Continuing with the Cheers theme of home & family, it’s time to write on the main event of the weekend last weekend:  Maggie & Matt’s wedding!

The blessed event was to take place on Saturday, April 24th – which also happens to be my Aunt Helen & Uncle Byron’s (Maggie’s parents) 29th wedding anniversary.  This is incredibly cute as Aunt Helen & Uncle Byron met at a friend’s wedding, and Maggie & Matt met at one of Maggie’s Boston cousin’s wedding.

So, Saturday morning I slept in.  Which was REALLY nice.  And then Beth, Shaloot, Andrew, Mama & I went to a classic New England diner (Bob was sleeping due to some pretty terrible allergies – plus he had already eaten breakfast).  It was delicious (tho I did lament the fact that grits were not on the menu…) and gave us enough sustenance to pursue the arduous task of primping to prepare for the wedding.

The ceremony was in a small, beautiful church, St. Thomas.

St. Thomas Church

It was really very nice, and Maggie was of course a GORGEOUS bride.  The entire Boston Wyche family looked spectacular, actually.  This is, of course, the standard for Wyche families tho   But it was really very touching.

Uncle Byron and Maggie

Carole, Maid of Honor

Yay, the happy couple!  Congratulations!!!

Maggie & Matt

and the OTHER happy couple

In the receiving line

From the ceremony we of course went on to the reception.  It was an AWESOME good time   It was mostly family, so it was nice to catch up with everyone.  Fun & relaxing & wonderful.  Also…there was an open bar for at least part of the time, so things did get a little rowdy.  Apparently I danced a lot.  But, it was all in good fun.  The toasts were great (Carole’s made everyone cry!) and there was just a lot of love & laughter!

Aunt Helen, Aunt Margaret, & Mama (Aunt Elaine!)

Maggie, Carole, & Aunt Helen

Father/Daughter Dance

Mama & Beth clapping

Toast by the Maid of Honor, Carole

This is my family, y'all

YAY MAGGIE & MATT!

Time to blog about Boston and the Cape.  The Cheers theme song is perhaps the most appropriate means to do so, because a) Cheers is set in Boston  b) sometimes you just want to be with your family (where they all know your name)  c) usually you’re always glad you came to a wedding  d) Cheers is not referenced enough post-80s/90s.

The trip started out hectically enough: I worked all 3 jobs on Thursday & left immediately to drive to Raleigh afterwards, arriving at 1am.  Beth & Shaloot were still up, packing.  After stealing a look at their remodeling ventures, I actually beat them to sleep at the early hour of 2-2:30pm.  We all woke up at 5:30am to make our 7:30am flight, but the odds were stacked against us.  And we missed the flight by literally 8 minutes.  Had any one thing gone differently, perhaps we would have made it.  And perhaps more of this post would be filled with tales of sight-seeing in Bostonia.

But alas, we will simply have to journey there at some later time to really see the city

As it was, it could have been worse.  While we missed our flight, we really only lost 6hrs, we still had plenty of time to make the wedding as we were flying in the day before, and we were only out $150 for all three of us to re-book.  So, after going through airport security a SECOND time (and again explaining that the coffee Beth & Shaloot were transporting was not, in fact, cocaine) we ate a leisurely (and humble) breakfast in the airport, and Beth and I engaged in semi-philosophical discussion, much of which surrounded the various mental illnesses that we may have inherited from our parents, as evidenced by some of our more neurotic shared behaviors.

We flew into La Guardia and landed around 11:40am.  At this point, we had to catch a shuttle flight that runs hourly from NYC to Boston.  The airline lady had told us we probably wouldn’t make the 12:30 and should just be content with the 1:30, but we were determined to try.  And once again, we failed.  This time I am willing to lay the entirety of the blame on the inefficiency of the airport (which I have never done before; usually I am partially at fault for a missed flight, or at least timing was off).  This was the worst security line I have ever been through and completely and utterly inefficient.  But this delay at least gave Sister Dearest some time to interrogate me about my (non-existent) love life, so it wasn’t too bad.  Being delayed isn’t that bad when you have good conversation.  M&Ms help also.

But finally, we made it to Boston and met up with Bob.  We drove around a bit to see the sights, and then got out and walked about in the public gardens – which are BEAUTIFUL.

Tulipalooza

Cherry Blossoming Tree

Nice view

It was quite relaxing – especially after spending so much time in airports.  We strolled about and had some lovely conversation and caught up a little.  We also made contact with my younger brother & mom, who somehow managed to end up on Staten Island, and then drive through all five burroughs, on their drive up from Virginia.  We stopped to check out some pretty kick-ass musicians (the girl was truly the star – and what on earth is that instrument the one guy is playing???)

Badass

After that, we took a foot tour that was a teensy bit circular, but saw some of the more historic sites, like Boston Commons, the Old State House, etc, and ended up at Faniel Hall/Quincy Marketplace.  Beth & Shaloot bought their requisite magnet, and we waited to meet up with Bob’s friend/former boss, Bill.  The five of us grabbed a delicious seafood dinner (Beth & I shared a spicy tuna roll & a spicy salmon roll, and each got tomato bisque.  We also split the best calamari ever with the table).

Outside the tasty restaurant

Mmmm calamari!

The conversation was, predictably, excellent, and we heard some great stories about some of Robert’s escapades (he usually hides them well – or at least better than I do).  Afterwards, Bill treated us all to beer at the tourist version of Cheers (not the actual site).  Mmm.

All of us at Cheers!

Finally, exhausted, we bid adieu to Bill, and embarked on the final leg of our journey: the 1.5hr drive to the Cape.  Luckily we had Flight of the Concords to keep us awake – despite the inherent dangers of having “You don’t have to be/a prostitute” stuck in our heads during the wedding the next day…At any rate, we made it to our lovely hotel, said hi to Mama & Andrew, and promptly collapsed into unidentifiable heaps around 11:30 or so.  Phew.  Plenty of time to rest up for the wedding festivities the following day

it has been WAY too long since I’ve updated.  And as to be expected in almost a full month, a lot has happened.  For one thing, I am now 24.  Which is getting pretty old.  For another, I’ve been accepted to Wake’s MA in Counseling program, and have accepted their offer of admission to enroll in fall 2010.  Which is pretty effing fantastic.

Aside from all of that excitement, there has been the other regular hum and thrum of life: work, hanging out with friends, cleaning, paying bills, reading, watching TV shows on completely ghetto websites, etc etc.  I also took a trip to visit the padres & my baby brother the week before my birthday.  So it’s all been pretty good….

I also have to admit, there has been a lot of food in the past month.  And very precious little exercise.  Oy.  Luckily, it has somehow (thankfully) become spring, so that should motivate me.  I mean, in between hanging onto my current job by my fingernails, frantically job hunting for ANYTHING else (as usual), seeing friends, trying to balance my checkbook, reading obsessively, and sleeping.

Oh, God, I love sleeping.

The past two weeks, I have miraculously & thankfully been sleeping.  Without nightmares.  Which is absolutely outstanding, because the two weeks prior to that were absolutely riddled with nightmares.  I’ve had a few bad dreams here & there, but nothing like the nightmares…which involve waking up in a panic attack and not being able to fall back asleep for an hour or so.  And then of course staying up as late as possible the next night to hopefully be too exhausted to have nightmares (which, it turns out, is not a legitimate remedy).  But I have been sleeping recently, which is wonderful.  I began catching up on sleep when I was quite drugged up on benadryl at my parents’ home due to their acquisition of a cat.  It was at this point I realized why I have always felt so relaxed and exhausted at Sister Dearest’s house: because I’ve been on drugs.  I mean, it’s also really peaceful and they are a lot of fun.  But I’m usually a boring houseguest because I can’t keep my eyes open.

This was not the case at the lovely birthday dinner I had with Beth & Shaloot   We met halfway between our homes, for some somewhat mediocre Mexican food, and ummm I’m pretty sure I talked their ears off.  But I was also kind of excited because I’m pretty sure I met the love of my life at the  Barnes & Noble where I waited for their arrival.  I shouldn’t have to tell you why I suspect him to be the love of my life since it was my birthday, he was super cute, and he works at B&N.  Screw benefits and give me books people.

Uh, I digress.  And I’m just kidding about the love of my life part, because I don’t even know his name.  And this store was an hour away from my home.  Altho, I’m not going to lie, I considered applying for a job there and commuting.  But that has more to do with major work dissatisfaction and less with flirting.  Ok, maybe a little bit to do with flirting.

Anyway, hopefully this rambling post has left you feeling satisfied and a little less lonesome for my presence.  There will be a (coherent) book post coming soon – just have to finished up a quick series here and I’ll get started on it for you   In the meantime, have a safe and wonderful Easter weekend…there is much to be thankful for

I don’t think it’s a secret that I am just a little obsessed with pictures.  In fact I’m pretty sure that, at some point, 95% of the people in my life have been annoyed with my insistence on taking pictures of what’s going on.  But even beyond that, I can literally spend hours looking at old photos.  I love black and white photos.  I love pictures where people aren’t looking at the camera.  I love portraits of individuals.  I love pictures of couples.  I will probably always smile at any picture of a baby.  I can look at pictures that I was never even there for and imagine what was happening, and I can laugh at pictures I am in or that I took and vividly recall the exact situation in which the picture was taken.  And this is pretty much what I have been doing the past three days or so – looking at pretty much every photo of people in my life that I can get my hands on (and you don’t even want to know how many that is).

So, in honor of that, here are some quotes I particularly like about the power of photography…

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created.  It is a major force in explaining man to man. – Edward Steichen

All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget.  In this – as in other ways – they ar e the opposite of paintings.  Paintings record what the painter remembers.  Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it. – John Berger

Have no fear darling readers:  I know it’s been a short while since I’ve written, but you no longer have to wait.  I have returned.  It’s just, what with my oh-so busy schedule of working, sleeping, seeing friends, and reading Harry Potter, there just hasn’t been much time to entertain the blogosphere.

Ok, in reality, life has just been too mundane to be worthy of a post.

But, I actually did something interesting this weekend!  First off, I took 2 days off of work – for a four day weekend!  This is marvelous – and terribly needed.  I was rapidly passing through burn-out and going straight to a hell-fire of existence.  Umm that sounds kind of bitter & whiny, but is actually pretty accurate.

But onto more positive things.

Saturday, for my first day off, I had a lovely time: I slept in, woke up to go straight to a massage, came home and cooked myself a delicious lunch while watching Big Love, and then left for Charlotte with Ms. Jamie Lee and her friend, Karson, to go see the Black Eyed Peas in concert!

Now…I’ve had a rough journey with the BEPs.  And by that I mean that I hated them when they first popped up on the music scene.  Then with songs like “My Humps” they quickly became a (secret) guilty pleasure.  When Fergie came out with her solo album, I pushed her aside into my Britney Spears category: music I very much enjoy but is really only for exercising or dancing around like a fool or singing along to in the car, but isn’t really what I would call “good” music (Sidenote: I do have to say that I have a major soft spot for Britney’s music tho…more evidence that I am drawn to crazy people).  Finally when the Peas’ most recent album, E.N.D, came out, I actually had to start to admit that I like them…or at least a few of their songs.  And that they were good songs.

So this was the mindset with which I was approaching the concert – well, that mindset towards the Peas, and a general “I’m really not a concert person” type of personality.  Previously I had only been to maybe…4 concerts in my life, and while they were kinda fun I’m just, really, not a huge concert person.  Don’t get me wrong – I love my music.  Like love-love.  But I love to enjoy it on my own without the distraction of a million other things/people going on.  Still, Jamie Lee had made me an offer it was really impossible to refuse, so I decided to jump into the fun.

First we ate dinner at Cantina in Charlotte – an INCREDIBLE Mexican restaurant.  We ate: chips & salsa, fresh-made guacamole, fried plaintains (omg so good), and then I ordered enchilads de Dennis (stuffed with chicken, spinach, and a couple of kinds of cheeses).  To drink I had a pomegranate mimosa, and split a pitcher of margarita (which was way pricier than I anticipated…).  It was all delicious.  Highly recommend it.

Next, we headed to the concert; unfortunately, we missed LMFAO’s opening (of “I’m in Miami, Trick” fame) due to the fact that it takes a surprising while to finish a giant pitcher of margarita.  But anyway, we made it to the show with plenty of time for the actual main event.  Now, I’ve heard that the Peas effed it up good at the pre-Super Bowl thing, but I really enjoyed their concert.  I don’t know if it was because the crowd was so huge that everyone was kind of swept up in the music, or if they were just on their game, or what, but it was awesome.  The stage set was pretty cool, and they were really innovative with the way they incorporated technology into the show (not that I’m a huge expert as the most recent concert I went to was Ben Folds, and that was pretty much just him on a stage with a piano).  The costumes were fun, and probably the coolest thing was the way they incorporated improv into their planned performance.   Additionally…it was just fun.  Everyone was dancing and singing along – and BEP def provides good dancing music.  Also…I now have a huge girl crush on Fergie Ferg.  She was so much fun to watch perform.

So, all in all, a pretty enjoyable experience.  And now I’m again on a music explosion kick, which is always fun.  I’ve been spending my remaining days off in Raleigh, and that is always relaxing.  And I get to get laundry done (thanks Sister-Dearest )  And read Harry Potter.  And visit with Beth & Shaloot.  And Cat.   Phew.  Finally a really nice weekend!