Welcome to Miami

On May 31st Ryan and I bit the bullet and embarked on our first overnight stay away from Emery.  For those of you mothers clutching your heart and gasping for breath at the thought that we did this three months in- I was too.  Trust me, it was for a great cause!  That cause was, in fact, my dear friend Courtney's nuptials in Miami.  The facts:  we flew out to Miami mid-morning on Friday May 31st, returned as soon as humanly possible Sunday June 2nd, and left our precious angel in the best care imaginable.  Melanie and (Emery's future betrothed) Jake were kind enough to keep the boogie Friday during the day while Ryan's parents were at work.  Then Grandma & Pawpaw Martin kept her the rest of the weekend with lots of love and assistance from Aunt Tiff & cousin Kylie.  We are so, so thankful to everyone who took such amazing care of her and allowed her Mama & Daddy to celebrate Aunt Courtney in person.

Let's take a minute to focus on Courtney before we hop into the pictures and details, shall we?  Courtney was one of my two roommates my 5th year of school and continues to be one of my closest friends.  We met through fatefully random circumstances during rush when we were both juniors.  After some discussion we realized we were both about to start the PPA program and the rest, as they say, is history.  Our 5th year we spent far too many late nights laughing, lots of Sundays indulging in sushi and bad TV, lots of hours discussing the weather (okay maybe that was just one of us) and just generally keeping one another's focus on anything but classes and studying for the CPA.  I was heartbroken when she left Texas to move to New York after school, but thankfully it doesn't seem to have hampered our friendship.  She is truly one of the kindest, most selfless, thoughtful people you'll ever meet.  It's very easy to see why her new hubs, Yoni, fell in love with her.  Love you to death, Boat!

Okay - so back to the deets of the trip.  Ryan and I dropped Emery off with Aunt Melanie early on Friday morning.  After choking back many tears, we headed off to the airport and flew into Miami without incident.  We took the world's longest, most miserable cab ride.  Let me just say that we had the good fortune of happening to get the only cab driver in Miami unfamiliar with the location of South Beach.  After 5 u-turns, 45 minutes, and more re-routing of Google Maps than I care to remember- we arrived in one piece at the beautiful Eden Roc.  After untangling the rat's nest that my hair had become courtesy of our cabdriver's disinterest in rolling up winds, we headed straight to the cabana bar for some adult beverages.  I'm not going to lie- we probably spent that entire time discussing our child and requesting pictures from Melanie.  I guess that means we are official parents?  Or officially crazy?  Maybe a little of both.

Noooot too shabby.

Post happy hour we cleaned ourselves up for the evening and headed over to the Hotel Astor for the Welcome Dinner.  Yoni's parents put together a beautiful soiree.  It was so nice to get to see the glowing bride and to catch up with her New York friends.  Fairly early on in our dating lives, Ryan and I had the good fortune of getting to make it up to New York multiple times for either work or leisure and so we actually know them which made it a lot of fun.  The evening was full of lots of laughs, amazing food and a slideshow produced by the Knees (do you get it?!  CourtNEY & YoNI) that is sure to win an Academy Award this year.  Suffice it to say it was an amazing night celebrating amazing people.

Does it count as date night if it's a Welcome Dinner?  No?

A fraction of Courtney's NYC crew.  Jenny, Mackenzie, Rachel & Rachel's boyfriend Michael.

Ryan giving Gill his flower.  Sounds about right.

Gillian rocking the mic thanks to some incredible last minute editing (read: changing 8 to eight).

Judging by that sassy stance, I would venture to guess she's talking about the NYC dating scene.

The bride & groom doing their best Calvin Klein ad pose.  Work it!

The most beautiful bride you'll ever see.

Yours truly, Rachel, Courtney, Jenny & Mackenzie.  Ryan and I really have to find a way to go back to visit these hotties sometime soon.

I just realized this post could get pretty wordy if I try to get both days in.  This in combination with the fact that I'm typically blogging against the buzzer (buzzer is synonymous with child) means that I'm going to wrap this bad boy up.  So... stay tuned for the wedding post.  :c)

Were you wondering what Emery was up to back in H-town?  So were we.  Which is why we asked like every 15 minutes.  Thankfully, Melanie was kind enough to oblige us.

Oh heeeeey, boyfran!

Mom & Dad, you can just leave me here with Aunt Melanie and my boyfriend if you want.

Wearing my baby like a champ.

Nothing like taking a snooze in the sun.