And backing up again to pre-wedding fun, I bring you: the day before. It started off with Sciarrino helping all my friends out of the hotel room. Just about all of them spent the night there after we went out, but by the time I woke up only Sciarrino and Ceara were there. We lounged around and chatted while we pulled apart all those millions of sparkly sticks I got in December for the decorations. Michele brought us lunch and then pitched in:


Luckily Taro took a picture of us because I was way too excited to even think of it. And do you see that bouquet? Sciarrino had been working with three showers worth of ribbon and it turned out so pretty:


Everyone remarked it was the best rehearsal bouquet ever, I love it! Then onto dinner at Serratto’s I was too excited to really eat, I couldn’t wait for Bj to open his gift! I spent forever thinking of the perfect thing to get him. I finally decided on a piece of artwork because it’s something he’s really interested in, and is always so supportive of all my artistic endeavors. I trekked around Portland for a day trying to find the perfect thing when I had a flash memory of

He really liked it, I’m so glad. It’s by and artist named Lena Oxly (only I’m sure I’m butchering the spelling because I can’t find the artist’s statement anywhere). She paints on the side, and this one is acrylic and called "Downtown Bridgetown" And look no green! I’m very proud of myself for picking something specifically for Bj’s tastes. And it turns out he has just as great a handle on me:


He got me a Tiffany’s sterling silver bubble wand. Who knew they even made them, so cute. I love it! And he also got me a classic leather duffel which I got to take on the honeymoon and look all sophisticated and married with. We got our parent’s silver letter openers and framed engagement photos, the boys got engraved cuff links, and my girls… Well I totally had a breakdown when I went to give them their gifts. I was fine all day until I tried to squeak out, "I have the best girlfriends…" and lost it. I wanted to say that they are all so different no one thing could define them all. I had jewelry made for them by a woman working in the bridal loft, Alex. I described their personalities, picked some colors and let her do the rest. The necklaces and earrings fit them perfectly, but I don’t have good pictures of them so you’ll have to wait for wedding pictures.


After we ate (yum!) I couldn’t wait to get to the Governor and see what the ballroom was shaping up to look like. Sciarrino, Bj, Carmen, Ceara and I headed to the ballroom to check it out and work on some details:


The photo board that was by the photobooth, ribbon on the backs of chairs, tweaking the key cards, and other little details. It was so fun. Bj used his long arm to capture us all. Carmen: "Man you do have long arms!" hehehe


And the next day was the wedding!!