On Sunday night I went to the wedding of my friends Janice & Stu and had a grand ol' time with friends and meeting new people. Jaime was my date, though her boyfriend Andrew was there - but he was DJing! We gathered in this lovely art space in Brooklyn that had shallow pools of water in the floor surrounding the seating area. There were candles in the water, and giant ice sculptured vases along the aisle. Janice looked beautiful and outright glamorous! Their friend Matisyahu officiated the ceremony and many of their other friends read poems and sang songs for them. A truly special evening.
Not to mention the waitstaff was carrying around chocolate martinis all night - we never had an empty glass for long! (All these wedding photos are via Jaime!)
Jaime, me, Lauren Ashley. Many martinis.
Deep breaths. Let's drink these.
Should you really be having another one?
There's more on the table! They won't stop! (Here we are with Lauren Ashley's Christmas-Day-proposing FIANCEE Alex!)
Andrew, a bride's favourite DJ (he was instructed to play Taylor Swift, and added it to his repertoir obligingly) and Jaime!
And Jaime decided to take a picture of my outfit:
Ann Sui for Target dress, teal tights, Madden Girl pumps. Behind that railing is the water - there were four "islands" of tables veering from a center pathway that led to the stage, where the ceremony and the reception dancing took place! Seriously great, intimate, romantic, and cool venue!
Yes, all I've covered so far is SUNDAY.
On Monday, Jesse's mom (that's right, my mother-in-law!), Sandi flew in from Missouri and we had a great BBQ dinner near Times Square. I was still tired from Sunday night and had many an errand to run after dinner, too! Plus, we were both preparing for the next day -- for Jesse's return to New York!
On Tuesday morning at 6:30am, Jesse walked into the apartment and we got to catch up lying in bed face to face while Peesy lay between us wondering why he suddenly lost his half of the bed. Then I had to get ready for work and say bye to the good husband, who had jumped off the tour bus as soon as it hit New York in order to see me before I left!
I got to skip out on work early that afternoon to attend the Jimmy Fallon taping! My friend Kelly works at NBC as well so we met up to say hello, and as Meredith Vieira was a guest, Kelly introduced me to her since they're old friends. I'm not kidding! She was super nice. I also caught passing glances at Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family (funniest show on television right now? Possibly!), though (my) Jesse later got to tell him how much he enjoyed the show. The Motion City guys were all a little nervous, as I think anybody would be taping a nationally broadcast show! Fallon stopped by the dressing room to say hi, and he was exceptionally nice and personable. (I may or may not have had a crush on him in college when he was on SNL?) MCS took the stage and played wonderfully!
Right before they took stage, I met Risa who works on the show, and apparently reads this blog! Hola, Risa! She stayed for the song and rocked out with me!
Here's Jesse with the cue cards backstage after the show:
Afterwards, we grabbed dinner with the band and managers and everyone and then we had to hop a train back to Brooklyn for LOST!!!!! I can't sit here and discuss LOST right now. I simply cannot in this forum.
Jesse and I finally got to sleep, though I decided to wake up for my daily workout again on Wednesday! I then had the most busy and annoying day of work I've had in a long time, and when 5pm rolled around I was completely exhausted from stress. However, I was quickly reminded of the evening's event: Motion City Soundtrack at The Fillmore/Irving Plaza!
I'm not lying here. I think it may have been the best show I've seen those guys play, both in terms of music and energy. The crowd was LOVING it - singing all the new songs and jumping around. I was especially happy to hear them sing a part of "Lifeless Ordinary." Their fans rule! The guys were all enjoying themselves and smiling, too. I believe I have a new favourite MCS song live: "Even If It Kills Me." I was blown away by it the first time they'd played it back in Chicago, and this time I got chills all over again. SO. GOOD.
Also, they had a surprise for New York - they had the a capella group The Williams Octet come in and sing the song "Fell In Love Without You" at the beginning of the encore! Their YouTube video of the original performance caught the attention of the band and they started figuring out how to collaborate! Check out their amazing a capella rendition on Wednesday night via Motion City's tumblr!
After the wonderful show, the guys and all of our awesome, fun friends went to a nearby billiards hall for some post-show shenannigans. We stayed out for a little while, as bus call was relatively early. Jesse decided to stay in New York one more night and get a train the next day for Hartford. I had to say goodbye as I left for work on Thursday, knowing I won't be seeing him for a long, long while. (More on that in a future post.)
As for Thursday, I was tired and my throat felt a little scratchy (probably due to stress, screaming my lungs out, etc.) and so the day felt like it was at a crawling pace. When I finally got home, I ate, and then did not move from the couch, as Tyler, Erica, and I watched Thursday night comedy. And then, I slept. So good.
And now it is Friday! And you've heard about my week! And this weekend?
FRIENDS ARE VISITING! Not just any friends! But the crazy awesome blogger LIZ (check out her BLOG and her TUMBLR) and blogger MEREDITH (her TUMBLR!). I'm beyond excited for some sweet hangs with these Philadelphia ladies - we have bounced around many an idea for plans, and we'll try to fit in everything we can +craziness +disorder +havoc. That's how I do. There will be updates. I feel they are necessary given the participants. Good thing I got some sleep last night!
