extravaganza

something borrowed, something blue

sunday morning, we opened the shutters on the window and discovered the perfect day for a wedding.

i pictured mary and john holding hands and diving into that deep blue sky, so clear and clean and pure. it was as if baltimore had given them a fresh palette for a wedding present (which, in my opinion, is way better than a place setting).

mary said, “good morning!” and i said, “YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!”

she replied, “i know!” and gazed out the window at her future.

since the ceremony wasn’t until 4:30, i had time to catch up with another dear friend, kendall!

this picture is classic kendall & sarah, due to the following two factors:

1) the presence of coffee

2) we look like sisters (when we were in ireland, people asked us that all of the time)

kendall and i became friends during my sophomore year through the will rice one acts, which involved a red toga and the repetition of “wants a loaf” and “of bread” (mark, you feelin’ me?). our friendship grew to include a mentorship program (which was mainly just an excuse to buy sparkly stickers for nametags) and jazzercise! yes, the world famous JAZZERCISE! many of you know of my love for all things jazzer, but kendall was my faithful aerobics companion for many years. we even lived together in houston– in fact, she was my roomie after mary (ahhh how everything comes together!).

i hadn’t seen kendall in two years, and i cannot, absolutely cannot, tell you how my heart leapt when i saw her face. she IS SO happy! like many of my rice friends, she’s a doctor, and i’m pretty damn sure she’s one of the best docs around (side note: i figured out a long time ago that, even if i lose my insurance, i’m always gonna have pretty awesome health care. GO OWLS!). like ben, kendall is definitely on a first name basis with her dreams, and after hearing her describing her work and her patients, i truly feel honored to be her friend.

kendall makes baltimore a little more beautiful, a little more bearable for a whole lot of people.

we wandered around fells point…

and passed by this church which erupted from the trees and serenely proclaimed, “HERRO!”

we made our way towards kendall’s apartment by walking through a park. which features, of all things, a pagoda.

first the church and now this? baltimore, what is going ON with you?

ok, but seriously, kendall basically has a pagoda in her front yard. that is way better than a garden gnome.

we hung out in her apartment for a while, which is absolutely charming and extremely cozy. i was reunited with many of the objects i lived with for two years, such as that polar bear martini shaker you see on the fireplace mantel (oh magical bear with spirits in yr belly, i miss you!).

kendall is at home in baltimore. and it’s written all over her face.

i wanted her to know just how thrilled i was for her, about everything, and i hope that was written all over my good-bye hug.

and on to the wedding!

the ceremony was held in the backyard of john’s family home, in a lovely, historic neighborhood just outside of the city.

i know, right?!! i’m pretty sure cinderella and her stepsisters live nearby.

of course, you can’t have a party without balloons on yr mailbox. it’s basically Rule Number One.

whenever i see a clump of balloons floating above a mailbox, i get really excited. even if i’m not actually invited to that particular party. i think it’s one of those things imprinted on yr psyche at age six. and WILL THERE BE PARTY FAVORS?

as we approached the entrance to the backyard, i totally felt like i had just discovered my own secret garden.

john’s dad maintains the backyard as a “hobby.” you know, something he likes doing! for fun! like how i read blogs!

ok, i’m gonna have to start reading about 1,357,988 blogs to keep up with this. i mean, GAH! the garden was amazing! and huge! and gorgeous!

and there was a HAMMOCK!!!

frances hodgson burnett, you can suck it (<– literary joke alert!).

you know who loves weddings in gardens more than i do? little kids. cos there’s grass! and open spaces! and leaves you can eat!

meet connor, the cutest boy at the whole wedding (sorry, john):

i can’t believe my friend crystal has a baby. i know i should get used to this, but PEOPLE, HOW DID WE GET THIS OLD? doesn’t anyone else realize we’ve been TRICKED?

finally, the wedding began, and everything was absolutely beautiful.

the ceremony was performed by a man from the baltimore ethical society. this was not a surprise, if you know mary at all. what was a surprise was his outfit!

mary and john thought he was just going to wear a regular suit. he and his ethics thought differently.

as i watched mary and john say their vows to each other, i knew i was witnessing something good and right and true. they looked at each other with confidence, with love, with the absolute certainty that they belonged together. there was no crying, no nervousness, just total and complete assurance. i felt like i was celebrating the fiftieth wedding anniversary of two remarkably spry people.

i think mary had just repeated the part of the vow that said, “i, mary, take you, john, just as you are.”

afterwards, they toasted each other. and we had champers! at that point, all i needed was a big hat to feel like a rich old lady at a garden party. “dahhling, i positively *adore* yr petunias this year.”

the reception took place at the douglass-myers maritime park and museum, which i thought might feature nautical-themed carnival rides (what? it’s called a “maritime park”!). unfortunately, there was no gravitron to speak of. but the building was cool anyway.

it’s right on the shore, which meant i got to enjoy watching ships pass by and lights twinkle all night…

… especially on the balcony! holla!

i mean, are we in the society pages now or what?!

the inside was lovely, too. note the centerpieces, which were potted herbs from mr. pitts’ garden. OF COURSE THEY WERE.

and the most important feature, obvs, was the cake:

mary didn’t want it to be fancy. just DELICIOUS. i thought about poking my finger into that filling, and then covering it up with the rose so no one would know, and how it would be a v. simple and effective plan, but i didn’t do it. cos that would be rude… to the cake. cakes don’t like pokes!

as soon as i saw mary appear at the reception, i made her take a picture with me cos i knew, as the night wore on, that she’d probably get tired of smiling for photographs.

but who am i kidding? this girl just got MARRIED! i could have poked her cake to bits or hocked a loogey off the balcony, and she wouldn’t even bat a lovely red eyelash.

as we commenced with a tasty dinner, the sun began to set.

and the party began! whoop!

aren’t wedding receptions just the best? i mean, everyone is there for the Same Good Reason. everyone is celebrating something they believe in! everyone is part of the same story! you look around and see yr friends talking and laughing and you just think, “this. is. it.”

once dinner was over and the deejay began blaring his “let’s get this party started” playlist (“shout”? check. ” “livin’ on a prayer”? oh you BETCHA. and let’s not forget that slow-dancing, show stopping monster hit, “i don’t wanna miss a thing”), i was glad to share the floor with a total dancing machine, my friend cindi.

cindi and i advised sweet, innocent freshmen together. scary, i know. HEY GUYS WELCOME TO RICE!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!! WE CANNOT HANDLE OURSELVES!! LET’S DANCE! we put the HYYYY in hyper.

of course, there had to be a journey moment. you know, i don’t think i’ve gone a weekend without singing “DON’T STOP… BELIEEEEVIN.” damn. i’ve had a good summer.

erin stopped singing to smile for the camera. which means she has obviously stopped believing.

we danced and sang and clinked glasses into the night, and i thought about mary being married, and crystal having a baby, and all of those freshmen that cindi and i advised, who now probably all look way older than me (as if they didn’t before). i thought about kendall and ben and baltimore, a city that is changing, like all cities, and yet refuses to be something it’s not.

a city full of ugliness and fear woke to the same clean blue sky that greeted mary and me. and we all dived in, together.

LINKS

best part of the l.a.m.b. show at NYC fashion week? kingston! oh yeah, and the clothes are cute, too.

speaking of cute, my little naomi can climb on a chair! all by herself! p.s. i will never taking sitting on a chair for granted again.

just shut up and PLAY!

so, if popcorn lung is a real disease, should i be worried about cupcake lung? crap.

great. does this mean airlines are gonna start writing me up for being tardy, too?
cutest fat roll, ever.

i know houston is a fat city, but this is effing ridiculous.

ok, is avril lavigne for real? seriously? this isn’t a joke? in that case, PUNK ROCK!

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