One Incredible (and busy!) weekend!

This past weekend proved to be one hell of an adventure, and also jam-packed! Of course, that tends to be the trend for my request off days from work, and nothing shows me just how scheduled (and used to said schedule) and organized my life is these days. I had an absolutely amazing weekend, with more memories made in less than 72 hours than I typically make in an entire month or two, but all of it certainly made me feel OLD. I used to be the girl who closed the bars and was the last one standing at nearly every party, and I could still be found dancing and laughing as the sun came up more times than not during college. Now? I'm starting to feel a little tired by midnight, and I'm downright bratty by 2 AM. When I'm tired, I'm down for the count. It's kind of pathetic, but it seems to be the way of the world for the 26 year old Kelly. The 21 year old version of me is mighty disappointed in my partying self these days, but five years is a long time and is also cause for a good deal of growing up. While I'm fairly confident I was extremely mature and hard working in college, I'm certain that there would be no way that my lifestyle then would fly in my life nowadays. Alas, thus is the way of growing up.

But I digress. From Thursday on, I hit the ground running every day and still nearly failed to get everything done that a wedding weekend requires. Note, NEARLY failed. Thursday, May 17th started out with a full day of work ending a little after 5 PM, after which I had to rush to my hair appointment at 5:30. Luckily, the cut and the waxing of my eyebrows and lip went by exceedingly quickly, so much so that I was all set to arrive on time to my next destination at 7:00 PM downtown. Of course, I failed to fully take into account the downtown Chattanooga traffic and parking situation, so around 7:30 I ran into the Lookouts stadium to meet friends and family of Jamie for a baseball game/birthday celebration/pre-wedding get together. Once again luck was on my side, because the event proved to be very laid back and very much a come and go as you please kind of affair. After the game, which was really fun and relaxing, I went to get a spray tan with Karen and Kayleigh. At 11:00 at night. None of us had ever gotten a spray tan before, so that proved to be way more hilarious of an experience than it probably had any right to be. A little before midnight, I headed home and was more than ready for bed.

Friday, May 18th, I hit the ground running once again to head to my car insurance building to pay my bill and then it was on to Sassy nails for a well-coordinated manicure and pedicure, both done in a French style to best match the outfits for later that night and also for the following day. I had about an hour to pick up panty hose and jewelry to match my evening outfit before I had to head home to get ready. At 4 PM, the rehearsal started...and at 4:15 when I finally arrived, we quickly ran through the next day's schedule. As I feared, I read entirely too fast (and apparently too quietly) the bible verse I was to perfect before the actual wedding the next day. I stressed about it, as per usual, and somehow lost my copy of it to boot. In reality, this proved to be a blessing since I had to hand write it in order to have a copy for the next day which always makes me learn things much faster. I'm way more comfortable with text in my handwriting than typed out or in somebody else's script. Anyway, I left the truck at GPS and piled in with Karen and Kayleigh to head up to the rehearsal dinner at Rock City at 6 PM. About half an hour after we arrived, the storms set in, but that somehow made it even more beautiful and relaxing. The dinner, which consisted of fried catfish and mashed potatoes among other delicious items, was delectable and amazing, as was the open bar available to us. Jamie's dad and Greg's mom put together an awesome video that made me cry, laugh...and cringe, but only during the parts I happened to appear in for that last adjective haha. It was on to the liquor store to purchase 5 bottles of champagne after that, before heading up Signal Mountain for a sleepover at Jamie's.

May 19th, 2012--Amazingly, we got quite a bit of sleep,and after a breakfast that was too delicious to pass up seconds (okay, thirds), Iz and I got out of the way of the hair and makeup for the bridal party. I took a nap upon arriving at my house, then showered at home, grabbed all of my makeup, hair, and clothing supplies for the day, and raced to my parents' house. There I did my hair before heading to MAC at Hamilton Place to have my makeup done. The MAC employee was amazing, and I walked away from that experience the better part of $100 poorer but looking dazzling. Back at my parents' house, I de-frizzed my hair once more and then put on my GORGEOUS outfit for the wedding. We left on time, and I got to the Hunter Art Museum about half an hour early....just in time to sufficiently start freaking out about speaking in public. Also, my voice was starting to go as I had been getting sick for more than a week, so I prayed it wouldn't give out before I did my reading.  Lo and behold, my voice held up, and according to everybody at the wedding, I rocked the speech. I also cried like a little girl during the ceremony, and was more than ready to party afterwards. And party we did! We also had ANOTHER amazing meal, and I personally downed roughly 12-15 whiskey sours at the reception. I'm pretty sure I behaved myself, if only because I actually remember the entire night--and if I'm correct in that assessment, I have only the hours upon hours of dancing to thank for leeching enough alcohol out of my system to allow the adult in me to make an appearance periodically throughout the night. Haha, I'm only kidding--we all seemed to have just the right amount of fun, and Jamie looked absolutely gorgeous. I can't believe another one of my best friends is married. It makes me so happy in that I want nothing more than to see my friends completely and totally happy, and Jamie certainly is at this point in her life. On the other hand, it makes me sad both because I'm not anywhere close to marriage myself, and because a big part of me still thinks of us as 17 years old, carefree and driving down the road towards nowhere in particular, singing at the top of our lungs with the world at our feet. I think a big part of me will always feel that way. Is it possible to feel like an adult and a kid all at the same time? Moreover, is it possible to live as if you are both for years and years? While I actually enjoy growing up, I hope to always feel like a perpetual teenager when with my GPS best friends. My fear is that perhaps they don't feel the same way.

Anyway...we literally closed down the party (and the bar!) at Jamie and Greg's reception. Last call entailed 2 hurried orders of whiskey sours for me and 3 for Karen, among others. We signed their picture and blew bubbles to usher them into married life. There is another aspect of the evening that took some maneuvering, but until that finished product is up and out, I'm keeping mum about it. Relatively early on in the evening, Iz put my hair up in a french braid because I was BURNING UP (as per usual), and it looked awesome--but I do hope that there are a few pictures out there that show me with my hair down! Also, there were several group shots that I was a part of, but the one headed for the GPS alumnae magazine is one that stands out, mostly because many of us failed to even realize that's what it was for until after it was taken (ie I hope I'm not holding a drink in my hand!), and that brought on a strange wave of nostalgia mixed with that weird combination of happiness and sadness that so seems to run my life these days. Back to the night's progression though--after the reception ended, we headed to Hair of the Dog and had a couple of shots and beers and some much needed snacks after all that dancing. Here's where I turned bratty, and unfortunately sulked instead of really helping decorate Greg's car (it must be said, however, that they did a great job even without my help!), and totally weirded out my date I'm sure. Finally, Kayleigh let us crash at her hotel room, which was awesome because how in the hell was I going to get home? Plus, I got to hang out with Kayleigh and Karen and Karen's parents, brother, and sister-in-law the next day as a result AND get some early copies of photos in the process, so yay for that fortunate turn of events!

Then....I crashed. The sickness I'd been side stepping for over a week set in, and I felt awful all day Sunday and part of Monday when I headed back to work. I'm feeling much better now, so maybe I kicked its butt early enough to not have it plague me forever as illnesses are accustomed to do when it comes to me these days! Now, I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Regularity of schedule helps me, for sure.

At any rate, I had the most amazing time this weekend, and I wish Jamie and Greg a lifetime of happiness. I hope we all stay as close and happy as we were these weekend, and have been for more than 10 years of friendship. I love my friends so much, and I'm forever grateful that they've not only kept me around, but also let me in on these special days in their lives.

Pictures to follow soon, and then scrapbooking will follow suit! Good night all!