Emily's Wedding

Kristin and Karen...looking H-O-T.

Karen tearing it up YMCA-style on the dance floor!

Jill and Ryan- two of my favorite people! Shout-out to Ryan, one of my blog's most faithful readers!!

Karen and Kristin overlooking the Memorial Union Terrace.

On Saturday afternoon, my friend Emily (college friend and former Admissions colleague) married her long-time college sweetheart, Brian. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church downtown, and the reception was held in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. First of all, you’re probably noticing Karen’s hot new polka-dot number. Yes, somehow I got Karen to actually walk into a Banana Republic store and try on clothes, which miraculously resulted in a few purchases. The polka-dot frock, the peep-toe heels, and the chunky necklace, all from Banana Republic. If you know Karen, you will know that this was indeed a miracle. She looked so beautiful!

So back to the ceremony. Karen and I were out to lunch with a few of my college friends on Saturday afternoon, when suddenly we realized that we were one-hour out from the ceremony, and no where near ready to go. We drove home from lunch, Karen expertly navigating through game day traffic. We frantically got ready and then drove back downtown, only to hit traffic again worse. We were literally ten-minutes from the start of the wedding when we decided to ditch the car and run—in strappy, stiletto heels mind you—to the church. Somehow we made it with time to spare. Emily looked so beautiful, and the ceremony was special. Except, let me just say that I cannot handle how long Catholic weddings take. Agghh. I cannot sit still that long.

After the ceremony, we had a little time to kill before the reception. This is when I told Karen I needed a Cold Buster smoothie from Jamba Juice to aid in my hangover recovery (yes, a potent fish bowl from Wando’s the night before left my head very much aching, even at 3:30 p.m. the next day). After sipping my tasty treat, which included a bonus immunity boost, we moseyed over to the Red Shed to meet up with Jill (my freshman year roommate in the dorms!), Ryan, Joe, and Beth for drinks. I told myself I couldn’t drink again, but I did. This because Jill advised, “Fight fire with fire.” I figured she was probably right.

The reception began at 6:30 p.m. at the Union. I had never been to a wedding at the Union, so it was a great experience. Lots of dancing and good times. As you can see, Karen was dancing up a storm all night, and the bride’s father said that second only to his daughter’s smile that night was the site of Karen dancing Tina Turner-style up a row of stairs. It was classic.