Celebrating Love in Northern California

Earlier this month I shared some snapshots from our trip to Door County, Wisconsin, and I mentioned that rather than making my usual conscious effort to take perfectly curated photos of the journey, I only snapped a couple of images with my DSLR and mainly just captured shots with my phone along the way. Well for our week in northern California, the same was true, but even moreso. We flew out for the wedding of one of my best friends, and from the moment we stepped off of the plane until we boarded our return flight to home, there was nonstop activity. I didn't even bother to bring my real camera this time, and I was so (happily) busy that I barely even had time to pull out my phone - nor did I want to. This trip was one of my favorite experiences I've had in years, and I took absolute pleasure in savoring the luxury of being in the moment with my closest friends in what is probably my very favorite part of the country. Maybe when the professional pictures of the wedding are available, I'll share some of those. But for now, I'm just posting some of the phone images that were taken along the way, mainly by myself, along with a couple taken by friends - which although less aesthetically beautiful than what I'd normally hope to post, accurately (and more personally, I think) tell the story of our trip.

From setting up the bridal shower at a Sebastopol farmhouse on Thursday, to helping decorate and arrange flowers for the beautiful rehearsal dinner on Friday, to being part of the most stunning ceremony on the edge of a cliff where the Russian River meets the ocean on Saturday, to celebrating love in gorgeous outdoor reception in Guerneville on Saturday evening, to gathering with friends for clean-up and farewells on Sunday, and so many more blissful moments along the way, the entire trip was full of action and laughter and beauty and overall awesomeness. I cried when we had to say goodbye on Monday. And Essley slept almost the entire flight back. Both of these things, I would say, are signs of a truly wonderful vacation. I hope we can go back to magical Sonoma county sooner than later.

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