Clown Car Weekend

Such a full weekend! The centerpiece was the wedding - with 6 hours each of driving Saturday and Sunday mornings - but we managed to jam the schedule with a movie Friday night. I have so many pics, I think I'll upgrade my account at flickr to prevent having to choose among them because my friends? ARE HOT.

[aside] In between that first paragraph and this one, I've realized just how many pictures I took. And I realized why downloading pictures from my camera has taken on the emotional quality of swimsuit shopping - long, nit-picky, but with less cleavage. I take tons of pictures now, many of which are decent so sifting/editing is increasingly a problem. I don't really want eight pictures of the same thing, but arbitrarily dumping some seems really rash, like, what if I need #8 more than #34 because it's got a slightly warmer cast and GASP, I deleted it? "Ay," I say, as I run toward the hills. "Maybe I'll clip my cats' nails instead."I guess I'm saying I need to work on my workflow, peeps. [/aside]

Friday night, Hubster and I got tickets to see Casino Royale (good review here). And it rocked our faces off, partially because our faces became numb from staring up at the screen from row #2, like who WANTS to sit that close that they stock theatres with them? We landed in said seats because we waited until about the last 120 minutes possible to buy a gift for the wedding. We picked up tickets at the theatre at 7 for the movie at 7:45 and dashed mere yards away to Bed Bath & Beyond to get the gift. They did not have what we wanted to give because they suck and, I love BB&B as much as any bride who registered there and promptly returned frivolous wedding gifts for cold hard cash, BUT: why is it so traumatic to print the BLEEPING registry exactly? I can print things in mere seconds at home, no problem. It takes ages and ages at the store. And then they don't have the stuff you want so you kinda settle on something else and it takes forever to purchase. Then you ask them for gift wrap materials so you can do it yourself because you know if you ask for the labor on that, it'll be 9:04pm and they'll be on bow #5 and your husband will be forced to murder people because BOND, WE MISSED BOND. You make it out the door, PHEW, and dash to the movie theatre were hubby is CONVINCED the movie's started but you think they're still on previews. You trot into the PACKED theatre to hear Judi Dench on screen and your husband stifles the largest exasperated sigh ever to befall mankind until you realize it's a preview for another movie. The movie starts and the case could be argued that it's the Best Bond Flick Ever, and he finally settles down because although we spend some time staring up in the nostrils of the actors which encompass our entire field of vision, it's totally worth it. If you love Bond, go see it. If you don't, consider it. (Maybe I'll write a post about my love/hate relationship with the franchise sometime. Just to bore you further.)

Good times.

That night we stayed up way too late because the Equal Opportunity Procrastinators so the packing wasn't done. We hit the hay at 1:30. DUMB DA DUMB DUMB.

The next morning we're out the door at 8am and driving to Charlotte, NC where it's 60° in the afternoon and it's lovely. We ran into so many old friends. It's so elating every time - even if you were never that close that familiar face and voice just makes your heart jump. Best. Thing. Ever.

We got ready for the wedding without event, except for the part where none of us brought the invite and those with directions failed to give us directions and OOPS, we got lost on the way to the ceremony. We made it with ten minutes to spare, however, so alls well that ends with us making the ceremony, if you will. AND YOU WILL.

The ceremony was lovely. The church was simple and the altar diving with calas and ornamental grass framing the altar area in large, rock-filled vases. Dan said "awesome" when the pastor told him he could kiss his bride, and everyone laughed in delight. Linds and Dan were so happy and adorable I wanted to run up and hug the daylights out of them. Except that sounds disconcerting and my emotions were all positive. And not at all crazy. See? Look at how cute they are at the end of the night:


The groom zealously clutches his bride.

The reception was held at Tutto Mundo, a great bar/club with rattan couches on one side and a long, stately bar on the other side of a long room. The DJ was in the back and the entire place held the small crowd well. The drinks were AMAZING. Hubster made me the Designate Driver for the night, but not before I had a delicious Cosmopolitan assuming he'd do it. Throughout the night, he enjoyed a glass of Macallan 18 as well as several other drinks which he will describe in excrutiating detail if I don't elbow his ribs vigorously because WAY TO RUB IT IN, JERK. We danced to the fabulous DJ, and Hubster and I took copious pictures.


Erica half-sulks about the lack of top-shelf liquor that has tickled her tastebuds but is having altogether too much fun to make it stick.


Dance, Grovers, dance!


For one perfect moment, the suite was back together, as God intended it.


The Group Shot - because we're all not hard enough to corral individually. Also, my stance is really odd. Like, don't stare at my posture too closely or you'll think I've been hitting the yoga a weeee bit hard.

ENOUGH. I can't take any more photo editing and lengthy describing, and it's been three hours, so I gotta go. I'll try to post more pictures later. Lemme sum up, Inigo style:

The wedding was awesome.
The drives uneventful.
The peeps were enjoyable.
The bloggers represented? LVS, inimmortality, Cap'n Ganch, kokanut, T, GracefulPeacefulGermanFisher, bb2, neil, Hans, Rachel, and trey. Yes, half my blogroll.
The missing them now unbearable.