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I made it back from a fantastic weekend! And now to write-up a post before another day goes by or I've failed pretty early at my goal to post once a day for this month...

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Me, Kelly, Amber: Return to Carlisle Barracks 13 years later...

My best friend Kelly's mother was married yesterday in Pennsylvania. The bride looked radiant and the sweet ceremony brought many tears to the eyes of those in attendance. The bride and groom met while taking dance lessons and the reception was infused with the theme - the guests all got a dance lesson in the cha cha cha!

The bride & groom showing off their dance moves!

Speech! (Tears)

Tiff & Pat

Mike having fun & Amber

There was certainly a flavor of Dirty Dancing to the night -- an old woman even stole something from someone else (though not on purpose!) -- perhaps it was the building? In high school the venue was used for our winter ball which ended with "I've Had the Time of My Life," and the just-announced king jumped off the stage and danced on his knees just like Johnny in the movie. The building is also supposedly "very" haunted, but after careful observation last night, I can only say it is imbued with the spirits of that delightful '80s romance.

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The visit to Carlisle Barracks also brought back a lot of memories. The house I lived in my senior of high school, in a section of post denoted as "Smurf Village" for how tiny the houses were, has since been demolished! There are brand new, bigger houses being built upon the dust of my youth. Perhaps that's a little bit dramatic, but so was seeing the land leveled.

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When I returned this evening, quite elated from the weekend and even the ride home with Kelly and Jon, I received some unfortunate health news about a relative. Well, perhaps not actually a relative, but someone connected through family and whom I love dearly and hold in high estimation. After reaching out, I spent the rest of the night thinking of her and the family and mentally sending some of the love and positivity that flowed over the weekend to them.

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Below, a digest of my weekend.

The husband delighted me with tickets to the Red Sox/Yankees game on Friday. We rejoiced through most of the game and became friends with the only Sox fans sitting nearby--a man wearing a Nomar Garciaparra shirt and his young Sox-jersey clad son. We watched the father lean over to explain certain plays to the boy, and the boy learning to high-five with his baseball glove on.

It's the second time I was able to witness a Red Sox grand slam live - a most welcome sight at Yankees Stadium.

And now a comparison: this is a photo of me when we first arrived at the ballpark, excited to be at a game. Then there is a photo of Jesse and I (taken by the Garciaparra fan) after the game. When I'm over-excited, my smile shrinks my eyes to oblivion. Or perhaps it was all the beer?

When we arrived back in Brooklyn flush with pride (and beer) for our team, not even subway-replacing hellish shuttle buses could deplete our energy. We decided to walk home through the streets of Brooklyn. This photo encapsulates how great the scenic route on a Friday night in Brooklyn can be:

Saturday I traversed Brooklyn in the shuttles to meet up with friends, and because it was a terrible experience, I'd rather not even think about it again nor discuss it here.

But my friends are another story. I laughed so much throughout the day, usually with a glass of wine in hand. At one point we gathered at my friend Amber's lovely home and discussed new jobs and tree snakes and eyebrow shaping.

These two recently began new positions and they were comparing their respective acclimations here:

Then we went to a bar, and the ensuing fun and BFF'ing can be summarized in the quietest moment of the night:

I crawled into bed with a smile, fielded a call from a girlfriend with a boy problem, handed off sage advice I hope, and texted Jesse goodnight since he was still out with all my girls' better halves. This strategy works well; when we tell the guys we're having a ladies night, suddenly a dudes night is scheduled.

Today was an (at first) exciting day of football. However, my fantasy teams both languished and the Patriots were not looking too good. In other news, I re-shaped my eyebrows, or, rather attempted to re-shape my eyebrows and let's all hope for the best.

This week I hope for good news on all angles and a quieter week at work.

I'll draw on the wall and you can play UFC rookie.

Last night we gathered in the East Village apartment like we were still middle schoolers. Jesse and I rode the subway from Brooklyn prepared with a board game and two bottles of wine for a nice evening in with some good friends.

However, once we arrived and started catching up, Kelly, Amber, and I just kept going with the conversation amongst ourselves. We leaned against the countertops in the kitchen sipping red wine and nibbling on peccorino cheese. We screeched our exclamations and whispered our more salacious news. We discussed Manti T'eo, Lance Armstrong, Matt Lauer, Ann Curry, and Joss Whedon. We moved to Amber's bedroom and talked bedroom talk, laughing to the point where no noise comes out -- like we do. We took pictures and talked about the internet and generations and getting old and how crotchety we were going to be. We went to Kelly's bedroom and watched an old video of the three of us from college with tearful laughter. Amber is moving out of the apartment they share next weekend, and Kelly commemorated their time living together by giving her half a heart drawing. It was sweet; there were tears.

And where were the husbands? Parked in front of the television with beers and a video game, laughing on their own. What was supposed to be a fun, little co-ed game night turned into the women talking for hours (a task easy for us three) and the dudes pretending they were NFL football teams. We laughed on opposite sides of the room, occasionally throwing sideways glances at each other. We should have passed notes.

Jesse and I left much too late for a week night; we didn't have parents waiting up at home. We smiled at each other on the ride home, recounting our night to each other even though we spent it in the same place. I'm a little tired today at work, but it's always worth it to have laughed a whole night away with your best friends in the entire world.

Questions 33-37 (My Friends Rule)

Here are some questions I got about friends...and I'm sure some are actually from the friends in question.

How did you and Erica meet?

Erica went to school at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and was friends with a bunch of people that grew up with my ex-boyfriend, Steve. I believe it was the summer before my senior year of college and Steve and I went to a party at his friend Nick's place, where Erica also lived. There, we met, played flip cup til the wee hours, and became fast friends. When I moved there the following summer after graduation, we hung out a ton more!

CIRCA 2005:

What is your favorite part of living with Erica Dagley?

When we're watching trash tv, Erica and I usually have the same exact thought on the couch and say it aloud simultaneously. It's like the fibers of the blue side and red side connect our brains.

Do you have friendships with all the members of Jesse's band?

Sure. I mean, that's what Facebook proves, right? Just kidding. Yeah - they're all good dudes and easy to fall into conversation with. When I visit Jesse on the road, being in a tiny front lounge with everybody on the bus kind of facilitates the whole getting-to-know-eachother process. They've all been part of Jesse's life for the better part of the past decade - a family, if you will - and so it's always like hanging with friends. Plus, their own plus ones are pretty rad, too.

But that Matt Taylor dude, man, what a jerk.

Describe why Amber (Bamala, Bambo, Bams, Bambi) is your most favorite friend. Examples please.

Okay, only Amber would know all of her own nicknames, so HIYA Amber! You're my most favourite friend because we bonded over such activities as "playing dead at parties" and "Jessica drives while Amber moons people" and "feminism" together.

CIRCA 2003:

(Here's us playing dead - yes, Amber's legs were in the air. We weren't too technical.)

And I got this comment from an anonymous friend the day of the holiday party:

How awesome is this party gonna be?... I know it's 4 years strong. but this is my first... I'm gonna rage it

Later that night:

Jon Cheese: Yeah, so, I hear this party is four year strong?
Me (lightbulb): IT WAS YOUUUUUU!!!!
Jon Cheese: OH MAN! Crap! I wasn't going to say anything!!

I win.

Destination unknown.

What a weekend! Another one for the books...or this blog? Maybe.

I will say that Friday night was infinite amounts of fun with my best friends. I love Amber and Kelly because we are giant goofballs with each other and we can have the best times no matter our surroundings. On Friday our surroundings included a real adult party. As in, a housewarming full of 40+ year olds. We were on our best behavior for the most part, and we even struck up a conversation with a woman who not only had a high-ranking corporate job but also creates conceptual art on the side. Oh, and her band used to open for the Violent Femmes. Whatever. She was fascinating and we talked music, art, and books. I can only hope I'm as cool in twenty years.

After mingling, we escaped to the basement like the adolescents we are and played some Rock Band: Beatles and Rock Band 2. Okay, so actually we kicked off some middle-agers from the game, but we still felt like teenagers. The funny thing about that video game is that you start out with some "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and suddenly it's two hours later and you're failing at drumming a Modest Mouse song because your hand-eye coordination was carried off by that third cup of Guinness an hour ago and the fifth one isn't bringing it back. No matter, we still felt like golden godesses.

Once we decided our wrists and voices could take no more, we came upstairs to find most of the party gone and therefore, the perfect time to start a three-person dance party. Here's how we do it: I put on my iPod playlist from last year's New Year's party and then the three of us start bouncing around the room. We're incorporating the two stairs that go into the hallway, singing into our drinks, and mimicing each others moves until we're fully coordinated as can be at 3 in the morning. When Rancid's "Ruby Soho" comes on, just as we are having a semi-serious conversation, we dance in place, still talking about this important issue, until the chorus comes on and then we split, jump around the room and sing at the top of our lungs, and rejoin to continue the conversation when the song goes back to verse. That kind of mind-sharing coordination you simply can't learn; it's inherent in us three.

At four in the morning, we all tumbled into bed with serious giggle fits. And though I'm twenty-six and married, I'm happy and so very grateful to have such friends that I can be totally and completely myself with, even if that means being silly for an entire night.

Saturday was dreary out, what with the freezing rain, so I became a hermit for the whole of it.

Yesterday, as I'm sure you've heard by now, Weezer's lead singer, Rivers Cuomo was injured in a tour bus crash. Reading about it is incredibly scary, because that's how Jesse and the band travels, and it just adds a little anxiety to all of his travels on the road. Rivers broke a few ribs, and you can read about the ordeal here on Weezer's blog. The injury also means the cancellation of the tour for now, which is a major bumout. The only good news is that I'll be seeing Jesse sometime soon. (Quiet cheering!)

Yesterday wasn't all bad, though, because I got to witness my friend Jim's first improv performance at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theater. He did a great job and was straight up hilarious; I definitely felt super proud of my talented friend!! They wouldn't let me take video, though, so BOO.

Afterwards, Kelly and I tried going to the movies, but every single showing of Up in the Air was sold out. We decided to get some dinner and shopping in, and then I went to see Jane Campion's Bright Star, which was as beautiful as all of Campion's films, and full of the soulfulness (and tragedy) I've come to admire from the director as well.

Random fun fact: the jerk on the new season of Scrubs, Cole, is played by James Franco's little brother. I looked him up because he seemed so familiar...

Lastly, I'm not sure if anyone has any questions for me, but I'll have a whole separate post with THIS LINK to a FormSpring box where anybody can anonymously ask any question you'd like of me, and I'll attempt to answer them in a post. A lot of people are doing it on the internets, and some people have asked me to do so as well? I suppose it streamlines it more than asking a question in a comment....feel free to ask anything you've been curious about me at all!

Actually, I have a question for you, too - sometimes I don't blog because I don't have any pictures of my adventures. I feel like I always need a picture to add to my "this is what happened" demonstration. I decided to forgo it in this post, and I'm wondering if that just makes the post less interesting? Will you be less-apt to read a post if I don't post a picture within it? Does the picture really make you read the post? Let me know! Super curious!

Waiting for the sun to clear away the haze.

Pee Wee says "Good afternoon to you. I hope you are having a fabulous day."

Where was I? Where am I? Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how to continue using this. There are many people now in my life who remind me - "don't blog about this (nervous laughter)" and at the same time I often tire of writing solely about myself. I started this whole thing because I wanted to continue writing in some regular way; however, I think I've found that with another venture and now I don't know how to incorporate the ol' blogspot in my routine. I'll figure it out. I envision some more thinking and a reshaping for 2010.

My weekend? Let's see -

It began with a viewing of The Fantastic Mr. Fox alongside Jesse, Gaby, Kells, and Mike. It was, indeed, fantastic. The animation was adorable, along with the characters and the voices. George Clooney stars, but I was really captivated by Jason Schwartzman's turn as his son, Ash.

Jesse and I slept in on Saturday - like, REALLY slept in. It felt great after the hectic three weeks of work I've been having. We got up at around 1:30pm. Okay - wait, I got up at around 10am, took a shower, blowdried my hair, and then got back in back at noon until 1:30. It's really hard for me to stay asleep in the mornings these days!

We promptly went to brunch upon waking, only to be met with an hour wait that didn't get food into our stomachs until 3pm. The humanity!

Speaking of...probably my biggest guilty pleasure is huge-budge, special-effects-laden disaster movies. And 2012 came out this weekend and I simply HAD to see it. However, nobody would go to see the "crapfest" with me, so I was determined to see it by myself. I trudged in the rain to Manhattan from Brooklyn and found myself seated in the packed theater between two others seeing the movie solo. I tell you what: it didn't disappoint! It was like a rollercoaster of DOOM and DEATH and then quiet hope. Haha, nobody cares about that hope and the survival of the human race! The earth is crumbling around these characters you like and dislike! People die! It was amazing. But I can't do it justice like The Awl did - read the best review of the film HERE. It's entitled: "'2012' is Awesome and Haters Can Suck It" - the body just amazing as the title.

Afterwards, I headed to SoHo to meet up with some lovely ladyfriends - Kells, Amber, Tiffany, and Anabel - for some exquisite English cuisine and a gabfest. It also included some zoom-in shots of Willem Dafoe's neck-skin, as I had to google image-search the actor after someone divulged in a certain crush. These are the things we talk about...

Anyway, then Amber and Kells and I headed into Brooklyn to meet up with Jesse, Mike, James, and Adam and played UNO and darts. At a bar. Until around 3 in the morning. I am always at my loosest when in the presence of Amber and Kelly - you never know what I'm going to do or say, and sometimes I don't. As you may have already guessed, we slept in on Sunday as well.

But upon waking, I made Jesse what he termed, "the best breakfast sandwich I've ever had." I then congratulated myself on my burgeoning domesticity and we settled in for some football. I also called my father as it was his BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Erica and I made margaritas for the evening Colts v. Pats games with one of the wedding gifts Jesse and I recieved - a blender. I was very impressed by its power to get me tipsy.

On the football front, my six-week fantasy football winning streak has come to an end, as has Belichick's infallibility and that is all I can say about last night's game, as I am too bitter to linger on it long. Soon after that, I curled up in bed with book #48 (!!!) of the year. Progress report to come soon, along with another (longer) tale of domesticity.

How was your weekend?

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.

Tomorrow.

I'm flying to Detroit for the holidays! Not for all four days, mind you, just for Wednesday. Then it's Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. I have no idea what's in store, as the past twenty-three years (aka all my life) have been spent with my family...usually in New Hampshire/Rhode Island. Finally a year without having to field the same exact questions all day! Oh, and I get to spend it with a rather awesome and handsome man, and I couldn't be happier. Except, I also get to see my bestie AMBER in Detroit, and finally give her the Christmas present I had saved up for her two years ago. Yes. Two. Also: the above pictures only illustrate a brief moment in the long-winded and strange friendship that exists between Amber and I. And we will sadly lament the fact that Kelly won't be with us to complete our trio. Jesse will have to suffice for now; though, try as he might, I don't think he'll be able to decipher the language that passes between us when we get together. It's like the language of love, but BETTER. (Does that make sense? It will to Amber.)