props

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i love love love my new blog design

but i didn't do it.

i can intubate a burn patient with carbonaceous sputum in his airway

but html blows my mind.

so i gotta give props to my girl Debbie

she's the mastermind behind all you see here

she took my inspiration pics

and turned it into exactly-what-i-wanted

miracle worker, she is

i just love how bright and clean the blog feels now

like freshly shaven legs

ready for summer.

a weak metaphor, yes.

but one that Debbie, in all her sarcastic glory, would greatly appreciate, i feel.

so thank you, Deb

(can i call you Deb? boom. just did.)

for making all this pretty.

xoxo,

em

happy anniversary to us!

so yesterday we celebrated two whole years of marriage

by taking a leap

out of an airplane

somewhat blurry, because Nick just grabbed me by my harness.

they asked us to point to who was more freaked out

by the prospect of jumping out of a plane

we both agreed it was me.

but i survived.

it was truly amazing.

we each did a tandem jump

where our fates were linked to that of our instructors

since the instructors were strapped to our backs.

after 5 minutes of walking us through the procedures

we jumped on a plane

and in 2 minutes were in the air.

another 10 minutes and we were at 10,500 feet

and it was time to jump.

there was a moment,

when i was leaning out of the airplane,

looking at the clouds and very very hard earth below me

where i panicked.

but then there was no time

because i was suddenly backflipping out of the plane

and free-falling for what seemed like forever.

then the chute deployed

*thank the sweet sweet Lord*

and we gracefully floated back to earth

it was amazing.

like i said.

skydiving pros

then we got bbq

and took naps by the pool

before heading out to a fancy dinner 

fancy Flemings

ahí tuna with rhubarb? on a cucumber? it was fantastic.

rack of venison. the deer was apparently shot yesterday. farm fresh?

the one where Nick doesn't look drunk/sleepy

aaaaaand the one where he does.

and to finish it all off,

another gratuitous shot of my peonies.

oh my Lordy am i ever obsessed with these beauties.

now before you all go patting Nick on the back

for a job well-done in the anniversary present department...

allow me to provide a little background:

this month, Nick is working like a dog.

four days off. that's it. all month long. just four days.

and he was just SURE he couldn't take the 28th as one of those days

but he never asked his bosses.

he just assumed.

so meanwhile, i'm trying to find out what his schedule is

so that we can plan SOMETHING to celebrate our anniversary

and he's just not cooperating.

he even said, "i just want to celebrate our marriage every day. why does it have to be on our anniversary?"

excuses, excuses.

so finally, i got mad.

he knows celebrations are a big deal to me.

i said to him, "you can choose to blow off our anniversary if you wish,

but that will make me very angry

and keep in mind that it will be an entire YEAR 

before you're able to make it up to me"

suddenly,

Nick had the 28th off.

lest you all think that this marriage is the stuff of dreams,

i felt the need to bring it back to reality.

we had a fantastic time

but it almost wasn't.

i love this man.

and he surprises me daily.

but sometimes i have to threaten him. (:

and that's the truth.

love story, part four: the wedding

two years ago today,

we were doing this...

here's some of our songs for you to read to:

nick...putting the "finishing touches" on his vows

...5 minutes before the ceremony

 our ceremony was performed by my dad

in the courtyard of Nick's grandfather's house

the only guests were our immediate families

our two best friends

and some Italian friends and family

he picked me a flower (:

 after the ceremony,

we all walked up the road to the church

so we could have our reception

love my sister's face in this one

 an Italian gem named Rosa set all this up for us

these guys...priceless.

me and my mama

the cake had our faces on it. it's true.

it was such an unforgettable day

just looking at these images lets me feel all the emotion and joy all over again

and that's the point of wedding pictures, right?

to take you back?

i'll tell more of the story tomorrow,

but for now,

i'm going to enjoy my anniversary.

happy two years, baby.

p.s. the blog got a makeover. i think she looks fresh and delightful, don't you?

love story, part three: civil ceremony

i'm a pretty lucky girl.

for many, many reasons

one of which, is that i happen to be married to a man

who is half-Italian

and whose family still owns a house in Tuscany

it's the house Nick's Nonno Lino grew up in

Lino is the grandfather Nicholas Lino Fleming was named for

and to this day, if you ask Nick one of his most significant life events,

he will tell you it was when he was 7 years old and his Nonno Lino died.

they were very close.

even though Lino only spoke Italian,

he came up with games to play with Nick that didn't require words.

so when Nick said he wanted to get married in Italy,

i knew why.

and i was okay with it. (:

we got engaged on december 25, 2009

and decided to get married on may 28, 2010

...5 short months...

but it was all the time we had off

just two weeks...between 3rd year and 4th year of med school

we decided to get legally married in Italy too

both because, initially, i was all hung up on having my marriage certificate state the date i actually got married...which i now feel was a completely ridiculous thing to be picky about, btw.

and because Nick was on his general surgery rotation right before we left

and we didn't have time to go to the courthouse in Chicago.

so there.

it was a process.

i won't even go into all the details.

it involved a lot of stress and tears and general freaking out.

but we pulled it off.

which was nice,

because then we got to have our photographer take these amazing pics

of our civil ceremony

our dads. mine on the left, nick's on the right.

 my dad is using crutches.
he got a tibial plateau fracture
while playing soccer with Nick the day before.
Nick broke my dad.
it's true.

wedding kiss #1

 a little behind-the-scenes info:

i threw up at 3am the night before our wedding

a bad combination of too-little-sleep, too-much-wine, and nerves.

it happens.

also, the next morning, the power went out.

apparently it was scheduled maintenance, but they forgot to tell anyone.

fortunately, i had blow-dried my hair post-shower

but i did not, however, have the ability to curl or style it in any way.

hence the hair-do you see here.

dress- anthro; shoes- nine west; hair flower- anthro; belt- etsy; birdcage veil- etsy

we got legally married

in Lucca, Italy

at 10am on friday, may 28, 2010

we had a rehearsal dinner of sorts, the night before

and the "real" wedding was yet to come...

to be continued...again!