Megan + Jack’s Wedding

Hi friends! How was the weekend? Ours was pretty wonderful, considering we got to spend it celebrating a few amazing events with friends and family in Florida.

Scott and I left Michigan early Saturday to fly into Tampa, Florida to attend our dear friends Megan and Jack’s wedding later that night.

Megan has been a friend of Scott’s for over ten years and a close friend of mine for seven! When I first tried out to be a dancer for the Orlando Magic, she was the very first person to talk to me and because of that I felt like I instantly belonged.

Throughout the years, I have watched her grow into an incredibly beautiful woman both inside and out. In my eyes, she is and will always be one of the sweetest and most genuine people who deserves nothing but the perfect wedding day.

Megan + Jack’s Wedding

Now, I can’t say it started off perfect. As soon as we landed in Florida, we noticed the dark skies and felt the heavy humidity. In typical Florida fashion, we heard it had been raining for days and even had a few area of flood warnings.

I know it’s supposed to be good luck to have rain on your wedding day and all… but man, talk about covering your bases.

Despite our worry, the rain eventually let up and became a slight drizzle as we drove over to the venue.

Located right on the water of Tampa Bay, we walked into a specialty restaurant and popular wedding venue called Rusty Pelican just a hair before the ceremony start time.

Considering the first part of the night was supposed to be outside, the staff did an amazing job moving it in and it still felt special with a mesmerizing view of blue water in the background.

Megan was so gorgeous. I know all brides look beautiful on their wedding day, but she was absolutely breathtaking!

After the ceremony, we made our way out to cocktail hour. When we looked around and saw a room filled with familiar faces, we knew we were in for a good night with great people.

Just last March, I reunited with my former teammates, and it felt like another mini-reunion for a minute. It’s always so fun to catch up and chat with old friends!

(Especially when they are eight months pregnant and allll belly. Hi Kelly!)

We were excited to find out that we would be sitting with a table full of friends from the Magic, and as soon as we sat down the rest of the evening went by so fast.

The decorations were elegant and exactly how I pictured them to be.

Megan and her team of vendors did a wonderful job decorating the room with hues of purple, blues, and crystal accents.

Everything from her wedding cake to the dress was simple, yet wonderfully stunning.

After dinner, we quickly ended up on the dance floor and might have torn it up a little. That tends to happen from time to time.

Song after song, someone would come up to me and share equal enthusiasm about trying to gather a group Orlando Magic Dancer photo. Eventually, we made it happen… or at least attempted to.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that her photographer captured a winner!

We boogied on through all of the traditional to-dos like the garter toss and cake cutting.

I was so proud of Jack for not completely decking Megan in the face with cake, and so proud of Megan for actually doing it.

I didn’t capture the aftermath, but this sweet and innocent face she’s making says it all. It was a certainly a grand event filled with lots of loves and laughs, and I am so glad we were able to be there for it.

Congratulations Megan + Jack!  We are so happy for you!

Afternoon in Tampa

As much as we wanted to hang around for the after party, we turned in and hit the pillows just around 2 a.m. We did our best to catch up on some sleep and awoke to the wonderful smells of breakfast cooking in the kitchen downstairs.

Since we are flying in and out of Tampa, we stayed with friends, and they also happen to be the family I used to nanny for in college. I’m so happy we still remain close and was pumped to find out we would get to sneak some extra time in with them before leaving for Orlando later that day.

We spent the morning chatting over coffee and playing with their ridiculously adorable and cuddly dogs.

I can’t even handle it. Jack (the pitbull on the left) and Eli (the sheep dog on the right) are so stinkin’ cute!

The morning quickly turned into the afternoon, and eventually we got dressed and out the door to a nearby shopping center.

We set out on a specific mission to find a Pandora bracelet charm, but also stumbled onto a car show.

(And, just FYI for the guys out there… going to places like these with dogs like those = total chick magnet.)

Oh, and I guess these wouldn’t hurt either.

It was a popular spot to be and we saw more than a handful of pups out. A lot of places in Tampa and Orlando are very dog friendly and even provide water dishes for them as part of outdoor seating. I totally forgot that was a thing.

It’s crazy how much you just don’t even think of anymore when you move up to a place that’s cold for the majority of the year!

Needless to say, an afternoon of walking outside in the sun in tank tops, shorts, and flip flops felt pretty incredible.

We didn’t have too much time after we returned back to the house until we had to turn right back around and drive to Orlando, as there was a very special lady to celebrate!

My mother, the half marathoner, the extremely healthy eater, Ph.D., turned sixty yesterday, and I was very much looking forward to spending the rest of our weekend with family celebrating it!

Today, my sister and I are taking her out to her favorite area of town for lunch and girl time. I’ll be sure to share more about it soon.

So yeah… I guess you could say we are enjoying our time down in Florida so far. So much, that I’m linking this post up with Katie to put even more marvelous into this Monday.

Hope you all have a great start to your week!