Love was in the air

Saturday my best friend surprised her parents with a 30th anniversary party and recommitment ceremony, so I went home to Virginia to help out. I was a little nervous about how they were going to react to the surprise nuptials, but everything turned out beautifully in the end. I'd never witnessed a vow renewal ceremony, and I was very touched by the celebration of two people who have actively lived their marital vows for 30 years. This wasn't doe-eyed romance - this was the product of for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, two kids and everything else in between. Very inspirational.

Saturday night I trained up to NYC for a Sunday wedding in Westchester, about an hour north of the city. Our Baltimore friends tied the knot at a gorgeous (albeit HOT) ceremony at a Japanese garden that you'd never know was there. The entire wedding was themed Asian with Chinese lanterns, a themed cake and bamboo everywhere.

These two are big foodies, too, and we knew they'd put a lot of thought into their wedding menu. Everything was delicious and chosen with such care, including a wide array of vegetarian options (!), but our favorite passed hors d'oeuvres were the zucchini patties with dill and the artichoke bruschetta. Dinner was stations of Caesar and Asian salads, pesto or butternut squash pasta, and steamed vegetables, potatoes and salmon, I believe. (Correct me if I'm wrong, lovebirds!)

But the star of the afternoon, after the bride of course, was the cake. Their good friend is a reknowned cake designer and created the most beautiful cake I've ever seen or, more importantly, tasted. The cake was decorated to look like a purple kimono to fit with the Asian theme. I had the raspberry creme layer, and it was heavenly. Apparently there was a chocolate peanut butter layer, too, and possibly others.

After the wedding, Joe and I headed back to NYC and had dinner at a Thai-French fusion restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. The sheer selection of restaurants in New York is enough to make you want to pack up and relocate on the spot. But we didn't. Back to Baltimore we went.