Eat, Drink, and Be Married

On Saturday my beautiful friend Emily got married!  Emily and I have known each other for more than half of our lives, and the wedding ended up being a sort of reunion of some of my best and oldest friends.  At one point the make-up artists asked if the bridesmaids knew each other, and we realized that seven of us ten girls in the bridal party have known each other for going on fifteen years or more!  The make-up artist commented that it was rare to see a bridal party that included so many friends made in middle school or high school.  But, we've always been a pretty close group.  These are the friends with whom I don't miss a beat.  I hadn't actually seen Dana for nearly five years, but literally within the first thirty seconds of our reunion she was offering to let me use her berry lip gloss, since the lipstick I had picked up earlier that day was absolutely not a good color on me.  It's a silly anecdote, but it really just felt like I'd come home.  These people, wherever they may be (and since high school we have become a very geographically diverse bunch) feel like home to me.

Enough rambling, though.  I think I'll tell the story through some photos.  Granted, my photo taking was... uneven, at best.  I totally missed getting a photo with Maggie, who I stayed with in St. Louis on Thursday night, or with Christina and her twins.  Still, I hope you enjoy what I did remember to photograph!

First sign I saw at the airport.  Welcome to the Midwest!

 Culver's Double Cheddar Butterburger with onion rings and fries.  I have been a Culver's fan since driving across the country to Seattle in 2011, so when I realized that I had landed in Culver's country on Thursday--and that I had no lunch plans-- I immediately visited their store locator.  I went a little crazy with my ordering.  I got a the Double Cheddar Butterburger combo with fries and a drink AND onion rings AND a chocolate malt.  The guy taking my order seemed a little shocked at all I ordered.

The Missouri River at historic St. Charles.  I forgot to get any photos of the quaint streets of the town where I met Maggie for dinner, but I didn't forget to take a picture of the river.  I grew up on this river, and when I saw it my heart surged a bit and I longed to return to those days.

This trip was jam-packed.  On Thursday I stayed in St. Louis to see friends, and on Friday morning I got up bright and early to drive down to Jefferson City to spend time with the bride-to-be!  I arrived a little early though, so I got to take some time to briefly revisit the old haunts.  Here's Whaley's East End Drug Store, where my mom and I bought innumerable vanilla cokes at the soda fountain.  I also had a chance to drive by the high school, my middle school, and my old house.  But the best part was the few minutes that I spent at Downtown Book and Toy before meeting up with Emily and her fiancee.  I loved that shop as a child, and going in on Friday felt so comforting.  I even bought a few books-- which, no, I do not need-- but that I'm so excited to read.  I got the first in the new Lemony Snicket Series All the Wrong Questions and a paperback mystery called Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones, by Kaitlynn Dunnett, which promises to be perfect for Halloween.

At Shakespeare's Pizza for Emily's rehearsal dinner!  Why am I in jeans and a ratty looking sweater?  Well, because due to a mix-up my hotel reservations for the weekend got cancelled, and I didn't have a chance to check in to my room or change clothes before driving Emily over to the rehearsal!  Don't worry, it all worked out in the end, though it did cause a lot of consternation for me on Friday-- combined with Zan's delayed flight, forgetting my contact lens case and solution in St. Louis, and a million other small 'snafus' that befuddled my Friday.  But look at all of our smiling faces!  Who can be sad when eating Shakespeare's Pizza?  Especially with the Cardinal's winning a play-off game in the background!!!

 The campus at the University of Missouri, Columbia.  When I was little I used to say that the columns had eyes, because their curled tops make them look a bit like E.T.  This picture was snapped quickly with one hand as I ran to our 8:30 AM meet-up spot on Saturday morning, so forgive its poor composition and lighting.

 On Friday night, Emily gave each of us mimosa fixin's as part of our bridesmaid's gift, specifying that we were to use them on Saturday morning.  Things got a bit rushed early on, but once we had made it to the church, gotten our hair and make-up done, and eaten a bite of lunch, we broke into our mimosas!  Such a glorious moment!

 Our bridesmaids dresses all hanging in a row!

 A recreation of a photo from 2005.  Yes, I've known and been close friends with these girls since 2005.  Actually, make that 1999.  And for one of them, 1992.

 Middle School/High school friends all grown up!!!

 Emily and me the next morning at the 'good-bye' brunch at Panera.  She's MARRIED!

There are a few other pictures that I wish I had, but that I didn't take with my phone, like Emily and Chad at the rehearsal, with Emily wearing her bridal Minnie Mouse ears, and a photo of all of us toasting with our mimosa glasses in the make-up room.  I also don't have any photos of the actual ceremony since I was, understandably, occupied with being a bridesmaid.  But I hope you can tell from what I do have to share that it was a wonderful weekend.  

Christina, the maid-of-honor, ended her toast with "To taking care of each other," and Jake, the best man, ended his toast with "To new friends."  I think this encapsulates the weekend: it was nostalgic, full of places and people from my past, and I need to take care of these memories and these people.  I want them in my life forever.  But it's also about new friends, new people, new places, and new events to make into memories.  We're all grown up, and we're still growing, but we're doing it together.