coolest day ever.

Today I watched the royal wedding live with 100,000+ Londoners (and tourists) on a big screen in Hyde Park. It was absolutely incredible!!!!

Beth got there at 7am to save all of us seats close to the screens... this was close to 8am when I got there and look how far back the crowd goes!

The view ahead of us, well before the BBC coverage started. You can see the screens in the far right...

The view behind us! Let's just say, the people watching was the best I'd ever seen.

The 3 crazo Brits that sat right in front of us haha.

There was so much cheering, singing, screaming, flag waving from the first important sighting (Beckhams) all the way through the 2nd kiss on the balcony! (They freaked out more when they showed the queen than when they showed William or Kate!) Here are a few video shots... such a fun atmosphere!!

Here's the last part of the procession up to the front of Westminster.

Kate saying "I will"

They sang for everything (hymns included) but they outdid themselves on "God save the queen" :) I'm so bummed I couldn't get that video to load...

The sun came out when Kate and Will left the church! 

Group shot

Ok, so cool! I took this picture literally three seconds after these planes flew over the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the screen!!! We were so close!

After it was all said and done, they turned off the BBC coverage and brought out performers and Hyde Park turned into one big dance party!! Favorite day ever in London by far!!!

the wedding

Just got back from 10 days in the States celebrating Chris and Katie's wedding... being in the wedding made it difficult to capture some of the most important moments, but here is what I was able to get!

Chris and Kates at the rehearsal

Bridesmaids and MVP-of-the-weekend Jessi

THE MEIERS!!!! One of my favorite parts of the whole weekend was getting to see family friends from Omaha!

 Rehearsal dinner at Sofi's Greek restaurant (Chris's family is Greek)

 Introductions and gifts...

 Mo the wedding coordinator extraordinaire!

Hahaha... the whole group started Greek dancing and my dad hid in the corner in an attempt to avoid getting pulled onto the dance floor.

Arranging the flower centerpieces on Saturday morning...

They were gorgeous!

Hanging out at Burke Williams where we all get mani/pedi's

 Mom doing the wedding coordinator transfer to Aunt Karen at the spa

Bachelorette party!

Sisters :)

Morning of! Katie and me getting our hair done by her friends at her salon.

 Final preparations in the Bridal room...

 Pre-ceremony hug from Dad. I get the warm fuzzies every time I see this picture.

Post-ceremony sister shot

 Our shoes were adorable, but excruciatingly painful.

 Words of wisdom before dinner...

Father/daughter dance - to the song he used to dance with all 3 of us to as we got ready for church every Sunday growing up. Yeah, there were tears.

Pastor Bob and Ruthie!!!

Chatting with family friends at the reception

Best pic of the day... at the hotel after the clean up was all said and done. Hahahaha we were exhausted!

After the wedding I got to spend the day with friends. Pretty much can't express how much I love and miss these girls.

I move to London and my friends decide to have babies. So fun to finally meet the new additions... oh they are just so precious I could have held them all day.

Jaime and me at Buddha's... best sushi (and company) there ever was.

Dessert at the Cannery...

It was so good to be home. There's just something to be said for walking down the street and sounding exactly like everyone around you... like you belong there! That said, I couldn't be happier to be back in London which strangely feels more like home than CA did this past week.

Next up - the royal wedding!

Best weekend away yet...

Just got back from what was possibly my favorite weekend away since being here - in Bruges. Chels and I went with Bill and AK, our friends from work. It was extremely low key - all we did was walk around, eat, hang out in the sun, eat, relax, explore the cobblestone streets, and eat some more. Here are the pics!

Up in time to catch the first tube of the morning at 5:40am. Painful.

On the chunnel to Brussels!

Hanging out in Brussels waiting for our train to Bruges...

So, there was only standing room for the hour train ride from Brussels to Bruges... AK got a seat, but Chels was not happy.

 Made it!

Out hotel (a palace)!

AK and Chels didn't waste one second before running around taking pictures...

With Chels interrupting the check in process to take pictures... and raiding the bowl of chocolate eggs on display... the check in guy was so annoyed hahaha.

Out and about - it is the CUTEST little town!

Traditional Flemish lunch...

This ice cream gave Rome's a run for its money.

People soaking in the sun in the middle of the town square. This town was so chill.... loved it!

Boat ride along the canal...

Chels enjoying the flea market we found shortly after the boat ride...

Waiting in line to climb the bell tower.

2 minutes into the climb...

45 minutes into the climb... not sure we were going to make it.

But we did!!

Bill and I took a nap in the middle of the town square in the afternoon - AK playing with her sleeping husband.

Yumskies.

There were SO many chocolate shops. This one had AMAZING displays...

Aimlessly wandering the streets... pretty much what we did all weekend.

Hanging out on the hotel's terrace before heading out to dinner...

Saw this on the way to dinner... cute.

Our dinner spot... DELISH!

We all got very traditional Belgian food... it was amazing.

Came back after dinner to watch the Masters... I was thrilled about this. Clearly.

Cutest breakfast place EVER.

 YUMMMMMMM... pancakes.

Nice Bill. Nice.

THE cutest chocolate shop in town.

Inside gathering our loot...

On our way to a park we found this lake... so picturesque!

In the sun, eating chocolate, chatting with the girls, and reading People. It doesn't get any better.

It was Chels v. the sun all weekend. She lost.

Our adorable lunch spot on Sunday...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Yeah. Speechless. The best lunch of my life.

Hitting up another market on Sunday...

Some parting shots from the hotel...

The UK border patrol had increased security in Brussels, which almost made us miss our train back to London. Thanks to the sprint of our LIVES, we made it. It's all good though - at least we worked off half of one of the 24 pieces of chocolate we consumed over the course of the weekend.

Next up - Katie's wedding in California, followed by a week in Omaha with my parents. Can't wait to see all of my friends and family in just 3 days!!!