Virginia is for lovers

Happy anniversary to us! Remember how hot it was five years ago today? Amanda's shoe strap broke right before the wedding, Mel was hugely pregnant with Trevor, Lib was recovering from the ER. Christy and Stephen had just started dating, Jacob and Christi were having their last hurrah and Maegan and Lee were about to be reunited for good. I was wearing my somethings old (Grandma McKenzie's handkerchief pinned inside my dress), new (pearl earrings), borrowed (Granny's ring) and blue (garter).

I loved our vows and the violins and the rose garden setting of our eight-minute ceremony. Matt cried and I got the giggles (nerves) but hid it well. The zipper of my dress broke during the reception. Amanda made a flying leap for my bouquet. The cake was hideous, and forks were nowhere to be found. Neither Matt nor I got to eat a bite; famished, our first stop after the wedding was The Sundry in the Village.

I didn't put as much effort into planning our wedding as I could have. Bridal magazines and bank-breaking bashes aren't really my thing, and I was lucky enough to be surrounded by family and friends who didn't push it. But looking back I can honestly say we wouldn't change anything about that day.

Back to 2007. We left Duck around lunchtime today. The first song on the iPod happened to be Mary Chapin Carpenter singing "Grow Old Along With Me," which was an appropriate coincidence. We wound up in Portsmouth, Va., and will be here through Sunday. We decided on Portsmouth because it looked quaint and charming online and for its proximity to Duck and Virginia Beach.

After dropping off everything in our hotel room we walked through the downtown historic district. It was a little disappointing. Lots of potential, but kind of rundown. Just this side of sketchy in some parts. I probably wouldn't run there by myself, if that tells you anything. But there were some beautiful old houses and churches.

We have reservations for a late dinner at the Ruth's Chris in Virginia Beach. We wanted a McDonald's hot fudge sundae so bad on the way here but we resisted in anticipation of the best (and most expensive) steak we've ever eaten. Tomorrow we're going to go to the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk. Other than that we don't have any plans.

Thank you to everyone for the anniversary good wishes. We love all of you!


"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made ..."
- "Rabbi ben Ezra," Robert Browning