Two Weddings and a Gala

One thing I've learned about weddings, as much fun as they are, they are also incredibly tiring.

After leaving Staunton on Wednesday night, I drove back up to DC. On Thursday I got beignets with my mom, got a new haircut, and then helped out (sort of) with the flower arrangements for Kay's wedding. Mostly I stripped carnations of their excess leaves and watched her very talented aunt put together some amazing bouquets.

(New haircut!)

Then we all headed to the church for the rehearsal! That's sort of when you know it's real. We found where the bride and bridesmaids would wait, and saw the groom's room, and then we all proccessed down the aisle, and the priest explained how the ceremony would run. Then we all headed out to Alexandria for the rehearsal dinner. It was held at this amazing Italian restaurant called Geranio's-- I had some amazing cappellini for dinner, and ate more bread than I probably should have. To be fair, since they were constantly refilling our wine glasses, the bread was probably a necessity. Mike, sitting next to me, had drunk more red wine than he ought to have and kept pestering me about our toast before finally conceding that he wouldn't remember much of the night come tomorrow. Brian's dad gave a great toast at the dinner, and everyone in the wedding party was exhausted but happy.

Then Friday! The big day! I don't have any pictures of the wedding yet, so hopefully someone else can provide me with a few. Seriously-- not a single photo of the bride and groom is in my possession. But here's one of me and Mike at the reception in our wedding party clothes!


Anyway, 9:00 AM Kay and the bridesmaids went to IHOP for a quality breakfast, then went shoe shopping (yes, seriously) so the bridemaids could get matching sandals for the reception (they are really cute gold gladiator sandals; I'm super happy with mine), then we spent the afternoon at Kay's getting ready. What a moment when we slipped Kay into her gorgeous white dress!!! And before we knew it, we were at the church and Neena walked down the aisle, then me, then Ann, and then Kay!!!! It was a beautiful wedding mass, and I read the general intercessions and added my own silent petition for Cal, then the wedding ended and we were off to the reception. It was definitely warm outside, but not unbearable, and the dinner was served outdoors under a large tent with beautiful little light bulbs, and after dinner they poured champagne for the toasts and each of the glasses held a beautiful, dainty raspberry.

Mike and I made a toast to Kay and Brian, which, though rather off-the-cuff, went pretty well I think! Mike and I make a pretty great team, and it was easy to make a toast for these two, since we love them both so much. CONGRATS TO KAY AND BRIAN!!!

But no rest for the weary yet! I left DC around 10:30 to drive to Williamsburg, returned around 1:00 AM, and then bright and early the next day Zan and I headed to Richmond for a wedding for a high school friend of his. It was very fun, but completely different from Kay's. The ceremony was held at noon, and the reception ended by 4:00, so we were back in Williamsburg by 6:30. We got Mexican food for dinner, then went to Steve and Tori's Panglossian Productions Gala. By 10:00, I was fading quickly, so I headed home, put on some PJs, and crawled into bed completely happy and utterly exhausted. :)

(PS-- tomorrow I leave for a cruise, so probably won't get a chance to blog/read blogs for a week or so! Hope everyone has a great beginning of August!)

Beginnings and Ends

Today and the next few days mark a dizzying array of some very important endings and beginnings. To begin, today I worked my last day at the ASC as a dramaturg intern. Last night I packed my bags. It was harder than I had expected; last month, as I packed for London, I relished the prospect of escaping Staunton for a few days. Last night, as I prepared to leave the Shakesfear house forever, I did so with a heavy heart. Today I woke up, dressed and went to Coffee on the Corner, and then entered the Blackfriars for the last time as an intern. We had a dress of The Winter's Tale, which went extremely well, so I guess it went out on a high note. Even having worked with the "Almost Blasphemy" tour for only a few weeks, I feel very attached to them. I wish I had time to get to know each of them better. I asked Rick jokingly if it would be alright if I just jumped in the van and toured with them. Leaving this incredible group of people so near the beginning, without seeing all that they have to offer in the next two shows and over the next ten months, feels terribly sad. Hopefully I'll get to see some of the shows over Christmas. How the summer has flown.

But the end of Staunton means the beginning of other things. First the happy: now I'm back in DC for the rest of the week for Kay's wedding!!! And I hope this, for her, will be the beginning of so much happiness! Tonight we are hopefully going for strawberry daiquiris, tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner, and Friday she will be a married woman! I'm certain I will have many pictures and much more to report after the weekend of this wonderful event!

Friday also marks a much sadder remembrance: the anniversary of my brother's death. There is much grief in this, but it's of a more personal nature than I would like to write about on this blog. Suffice to say, I miss him, and love him, and honor his memory. Though Friday will be a day of great joy with Kay's wedding, I know I will also be thinking of Cal, and of my sister-in-law Corinn, and of Sophia and Henry and Bruno. I always thought in church that the most beautiful phrase that could be said for someone is this, "Let light perpetual shine upon them." So I hope, for Cal, that light perpetual shines upon him. It's the most beautiful thing I can think to say to him, what I would want said to me.

Now is a liminal period, a time for remembering, and for weddings, and my birthday coming up, and a few weeks of vacation and Virginia and packing, but mostly the end of Staunton signals the beginning of something else altogether-- Seattle!

What Is My Life

Today one of my friends posted, "What is my life but endless possibility..." And you know what? The past few days I've been feeling exactly that way. It's a good feeling.


(Photo found here; speaking of possibility, anyone want to go on safari with me?)

The Little Things

On Thursday my friend Lauren gave me a bag of tomatoes picked fresh from our friend Brian's garden. There were three big red ones and lots of little orange and red and yellow ones. There's something about fresh produce and being gifted fresh produce... it felt like with my little bag of tomatoes I had an impossible abundance of food and love.

The cast of The Winter's Tale also started learning a dance routine based on Dirty Dancing, which may have given me more joy than anything has in weeks. I also found myself thanking my lucky stars that I didn't have to learn this dance-- choreography and I have never been fast friends. The 45 minute dance lesson, though, was amazing.

On Friday morning I hurried into Coffee on the Corner just before 10:00 rehearsal. I approached the counter, as usual, and the girl said, "Medium vanilla chai latte?" I was taken aback! Have I really been here so much that they know my order? "Why, yes... medium vanilla chai latte. And a cinnamon-raisin bagel with butter, please." (I don't get bagels nearly as often). It felt right, to be a 'regular' somewhere. The sad part is, I only have three more days of vanilla chai lattes before my internship ends and I leave Staunton for newer climes. But that moment-- that little tiny moment-- made me suddenly overflow with love for the town.

Last night I drove to Williamsburg to see Harry Potter with Zan, as we had planned for ages. It was so nice to sit in a darkened theater and just lose myself in a story that I started reading thirteen years ago. Thirteen years! I wasn't overly sentimental-- I didn't cry-- but it was kind of nice to see it all wrap up so sweetly, with the three of them standing on the bridge to Hogwarts (let's just pretend the epilogue didn't happen, ugh).

All This Waiting

Sitting in rehearsal for The Winter's Tale with very little to do, except to wait for lunch hour to come. Then maybe I'll go to Cranberries for an organic wrap. It's raining today, so no sitting outside in the sun, unfortunately. At least today they are working on the happy sheep-shearing scene instead of the depressing trial scene. But it's not just waiting for lunch, or for tonight when I can go home and watch movies with my roommate, it's waiting for the future to come. And that's silly, because I really am trying to live in the present, but lately all I can think about is the future and wondering what it will hold.

Last night an old friend came to visit me, and I told him how tedious this summer felt. He said no matter what I was doing it would probably feel tedious, since I have such a big change coming up in my life. He's probably right. Then he got out his guitar and we sang Simon and Garfunkel songs and it was lovely (listening to people play guitar and singing is my favorite), but even then I found my mind wandering towards the future, rather than fully enjoying the present. Sigh.

Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball.

(But then, who knows how well that would work. I'd probably change my mind so many times that the crystal ball would throw its hands in the air thoroughly confused by me. "Your future changes ten times a day!" it would tell me.)

immortal longings in me

The Winter's Tale has started! Monday everyone met, Tuesday we had the Renaissance run, Wednesday we had the photo shoot (and my mom came to visit!), and today we're doing tablework. What a whirlwind! I really like the new touring troupe. Everyone seems really nice and supportive of each other. And the Ren run was fantastic, which I think bodes well. And I saw Hamlet again last night. Guh. So beautiful.

The only problem with being so close to the rehearsal process is that it's making me miss being in the plays. I haven't wanted to act professionally for years, but being here makes me really long to learn lines, to become engrossed in someone else's life, to perform. To put on pretty costumes. And all of the music at the ASC also makes me miss singing. Sigh. I wonder, if I could do things again, would I try a different path? What might I have done and what might I do? I've been thinking too much lately, of what is and of what could be.

Just the Thing

The past two days have been just the thing to pull up my low spirits. On Friday we had our Hamlet dress and it rocked. Oh. My. Goodness. I was so proud of everyone and wish I had had more to do with the fantastic outcome. If anyone is in the Staunton area during the next few months, I highly recommend this show. Even having only worked on it as an assistant dramaturg, I left the playhouse with a kind of giddy high: I helped with this! After the show, I came home for dinner, chilled for awhile, and at 10:00 or so my roommate, Alicia, and I watched a lot of Pride and Prejudice, and yes, ate ice cream. We didn't quite finish it (we started mid-second-disc), but at 1:00 AM we decided it might be time for bed. Just the thing to lift the spirits!

The next morning I woke up early, made tea, and read Sense and Sensibility out on the porch. At around 11:00, Alicia and I headed to the farmers market. Then I started my drive to Charlottesville to hang out with Grace, and my cousin Josh called me! We ended up talking for probably half an hour and it was wonderful. Nothing like the best cousin in the world to cheer one up! Once in Cville, Grace and I went to Anthropologie and even though I told myself I wouldn't buy anything... I ended up with a pair of linen pants (on sale!) and a really, really nice tailored hooded jacket, which I think will be perfect to wear in Seattle. After parting ways with Grace, I came home to dinner with Alicia and Lauren (another intern), then spent the evening at Mockingbird with the Petersson/Gillies' to hear Zach open for David Wilcox... and to hear David Wilcox, of course. I had never been to Mockingbird, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the music of Zach and David Wilcox, because chill concerts involving a guy playing guitar really make me happy. Hanging out listening to people play music is the best.

On the docket today: ACSTC camp shows, Hamlet preview!

don't feel so low, if the world's still turning

The past couple of weeks have been, frankly, miserable. There's been nothing that I can pinpoint as being absolutely wrong, but I've felt so off. When I think about it, everything is the same as always and, perhaps, better. Hamlet rehearsals are continuing well and I think the show will be amazing; I've met with Glenn about dramaturgy for The Winter's Tale and rehearsals for that start Monday; I've finished doubling charts for Mucedorus and Mother Bombie; I've gotten some reading done for fun this summer; I've watched more 30 Rock than I ever imagined; I feel like I've become real friends with my roommate, Alicia, and a couple of the other interns.

Yet, a lot of days still feel like days where all I want to do is curl up with ice cream and Pride and Prejudice-- the 1995 BBC version, of course. I miss Williamsburg, I miss being outside during the summer, reading by the pool (rehearsals guarantee lots of time in a windowless room). I miss feeling certain about where I stand with people and where people stand with me. My heart is crying out for Captiva Island and the ocean. I'm on edge, a bit, I think about the upcoming move to Seattle-- I start driving across the country in 6 1/2 weeks! 6 1/2 weeks until I've left Virginia, until it's no longer my home, likely for good. At least I have an apartment, and I think it's a nice place and the building manager seems very nice. And I'm genuinely excited for my program to start; I signed up for TA orientation courses yesterday.

Still, I feel more keenly than ever that I'm at a crossroads now and have decisions to make that will affect the rest of my life. Or perhaps that I've already made those decisions. I'm not sure which it is, and maybe that's also upsetting. Everything feels off. A huge part of me wishes I could just leave Staunton for awhile to go visit friends or to spend a long weekend in Williamsburg, or to go anywhere warm and familiar to get my head on straight.

Happy 4th of July!

How did we get to the Fourth of July already!? It always sneaks up on me and before I know it it's the middle of summer and people are waving flags and dressed in patriotic colors and the nights ring with the pop-pops of fireworks going off. Last year I went to the CW fireworks with Zan and we watched St. Elmo's Fire on the magic box and bought hot dogs specially for the fourth. This year... who knows! I'm in Staunton; Zan is visiting. Maybe we'll go see the fireworks at Gypsy Hill Park. The world is wide open I suppose-- the day unplanned.

And, it's silly (especially considering what an Anglophile I am), but in honor of the Fourth of July:



And, because I'm a proud graduate of William and Mary: