HitchDied

Freshly Showered

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Our wedding shower was, in a word, awesome.

Despite my recent cool-as-a-cuke post, my anxiety returned with a vengeance the day of the shower. I was mostly nervous about the high heat and the cicadas making our outdoor party icky. I was also nervous about remembering the names of the 10 (TEN!) hostesses and their partners. And finally, I was nervous about not being up to the task of opening a bunch of presents in a graceful, speedy, entertaining fashion. I was so nervous, my stomach basically felt like this:

Per ushe, this anxiety was not called for. I remembered enough names to impress people and whenever I didn’t, no one took offense. It was hot, like, legs-constantly-dripping-sweat hot, but it wasn’t anything cold beer couldn’t fix. The cicadas mostly stayed away. And opening presents did not take that long. And as far as I could tell, it wasn’t too terribly awkward, but I’m not a great judge because I was the one getting a bunch of cool stuff and I’d had a few more of the aforementioned cold beers than most of our guests.

Some highlights:

  • Viki’s group of friends hosts showers for all their marrying kids, but this was the first co-ed shower they’ve done. The husbands all rejoiced at getting to peer behind the curtain, especially because they found beer there!
  • The other side of the venue was hosting a 40th high school reunion.  After seeing the attendees, Viki (who is a few years shy of her own 40th anniversary of leaving high school) said it looked more like a 60th high school reunion. I told her if that’s what it looks like to her, she must be either in denial or in for a rough couple of years.
  • Also, at the bar, some dude from the reunion started hitting on me. AFTER I mentioned that our party was MY bridal shower.  Hitting on someone 30 years younger than you is pretty ballsy to begin with, hitting on someone 30 years younger than you who is CELEBRATING HER UPCOMING MARRIAGE is an almost Clintonian feat of ill-managed libido.  Fortunately, Collin’s 80-year-old grandfather noticed the bar dude was not leaving me alone and did that thing mensches do where they rescue you with a fabricated need to talk to you immediately.  I have never been released from an unwanted flirtation in a more charming manner.
  • The high school reunion also meant a free DJ playing the greatest hits of 1971, which is not bad background music for a party. Toward the end of the evening a dance party broke out on our side without any encouragement from me, which makes me feel a bit more optimistic that the dancefloor at my wedding will never be empty.

  • I felt surrounded by love and awesome people.  I suspect the wedding will bring back that feeling even stronger, because more of “my people” will be there.
  • Which brings me to a more general point: It was really fun to show off my sister and aunt to Collin’s family and vis versa.  I am glad my sister will never again think I am exaggerating when I tell her something awesome/over-the-top that someone from Collin’s family did. And I am glad Collin’s family got to see how funny and crafty my aunt Chris is, and how my sister and I have a freaky mental connection even though we weren’t born at the same time like Collin and his Carrie.  I n short, I liked having a pre-wedding opportunity to dip our toes into family blending.
  • Maybe the best part? We returned home to Pittsburgh to the news that Bridal Hootenanny member Ben successfully proposed marriage to his girlfriend Lauren.  In a really, really adorable way, but for that story, you’ll have to stay tuned for the next episode of HitchDied.

 

12 Comments

  1. glad you were surrounded by love and awesome people!

  2. OH MY GOD!!!!! Your shower was FANTASTIC!!!!!!! It totally showed that the most important thing about celebrating with people who LOVE and ADORE you is that it is the PEOPLE that “MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL!!!!! The 100 degree temperature in the middle of a plague of cicadas couldn’t hold us down!!!!! I got at least one dozen messages, phone calls and or emails how adorable, gracious, beautiful, happy, fun ,and appreciative you and Collin were….how great the atmosphere was, how even yummy the food was( I was so pleasantly surprised)The DJ was the icing on the cake …but Robin…like I said before…”You are the stripes on my flag” “The Blue with my red and white”…and BOY do I LOVE aunt Chris and Becky!!!!!!!

  3. I’d always wondered how to spell the shortened version of “usual.” Now I know!

  4. Yeah dance party! You had to remember TWENTY NAMES?! That’s almost torture.

  5. so happy for you!!! mine was great too!!!

  6. I’ll shower you with Quimps and patinks!

    Love,

    Roommate

    PS. Wendell is a pretty good kitty

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