A 24-hour escape from the city for a beautiful wedding!

That right there is what New York City looked like on Saturday at 8:00am from my airplane window. 

Magnificent, isn't it? I always wonder how the island of Manhattan (yes, it is an island for those of you who might not have known that) can hold that much weight. Look how many buildings there are! Imagine how many people are walking around on the streets! Or milling about in their offices! I mean, honestly... how has it not sunk into the sea yet? (I know this is a slightly ridiculous question, but it really does amaze me when I think about it too much). 

Let's back up.

So, Saturday morning, at the glorious time of 5:30am, I awoke from my slumber, showered, and gathered my things for my little 24 hour trip to eastern North Carolina for Brooke Weathington's wedding. Brooke's father, Scott, was one of my dad's best friends in the entire world, and my family has been close with their family since before I was even thought of. When she asked me to sing at her wedding, I was more than honored. Although I'd made a bold statement at the beginning of the semester that I would not leave New York for ANYTHING, this was an exception :).

But, before I even got to the airport, there was a bit of a debacle. My cab left me. Yep. You heard me correctly. He LEFT ME. At about 6:00am, I called a number on this card that the lady at the front desk of the St. George gave me to get a cab. Five minutes later, there was a car pulling up... but it didn't look like a cab. In fact, it looked like the kind of "fake cab" that everyone had warned me to stay away from. I showed him my card to see if he belonged with the company, and I don't know what he thought I said to him, but he nodded his head, smiled, and drove off. 

Yep. He left me.

Thank GOODNESS there was another cab driver right behind him that watched the whole thing happen. He pulled up immediately and ravenously asked if I needed a ride. When I realized I had no other choice, and he assured me on a flat rate to the airport (that was very reasonable), I hopped in with my little backpack and my guitar in tow. Pete, the Puerto Rican cab driver (who absolutely loves country music and the fact that I was from Nashville), was my lifesaver that morning. 

Speaking of my guitar, I had to gate check it. The space was too tiny, and there was nowhere for it to go but in the belly of the plane.

I told the man to treat her like a newborn child before I handed it over. He didn't laugh, so I made sure to keep a close eye on her while they were loading up all of the bags. She made it through without too much trauma.

When I arrived at the Raleigh airport, my wonderful mother was there to pick me up, and the two of us made our way to the middle-of-nowhere, North Carolina. The scenery was a complete 180 degrees difference from what I had just left behind in New York City. Open cotton fields, horses, TREES, the smell of freshly cut grass. It had been two months since my senses had experienced any of this. I almost forgot there was a world outside of Manhattan and Brooklyn. It was so beautiful. And I definitely needed it.

My grandparents live in the Wade/Fayetteville area of eastern North Carolina. And when we arrived, my grandma was just putting the finishing touches on lunch.... Which consisted of some delicious form of red meat, lima beans, carrots, rolls, potatoes, and even a warm banana pudding for dessert. 

Here she is admiring her work:

I have been living off of black beans and rice, yogurt, hummus, and broccoli for the last two months. This was heaven in food form for me. And even though I knew we would be going to a wedding later (where I would consume even more delicious food), this didn't stop me from completely stuffing myself. My grandma can beat your grandma any day with her cooking skills. 

After lazing around for awhile, we all got ready and took off for the wedding. I had to be there first in order to sound check and all of that, so I took a separate car... and drove for the first time in two months. (Which was weird, but sort of like riding a bike... I didn't forget. Thank goodness).

The wedding ceremony was absolutely beautiful, Brooke was absolutely beautiful, and I was crying like a little baby throughout their beautiful vows. And then I had to sing "How Great Thou Art". (When you've been crying, it is a lot harder to sing than you might think). But, I think it went over well.. I just wanted to make it special for Brooke and her new husband, Gabe. 

Here is a photo of the lovely couple. (I did NOT take this... I completely stole it from someone off of Facebook, so I apologize for that... but my camera didn't take the most lovely of photos at this wedding, so I decided this would be better).

Then, it was time to partyyyyy... on to the reception!

The reception space was beautiful. Brooke did a lovely job of keeping everything simple and perfect. Look at those little chandeliers up there! So perfect. 

And I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to sing the father/daughter/mother/son dance as well. After that little performance, I wandered off to find some wine, cheese, and chocolate-covered strawberries for the cocktail hour. 

And the rest of the night basically consisted of me stuffing my face with food, drinking a little bit of wine, dancing to songs like the Electric Slide and catching up with family and friends that I haven't seen in a very long time. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this whole evening was... there was so much love EVERYWHERE. (And so much food everywhere... I don't even want to tell you how many sweets I ate... but let's just say there was HOMEMADE ICE CREAM, freshly baked cookies, the most delicious wedding cake ever, and s'mores as party favors... I had heaping portions of all of this).

Check out my mom and me with my cute grandparents:

Brooke and Gabe, I have no idea if you will read this blog post, but I just want you to know that I had such a wonderful time at your wedding. It couldn't have been more perfect, and I wish the two of you the happiest life together! You are two very special people.

On Sunday, I had to pack up my little backpack and guitar, and get ready to head back to the Big Apple. I was so sad to leave the open cotton fields and freshly cut grass smells behind (and the STARS.. my goodness... I could actually SEE the STARS in eastern North Carolina).

Before leaving, though, my mom, grandparents, and I made a quick stop by the graveyard to say "hello" to my dad.

I really felt his presence at the wedding (which is possibly one of the reasons I was crying like I was), and it was such a comforting feeling. I know he would have loved being there. Still miss him every day. 

Monday morning, I woke up at 7:00am for no reason at all (possibly because my sleep schedule was all wackadoodle)... and I went across the street to Tazza for some delicious oatmeal and coffee to fuel my brain and warm my bones. 

It was quite cold that morning... about 40 degrees when I stepped outside. This was the perfect start to my day (and my busy week).

Yesterday, I had internship and class, and today I have my internship as well! I have a lot to do between now and tomorrow morning... because I am going to have another visitor! Let me rephrase that: I am going to have FOUR visitors starting tomorrow. My best friends, Sarah, Darcy, Michelle, and Mackenzie are all coming to New York City to stay with me. It's everyone's fall break... and honestly, what better place to spend fall break?

I can't WAIT to see all of them and show them my new city. I will post sometime next week about all of our adventures :). Until then, I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy this fall-like weather!

<3

Nat