My mother’s cousin got married in Staten Island, NY last weekend.
Friday Sept 25 Woke up at the very ass-crack of dawn in order to catch our 7:50am flight. It was on time and there were no screaming babies.
We landed in Philadelphia a little too early for lunch, but that didn’t stop me from demanding a Philly Cheesesteak at 10:45am. I rationalized that we had breakfast at like 5:30am or some ungodly hour, and Adam watched in horror as I pressed the CheezWhiz button on the really cool automated ordering kiosk.
Our connecting flight to Newark was also on time and devoid of screaming babies, but the fact that we were on a Dash 8 and I was in the window seat next to the propeller made me want to scream like a baby.
After a flight that felt like a ride on Space Mountain, we landed in Newark and took our free shuttle to the hotel in New Jersey. We were the first people in our party, so we got a free room upgrade. Score. We had a few hours before we had to go to the rehearsal dinner, so I took my time getting ready and admired the view from the hotel room window.
Me & Sis at the rehearsal dinner
The rehearsal dinner was nice. If you’re looking for some good Penne Ala Vodka on Staten Island, I highly recommend Cielo on Hylan Blvd.
Saturday Sept 26 Had a decent breakfast at the hotel and drove into the next town over to do some last-minute shopping at Target and Marshalls. I found a suitable clutch purse at the former and my grandma found a nice shawl at the latter. We had some really good pizza in the Polish area of Linden, NJ.
My sister and her boyfriend met us at the hotel and we all drove to the wedding together.
Look at how freaking cute they are!!!
The wedding was at the Richmond County Country Club and it was absolutely beautiful. Since the bride is Jewish and the groom is Catholic, they had a priest and a rabbi to do the ceremony. Afterward, I saw them walking to the bar together. Just kidding, that was a bad joke (that I’ve told about a thousand times since then). But seriously, they did have both and it almost seemed like they were trying to upstage each other throughout the service.
The hors d’œuvres course was so good that we were almost too full to eat dinner. Luckily, we had some downtime while we listened to some toasts. My mom, the matron of honor, gave a pretty good one. But the star of the evening was the bride’s best friend. Very quickly, it became clear that this woman was infatuated with her. I never thought I would hear the phrase “my blood is exploding in my veins” at a wedding, and yet, there it was; coated in a thick Russian accent and making me bite my tongue to keep from cracking up at the table.
At one point, my sis leaned over to me and asked “Are you keeping your head down so you won’t laugh?” I stifled a giggle and nodded my head vigorously. Dinner was great, as was the band/dj.
Party in hipster-ville: Williamsburg (via atomatic)
While we were in NYC, one of my friends from high school was having a party at his apartment in the Brooklyn/Williamsburg area and I got to see a few of my friends from the old neighborhood (Cooper City, FL - Someplace Special).
From left to right: Tati, me, Brett, Jared, Jeso.
Missing in this picture: Ruthie, who also lives in NY but told me that Brett’s apartment was too far away and that she “doesn’t really party late at night anymore.” I think the last time I saw her was three Thanksgivings ago when we were all in town spending the holidays with our families and we had an impromptu get together at her house.
I suppose it was a good thing that she didn’t join us last week; one less person to bare witness to my bizarre mini-meltdown when Tati mentioned that her older brother’s wife was about to have their second kid and I broke into tears. “Ahh, this is so weird. I’m sorry, I don’t even know why I’m crying. It’s just that I remember when we were kids and he would make bubbles for us out of dish soap…” Tati handled my babbling with grace and even shed a few sympathetic tears.
A good, nostalgic crying jag in the privacy of your own home is all well and good from time to time. In the middle of a party, surrounded by hipsters? Not so much.
Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill (via decycled)
Probably one of the coolest things we saw while in NYC (I still have to post about the ZOMBIES!!!). I’m kinda sad that I didn’t stick with the “documentary host” act once we got inside, but I was just too excited to think.
