Monday, Jun. 27, 2005
Clam Bake, Erin's wedding
On Friday night Liz and I had our first legal drink together. I'm 22, but she just turned 21 about two weeks ago. I wasn't impressed with the drinks at Applebee's at all. I had a frozen margarita and Liz ordered a strawberry daquiri. Both of them had huge chunks of ice in them; so big that we couldn't even finish them. The food was good though, and the company was even better so I shouldn't complain so much.
I had heard that the fire companys in town were supposed to be packed on Friday night so I made a mental note to avoid them. They were having an event where you could buy a mug in advance for $10.00, then drink draft beer for free all night long. A lot of people in town were fire company hopping so the regular bars were dead. At the first place Liz and I went to there were only two other customers in there besides us. Then, three guys came in, one sat at a table by himself, and the other two sat next to Liz and I. Liz and I were in the middle and there was a guy on either side of us. They kept asking us if they could buy us a drink. "No thanks, I've got a full one here." They kept persisting to buy us shots and drinks and kept trying to spit their game with no luck.
As soon as Adam and his friends met us there he asked if he could talk to me in private. I admit, it must have looked bad to find Liz and I sitting in the middle of these guys we didn't know. He was jealous and after I thought about it, I would have been a little jealous too. I told him that they just came in and sat down, offering to buy us shots but we declined. I felt bad too because he was hurt. I hate hurting him like that. After seeing the guys hit on me when he was standing right there we decided it was time to go. Some guys have a lot of nerve. They knew he was my boyfriend, but chose to ignore that fact. I rarely ever go out without him because my friends who are 21 and above don't live in the area, so that experience was a little new for me.
The bar that Adam's dad works at is usually packed at 11 o'clock on a Friday night, but there were only a few people there too. We even got a seat at the bar which only happens on rare occasions. They have an electronic bowling game that I love playing. I beat Adam's friend Rick, then he beat me when we played another round. Liz and I were both drinking white russians the whole night but each only had one drink there since we were getting pretty drunk. I kept trying to pace myself because I didn't want to get sick. It's weird because I can drink more on an empty stomach rather than a full one.
Our last stop was to one of the nicer bars in town. There were a lot of people that we knew there so we stayed for awhile. It's nice that I finally get to go out with Liz now that she's finally 21.
The next day Adam got up at 6 because he had to be to work by 7am. I slept for awhile, then went to the mall to look for an outfit to wear to a wedding that I was attending that afternoon. I ended up finding a nice, black dress. I got shoes to match; black, strappy sandals. The entire outfit only cost me $20.00 so I was really excited about it. Plus, I can wear the dress and shoes again. Don't they always says that every girl needs a little black dress? Now I have one.
I met my parents and little sister at their house around 3 since the wedding started at 4. Madison looked adorable. She was wearing a long, light pink dress that had a full bottom with pink sandals. Her hair was in a metal headband that had little, pink flowers on it. Very cute. I like getting dressed up and going out.
The wedding was for a good friend of the family's. My mom has been best friends with the bride's (Erin) mom since before I was born. I was so glad to be attending this wedding because the bride met her husband, Jean, twelve years ago. For awhile they were doing the long distance relationship thing while she was in school and Jean was in the military. In the past there were a lot of conflicts that kept them apart so everyone was really happy that they can finally be together.
Erin's dress was beautiful. It was fancy, but not overdone. It really fit her personality. Her hair was swept up in curls and she had flowers in the right side of her hair. Her bridesmaids and made of honor did not have dresses that matched exactly. They were different styles, but were all a light gold color. The guys all had on tuxes and looked very handsome. The bouquet and boutineres were made from bright, tropical flowers. Her guestbook was different. Instead of just signing your name, you filled out a whole page of questions that asked where you thought her and Jean would be in five years, ten years, what their kids names should be, how many kids they will have, etc. Most people waited until later to fill it out since it took awhile.
The actual wedding ceremony was a little longer than most of the ones that I've been to in the past. It lasted for almost an hour. It was probably nice because most of the time people plan for months and months, then have the ceremony last about 15 minutes and it goes by in the blink of an eye...Three violin players and a flutist were seated in the front of the church playing music as people were being seated. It sounded great. I watched them thinking to myself that I wish I still played the piano. The reason why the ceremony was longer was probably because the pastor actually gave a mini serman that was about twenty minutes long. During that time Erin and Jean actually sat down in two chairs that were sitting up front. They had scripture readings and then the vows. You could just see Erin and Jean's faces literally glowing as they looked at each other with so much love in their eyes.
At the reception, they had horderves like meatballs with blue cheese, fried, breaded olives, chocolate covered strawberries, and shrimp. Everything was setup buffet style. There was no alcohol served, just water, coffee, punch, and iced tea. The tables were set up nicely. It was different because the head table was a long table in the middle of the room with circular tables that the guests sat at all around. There were tropical flowers and trees set up everywhere with tropical flowers and bamboo with a candle in the middle for centerpieces. Erin put everything together and planned everything herself. She did an amazing job.
For the most part, all the guests arrived at the reception around 5, and we all waited patiently for the wedding party to get there so we could eat. The food was good; but different. You went through two buffet lines. This was the first wedding I went to that served pillente (I don't know how to spell it), garlic spinach, and rolled beef filled with artichokes and other vegetables covered in a white wine sauce, bread, and caesar salad. That was the italian meal. For the Carribean meal, they served chicken covered with some kind of pineapple sauce, fresh fruit, among other good food.
After everyone ate, Erin's father put together a slide show presentation of her and Jean when they were kids. Everyone was like,"Aww!!" and of course laughing their asses off at the embarrassing pictures. Then, they did the father/daughter dance. They danced to the song 'My Girl' and even did some of the Temptations moves. They had put together the dance beforehand and it was really cute. It had everyone laughing. Erin and Jean danced together, then it was everyones turn on the dance floor. They played a lot of oldies and a lot of rap music. It was fun dancing. Only at wedding receptions do I get to do the electric slide and the twist. hah
Towards the end of the reception they cut the cake and gave toasts. Jean's mother also made a Jamaican cake for everyone to take home. We each got a small piece that was in a fancy box. My sister Madison and another little girl helped pass them out. The little girl came up to me, holded out the cake and said in a small voice,"Here. Jean's mom made a special cake just for you." It was so cute.
We left shortly after that because it was getting close to around 10:00. When I got home Adam still wasn't done working. He didn't finish until 11. The poor guy worked from 7 am until 11 pm.
Both of us were up before noon the next day. The bar Adam works at was having a clam bake. When I told Liz this, she was thinking about the kind of clam bake when you are in an enclosed space and people are smoking pot, then you get a contact buzz. But it isn't that kind of clam bake. We bought tickets for $12.00 each, draft beer was free, everyone got 20 clams to eat and shrimp, and steak for dinner. There was a lot of drinking going on. I even got into two Texas Hold 'em games. I took third place each time, but unfortunatly they were only playing so that second place got their money back and first place won $50.00. It was a lot of fun though. I'm getting significantly better at that game.
The rest of the night we went for a ride, relaxed, and watched a movie.
My hair is now a little above my shoulders as opposed to down to the middle of my back like it was before I got it cut. I actually like it. Easier to manage too. Adam likes both the cut and highlights; his reaction was so much better than last year when I surprised / shocked him with my red highlights. When I got back from my hair appointment I went with Adam while he applied for a new job. He wants to save some money, buy a jeep and set some money aside. We will need money if we decide to move within the next few years. Not like he doesn't make any money because he does, he's just having a hard time saving it working as a bartender. He's so excited about applying for this job and he knows guys who have worked there for twenty plus years which he used as references. If this is what he wants, I hope he gets an interview.
I have a three day week at work this week....only ten more minutes and day one is over....two more ... just two more ...