The Newest Mr. & Mrs. Gill!

Wow, is it over already? It's crazy when an event is planned for so far in advance, and anticipated for so long, and then it's just over. That's how I feel about Dan & Lian's wedding, along with our recent whirlwind trip to the US. I cannot believe it's already over.

There were so many factors brought in to make this trip a success and I am pleased to say that they all came through with flying colors. First off, the documentation. Gretchen's Argentine passport was the last piece of the travel-ready puzzle and it arrived a mere 4 days before our departure. (I also had to chase the delivery man down the street in my slippers because he said I took too long to answer the door, but that's another story...)

Then there was the mildly insane travel itinerary. Could we really take our 3-month old on a multi-leg, multi-continent, and cross-country trip all in a matter of 10 days? The answer is yes, with a beautifully behaved 3-month old, you certainly can.

She's already sleeping, before even taking off

Gretchen took the flight with a grain of salt. I was skeptical once I saw that the bassinet that we had rented was this strange plastic thing that attaches to the wall, but it worked like a charm and gave us the freedom to get some shut eye on the plane. You will notice that she is wearing her fashionable "gorgeous" bib. This comes into play when I tell you that on the other side of Gretchen's bassinet wall, in the last row of first class, the champ himself, Mike Tyson, sat with his family (I think I read that it's his 3rd wife, and he's turned over a new leaf...) and 4-month old baby. When we landed in Houston for our connection to LA, we shared an elevator with the Tysons, which is when Mike (we're on a first name basis now.) asked "Is that the gorgeous baby from the plane?". Yup, Mike Tyson called our baby gorgeous. He had a little help from the power of suggestions from the bib, but he said it nonetheless. Needless to say, Gretchen was an angel on the flight and she continued her amazing behavior throughout our trip.

Our reason for flying home, and the first stop on our trip was to Los Angeles for wedding festivities. I was not my normal paparazzi-self, but I did get a few shots of Gretchen at the beautiful kick off party that was held at the Santa Monica beach club on Friday night. It was a wonderful way to start the weekend off right, and Lornie and Thom were thoughtful enough to even include a birthday cake for me, Lian, her brother Jake and cousin Matt, who (incredibly) all have birthdays in a 4 day period.

Here is Gretchen lovin' on her Auntie Missy

And everyone can see she only has eyes for Daddy

The weekend continued with a Joshua Jackson sighting at our hotel pool/restaurant. Note that we were too weenie to ask for a picture of him (as we were with Tyson), so we took this ridiculous shot with him in the background. He is also with his girlfriend, Diane Kruger, who (I'm told) is apparently much more famous, but since Jon and I are currently obsessed with the TV show Fringe, and we are both of the Dawson's Creek fan club, we were pretty pumped about JJ.

More importantly, that night was the wedding, which was a complete blast! Here are some photos of the lovliness:

This picture of the 2 families is beautiful, but check out the background! The whole inside of their wedding venue was lined with these unbelievable plants. My poor little windowsill planters were jealous.

Me and my handsome husband at an early June outside wedding that was not 100 degrees. Ahhh, the memories of sweating through my wedding dress 3 short years ago.

The picture-perfect bride and groom with Dave Durante officiating the wedding in what has to be the most sincere, touching ceremony that I have ever heard. Bravo, Dave, Bravo.

In a rare moment of awake-ness, Jon and I posing with our precious baby girl.

And this black and white clad angel is Roberta (pictured with Lauren Durante and thrilled-mother-of-the-groom, Lornie), the savior of reception fun. She voluntarily held little Gretchen for hours while Daddy and I tore up the dance floor. Thank you so much to Roberta and Diane for allowing us to have a fun-filled and worry-free reception night.

We had a fantastic time in LA, only to be followed by a wonderful visit to Virginia (available in an upcoming post). Thank you to the Gills for a wonderful wedding weekend, thank you to Dan for finally giving Jon and I a sister and Gretchen a real-live aunt, and special congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Gill - one of the happiest couples I know.