short weeks, long weekends
this past weekend was marshall and my "bridal posse getting-to-know-each-other party". i wanted everyone in our bridal party to meet and hang out before the actual wedding. that way when it comes to the rehearsal and the actual wedding, they know each other and can have a good time together. my friends and marshall's friends are nice people all around, so i didn't think anything bad would happen. in fact, it was quite the success. we had 2 people not come, marshall's brother and sister, but they know each other and i'm hoping that his sister will find the time to come up one weekend later this summer so she can meet the other bridesmaids, at least. so yeah, we all had a fantastic time, at least i certainly did. the food my sister and i made turned out to be delicious and disappeared almost as soon as it landed on the table. it was asian-themed finger food, so there were vietnamese veggie spring rolls, lumpia (filipino-style egg rolls), thai chican satay skewers with peanut sauce, japanese beef and onion skewers, and asian-style cabbage slaw. i tried my hand at making some california rolls, but they weren't the greatest. by the time i got to making them, almost everyone had arrived and i was working so hard to get everything out. i think i know how to make them better for next time, but they really weren't that great. my brother-in-law played bartender and made a few pitchers of mojitos and we had a selection of japanese and chinese beer available. we also made a pitcher of cucumber-mint water, which was a success, too. for dessert we had rice crispy treats (both plain and cocoa) and cupcakes (regular- and mini-sized). it was really fun having everyone around. by the end of the night, after we moved the party from my sister's house to the wine bar down the street, i was pretty damn plastered. the same went for my sister and her husband. the walk back to my sister's house ended with a dance party to "roxanne" by the police. we managed to snap a few pictures of my sister and brother-in-law dancing around the living room. it was awesome. :) they really are the cutest couple sometimes.
the weekend also included a few touristy trips around the bay area. marshall's best-man #2 and his girlfriend arrived thursday evening and we spent all day friday in san francisco. we took them along the "death march" from fisherman's wharf to the golden gate bridge. we then walked across the bridge and back. by the time we made it back to the san francisco side of the bridge, we were totally spent. we caught a bus back to fisherman's wharf and had a delicious dinner at the boudin sourdough factory. yeah, it's touristy, but their food is fantastic. we had a really fun time walking around and chatting. since they were staying with us, they were great sports with helping out cooking and setting up for the party early saturday. i am so glad they were there to help!
i wasn't in great shape sunday morning. i was suffering from a raging hangover. our plans with out-of-towners were not over. we made plans with marshall's best-man #1 and his girlfriend to see spamalot in san francisco sunday afternoon. i was feeling horrible and couldn't make it to breakfast beforehand, which sucked, but i was better by the time they came back and was ready to head up to the show. spamalot was tons of fun and definitely made for those who are fans of monty python. it was neat to see them put parts of the movie on stage. the west coast cast included seinfeld's john o'hurley and the original broadway actress who played the lady of the lake. they, along with the rest of the cast, did a fantastic job and i loved every minute of the show. i was tempted to get an evil rabbit hand puppet, but i knew it would only collect dust. my parents ended up going to the same show as us and i got to chat with them before and after the show. my dad loved it (he's the one who introduced me to monty python as a kid) and my mom thought it was hilarious. after the show, we headed back to the south bay to spend the evening at dave and busters. we totally rocked and ended up with more than 2,000 tickets by the end of the night. of course, if you've been to dave and busters, you know nothing good is worth that much. we could have gotten 2 pairs of "platinum" grills, but no one was interested... we parted ways after getting dessert at the local flames coffee shop.
we met up again late monday morning for breakfast/lunch before headed over the hill for a day in santa cruz. i was really happy marshall and i managed to get up early for a long bike ride (about 13 miles). after eating and drinking lots over the weekend and not exercising, i was craving some bike time. anyway, we had some delicious burgers at mojos and headed to the santa cruz beach boardwalk. we got unlimited ride wrist-bands and rode a good majority of the rides available. i chickened out on the "fireball", which is a spinning swing-type ride. i had just eaten some deep-fried artichoke hearts and my tummy was rumbling slightly. i didn't want to risk anything. other than that, we had a ton of fun. we spent the entire day at the park. by the end, best man #1's girlfriend was done (with back problems and everything, all the walking and rides really wore her out) and we were all getting pretty tired. plus, marshall and i had work the next day. before leaving santa cruz, we ate at the palomar restaurant for some yummy mexican food. we got home and said our good-byes. we had a really fun time together and looked forward to seeing them possibly later in the summer.
after the long hectic weekend, i'm back into the swing of things. marshall and i were way too tired for running on tuesday, but we made it to the pool yesterday morning for our wednesday swim. i'm getting a little better with the swimming thing. i think goggles will really help with seeing where i'm going underwater. i still need to work on being more relaxed and getting the rhythm down. there were times when i had it and i was doing well, then i would get water up my nose or down my throat or i would worry about hitting the lane dividers and i would stop. i pushed myself a little harder because i wanted to get at least ONE lap right. the nice thing was that i wasn't nearly as exhausted as i was after last week's swim. i'm a little sore today, my back especially, but i'm doing well. yesterday, i worked from home and did laundy, which probably didn't help my back either. otherwise, i'm doing pretty good keeping to my training schedule. tomorrow is another swim, which i'll do after i get home from work. unfortunately, with all that's going on this weekend, i don't think i'll be able to make my scheduled bike rides and my first "brick" (a 60-minute bike and run right afterward).
this weekend is going to be nuts. saturday morning is the mother-daughter breakfast at my high school. my mom wanted to go and bring along my sister and her daughter (yeah, breakfast club: i won't be there, but marshall will). that's at 10am. then at 1pm is BFF-sarah's bridal shower. since i'm a bridesmaid, i will have to play co-host with the maid of honor. my task was to pick out games. i have to get all my supplies tomorrow and get everything set up (luckily, i don't need much). i don't think it'll be more than a couple of hours, of course i'll help clean up afterward. marshall and i are signed up for the 9pm heroic naxx run that night, so i'm fairly certain i'll be available. sunday is father's day and my mom's family has put together a reunion of sorts. we're meeting for appetizers and drinks at my mom's cousin's house before headed to dinner at a south san francisco italian landmark restaurant. apparently my mom's family used to go there for family dinners all the time when they were all little. it should be fun, but it is an all-day affair so i'm assuming i'll be exhausted by the end. i might be able to fit in a bike ride sunday morning. at least i can get the bike ride in, i won't feel so bad about missing my first brick.
so yeah, i'm in for another quite busy weekend. whew!
+_+_+
on a sadder note, i received an email from my friend nicole that our friend pat passed away on monday. for those who were present at our futurama halloween party a few years ago, pat played our suave and handsome zap brannigan. he had cancer when he was younger (i believe it had something to do with his spine, which is why he walked with a cane), but within the last 6 months or so, cancer had come back and hit him really hard. he was originally living in the bay area, but soon he had moved back to be in his hometown in socal. during this time he was in and out of the hospital and then the last month he never left the hospital at all. i didn't know him all that well, but whenever we would hang out with nicole and jesse he was always there and having a great time. marshall and i bought him a jug of moonshine for his birthday a couple of years ago, i believe. he enjoyed that gift, although i don't think we ever opened it... :)
anyway, he was a really cool guy and will definitely be missed.
the weekend also included a few touristy trips around the bay area. marshall's best-man #2 and his girlfriend arrived thursday evening and we spent all day friday in san francisco. we took them along the "death march" from fisherman's wharf to the golden gate bridge. we then walked across the bridge and back. by the time we made it back to the san francisco side of the bridge, we were totally spent. we caught a bus back to fisherman's wharf and had a delicious dinner at the boudin sourdough factory. yeah, it's touristy, but their food is fantastic. we had a really fun time walking around and chatting. since they were staying with us, they were great sports with helping out cooking and setting up for the party early saturday. i am so glad they were there to help!
i wasn't in great shape sunday morning. i was suffering from a raging hangover. our plans with out-of-towners were not over. we made plans with marshall's best-man #1 and his girlfriend to see spamalot in san francisco sunday afternoon. i was feeling horrible and couldn't make it to breakfast beforehand, which sucked, but i was better by the time they came back and was ready to head up to the show. spamalot was tons of fun and definitely made for those who are fans of monty python. it was neat to see them put parts of the movie on stage. the west coast cast included seinfeld's john o'hurley and the original broadway actress who played the lady of the lake. they, along with the rest of the cast, did a fantastic job and i loved every minute of the show. i was tempted to get an evil rabbit hand puppet, but i knew it would only collect dust. my parents ended up going to the same show as us and i got to chat with them before and after the show. my dad loved it (he's the one who introduced me to monty python as a kid) and my mom thought it was hilarious. after the show, we headed back to the south bay to spend the evening at dave and busters. we totally rocked and ended up with more than 2,000 tickets by the end of the night. of course, if you've been to dave and busters, you know nothing good is worth that much. we could have gotten 2 pairs of "platinum" grills, but no one was interested... we parted ways after getting dessert at the local flames coffee shop.
we met up again late monday morning for breakfast/lunch before headed over the hill for a day in santa cruz. i was really happy marshall and i managed to get up early for a long bike ride (about 13 miles). after eating and drinking lots over the weekend and not exercising, i was craving some bike time. anyway, we had some delicious burgers at mojos and headed to the santa cruz beach boardwalk. we got unlimited ride wrist-bands and rode a good majority of the rides available. i chickened out on the "fireball", which is a spinning swing-type ride. i had just eaten some deep-fried artichoke hearts and my tummy was rumbling slightly. i didn't want to risk anything. other than that, we had a ton of fun. we spent the entire day at the park. by the end, best man #1's girlfriend was done (with back problems and everything, all the walking and rides really wore her out) and we were all getting pretty tired. plus, marshall and i had work the next day. before leaving santa cruz, we ate at the palomar restaurant for some yummy mexican food. we got home and said our good-byes. we had a really fun time together and looked forward to seeing them possibly later in the summer.
after the long hectic weekend, i'm back into the swing of things. marshall and i were way too tired for running on tuesday, but we made it to the pool yesterday morning for our wednesday swim. i'm getting a little better with the swimming thing. i think goggles will really help with seeing where i'm going underwater. i still need to work on being more relaxed and getting the rhythm down. there were times when i had it and i was doing well, then i would get water up my nose or down my throat or i would worry about hitting the lane dividers and i would stop. i pushed myself a little harder because i wanted to get at least ONE lap right. the nice thing was that i wasn't nearly as exhausted as i was after last week's swim. i'm a little sore today, my back especially, but i'm doing well. yesterday, i worked from home and did laundy, which probably didn't help my back either. otherwise, i'm doing pretty good keeping to my training schedule. tomorrow is another swim, which i'll do after i get home from work. unfortunately, with all that's going on this weekend, i don't think i'll be able to make my scheduled bike rides and my first "brick" (a 60-minute bike and run right afterward).
this weekend is going to be nuts. saturday morning is the mother-daughter breakfast at my high school. my mom wanted to go and bring along my sister and her daughter (yeah, breakfast club: i won't be there, but marshall will). that's at 10am. then at 1pm is BFF-sarah's bridal shower. since i'm a bridesmaid, i will have to play co-host with the maid of honor. my task was to pick out games. i have to get all my supplies tomorrow and get everything set up (luckily, i don't need much). i don't think it'll be more than a couple of hours, of course i'll help clean up afterward. marshall and i are signed up for the 9pm heroic naxx run that night, so i'm fairly certain i'll be available. sunday is father's day and my mom's family has put together a reunion of sorts. we're meeting for appetizers and drinks at my mom's cousin's house before headed to dinner at a south san francisco italian landmark restaurant. apparently my mom's family used to go there for family dinners all the time when they were all little. it should be fun, but it is an all-day affair so i'm assuming i'll be exhausted by the end. i might be able to fit in a bike ride sunday morning. at least i can get the bike ride in, i won't feel so bad about missing my first brick.
so yeah, i'm in for another quite busy weekend. whew!
+_+_+
on a sadder note, i received an email from my friend nicole that our friend pat passed away on monday. for those who were present at our futurama halloween party a few years ago, pat played our suave and handsome zap brannigan. he had cancer when he was younger (i believe it had something to do with his spine, which is why he walked with a cane), but within the last 6 months or so, cancer had come back and hit him really hard. he was originally living in the bay area, but soon he had moved back to be in his hometown in socal. during this time he was in and out of the hospital and then the last month he never left the hospital at all. i didn't know him all that well, but whenever we would hang out with nicole and jesse he was always there and having a great time. marshall and i bought him a jug of moonshine for his birthday a couple of years ago, i believe. he enjoyed that gift, although i don't think we ever opened it... :)
anyway, he was a really cool guy and will definitely be missed.