Honeymoon Pictures

As most of you already know, Anna and I made is back from our honeymoon safely, unfortuntely our friend the frog did not...

Poor little guy never stood a chance. He decided to jump
into a sizzling pan one of the first nights we were there and we fed him
to the birds the next morning.

Here are a few pictures from our amazing villa:

The owner of the villa met us there on the first night
and took the above picture right at sunset. We were really
pasty white at the begining of our trip...

We had a 270 degree view of the ocean. We were facing west

so the sun set off our balcony every day. We thought our pool would be small
but it ended up being perfect and we spent a lot of our time there because it was so hot!

New Dog...

I've been told that I'm annoying...I like to think I'm just persistent. I've been bugging Anna for around 6 months about getting another dog. I thought it would be fun. Anna thought it was crazy but after Pika left Durham for DC, it filled a large void in the Quarles household. What better way to fill that void then to get a vibrant, active, noisy, stinky puppy?!?!

So last Tuesday, after searching the internet, we decided to rescue a golden retriever mix puppy. At first, I wanted a pure bread golden (Like Rocco...haha) but Anna thought it would be awesome to rescue a dog that otherwise might not make it. She's always trying to help people and animals alike. We got this dog indirectly from the Robeson County animal shelter, which apparently is a high kill shelter towards the beach. We've had her since Tuesday, May 27th and we've had a blast so far...Here is a pic, her name is Indigo but we call her Indy.

We're Married...and check out Jason Ko's face!!

Wow...What a weekend. Anna and I had an absolute blast and are in shock that the wedding has finally come and gone. My sister's boyfriend was nice enough to take pictures with my camera, and he came away with tons of great ones that I'll get up on snapfish soon enough. However, I wanted to get this one out on the World Wide Web as quickly as possible. Check out Jason Ko's face right between Anna and I...It's pure jubilation.

We are off on our honeymoon and will have plenty of stories to talk about from our great wedding weekend. Thank you all for being a part of it.

Oh and have no fear, I plan to continue the blog and maybe even get my WIFE to post a bit too...

Stay tuned!

I'm done with work...and so is Anna

Down to the wire and Anna and I are done with work and now we plan to enjoy the sun, our family and maybe some sleep...

Look forward to seeing everyone.

Groomsmen- Dave Stone

Not including my brother, I've known Dave the longest of any of my groomsmen. We became friends in 9th grade as innocent freshman at Durham Academy. When I think of Dave, the first image that comes into my head is his Funkin Gonuts shirt and Timb's (is that how the kids spell it?) he wore to school everyday.

Dave moved away from Durham when we were juniors but we managed to stay friends throughout, which is pretty rare I'd say. He always is good for some humor, mostly inadvertent humor, but humor nonetheless.

Dave has a new nickname that we're really trying to get to stick. It comes from our trip to get fitted for tux a few weeks back. Pikason, Bennett, Dave and I all went over to the mall. Dave likes to eat (he's not a big dude, just has a faster metabolism then most) and we were joking around with him about it (as usual). As Dave was getting sized, we joked that his neck was going to be 18 inches (which is huge)...We started taunting him which chants of "Diez y Ocho" Clap Clap...and so on. Sure enough, his neck was 18 inches and we erupted in laughter, even the tuxedo people were getting a laugh out of it.

So that's his nickname and I ask you to please call him Diez y Ocho when you see him.

(So turns out Dave does not have an 18 inch neck but the lady found it so funny she just told us he had an 18 inch neck. Dave went back and got re-sized and hi neck is only 17 inches). Nick name still works though.

SportsBizPro Bachelor Party

Thank you to 80Proof, also known as Bennett, who blogged about one of the grill sessions we had on my bachelor party weekend in Myrtle Beach. Check out the hamburgers, shrimp and chicken wings!!

We both apologize for the lack of details in the description, but after a few cases of beer, it got a little blurry.

Groomsmen- Joe Pika, aka Pikason

Joe, or Pika, as he is commonly known (we have really creative nicknames) came into my life when I ventured north to F&M as a wide eyed 18 year old freshman. Nearly 10 years later, Pika is in his 2nd year at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy and my roommate at Valley Run. Freshman and sophomore years were pretty blurry so I'm not sure how we actually became good friends. I'm sure it had something to do with living on the same hall and pledging the same fraternity. For all of us who've had the pleasure of drinking with Pika, well, I'm going to keep my mouth shut and just say this: I call it "crazy eyes" and I they don't come out as much as they used to...I did get to see them at my Bachelor Party but I don't expect to see them at the reception...Maybe the rehearsal dinner.

Pika is probably one of the smartest guys I know, in that really not annoying way which actually is kind of annoying. Get what I'm saying? Anyway, Pika will be taking on some great responsibility at the ceremony, being head usher and all.

One final thing: Pika is a great Karaoke singer and his talents will be on display Thursday night at the Pizza Palace of Durham starting at 9 PM. Be there.

Engagement Announcement- I Guess it's Official

In today's News and Observer newspaper, there is a beautiful picture of Anna and I announcing our upcoming wedding. If you ask me, we're definitely the hottest couple being shown in this section.

Click here to see the announcement

Less than 3 weeks

Yikes!!

How do you balance work and getting married? I don't know how Anna's doing it...

We've been getting a few inquiries as to where we are registered. I know we're not "supposed" to announce this (see my post from a few months back) but that just seems crazy to me. How are people "supposed" to just know where we are registered. Let's make it easy for everyone.

We are registered at Macy's and Crate and Barrel. You can click on their links here to get to the site and then you just search by our name. You have to love technology.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone!

Engagement Pictures- We're Famous!

A few weeks ago Anna and I took the afternoon off to have our engagement photos taken. It was around 2 hours of smiling, kissing and wardrobe changes...our typical Friday afternoon. We went down to downtown Durham in our bullet proof car (only kidding) and met Rachel Garrison, who will also be doing our wedding photos. She was nice enough to include pictures of us on her blog. Click here to take a sneak peak at some of our professional pics!!

Now Anna and I know how it feels to be famous, it's hard work.

Wedding March Madness

It's here, my favorite time of year. When I take off Thursday and Friday to watch hours upon hours of commercials in between college basketball's greatest showcase: The NCAA Tournament.

You may be asking yourself: What the hell does this have to do with the wedding?

Many of you know that my only requirement for a wedding date was that it didn't fall within basketball season. It seemed like a smart idea at the time, but now I'm realizing that maybe it was plain stupid. Because now, wedding planning is during basketball season and that's going to really cramp my style.

For instance, tomorrow, we have wedding tasting from Noon until 2 corresponding exactly with the 2nd day of the 1st round of the NCAA tourney. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm psyched to be doing the tasting but what if Duke were playing at noon tomorrow? What would I have done then? Seriously, that would have been a big deal and I fear that Anna would not have been happy with my decision.

Luckily, we avoided that catastrophe, but I have to be realist: March Madness is full of surprises and somewhere down the line, my basketball life and wedding planning life will have a head on collision.

Until then...Go To Hell Carolina.

Final Cake Tasting

Let me tell you guys...I'm psyched about our wedding cake. We went to Edible Art on Saturday morning to finalize what kind of cake we wanted for the reception. There was something about the cake that I loved, but I couldn't figure it out. Turns out, all of their cakes are actually pound cake recipes, which make them dense and flavorful.

I'm not going to tell you the different flavors we picked, but I will tell you this: Cake for breakfast is a phenomenal idea and something I plan to do more often. Screw Coffee or Caffeine, a cake sugar high keeps you going until around 1 or 2 pm and then you sleep like a baby.

Invites are out the door...

Finally!!

The invites are gone. Out of here. Finally. Now we just wait for the RSVP's, and then apparently we will have to call all our college friends who don't reply and bug them until they send them in. I'm sure people will leave off their names, how many people are coming, etc. This is going to be a fun 6 weeks.

Groomzilla

Well I had a moment recently and I freaked out a bit on Anna because we haven't sent the invitations out yet. On top of that, Anna decided to order "special" stamps and they aren't going to be here for a few days. So those of you who are concerned about whether or not you got invited to the wedding, don't worry the invites haven't been sent out yet.

I've been pretty laid back with all this wedding planning, but this is my one sticking point. I want the invitations out the door! Maybe it's because once they are out the door there is no looking back. Maybe it's because I want everyone to have ample time to make their travel plans from around the world. Whatever my reasons, we officially had our first wedding argument.

Wine, wine and more Wine...

This was a big weekend for the Hall/Quarles wedding. MOG, Anne Quarles, flew in on her private Jet (Read: Express Jet) and joined Anna and myself for an array of wedding activities, all of which included a bit of alcohol.

I took Friday off so that I could chauffeur my mother from the airport to the University Club to meet with our rehearsal dinner point of contact. Anna joined us around 20 minutes into the lunch meeting and we all ordered. Of course, the meal was "taken care of" by the University Club, which makes you wonder how much money this whole thing is going to cost. Anyway, I digress. They allowed us to sample 4 of their "house" wines and we didn't come away all that impressed, especially for $30 a bottle. What we did come away with was a great menu for the dinner. What are we going to have? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I will say this, it's southern.

All that wine at lunch made me a bit sleepy but I stayed strong through the rest of the afternoon. We went out to dinner with Anna, Pika and MOG to Watts Grocery, a newish restaurant in Durham, had more wine, a really good meal and some espresso to keep us up until 2 AM.

Later that night, Bennett, the Best Man, made it in from DC. His main purpose of the trip was the watch Duke beat up on St. Johns. Purposefully, we did not let on as to how much wedding stuff would be happening...

Part 2 later...Will include: wine tasting, and Tuxedo fittings and more wine tasting.

Tuxedo's!!

I'll just come out and say it: I don't want to wear a tuxedo that matches what the bridesmaids wear. I just don't. I think it looks (no offense to those of you have done this in your own wedding), well, corny. So I think I'll just make my groomsmen do it. They can be corny. I am corny enough in my normal life, I don't need to be it on my wedding day as well.

The reason this comes up now is that we're making this important decision this weekend when my parents come into town for the Duke vs NC State game and the Duke vs Miami (Thug U) game.

Thoughts on Tuxes? Dumb and Dumber style? Top hats and Canes?

Groomsmen- Bennett Lipscomb

Starting at "Best Man" is none other then Bennett Hughes Lipscomb.

Bennett went to Durham Academy and was a classmate of Anna and mine. If I remember correctly we began our friendship during our Senior Challenge in the mountains of North Carolina, where the guys had to take turns carrying the girls over-packed bags, which were probably full of make up and high heels. I'm not sure if Bennett has even seen this picture before, but I'm pretty sure it's the first picture we took together. Is that weird? Some may ask, "Do I even have the first picture Anna and I took together"? The answer to that question is, "I think so". Anyway, I digress...we have to do some "before and after" pictures of Bennett because I swear the kid looked like he was 12 senior year in high school (1998).

Bennett currently lives in Washington, DC but because of his obsession with Duke athletics (much like my obsession with Duke athletics but with a tad bit more crazy involved), he spends around 10 weekends a year down in Durham drinking his way through Duke football games and being kind enough to take the extra basketball tickets which my parents are so kind of give.

Due to his girlfriend's obsession with food, he's also a regular contributor on the food blog Endless Simmer, where he posts "artsy pictures" of food and booze.

I hope that everyone is supportive of Bennett during the wedding because this is his first time being a best man and he's really nervous about giving a toast. Please make sure to heckle and taunt him during the rehearsal dinner.

I will leave you with some Bennett pictures from the past 10 years (please contact for additional pictures that may or may not embarrass Bennett):

Bennett and I on Senior Challenge in 1997. I haven't grown much since then, but I'm pretty sure Bennett was around 5'8" at that point in his life. He now stands 6 feet or so.

Bennett and our high school buddy Jason Ko the summer after we graduated, 2002. Note the transformation from 5 years prior, but he still looks like he's in HS. Also, note the sheer quantity of empty beer bottles on the table.

And to cap it all off, this is Bennett at a Duke-Florida State football game in the fall of 2005. As you can see, the tough streets of Washington DC have put a few years on Mr. Lipscomb's 25 year old face.

Cravin' Melon Reunion Concert!

For those of you who may not know me all that well, my favorite band in the world is Cravin' Melon. Unfortunately, back in 2001, they decided to call it quits. I think a little piece of me died when they decided to break up. Anyway, I'm continued to check up on their website called the Melon Patch, and much to my surprise I saw a post about them having a concert at Lincoln Theater in Raleigh! As I told Anna, this is the most exciting day of my life (until I get married of course)...For those of you in the area (and anyone who wants to make the trip to see me sing at the top of my lungs for 3 hours) mark March 29th on your calendar and get ready for the best concert of your life!

Groomsmen- Scott Quarles

Starting at "Best Brother" is Scott Quarles.

Some may remember him curly haired Darryl lookalike. Well, not much has changed except he's now a 6'2", 185 lb, 21 year old junior in college who has his own apartment in Birmingham, Alabama. I'm ecstatic to have him as part of our wedding party. Over the last few years we've gone to Paris and Amsterdam together, been to a Duke @ Alabama football game (pictured below), and been to NYC a few times for Duke basketball games. I can still beat him up, which is refreshing but he's certainly not as gullible as he used to be (ask him to tell you the story about how Leigh and I convinced him that we were all aliens and we had abducted him). Here are a few pictures from the past few years. Sorry I don't have any from when he was a kid but the digital camera age really didn't hit the Quarles household until 2004.

He cleans up nice doesn't he? This was taken in the Spring of 2004 at our Cousin Emily's Wedding.

Scott and I in Tuscaloosa, Alabama watching
Duke's football team fall apart in the 2nd
half of a surprisingly exciting football game in 2006.

Needless to say, we had good seats at the Duke-Gonzaga game in December of 2006.

Groomsmen- An Introduction

Over the next few weeks I am going to give a rundown of my groomsmen, how I know them and maybe a story or two about them. My goal: so that everyone who reads this blog knows my buddies as well as I do. Piece of cake.

In the meantime, you can check out our website for the rundown of groomsmen and bridesmaids.