I Am A Negligent Journaler
Is journaler a word? Blogger. The word makes me shudder only slightly, now, not nails down the chalkboard, but like a sliver of ice on my tooth. So many things have happened since my last post. I'm going to refrain from reading it - something I'd ordinarily do after a long hiatus, in order to catch up from an appropriate place in time. However, tonight, I don't want to be distracted by past musings, and instead, will focus on current goings-on. Even if that means I don't begin in the right place.
September has been full of activity, and October promises to be just as packed. I spent the weekend in Livemore from Saturday, September 8th to Monday, September 10th, shooting the rehearsal dinner and wedding of a couple that I met years ago at karaoke.
The rehearsal dinner was in a cave at Wente Vineyards, and included karaoke and dancing, and an open bar! I would have loved to party and sing, but as the paid wedding photographer, but also a friend, I was in the position of being both immersed in the festivity, while also being outside it, unable to fully participate, as the one responsible for photographing all of the important moments. It was a jovial occasion, with relatives visiting from Ireland and England, eager to reminisce with old Irish drinking songs. By "jovial" I mean that they took full advantage of that open bar, and I feared that some guests, if not important members of the wedding party, might be feeling a wee bit unpleasant on the wedding day.
After the rehearsal dinner, I spent an uneventful, but restful night sleeping in the hotel. In the morning, Christina arrived, and we sorted all of our photo gear. Then we headed to the salon to take some getting ready photos of the bride's mom.
Downtown Livermore is a happening place on a Sunday morning in September! Folks were seated at outdoor tables brunching and lunching up and down the street, and I circled around to find parking several blocks away, after dropping Christina off roughly in front of the salon (we couldn't spot it from the street - it turned out to be up a narrow set of stairs, between two pubs).
In contrast with the drab and unassuming entryway, the salon itself was full of light that poured it from tall windows that faced the street. Two of the bridemaids were there, one having just finished with a curly on-the-shoulders style, the other having just started with what would be an intricate up-do, and the mother of the bride - ten minutes late, and nowhere in sight! The stylists were frantically texting the maid of honor, but no one could locate the bride's mother.
Our reason for photographs at the salon not having arrived, Christina and I left to get sandwiches from Mr. Pickles down the street. I got chicken salad. While we were paying (I went to pay for both of us and found that I'd stupidly left my wallet in the trunk of the car), the stylist called us and said that the bride's mother had checked in at the bar at the winery's golf course. She'd had quite a few glasses the night before, and I guessed she was just riding it out for the rest of the wedding journey. We then got a text that the bride was getting ready at the hotel, so, after a mostly failed mission, we went back there and joined her and the bridesmaids at the hotel room. Incidentally, the bride's mother had also ended up there at that point.
The rest of the wedding went by so fast, but was in actuality so long I don't have time to recount it in its entirety. We drove to Wente Vineyards, took more getting ready photos with the men and women, I accidentally left a lens at the hotel, but was able to get in touch with one of the guys, who saved my ass by bringing it to the winery for me.
Shortly before the ceremony, I was upstairs in the bride's suite with the ladies, when we were startled by the blare of the fire alarm. A fully suited fireman came to inspect the space, and he occupied the wedding coordinator at a rather crucial moment, when all of the bridal party was trying to figure out what to do.
Our friend, Lala, sang as the bride walked down the aisle, and the bride and groom's dogs were the ring bearers.
There were many speeches, there was food, much dancing and drinking, and there were quite a few drunk people. All in all, it was a great wedding.
Christina was completely wiped out after the ordeal, and collapsed into bed almost immediately, but I stayed up until quite late in the hotel lobby chatting with the bridal party and wedding guests, until I eventually went upstairs and conked out in the hotel room with Christina.
The hotel was right by a Costco, so I stopped there for some groceries on my way home the next day, and also picked up pearl tea from the Happy Lemon along my route.
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Fast-forward! I spent some of mid-September helping plan two baby showers: one for Brittany, and one for Tracy. Brittany's shower was this past Saturday. It was loosely tea party themed, so I made egg salad, cucumber and cream cheese, and pimento cheese tea sandwiches, as well as fresh British-style currant scones with mascarpone (clotted cream substitute) and jam. We had various teas available in pots, and tea cup and saucer sets. I also ordered a fabulous cake from a friend who is a pastry chef. I would post a photo, but I'm not sure how to do that on Livejournal, anymore.
The shower was attended by Brittany's friends from work, some of our old family friends, such as Adrian's friends, Ravi and Chris, and his friends' moms, my mom's friends, mutual friends of mine and Brittany's, and some of my old friends who are dear to the family as well. Everyone seemed to have a lovely time, and I have deemed it a success!
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Now, Brittany has been texting from the hospital, waiting. Her pre-eclamsia has been rearing its ugly head throughout her pregnancy. Her blood pressure has been consistently high this evening, so her doctor recommended that she come in for monitoring. Hopefully she will be sent home, but she has also been experiencing regular contractions, and as she will not be permitted to labor due to the nature of the scar from her two previous C-sections, if contractions continue, or if the blood pressure doesn't improve, it might be BABY TIME.