Wendy Goes West Day 2

[wendyzski]

My alarm woke me at 7:15, and there was just no way. There was a kind of group-bonding grape-picking expedition that I had signed up for, and really wanted to do, but I guess at the age of 38 I can no longer do 20-hour days and perk back up the next morning. So I called over to the swanky hotel and left a message that I was wimping out, and went back to sleep for a few more hours. Got up around 11, had a nice leisurely shower and primping time before heading across the street for a fortifying snack before catching the bus up to the site for pictures.

The weather was gorgeous - sunny with a nice breeze. As we waited our turn for the interminable "Now I need the couple and both mothers…" photo sessions, we were served a delicious minted iced tea with orange juice. I MUST figure out that recipe! Then we had to play hide-the-bride, because the rest of the guests were turning up.

Now, I knew that I had been asked to "do a reading". What they didn't say is that it was THE reading - as in I would be the only one except the officiant doing much of any talking. Oh - and I had also assumed that there would be something for me to read from. Ha ha - wrong there! Luckily I had copied the poem in question into my Pal Pilot in order to go over it on the plane. So I stepped up there (after kicking over my 'purse' - a Ghastlycrumb Tinies snack box - so it made a loud noise) and proudly read the poem from the screen. At least my cool Bald Mountain Leather cover sort of matched my dress….

Both moms wore burgundy, and almost the same shade, though completely different dresses. The bride' s dress was simple, drape-y and elegant. The bee-dress wasn't as scary as it had looked in the previous pictures. My mom started crying as she got escorted down the aisle - I come by my marshmallowness quite honestly. I blubbed a little, but choked it down until after I got my reading done. Then I sobbed with the best of them. My little brother is like all grown-up and stuff! There was a loud bird of some sort snorting all the way through the ceremony, and I missed photographing the HUGE bumblebee that landed briefly on the Best Man's boutonniere. All the candle stuff worked out well, probably because I had warned the Best Man that he was to be on-call with a lighter should any unpleasant omens occur. (I know some of you were at the Mark/Melissa wedding). The pulled stuff from several different traditions for the wedding - some Jewish stuff, some Catholic stuff, a lot of 'Melissa & John' stuff. They did one really neat thing - the rings were passed amongst the guests, the bride's on the groom's side, and vice-versa. We were each asked to hold it for a moment and wish them well, say a prayer, give a blessing, or whatever. The rings ended up in the hands of both mothers, who then handed off the rings to the Best Man/Matron of Honor at the appropriate moment.

Then we were done, it was over, and we were all processing out. John & Melissa went off for a brief time alone where they would share their first food and drink as a married couple - a Jewish tradition that I heartily approve of! The rest of us went down to cocktails (yes - more wine!) and snackies. Now, I had promised myself that I was going to try to eat most of the weird food - I mean, they had obviously gone through a LOT of effort in picking it. But I'm afraid I still can't wrap my head around eating foie gras. The fact that it's liver is gross enough, but add in the force-feeding of the animal aspect, and it just disgusts me. I did try some of the other things, though. 'Beggars Purses' were little won-ton skin faire-purses about the size of my thumbnail, filled with caviar and crème fraiche. But the yummiest were these little crispy cones filled with sashimi tuna and fish eggs, and presented standing in flat bowls of black sesame seeds. Delicious, though a fair number of the sesame seeds ended up down the front of my dress. There were several wines, including a german-style one that sounded like a sneeze (Gerwurtevine?) that was lovely - sweet but not sticky. Between my mom's bad ankle and my uncle's bad knees, it was left to me to do the mingling on behalf of the Z-clan. Spoke with a lot of Melissa's friends, all of whom look like CA Barbies - healthy, tall, lightly-tanned, slender, blonde-ish either shoulder-length or in an up-do, in black cocktail dresses and sunglasses. It made telling them apart pretty tough.

Then it was in for dinner and - you guessed it - more wine. I sat between the bride's maternal grandmother and her father. Henrietta is 91 years old, and nothing surprises her any more. I made a point of telling Melissa that, since John and I didn't have grandmothers any more, it was nice of her to bring enough to share! Appetizer was an eggplant/tomato tarte tatin, which I ate despite not liking either tomato or eggplant. I needed SOMETHING with all that wine. Dinner itself was duck and a butternut squash bread pudding that looked like a little corn muffin. Both were very tasty. There was a cheese and port course. The port was wonderful, and I smuggled a small bottle out under my sweater at the end of the evening! There was a sign by the cheese table that told you what the cheeses were, but not which name went with which cheese. There was a square brie-like one, a round slightly firmer but still runny one, and something with small holes in it. I leaned over to the bride's nephews (aged 10 & 14) who were eyeing the table dubiously, and whispered "It's okay, I have no idea what any of it is either." I never did get to dance with my brother. At one point, all the U Penn graduates got up and sang a little song that involved throwing bread at people. Wow - All I got from Northwestern was an aversion to football and a slight allergy to the color purple.

Then we took the bus back. In the dark. The winding roads were nearly vom-inducing before we started drinking - as it was we were all very quiet on the way back (though I did wonder out loud if, with all the monogrammed stuff they had at the wedding, if we would find little color-coordinated barf-bags under our seats.) Then out of the uncomfy shoes and into some more "me" clothes (A ren-radio T-shirt, jeans, and china flats) for the "after-party". Even found some actual beer! Apparently my brotehr has married into a family of would-be Broadway stars, as the drunken singing around the piano soon proved. The fact that none of them knew most of the words didn't seem to bother them. Then they discovered that I knew them all (it was mostly show-tunes) and they had me calling lyrics for them. I still got in a few show-off pieces by myself, and proved that I still have a piano-bar 'belt' when I need to! Had a few moments to spend with my brother, between the stinky cigars that is, then back across the street to bed. Pity I still had 9 drink tickets in my pocket. Zzzzzz.


NEXT EPISODE - Green omlettes, bus confusion, CA drivers, and some nice boring food.

Comments

[that-david.livejournal.com]

At one point, all the U Penn graduates got up and sang a little song that involved throwing bread at people. Wow - All I got from Northwestern was an aversion to football and a slight allergy to the color purple.

Ahhh...the hallowed traditions of the Ivy League. *snicker*

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

I like the ring ritual.

Food sounds wonderful
Gewürztraminer is the wine

We have had an amazing reisling recently you should try (it is about $12 a bottle so not to expensive)
Baron Knyphausen Riesling 1998