THURSDAY - bachelorette party! We got martinis at the Chocolate Bar, a free bottle of champagne at one club and in general enjoyed the drunken debauchery of the evening. There were many shots involved, as well as the penis straws we picked up at the adult store on the way. Fantastic!!!
FRIDAY - I played hookey from work (yahoo!) and got to sleep in an extra hour. I was heading to Rochester and *almost* got on the road at the time I planned. I left the house at 10:03 but had to make a quick pit stop at the bank. Made good time to Rochester tho - I got to the apartment by quarter to 12...I have to remember to get an EZ Pass! Denise, the annoying landlady was at the apartment, still finishing up some painting and whatnot. Once again we discussed the green paint, which she showed me. She kept going on and on about how it was neon lime green and horrible and would look ridiculous in the kitchen and it was a custom paint job and there were 97 doorways she would have to tape off blah blah blah. Then she opens the paint and puts a little bit on the wall - it was EXACTLY what we wanted. Which I told her. I really don't care that she didnt like it, as we agreed to prime the walls back before we left and she doesn't have to live with it. She seemed a little put off by that but once again, I don't care, it's not your kitchen. So anyway, I paid her the rest of the $$ we owed and picked up the keys so we will be all set next Monday. My parents think this lady may be getting in our apt or something and my dad fixes ATMs and therefore has offered one of the time lapse recorders to see if anyone is coming in our door lol. We shall see.
The I went over to Kevin's place and we went to his work picnic. Really I wasn't invited to go to this, but he brought me along anyway. The food was so yummy - catered by Famous Daves! Chicken and ribs, mashed potatoes and cornbread! mm mm good.
We left there to go shopping (after Kevin and his friend Ryan were winners of the water balloon toss and Kevin won a bottle of SoCo) so Kevin would have nice clothes to wear for the rehearsal dinner and a dress shirt that fit for the reception. In less than an hour, we got two shirts, a pair of pants and some black socks. Yahoo! Then we went back, freshened up and went to the rehearsal
Steph & Joe's wedding was the the Colgate Divinity School, and so I got to check out the chapel for the first time on Friday. Also, I brought the aisle runner to measure how long we needed it to be. The groomsmen actually ended up being about an hour late and by the time they got there, Reverend Kris had to leave. But all worked out ok, and we went to a delicious (but LONG) dinner at Phillips European. Then I took Steph, his sister Mary and her FSIL Sarah to Target and Kevin went to Best Buy while we shopped for a couple last minute things - nail polish and waterproof makeup!
SATURDAY - Was a busy day! Kevin and I went out for breakfast because I knew I wasn't going to eat again until dinner that night. Then I went over to the hotel to help out Steph around noon. She was amazingly calm. Apparently she had her freak-out the night before and was doing great. She was wearing the Bride-to-be sash I made for her bachelorette party, and jumping on the bed haha. The hair dresser came to the hotel and did her and her bridesmaids' hair, all of which turned out completely beautiful. Steph's family is very high strung, so I was particularly surprised by how calm she was. I helped her with her make up, packed her bag, changed and worked on getting the music off her computer and to Joe's for the reception (a friend was their dj and was just using the playlist they made). Then she decided to get dressed in the bride's room at the school, so I packed up her dress in my car *very carefully* and off we went. Her sister met us there and they both got dressed. Steph's mother was absent through all this (which I was kind of mad about - well I would have been if it was my mom, but it probably was better... as I mentioned, she is a complete spaz and probably wouldn't have been very helpful or calming). My parents showed up (and brought the right shoes with them - yahoo!) and so did my friends and Kevin. We all got situated and waited for the festivities to begin.
Everything was completely perfect (and the aisle runner looked great, if I do say so myself haha). She looked so beautiful, like right out of a magazine. This was the reading that I did:
Blessing for a Marriage
by James Dillet Freeman
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring … and may life also grant you patience, tolerance, and understanding.
May you always need one another …not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness.
May you want one another, yet not out of lack.
May you entice one another, yet not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, yet not encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another … and may your never fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise … often say, "I love you!" … and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one another's presence – a presence that is no more physical than spiritual … that is warm and near when you are side by side … and warm and near when you are in separate rooms … or even distant cities.
May you have happiness … and may you find it making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!
I thought it was a beautiful ceremony, short and sweet. The reverend did this hand-fasting thing, with each ribbon representing a different blessing and that was very nice. Then everyone processed out and went to the received line. I managed to make the bride's sister cry, the only time she broke down during the whole thing (meanwhile I had been blubbering through the whole thing, pretty much as soon as I finished my reading).
**Oh, I forgot to mention, this was the wedding where my ex was one of the groomsmen. We managed to basically ignore each other and only say cordial 'hellos' through the rehearsal and the reception lol**
Cocktail hour was out on the patio while the wedding party went to take pictures. I got carded at the bar lol. Then we got excorted into a beautiful hall, which we all decided reminded us of the Great Hall at Hogwarts (thats a Harry Potter reference, for all of you who have been living under a rock). Dinner was delicious. Mary's toast was completely perfect. I wish I could remember the exact words, but the basic jist of it was that as she was growing up, she always wanted to be just like her sister, wearing the same clothes and blindly doing whatever she said. Now that they've grown up, they've grown into their own weird and individual personalities but she still wants to be like her sister in one way - she hopes she finds someone as perfect for her as Joe is for Stephanie. It was the perfect mix of sweet and funny and at the end, my whole table was crying (well except Kevin, he was at a table with 7 girls - he's a champ). We all broke into the Sucipe (which was our alma mader's song) in honor of the bride and she laughed so hard I thought she would pee her pants lol. Instead of a traditional bouquet toss, she called all the guys onto the floor and threw to them. We were all chanting for Kevin (he had spent the last few hours sizing up the competition) and he caught the bouquet. Then he could present it to the lady of his choice - me! Very sweet!
OOH dessert was cake and also a make-your-own sundae bar - delish!!
Finally the dancing started and it was pretty much just our table on the floor. The guys from Joe's frat are very shy (I know I know, frat is not synonymous with shy, but they went to a tech school with a 5:1 guy/girl ratio...they didn't have much practice!). We finally coersed them out on the floor and had a great time. I even chatted with the ex. He starts his new job in Seattle at Microsoft today, making games for Xbox. The dancing kept going until 11:30, when we all decided it was time to go (ok they turned the lights on!). We went to the hotel, changed and went to some RIT apartments where another frat brother was throwing a party. Holy cow, I thought I missed college, but I couldn't do that anymore. We only stayed a little while but had a good time.
All in all, an excellent evening!
SUNDAY - After a lovely evening of Colleen, Tracy and I snuggling in our kig bed at the hotel, we got up around 9 and started getting ready. The bride and groom had invited us to join their brunch at the hotel, but when we showed up we were told by the bride's mother that we weren't invited (seriously. she told us she didn't have tickets for us, and that another family was coming and would be sitting at the empty table...nice manners) so we went to Denny's. Yum, i heart breakfast food. After that, Col, Tracy and I went home, Kevin went back to his place to nap, and Mary and Amanda went to explore Rochester.
After I dropped the girls off, I went home and joined my family - we were headed to my grandma's for dinner (at 2 pm haha). It was a good time. We celebrated my aunt's bday (it was actually at the end of July, but she spent the last 2 months in Florida, helping her daughter with her kids). Had some fab peach pie. Hung out for a little while. Emily had to say goodbye to everyone because she leaves today (to NJ until Thursday, when she takes off for England). Then we went over to my other grandmother's and my great aunt's house - more goodbyes.
We came home and watched a movie together (and played with Em's awesome new toys - a MacBook Pro and a tough iPod - double jealous) - one of our fave movies is "In Her Shoes". If you haven't seen it, rent it. And read the book (by Jennifer Weiner, officially my fave modern-day author). Then bed time.
Sorry so long, but there was soooo much going on!
Enjoy it!!
1 comment:
Okay - that is CRAZY weekend full of lots of fun stuff. Yay you!
I hope your lunatic landlady stays off your backs once you move in!
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