| | Wei and I got back from our trip on Thursday evening. I had a great time; I needed a vacation in the worst way. There has been a lot of stress lately--working too much yet still having money troubles, getting a traffic ticket for making an "improper left turn" (I'm going to court at the end of the month to fight it since I can't afford to pay it right now and I think it was a BS charge anyway), and general family drama. I told myself that I would turn off my brain on vacation so I could relax and forget my issues, and I did a very good job!
We left town on July 2nd and drove to my mom's place in Raleigh. My buddy Tony came over and I cooked dinner for everyone: angel hair pasta tossed with grilled chicken and lemon juice, with wilted spinach on the side. Pretty tasty! The next day we finished our drive up to the DC area and went straight to MoCo to see Wei's parents. They showed us the new townhouse they just bought and took us out to lunch. After that we checked into our hotel in Gaithersburg; while they all went to Baltimore for the wedding rehearsal, I cleaned myself up and Metro'd into town to hang out with my friend Becky.
I hadn't been back to DC since a short visit in May 2006. At that time, it had been less than a year since we had moved, so I still felt like I knew the city. It was really weird being there again after 2 years. Sort of like seeing an ex-boyfriend. I was charmed by the city's beauty and people and all of the things that drew me to live there in the first place, but at the same time I hoped that the bad still outweighed the good and that I hadn't made a mistake in leaving. Coincidentally, Becky and her boyfriend Damien are moving to Oregon this month, and that night was their going-away party, thrown by Damien's sister at her house. We hung out in Becky's Mount Pleasant apartment for a couple of hours, then cabbed it down to Dupont for the party. Despite getting about 100 mosquito bites, I had a blast at the party, which was held on Damo's sister's fabulous back deck. Lots of grilled meat, cold beer, excellent music, and good times. Also, getting to hang out with Becky makes any gathering 100 times better!!
When it was time to go, I got lost trying to walk back to the Metro. Yes, I was a little tipsy, but I think it was because Becky told me to walk south a few blocks, instead of actually pointing me in the right direction. I used to instinctively know which way was north and which way was south in DC without even having to think about it. This time I followed my instincts and ended up on T Street. Oops. I got a bit melancholic on my walk when I passed by an apartment building where someone I used to know lived. Random memory flashes of her place: the dark wooden cabinets in her kitchen, the pedestal sink in her bathroom, the view from her 4th floor windows. It was the ex-boyfriend thing again, I suppose. How could I just walk by that building when I knew such intimate details about it? Now it's shut off to me forever. Not that I even want to see it again, but it's just odd, knowing with absolute certainty that I'll never have the chance to refresh my memories of it. I kept thinking to myself, "it's over now."
The escalators on the north side of Dupont Circle were broken when I got there. I considered walking across the circle to the other entrance, but since it was so late, I didn't want to chance missing the last train. So I trudged down down down the steep escalator that seems infinite when it's late and you're drunk. I stood on the platform with all the loud DC-types, fresh from extended happy hour, still in their work suits and pumped for the long weekend. Oh, hi, ex-boyfriend. I forgot that you have intimacy issues and are emotionally distant. Now I remember why we broke up.
I got off in Bethesda and headed over to The Barking Dog, where Wei was holding court with a group of his frat bros. We hung out there until closing time, then went back to the hotel for delicious sleep. The next day, we spent the morning with Wei's parents and they took us out to lunch again (wheee!). Then we checked into our hotel in Baltimore and got ready for the cookout at Amanda's (aka the bride) parents' house in Jessup. That party was fun, too...more grilled meat and cold beer! It was nice to have the chance to get to meet Amanda's family away from the wedding.
We made sure to get back to Baltimore before nightfall, so we wouldn't get caught up in the post-fireworks traffic. Traffic still sucked anyway  After we parked at the hotel, we walked over to the inner harbor to watch the display. It was pretty cool, but I think I might be getting too old for 4th of July fireworks crowds. Or maybe it's just Baltimore crowds; we were really packed in there due to the limited viewing area. If only our hotel room had faced the harbor; it would have been pretty sweet to watch them from there!
The next morning we got up early to meet Wei-Lin (aka the groom aka Wei's brother) at the reception site to help hang Asian-y paper lanterns from the light rig on the ceiling. The rig was on hydraulics, though, so it came down to floor level while we were hanging them. The lanterns looked awesome in the end, but hanging them was a huge PITA. I don't have the patience or dexterity to happily tie teeny tiny knots in fishing line over and over. I was glad to help, though, since Wei-Lin helped set up stuff for our wedding reception last year. It took us nearly three hours; the other groomsmen were supposed to help, but they showed up right as we were finishing  Afterwards the groom treated us all to burgers at Five Guys. Woo, more grilled meat!!
I had to keep myself busy for a couple of hours while the guys got ready in our hotel room, so I walked over The Gallery and got a manicure. After peeking in some of the shops there, Wei texted me that they had left to go take bridal party pictures and the room was all mine. It was so nice to be able to take my time to get ready before the wedding! I took a long shower, straightened my hair, repainted my toe nails, and generally acted indulgent. I had a kick ass black and silver cocktail dress to wear to the wedding that I found on sale at Dillard's for $35!! I looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Then it was time to walk over to the AVAM for the wedding.
The museum was a very unique venue. Before the ceremony started, all of us guests got to wander around the galleries and check out the art, which I enjoyed. The ceremony itself took place on an open marble staircase, the wall behind which was lined with postsecret postcards. How cool is that?? My illustrious husband provided the only hitch in the whole night: when it was time to hand over the wedding rings to the officiant, he dropped one of them. It bounced through the space between the individual stairs and continued its fall for a couple of flights, landing on the ground floor. D'oh!! The look on his face was priceless! Luckily one of the guests zoomed down the stairs after the ring and had it back to the officiant in what felt like less than a minute. As wedding crises go, it was pretty minor. He totally redeemed himself in the reception when he realized with less than an hour to go that no one had signed the guest book. He brought it around to everyone and made sure they had a chance to sign. Goooooo Best Man!
The reception was fun! I sat with Wei, some of his cousins, and the other groomsmen. I got totally schnockered after one glass of the signature cocktail before dinner even started. Apparently their signature is "lots of Tequila." I committed myself to dancing for the rest of the night, because my biggest fear at my wedding was that no one would dance. So I danced and mingled a lot. I'm sure my dancing wasn't pretty, but someone's got to do it! When the party was over, we hung around to see if we needed to help clean up, but the venue manager said that she would take care of everything, including the lanterns. Wei's parents packed Wei, Amanda, Wei-Lin, and I into the back seat of their car to drop us off at our respective hotels. It was pretty amusing, since Amanda was wearing a gorgeous but very pouffy Monique L'hullier ball gown. We said our good-byes to everyone and then passed out after the long day. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception, and I'm so happy for the newly married couple!!
On Sunday, we woke up early and were heading down I-95 by 8:45am to meet my extended family at the beach in North Carolina. I think that will have to be another entry for tomorrow!
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| | Posted 7/12/2008 5:41 PM - 55 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
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