The beautiful week from hell.

No, seriously. It was. It was a weekend of much frustration, but at the same time it was amazing.

Let's start with Friday.

I took my aunt and Baby down to Washington D. C., which, usually, is not too bad of a drive. It should've taken almost 2 hours....but b/c my GPS is stupid [well, and b/c I am too], I ended up in Frederick, which is an hour west of where I needed to be. So instead of taking 2 hrs, it took 3. Ok. NBD. We survived and managed to find a parking spot on the streets. Mind you, I haven't been to DC in years!

I'd be more excited to see the Capitol building if I had been there to see it.

We find the Canadian Embassy just fine and go to the place where she needs to get her visa. It's closed. So I go around to the other door and ask the security guard where we need to go to get her a visa. He hands me a piece a paper and says as of last week they don't issue visas here in DC anymore. The closest embassy that does it now is New York. Wait, what? I just drove all this way just to find that out? Yeah, I was super frustrated. It didn't really help that my dad, while I was driving down, had mentioned something along the lines and refused to call them to verify it for me.

So I drove back. In awful traffic. B/c rush hour starts earlier on Fridays. Woot.

Ok, so bad days happen. I know this. It can only get better, right? Wrong.

Enter Saturday, stage right.

The day started pretty good actually, which gave me hope that all would be well.
The parental unit and I took separate cars up to campmeeting since I would have to separate from them in the afternoon to go do the wedding thing. So I left after them and was rushing around to gather my things. The drive up was super pretty and very uneventful. Sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, about an hour before I needed to leave for the wedding rehearsal, I get a text from my cousin.

Baby: I think you left your dress here.
Me: No I didn't.
Baby: Yeah, you did. It's hanging right here.
Me: Crap. I did. SHOOOOOT!!!

And thus began my next big frustration. I had stupidly left my dress hanging near the front door. Apparently as I was leaving, I had too many things in my hands, hung in near the door, and was supposed to pick it up on my way out the second time I went out...which obviously never happened. Go me.

Ok. Fine. I can deal with that. I had brilliantly packed a backup dress. Yes, I know you're probably wondering why in the world I had a backup dress.
Well, when Kelsey told us the requirements for the bridesmaid dresses, I knew I had one that exactly fit the bill. Except I had already worn it to another wedding and the shininess was fading. So I told myself I would find another dress and if all else failed, I'd just wear that one. Well I found a dress at Express, which I bought, my mother hated, and made me buy a new one. Go figure. But, for some reason, I packed the backup dress, I guess, just in case someone needed it. Little did I know that I would be the one needing it. Hahaha. Oh how the turn tables.

So I decided I would wear the backup dress for the pictures before the ceremony and then my parents, who were coming to the ceremony, would bring my other dress from home so I could change before the actual wedding started.
Crisis adverted. Phew.

So I go my merry way to the rehearsal. Except it wasn't so merry. My GPS (which, btw, needs its maps updated and my dad told me I might as well get a new GPS if I'm going to pay that much to get it updated. So who doesn't have updated maps? Oh, pick me!) was being stupid again and I couldn't find the exact road I needed to arrive on. This makes me nervous b/c remember what happened last time? I was an hour west of where I needed to be. So I was at a stop light and it had finally turned green. I let go of the brake...started rolling...was about to start pressing on the accelerator, started looking around for my phone just in case I needed to call someone...and lo and behold, the car in front of me had stopped. Slammed on my brakes. But it was too late, I had bumped them. Pulled over. The passenger, the wife, I assume, was super mad and yelling at me, but the drive, the husband, was super calm and reassuring. Checked the cars. Their car only had a small scratch on it. My license plate was a little bent, but that was all (thank goodness!). Gave them my insurance and diver license information while the wife called the cops. The cop sounded really amused when he talked to me. Apparently (or maybe obviously) they won't come down if everyone is ok, and there's just a scratch on the car. Hahaha. Before we all left I gave the driver my sob story of how I was late to the wedding rehearsal and I was lost. So he told me to relax and that everything would be ok. I still have a bit of faith left in humanity.

I had texted Kelsey that I would be a bit late b/c of the fender bender....apparently she told everyone b/c they were all asking if I was ok when I got there. Hahahaha. Thankfully I wasn't too late, although I really did get lost and couldn't find the place. I had to use the GPS on my phone to get me there. Sigh.

Rehearsal went well, got to reunite with my friends I hadn't seen in awhile, and after the rehearsal dinner, we all parted and left for the hotel.
So apparently you're not supposed to say what you do for the bachelorette party. So I won't. But don't worry. We were prefect angels. Haha.

Wedding day arrived!!
We all headed out to have our hair and makeup done. The salon was super cute and professional, but all the hairstylists and makeup artists were super nice and friendly. I've never had my makeup done by someone so this was a first. Towards the end, she didn't show me everything she was doing, so by the time I looked, it scared me...hahahaha. I've never had that much eyeshadow on me before. Apparently it was a "subtle" smokey eye look. Subtle, my foot! Hahaha. Got my hair done...and then felt super sleepy. So we all ran over to Wawa's to get a bite to eat. I didn't know Wawa had food like Sheetz...lol. You learn something new every day.

That girl in the TV is killing me. Check out the cute bridesmaid shirts she made for us!

After hair and makeup we all headed out to the venue which was super close. La Massaria at the Bella Vista Golf Course is beautiful!!! Perfect place to get married. They gave us a cute room on the upper floor of the restaurant, which was a little stone house right next to the venue. We basically chilled, got ready, walked around, waited, chilled some more, got ready some more, had a few freakouts (b/c what's a wedding if you don't have a few tense moments and freakouts), took pictures with the photographer, and waited some more before we were given the ok to walk down and line up. Oh, and yes, I changed into my other dress. =)

I was the first of the bridesmaids to walk out...which is really nerve-wracking actually. Thankfully I didn't trip and nothing happened. Phew.
The ceremony went beautifully!!! Kelsey looked gorgeous, the kids [almost] behaved, and no one passed out!!! Successful wedding, I say. And it was so good to hear Matty, Jonny, and Aaron perform again. I miss playing with them.
Had to wait around for more pictures, so the bridesmaids all chilled on the golf carts...like a BAWSE.
Our feet hurt SO BAD!! So we ended up changing to flats for the reception.
The reception area was so pretty! Aunt Jodi did amazing work with the flowers and decorations.
Hung out with all the friendsies which was nice b/c we were all able to catch up with each other. I can't believe it's been four years since we all graduated together.

Dress #1 and mommy.

The get-away car...idk if they ever actually used it. Haha.

The groomsmen.

Yay for Scotty!!!

DAWWWWW!!!! Trying to catch the first glimpse of the bride.

She mixed it up a bit and had the bridesmaids and groomsmen on either side.

Phantom tear.

Exchanging of the wedding rings and the mini-time capsule.

The boys, Matty, Jonny, Aaron. They're amazing.

THE KISS!!! (And Rusty's face. OMG. It's killing me.)

Hey look, it's Mr. and Mrs. McAuliffe!

'08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For some reason, this picture of me talking to Ryan cracks me up.

He's a goof ball.

I managed to get a small smile out of him. Sigh.

Chilling on the golf carts like a BAWSE! Actually our feet just hurt a lot. Haha.

Reception area.

I look super Asian. And you will not find that much makeup on me for a long time. Haha.

'08 is so TASTY!!! WOOOTTT!!!

Oh, hey...it's my date that kept on leaving me all night. Haha. JK.

Cutting the awesome cake Katie made. =)

Asians gotta stick with each other. Bahaha.

 Towards the end of the night, we lit floating lanterns as a farewell to the couple. Tangle's "I See the Light" was appropriately playing in the background as some of the lanterns floated up to the sky, while others crashed and burned, and still others burnt their string and prayed that the lanterns wouldn't set anything on fire before they went out. Hahaha. It was starting to rain, so we were all trying to hurry since the lanterns are biodegradable...and degrade in water. Haha.

Floating lanterns!!

Every one started saying their goodbyes, and so we gathered all our stuff together. Poor Christine had to drive through the night back to Michigan b/c she had a test the next day! I got home (after driving in some sketchy towns) and discovered that I had - surprise, surprise - left my toiletry bag at the venue. Sigh. So I had to make a few phone calls. And it is now safely at Mrs. Abreu's house. Lol.

Oh man. It was a fun, frustrating, action-packed weekend. Good times for sure!