You've Never Been Right

Sunday, Darling Meg and I met up with some of our regular ladies for a bridal shower for Shannon!


The meet up was at Brooklyn's - perilously close to Invesco...home of the Broncos.

I know the most amazing women. Darling Meg was doing what she does best!

It's a must to have Mic around...seriously.

SHANNON - the bride to be...
Apparently, Russell - the groom to be, was at home reeling from the effects of his bachelor party!

Anika, of Hemi Cuda fame, was there! She regaled us with hilarious tales of her husband's bachelor party. It consisted of her husband being duct taped to a chair and shot with a pellet gun!

We noshed on deep fat fried/covered with cheese goodies...

Steph showed up looking spicy despite her 5 hours of sleep!


We all gabbed and laughed and threw back late afternoon beers - we had the whole joint to ourselves!

Sonya, the maid of honor, kept the party lively by forcing Shannon to wear a crown. Something she is fundamentally against.

Double trouble...

Knife weilder.

Sonya made a toast!


SUPREME COMBO!

The presents were opened...there were aphrodisiac cookbooks...

....and lacey eye patches.


Wedding hat.


This wedding is sneaking right up on you Miss Shannon - and it's going to be dreamy fantastic!
xox

Too Cute To Puke

I met another insect beastie.

This fellow was on top of my car...

He let me take a couple pics of his funny face.
He was a little temperamental when I rushed him off.
I suppose being a green leaf bug in a world of changing leaves can stress a fellow out.

You Don't Have to Wait Until You Die

Nothing better than stopping at Streets of London on a Friday for a Boddington's with some of my ladies!

Mic showed up.

Mama Kel orchestrated the whole thing!

We all had places to be...
Me? I was headed to Dia de los Muertos & Flamenco Gypsy Souls at the Lakewood Cultural Center!

Flamenco Dancers!

The dancers at the with Fiesta Colorado Dance Company are home grown in Colorado and are perpetuating their legacy and talent to all ages of interested dancers.
It's inspiring!

Maura and I whispered back and forth to each other about how we wished we could dance like they did. How we wished we had dresses that looked like theirs did.

We also whispered back and forth about gender issues in Latino culture.
This is why I love Maura.

Sadly, I wasn't able to take any pictures of the Day of the Dead dances...some usher asked me to put my camera away.

BUT...this gives you a reason, Colorado residents, to go to the Lakewood Cultural Center and see the Fiesta Colorado dancers!
BAILA CON VIDA!!

After the dancing, Maura and I met up with my baby sis...

Yep, that little sweet potato came back!

We hit the Atomic Cowboy because we hear a rumor that Shanda Swank was working over there!

It was true!
I love this lady!

Some Malibu Rum representative asked us to shake her coconuts.
Maura captured me amidst my coconut selection.
I can't explain my face.

My sister isn't afriad...

And she has a very particular selection process.

We threw back several free rums...


...ate the famous Atomic Cowboy's garlic fries...

And went back to my place for Twin Peaks episodes and a slumber party.

CRAZY ON YOU!

Sorry, I had to.

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

The title of this post is a Germaine Greer quote...she may have it right...

She also said, "If you think you are emancipated, you might consider the idea of tasting your menstrual blood - if it makes you sick, you have a long way to go, baby."

Regardless of all that, the remaining part of my trip to San Fran was occupied with hanging heavy with my family and going to Nick and Mami's wedding.

The church where they were married was lovely...probably one of the oldest buildings in the Burlingame , CA area.

Sadly, I took more pictures of the outside of the building than the actually wedding itself. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't get a good picture to save my life. I wondered if perhaps God was thwarting me. I'm surprised I wasn't struck by lightening.

There was a little wedding drama, but we retreated back to the Embassy Suites for the reception and I reassured my Aunt Charlene that as soon as we got a couple champagnes in us we'd be golden.
And I was right. I'm always right about that sort of thing.

Guest.

This is my lovely cousin Stacy and my Aunt Charlene. I come from good looking people.

That's my cousin Minnie in the middle - I caught very few pics of Min that didn't have her eyes closed and her mouth open.

This was the part of the evening, prior to the dinner, where I drank approximately 10 glasses of champagne.

Sadly, being below sea level works against a girl from Colorado! I worked harder than ever have to get hammski'd, but to no avail.

Mami, the bride, is from Japan. Her parents, brother, and some aunts and uncles came all the way from Japan to be at the wedding.

This little beastie was there too! This is Lily - she melted down in the midst of her flower girl duties. Still, she is the sweetest little peach you've ever seen!

Britney, Lily, Jack and Wes belong to my cousin Stacy. They are all gorgeous and hilarious.

Here's their family with their grandparents. Rob, Stacy's husband, was watching a football game in a hotel room somewhere and drinking Grey Goose and Sevens - smart guy...

I love this!

The wedding party and the married couple!

This is Wendy with my Aunt Char. She was my dancing partner. Her son is in a punk rock band!

Isn't my cousin Nick adorable? He's always been this cute.

Mami's lovely dress.

Nick and Stacy.

Aunt Char and her ex-husband Jack. Jack was cracking me up all night!

Apparently, the new thing in weddings is to learn a classic dance and do it for your family and guests.
Nick and Mami tangoed...and they were amazing!

No one believed Nick had it in him!

Mami was elegant and poised!

SO CUTE!

There was more dancing with the parents...Aunt Char and Leno had a slow dance with the couple.


Then the typical DJ wedding get downs started.
I'll admit, I danced, but mostly to Bizarre Love Triangle and anything by Justin Timberlake or Rhianna.

I like to think that I'm not the only one that will never ever again be caught doing the patented YMCA dance.

I sat a lot of it out and swilled red wine.

And I gave Lily a tickle scratch when she was crying because her mom was doing the Humpty Dance.

Mami's family stood up and spoke about their love for their daughter and how safe they felt leaving her behind in the States with Nick and his family!
Total tear jerk.

Then the comedy started again when Minnie and Nick did their interpretive dance to "Beat It".

Seriously, it was pretty awesome!

The dancing continued...



And then Jack and Wes stole the show!

It's genetic I'm pretty sure...

They blew some minds!

After all this celebration, Aunt Char and I went back to our hotel room and crashed out.
I may not have been drunk, and again...not for lack of trying, but I was tired.

The next day I got up and had breakfast with my Aunt, got packed, and stepped out into the sunny, humid San Francisco air one more time before I flew back to DenvCO.

It's really lovely there. Dreamy. Perfect in so many ways...

But I'm a Rocky Mountain girl...
My plane ran late, but it gave me some time to finish up my Chuck Klosterman book. He's got his moments.

And I was met by Sexy Rexy Swank at DIA...where I started in the first place.

Special thanks to Aunt Char, Robb, Wendy, and Kelly and Rex for taking such good care of me!

Congrats Nick and Mami!
xox