Our Anniversary Traditions

Ever heard the saying that everyone is born knowing all the lyrics to the Beatles instinctively? Like, as humans those lyrics are just automatically passed down through the fetus along with all the amniotic stuff.

This is one of two facts I know for sure.

The second fact I know for sure is that one of the best things about being a flight attendant (presumably) is that you can fart whenever you want and the purring of the engine will drown out the purring of your ass. However, this is way off point.

Not that I really had a point.

Anyway...

The last few days have been spent in my new back yard listening to Paul McCartney with my little girl (and she somehow knows all the words) as she plays with her My Little Ponies while I pull weeds, sip on tea, and plan out this Summer's garden. We've grilled out every night, thrown the bocce balls around, our doggie has been lounging in the sun and we've started to bust out the sun block.
It has been one of the most relaxing weeks ever.

Jason and I had our 3rd wedding anniversary and it has finally been enough years to be able to appreciate our little yearly customs.
On our 1st anniversary, everything was still so new and although it was exciting to plan out what we wanted to do every year as our official traditions, we really had no idea how fun it would be in the future as we celebrated each additional year of not killing each other.

It's an equation really:
one more year down + zero murders = champagne toast

Choosing our anniversary traditions was a really big deal to us. We wanted to pick things to do every year that would be fun and revitalizing for our marriage and I think we've got a great list. The best, to be exact.

We have our fancy million dollar champagne flutes which we splurged on for the wedding and we get them down once a year from their velvet box and fill them up with cheap champagne.

They have our names and wedding date etched in the glass cups which beautifully sit on alabaster stone and Australian crystal studded stems. They're absolutely gorgeous and I'm really happy we made the choice to include them in our annual celebration. We don't make a big speech or anything, mainly we sit on the porch and shoot the shit and get buzzed off of Andre's Brut $4.99 special. 

We also run by our local bakery and pick up some sort of  pie (or cheesecake or whatever) and we use our matching cutlery to cut the cake. We bought them as a set with the flutes, and trust me that once you're in one or two glasses of bubbly, a piece of cake sounds pretty damn good.  

Our particular flute and utensil set are the Park Avenue line from Things Remebered. Totally worth the money if you're careful with them. I actually shattered one of the glasses last week when I was washing them and forking out the money for an emergency expedited replacement wasn't so fun. 

So, you know, try to not do that. 

Once I'm all liquored up, I spend some time going through my wedding boxes while we watch the DVD of our wedding and our Honeymoon.

Now, lets talk about the clothing. 

Ladies: the dress and veil and shoes and hair and everything else that went along with that magic day was probably one of the most beautiful occasions of your adult life. 

You've heard my wedding dress story, but my veil was something I picked out and fell madly in love with. It's a cream lace embedded with crushed Swarovky crystals and it was pretty much love at first site. I found her at a little boutique in Laguna Beach and knew from the moment we met that she was meant to be mine. 

There was absolutely no way in hell that I was going to wear this veil once and be done with it. 

When Jason and I got engaged in upstate New York, we were visiting his parents and that was the same trip I learned that his mother gets her veil down every year and wears it around on their anniversary.  This was seriously one of the most brilliant things I had ever heard in my entire life. 

So no matter what we're doing that day, for instance if I happen to be chilling out on a tree swing high up in the Rocky Mountains, I wear my veil. If I'm going to the grocery store, I wear my veil. If we're going out to dinner, I wear my veil. You get the idea. 

My bridesmaids and I all had matching black hoodies for the reception. Theirs said "Bridesmaids" and mine obviously said "Bride" and I rock that around town also. 

This year's anniversary, we bummed around our new house. I folded laundry in my jeans and house slippers, and I wore my veil the whole day.  I saved my white "Bride" tank top which I wore when I was getting my makeup and hair done the morning of my wedding. If it's warm enough, I'll throw it on. This is the first year I've been able to wear the tank strictly because April in Southern California is drastically different from April in Northern Colorado.

(You can feel my excitement, yeah?)

Our final tradition and one I'm the most fond of is our annual anniversary photo:

Every year, we take a photo holding the photo from the year prior. 

Eventually the original will be too tiny to see...

This year, our 4-year-old daughter took the picture with my cell phone so it's super blurry and crooked which is possibly why I love it the best!

So whatever you choose to make your traditions, make them outstanding ones. You'll be doing them for a loooong time! Don't be boring, have fun, and cheers to a long and happy marriage!

Surprise Anniversary post

My husband and I are on opposite ends of almost every spectrum. We see things through completely different lenses.

I eat vegetables and he eats meat-lovers pizza.

He watches sports, I watch reality TV.

He listens to Rise Against, I listen to good music.

He's up the bean stalk, I'm down the rabbit hole.

I'm "End of the World," He's "Life Goes On"

He farts loud and a lot, I only fart once a day and even then it's nothing to write home about.

My point is, we've learned how to compromise and happily at that. Things seem to somehow always turn out on the upside. I'm the left to his right. He's the white to my black. We've finally picked up the right rhythm. It took us a minute, but now that we're here, I wouldn't trade my journey for anything if it meant changing the outcome.

I will preface this post by saying I personally hate surprises. Like, I hate them. If you were to plan a surprise party for me and I didn't see it coming, I would flip out. Like a lot. I'm a planner. My husband knows this. My friends and family know this. I need advance notice even if I'm going to sneeze. It is not amusing to have things thrown at me. I may act like it's not a big deal on the outside, but inside I will secretly hate you. I will hate you a lot.

Jason on the other hand, loves spontaneity. He has no problem flying by the seat of his ass with an open schedule and not a care in the world. This works splendidly for us. I can plan things, months in advance, in complete secrecy, than then when I spring it on him, it's still spontaneous for him. This is why for our anniversary this year, I've planned out a weekend away that he knows absolutely nothing about.

Well, until now that he's reading this...

So Jason:

A few months ago I told you that Horsetooth Reservoir was having its seasonal marina opening party and that my boss desperately needed extra bartenders because it was our busiest weekend of the year at JJ's. I made you take days off of work because if I picked up shifts, there would be nobody around to watch our daughter.

I totally made all of that up.

I have no idea when the marina opens up at Horsetooth and I don't even know if they throw a party when it does open. I'm not going to work. My mom is here from LA to watch Kalynn and since we both have 3 days off work, I'm planed a secret weekend away.

I've rented us a 2 story, 3 bedroom cabin in the mountains which is walking distance from downtown Estes Park and still somehow totally secluded.

We have 2 nights and 3 days of total alone time where we can hit up The Stanley Hotel for cocktails and fancy desserts. Or we can head downtown to see live bands play at the local taverns. Or, since I bought us a weekend pass to Rocky Mountain National Park, we can pack a picnic lunch and a hike up to Bridal Veil Falls. Or we could go fishing since I secretly stole your drivers license and got your fishing permit when you weren't looking. Or we can bum around the cabin and do nothing. Or we can go to a movie at the Historic Park Theater. Or we can go have a classy dinner at some up-scale restaurant.

Whatever you want to do is totally OK with me, just know that whatever you choose, I'm wearing my wedding veil all damn weekend. You know, because it's tradition. Plus, if I wear my veil people will ask why I'm wearing it and then we get to say it's our 2nd anniversary and then they give us free stuff. Theoretically. It's a theory that still needs some testing.

So happy surprise "cotton" anniversary weekend, lets go!!

Our Honeymoon to the Mexican Riviera

April, 2010

Port of Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas! Then zip lining in Puerto Vallarta, and back to drinking on the other side of Cabo San Lucas! I took about a million pictures, but these are my absolute favs!

The Luciani Wedding

I tend to dabble in a bunch of things at one time. My attention span is way too short to just be working on one project at a time. But whatever it is, I delve in head first and give it everything I have.

About this time last year, I decided to turn all my video projects into a small production company called 8th Life Productions. I chose the name 8th Life because it was symbolic of where I was at the time. I was born a summertime Leo baby on 8-8-80 (I'm the crazy-8 lady, I even turned 8 on 8-8-88). Well, we Leo kitties live pretty fast and pretty hard (and somehow always end up on our feet even after the hardest of falls). Kings and queens of the jungle have a lot to accomplish with our 9 lives. With my fast-lane first 30 year pace,  I was already about on my 8th (so I better make this last one count!)

Anyway, I was doing editing for a friend's online magazine company, piecing together his clips and footage, and then eventually we started shooting full blown events together.
There was one particular event, a wedding, that we were supposed to shoot together, and he pulled a no-show on me at the last minute. So, I grabbed the cameras and the tripods and I shot the footage myself. I've always, ALWAYS, been the editor, not the videographer. To say I was nervous was about the understatement of the year. I mean, this is their wedding... kind of a big deal. And not just any wedding, but the wedding of a couple of great old friends, so I wanted to personally make sure it was everything they had wanted. Because when all is said and done, all you have are the pictures and the video to remember that day for the rest of your life. You know, no pressure or anything.

I was really lucky to be able to watch Lexi getting ready with all of her bridesmaids and her mom while she kept a calm about her like she knew this was exactly what she needed to be doing this particular day; marrying the absolute love of her life. I was lucky to be able to watch Dean pace around the room wondering how the bride was doing and if she was nervous and was she holding up ok. I caught the last minute shot of vodka and prayer circle right before "the walk." I caught the first kisses and the look of total and pure happiness that came after "I know pronounce you..." I was even lucky enough to record the signing of the marriage certificate by the Best Man and Maid of Honor.

Anyway, this is how it turned out. I'm especially proud of it just because it's 100% my own work. I chose the songs from the bride and groom's actual wedding. The song the bride walked down the aisle to, their first dance song, their grand entrance song etc... What a perfect day that was watching them officially become "The Luciani's."

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Sisterhod Of The Traveling Wedding Dress

My wedding dress was passed along to me as a gift from a great friend of mine. Sort of a "sisterhood of the traveling wedding dress" kind of situation. I had actually already bought and was fitted for another dress, but returned it immediately at the chance to don this one. The other dress was gorgeous as well, and I could have rocked it and had it preserved in a box in my closet and kept it forever and ever and passed it down to my little girl, but I didn't. Because there's something very unexplainably magical about this particular gown.

This dress has history and it has love. It has tears of happiness embedding into its thread from other "I do"s. It has a faint stain worn into the underneath from other first dances. It has happy marriages preceding it's entrance into mine.

This dress was given to me with one rule:

Pay it forward.

If and when I'm ever in the position to pass it along to someone who will follow the tradition, then do it. Not that I ever want to. I adore this dress. The whole romantic idea of its history, elegance, and tradition is one that I want to hoard and never give away. Not to mention the elaborate crystals, lace and hand beading. Holy moly.

However,

I will someday, when the time is right.

But for now, I open my closet occasionally just to look at my "something borrowed" and remember the day I wore it. And I pretend that I make enough money to buy one just like it for my very own.

Photography © Elle Photography

Wedding Boxes Part 2

We leave today around 3 to head back to California, so since we'll be in the air the majority of the day, I'll leave you with my second wedding box contents:

A couple weeks ago I was talking about my wedding boxes and all the things I kept in my personal bridal box. This is the smaller of the two but certainly not of less importance. I have just as many memory tied items in this hat box as the last. 

We kept every single one of the cards we received. They honestly all meant so much to us, even the little notes that came in packages pre-typed from Bed, Bath and Beyond. We kept them all. Our friends are a bit nuts, so some of them were really funny, some were a bit crass, and some were crazy romantic. 

We also have the original copy of all of our wedding pictures from Laura at Elle Photography and the developed disks from the disposable cameras that were sitting on our guest tables. The disposable pictures were just as funny and crass as the cards were. Thanks guys. 

The speeches, at least the ones that were written down, were given to us afterwards as gifts. Including our vows that were typed out by our officiant Rev. Anthony Yuro II, who did an amazing job for us.

I kept the spa card from my bachelorette party day at Glen Ivy, the boxes that held our wedding rings, the ribbon and pins that wrapped around my red rose bouquet, and the room keys from our Honeymoon.

Also, a handful of table cards

The wedding programs 

 Lastly, our OC Register newspaper engagement announcement, our save-the-date magnent and pictures, and the photobooth picture we took on our engagement shoot. 

See you tonight!