A Pretty Little Girl & a Beautiful Wife

Exactly one month ago today, I photographed Ross and Kristen's beautiful rustic wedding in my home state of New Hampshire. Kristen and my sister were once on the NH pageant circuit together, and our mothers formed a special bond that is only understood by fellow "pageant moms." Ross and Kristen have been together since high school and have a sweet little girl, Kyleigh. The wedding was filled with Pinterest-worthy elements, a little country music, and a lot of love. Check out lots of lovely pre-wedding details below!

There are many more images but it would make this the longest post ever. Check back later for pictures from the wedding and reception!

~L

So V-MAzing

I may have mentioned once or twice, but I am a sucker for award shows. I don't discriminate, either- we're talking everything from the Oscars all the way down to the Teen Choice Awards (which I'm not at all embarrassed to admit I'm bummed I missed this year). Except the CMT's, because country music makes me want to go Britney-ballistic and shave off all my hair.

So once again I am excited for the MTV Video Music Awards tonight, even though it seems that the days of this show being entertaining are long behind us. I know I've watched the past few years, and I can't recall any specific shows that I was wowed by in any terms other than providing me house of live Facebook status fodder. Even more recent shows featuring hosts that I was excited about (Chelsea Handler, Kevin Hart, etc.) have fallen flat in comparison with VMA's of years gone by (I mean, I never thought I'd actually miss a Wayans brother in anything).

But thanks to my BFF, the Internet, I took a stroll down VMA memory lane and compiled a list of some of my most favorite and also most cringeworthy moments of the past ten years or so (and yes, I know that there were many years of history-making moments before then, but I regret that I wasn't even alive the year that Madonna writhed around on the floor in a wedding dress... well at least, not the first time).

Worst: Britney Spears squeezing herself into ill-fitting lingerie mid-psychotic breakdown

Year: 2007

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I mean, I don't know if I can talk about this. For those of us still suffering from PTBSD (post traumatic Britney stress disorder), a rare illness that afflicted all who watched the 2007 VMA opening performance, it's hard to be reminded of such a tragedy. For some reason, this performance was supposed to be a "comeback," and marked the first (and last) time that she performed a track from her "Blackout" album. From the blue contacts to her stringy hair extensions, everything about this "performance" was a mess. I dealt the best way I knew how: by writing a very special installment of my celebrity gossip column for the college newspaper urging her to take some time off and get some help for whatever was obviously plaguing her. Others used a various number of coping mechanisms to deal with their feelings. But deep down, we all wanted the best for her, and this act showed us all that it was far worse than any of us really knew.

Best: Britney Spears stripping down to a nude bodysuit

Year: 2000

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2000 was the year I remember being really excited to watch this show. I was 15, and this was like the height of the TRL era of MTV when Brit Brit reigned supreme. I remember thinking when she came out in an all black suit with he hair tucked up into a fedora that something was about to go down. When she ripped of her ensemble while performing a medley of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "Oops I Did It Again" and revealed a nude, crystal-encrusted bikini top and pants, teenage girls everywhere immediately developed a body image disorder and tried to figure out where you could still purchase a crimping iron. This was the height of Britney hotness, and to this day if I'm ever asked what kind of girl I would be interested in if I was a lesbian, I always say, "Britney Spears VMA'S 2000." And they understand.

Worst: Lil' Kim gets felt up by Diana Ross

Year: 1999

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This was just such a weird moment for everyone. I can't explain it. I mean, you have eyes. You can see. It's just... ahhhhh. 

Best: Madonna is not a drag, just a queen

Year: 1999

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My favorite celebrities are the ones who can make fun of themselves and are in on the joke. Obviously, Madonna has made a career of reinventing herself and while it was appreciated by most, she was kind of the butt of the joke for years from comedians and late night hosts for always moving onto a new persona. At the 1999 VMA's, viewers were treated to a parade of Madge's most iconic looks from her career, which did seem a little crazy once you saw them all standing next to each other. Also, they were men. The fashion show was complete when the Queen herself entered the stage as well, herself. Clad in a simple, all-black ensemble herself, she stared each queen up and down before declaring, "It takes a real man to fill my shoes." Now that's a true diva.

Worst: Christina comes back... as a poor man's Gaga

Year: 2008

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In 2008, it had been a few years since Christina had released any new material, and after ten years in the business, she decided to release a greatest hits album. The title track for the album of the same name, "Keeps Gettin Better" was supposed to be her "comeback" (because if you haven't released music in two years, you basically no longer exist), but I just found it to be really confusing. After being "Dirrty" and then going "Back to Basics," her latest persona was... a superhero? And also, a "superbitch." But to me, the only personality I saw her as was... Lady Gaga! It was so totally obvious that she was ripping off her clothing, makeup, style- and not well (we're talking pre-meat dress days of Gaga). The worst part was when she was asked about it, Christina was so quick to pretend that she "hadn't even heard of Lady Gaga," which was strange, because "Just Dance" was just everywhere at that time. Maybe she was finally being herself- a superbitch. 

Best: Lady Gaga suffers for the sake of "Paparazzi"

Year: 2009

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Does anyone remember old Gaga? Like when she was just a little crazy but her music was so awesome that you were like, "yes, I get it- she's an artist!" Her performance of "Paparazzi" was the first time I remembered being like, totally wowed by her. There was a set, a storyline, and even though in the end it was a little creepy that she ended up dripping blood and hanging from the ceiling, it was still totally awesome.

Worst: Kanye West crushes Taylor Swift's dreams in front of the entire world

Year: 2009

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If you don't know why this is awful, well then I guess you are the type of person who should probably be friends with Kanye West.

Best: Queen Bey saves the day!

Year: 2009

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After having the microphone literally ripped out of her hands, Taylor Swift clearly didn't get to enjoy her moment of VMA glory. But the ever professional Beyonce did the best she could with an awkward situation that she was dragged into by letting T Swift finish her speech when "Single Ladies" took home the prize for Video of the Year. She reminded us that she was the same age as Taylor when she took home her first moonman, and diplomatically stepped to the side to let her finish, which despite his pledge to do so, Kanye never did.

Worst: Taylor Swift gets her payback for Kanye West being as asshole
Year: 2010

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Anyone with eyes and a soul knows that what Yeezy did in 2009 was apprehensible. Unfortunately, in her usual habit of writing songs about the men who have wronged her, Taylor Swift penned the most boring revenge tune ever written and performed it barefoot one year after "Beyoncegate" went down. Her performance of "Innocent" was so dull and flat, if anything, it probably validated Kanye for being right that "Single Ladies" is by far one of the best songs of all time. I wish someone had ambushed the stage to interrupt this lackluster number.

Best: 'NSYNC and the TV screens

Year: 2000

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Admittedly, I have never been obsessed with any of the boy bands (unless you count Hanson). But I like to be entertained, and I always appreciated that 'NSYNC seemed like they really wanted to put on a show (their Superbowl Halftime performance is one of the greatest of all time in my book). There were usually sets (the lockers, anyone?), props (puppet strings) and costumes (Justin Timberlake's highlighter yellow 'fro). So this number where they perfectly executed a choreographed dance number with plasma screens (which were inventions from the future as far as I was concerned) in front of their faces while singing "It's Gonna Be Me," was the perfect millennial pop performance.

Best: Madonna passes the torch to Britney... with her tongue

Year: 2003

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The evening of the 2003 VMA's was my first night in my freshman dorm. I didn't have a TV, so I gathered in my new friend Kristin's room after meeting during trust falls and Uncrustables at orientation. This opening number was like pop princess overload. First there was Britney, dressed as a bride. Omg, she's paying homage to her idol, Madonna! But wait, now there's another bride- Aaahhhh it's Christina Aguilera! But don't they hate each other?! Doesn't matter- they love each other now, the Queer Eye guys in the audience squeal with delight, as do I. Some stripper-esque dance moves ensue, and then, a groom appears. HOLY SHIT it's Madonna!!! They all sing Madonna's "Hollywood" and the holy trifecta of female pop music is complete. Until... Madonna grabs Britney's face and plants a fat, wet kiss on her, right on the lips. Now after watching Miley Cyrus make out with a doll and glorify various club drugs in her latest video, this seems like no big deal, but ten years ago, this was a thing. For me, it wasn't so much about the kiss as it was that these three women, who were all at the height of the music scene and were always being compared to each other, came together to open this show and they wanted people to take notice. And they did. I swear, for a year, this was like the biggest entertainment news out there.

Worst: Christina Aguilera throws a fit and tried to remind everyone that Madonna totally kissed her too

Year: 2009

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Despite the fact that these ladies swapping spit was like, the most talked about celebrity story in 2003, most people had no clue that Christina Aguilera was even involved. Instead of keeping the camera on the stage when Madge and Xtina locked lips, MTV chose to pan to the audience for a very uncomfortable face from Justin Timberlake. This was when Christina was going through her "Dirrty" phase, and she was not impressed that Brit was touted as the only bad girl on the block. Take a cue from Missy Elliott- no one noticed that she was in this song and she's totally over it. 

So what I'd miss? Leave a comment with your bests and worst so we can compare. And follow me on Twitter @legallylinz for tonight's live commentary.

~L

Nantucket the Beautiful Pt. 2

So when we last left our Fourth of July recap, I had just had my dreams dashed with the cancellation of the fireworks. Although I was completely bummed out, there was no time to dwell on such things, as my sister Becky and her boyfriend Freddie were set to arrive the next day! Also, Steve and I both had to work on Friday, so we returned to the real world while Alisa and Rocky set off for the beach. 

I was going about my regular work day when I was shocked to see my photo on Nantucket BlACKbook. Well, not like, totally shocked, because Holly had sent me her style survey to fill out. But still shocked, nonetheless because I had no idea when it would run, if at all.

island infamy.

So needless to say, that was my greatest accomplishment that day. 

My sister and her boyfriend Fred arrived that afternoon, and after I was finished with work, we all met up for dinner. Unfortunately, in doing so we kind of missed out on the rescheduled fireworks. Correction: I saw one single firework while we were waiting in line for ice cream.

oh say can you see.

Yes, we had ice cream everyday. IT'S THE FOURTH OF JULY.

The next day was Saturday, so I finally got to go to the beach- YAY! But Steve still had to work- BOO. Regardless, we all packed up our beach essentials and headed to Surfside. 

you have yours, i have mine.

The beach was amazing. If you can believe it, it was the first time I had gone and sat on the beach since I moved to Nantucket.

Unfortunately, it was also the first time I got severely and horribly sunburnt. Apparently, event the strongest SPF needs to be applied immediately after getting out of the water. Needless to say, there were a lot of references to Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire." Because that's what I was for the rest of the weekend. 

Since we clearly needed some cooling off, our next stop was Cisco Brewery. Even though there was what seemed like 40,000 people there, somehow I managed to snag us a shady seat where we spent our afternoon sampling an array of delicious beverages.

just a couple of f yeahs & madaket mules.

and peach wine, for the lady.

I appreciated that even Cisco showed some patriotic spirit. 

accessories are important.

The rest of the night was pretty relaxed, as most of us were sporting some serious sunburns and aimed to move as little as possible. Steve made us a delicious pressure cooker meal and we dined like kings around our Ikea coffee table. 

But with everyone leaving the next day, we couldn't resist going out... for ice cream. Yes, one last time. And of course, we couldn't resist a photo op with a reminder of our PSU days:

what's a few hundred miles?

Finally, it was time to head home and come to terms with the fact that that holiday was almost over and everyone would be leaving us, which was really hard, because it was the first time that we had had any friends visit since we've been on Nantucket. 

Before seeing everyone off to their boat back to America, we took a quick stroll around downtown to make sure that everyone got their full island experience. Which obviously meant souvenir shopping.

meet nantucket's newest rap duo.

I also took all the ladies to one of my favorite stores downtown, C. Wonder. I love this place, not only for all the nautical items and brightly colored baubles, but also, free candy.

i'll just have a few sweet tarts for the road.

Unfortunately, my sister's most favorite item in the store is not for sale:

her pageant talent may or may not be balloon animal-making.

As we approached the Hy-Line docks, we realized that my sister and I never took a picture together. Not one, the whole weekend! That needed to be amended real quick.

like my granny cardigan? it's to keep my flesh from burning.

We finally said goodbye and prepared to return to our normal lives, sans four house guests and boozy fruit. 

But it was still the weekend, and after seeing a posting about it on Facebook, we headed to Sconset for a free event from Theatre Workshop Nantucket with Tom Meehan. Why who is Tom Meehan, you say? This guy:

who doesn't love a man in a seersucker suit?

Don't recognize him? You probably wouldn't. But you know his words, as this is the guy that wrote only my favorite musical of all time, Annie. He also wrote Hairspray, The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Elf the Musical, and even the new Rocky musical that is currently showing in Germany (opening in the U.S. March 2014!). He's a summer resident in 'Sconset and it was so inspiring to listen to him talk about his work (he's simultaneously writing four shows right now) and writing (he's 83 and he spends hours each day just doing what he loves) and even though it was like 95 degrees in that chapel, I clung to every word. 

and yes, that is blair waldorf's dad conducting the interview.

These are the types of things that makes me love this place. On any given night in the summer, there are at least six events going on like this (and some of them are even free!). 

Did I mention I love 'Sconset?

got my church on.

After that, I kind of thought that our weekend was over. Until this happened:

claire-aoke.

What can I say? I can't resist an evening of belting out some solid lady-pop songs. 

this time i'm not leavin' without you.

Was that the longest four-day recap in the history of recaps? I almost never do these, because unlike all my blogger friends, I can never seem to write up a recap in an appropriate amount of time. Hence why it is now almost August and I'm just finishing up what happened on the Fourth of July. But I just couldn't resist after such a fun-filled weekend sharing some of the amazing-ness that had ensued. I may have exhausted the amount of fun I'm allowed to have in a short time period, but I'm okay with it. And I'm definitely okay with not getting sunburnt ever again. 

~L

Nantucket the Beautiful

Guys, this is it. My favorite season. My favorite holiday. My favorite color combination. 

Except this year, it was going to be different. We live on Nantucket now, afterall, therefore making our usual pilgrimage to Portland, Maine not exactly feasible. 

But seeing as this island is like, one of the Fourth of July capitals of the world, it seemed crazy to be anywhere but here. So they came to us. They being Alisa and Rocky, the other half of this annual patriotic party, and then later, my sister Becky and her boyfriend Fred joined as well. 

But Lindsay, didn't you move into a super small apartment over a garage down a dirt road in the middle of the woods? Why yes, yes we did. So what did we do? We had everyone over anyways. All six of us. One bathroom. 

But let's start at the beginning, shall we? 

We moved about a week before our guests were scheduled to arrive. There's nothing like impending company to force you to unpack. Without them, we'd probably be living in a box fort right now. We spent all our waking hours trying to get organized and make our place at least livable, if not presentable. It was less than a mere 24 hours before Alisa and Rocky were set to arrive that we even got our couch set up:

yep, that's right. we didn't have anywhere to sit for an entire week.

As we neared 2:00 A.M. on Tuesday evening, I attempted to put away some stragglers of my wardrobe that hadn't found a home yet. As I opened my dress closet, I felt a strange wobble, and before I even had time to react, this happened:

there aren't enough tears in the world.

The game hadn't even started and I already lost. For those of you that don't know, there is a very long, love-hate (me being the "love" part and Steve being the "hate") relationship with this particular piece of furniture that I am feeling deserves its own post. However, I still haven't processed my feelings on that yet, so it will have to wait until I have completed the seven stages of mourning and am emotionally stable enough to tell my story. 

So there was a set back. But we soldiered on. And finally, on Wednesday night, we were reunited for the first time in what felt like forever:

forgive our weird pupils.

After a little dinner and after-dinner drinks, we headed to Stop & Shop for a few necessary essentials:

inappropriateness. not on the list.

PS- Did you know if you go to the grocery store super late at night, it is all neat and organized for your shopping pleasure? I may have to start cooking. 

i wish my life was this organized. color me jealous.

That night, we prepared some lovely sleeping accommodations for our guests. I.e., sheets on either end of our newly cleared off sectional couch. Of course, that meant that violations ensued:

this shit is bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

For those who may not know, many years ago, we noticed a pattern in pictures of Steve and Alisa together. And that pattern was some sort of inappropriate gesture in Alisa's direction. It had become such a phenomenon, that one year, Steve created an anthology of pictures known as the "Violation Album" (Volume 1, of course) for Alisa for her birthday. And so, almost eight years later, it continues. 

We awoke the next morning with only two thoughts in our mind: food and fireworks. Okay, and booze. Three things. 

Let's start with the food. Steve made his most notorious breakfast item that he only breaks out for very, very special occasions: The oven-baked caramel french toast from the Graycote Inn in Bar Harbor, Maine. If you must know how to make it (and I assure you, you must), you can find the recipe here. We all died a little bit, came back to life, ate more food, and died again. 

there is also an egg sausage thing, but we all know i don't eat eggs. among many other things.

The best part? There is a caramel drizzle. CARAMEL DRIZZLE, PEOPLE.

breakfast will never be the same. 

Did I mention mimosas? Yeah, there were those two. 

nothing like popping the cork on a three year old magnum of champagne.

The weather ended up being kinda meeeeh that day, which really started to concern me after last year's fireworks got totally rained out and we had to miss them completely. But we couldn't resist visiting at least a few of Nantucket's numerous miles of shoreline. 

it's just like that movie beaches, but with dudes. and less death and singing.

Of course, it wouldn't be us if there weren't some more inappropriateness:

from dancing to violating in less than five seconds. a new record.

The weather mildly started to improve, which could only mean one thing: it was time to grill. Slight problem: the grill was in pieces. In a box. In the garage (yes, the very one we live over). Luckily, the men were here to save the day:

like mckayla, rocky is not impressed.

But they did it. And it only took like seven hours for us to feel hungry again. 

you may not be able to tell, but there is cheese inside the burger.

There may have also been beverages. We steered away from the red, white and blue margaritas this year, because unfortunately, I only own one blender. But there was a new addition, which will forever be known as... boozy fruit.  

i.e., steve's orange sangria champagne concoction thing.

But Steve was greedy, and stole my Nantucket-necessity Lilly Pulitzer coozy and got beer sweat condensation all over it, totally decreasing the preppy girl value of it. 

it takes a very secure man to rock a regatta print.

After conquering our expertly grilled meals, we prepared ourselves for the fireworks on the roof of the Whaling Museum. At the last minute, the entire staff was invited to take in the Fourth of July finale from the rooftop observation deck, which is not only private, but boasts some of the best harbor views on the island. I was so excited to show our guests not only where I worked, but also to beat the insane crowd that heads to the beach. 

And of course, the second we pulled out of the driveway, the fog rolled in. That Grey Lady can be such a bitch sometimes. 

We went to the roof anyway, hoping that as fast as it rolled in, it would just roll right out. 

so happy i curled my hair.

And it stuck around. But so did we. 

fog or instagram?

But the fog, like this shirt that Steve insists on wearing, was relentless. They cancelled the fireworks, rescheduling them for the next night. 

It was mildly depressing. I mean, this was our first Nantucket Fourth, after all.

Nothing a little trip to the Juice Bar can't fix.

if i could cover my life in patriotic sprinkles, i would.

That's it for the first installment of Steve & Lindsay's First July Fourth on Nantucket guest-starring Alisa and Rocky. Coming up next? The arrival of Becky and Fred. And more ice cream. And more drinking. 

AMERICA.

~L