David and Sarah's Wedding Extravaganza

Date: June 24th-June 26th

I get to the airport at about 4am...and see THIS. 


Line at airport

 Are you KIDDING ME?  I do NOT have patience for this type of crap, but fortunately I had coffee before I left and was mildly sedated on caffeine and 2 hrs of sleep.  (I should also mention at this point, I have two checked bags and a huge carryon with me.  Excessive yes, but a girls' gotta have clothes!)

I fly into Fort Lauderdale at 1:15pm and by the time I pick up the rental car (A REALLY NICE ALTIMA!!) it's about 2:15.  Emily, a friend of the bride's, (and someone whom I've never met) is flying in at 3:30pm and we're driving up to Stuart, FL.  We'll check into this awesome hotel, shower and get ready for the rehearsal dinner.  Perfect, right? 

Not if you're in south Florida during the summertime!

Emily's plane circled Ft. Lauderdale, but couldn't land because of the thunderstorm.  So they diverted to W. Palm Beach, but couldn't land and had to circle some more.  I found this out by CALLING the airlines because no one at the terminal knew jack.  So, poor Emily, stuck on the plane, is about to hurl, and I don't know anything.

She finally calls me about 5pm, because her flight had to land to refuel.  We decide that she can get off the plane, borrow some of my clothes and makeup, so that we can make the rehearsal dinner.  We'll get her bag in Ft. Lauderdale the next day.  I start driving up to W. Palm and finally get her about 6:45pm. 

The rehearsal dinner is lovely, and there is tons to eat and tons to drink.  Clearly, the makings of an amazing night.  What more can you want, right?  I also met the third hotel roommate, David, a groomsman, and he was super nice.

Emily and me at the rehearsal dinner

 We get back around 10pm from the rehearsal dinner, and throw on some pajamas.  We aren't super tired and get this wild hair to drive to Ft. Lauderdale to get the suitcase THEN, so that we'll be able to sleep in and go to the beach all day on Saturday.  Well, we hit ANOTHER storm, but still made it back in great time. 

On Saturday, we sleep in, and make our way down to the beach.  Let me mention again that we're on a private island.  Kind of awesome.

We come back to the hotel about 3, order some room service, and start getting ready for the wedding.  A little mouse told us that there would be an open bar starting at 6pm, and since we're ladies, we didn't want to be intoxicated before the wedding started!  Just cause we're ladies.  Ha.

Em and me in the bathroom before the wedding

There indeed was an open bar before the wedding, along with waiters with appetizers.  The wedding was gorgeous, and the perfect length.  Afterwards, we were ushered out to an air conditioned tent to have more appetizers, including a sushi bar, and a mashed potato bar (!!!).  About 8pm we went in to the main hall (all at the temple) to have the salad, and dance before they introduced the bride and groom.  10pm was the main course (filet mignon over a portabello mushroom and sea bass with veggies), and more dancing.  11pm the toasts were made, the cake was cut, and we were sent back out to the tent for the desserts (about 7 different kinds/stations).  12am ish was OUR turn to eat the wedding cake and by 1:45 am, we were done for the night.  Over the whole course of the evening, there was a 15ish piece band, with four singers, and we danced and danced.  There was never a shortage of food, drink, or fun.

The next morning, we crawled out of bed, and made our way to the brunch.  All you can eat/drink again!  Mingled a bit with everyone, said our goodbyes, and went to check out of the hotel.   I was going up to Daytona to hang out with Kristina for the week, and Emily was leaving for Michigan.  We drove up together to Daytona, and then Em drove the car back to Ft. Lauderdale for her flight the next morning.

View from our hotel room

First half of Summer '11

Howdy Ho!  So, apparently, it has been really hot in Kansas City since I've left.  I'm so glad I missed it, because we all know how cranky I get when I get hot... :)

Hmmm, let's see where to begin!

June 24th: I fly into Ft. Lauderdale, pick up our rental car, drive to W. Palm Beach to get Emily, and drive up to Stuart (Florida) and check in at our hotel.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, after hours of delays, I finally get Emily in W. Palm Beach.  She was supposed to meet me in Ft. Lauderdale.  Have I mentioned that I've never met her?  She, and another guy, David, and I are all rooming together for our mutual friend's wedding in Stuart.  Hey- it's cheaper, and we're only REALLY gonna be in the room to sleep.  We all became instant, inseparable friends.  It was a three day EXTRAVAGANZA with dinners, crazy, amazing, incredible wedding festivities, and brunches galore!  Oh, and did I mention, our hotel was on a PRIVATE ISLAND???

A few days later, I drive up to Daytona to spend five days with Kristina (our new principal oboist) and her boyfriend, Phil.  We go to Disney World, on a crazy kayak trip (that almost got us killed, not exaggerating at all), shopping trips, movies, and many arcade adventures.

The next weekend, July 1st, I fly from Orlando to Rhode Island to see my friend Lauren (and her lovely husband Joe) get married in Providence on the 2nd!  I also got to see a few friends from college, and a former professor...along with meeting more of her friends and family.  It was a beautiful wedding and a super fun brunch. 

Then my mama meets me in Providence on the 3rd, and we set out on an eleven day CRAZY trip into Canada.

July 3-5th: Providence and surrounding area

Drive to Montreal on the 5th, through Mass., New Hampshire and Vermont.

Stay in Montreal the 6th and 7th.

On July 8th, we drive to Toronto, and stay the 9th and 10th.

July 11th, we drive to Niagara Falls, and also see Hamilton and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

We drive BACK to Providence on the 12th, through New York State, stopping in towns along the way, and going to Howe's Caverns outside of Albany.

The 13th (today) we both fly home, completely exhausted but having had fun.

I'll go into more depth about the events tomorrow, in their separate posts with pictures.

XOXO

Clothes

I need to create three piles of clothes:

1. Fits

2. Might fit if I weren't so lazy about the gym.

3. HAHAHAHAHA.  (Oh, I'm sorry...you're delusional if you think that's ever gonna fit again.)

Rainy, Lazy Day

These past few months have been a blur...I guess I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving, but so much has happened, I'm just going to pick up from here, and leave the past in the past.

Today is the "day after a party" kind-of-day.  I'm sure we all remember those, but as we get older, they become few and far between.  I remember, about 10 years ago, when I could stay out all night, scrape myself out of bed and have a non-i-don't-want-to-kill-everyone mood.  Now, not so much.  Last night, wasn't even all that late...although we started everything about 6pm.

The day began, officially, about noon, with dim-sum...as every wonderful Saturday morning should.  Then we swung by Sally Beauty supply for some eyelashes, and hair spray (pictures to follow), and went back home.  Rested for a few hours and started to get ready for the night.

The concert this weekend was a collaboration with Quixotic Fusion.  They are a dance/music/multimedia performance group, similar (but totally different) to Cirque du Soleil.  Mostly modern dance/acrobatic/aerial movement done to new and redesigned classical music.  I definitely felt like I was a part of the backup band for a rock concert.  Thus...the hair and makeup.  Even though this technically was a symphony concert, we were given liberties and allowed to punk out our look.

There was an after-party at a local art gallery directly following the concert, with 100 or so people in attendance.  They had a band, similar to the music that was played at the show, and some of the musicians improved with them.  Super fun, super loud, open bar. :)

Afterward, we went to Town Topic (the 24 hr burger joint) and finally made our way back home.

Not a crazy night, by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm definitely not itching to do anything today that doesn't involve some laundry and couch time.

November 23, 2010

I am thankful for families.  You can't choose to whom you're related, but it builds character.  :) My Mom is visiting from California this week, to spend Thanksgiving with me.  She's only been here two days, but we're having a good time.  Tomorrow and Thursday I have all day off, and we'll go around buying Christmas presents, looking at furniture, eating at my favorite burger place, and maybe seeing a movie or going to the Cider Mill.  All Fall-esque sorts of things! 

My Dad and stepmom will be here in a few weeks, right before Christmas for about a week.  It'll be fun to see them too!  We have a brewery tour planned, as well as a few awesome dinners out.  :)  After that, I'll fly to CA to see my Aunt, Uncle and Mom for a week, and then off to the East Coast to play a show with some friends. 

Anyways, families are forever, and I'm am very thankful for mine.  :)

November 21, 2010

I am especially thankful for Susie and Duke tonight!  :)  I have many lovely friends, and I'm sure I'll be naming several of them in the upcoming days.  Tonight, after the concert we had dinner plans and went to an awesome El Salvadorian place.  Afterwards, we went to 12 Baltimore for drinks (and met Mark Grace!!).  I stayed longer than I planned because I was having a great time, but I had to leave to clean up the guest room for my Mom who is arriving tomorrow.  BUT!!! Susie and Duke came back with me to my apartment, with a bottle of wine, and chatted with me as I cleaned up the apartment!  Who DOES that?  Great friends, that's who.  I didn't want to stop hanging out, and they were so sweet to hang out with me until after midnight! 

AND.  They left a glass of wine in the bottle.  Love.  Them.

November 19, 2010

"In the end, only kindness matters."

I need to be more kind to people.  I realized this last night.  I was babysitting this wonderful three year old.  We were having a great evening, and things were running quite smoothly (I attribute this to her great attitude, AND to the fact we were having pizza, candy and movie night.).  She hadn't gone to the bathroom all day, and despite being potty trained, had a HUGE accident.  We're talking, soaking of ALL layers of clothing, a towel, a rug, and having to run a bath to make sure we were all clean, big accident.  She knew she had done something wrong, and I knew I could have been upset, but there were no feelings of anger or frustration, only sympathy.  I gave her a hug and a kiss, peeled her out of the clothes, grabbed some bath toys and continued bedtime as usual.  Even when I have to say no 15 times, finally take something away from a child, and screams fill the air, no anger or ire fills me.  However, if the same situation, or something much less frustrating happens with an adult, I instantly get REALLY incensed and lippy.  Why is it that I assume adults can be more perfect than a child?  In some instances, of course, but in life in general? 

So, today, I am thankful for the gift of kindness, and the hope that I can remember to be more kind to others.