wedding photos - yay!

We got our wedding photos a couple of weeks ago. Here are (a lot of) our favorites!

Bridals. :)

Wedding day, at the temple. :)

Family photos. :)

The fairytale reception. :)

eat lightning, crap thunder

This weekend, it was nice to keep it pretty low-key.

On Friday, Ben and I spent the afternoon in Center City for the last time. :(

First, we saw the Liberty Bell . . . pretty cool! Haha.

Then we took a tour of Independence Hall.

This is the court room.

And this is the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the Constitution was signed in 1787.

We dined at Jim's Steaks for the last time. So sad. We love Jim's Philly Cheese Steaks!!

Then we shared a massive ice cream sunday at Franklin's Fountain. It was called the "Mt. Vesuvius" - vanilla bean ice cream for a mountain, brownie pieces for rock bits, chocolate syrup for hot lava, malt powder for dust, and whipped cream for smoke!

And the, the highlight of our night - the ROCKY STEPS!

Of course, we watched the step scene in Rocky I before we left and Ben had a little rehearsal.

Sorry the video is sideways!

Here is the real thing! Hilarious, no?

This is the art museum at the top of the steps; I thought it was pretty.

We enjoyed the cool evening at the top of the steps until it was dark, and then we called it a night! :)

Saturday was pretty chill. We slept in and then spent the afternoon and evening at the Brown's swimming, enjoying a yummy BBQ, and playing games!

And Sunday . . . well, this is our little crock pot. He tries.

:)

birthday weekend in nyc!

Ben and I just had the best weekend!

1. We celebrated my 21st birthday!

2. We played in New York City!

3. We did it all together!

The excitement started when Ben called me on his way home from work. He said that he would be home in five minutes and that when he got there, he would knock on the door. I then had 30 seconds to finish up whatever I was working on and go to the bathroom and close the door. (When you're always together and you only have one room, what else are you supposed to do?!) Well, I did all of that, and when I came out, Ben presented me with cupcakes, a cookbook I've been really excited about, and a sweet letter! Oh, and don't forget the lovely rendition of "Happy Birthday!" ;)

Here is the dashing gentleman, himself!

And then, well, we finished packing up and headed to NEWWW YORRRRK CITAAAYY!!

The whole weekend worked out perfectly. Ever since Ben's internship was just a possibility, we've been talking about how fun it would be to go to NYC to see a show for my birthday. A couple of weeks ago, we purchased tickets and planned out how we would drive to Hamilton, NJ, park, and take the train into the city for the day. Well, the week of, I emailed my friend Alyssa, who is currently living in NYC, to ask her about some fun things to do in Times Square. She wrote back and said, "Do you need a place to stay? We're about 2 blocks from Times Square and we have an extra room!" We'd be fools to turn that offer down, so our trip turned into a whole fun birthday weekend in NYC!

(Alyssa and I met freshman year and she married Randy a couple of weeks before I married Ben. It turns out that Randy and Ben had all four of their finance classes together last semester! Randy and Alyssa are living in NYC for a couple of months because Randy has a finance internship there, just like Ben and I are in Philadelphia! How fun is that?!)

This is Ben, walking from the parking lot to the train. (Don't worry, we documented everything.)

Our first New York experience was getting off our train and to our metro - CRAZY! There are so many people in New York! Here we are, safely on the subway.

We came out of the subway across the street from Alyssa and Randy's apartment. Also across the street from the David Letterman Show and the off-broadway show Promises, Promises with Kristen Chenowith!

All four of us enjoyed a yummy dinner together of chicken and baked potatoes; it felt soo good to eat baked food - Ben and I don't have an oven! Then we took a fun walk past the Manhattan Temple, the Hudson River, several Trump towers, and things like that.

Alyssa and Randy went home to watch a movie early in the night, so Ben and I explored Time Square on our own! Clearly, we were in the mood for something sweet. First we went to the Hershey Store and then to the M&M store!

While I was feeling a little hungry . . .

Ben was feeling a bit patriotic. ;)

Times Square! :)

Then we went back to Randy & Alyssa's and finished The Blind Side (always a winner) with them!

Saturday morning, Ben and I enjoyed a yummy breakfast on the 30th floor balcony! Then, our first stop was Central Park.

We passed this restaurant on the way, and just as I (used to) call Ben Gentle, he (used to) call me Fluffy.

Here are our favorite shots of Central Park!

Today is Saturday, July 31st, and it is my birthday! :)

Ben met a Cantonese-speaking family and, of course, they loved him! I love these moments!

Soon enough, it was time to head to Famiglia's Pizzeria (the official pizza of the NY Yankees) for lunch, so back to Times Square we headed!

Nuts 4 Nuts street vendor roasted nuts for dessert!

Then we headed over to the Minskoff Theatre for THE LION KING! We loved it! We absolutely loved every second of it!

After the show, we spent our last few hours in Times Square, soaking it all in!

Here we are on this really cool, giant, camera screen. See us? We're kissing! (This fulfills Ben's lifelong dream of being on a kiss-cam!)

Birthday dinner was celebrated at Hard Rock Cafe New York City!

What more can a couple want, than burgers, fries, and root beer?!

After dinner, we walked around for an hour or so, enjoyed our favorite treats from Coldstone, and ended a fabulous day!! :)