Please excuse my inexperience with Shutterfly as these are borrowed pictures. My BFF and neighbor Emily had a SURPRISE bachelorette party in Florida.
She is marrying into a pretty sweet lake house in Boca Raton. Her sisters-in-law to be were whisking her there for the weekend, that much she knew. What she did not know is that the rest of her bridesmaids would be waiting for her at the baggage claim bar, ready to scare the beJesus out of her as she is officially welcomed to her bachelorette weekend. She was screaming her head off, we were laughing hysterically, it was wonderful.
The rest of the weekend consisted of beach time, pool time, boat time, gratuitous boozing time (hey, it's a party), applying aloe to my sunburned leg time and most of all good times. Our last night in town we went to a low key bar and managed to have a hilarious dance party when we returned to the house. The dance party devolved into a 'do your old cheer/dance routine' party. This was where I showed them the glory that is the MHS fight song. Except that I was wearing a maxi dress, the limited circumference of which turned my high kick into an epic fall.
The best part was that Emily was beyond happy! The other 'maids are a total blast and I can't wait to relive some of the fun next month at the wedding! This past weekend was just perfect!
*There is this ridiculous fad on the internet called planking that made the news because kids were getting hurt, ironically, by laying face down on random objects (they were doing it on dangerous things like bridges and tops of buildings.. not chairs and bars). Obviously we wouldn't pass up the opportunity to participate in such a pointless game just for the jokes.
Showing posts with label BFF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BFF. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Friday, August 6, 2010
Perfect Wine Country Wedding
So My college roomie got married this past weekend. She did not get married to Justin Timberlake as was the plan circa 2003. Good thing he's still out there for me. Are you reading this Justin? Call me.
Anyway she lives in San Francisco where nature, wine, and good food are a-plenty. Needless to say, it was the most ridiculously beautiful and fun wedding I've ever been to. Seriously, there were three days worth of events and I felt like people laughed at my jokes all wekend long (a rare occurence, let me tell you). I was actually out west for a week helping get ready... .as my friend is an uber creative, crafy, and detail person, there was much to do for her big day. Obviously having much to do requires many breaks at wine bars. Did you know you can milk the engaged/bride/just married thing for free drinks? You do now. Thank you bottle of champagne.
The wedding was an hour or so north of SF in Guerneville (for you blog readers, that's about 10 miles from Jenna's Healdsburg) and required a little road trip. That's me riding with a very pretty white dress.
The bride, below, and a sideways Golden Gate bridge (I tried to punch my computer screen to get it upright, and then I was out of ideas... why does blogging make me feel so not tech savvy.. what is the deal with this internet machine? why can't Al Gore invent something that works more gooder for me)
Road tripping is also hard, and required breaks at more wineries. Also you're supposed to spit out your drinks so you don't get drunk. Also you're supposed to use inside voices.
In a particularly adorable move, my friend hosted a ladies tea party for the bridal party and families. Some of the groom's family is British, but any chance you get to wear a tea dress and eat cucumber sandwiches should be taken. (note to self: new idea for a bumper sticker)
Tree hanging decor courtesy of Martha Stewart. Tablecloth was a roll of fabric she got on clearance, cake stands she made with plates and candlesticks found and flea markets. Get that girl a show on HGTV, asap. Hey Hey, she's crafty!
She found different English china teacups and saucers on EBAY for everyone to take as a party gift.
There might have been vodka in the lemonade.
She also gave everyone a tea bag with an inspiration 'women's quote and a note thanking us for being an important woman in her life. 
Perhaps the best part? Her new Betsy Johnson tea party shoes. ME-OW.
The rehearsal dinner was in a redwood forest (Armstrong National Forest) and had trees larger than I'd ever seen in my life. They were amazing! They made me think of Ewoks a little bit from Star Wars... but you have to be careful to mention such nerd speak when you are meeting new people. Ditto for the 'forbidden forest' Harry Potter references.
So the bride and groom met when she and I went to Jamaica our junior year of college for spring break. Can you believe they've been together ever since? Crazy! Obviously a Jamaican themed rehearsal was perfect. It was even catered by a friend of theres who they met in Jamaica, lost touch with, and then he found them on FB and told them he was opening a restaurant. How serendipitious can you get?
Tree Hugger.
Note to self: that Jamaican bread (made with cononut milk) is SO DENSE and amazing! It's like pound cake! I normally am not a fan of spicy food but this was SO SO good. Extra TLC for the pinapple that rocked my socks off.The small resort (can you call it that? it makes it sound like there's a lido deck to me) had 50-some-odd cabins which were booked the entire weekend by guests of the wedding -- we had the whole place to ourselves!
Everyone got a note on the door with their name and an AMAZING goodie bag filled with candy, snacks, personalized maps, flyers with local attractions, a 'pocket' schedule for the weekend and so much more.
The bride was of course beautiful and glamorous while getting ready! Mimosa time :)
The reception was in the meadow. Seriously these pictures don't do it justice, it was ridiculously pretty and has ruined me from liking any other normal church/reception hall wedding.
There was an acoustic guitar playing here comes the sun and other lovely beatles tunes
Her uncles walked her half way, and then she walked the rest on her own.
She had ribbons, fans, and yay signs for people to use!
The cocktail reception was in the meadow and it was even prettier in real life. The parasols helped provide shade and looked pretty great too. There was bocce ball and croquet there too.
check the shoes, check the shoes..
She had their vows printed on canvas so guests could ink their fingerprints on them.
The reception was in the orchard and was SO pretty!
Table assignments hanging from the trees.
Different cakes for each table.. all of the food was AMAZING!
A shoe cake server, obviously
A pretty hilarious speech, if I do say so myself.
Busting a move.
People like myself were such dance floor hogs they had to clear everyone out half way through the reception so the bride and groom could do the official first dance that they practiced.
The bride had stashed a basket of Pashminas (in wedding colors of course) at the end of the dance floor for people to use if/when it got chillier outside.
The next day, some seared polenta fries with chunky red sauce were JUST what the doctor ordered.
A pork salad with fancy things in it. Sidebar, is pork really trendy right now? It's never something I get at home and rarely order it out, but when in a trendy California restaurant, you order the special. Am I right or am I right?
Back in SF before we left, we hit up a coffee shop downtown to get some veggie breakfast burritos with extra avocado. Behold the delicousness:
Raaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr delicious
Friday, January 29, 2010
Endless hugs, 7 varieties of cheesy potatoes, and BFFs
I had been delaying any major cooking activities (grocery trips, etc.) over the last weekend as I waited by the phone for the news that was a long time coming. In my glorious, fun, loud, and wonderful family (I speak of them often, hi aunts!) we lost our Matriach to cancer this week. A lady who never smoked and was otherwise a picture of health got lung cancer. Go figure. My Grandma was pretty amazing for a multitude of reasons including but not limited to: raising 11 children (much of the time as a single parent), having more stamps in her passport from interesting places (the middle east, asia, you name it) than anyone I've ever known, being totally mellow/zen/yoda-esque, and finding a wonderful balance between strong faith and liberalism (what woman in her eighties is that delicate combo?). She was awesome.
A few months back my dad urged my siblings and I to write about my Grandma, as a gift to my mother. As it turned out, we read what we had written at the services. Kudos to my brother and sister for both being funny and sentimental, and prompting many more hugs. My Aunts and Uncles did a great job making everything so meaningful and personal (special shout out to my own mama!). The church ladies did an excellent job in providing the world's largest varieties of casseroles. No kidding, there had to be 7 types of cheesy potatoes... how could you stay bummed?
Sister was happy about all of the dessert varieties
Our family tree..... leaves = grandma's descendents including great-grandkids. Holy big family.
How great do they look? Beauteous and vintage. Little did they know at the time the impact they would have on so many lives.
Love you Grandma! In addition to the church food, we had plenty of other unhealthy comfort food at our disposal. Oh that's right. We tri-ed some. With AE dip... life changing.
After 2938749832749872398947239874 hugs later (although you can never, ever have too many), I drove the SIX HOURS home and got in around 10pm last night. Weary traveler that I was, I was a hot mess getting up to my apartment. Someone in the elevator even had to help me with all of my saddlebags. So you can imagine my delight when I opened the door and saw this waiting for me:
With a wonderful note (I knew giving her a key to my place was a smart move)
...so I checked my fridge:
Goodies!
And as I blissfully munched on a dark chocolate covered strawberry, I couldn't help but notice all of the little notes around the place:
She is correct, my new table IS sweet. Pictures to come. Hey, even Bubba got in on the action (like that is a surprise):
and an Animaniacs quote that had me smiling while I brushed my teeth this morning :)
Thanks Emily, way to turn this frown upside down! In related news, my college roommie and BFF Nickie will be arriving for the weekend in just a few short hours. Quality time with friends makes EVERYTHING better, I'm convinced. Plus we'll be doing some cooking this weekend :) stay tuned!
A few months back my dad urged my siblings and I to write about my Grandma, as a gift to my mother. As it turned out, we read what we had written at the services. Kudos to my brother and sister for both being funny and sentimental, and prompting many more hugs. My Aunts and Uncles did a great job making everything so meaningful and personal (special shout out to my own mama!). The church ladies did an excellent job in providing the world's largest varieties of casseroles. No kidding, there had to be 7 types of cheesy potatoes... how could you stay bummed?
Sister was happy about all of the dessert varieties
Our family tree..... leaves = grandma's descendents including great-grandkids. Holy big family.
How great do they look? Beauteous and vintage. Little did they know at the time the impact they would have on so many lives.
Love you Grandma! In addition to the church food, we had plenty of other unhealthy comfort food at our disposal. Oh that's right. We tri-ed some. With AE dip... life changing.
After 2938749832749872398947239874 hugs later (although you can never, ever have too many), I drove the SIX HOURS home and got in around 10pm last night. Weary traveler that I was, I was a hot mess getting up to my apartment. Someone in the elevator even had to help me with all of my saddlebags. So you can imagine my delight when I opened the door and saw this waiting for me:
With a wonderful note (I knew giving her a key to my place was a smart move)
...so I checked my fridge:
Goodies!
And as I blissfully munched on a dark chocolate covered strawberry, I couldn't help but notice all of the little notes around the place:
She is correct, my new table IS sweet. Pictures to come. Hey, even Bubba got in on the action (like that is a surprise):
and an Animaniacs quote that had me smiling while I brushed my teeth this morning :)
Thanks Emily, way to turn this frown upside down! In related news, my college roommie and BFF Nickie will be arriving for the weekend in just a few short hours. Quality time with friends makes EVERYTHING better, I'm convinced. Plus we'll be doing some cooking this weekend :) stay tuned!
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