that's what my yoga mat said last saturday morning. the weekend i've been using as a landmark distant date on the calendar has come and gone. now there truly is no big even until THE big event.
holy crap.
my weekend began with an early dismissal from work & movie theater popcorn (thank you, mrs. weber). it was hunger games premier day! yet another thing that sounded SOOOOO far away when i was wrapping up my version of speed reading on this addicting series. totally messed up. yet still totally addicting. read for yourself.
the movie ran ultra long, and i did not leave the theater until after six! so much for cleaning up for my girls! cue handsome & helpful fiancé. joel had his home cleaned, vacuumed, dusted & sheets laundered before I came home….he must have a ‘happy & successful husband’ prayer card stashed somewhere…
by 2:00 a.m., four out of my five bridesmaids had arrived, three bottles of wine had been consumed, and far too many stories & laughs to recall had been shared. off to bed we went ---- we had a BIG day ahead of us.
sara (hansy pants) was slated to make some little egg muffins. it was a concoction that involved muffin tins, crescent rolls, cheese, eggs, sausage, ham & veggies ---- we just weren’t sure of the exact amounts. hence….volcano egg muffins. but my oh my were they delish! i figured the oven deserved to try some of this yummy overflow.
that is what you call fuel for the journey.
let the fun begin!
activity one: YOGA
We went to jeff’s class at aspen, and he made sure to set out a row of 9 mats for all of us; he seriously rules. and the girls were troopers! some had never done yoga before, but they got their zen on & made this bride-to-be proud! all of the other regulars showered us with questions on what the day was to entail & thought it was super fun to begin the festivities with sun salutations. i couldn’t agree more.
activity two: carefree patisserie
our little kate arrived from southern illinios between yoga & the bakery --- she drove for over 8 hours to join us! she didn’t arrive empty handed either…oh no…she brought pink champagne for the bakery! just like deborah kerr & cary grant in classic movie that began my obsession with TCM. all thanks to kate. to make us sound even MORE awesome, i’m pretty sure we were crocheting as we watched the classic love story in the pi phi house. typical sorority girls, eh?
since my adorable coworker cristy ensured the pope gave me dispensation for my bachelorette day (I couldn’t resist J), I helped myself to not one but TWO slices of this beauty:
heaven.
i opened some enchantingly thoughtful gifts……among which……..was IT. the plate. the girls and i have a tradition of giving personal plates for each wedding. It started with jen (shorty)’s back in 2007 – kara discovered the idea, but we were amateurs at this whole wedding gift shopping thing – so we found one at a fun little boutique in scottsdale where kara lived at the time. it already had a cute wedding cake image on it, and we were able to add a quote & sign the plate in a marker that is eventually “baked” in.
and then we got serious about this whole plate tradition. let’s just say, me & the ‘whatta dish’ crew here in des moines are practically BFFs. i have made a plate for kate, hanson & ang. hanson & kara were married in the same year, so ang had the honors of making hers. since shorty & hanson admittedly have chicken scratch for art skills, ang volunteered to do kara’s. and my lucky matron of honor also work-of-art-ed mine. seriously america, i have been ants in my pants excited for my plate…practically since joel slipped that ring on my finger.
and here she is. in all of her exquisite & lacy glory:
sigh. i am in love.
activity three: jasper winery
have i mentioned that we somehow landed the most fabulous chauffer in the world? who knew she was located in the greater des moines metropolis. mrs. weber escorted us from place to place in the family conversion van – FULLY STOCKED, too, i might add. we had a big cooler of bottled water & a goody basket that puts any vending machine to shame. talk about riding in style!
when we arrive at the winery we decide to bask in the glorious day and sip our vino on the patio. at this point, ang informs me that it’s progressive gift day. i oblige & managed to don this gift the remainder of the day. hello vintage flair. J
activity four: sbrocco
this is a place i’ve been dying to try for a couple years now --- our reservation landed us a prime time long table by the open french-style window doors. it was just so lovely. we ordered more wine (duh) and feasted on salmon, steak, mac & cheese (love it, trish!) & sea bass. we shared dessert (even though i had m&ms from the ‘party van’ stashed in my purse for later. i fully intended to take advantage of my dispensation day from the pope). the whole meal was simply divine. i even received a couple more sassy gifts!
activity five: hessen haus
we walked into hessen haus around 8:30 – the band only plays from 8 until 10. alas, all of the long tables are full. then i hear one of the girls say, “oh aimee must know those guys” & gestured to her sitting at a long wooden table occupied by only two men.
my response: umm…..no, I’m pretty sure aim is just scoring us a table.
sure enough, the gentlemen looked our way, smiled & politely moved to a smaller table. point: bachelorette party.
we gleefully take our spot just one table away from the bar. now, the world’s greatest chauffer gave me a very special present at dinner.
DAS BOOT. she gave us the opening tab for the infamous hessen haus game:
now, the band was playing a polka version of anne murray’s “could I have this dance”, so of course, i call my dad, walk up to the band, and hold my cell phone by one of the speakers. he said he couldn’t hear it. apparently the quality of my iphone doesn’t hold the candle to that of his alltel flip phone in which he uses to play me polka music from his car radio an average of 3 times per week. at work. and i wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world, i might add.
as i walked back to the table slightly defeated, an older couple (i would venture to guess mid seventies) sitting adjacent to us asked what i was doing. i said i was trying to play the music for my dad because he LOVES polka.
“well, we’re in the iowa polka hall of fame.”
well i’ll be darn!
speed dial home.
“dad! i’m hanging out with some polka hall of fame members!”
i told him i’d try & learn some steps so that i had a better performance than that of their anniversary party two years ago. apparently i’m not a good “follower”. sigh. dad has already said we need to make sure the band plays a waltz --- the polka is a little too advanced for me. double sigh. guess what we’ll be doing that whole week prior to the wedding? conditioning dad’s feet. J
at this point, the band leader acknowledged the upcoming wedding of a girl in vintage flair & proceeded to play a wedding waltz.
now, when an opportunity like this presents itself – you take it, ladies.
i turned around, asked barbara if i might have this dance with Roy, and we were off. he coached me through the whole thing...a one, two, three…a one, two three…. and i added a spin at the end for fun.
i have officially danced with an iowa polka hall of famer.
roy, barbara & their family were quite a treat! roy wanted to take pictures with us & we even talked him into taking some passes at the boot! before they left, they made sure to get our address to send us a wedding card. it doesn’t get much more smile-worthy than that, folks.
i love this picture progression here --- and no, we're not quite sure why ang is grabbing hanson's head. i am all smiles when i'm with my girls. you can see roy there in the background; it looks like he's all smiles, too!
the band packed up, roy & family headed home, the lights dimmed & hip hop music replaced the accordion. in came another bachelorette party that REALLY aged my vintage flair, and their dance party included nothing polka related.
so two boots and a couple steins down, we make our way down the street to dos rios for margaritas. why not. ole! and I still had my m&ms! J
we called up mrs. weber and had her drive us home; we were in the driveway by midnight. to our credit, we had started the day over 12 hours ago. to our discredit, our 21 year old selves would have laughed in our faces. but oh what a gloriously perfect day….at least in this bride’s mind…it was very ‘sarah’ indeed.
AND the chauffer had another surprise for us.
frozen yogurt from orange leaf in the freezer.
that quieted those former selves of ours. or maybe we just couldn’t notice them over the brain freezes. ;)
joel proceeded to tell me that ang is making him look bad. i matter-of-factly responded, "welllll....people ARE asking if they're from my matron of honor before assuming you sent them...." to which he responded with some form of a swear word. ;)
from my darling. :)
