Cait is still on her honeymoon in Costa Rica and I'm posting pictures she's not seen yet. Like I said in a previous post, she loves me no matter what, right?

Also, I needed at least one more speedlight with a soft-box to make these what I really would have wanted, but desperate times call for... no, not desperate measures... just some ingenuity!

Top Photo: I love this photo. Bridesmaids annnnd the beautiful Sarah Swaintek (far right) and Mike at the rehearsal dinner. Photo courtesy Sean Middleton via my Nikon. Not bad, Kiddo!

Bottom Photo: These three goobers (L-R: Mike, Maria (Cait's youngest stepsister), Cait) are looking at a scrapbook put together by the bridal party (thank you, Kate Leister for your fabulous organization skills) for the soon-to-be newlyweds, Cait and Mike. I'm not quite sure which photo they've stumbled upon, but the faces? Priceless.

Cait and Mike's rehearsal dinner/Philadelphia, PA/8.27.10

When four separate pieces of her mail* failed to make it from Philadelphia to my apartment in New York, time and time again, Cait wrote a letter to the United States Postal Service on the envelope flap of a letter she wrote to me. Short of her coming to hand it to me personally, this was the greatest mailbox surprise I've received in a long time. Not only was this hilarious, but clearly effective. I adore her.

*Despite their inadequacy as of late in my neck of the woods, USPS/snail mail is still my favorite form of communication (depending on circumstance, sometimes it's better than face time). I think everyone should write a letter today to someone they care about. Maybe it's someone you see everyday or maybe it's someone you haven't seen in years. Take time in its art. See what happens...

Note: The smudge was of my own doing.

You go home for your cousin's wedding and you end up a personal sous chef/server for Paul McCartney and his band for three days at the two-night grand opening of the Consol Energy Center, the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Typical.

Photo of arena and McCartney's rig taken from my crappy pocket camera.

CAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKEE.

Ohhhh goodness, so here we are, returning to the beautiful wedding of Allison Flak to Eugene Lancas after another wedding-filled August weekend. Facebook tells me everyone got married this past weekend, but that can't possibly be true. Yes, I was in Philly acting as the Maid of Honor for my best friend from college, Caitlin Middleton (Fling), so you'd have to have some people in and at the weddings, not the ones taking the vows.

I did vow, however, to eat a lot of pound cake, but my commitments extended no further.

Although I will say, if everyone DID get married this weekend, Bob Ross* himself couldn't have painted better weather, so kudos to you all.

Photo: Cousin Eug and wife Allison shoving delicious cake into one another's pie hole, or cake hole, I guess.

*I initially typed God, but Bob Ross was my second and much more fitting choice, which raises an interesting question... Synonyms? What if all that time painting happy trees... think about it.

Eug and his blushing bride, Allison, dancing their first steps with their closest friends and family surrounding them - 8.14.10.

Centerpieces.

I think this shot describes my cousin Kristen and her husband John very well, so of course, I'm a big fan of this photo.

Photo: Bridal party entering reception.

Allison!

Funny story annnnd go: So my mom loves to throw a good party annnd she happens to be pretty darn great at it too. This year, she threw a wedding shower for my cousin and his fiance, Allison, fully equipped with more food than you can imagine, jharv (Daddy Dearest) as the bartender and a big sign in our front yard that read:

Congratulations Eugene and Allison!

For those not in the know, my full name is Allison, coincidentally spelled the same way as my cousin's (now) wife. Who wants to guess how many neighbors thought Yours Truly was getting hitched? Anyone? Bueller?

My absolute favorite shot of the whole day. My Grandma saying goodbye to Eug after the ceremony.

Tis the season...

For some reason, I don't really photograph my friends or family. If I do, I usually don't put them on my blog, but I think I'm going to start doing so. I guess I just figure that no one cares and that probably is true, but that doesn't mean they aren't good photos.

Like this photo for example! You would never know that these two goofy love birds were my parents unless I told you! But regardless of my attachment to them, it still is a swell moment captured in a digital medium.

Straight from Alabama, I was off again(!) destined to not return to my beloved New York. Home sweet home was in my cards this time, flying in that second Friday in August just in time to shower, dry my hair, throw on a dress and run out the door to my cousin's wedding rehearsal dinner at Gypsy Cafe right off Carson Street in the South Side of Pittsburgh.

Gypsy is one of my favorite spots in the South Side, boasting a wide array of delicious Mediterranean dishes. Most everything that comes out of this kitchen is simply fantastic, particularly their hummus varieties. A staple food, but they've managed to perfect this recipe which tempts suckers like me to return to the hummus platters four or five times over.

Fat kid with a camera. I think I had three pieces of lemon chiffon cake as well. Between the chocolate chip cookies as big as my head from Bon Jovi's catering to Gypsy's desserts, I will be very fortunate to fit into my tiny J. Crew dress for my best friend's wedding coming up this weekend. She loves me for who I am, right?

Top: (L-R) Cousin Eug and fiance Allison slicing that lemon chiffon cake... what you can't see is my drool behind the camera.

Bottom: Allison hugs Kristen, Eug's older sis and our eldest cousin.

For the first ten or so years of my life, our vacation week in the summer was spent with my grandparents on my dad's side in Pensacola Beach, Florida. It was my basis for everything a beach should be. Bright, white sand, aqua water, mountainous dunes scattered with sea oats, little seafood shacks for lunch.

Oh, and the occasional tropical depression or hurricane.

That aside, it's remained with me for the past (almost) 25 years as such an important piece of my childhood. Heck, it's where I fell in love with the Blue Angels. Nothing in the world like boogie-ing on the beach and having F/A- 18 Hornets scream overhead. Seriously.

So what brought me back, you might be asking? A darling friend with a beach condo in Alabama. Simple as that. Fortunately for me, the closest aeropuerto to Orange Beach, Alabama is Pensacola's airport. Naturally, when he picked me up I had already mapped out directions to the fish sign (above) and again, fortunately for me, he didn't mind taking a small detour to stand on the side of a highway so I could snap this shot. What a pal, what a pal.

Ready for one of the best parts of our Gulf Coast vacation? First day on the beach?

THE BLUE ANGELS FLEW OVER US!

Now, friends, that really does not happen every day. I was so happy I didn't even know what to do with myself.

My Vuarnets, a new bright bikini, a cold beverage, the hot sand, a fun friend and the Blue Angels.

I didn't even take another photo the entire trip. Five days of that and I was beyond perfect.

The beginning of our drive from Pensacola, Florida to Orange Beach, Alabama.

What do these dudes in this Ford in front of us and myself have in common? Lower right-hand corner... we both heart Pensacola Beach!

Two puddle-jumpers! TWO! Are you kidding me? New York to D.C., D.C. to Pensacola, Florida.

I did make a friend while at Washington Dulles International that lovely August 9th, however. He took one look at the plane and one look at the size of my camera bag...

Even he knew I was screwed.

For every brick that was laid by hand, for every street that you now know by heart*. Make no mistake, this city was anything but unintentional. Good Lord, how it frustrates me so... the idea that all of this came from nothing? Nothing?? How can any rational human argue such a thought? By my book, that would, by default, make them irrational.

No, man built it and yes, by contrast, nature made it irresistible. Man did not make the sun set, but man did create something extraordinary that could stand in silhouette, highlighting the radiance of colors in the calculated motion of one sphere in space. Classic and romantic. Technical and artistic. Artificial and natural.

Piece by piece. Second by second.

Independent of human design, Kundera? Shame on you. This is the epitome of human design.

From beginning to whatever may be its end.

Photo: Mid-Manhattan skyline, shot from across the East River at our beautiful concert site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY on 8.6.10.

*Similar line borrowed from "Silent House"

Keane/Williamsburg Waterfront/Brooklyn, NY/8.6.10

Ingrid Michaelson/Williamsburg Waterfront/Brooklyn, NY/8.6.10

Per the usual, I'm suuuuuper behind on this thing. I guess that's what happens when you are constantly all over the place annnnd easily distracted. Yes, yes, the latter has a lot to do with my tardiness. So oui, it's Tuesday and this event was last Thursday... and again, I'm no longer in New York... and again, a lot has happened (including the Dead Weather in Prospect Park - sadly, I was just hanging out for once, so no photos) before and since the above (and below) event.

Bear with me? Not like a a big, furry animal with claws and teeth bear, but please hang and wait for me to update my little piece of the Interwebs.

Photo: Elizabeth Stanley of "Million Dollar Quartet"/Broadway in Bryant Park/8.5.10