golf course. The view was spectacular. When we arrived the cocktail hour was in full swing; total open bar and a cheese/bread table. I decided I'd have one, and only one, vodka martini; I was hungry and wanted the olives. I didn't intend on drinking much since I was driving. I knew I'd probably get lost leaving totally sober and I had no hopes of not driving around Carmel forever if I was tipsy or worse.
We all stood around, catching up with friends we hadn't seen for a while. It was great talking with with all the crazy runners we hadn't seen in so long, finding out what they're doing. Judging by the refilling of glasses, this wasn't going to be a sober crowd for too long.
As we had expected, Pam and I, as the only 2 single women in our group, were seated together. We were surprised to be at the second table of friends but that was no problem. When the banquet room was opened we looked for our seats and realized we had been moved to the other table. It really made no difference to us, they were all friends. We hadn't been seated with strangers from New York so it was all good.
The room was nice, not too big, dimly lit. Which of course made picture taking iffy, especially with my lack of mad photo skilz. When most of the guests had been seated the bridal party entered, followed at last by the newly married couple. Sandy had pinned up her dress so the train wasn't dragging and looked lovely. Geez, that girl cleans up well! Heh heh.
So we ate, we drank, we toasted, we talked, we drank more. Except for Pam, who had the sense, like usual, to drink water only. The meal started with a very tasty salad of mixed greens with bacon, blue cheese, tomatoes, and caramelized onion vinaigrette. Then there was a palate clearing lemon chambord sorbet that was very good. I would have been happy just having a carton of that with a spoon for dinner. Ooops, yeah, that's my little secret way of eating ice cream at home. Oh, don't tell me you don't do the same thing too!
At one point someone had to go to the ladies room, so we all had to go. Yeah, all the ladies in our little group had to. Six of us. Whether we needed to or not. It seemed pretty funny at the time. We made a little stop to see the (by then) lonely bartender and get refills. And take pictures. Hey, we all clean up well! Not one pair of running shoes in the bunch.
We had chosen our entree with our RSVP card. I had chicken breast filled with spinach and ricotta, served over potatoes with fresh steamed veggies. It was a good choice. Even though chicken is a mainstay in my diet this was different. Didn't even come out of a Lean Cuisine box. Of course, I'm pretty certain it had more than 5 points.
Meanwhile, the drinking and toasting and talking continued. At that point I was still attempting to keep my alcohol consump
tion under control and I was just sipping the wine while drinking water. That wasn't to last much longer.
Then it was time for the first dance. Looks like Sandy's and Tom's dance lessons paid off; they knew what they were doing out there and looked great doing it. I guess having to rush to lessons after 20 mile runs was worthwhile. Afterward the floor opened up and people joined them.
Around then I realized that most of the people around me, excluding only Pam, were getting pretty toasted themselves. Not the "cheers" toasted either. But everyone looked like they were having a great time doing so, and I decided at that point ta heck wit' it, I was having more too! Glug glug. I was really enjoying that wine!
Lots of dancing, which I don't normally do unless I've been drinking. Then I just don't give a hoot how I look and live in the moment. Great, there's the middle aged woman kicking up her heels. Good thing almost everyone else was drinking, they won't remember! And lots of the middle aged other people were doing the same thing.
Finally there was the cake cutting, the bouquet toss, the garter toss. And more drinking and dancing. The happy couple and the attendants had time to mingle and really party with everyone.
People finally started to leave, to drift off in ones and twos. People who weren't spending the night in the area had left before the cake, other people just wanted to be back in their room and off the road before it was too dark. I hung around dancing, talking, and oh yeah, drinking. Sheesh. Finally Bree was leaving and said I could follow them back to the motel. Good idea, not as good in execution. Note to self: when following someone to a strange place, make sure they're more sober than I am. It was a very interesting ride back. The good news is we were going verrrrry slowly and carefully along that 17 Mile Drive. The bad news was there was no parking at the motel when we got back; I drove several blocks away and parked in a space where the time was limited after 8:00 am. I decided to worry about that in the morning!
So, it was a very nice wedding, a great party afterward. After all the crap we gave Sandy about having such an elaborate expensive wedding, it turned out to be a great time. I guess if you're going to throw a wedding party, do it right the first time! All my best wishes to the newlyweds that this is the only wedding they'll ever have!
I'll report on the rest of my weekend tomorrow.
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