I know it's been a while -

But if you're curious...

My Bridal Shower(s) Album!

And the end of the night sure looked different!
My Bachelorette Party Album!

Thanks so much to Jiscilla for taking these phenomenal photos!

The bachelorette party!

After the wonderful, classy bridal shower, us ladies got down to the real business at hand: the bachelorette party. Erica and Kelly handed out purple beads, sunglasses, and a special giant, blinking engagement ring for me to compliment our outfits. I had no clue what was planned; I was told to show up at the curb outside our apartment at 10pm. Initially, I thought a scavenger hunt was at hand.

I should have known better.

Awaiting us was a sweet limousine and Tanesha the driver. I was completely flabbergasted. We all climbed into the limo and Erica and Kelly doled out the champagne as we headed into Manhattan. Erica also made the most amazing mix of songs to ever grace my ears - the entire time we were in the limo I believe we spent it singing along to our favourite songs and seat-dancing (old pastime).

Our first stop was the bar Maritime, underneath the hotel of the same name. It was pretty sophisticated and we drank prosecco and danced. Angela also showed up at this point, as she would travel with us for the rest of the night!

[I should also say here that Jiscilla is still working on the photos from the rest of the night - this is only the beginning! It's also why we look so coherent. Don't worry, you'll be able to tell the time of the night by the deterioration of my crown. These pictures are from Maritime, and the rest I'll soon have up in a photo album.]

After the Maritime, we piled into the limo to head uptown to Barcelona, a bar with an amazing selection of....shots. We entered the bar and a space cleared for our rowdy party. We proceeded to order the Harry Potter shot in which the bartender put on a scarf and glasses and held a wand above our ten shots which he then set on fire. Don't worry - we have visual documentation of this amazingness, you'll see it soon. We downed it.

I believe it was Katie Brown who threw on a slew of amazing songs on the juke box and returned to tell us that there was another bachelorette party in the small bar, at the back. They were definitely not having as much fun as we were - simply standing together sipping their drinks while we hugged, laughed, and screamed. They promptly left.

Before I knew it, "Just a Girl" came on over the jukebox and we all started singing. This may or may not have sounded like screaming or yelling - the night became quite a whirlwind at this point. I do know Amber climbed on the bar and got underneath the beer tap for a swig, which the bartender was loving. We took some sort of orgasm shot that was quite gross in demonstration, I wouldn't want to recount it, but since it was the raunchiest thing that happened at THIS bachelorette party, it was the perfect touch. I took two of those.

Mandy Moore's "I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week" was our next scream along. Then Paramore's "Misery Business" - at which point we were all standing on the bar step and dancing and yelling and slapping the bar to the beat. Yeah. THEN Motion City Soundtrack's "LGFUAD" came on - I think it was that one, I know it was MCS! - and we were all screaming and the girls were all "You're marrying this guy!" and Perry had a great quote from the night on her blog:

Bouncer to patron: That girl is marrying the dude in this band.
Patron: What band?
Bouncer: The one playing in the bar right now!

Then two of us did the Top Gun shot in which we were instructed to put on a hat and aviators and they played "Danger Zone." Classic. So, then we (the life of the bar) left Barcelona and headed to Niagara for some dancing and utter randomness.

Here's what we could gather. A group of us headed to the basement to dance, and then we all came up to the non-working photobooth and talked to a bunch of curious people. Gaby was talking in Hebrew to a couple of men, and people thought Jiscilla was our hired photographer for the evening. One woman managed to get into A LOT of our pictures. Christy nearly yelled at the woman's friend who was wearing a t-shirt with the British flag on it: "ARE YOU BRITISH?!" At some point she also yelled at a guy on a rickshaw who tried to talk to me. Love her. Oh, and I kept on slamming my amazing fake ring on the limo window to see if anyone on the outside could see it. By this time, my crown was securely on crooked and bent.

We exited Niagara to get some pizza across the street. All I remember is pointing at a slice of white spinach pizza and plopping down at a table, slightly hunched over, scarfing, and eyes half-open. I was also highly amused my Amber's purchase of a pig-in-a-blanket.

The girls in the wedding party bid adieu to the rest of the ladies who lived in Manhattan, and we climbed back into the limo. WHICH HAD BEEN SWITCHED! Seriously, we got into the limo and it was a completely different one! But we took it all in nonchalantly, and continued the party. The next morning we affectionately called this the "tumbling" part of the evening, as Christy referred to all of us like being in a washing/drying machine in the back of the limo. We were all over the place. We were still singing and dancing, but also half asleep.

Note: this picture is NOT from the end of the night. Those look A LOT different. Ha.

We made it home safe, and as I was washing my face Amber walked into the bathroom and I apparently tried to make her harmonize with me while singing a single note into the mirror. Typical. Kelly was doing her Barry Gibbs impression. Jiscilla has an incoherent and dark video of these final, break-of-dawn moments (never to see the light of day) and we all fell into our beds with smiles on our faces.

We all had so much fun. The next morning we woke up like zombies. But with some water and a few motrin, we were ready for brunch. The weekend continued for us on Sunday, and I'll have more on that tomorrow.

Jesse remarked on how glad he was that "nothing bad happened," since sometimes a group of people embibing a lot of spirits and traipsing around the city could lead to some pretty harried hijinks. However, I was surrounded by my best friends all night. There's a reason I keep them close - I know none of them suck. None of them are drama queens. None of them would ever endanger us. We all like fun! We all have our wits about us! I will be friends with these girls for life. As it always is when we hang out, there's never an awkward moment or negativity. We cherish each other and celebrate our friendship. MY FRIENDS RULE.

The bridal shower!

Good morning! I've just had one of the best weekends of my entire life so far. I know it'll be hard for me to describe just how amazing it was - but I'm sure Jiscilla's pictures will help out! Yesterday as she loaded the pictures in from Saturday's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party, I believe the count was 683 pictures. Yes. Six-hundred and eighty-three. I'll eventually post them as albums, but here's a small selection and details about the Bridal Shower! The only one I've ever been to so far!

My mom arrived Friday afternoon, and we picked up her best friend Milagros on Saturday morning. The apartment was in a state of bustling excitement as all the decorations were going up and being set. I came back to find my best friends Christy, who had flown in from Texas, and Amber, who had flown in from Michigan! I hadn't seen either of them in such a long time!! Along with Jiscilla, Kelly, and Erica, the whole gang was back together.

I got into my dress (oh it's so lovely to have excuses to buy new things!) and Jiscilla did my hair & make-up as our resident beauty expert. Then the rest of the guests, Gaby, Katie, and Perry arrived and the festivities began!

My Maids of Honor (yes, I have TWO) Erica and Kelly organized the whole thing and made it quite the classy affair, with a spread such as this. They should probably start some sort of party planning business.

The party started off with some wine and just general catching up. The picture pretty much demonstrates why we're friends. I don't know why we were doing this, but we did. That's me on the left, along with Christy, Kelly, and Erica. And robot hands.

And here's Amber! I hadn't seen Amber in over a year, since she spent most of last year working in Italy. She's one of my bridesmaids, with Christy and Jiscilla. That rounds out my wedding party.

The ladies started off the party by giving me a purple crown to wear the whole day and night and then we played a game - which Jesse had a part in. They had asked Jesse to answer 32 questions via video about himself, and I would be asked the same questions and see how many we could get right together - whichever of our lovely guests guessed the correct amount of right answers got a prize.

I answered many questions assuredly and with confidence.

However, sometimes I would be wrong. Um, I really had no idea Jesse' favourite actor was Johnny Depp. I went with Daniel Day Lewis. In the end, I got 19 out of the 32 questions correct! And Katie took home a prize.

I had to get a picture in of my lovely mother! Seriously, walking around with her in the city, many people remarked that we looked like twins. At least I have her genes, right? And she made the best empanadas EVER for the spread.

The group of us continued drinking our wine and then we got down to the cake-cutting. Kelly apparently knew of an amazing cake-baker in New York, and it did not disappoint.

YUM!

After the cake, we opened presents. It seems that bridal showers have "themes" these days, and after careful consideration, Erica and Kelly threw out many a theme they'd found online (like "sandals" ???) and tailored something to my own personality: BOOKS! I got many, MANY books as gifts and I couldn't be a happier lady! I definitely have enough unread books on my shelves now to fill out the rest of my 52 Book year! My friends are so lovely and creative - they picked out a great range of books that I either wanted or didn't even know I did but now am so excited to read! I was so surprised!

I really couldn't have asked for a better theme, and I was certainly mesmerized by the mountain of books that I had laying there at the end of it! I also got a great bunch of cookbooks, which I can't wait to try out. Cooking has never really been a hobby of mine, but I will attempt it, I will!

Afterwards, we played our favourite party game ever: Celebrities! Seriously, playing this game leads to some of the most hilarious clues and answers ever. Like, I may or may not have said "Neil Mandela" instead of "Nelson Mandela." Other examples?

Jiscilla: HOOOOOOOOOOOCH!
Answer: "Tom Hanks"

Jessica: Probably the greatest actress in America right now, was in Devil Wears Prada...
Amber: Anne Hathaway!
Answer: Meryl Streep

Perry: The most charitable person...
Jiscilla: Angelina Jolie!
Answer: Mother Theresa

Classic celebrities.

That wrapped up the Bridal Shower, but twas not the end of the festivities. We all had direct orders to be ready to go by 10pm for the Bachelorette. Let me just say the shower was more than I could have ever hoped for thanks to my ladies - they know me so well as to include all the fun of the tradition, without adding in any corniness or antiquity usually associated with such a party. They continued in that mold for the Bachelorette, too. I'm so grateful!

So, we rested up by watching 13 Going on 30 (how great?!) and getting dolled up. There was a bit of color coordination, as you'll see below...you can also probably guess as to what color I've chosen for the wedding, ha. We had a champagne toast to kick off the rest of the night...and more on that debauchery later!