Christmas lights and orangutans.

I think I probably drive my mom insane. The instant we're apart, I'm calling her, missing her like crazy, and begging her to come visit. Sometimes, I can actually come up with a good enough reason for her to make the trek to Indy between chemo sessions and life in Ohio. Thanks to our wedding pictures, this weekend was one of them.

Our photographers unveiled them to us on Sunday morning during a wonderful photo party at their house, complete with drinks, snacks, and a slideshow of their favorite shots from the day. More to come on that later, but I'm obsessed.

Wheat had a Pacers game on Friday night, so Mommles and I filled our evening with dinner at Slippery Noodle, random TV, and lots of girl talk. Saturday, we decided to check out the Christmas light display at the zoo because a) my mom has been wanting to see the incredible orangutan exhibit for over a year and b) the weather was unreal. By unreal, I mean 70º in December. It didn't exactly help usher in the Christmas spirit, but it sure made walking around without a coat nice. Seriously, we opted with ice cream cones over hot chocolate at one point.

Thanks to the high temperatures, most of the animals were out and playing around (with the exception of the plains animals). My personal favorites were the tigers, the penguins, and of course, the orangutans. We spent most of our visit in and around the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center, admiring and interacting with these incredible animals. While we watched Rocky (the one in the picture below) play, he built a bed for himself by dragging a platform over, creating a stack of hay, and covering it with a blanket. They seriously blow my mind with their intelligence. One of the orangutans is pregnant(!), so I'm currently planning a return trip to the zoo in the spring to see the baby!

Indianapolis was the first zoo in the country to do a Christmastime light display, so I wasn't surprised to see that they do it right. There were so many gorgeous lights - some in the shapes of various animals and plants, others that looked like dripping icicles. Christmas trees, completely decked out in entrancing lights and ornaments, filled every corner. Local school choirs sang Christmas carols by a bonfire. Santa and Mrs. Claus posed for pictures with children while a live reindeer stood on display nearby. Even the conservatory was transformed into a yuletide retreat where children could do a holiday-themed scavenger hunt.

I'm notoriously not much of a Christmas person (will you still be my friend?), but watching all the lights set to music made me feel like a kid again. I mean, I didn't feel as much like a kid as my mom did while watching the orangutans, but still...

After the zoo, we ordered some Bazbeaux pizza and watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer because Christmas. Maybe I am getting into the holiday spirit, slowly by surely. Now, if only these presents would buy and wrap themselves...

An Ode to Lebanon

I'm sure I've mentioned this at least a dozen times on my blog, but I'm from a super dreamy midwestern town. The kind of town that decorates for every holiday, holds seasonal festivals and homecoming parades, and smacks you in the face with charm when you walk along the main drag's antique storefronts. Last weekend, my mom begged me to come home to celebrate my belated birthday and when I realized the historic horse-drawn carriage parade was Saturday, it was a done deal.

In hopes of avoiding crowds and traffic, we decided to attend the afternoon parade instead of the gorgeous night parade and I think we made the right decision. It was an overcast day, but the temperature was perfect and the sun even peeked through the clouds for a bit. We posted up along a side street and spent an hour admiring the gorgeous carriages, costumes, Christmas decorations, and horses. Since I have a pulse, my favorites were the precious miniature horses (that pulled our town mayor and my neighbor) and the incredible Clydesdales. You can actually feel the ground rumbling as they pass.

The parade also served as the perfect excuse to use my new camera. I'm obsessed, guys. Since most of my blog friends are camera wizards, does anyone have any easy DSLR tips for night pictures?

After the parade, we went to Bob Evan's for lunch, where I ran into my favorite teacher from high school. It was wonderful to see him again after nearly a decade and I finally got to meet his precious daughter. He was having lunch with my recorder teacher from fourth grade and I was reminded yet again what a cozy, small town we live in.

That night, Wheat, Mommles, and I decided to check out Mad Potter, a paint-your-own-pottery place that we've been meaning to try for months. The pottery selection was overwhelming, but we eventually settled on a dog treat jar, a Buckeyes-themed snowman light, and a little ceramic bear. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so crafts like this can be a challenge for me (especially the paw prints), but we had a great time. I can't wait to see the finished products.

The rest of the weekend included the Bengals dominating the Browns (WHO-DEY?!), a pumpkin caramel upside-down cake (my blowing-out-the-candles game is strong), some college basketball, and more quality time with my guy and parents. Some things just never get old.

Friends, turkey, and suddenly, I'm 28

Whoa, guys.

Between Thanksgiving, my birthday, illness, and general life goings-on, blogging has clearly been on the back burner for me lately. Admittedly, I also really want to blog about my wedding, but can't because I still don't have any pictures. The last few weeks have been both awesome and weird around here. Let me try to explain.

I don't really feel well - physically or emotionally. Aside from a cold that won't go away (despite two courses of different antibiotics), I've also been battling some severe anxiety and an unexpected jump in my blood pressure. So, I'm officially a 28-year-old girl who takes blood pressure medication every morning. I also asked my doctor to restart my antidepressants, but I've been feeling awful ever since. I'm not sure if I'm experiencing side effects from the Zoloft or something else, but it certainly doesn't help my anxiety.

Aside from that (and a Buckeyes loss and two Bengals losses - boo!), life has been really great. Even through my ever-present cloud of fear and sickness, I can see that. The weekend before Thanksgiving, my parents came to visit so that Wheat and I could properly thank them for everything they did for our wedding. We watched the Pacers trounce the Milwaukee Bucks and enjoyed an incredibly delicious dinner at St. Elmo Steakhouse. In full disclosure, Wheat and I had been searching for a good excuse to go back ever since our first visit and this seemed like a more-than-worthy reason.

 

As it should, Thanksgiving break filled both my heart and belly. We spent time with my amazing friends from high school at a local bar, enjoyed two delicious feasts (beef wellington and turkey), and rested. We watched CNN documentaries on the '60s and '70s, I saw the final installment of the Hunger Games saga with my mom, and met with some dear friends over a delicious Gold Star lunch. We watched the Bengals beat the Rams at my brother's new house and I got to see Jenn's extended family during their Thanksgiving dinner. My mom and I laughed over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the National Dog Show and it felt wonderful to saunter out to the living room in my pajamas at 11:00 AM.

 

Then, on Tuesday, I turned 28. We didn't do anything too special for my birthday, but Wheat spoiled me as he always does. He came home from work early with a dozen pink roses and an ice cream cake and serenaded me with the birthday song. He took me to dinner at my favorite Indy restaurant, Bru Burger, and oh yeah - bought me a Canon Rebel DSLR camera. The kind with multiple lenses and a legitimate camera bag. The kind I've been wanting for ages. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I have a lot to learn (understatement), but I'm excited to finally capture some high-quality photos for this blog.

 

I also received tons of love in the form of texts, e-mails, calls, and Facebook messages from the best friends and family a girl could ever imagine. My awesome boss not only brought in doughnuts and danishes to celebrate, but she also treated me to lunch at Qdoba and made me a birthday crown. So yeah, life has been good lately.

I feel pretty behind in some things - laundry, this blog, Thank You cards, changing my name, combining bank accounts, Christmas shopping - but ultimately, I'm just taking some necessary time to ground myself, soak in these moments, and be thankful for this ridiculously full life I'm living.

Newlyweds in NOLA

No, we aren't the newlyweds to which this post title is referring.

Since I still have almost a month to wait until we have pictures from our wedding, I think I'll blog instead about the gorgeous wedding I attended this weekend in New Orleans. Wheat had a game on Friday, so he wasn't able to attend, but I met up with some of my best friends from college as we celebrated Ben and his new bride, Amie, in true NOLA fashion.

Jenn, who drove down with her sister and mom, proved yet again why I have the coolest best friend in the world by saving me the ridiculous cab fare I would have paid by picking me up from the airport. After checking into our hotel, we wasted no time before hitting Bourbon Street. We stopped for dinner at Olde N'awlins Cookery, where I promptly crushed a blackened chicken po-boy. We followed that with a leisurely stroll down Bourbon Street, admiring the chaos of a typical Friday night in the Big Easy. I'm not even a drinker, but I'll never get over the intoxicating combination of good music, old architecture, and debaucherous people-watching.

When we'd finally had our fill of watching the crazies (who included a face-down, unconscious guy with a massive hole ripped in the butt of his jeans), we made our way to a packed Cafe Du Monde for Jenn's family's first warm beignets. As expected, they loved them. With happy bellies and powdered sugar-stained shirts, we made a brief stop at Hotel Monteleone before heading back for some much-needed sleep.

The next morning, we ventured out early in hopes of some more breakfast beignets. We changed our minds before reaching Jackson Square, however, and stopped instead at a ridiculously charming gelateria called La Divina. We regret nothing. Everyone else raved about the coffee, but I can attest to the delicious Belgian waffles. While eating, we saw some local kids run in for what appeared to be their daily gelato sample from the older shop owner they've clearly befriended.

After breakfast, we did a lap around Jackson Square, admiring the gorgeous St. Louis Cathedral and the remarkable local artwork that vendors sell along the walls of the park. The line for beignets was ridiculous, so we opted to watch the mighty Mississippi River roll by carrying its steamboats, instead.

Next, we stopped at Pirate's Alley Cafe and Absinthe House so Jenn and Kelly could sample the absinthe. The bartender, who was fittingly dressed as a Johnny Depp-style pirate, started the process and explained that ice cold water must gradually be dripped onto a sugar cube that will then dissolve into the absinthe positioned below. Another gentleman, dressed as a Jean Lafitte-style pirate, stopped in and sipped a coffee while telling us a little about the local piracy in the early 1800s. By the way, the girls wouldn't recommend the absinthe.

For the next hour, we wound our way through the French Quarter, drooling over the wrought-iron balconies, historical monuments and landmarks, gorgeous flower arrangements, and candle-lit lamps. By the time we hit Bourbon Street, we determined it was time for a Hand Grenade break at Tropical Isle and even I indulged in half of a frozen one. We posted up on the balcony, enjoyed the beautiful day, and were eventually joined by some of our friends from Miami.

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the wedding, so we sauntered back to the hotel. Shuttles picked us up from our hotel and delivered us to the New Orleans Country Club, which was just as incredible as it sounds. The ceremony was held outside under a 332-year-old oak tree that covered the entire space and actually took my breath away. As the sun started to set, I watched one of my best friends marry the love of his life alongside so many of our friends and it was honestly perfect.

The reception was much different than any other wedding I've ever attended. Following New Orleans tradition, the reception included no speeches and no set dinner or dancing time. Instead, the entire evening was filled with food and music performed by a live, nine-piece band. Intentionally, there weren't enough seats to accommodate all of the guests at once, so guests were encouraged to share tables, mingle, and eat and dance all night.

The venue, complete with a beautiful chandelier and several different rooms, was gorgeous. The flower arrangements blew my mind and so did the food. Any wedding that offers a loaded mashed potato bar and hot beignets at the end of the night is okay with me. Between dances, we rushed back for more food (oysters, turkey, pasta, hors d'oeuvres) and we almost didn't want to eat the cakes they were so impressive. A local artist was commissioned to start from scratch and paint a picture of the wedding reception and it was incredible to watch him go from a blank canvas to this beautiful keepsake by the end of the night.

As the wedding wound down, the bride and groom followed NOLA tradition again and paraded throughout the venue as the brass section played "When the Saints Go Marching In." They danced and hoisted their white and black 'Just Married' umbrellas as they boarded the limo that would take them to the after-party on Bourbon Street. In other words, it was awesome.

After a quick stop back at the hotel, we set out for the private after-party, which was held on the second floor of a karaoke bar called The Cat's Meow. As always, the karaoke was entertaining, but nothing beat the balcony that faced Bourbon Street. We spent several hours throwing beads, people-watching, laughing, and reminiscing on our college Spring Break trip to New Orleans. Between the inside jokes, singing, and dancing, it felt nice to realize that we don't just have to relive old memories - we're still close enough to create new, special ones.

The night ended by hobbling back to Canal Street for some late-night food. Jenn, Kelly, and I found it at a tiny, 24-hour, hole-in-the-wall po-boy joint and we screamed, then laughed hysterically as a rat ran across the cobblestone street right in front of us. And just as it always does, the trip ended far too quickly. I set off for Atlanta only to endure a two-hour delay (during which I scoured every gate for members of the cast of The Walking Dead to no avail) before finally arriving in Indy. I can't really complain, though...I had one handsome chauffeur pick me up.

Ben and Amie, I wish you a lifetime of happiness and many, many new memories together! Love you both!

He's mine, ladies!

Well, it's official.

I'm now Mrs. Brittany Hotchkiss (not legally yet), which makes me sound ultra British and will also make me much easier to track down on Facebook once I get around to changing my name.

Almost two weeks later, I'm still trying to recover from the whirlwind of our wedding weekend. If I received one piece of advice from anyone who has been married before, it was to slow down and soak in the moment because it would fly by. There's a reason why everyone warns you of this - it's so painfully true. One second, I was riding in the passenger seat of Wheat's car on the way to Ohio and the next, I was unpacking back in Indianapolis.

This is the first of many wedding-related posts to come, but I wanted to get a couple quick thoughts out in the best way my disjointed, still-recovering, likely-still-fighting-a-sinus-infection brain knows how - bullet points:

- Wheat and I are ridiculously lucky to have such incredible family and friends. I'm honestly blown away by how many people traveled from all over the country to share our special day with us. People I've known all my life and people I've never met before. They danced with us, cried with us, laughed with us, prayed with us, and as a result, made us feel like the luckiest people in the world. Don't even get me started on the meaningful cards and generous gifts we received. Guilt overload.

- I'm so in love with my husband it hurts, but guess what? I already was. Throughout the last week, I've been asked countless times how married life has been so far and I've given the same response every time, "The same as before." I've actually started wondering if maybe Wheat and I missed out on some magical overnight transformation and we're the weird ones, but really - it's been the same. We're still head-over-heels in love with each other, we still argue over what to eat for dinner, and we still watch way too many hours' worth of reality singing competitions. We're just doing it with slightly heavier left hands.

- Overall, everything went really well. If you read my previous post, you probably surmised that I was just a little nervous about the finer details of the day. Aside from a few slight miscues (forgetting my dress at home, rain during outdoor pictures, the bus driver stranding us at aforementioned outdoor pictures, flowers being nothing like the ones we ordered, etc.), things went smoothly and I can honestly say I had a wonderful time. In full disclosure, I had a full-on meltdown approximately 20 minutes before the ceremony started (not out of nerves, but out of overwhelming emotion and frustration) and the only person able to coax me out of the bathroom was my brother. How'd he do it, you ask? He told me the first words out of a distant relative's mouth when he saw him for the first time in almost ten years were, "You've gained weight!" Cracked me up immediately.

Ultimately, the entire weekend felt like a dream - a dream filled with loving faces, lots of happy tears, hugs and kisses, cake, and, of course, the "Wobble." My biggest regrets? Not hiring a videographer (I already want to relive the weekend in its entirety) and not dancing more. I don't know how you're supposed to spend time with all of your guests while also eating dinner and enjoying the dance floor. I do know, however, that this was my best Halloween costume to date: