The Sweet Sounds of Matrimony

Well, my friend's wedding is over and done with. I'm sure she's glad the stress of the event is gone, but it's always sad that the fun, partying part can't last much longer.

I arrived in Sacramento on Thursday and was met at the airport by my lovely sister. (1) It was great to see her walking on her own as the last time I saw her she was still in a cast and on crutches/in a wheelchair due to her broken ankle. Now she has a scar, a slight limp and some "hardware" in her "robot ankle" but seems otherwise fine. (2) She was driving our old brown Ford Aerostar van which has been in the family for ages. We both drove it during high school and MAN, did being in it bring back memories. It even smelled the way I remember it. It's funny when a dusty van smell makes you nostalgic. The best part was that the power window on the driver's side is failing so whenever you want it open you have to push it down while holding the button, and when you want it up you have to pull. Not a safe maneuver when driving, but a hilarious one at least.

On Friday I drove down to Ione with another bridesmaid, one of my really good friends (of the group of four whose friendship survived junior high, high school, college and now these post-college years -- we're so impressive).

FRIENDS FOR SO LONG: THE GAL TO MY RIGHT
ALSO: I'M FRIGGIN' HUGE!

The event was held at a tiny B&B interestingly located next to an Ace Hardware--you could see and hear the fans from their ventilation system all during the rehearsal (never fear, the music played at the wedding drown out the sounds in a surprisingly effective manner). I was extremely pleased to find out that the groom had one exceedingly tall friend, so I got to walk with someone who was taller than me even when I was wearing heels--excellent (he also had dark hair and heavy, dark plastic glasses so we matched excellently during the rehearsal).

THE BRIDAL PARTY

The wedding itself went well aside from a few minor hiccups that no one really noticed and that didn't make a huge difference. Of course the maid of honor, sister of the bride was weeping right from the get go, as were the mothers of the bride and groom. None of the bridesmaids fell on the cobble stone walk way even though we were wearing heels. For dinner they had friggin' DELICIOUS steak and mashed potatoes. The bartender was VERY generous with the amount of alcohol in the drinks, especially for people in the wedding party (hellooooo wedding punch that was literally half vodka, oy!) And on the way home I got to ride with my oldest friend--I've known him since the 3rd grade--which was great because I don't get to spend much time with him (although I suppose that's to be expected when you live in different towns and now different states). All in all an excellent trip home.

CONGRATULATIONS!

And as a reward for making it all the way through this blog post, I offer you the following fun:
WTF?
ACK!
HOLY CRAP!!!