Holy 9 months, Batman.. that roller-coaster sure did continue.
Can I just announce first and foremost that I am now Mrs. Katherine Carrillo? :)
Not even a month after I wrote the last post (Sept 2013) Oscar and I took the plunge in Austin Texas. We invited our parents to meet for the first time, and witness our 'paperwork' marriage before a judge. On October 4th 2013, I said vows I can never take back. I replied 'I do'.
At some point a few months after, I changed my name.. and started planning the big wedding. Many dates were thrown around but I didnt want to wait a full year, though it couldnt be too soon either. I had to give attendees enough time to save and travel. After closely having Costa Rica as the location of our wedding, we called upon Austin once more to hold our happily ever after ceremony and celebration.
June 14, 2014 at 4:30 I walked down the aisle in an Ivory Alfred Angelo dress, created with Disney's Ariel in mind.. wearing bedazzled Betsy Johnson heels that had blue soles. My hair was also a creation that rivaled Ariel's princess do, with big curls pinned softly to the right of my head and falling down the front, all the way to my hip. Aziz Salon did a fabulous job - Ms Jamie the tinkerbell knows exactly what she's doing. I did not wear a veil, but instead wore a sweet little Ivory flower with some wispy feathers, from Lithuania, that Jena my best friend owned and also wore in her wedding.
My Nana lent me a beautiful necklace and earrings mixed of diamonds and pearls that went splendidly with my dress beading. I also wore on my right hand ring-finger, my Grandma Berger's pearl ring that fit just perfectly. This ring used to be her sister Florence's, and she passed it along.. it was a delightful surprise to her that I wore it on my special day. My Mother (Mam :) ) provided me with her gorg keepsake pearl necklace and earrings that I changed into during the reception. I was made with assisted grace and beauty that day, with the help of the special ladies of my family.
Oscar wore his dress Marine blues with his ribbons instead of metals.. he looked so good, always does in uniform.
Our colors, Oscar chose - not ironic per the location - were burnt orange, silver, and creams and whites. I did my own flowers, with the help of the MOH, because of my past expertise in doing them... and although we stayed up until 4:30AM the morning of my wedding day doing them, they turned out splendid! Ha!
In the bridal party, I had Trisha, Jena, Rachel, Lauren, Merrin - and the groomsmen were Dustin Leon, Kris, John, Nicholas, and Dustin Ruffle.
So before I get into flowing details - lets back up and start with the day we arrived to Austin from Corpus Christi!! We stayed at Hyatt Place downtown on Wednesday and Thursday.. but Thursday was both of our bachelor and bachelorette parties (my second one, since the first was in San Diego). Couldnt tell you much about his.. but mine......
We started out at Iron Cactus - excellent food and margaritas. From there we went to front row tables at Pete's Piano Bar :) Mind you, this weekend was also a biker rally 'convention' if you will, so when I was put on the pianos and serenaded by 3 biker dudes in full leathers and big ol' beards.. I wasnt surprised, and loved it. "Bring back that loving feeling.. whoa that loving feeling".. haha
We also had hilarious and creative shirts we all wore, with love by Merrin - the girls wore pink and I wore white. I was a Gypsy bride! From there we went to Coyote Ugly and went straight up on the bar upon entrance. If you know Coyote Ugly, you know they are known for hot chicks dancing on the bars to awesome 80's songs, and that is exactly what we did. We got some shots, danced, did our thang, and there are pictures..... and proceeded to Oil Can Harry's. This is a gay bar that one of our friends of friends wanted to go to and no one objected! We got there just in time to watch a competition of men strut their stuff and watch the crowd be the judges. Interesting, yes since the voice of this competition was in pure drag. To be expected. Once this was over, I was feeling pretty good and took over the dance floor. Literally. I was the only one on it. With ear-drum blasting music, I backed it up and dropped it like it was hot many times. Sweat the alcohol right out of my system! Merrin my crazy girlfriend, was off to the side twerking on the wall, but couldnt stay up so inevitably kept trying until she just couldnt do it anymore. Haha twerk twerk twerk fall, repeat.
A handful of us made it back to the hotel around the same time as the boys, and fit 7 people in a 1 bed hotel room. It was epic.
Rehearsal day: Central Christian Church, Austin Texas
Rehearsal time came - we walked, teared up, practiced giving me away while I pinched myself to make sure it was all real. The first moment it hit me, is when I was at the top of the aisle and realized when I turned around that the faces I was looking at and hadnt seen in too long, were there for me, for this celebratory occasion. I lost it and this was the first of the bawling that took place throughout the weekend. To all that attended, there are no words. I love you and thank you for coming. I especially enjoyed your company, and it means the world that you and I were under the same roof for once in a long while. After a bit, Merrin turned green and had to leave and the rest of us headed to Eddie V's Seafood and Steakhouse.
Apparently the night before, Merrin, mixed with heat and dehydration, and potentially a little extra something slipped into her drink - had 911 called on her because she was slightly seizing and could not walk back to the hotel. She declined assistance of course, and drank water and rested the rest of the night and missed her rehearsal dinner. :( Eddie V's however, was AMAZINGGGG. I would like to go there every time I am in Austin. Compliments of the Family Dailey, we ate until we were full and then some. Oscar and I handed out our wedding party gifts as well! For the men, Oscar got G-Shock watches for each of them, as well as custom Chuck Taylor shoes stitched with their initials on the heel. For the ladies, I got them Dooney & Burke clutch/wallets, a book (signed with a quote from Bill Cosby) on the Driskill hotel, where the reception was held, and custom made bridal soap that smelled of Victoria's Secret Angel scent, by the hands of Candice Kostyniak's Mix Organics company. I hope they all loved their gifts! It was fun shopping for them.
Trish and I took the first night at the Driskill Hotel on Friday night. We were going to finish the flower arrangements.. and while gathering the flowers from the downstairs freezer, our request to hear of the Driskill hauntings, brought us a guest to our bedroom door. The head of security at the Driskill, who is very passionate about his job, told us many stories of people that have stayed there, celebrities, happenings and events, and even showed us a security video that no one can explain - happening exactly a month before that night (Friday, June 13th). I LOVE IT! I adored the Driskill Hotel before I even stayed there or had my wedding reception there, but now after holding such a fantastic event and meeting the people who run the hotel, the puppeteers to the concierge - just amazing, and I couldnt have asked for more. On top of that the dinner was fabulous, hors-d'oeuvrs were incredible, service and wait staff were impeccable and so so nice. If you are in the area, though a tad expensive, the stay is well worth it. Especially if you happen to experience the spirits of the Driskill!
I have to also take a moment to talk about the cake, since I've touched on the food of the rehearsal and wedding.. The cake was lovingly made by the talented, one and only Lorna Dee Poulos-Brown, artist and beautiful connoisseur of this 5-tiered masterpiece. She took recon of what I was thinking and the things I love, and painted a picture in her head of what she was going to sculpt. She started earlier in the year, and tested tastes and designs... I just can't imagine how much time she put into it. She does annual shows and it takes a while for her to create and build what she shows at these shows, and she WINS at these shows.... My wedding cake was her sculpture this year. It took the place of one of her shows or contests. Not only is that incredibly flattering to say the least, she had the family assist her by creating edible flowers, signed with each of their initials on the bottom of the flower, and placed them on the cake. Beautiful flowers. You can not tell that these were made of sugar!!! I JUST dont know how she does it. The colors were amazing, and she even placed electric candles on every tier of the cake, to give it a light glow on every level. Owls are my thing.. they follow me, I respect them, the majestic creatures.. and she even included them in the design of the tiers. I'll be honest I recognized the design, but it did not dawn on me until someone confirmed it for me after the fact. Unbelievable. The thought and love, blood and tears.. and sugar, that went into this, it was just beautiful! And the TASTE!! I asked for vanilla raspberry lemon and she nailed it. Nailed. It. I'm drooling again thinking about it. haha I can't wait to eat more of it on our 1 year anniversary :) :) :)
Wow. From the bottom of my heart, I can not express what that cake means to me. Lona, I love you so much.. yes, every twice a day.
SO - our ceremony was fairly quick.. Ms Mia Grace Phillips and Alexandra Leigh Walker were the flower girls and Jr Bridesmaid, and did a perfect job looking so cute. My Daddy handed me off while we were both trying to hold back tears through our smiles. He and my Mam looked both handsome and stunning. I couldn't have pulled this off without them - not even close. Oscar and I did the sand vase rather than the unity candle.. our Pastor was an elderly fellow (the original one had a family emergency) that was a Marine, so he and Oscar clicked nicely!
From there we headed to the Driskill Hotel via white limo.. had some bombtastic bruschetta that Oscar is addicted to even today, and champagne while we waited to be introduced. :)
We came in to the reception under a bridge like the soccer team used to do after soccer games.. haha! and went straight into our first dance. Our Song: All of Me, John Legend. It's popular now, but I cant wait to hear it in 40 years and love it even more. I danced barefoot because my heels were, well.. I was done with them. Vati said a prayer/blessing, and then the party commenced!! The saxaphonist played amazing, the DJ did a great job, speeches were had, I made a speech to my Daddy and new father in law, since it was Fathers Day weekend.. I showed a slideshow of Oscar and I growing up, and quoted the bible verse - two become one flesh.
I tell you - I could not stop crying the entire night!!! On top of being deliriously tired due to going to sleep at 4:30AM, I was on an emotional high and responding to the emotional low that the Poulos family felt the week prior. We lost my dear Aunt Marta to ALS the week or so before the wedding.. it was unexpected due to some circumstances, but with everyone traveling in already for the wedding, it honestly couldnt have been at a better time. The reality is still settling for me since I wasnt able to attend the memorial in Dallas or Michigan.. but I was told a little bit of her ashes made it to the wedding, and I lost it. Happy yet sad tears, and just a little lost in the emotion of everything.. but more on that later! She deserves an entire post to herself :)
I changed dresses mid-reception to a shorter lacy dress with my mother's pretty pearls and my new ring bling, and was ready to take on the night (for only a couple more hours before I passed out). We exited with the song Bye Bye Bye by N'Sync, and headed out the door that rolls out the red carpet on the corner of 6th street and Brazos - the heart of downtown Austin. Bubbles were the exit by all our party goers.. and then we headed to Summit for some beats!
Whoo! It was a long day to say the least. The next day I had no voice and bags so big under my eyes they were purple. I just wanted to sleep.
Thus... here I am. Katie Carrillo, of Corpus Christi, Texas.
Short story on everything else? Married life (twice now) :D is great. Work is still fab, flying back and forth to San Diego every month.. and Finn!! OMG FINN!!
Soooo.. how could I forget!? We adopted a puppy at 7 weeks old last November, and named him Finn. :) He is a Lab-Husky mix (labsky) and looks like a dingo. He is SUCH a good dog, and his birthday is on September 27th. Since I work from home, I am with him the most when I'm here. So spoiled, but he couldnt be a better pup! He was house trained quick, had some bouts of health issues, but all in all - he's our perfect fur-baby. We call him Finnius, Finnius Maximus, and sometimes Finnius Maximus Carrillius. He will be 10 months this month! So he completes our little family right now. Babies will come a bit later, so Finnius will reap all benefits of being an only child for the time being.
Life is good.
