East Coast Baby!

We went to Long Island last week for my Aunt Louise's wedding. We knew it would be a blast. I'm not sure how a wedding in the Hamptons could be anything less. Louise and Ted love good food, good wine and had secured the Water Mill Beach Club for their nuptials and reception. It doesn't get any better than a laid-back, casual beachside wedding with the entire guest list wearing chic beach white!

I'm honestly not sure we thought we would ever see this day. Louise and Ted have been engaged for longer than Jeff and I have been engaged & married. Louise always told me I had to go first and show her how it was done. I obliged. Years later we were still asking Louise for a date. Then to our surprise last year Louise told us that the blessed day would be 8.8.08. Now if that doesn't make your day lucky nothing will.

So, we headed to the Hamptons with too many nautically-inspired sundresses and seersucker pants shoved in the suitcase and we were ready for a great time. The weather was fantastic, the shopping was worth drooling over (and frankly so were the cars and homes too!), the beach was amazing and we had a wonderful time celebrating the love and marriage of the happy couple.
We stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast, The Pondview and we enjoyed our cottage on their grounds very much. It was nice to have our own space and kitchen and Audrey was happy to have a crib to call her own. Other perks? The family dog, Sophia who loves visitors. Sophia loved playing with Audrey and had no problems hanging out in our cottage on the couch! The 700 fish in the fully stocked pond was a hit. We fed the fish every morning to Audrey's delight. They also had a nice pool, a tennis court and our favorite, a very large putting green with chipping mound in the front lawn. Jeff and I were drooling. We totally need one of these at home. I told Jeff I could practice everyday while Audrey napped. Seriously!
Our cottage!
Audrey and Daddy waiting to go to dinner at Tide Runner's our first night in the Hamptons. Audrey was in love with the huge fishtank at the restaurant and squealed so loud with delight I'm rather surprised the tank didn't shatter!
Audrey killing time before dinner chasing Sophia, a puggle, down our brick path to the cottage.
The day of the wedding was beautiful. Well, right up until we were to head to the beach club. Then the thunder clouds moved in and so did the raindrops. Fortunately, the big storm missed us and the sun broke through the clouds, turned the sky yellow, there were a few raindrops and then a full rainbow broke over the ocean. I'm not sure your wedding ceremony gets any better than that! Between the rainbow, the raw bar and the champagne this party was off to a great start.




Audrey was the flowergirl who hated her flower bracelet. After some creative re-purposing of the flowers I attached them to her hat and sent her down the aisle. She made it half way before realizing that everyone was eying her. Then she collapsed and cried. Everyone laughed.






The rest of the reception was so much fun! Lots of toasts (seriously, like 10 toasts! this is what happens with 30 brits in town!), lots of wonderful food (tenderloin & salmon) and famous cupcakes from Tate's Bakery, which were to die for. My aunt had even hired one of her old grad students to nanny for Audrey the night of the wedding, so that Jeff and I could kick back and have fun. Audrey took to Nicole quickly and we were able to get Audrey off to bed after dinner and then have fun dancing, smoking cigars and drinking champagne the rest of the evening!


The next day friend's of Ted & Louise's had us over to their home for a lovely lunch. But forget the lunch, their gardens had me drooling. While everyone was by the pool giving more speeches about Ted & Louise I was traipsing through their gardens snapping pictures and dreaming of making over my yard. It was such an idyllic locations. Lush shade gardens, meandering paths, and a pool by which you sipped your tea. They even had a beautiful old colonial home to match, which fits the gardens perfectly.












Here's Audrey hanging out in the garden! She really enjoyed running around in the grass and putting her toes into the pool and splashing them. What a wonderful garden for children full of fun little hiding spots and lots of things to explore.












Afterwards, our hosts took us down to their private beach where the movie "Something's Gotta Give" was filmed. So amazing. The beaches on Long Island are some of the best around. Audrey enjoyed her first dip in the ocean (well, not really), but she liked playing in the sand and watching a dog down the beach run around. The undertow was really strong that day at the beach so we had to be careful how far we went out into the surf. The beach was packed though and what a glorious day to be at the beach! Look at that blue sky!












On our last night in the Hamptons we just had a low key evening. I think all of us were tired of running from one event to the next, especially little Miss Audrey who was showing us the sign for "sleep" not long after her nap post-beach. So, we ordered delicious take-out from La Parmigiana and dined in our cute cottage on huge pizza pies and yummy pasta dishes. It was a fun trip and a beautiful wedding. Congrats again Ted & Louise!