Fire, Earth, Wind, SHOWER!

Dudes. This is the signature Fulton Family Face. It’s fitting for such an event as a bridal shower because it demonstrates the joy, the happiness, the utter bliss that we all feel when we’re around each other.

When hanging with us in person, you might catch us snapchatting this face to each other at random moments throughout the day.

Just remember… This is NORMAL. Here we are (my niece Emma and me):
Even her dad, my brother Geoff makes the face:

Comes in handy when photo-bombing, right? Like I said: It’s NORMAL. If you see this behavior at the wedding, do not panic.

Onwards.

I had the best. bridal. shower. EVER. I still cannot even believe it was real. I haven’t blogged about it yet because I’ve been busy. And of course, I’ve been working like a crazy woman in preparation for taking all of July OFF! But oh my goodness the angels need to be recognized for this magical event: Heather, Jessie, Gayatri, Dawn, Stacy, Deb, Heather’s mom, Heather’s aunt, and a few others.

So, here’s how it all started — Fulton Women Selfie. Note the THREE stars in the back seat ==>> my sister, my niece, and the Sun =)

It all began at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where we had lunch upon their arrival from Atlanta. Then, we made a quick stop to go bridesmaid dress shopping.

As you can see, the ladies had fun throwing some of these dresses on. They looked gorgeous in them all, but we decided on this particular style.

Note the stegosaurus back. We figured the boys at the wedding would dig that, especially Matt. Matt specially requested a baby alligator on a leash in his boutineer. Heather is checking on that possibility.

Don’t let the dress colors fool you however. You’ll see Emma and Eleanor in Guava, which is kinda like a deep, bright pink-ish color – almost salmon or coral.

That evening, Emma cooked us a delicious dinner with chicken and couscous. It was so good! The next day Saturday, we had a lazy morning hanging around the house with some casual drumming, of course =)

They wouldn’t let me catch them on vid, so all I could get were pix.

We stopped at Matt’s place before heading up to the shower on Saturday. And my mom got to scope out the birds. Matt has a giant balcony that overlooks a big canyon, and there’s a ton of wildlife.

Btw, I can’t believe Emma is almost as tall as I am!

Now… on to the main event! This bridal shower, my friends, was like walking into a magazine. My southern mom called it “Southern Living.” My Californian aunt called it “Sunset: Your guide to living in the west.”

It was INCREDIBLE. And I’m bummed that I was too caught up in the moment to take many pix. But! Special thanks to Aunt Vicki for sending me some of hers! We’ll make do with what we got 😉

First, walking up to the house there were the initials M&K with the cute guava bow! (The angels and I decided on guava and metallic champagne for the wedding colors.) =)

I was NOT expecting this on the door. But as soon as I saw it, I knew we were in for an incredible treat.

And of course, I knew the blubbering would happen at some point that day… wait for it…

The photo above is the only one I have that shows off the AMAZING TALENT of Heather and the angels. Super bummed I can’t show more, because quite literally it was off the charts. I mean… the table cloth outside was ginormous and made of this gorgeous fabric with raised roses. The decor was magnificent. They didn’t forget ANYTHING! They had guests fill out the thank you card envelopes with their addresses so I wouldn’t have to look them up.

They had to-go boxes with the cutest little paper flower buds on top for guests to take some crumpets home. They had games ready to go. They served hot tea following lunch. They had paper straws with lavender lemonade. And guess where the lavender came from… from a shop in Paris, France that has been in business since the 1200s!

Here are the cute paper straws with lavender lemonade that Emma matched with her dress and nail polish!

By the way, do I have the most beautiful niece in the world or what? If I were an aunt from Brooklyn, then I would pinch her cheeks till they fell right off! Can’t get enough of this kid =)

Here we are again, this time with Aunt Vicki who drove all the way from Ventura just to share the day with us! Looks like I’m the giant in this clan —

Here’s my beautiful aunt and sis.

Here’s how we ended the day with Matt, Uncle Bill, and Brent in Little Italy!

Again, my apologies for not having enough pix, and not having pix of the Angels, and not having pix of anyone besides my fam… Maybe there will be more coming soon.

Until then, here’s the grand finale. Toilet paper dress and all. Thanks to Dawn for creating those PERFECT rose blooms out of toilet paper – You should’ve seen the intricacy of the back of this dress. Dawn, Cami, and Sayaka did a great job! Also, thanks to my friend Cami for this shot, with my added caption =)

It’s been so much fun spending time with Heather, Jessie, Gayatri, Stacy, and Dawn. I’m definitely a lucky bride to have stumbled upon these gals, well-versed in weddings, but more importantly — well-versed in building community and loving friendships.

Thanks to my mom, sister, and niece for flying 2500 miles just to be here. Thanks to Aunt Vicki and Brent for driving 3-4 hours from Ventura. Thanks to the amazing women in Matt’s family for being there – Cristina, Michelle, Aubrey, Linda! Thanks to Sayaka, Cami, Katie for stopping by! And of course, thanks to the angels – Heather, Stacy, Gayatri, Dawn, Jessie, Deb, Heather’s mom and aunt, and everyone else who pitched in. The generosity and love was just exploding that weekend, and I’m so grateful =)

After everyone meeting each other and getting warmed up at the shower, it’ll make the wedding that more meaningful.