my younger brother amazes me sometimes. he always brings thoughtful gifts home from the family after his trips to europe, but this time he blew us away. he returned about a week ago from a trip to europe with a group from the academy we attended. saturday was the first time joe and i had seen him since his return, so he hadn’t been able to give us our gift. i had been told it was special, but i wasn’t prepared.

he had bought us hand-blown and decorated wine glasses from venice to use for the toasts at our wedding. they are absolutely gorgeous. this picture does *not* do them justice. the designs are made from 14 carat gold. on the bottom, he had messages etched to each of us. they’re incredible. i’m so scared something will happen to them between now and the wedding, since we do have three rambunctuous, destructive cats. heh. i’m doing my best to keep them safe. i can’t wait to get my mom’s china cabinet down here so i’ll have a safe place to keep them. our wedding toast is going to be so much more special now that we’ll be using glasses that have such a special meaning to us.