Here it is, the obligatory weekend wrap-up from this past weekend.
Friday: First of all, it was gorgeous. GORGEOUS outside. The perfect day for a road trip. Sunny skies, warm temps, happy people, good tunes--perfect ambience. Oh yeah. The ride down was uneventful. It took the normal 5 hours to get there. No worries, no troubles. Mr. Nate is a fabulous driver. =)
Once we got to Traverse City we were on a mission to find our hotel. We drove past allll of these gorgeous resorts and cute bed and breakfasts and nice-looking chain hotels until we got to.....Motel 6. Yup, we vacationed at a Motel 6. Classy, I know. It was cheap, that's what Christy was looking for. It's what we all were looking for. (We also took a slight detour into the projects area of TC on our search for our hotel. We got wrong directions, but got to see some stunning houses. *razz*)
We ate at bd's Mongolian Grill for dinner. I ADORE that place. So yummy. Christy and I were flirting with the waiter in hopes of him giving us the cool "You Rule" glasses they have there. No such luck. I was also dared to give Phil/Rob (our waiter--we couldn't remember his name!) my phone number. I did. Christy wanted me to invite him to the wedding. Um,no. But he now has my number. He hasn't called, but I gave it, so mission complete.
When we got back to our incredible resort we went to the pool area. Amazingly enough, there was a pool area. Too bad it was dis. Gus. TING. The bottom of the jacuzzi had rust and grime. And there was random plant foliage around the pool to make it seem classier than it was. It was so funny. We had a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" type of photo shoot in there, complete with water ballet, jacuzzi shots and a pic of me humping a fake palm tree. We are nothing but class.
Saturday: Hannah's wedding. The pinnacle of the trip. I hadn't seen Hannah in nearly a year, so I was quite excited to go. I was really disappointed because I didn't get to talk to her much. And I was faced with the reality that we really have grown apart--we're literally in two different worlds now. I still love her to bits, but I'll never be able to recapture the moments I had with her.
The wedding was really really formal. It was in a Missouri Lutheran church, so it felt Catholic. And there was quite the charming sermon in the middle of the ceremony. I zoned out during it but I remember something about wives submitting to their husbands blah blah and then that life is short and we all live in sin. I was quite inspired by it.
Hannah looked beautiful though. She looked like a girl, which was shocking--hee. *grin* Her new husband seems really quiet. You can tell he's entraptured by her and cares deeply for her just by the looks he gave her and by the way he treated her and did little things for her the whole day. So sweet.
At the reception there was 6 of us that were 20-something. We were the youngest ones there. Essentially we were the kiddy table. There was a camera on every table, as well. We collectively decided to liven up Hannah's wedding photos by doing mini photo shoots. It involved everyone piling into the mens' and womens' bathrooms for semi-risque photos. There was massive dorkiness involved, but we wanted Hannah to be able to look back on this and smile and know that she has wicked awesomely dorky friends. All in the name of friendship.
After the wedding we drove down to Hillsdale, to Christy's house. It was about a 4 hour drive. Half of the entertainment on the drive down was a massive argument that ensued from the enchanted couple. I was charmed--so charmed that I blared John Mayer on my headphones at full blast for the better part of the journey. And I could still hear them better than I could hear the lyrics to "Wheel."
Needless to say it wasn't the greatest part of the trip. What really got to me was that the hostility was quite thick by the time we pulled into Christy's driveway. Nate went in and Christy and I were pulling our bags out of the trunk. I wanted to know if she was ok and she started letting off steam, which is understandable. I asked then if she had tried to compromise. She looked at me and snapped "I don't need advice from YOU."
Um, ouch.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the moment that has stuck with me the most from the trip. Not the wedding or anything else, but the moment when Christy massively insulted everything I am in under 6 words.
I don't remember the rest of the night except that Christy and Nate argued some more before bed. I later found out that Nate won....but really I think Christy won it in the end.
Whatever.
Sunday: Church. Yay. I didn't really want to go, but was honestly happy I did in the end. It was a cool church--laid back and friendly. Massive annoyance reigned though, as The Passion of the Christ was mentioned 4.5579 million times during the sermon. As well as brought up in conversation 78.239999 gabillion times during the duration of the trip. Which is fine since it's so "controversial" but it got to be old news after a while and my brain zoned. A LOT.
We also helped plan and execute a covert surprise bday party for Christy's grandma that afternoon. It was cute--30 old women sitting around eating cake and discussing the olden days. So cute. Plus there was yummy cake and to-die-for ice cream, so all was well.
I also got to play pool with an old guy that looks like Elmer from Crank Yankers. That was cool.
We drove to Nate's house that night and got there at 9:30ish. He surprised his parents--really surprised them. They had no idea he was coming. They were even more shocked when he came toting Christy and me with him. They were excited to see him and welcomed us, but then asked where we were staying.
Um, there at their house. It was quite an uncomfortable moment. They covered it well--his parents are really cool and extremely nice--but if there was a moment that I could have wished for the floor to swallow me up, this would have been it. (And I could see it in Christy's face plainly: Itoldyouso-Itoldyouso....Iknewit-Iknewit...)
We visited for a bit after the uncomfortable moment, then his parents went to bed. There was a bit more arguing--I was kind of in on this one because I felt like crap from the situation--but it was quickly talked through, thank GOD.
Christy and Nate are such a cute couple, too. It was highly uncomfortable when they were fighting, but it's a part of couple-hood. Most of the time they're like the Newlyweds. It can get kind of sickening, but it's cute because Christy deserves a fantastic guy like Nate because she's been through a lot. They deserve each other. And I mean that in the most loving way.
We walked around Ann Arbor for a couple of hours. I am IN LOVE with that city, so much. We walked around part of the U of M campus. It's so gorgeous. I felt like a princess walking through her enchanted court when I was there. It was so beautiful.
It was weird--it felt like a dream I had a couple of years ago, where I was walking around U of M at night with a couple of friends. Sunday night was scarily reminiscent of that dream.
Monday: More of Ann Arbor. *sigh* I'm moving there someday. I also got my Borders fix...probably a little too much. We shopped a lot and hung out with Nate's mom. We had lunch at his dad's cafe'--it was soooo good. Words can't describe. It was yummy-licious. (hehe--I just made up a word. Use it well, use it lots.) We did dinner at Chili's then started back for home at 7 pm. We got back before 2 am. Mad props to Nate for his driving skiiiills. Quite nice.
The weekend was a lot of fun. We crammed a lot into a few days. Except for that one knick, the weekend was pretty glorious. Shopping, bonding, photo shoots, sleep, good food--what more can a girl ask for?
Ciao dahling!
~*Krissy*~
Livin' Out My RockStar Fantasy To: "Spinning the Wheel" by George Michael (his greatest hits just came in the mail--EEE!!)
Crush du Jour: Jimmy Fallon
Happy Thought of the Moment: great weekends, mongolian bbq, lots of fantastic food, candy, Ann Arbor at night, genuine people, road trips, gorgeous spring weather, U of M's amazing campus, photo shoots, finding out own fun at the reception, new clothes, wandering Borders, John in 26 days, being inspired, yummy-licious, cute new tshirts and LOTS OF THEM, comfy beds, fun music, weddings, feeling girly