more new posts below too)