Life on the West Side

And now onto the party…!

Per my in-law’s usual protocol, they can throw a PARTY! And a party it was…

Although it started with a few blips (but seriously, what wedding DOESN’T have a few blips?) with the DJ messing up a few names (including the BRIDE! You can botch anyone else’s names but NOT the bride, c’mon dude!), and a little disorganization dismissing tables to the buffet line and a few skips in the music… it ended really well and everyone ate, drank and was merry. Some “merrier” than others, but that’s the sign of a good host – if you can throw a good party and your guests are really enjoying themselves, which clearly they were.

Some were saying the bartender (who looked about 13…) was carding people. Maybe now that I’ve gone all “mid twenties” on him, I’ve suddenly grown up and maybe for that reason, didn’t get carded. I knew there was another perk to 25 beyond rental cars.

My parents came to the wedding, and I was once again reaffirmed how much my Daddy can DANCE! He and my Mom took dance lessons one year for her birthday and since, that man has been coming out swinging! I twirled with him a few times and had the best time.

And speaking of dancing… My husband dancing with his brothers was also a sight to see! Yes, with his brothers. There were a few too many boy-on-boy slow dance actions that the wives started feeling left out and we grabbed each other and slow danced to some Bryan Adams song. My sister-in-law and I had a moment. Even if that moment was simply shaking our heads at the craziness of the family we married into, and clinging onto each other for support (shout out to my white-sista-from-anotha-mista!). Still, crazy family and all, in-laws, out-laws and everyone in between, they’re FAMILY. And they’re OURS. And we would do anything for them (including giving up husband time for crazy brother time, you can thank us later BIL )

And as the drinks continued to flow, so did the crazy. The brothers got the groom out to groove, the gals grabbed the bride and we danced the night away.

I’ve never seen the groom so happy and having so much fun (although still cautious, I was doing the “pretzel” with him and he was certain I was going to rip something… although I guess he was kinda right… I did end up ripping my dress later…) Shoes and jackets came off, dresses were ripped, jewelry was lost and broken (guilty… my “real” pearl bracelet (from Wal Mart. For $6.) slipped off my wrist and broke. RIP real pearls… Guess that means it’s time for an UPGRADE. (Hear that, Hus? Ya hear that? My “real” pearls need to be replaced…) (Oh I’m so sneaky…) )

It really is amazing to see how much love is flowing at weddings. Every couple was cuddly and smiley and wrapped in his or her partners arms and lost in their eyes, my SCB and I included. Being witness to other people’s new love reaffirms my love for him and reminds me of our wedding day.

So a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the new Mr. and Mrs. Thanks for sharing your love and your special day with us. I’m so glad I’ve got another girl in that family again… it’s high time we start taking over these boys! (Hear that Karen and Jessy… we’re only having GIRL babies! No more boys allowed!)

My Mother-in-law and her baby Sunho

And then there was one…

So after a little less than crazy night following a crazy day, we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed (errr… scratch that. NO ONE was bright eyed or bushy tailed that early morning!) for Jessy and Malcolm’s wedding day!

The bridesmaids and I got up super early and dragged ourselves to the hair salon to begin the “prettifying process.”

The four of us had a really nice day together… Once the hair and make up “prettifying” was done, we had a little bit of time before we had to head to the church, so we wandered around the strip mall, got lunch and talked about inappropriate things that made us giggle. We finally headed to the church (after talking to the boys and realizing they didn’t get up until 11.30 and were having a nice pre-wedding drink, those punks. Guys just have NO IDEA how much we girls do, do they?!)

When we got to the church, the bride was ALREADY beaming, so excited about her special day! We helped her get dressed, had a few “moments” and ooh’ed and aaah’ed all over the beauty queen bride!

The ceremony was beautiful. Malcolm had the biggest smile on his face and Jessy couldn’t take her eyes off him. Love truly is, a beautiful thing. I’m so happy for these two. And although I wasn’t sitting next to my Mister at the wedding, I couldn’t help but feel some of the newlyweds love coming towards us and making me fall more in love with my husband. We caught eyes throughout the ceremony and I could just see in him the pure happiness he had for his brother as well as his love for me radiating across the church.

Love is all you need

Earlier this month, we traveled back to the Hand State for my brother-in-laws wedding.

The wedding festivities started on Friday after I picked up a very tired Mister from the airport after he spent the night there and was shuffled around to two different hotels, got little sleep and finally came home to me. We headed to his parents house, we did quick “hi” and hugs to all, then I grabbed the two other bridesmaids, went to go pick up the beautiful bride to do the typical pre wedding mani/pedi.

the nervous (and excited!) bride and Karen

After our nails looked pretty and we had our fill of trashy magazines (but do we EVER get our fill? Ah smut, how I love you!), we made our way to the family bridal shower with the ladies of the family. We were late to our own party, but since I had the bride in my car, and you can’t start a bridal shower without the bride, we took it in stride (although with my blood pressure a few points higher and me driving just a leeetle faster… I stress when I’m late) and made our fashionably late entrance smiling and with killer fingernails. A great manicure can make any stressful situation better. Maybe when I grow up and I’m rich and famous, I’ll have killer nails EVERY day. Till then though, I’ll be doing my own manicures and having a sloppy right hand (anyone volunteer to paint my right hand? My left hand just is NOT coordinated enough!)

The bride was so sweet, although was a little embarrassed about all the attention towards her, she was very gracious and had a wonderful time (we can thank Sally’s sangria for that… mmmm!)

Since it was a wedding weekend and there’s always some kinda crazy floating around and the Sangria made us lose track of time, all the ladies looked up and suddenly realized, “We have to get ready for the rehearsal dinner STAT!” So we quickly wrapped up the lovely bridal shower (Big shout out and thank you to Sally for hosting us!) and zoomed everyone off to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.

I was the “driver” for the week (HUGE HUGE thanks to my parents for letting me borrow their car for the entire weekend!!!), so I dropped off the bride, went back to my in-laws and got ready at the speed of light (you can always tell when I don’t have enough time… the hair goes up), turned right back around to pick up the bride and her parents and then head BACK towards my in-laws to meet at the church. Phew. I was ready for some wine at the rehearsal dinner!

The maid of honor and I… and my Hus TRYING to be gangsta. Keep trying babe, you’ll get it one of these days.

So one long day down, another one right around the corner, we went back to my in-laws to relax. Of course “relaxing” there always includes a delicious (or nutritious! I need me some calcium!) beverage, none other than a White Russian!

We finally called it a night… although it probably could have been counted as morning… and tried to sleep before the BIG DAY!