Wild Wedding Weekend

This is long-if you don't feel like reading it here's the summary-Laura and Dave got married, and everyone had a lot of fun!

Thursday morning saw an early start with breakfast at the Original Pancake House. We were probably the youngest people there-we saw a lot of gray hair and couples sitting together reading the newspaper. Looking around, I couldn't help but wonder if Mike and I would be here 40 years from now, regulars having breakfast on a weekday morning. After breakfast, we hit the road and headed to Milwaukee.

The drive up was fairly easy, and we only made one stop for gas. We hit town about 1 o'clock and checked into our hotel room right away. After a brief pause, we went to Southridge to get Mike's tux. There was some concern about the abilities of the lady who measure Mike for the tux, but she got the measurements close enough and the tux fit ok. We also ran into Mike's dad as he was leaving. Actually, we heard him before we saw him-he was talking about his surgery. Next, a tour around the mall to find new shoes for Mike and a new dress for me. I've had so much trouble trying to find a dress that fits, and when I walked into JC Penney I found two right away that were perfect, and both were on sale. Gotta love "big city shopping"! Mike found a pair of shoes (that had to be returned later-defective!), and a couple of shirts. Then we went to his parents house, and Laura and a couple of her friends from out of town came over. Ron threw some burgers and brats on the grill and we had a nice cookout. We went back to the hotel, where Mike chilled out while I went out with the girls. The first stop was Brian's Cocktail Lounge, which is known for it's frosty drinks. You tell the bartender what flavors you like and he whips something else. I had a Peachy Keen, which was quite tasty. The decor is very 70's and the place was pretty quiet. I guess on weekends it gets pretty crowded. After that, we went to the Safehouse, which is a really cool spy theme bar. It's so secret that we couldn't find it-Mapquest directions are not very good. We ended up calling Mike at 11 pm to get better directions-yay laptop and wireless internet! Laura, Rachel and I knew the password, but the other three girls didn't, so we got in and made it to the bar in time to watch them gain entry. If you don't know the password the "guard" makes up something humiliating that you have to do. In their case, they had to make bunny ears with their hands and hop around until the guard let them in. The best part-they still weren't told the password! There was another bachelorette party there, and to put it nicely they were pretty snotty. Guess they didn't like the competition! After a slow start (and difficulty getting served), things got going and the night got interesting. The only detail I'll mention is the guy we met who could take off his boxers without taking off his pants. He did, and Laura got a souvenir (which made it's way to the nearest dumpster upon leaving!). Then it was off to George Webb's for breakfast. I dropped everyone off (the out of towners were staying at the same hotel we were, and you can fit four girls in the back of the Tribute if someone sits on a lap) and went to bed. By the time I fell asleep it was 3:30.

Nothing like waking up at 6:30 to the sound of the guy in the room next to you slamming his door! I couldn't fall back asleep, and I had to get up at 7:30 anyway for our spa day. Thankfully I only had the peach drink at Brian's, otherwise I really would have been hurting. I met up with the other girls and we went to Starbucks to meet everyone else. After some coffee, we headed over to the Aveda school at the Vici Salon. I got a manicure and pedicure, and I almost fell asleep a couple of times, it was so relaxing! Mike picked me up from there, and we went back to his parents house for a little while to relax. Then back to the hotel to change for the rehearsal. I ended up wearing one of my new dresses, and I'm glad I did because it was pretty warm out. We had also learned that the reception building was a historical building and therefore did not have air conditioning. Nothing to do but make the best of it! However, the park was beautiful , and the setting by the river was perfect. We also had a long staircase to descend, which was very dramatic. After rehearsal we headed to Walker's Maple Grove for dinner, which was a lot of fun. At that point, Dave and some of his friends decided to have a guy gathering at his parents house, so Mike took me back to the hotel where I vegged out. I did pretty good for three hours of sleep but at that point I was done.

Saturday morning we received a phone call from Laura. All I could hear was Mike's side of the conversation, and it didn't sound good. Turns out the water was out at her parents house-nobody on their whole block had water due to a main breakage. So Laura came over to our room to shower, and then I went back with her so we could go to the mall and get our hair and makeup done. Of course, by the time she had come over the water was back on, but it was still probably a good thing she came over. We got to the mall and after straightening out a bit of confusion on the appointments (a couple of people cancelled and they didn't have that info) started on our hair. I was still indecisive about what I was going to do-I was thinking about straightening it but wasn't sure. I happened to turn around and saw one of the stylists, and the way she was wearing her hair was kind of what I was thinking of. As luck would have it, she ended up taking care of me! Since mine was pretty simple, I was done first, so I took pictures of everyone else getting done. Everyone's hair looked absolutely gorgeous! Then off to Boston Store, where we split up-the moms went to the Estee Lauder counter while Laura and I went to Clinique. Another mixup here-Clinique didn't have our appointments and there was only one lady working. Luckily, she was very good and took great care of us. Because of this, we were a little behind on time but no worries-we made it back to the house in plenty of time to get to the park. Laura did something different which I really liked-we did pictures before the ceremony, so guests wouldn't have to kill a lot of time in between. The weather was a slight worry, and it did rain briefly at one point, but by then we were already inside. It also stayed cloudy which was nice because the sun wasn't beating down on us. Guests started arriving, and before you knew it, we were walking down the stairs and starting the ceremony. It was brief, with Laura's Uncle Fran officiating. There were tears and laughter, and then Laura and Dave were married! The guests then went on to the reception hall while the bridal party went to the room where we had changed and waited to be introduced. There was a bit of a delay while we tried to figure out the bustle on Laura's dress, but that got straightened out and the party really started! The rest was pretty much a blur-the food was really good, and the cake was excellent! We had a great time between dancing and talking with the family. It's been a long time since I've seen a lot of them.

Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel and went back to the mall to return Mike's tux. After that, we headed over to his parents' house for the gift opening. It was kind of an impromptu get-together, with Dave's parents and one of his aunts coming over. Les also came over, and she already had some of her pictures developed. Laura and Dave got some really nice gifts as well as some cash to take on their honeymoon. We hung out and ate tamales from El Rey (the best!), and then it was time to go home.

Laura and Dave, congratulations!

It's 10:30 on Wednesday morning, and I just got out of the shower. What does that mean? I'm on vacation, whoo-hoo! Laura (Mike's sister) and Dave are getting married this weekend, and we're both standing up in the wedding. So we're heading north tomorrow to start the festivities. I decided to take a few days off both before and after because I really need some time off, especially after yesterday's big announcement. We assumed that the branches would close, but to have to sell them as well as the accounts is quite shocking. There's also some really good people at those locations that I don't want to lose. But to be perfectly honest, there's one or two that I won't be sorry to see go.

So what's on tap for the rest of the day? Maybe a trip to the mall, but a really quick one. I want to spend some time outside soaking up the 90 degree sun. Picture a field of freshly fallen snow with the sun beating down on it. You know how white that is? Well let me tell you, my legs are even whiter! Something tells me while I'm sitting in the sun I may have to have a mojito or two to cool off. And JB's coming over after work tonight-she's keeping an eye on the cats while we're gone. And then running a few errands and packing. I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post once we get back!