#pechwedding

On to the main event and real reason for this trip to Aspen:  the #pechwedding!!

I woke up pretty early again on Saturday, following yet another night of awful sleep.  BTW, what's up with not being able to sleep here?  Lack of oxygen or what?  So not cool...

Anyways, after a quick breakfast, I hit the local Farmers Market!  

(Actually, I walked a couple of blocks in the tiny downtown area, didn't see any tents, and went back to my hotel to ask why it wasn't going on.  Turned out I had just missed it by a block!)

Look at those blue skies...  What a perfect day for a wedding!

Angie still didn't have her flowers picked out for the wedding.  You know, the wedding that was happening in a few hours, haha.   Crazy girl.  (100% the most chill, laid back bride I've ever seen!)    

I sent her some pictures of what was available at the market.  I thought they were pretty, but they weren't quite what Ang had in mind...

I walked up and down all three blocks of the market, and ended up with some granola and a t-shirt.  Not bad!

After a quick workout back at the hotel with Ugne (I hate Shaun T and his stupid T-25 workouts...), I ran in to Luke and found out that Angie needed pins for the guys flowers.  Off  to the pharmacy I went...and attempted to help Angie make the actual boutonnieres with what we got yesterday at the floral shop.  Let's just say I'm not the most crafty/creative person.  (ie I sucked at helping.)

While I was in her room, she showed me what might just be the best part of the wedding:  THE DESSERT.  

No wedding cake here.  They had the most riduclously delicious things ever flown in from NYC:  Crack Pie and Birthday Truffles from Momofuku Milk Bar.  

I'm drooling again just looking at this mini-fridge full of sweet goodness...

After a quick shower in my room, I went back up to Angie's to get ready with the other girls.  

Our bridesmaid gifts were jewelry from Kate Spade, where Angie is a manager. We all got a gold bracelet and cute earrings to wear with our dresses!  Love!!

Found out Ugne loves doing hair and makeup, so the other six of us kept her busy for a couple of hours with makeup brushes and curling irons!

See that robe? ^^  Slightly revealing ;)                                                                     

We were only about an hour late for pictures.  No big deal. ;)

First stop:  the top of Aspen Mountain after a gondola ride up!

With a view like this, a jumping pictures is obviously required.

Travis nailed the picture on the first try!  Thanks, buddy!

I still can't get over how gorgeous the views were up there.  The mountains, the trees changing, blue skies and puffy clouds.  Picture perfect...

Not that this will come as a surprise, but I took approximately 300 pictures in the 30 minutes we were up there.  Who needs a photographer when you've got me around!? ;)  

I've slightly narrowed it down for this, but come on.  Look how cute they are!  I can't delete too many! ;)

Such a beautiful couple - inside and out

I pretty much blew up Instagram on Saturday afternoon, and I don't even care.  That kind of beauty needs to be documented.  In real time. ;)

We eventually all made our way down to the venue for the wedding:  Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES).

A few of us made one quick stop along the way though.  While Angie grabbed her flowers that we had picked out the day before, Ashley, Erin and I ran in to the grocery store next door and found the perfect flowers for us Kansas girls to carry. 

Sunflowers, of course!

We were running out of time before people were supposed to be showing up, so we did a really quick walk through so everyone knew where we were going and where to stand, etc.

Angie's Uncle talking about how the ceremony would go.

The guys walking ahead of us down the path to the wedding spot.

The bridesmaids all lined up

The beautiful lake...and a beautiful bride!

We hustled back to the building and hid Angie in the back room while people mingled and had drinks on the patio, and at 5:30, everyone was ushered down the path to the spot along the lake where chairs were set up.

The guys walked in, followed by the girls a few minutes later, and then came Angie.  Luke actually teared up a little, which got every single bridesmaid blinking back tears, too.  

Of course I planned ahead and handed off my phone to a girl not IN the wedding so I could have pictures of it all.  (Thanks, Jenny!!) :)

Angie's dad handing her off to Luke. 

Angie's uncle probably telling some crazy story...

Saying their vows!

THE MARRIED COUPLE:  MR. & MRS. PECH!!

It was a pretty quick ceremony, and the weather really couldn't have been any more perfect.

We stuck around for a little bit for some pictures by the lake, and then went back up to the building to mingle and drink with all the guests.

While I was waiting in line for dinner, I realized I was standing right next to a dead squirrel.  Sick.

The food was all delicious, and I'm pretty sure I consumed more calories in the span of that hour than I did the previous three days combined.  Two serving of mac-n-cheese??  Sure! ;)

Oh, and let's not forget about the dessert.  I may have had a few plates of this stuff, too.  Yikes.

While the weather held out for the wedding, the rain moved in during dinner.  I sat outside for a little bit, but once the sprinkles turned more in to steady rain, I moved inside with everyone else.  

Angie had giant marshmallows and all the stuff to make smores, but the rain ruined that plan.  Instead, the campfire sat empty all night. :(

Now what wedding party is complete without glow sticks!?

Not this one, that's for sure.  They were a huge hit, and I finally got my "flower" crown to go with my hippie dress!

We had to be out of ACES by 10:30 that night, so we cleaned everything up and hit a bar in downtown Aspen.

One drink is really one too many for me, so I only had about half of this Pine-berry martini.  Clearly I was feeling pretty good after a few sips (see pic on the right.)

I called it a night and went back to the hotel a little after midnight.  I guess that kind of sounds early now that I'm typing it out, but that's actually considerably late for me, haha.  And there weren't that many people from the wedding party still out anyways.  We're getting old! ;)

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And then all of a sudden it was Sunday morning.  My last day in Aspen. :(

I packed up  all my stuff (a LOT of un-worn clothes) and found a cool little church to go to at 8:30.  Raced back to the hotel for late breakfast with everyone, and took off for one last adventure:  natural hot springs outside of Carbondale with a cool new friend!

It started raining on the drive to Carbondale and I thought afternoon plans might be ruined, but the rain let up right before we got to the hot springs.  

So this super hot water literally flows right out of the side of the mountain and in to the river.  People have built up little sections in the river that keeps the hot springs water in and the cold river water out - for the most part anyways.  It was pretty awesome, and would have been super relaxing if there weren't so many cute kids in there to play with. :)

After an hour or so in the water and quick shower (so I didn't smell like rotten eggs the whole way home), I had to race to the Aspen airport to catch my flight back to KC.  And I wasn't excited about it.  At all.  I could have used a few more days (at least) in those mountains!

Funny thing happened at the airport...  While I was waiting to get on the plane, they made an announcement that they had overbooked the flight and they were offering $500 (FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!) to fly out later that night or the following morning.

Ummm, so you're going to pay me to stay in this beautiful place longer!?  Sign me up.  Done deal.  

After a few text messages to see if I could work things out, I was on cloud 9 thinking I was going to be spending another night in Aspen.

And then that was all crushed about 10 minutes later when two people didn't show up for the flight and I had to get on the plane.  Talk about going from high to low in 1.5 seconds.  Yeah.  Not cool.  

Bye Aspen.  You're beautiful, and I' miss you already.

But maybe I'll be back soon.     Soon-ish?       Maybe??