connecticut | for abby's bridal shower.

last weekend, i was in connecticut, celebrating my bff and soon-to-be SISTER (in-law).

i am only on top of my blog game because it was the most fun and i feel the need to re-live it over and over again via the shared album my sisters, my mom, and i have set up. it contains close to 1,000 photos and videos.

but don't worry, i've managed to cut it back to only the best of the best (ha) for you.

i got there on thursday night and was welcomed by a 50-something degree chill. in mid-june. to be fair, connecticut has had some warm weather, but of course the temperature would drop just in time for our arrival, reminding us (me, my mom, and T) why we left. or, why we like it much better in the south.

i forgot that going to H's meant i'd see achilles, and he was equally as excited to see me, i think. judging by the fact that he tried to sit in my lap multiple times to get my full attention.

this trip also counted as my once-a-month visit with luca. it will never not be photo-worthy each time he decides he wants to hold my hand.

on our way back from picking up my mom, T, and luca from the airport on friday morning, we stopped in to surprise J, who hasn't seen luca (well, or my mom and T) since he moved back to connecticut.

what luca had to say when he saw J: "i got a new boulder!"
what J had to say when he saw luca: "you say so many words now!"

from there, we went to friendly's for lunch.

there are certain places (foods) in connecticut that we miss. so, not shockingly––as is whenever we visit anywhere, we planned our weekend by the things we needed to eat. not all foods are documented in photos, so here are some of the things we consider "must haves" when we go back:

+ friendly's.
+ wooster street pizza.
+ chicken salad sandwiches from highland park market.
+ royal ice cream's royal wiches.

mom trying to document our visit to friendly's, take one: H and T, both mid-bite, look up and notice mom taking a photo.

mom trying to document our visit to friendly's, take two: H and T are posed and ready.

both photos featuring luca's unnecessarily long and bendy straw.

(we all got the honey bbq chicken melt sandwich and hunka chunka pb fudge ice cream, except my mom who got just chocolate ice cream, because i know you were dying to know what our menu choices were.)

luca climbed on my lap and thought it was the greatest/funniest thing. he even did that "mom, look at me!" thing so she could see how cool he was.

on friday night, we had a picnic in the park with T's in-laws. we all went, for the sake of being together, even from across the playground.

it looks like i just took a selfie with H on one of those things, but i was actually on one too. you just can't see it because my arms are not that long. (although H would probably argue this point.)

later, meg and lil stopped by and T got to meet cole. i think this was the only moment in which luca was sitting still, because the rest of the night he kept racing back and forth across the living room.

on saturday, we hung out at meg's house so we could visit and the kids could play and run and get all of their energy out.

please notice how luca is wearing both a long-sleeve shirt and a jacket. all the other kids were wearing t-shirts and tank tops, and when you asked him if he wanted to take his jacket off, he said "no, i'm cold."

it's so funny and strange to me how luca will never know what it's like to grow up in the north.

not the best picture, but i had to include it because liv's facial expressions (here and in general) crack me up.

^ same.

here is where i tell you about royal wiches (pictured). it's an ice cream sandwich of sorts: vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies and then covered in chocolate. they are delicious and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

H bought fifteen of them (fifteen) because she wasn't sure how many people would be around and she wanted to make sure she had enough. i will not tell you how many i ate that weekend.

abby and i were sitting on the couch where elmo had previously been sitting, so she had him in her lap and he ended up in all the photos we took. sometimes intentionally, but mostly unintentionally.

also, the fact that these two are getting married makes me feel like the dancing girl emoji and the praise hands and the waterfall tears all at once.

the bride! because, you know, i went to ct for the shower. and not the royal wiches.

the only coordinating amongst ourselves that we did as bridesmaids was painting our nails grey, as it is the one wedding color that looks good on your nails (as opposed to yellow, which does not, which i know because i tried it). i knew abby would appreciate this detail, as we are both very into painting our nails and texting photos of which colors, brands, and top coats we try and like the best.

the only hand that's missing is leah's, who was celebrating all the way from california.

to start, i prayed over the food and the day and the bride. this was something we sort of just decided to do in the moment, so it is no small thing that i prayed out loud in front of a room of like 50 people. abby squeezed my hand the whole time because, as she later told me, she was nervous for me. i didn't even feel it because i was so nervous for myself. but i made it through and then we hugged and laughed because that was a thing that just happened.

that cake was gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, and one of the best tasting cakes i've ever eaten.

these photos of us are some of my favorites.

we meant to take some during the day, when we were all dressed and photo ready (and not, you know, ready for bed), but we forgot. we also had plans to take more the next day when we were, again, dressed and looking presentable. (we forgot again.) thankfully, we decided to go ahead and take some, in the moment.

my favorite thing about us is that we always, always laugh when we're together. the kind of laughter that makes you almost pee your pants.

H is very crafty, so when T went up to take a shower and we were in charge of watching luca, she asked if he wanted to color or paint or something. he loves to paint and, according to H, he has "really good brush strokes."

she was in charge of the painting and i was in charge of ...documenting it.

^ cutest little lefty i ever met.

i almost didn't include this one but changed my mind for the sake of documenting the post-cheese, can-i-have-that-chocolate-now face that luca is sporting here.

which is a nice segue into telling you that when you ask him what he wants for his birthday next month, he says "chocolate." and when you follow up and ask what else he wants, he says "nothing, just chocolate."