Droppin’ like flies.

Frank and I went to our first wedding of the season last weekend in Charlotte. Besides that one, we have 3 more…. so not bad compared to last summer where I got a little burned out from weddings every weekend. Oh! wait, I forgot about Frank’s lovely sister Sterling, who just got engaged a few nights ago and is planning a wedding for September. I’m so thrilled for Sterling. She’s quite a catch: beautiful, confident, independent and crazy talented when it comes to decorating. She’s really made a name for herself with interior design, especially with the restaurant scene in the Palm Beach area. And her fiancé, who I’ve only met a few times, seems to be a real sweetheart. I look forward to getting to know him.

Anyway, that brings the grand total (so far) to 5 weddings from June-October. One down. I have to say, I’m refreshed and energized this year, ready for the action! Bring it.

The wedding last weekend was So. Much. Fun. Frank’s friend from high school, Mike, married his longtime lady (now wife) Lauren. Frank was a member of the grooms-party (is that a term?), which meant that I had some free time to relax by the hotel pool while he tirelessly took hours of photos, something he’s used to from his part-time modeling gigs ; ) I’m not sure why or how wedding photos can take so long, but I imagine there’s quite a bit of standing around. I’ve been in two weddings, and staged photos are the worst part. That’s one cost I’m skimming on big time when, ahheeemm, if, Frank and I ever tie the knot. Who even ever looks at those photos more than once or twice afterwards? I feel like they take forever to take, forever to develop, forever to choose and forever to compile into an album that hardly anyone ever views….

Anyway, Frank had been working in Charlotte all week so I flew down to meet him on Friday morning. While the bridesmaids were luncheoning, and the other girlfriends were shopping, I went bowling with the boys. I don’t mean to brag, but I can’t resist noting that I beat them all, except one. But I guess that’s not really fair since I’m practically a professional. I bowled as my P.E. credit in college. After the game, Frank went to rehearse while I freshened up to meet some of the girls at the hotel bar prior to the rehearsal dinner. I was pleased to find one of Frank’s friend’s girlfriends, who I really like, down at the bar. We had a drink and headed to the rehearsal, which was held at the trolly museum. Later that night, after numerous speeches and toasts, a slideshow of bride and groom photos from when they were young and awkward-looking, and waaayy too many sweet cornbread muffins with pimento cheese and bacon crumble toppings (my new favorite thing), we headed to Rira’s, a typical Irish pub near our hotel, where we pretty much stayed until we were kicked out. It took me 2 hours to convince Frank to dance with me, and when he finally agreed, some drunk bitch with stiletto heels stomped down on his foot with 200 lbs of force, totally ruining my chances of a long, drawn out dance party. He’s still recovering, by the way, and his foot/ankle are bruised black and blue, and incredibly sore. He might’ve fractured something…..

Next day Frank woke up and realized his pants were unhemmed…. like, raw.. no hem. We walked around and called around and taxied around before we finally found a ‘Joseph A Banks’ 20 minutes away who would hem on the spot. They were even having a sale: hem one get 5 free… j/k. The little Vietnamese tailor really pulled through for Frank this time. He didn’t even question what the HELL frank was thinking, waiting until 5 hours before the wedding to have his pants fitted. Crisis narrowly avoided. Then we went to Price’s Chicken, a famous greasy fried chicken joint a few stops down the line from our hotel. Besides the suffocating smoke from the deep fryers and off-putting observation that everyone else in line was grotesquely overweight, we enjoyed a whole fried chicken, a fish sandwich and mediocre slaw. The fish sandwich didn’t hold a candle to Long John’s : ) but the chicken was damn tasty. We sat at the train station greasin’ up our fingers real nice. But I vowed to stick with veggies at the reception, since neither my lunch nor breakfast included a single vegetable….(I didn’t stick with that vow).

Once again Frank was whisked off for pre-wedding stuff while I relaxed, read up on Japanese customs for our fast approaching trip to Japan, and caught up on very important phone calls (aka, Ashley and my brother Patt). Frank and I didn’t see each other again until 7:30 when I entered the church and he fought to steal my arm from his friend Jed to walked me to my pew in the church. First time I’ve stepped foot in a Catholic church since, hmmm, not sure I can remember… but luckily I didn’t spontaneously combust. That would’ve been embarrassing. Wham bam, thank you mam, “I do,” “I do,” and 45 minutes later, off we went to the reception.

Have I mentioned how much I love weddings? The music and the dancing and the food and booze and energy of freshly vowed love! It’s a perfect recipe for a wonderful, joyous night. Frank was a real sport when it came to obliging me on the dance floor. Between songs we rested our feet (especially Frank’s broken one) and took pictures in the photo booth. We had a ball. When they kicked us out at midnight we took the party to a bar downtown, then when they kicked us out of the bar at 2am, we headed back to gather in the hotel suite. I dipped out at 2:30 or so. I don’t have the stamina that I used to!