I left for Chicago on Friday morning and through train, plane and train again, I made it to downtown Chicago from Philly. I spent the afternoon walking around the city and remembering being there before. My parents and I walked through Millennium park and wishing we could do some rock climbing outside!
Before the rehearsal, I had to make sure my mom was properly dressed, off to Ross to get her some jeans. And naturally, I got a dress for the rehearsal dinner... And some sunglasses...
The rehearsal was very relaxed and nice. I was glad for the Bachelorette party because I was able to see some familiar faces.
Dinner was at a delicious pizza place and on our way there in the taxi, we almost died. Multiple times. The taxi driver had some severe road rage and hated stopping for pedestrians. It was slightly terrifying.
The pizza was good and the company was nice as well. A lot of wine was consumed and a lot of laughs exchanged.
After dinner was a gathering for drinks in the hotel. I was able to catch up with my family which was quite nice as there are not a lot of occasions where we are all together.
Saturday, Dad and I got up early(ish) and went for a walk along the riverwalk to the lake. It was a brisk morning but at least it was sunny!
After the walk, I went to Julia's room to hang out with the ladies while they got ready. There was trail mix and mimosas! After one mimosa however, I was sleepy. The traveling took a lot out of me and I was ready for a nap so after lunch I passed out for a bit. That delayed my getting ready. I thought I was doing well on time until I decided I wanted to curl my hair and it wasn't going as planned. I haven't curled my hair now that its short so I tried many different things and was not happy with the result, so I ended up just straightening it again and being slightly late to the lineup! Hair emergencies run in the family I guess because Julia showed up right on time because of her hair-mergency. lol
I walked my grandma down the isle and then watch everyone else walk. Im not emotional at things like this but when I saw my stunning cousin round the corner and walk down the isle, she was glowing and I teared up a lot. She's so happy and it was coming out of her pores. I was called up for a reading by Lemony Snicket during her wedding. It was the perfect reading being slightly weird, a little biological and a touch of giggles from the crowd. I was given many complements on my reading which made me feel good! I wasn't nervous at all, as I talk in front of large groups of people all the time, but this was a big deal for me (my cousins wedding! We used to play and plan this moment as girls all the time!) and so as I got up there I could feel the nerves! But it all went very well and at the end of the perfectly short ceremony, I walked my grandma back down the isle and gave hugs all around.
After a short cocktail hour (and more wine), we went back upstairs for dinner. The groom gave a wonderful speech, Julias dad, my uncle gave the best speech (which, ok, made me tear up a bit...). Dinner was butternut squash gnocchi (steak for the carnivores). It was awesome to have a vegetarian option at a wedding!
Then dancing!! Dancing is the best part about a wedding. The DJ started out with some older tunes for the couples dance. I was watching all the couples on the dance floor and wishing my dude was there but then I asked grandma to dance with me. She said "is that ok? For two girls to dance together?" To that I said "Absolutely! Its 2016, Grandma!" We went on the dance floor and had a blast! It was so fun and a memory of her I will cherish forever, swing dancing with grandma.
I also danced a lot with my mom. A few songs, the floor emptied but we were still there! She swung me around and we were smiling so much. Im pretty sure the photographer loved us in that moment.
We took a break from dancing to check out the rooftop bar which had some beautiful views of the city.
Back downstairs, my grandma busted into us group of girls dancing to LMFAO's "Shots" and threw her arms in the air like she just didn't care. I was laughing so hard. It was awesome. My grandma knows how to get down, thats for sure.
Towards the end of my night, I had a very passionate conversation about urban, organic farming, food deserts and meat production in this country. Its awesome to hear people who are not environmentalists like me feel so passionately about this topic. I feel like we have to, as a country, get better with this and hearing it from someone I wouldn't expect means that its a topic that is getting to more audiences. Anyway, it was one of those conversations that you leave feeling charged and ready to go!
After that, the party was winding down and time for me to head to bed. I reluctantly said goodbye (because I didnt want to the night to end) and dreamed of herding chickens or something weird like that...
Anyway, Great wedding weekend. Wasn't long enough. My cousin is married and Im so happy :)
Before the rehearsal, I had to make sure my mom was properly dressed, off to Ross to get her some jeans. And naturally, I got a dress for the rehearsal dinner... And some sunglasses...
The rehearsal was very relaxed and nice. I was glad for the Bachelorette party because I was able to see some familiar faces.
Dinner was at a delicious pizza place and on our way there in the taxi, we almost died. Multiple times. The taxi driver had some severe road rage and hated stopping for pedestrians. It was slightly terrifying.
The pizza was good and the company was nice as well. A lot of wine was consumed and a lot of laughs exchanged.
After dinner was a gathering for drinks in the hotel. I was able to catch up with my family which was quite nice as there are not a lot of occasions where we are all together.
Saturday, Dad and I got up early(ish) and went for a walk along the riverwalk to the lake. It was a brisk morning but at least it was sunny!
After the walk, I went to Julia's room to hang out with the ladies while they got ready. There was trail mix and mimosas! After one mimosa however, I was sleepy. The traveling took a lot out of me and I was ready for a nap so after lunch I passed out for a bit. That delayed my getting ready. I thought I was doing well on time until I decided I wanted to curl my hair and it wasn't going as planned. I haven't curled my hair now that its short so I tried many different things and was not happy with the result, so I ended up just straightening it again and being slightly late to the lineup! Hair emergencies run in the family I guess because Julia showed up right on time because of her hair-mergency. lol
I walked my grandma down the isle and then watch everyone else walk. Im not emotional at things like this but when I saw my stunning cousin round the corner and walk down the isle, she was glowing and I teared up a lot. She's so happy and it was coming out of her pores. I was called up for a reading by Lemony Snicket during her wedding. It was the perfect reading being slightly weird, a little biological and a touch of giggles from the crowd. I was given many complements on my reading which made me feel good! I wasn't nervous at all, as I talk in front of large groups of people all the time, but this was a big deal for me (my cousins wedding! We used to play and plan this moment as girls all the time!) and so as I got up there I could feel the nerves! But it all went very well and at the end of the perfectly short ceremony, I walked my grandma back down the isle and gave hugs all around.
After a short cocktail hour (and more wine), we went back upstairs for dinner. The groom gave a wonderful speech, Julias dad, my uncle gave the best speech (which, ok, made me tear up a bit...). Dinner was butternut squash gnocchi (steak for the carnivores). It was awesome to have a vegetarian option at a wedding!
Then dancing!! Dancing is the best part about a wedding. The DJ started out with some older tunes for the couples dance. I was watching all the couples on the dance floor and wishing my dude was there but then I asked grandma to dance with me. She said "is that ok? For two girls to dance together?" To that I said "Absolutely! Its 2016, Grandma!" We went on the dance floor and had a blast! It was so fun and a memory of her I will cherish forever, swing dancing with grandma.
I also danced a lot with my mom. A few songs, the floor emptied but we were still there! She swung me around and we were smiling so much. Im pretty sure the photographer loved us in that moment.
We took a break from dancing to check out the rooftop bar which had some beautiful views of the city.
Back downstairs, my grandma busted into us group of girls dancing to LMFAO's "Shots" and threw her arms in the air like she just didn't care. I was laughing so hard. It was awesome. My grandma knows how to get down, thats for sure.
Towards the end of my night, I had a very passionate conversation about urban, organic farming, food deserts and meat production in this country. Its awesome to hear people who are not environmentalists like me feel so passionately about this topic. I feel like we have to, as a country, get better with this and hearing it from someone I wouldn't expect means that its a topic that is getting to more audiences. Anyway, it was one of those conversations that you leave feeling charged and ready to go!
After that, the party was winding down and time for me to head to bed. I reluctantly said goodbye (because I didnt want to the night to end) and dreamed of herding chickens or something weird like that...
Anyway, Great wedding weekend. Wasn't long enough. My cousin is married and Im so happy :)
Comments
Post a Comment