Saturday, September 20, 2014

Wedding Reception

In the last wedding-related post, I stopped right after we were introduced to the guests as Mr. and Mrs. (pause) (laughter) (pronunciation lesson) Blacharski (more laughter, cheers). Then we stood around on the dance floor taking pictures and hugging people. We kept trying to break away with the photographer, but everyone kept coming up to congratulate us and asking for pictures, so it took a while. We moseyed outside for official photos, and spent a bunch of time wrangling people into various configurations for pictures. It was lovely, and frustrating, and we completely missed hors d'oeuvres. Thankfully we didn't miss out on all of cocktail hour, because some kind person, I think Ryan, brought me a drink. Our photographer (Kim, from Coastal Moments Photography, who was FANTASTIC) cut everyone else loose so Tony and I could get some couples pictures out by the water, and she got some really fantastic shots. He was starting to get grumpy, and I admit I probably wasn't far behind, but then I would just look at him or my ring or all the people we love chatting with each other, and I was happy again! I think one of my favorite pictures from the entire day (besides the old-lady photo bomb) was a butt-squeeze. Hee hee.

We FINALLY went back inside for food, and honestly I don't remember a single thing about it, except I thought it was great. I'm pretty sure I was the first one in line - after all, someone has to break the ice, right? I sat with Mom and my grandparents and Reed came over for a visit, and I went and mingled at a few different tables after I was finished. I wish I had more time to visit with everyone, but I at least managed to get a few minutes with each person or small group. And of course everyone was really good about coming to say hello to us, too.

Tony and I said a toast, mostly thanking people for coming to share in our wedding day. It was so special to us to have everyone there. After all the hassle and troubles and traveling during crazy rain, I hope it was worth it to everyone else too, but I will forever treasure those memories. I'm especially happy our three grandparents were able to make it. Tony managed to find a round trip ticket from South Bend directly to St. Petersburg, so his grampa didn't have to navigate big airports or worry about changing gates. And my granny and grampa made the 5+ hour road trip with Uncle Spike, though Granny says she's too old to do that again. Aaron said a toast next, talking how important it was to find someone who has your back and is always on your team (shoutout to Lis!), and that he was happy we found that in each other. It was really sweet, and here I am admitting it publicly. I must be getting maudlin in my old age. (Remember how pretty I used to be?)

We opened up the dancing to Etta James' "At Last." I didn't want to dance, and we picked that song as sort of a timeless classic, and I'm glad I did after all. I am not exaggerating how badly I did NOT want to be up there, just us, but...again, I'm glad I did. It felt like forever though! Tony gave me a little spin and I remember looking out at everyone and saying something like, "What, no applause?" and people laughed and clapped. It was easier after that, and Tony even gave me a little dip at the end! Next up was "Celebration" (or "Celebrate;" one of those; you know I'm terrible at songs and musicians) by request of my mom, and all the ladies got up and danced to that one. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the dancing, but I do know that Tony's grampa got out there a few times! He specifically requested polka music, and we passed that request along to the djs. He got his wish, sort of. Knowing nothing about polka music, we just asked them to use their discretion in finding something. And they did...the chicken dance. Cluck cluck! And Grampa knew all the moves and everything! It made us both really happy to see him get out there.

Here's the link to a blog post our djs wrote about our wedding: http://bboyproductions.com/wedding-entertainment-with-dj-charles-the-blacharski-wedding-at-eglin/

I missed the "Mahna mahna" song, as I was changing out of my dress by then, but the last few songs of the evening were really fun. We specifically requested another Muppets song, from the Muppets Movie that was in the theater while we were dating (not Muppets Most Wanted, the one before that). It was "Life's a Happy Song" and I asked for it because, well, it's the muppets and it makes me happy, but also because one of my favorite Tony quotes comes from our movie date to watch that movie. (FYI, "Oh my God, I'm dating Fozzie Bear.") I was smiling for the whole thing, and pretty much everybody got out and danced with us, and it was the perfect ending to the reception!

One of the venue assistants asked if she could keep our centerpieces for her son's upcoming wedding, and I said sure thing. I think my mom kept all of the glassware, and I kept a few of the paper pinwheels and whatnot, but the lady took most of the rest of it. I'm happy to know it was going to a good home and gets to see another happy day! I didn't do a whole lot in terms of break-down, just grabbed gifts and cards and whatnot, as everyone else was super accommodating about helping out. Since we did our "rehearsal dinner" at the hotel at Hurlburt, we went to the "after party" at the other hotel. This is where some of the extended family and high school friends were staying. We started out visiting with his aunt and uncle in their room, then ventured out by the pool for a while. Since I was FREEZING out there, we then moved to the lobby. I'm sure the receptionist was very skeptical about having a dozen or more people lounging in the lobby with wine and cheese and music and silly stories, but we were pretty good. Not too loud and rowdy, just right. One of our guests missed the wedding because he wasn't feeling well, but we were happy to see him at the after party. Sometime after midnight, we went outside to light off some fireworks! And by we, I mean other people, because I went out and watched but of course, true to form, spent a few minutes freaking out about getting in trouble. Some of the guys, who shall remain nameless, went to the Taco Bell parking lot next door and found an open space with no tree branches overhead. The fireworks were great! Everybody should have fireworks at their wedding!

I think we hung out until 2 or 3am; not sure exactly. We finally went back to our room and...slept. Yeah, that's what we did. Until, I dunno, 9 or 10, when we started touching base with people for brunch/lunch plans. We wound up having lunch with a group at a Mexican restaurant, and I don't remember much except there were a ton of salsa options and I thought it was very tasty! Oh, and they had a couple of Abita beers. It always brings a smile to my face to see Abita outside of Louisiana. After lunch, those who hadn't hit the road for home already took off. It was bittersweet, especially saying good-bye to my mom, because I didn't (still don't) know when I'll see her again.

Tony went back to the hotel room for a nap, and I headed out to meet a couple of friends and their friends. I think at an outdoor bar or restaurant, but I just sat and enjoyed the weather and the visit. I did that for an hour or two and then went back to wake Tony up. We met one more friend for dinner that night, and that pretty much concluded our wedding weekend! Many thanks to everyone who helped make it so wonderful.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Uff da, the craziness and hectivity abound

Yes, hectivity is a real word. I made it up just now.

I have been a very busy bee, and it has been a roller coaster-ish couple of weeks. I had some friends come to visit, and we had a delightful time! We did wine-tasting at Villa Sceriman and Enomas, watched a historical regatta in Venice, found the castle in Bassano del Grappa along with the distillery museum, and explored the castle and ruins in Sirmione. We were blessed with terrific weather, and they came back from venturing on their own in Florence and Rome with some good tales and excellent advice. Can't wait for the next round of visitors! Now...who's it going to be, hmm?

Entry to Sceriman
In Venice, near sunset
"Pink ladies" in the Venice Regata Storica

Let's see, I got kidnapped for my birthday and celebrated with sushi, a walk around a street fair, and some really dang good gelato. (My delightful friends also presented me with a fruit tart in Venice to celebrate - there was a candle and they sang to me! Going down in the history books as a really wonderful birthday. I like 32 so far!) Then I tasted more wine and  harvested and stomped grapes at Le Pignole, which might be one of my new favorite places ever. I'm sensing a trend here, with all the vino...Which reminds me, if you like wine and drink a fair amount of it and like trying new ones, you may be interested in the app Vivino. I use it to help me remember what I've tasted, bought, liked, and disliked, and also to get recommendations. You can take pictures of wine bottles and the app will match it with something in its database, and if it's not in the database real live people will research and add it. You can rate wines and compare other people's ratings and pricing information, and it's pretty dang helpful.

First birthday picture!
At the Vicenza fair


Kids running around at Le Pignole
A real, genuine, authentic grape stomp!

I also dog-sat for a friend (the same lovely friend who kidnapped me) for four days, and had a very fun time cuddling and playing fetch. However, I think my favorite gelato place (conveniently located 1/8 of a mile from home) is probably the ONLY gelato joint in the entirety of Italy which does NOT allow dogs. Whoopsie.


I watched the bi-annual Live Chess tournament in Marostica, and had some delicious pumpkin risotto for dinner beforehand. I think there were a total of 12 of us who went as a group, and it was a really fun event despite the rain delay. If anyone is planning a visit in September 2016, I will take you to it!  There were flag twirlers and sword fighters and dancers and horses; the costumes and pageantry were great! Hopefully by 2016 I will understand more Italian and be able to translate a bit of the story. All I got were "La bella regina bianca," a few other chess piece names, and some disjointed words. But I had fun laughing smarmily when everyone else did.

Live chess match in Marostica


Then I battled a mid-term exam for roughly 30 hours, then I got sick, then I got better,  I recorded a bunch of radio commercials for the Local Red Cross, I'm going to a picture framing and matting class tomorrow, and Tony comes home soon! Next weekend: Oktoberfest in Munich!

Verily, life is good.