it’s hard to know where to go after an enchanted evening at magic island.
fortunately, henri and i have awesome friends, and they make just as much magic as illusionists with metal hoops and a few foam eggs. and you know, friend magic is WAY better than a cheap levitation table. cos sometimes it even involves cake!
yeah, this is WAY better than a cheap levitation trick.
to continue the month-long celebration of our birthdays, meredith and matt rented out the rice club room for a little karaoke party! and all of the major houston players were there!
juliet and ray, looking superfine as always:
erin, ultra-glam and ready for her solo:
charming jerry and beautiful jill (unfortunately, jerry was not wearing his harry potter costume that night):
and of course, lovely kc and talena!
i even managed to snag a shot of frank, who usually hides his face behind a miller lite can. thanks to henri for providing the distraction (<– yet another magician’s trick! THANKS MAGIC ISLAND).
besides friends and cake, do you know what the best part about birthdays is? NOOO, not increased wisdom, silly. PREZZIES!!
and meredith and matt gave us a BIG ‘UN!!!! LOOK AT MY FACE! I AM SO EXCITED!!!
LOOK! I AM STILL SO EXCITED THAT I AM MAKING THE SAME FACE!!
hmm. i think henri is making fun of me.
and look what it is! a picnic backpack!! how cool is that?!!
now i can dine in style wherever i go, whether it’s a park or the beach or you know, on the couch cos my kitchen seems to far away!!! heh, someone (matt? henri?) joked that i should pack that thing and store it in the fridge at work. well OBVIOUSLY.
ray and juliet gave me my own CASE of sofia champ cans!! because they know THAT IS MY FAVORITE CANNED BEVERAGE!!!!! i am so not sharing these, so don’t even ask.
soon the karaoke began burning up the dance floor (and maybe a few ears).
i’m pretty sure karaoke is listed on “stuff white people like,” cos we LOVE IT. also? pants world pretty much OWNS it. check out the style and finesse emanating from these two divas.
besides being posh, the club room is also perfect for parties cos you can scream along to guns ‘n’ roses all you want and no one will complain. we even had the ENTIRE balcony to ourselves!
note: next time, we’re totally bringing roller skates.*
*yes, i know it’s a bad idea. thank you.
it’s pretty amazing that all we need is a microphone, canned music and some words on a screen to turn into the spice girls. then again, that’s kiiind of all they had going. oh plus cavalli outfits. and david beckham. SIGH.
the party was SO good that even frank was inspired to come up and sing “under the bridge” with kc. this is truly a milestone for frank, because, notice: there is NO MILLER LITE CAN IN SIGHT. truly, the spirit of karaoke is upon him.
as usual, ray provided many of the antics for the evening. first, there was a little bit of bump and grind…
and then he did some kind of caterpillar/invisible keyboard playing on the ground… eh, i’m not really sure. but note the microphone positioned to insure that we can all continue to hear his singing.
i think my favorite moment of the night occurred when henri and i sang the classic phil collins hit, “against all odds.” i mean, you could *feel* the love and happiness in the room. talk about a major birthday SQUEE.
and the hits kept coming, cos the next day, my friend amy got married!
you might remember amy as my constant sxsw companion… except she couldn’t make it this year, cos she was doing that whole “getting ready for a super stressful day involving tons of relatives and friends and a thousand minute details” wedding planning thing.
but she survived! and she looked beautiful!
jessica, amy and i belonged to the same community group back in houston, which feels like ages ago. and actually, it was. and when you have a history with someone, when you’ve seen her slog through the mess of life and endure heartache and continue to fight her way through it all, it’s the most wonderful gift to see her emerge, radiant and happy and victorious. amy, i couldn’t be more thrilled for you!
i was not, however, thrilled with the sermon. when the pastor went from talking about love to comparing god to a massive sky light in a room, i was, uh, wha? jessica had a similar reaction.
apparently he was trying to reference the fact that mark does construction but um, dude. let’s just stick to 1 corinthians.
amy had promised me that she would have cupcakes at her wedding, and SHE DELIVERED!!!!!!
you guys, i didn’t even bother with the wedding cake OR the groom’s cake. my heart was already taken.
i met some fellow cupcake-lovers while hanging out by the dessert table (THE place to be at a wedding, obviously). meet cheyenne and jasmine, who decided to take some for the road.
cheyenne asked me to take their picture two more times, the finale being a cupcake balanced on her head.
these girls would SO be my best friends if i was, say, twenty-two years younger. ok, who am i kidding, our age difference is no match for our mutual passion for le cupcake. LYLAS ladies!!!
the festivities continued the next day, with a lovely brunch provided by meredith and matt!
i love visiting these pantsers at their place, not just cos it’s cozy (while sleek and urban!) and not just cos i get to spend quality time with them (I LOVE YOU GUYS) but also cos i can say hi to the kitties.
this picture is just DYING for a spot on “i can has cheezburger,” no?
in fact, feel free to suggest what the cheat (the cat) is thinking in the comments section. because the cheat is *always* scheming.
and, just when i thought the weekend couldn’t get better, henri and i got to meet emma, the newest addition to the mark and stasha lewis family!!!!!!!!
OMGG!!!!! they have a BABY! a real baby!! and she is a darling!!!
mark and stasha even provided cookies, which meant i ended the weekend with not one of my favorite things, not just two of my favorite things, but THREE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS OF ALL TIME. FRIENDS, COOKIES AND A BABY!!!! WHAT MORE IS THERE TO LIFE?
gah, you guys. i can’t believe mark is a dad. i’m going to be interviewing him soon, but i just want to say: wow. this is one of those moments when you say to yrself, “you know what? life is pretty amazing,” and it doesn’t sound clichéd. cos it IS amazing. my dear friend has embarked on a HUGE new chapter of his life, and i can’t decide who’s going to dazzle me more– sweet emma or her incredible dad.
of course, this marks my official status as Crazy Aunt Sarah.
oh little emma, you just wait!! there are so many slumber parties and cupcakes and rhinestones and bottles of hot pink nail polish and lip-synching to madonna and viewings of “you’ve got mail” in our future!!!!!!!!
man, you guys.
being twenty-nine is already pretty dang awesome.
LINKS
have you guys heard of pearl cornioley, the british super spy? james bond can suck it!
OMGGG! NKOTB IS BACK!!!!!!! must… find… neon paint splattered… shirt…
all you fans of claudia kishi will appreciate this. btw, i *still* consider her to be a fashion inspiration.
check out this super cool trash/air art in NYC. yay!
Frank lives!!
I had a lot of fun but I was sooo tired getting home after 3 in the morning.
I also just have to say that I still miss Mark’s blog. He should start writing again.
Oooooohhhh, man. You’re totally going to make teenagers 12 years from now still watch You’ve Got Mail, aren’t you? And they’re all going to be like, “Didn’t Tom Hanks die of suckiness a decade ago?”
And I’ll peek out from around the corner and say, “Yes, thankfully, he did. If only it had been sooner, before his cheeks got so big that you couldn’t even see his eyes at all…”
And then the sweet children you’re trying to show movies to will wonder who the homeless man is and why he keeps referring to the dumpster as “the corner.”
Then I’ll show them episodes from The Wire, so they can fully understand what The Corner is all about, and then they’ll have to start new gangs to battle over the supremacy of The Wire v. You’ve Got Mail. Both are urban tales of love and hardship, after all, but they’re still kinda… different.
And those are the thoughts that were going through my head in the photo with me and The Cheat!
I love that the cat’s name is The Cheat. Maybe he is pondering his next remix. Or if he should get another gold tooth.
What a great/exhausting weekend it looks like you had! And you managed to stay refreshed looking the entire time. Must be the cupcakes.
(secretly coveting picnic basket filled with sofia cans)
Sarah, thank you for your exceedingly kind comments about my family — they are deeply appreciated. As for your planned future activities with Emma, perhaps you can help me to work on her literacy as well. Right now I can’t get past the first few sentences of The Very Hungry Caterpillar without her bursting into tears. Meanwhile she will happily spend hours watching NCAA basketball on the big screen TV. I guess she’s just excited to see if her bracket wins.
Sarah sang 9 to 5 and it was like Dolly was actually standing next to me!!! It was a magic time in my life.
Which do white people like more: Karaoke, or The Wire?
Who is this Jill person? She’s hot.
Josh, that’s a tough call, because you’re pitting white people’s Asian Fetish against their All-My-Friends-Are-Black fetish.
Jill IS hot. She’s a slashie! (Model/actress, for anyone who hasn’t seen Zoolander, which, seeing as how most of Sarah’s readers are White People, is no one here).
The Cheat is so blog-worthy. I CAN HAZ SANGRIA? Actually, no, that would be Mia, b/c The Cheat’s a square.
erin, comparing me to dolly parton is the HIGHEST COMPLIMENT A PERSON CAN RECEIVE. I AM HONORED.
and henri, yes, i agree, tom hanks has a cray face now. and it makes me sad. but i think kids in the future will get a huge kick out of the whole “AOL” thing, don’t you? it’ll be so retro.
Sarah, the spirit of Dolly lives on through you. Or would, if it did not still live on in Dolly herself. Still, though, if ever the accursed day should come that Dolly moves on to the Island in the Sky, you will be her worthy successor.
mere, The Cheat wears the shit out of some formal wear, though.
P.S. Tom Hanks has a Gummy Bear face. I’ve been saying it since Castaway.
fun happy time! hey sarah, did you get your hair cut between 3am saturday morning and the wedding?