The hangover.

I've been over Saturday - the bridal shower, the bachelorette party...well, after waking up a little groggy on Sunday, my girls (Erica, Christy, Amber, Kelly, Jiscilla) and I headed to Life Cafe for some brunch. Though some of us were still feeling the effects of the previous night, it was still a lively meal and complimented with mimosas. Amber, that rebellious lady, ordered a bit too many drinks:

Cranberry mimosa, water, iced coffee, orange juice. Silly.

Also, please notice the size of mine and Christy's mimosa...

Jiscilla is also drinking a mimosa - a pint-size one. She became tipsy all over again and if you've ever been around Jiscilla tipsy, you know she's the cutest ball of giggles and thoughts ever.

After brunch we went back to the apartment for a slideshow of all the pictures Jiscilla took the previous night - I think nearly all of us were crying from laughter by the end of it. Seriously, when the bartender at Barcelona dressed up like Harry Potter, he looked more like Murray (Flight of the Conchords) dressed up like Harry Potter in Yes, Man. Follow? Anyway, I'll have all those (well, most!) pics up in a Facebook album when I get my hands on them.

Then we headed out to see The Hangover in Manhattan. It was probably the most perfect timing in history to see that movie, which is about the day after a bachelor party. I don't think any of us stopped laughing throughout. And maybe it was the timing, and perhaps it was because I was surrounded by my best friends, but it was definitely the funniest movie I've seen this year.

Also, I think everybody now crushes Bradley Cooper. Just sayin', Kells and I were on that ish back when he played Will Tippin on ALIAS, the adorable, rumpled, glasses-wearing journalist. Swoon. No doubt, I'm excited everyone else is all about him now too! So, check out ALIAS for some good JJ Abrams-ness, plus, the season one finale has my favourite Will Tippin moment.

We simply couldn't part after seeing the movie - we were still recounting scenes and lines from it, and both Christy and Amber would be flying home the next day. We decided to go to (you guessed it) Sweet Emily's for the always-delicious grub. We finally said our heartfelt goodbyes and talked about how amazing the entire weekend was. And how it was just a pre-cursor to how great the wedding is going to be in August.

You know how when you're little and you're talking to your best friends and you're like, "when we grow up we're going to live in the house next door to each other and have sleepovers all the time!!" - well, I'm not going to lie, I may have had this thought while saying bye and reflecting on how lucky I am to have these friends. Hearts.

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!