To Intensity and Fast and Furious Friendships

The past two weeks have been so frustratingly action-packed! I want to remember every moment and every little iota of fascinating detail, but I had no time to write.

On our first weekend of vacation (December 19-20), Caspian and I saw Avatar once on Saturday night and once on Sunday night. The message is old, but the execution is mesmerizingly beautiful.

I'd planned to work from home on Monday through Wednesday (December 21 - 23), but got sidetracked with the bazillion details that come with the eleventh hour of a wedding... I got absolutely no work done. Nada. More wedding presents arrived and cardboard boxes piled up in the foyer - cats popped in and out of them with glee and mischief.

Wednesday evening (December 23), Natty and Pepper arrived at our place, with their monstrous beast D'artagnan (Tantan for short) in tow. What weighs 17 lbs, sounds like a Hoover when angry and bites chins? It took them awhile and much hissing and yowling, but Jesper and Tantan finally duked it out and became wary buddies. As the lady kitty of the house, Kiska could send Tantan (who is more than twice her size and terrifyingly black and scary) scurrying with a single delicate hiss.

Although they came equipped with a queen-sized pillow-topped air mattress, Natty and Pepper elected to stay on the twin futon in the guest room and often shared their tiny bed with Tantan. The room looked like a department store and a pet store exploded inside it.

The rest of the week (December 24-26) was spent in comradery and fellowship, with plenty of coffee and wine. My gramma arrived at my parents' place, which meant tons of delicious Dutch food and fun conversations. Caspian and I spent Christmas morning at his parents' house, visiting with his grandparents. His grandma is a Japanese antiques dealer, and gave me a set of four tiny blue and gold dishes shaped like fish for Christmas. They were handmade by a potter who is now a national treasure of Japan. Caspian and I shared the cost of a beautiful Toshiba flatscreen for our Christmas present to each other.

On the evening of the 26th, Caspian had his "bachelor party," which I put in quotes because I, his bride, was invited! We went out for Carolina barbeque at an upscale restaurant and then to Mitch's, where Caspian and the other members of the Latin Four (a group of four high school friends who took five years of Latin) proceeded to get hammered. Natty, Pepper, Lovely and my really cool aunt and uncle from San Francisco (B&R) showed up to help.

The 27th was a day of craziness... But not for me! Everybody in my family and Caspian's were at the theatre, setting up for the wedding. They brought glass vases, candles, frasier fir boughs, five frasier fir trees, an ivory runner, and white lights. Delicate glass globes with lights twinkling inside were suspended from the high ceiling of the theatre. I was allowed to stay at home, sleep in, and go jogging at leisure before heading to S's house (the florist) to pick up the flowers; black magic roses, forever young roses, freesia and seeded eucalyptus. The peppery, fresh smell of freesia will probably always remind me of my wedding.

In the evening of the 27th, we all got dressed for the rehearsal dinner in the art gallery of 18 Seaboard, a restaurant downtown. I began dinner with two vodka sours and spent the rest of the evening in a state of moderate to heavy intoxication. Caspian's groomslady, Rini, sang a Donaudy aria, and Caspian's parents and two family friends sang a 16th century four-part madrigal... And Hooked on A Feeling, with modified lyrics! Ahh, it was so great! I was deeply touched.

I presented Rini, RH, Natty and Lovely (the girls of the wedding party) with necklaces created by Batman's mother and designed by me. Rini's was a twisted strand of iolite, peridot and apatite with sterling silver beads; RH's was of peridot, citrine, aquamarine and amethyst; Natty's was sterling silver, black Swarovski crystal and shell pearls; and Lovely's was of sterling silver and hand-cut quartz. I loved all four of them and designed them to go well with what I perceived to be each of their personalities.

I checked into the hotel by myself after the reception, at around midnight. I barely slept a wink and spent several of the wee morning hours nestled in a pile of crisp pillows reading cheesy fantasy novels. When the alarm went off at 6:30, I was instantly wide awake. I threw open the curtains and gazed from the 8th floor at the sunrise washing over the chilly city in the distance. I got dressed in the new Soma pajamas that my mother gave me for Christmas, ran across the hall to wake up Lovely and Roony, and together we drove to the theatre for rehearsal. S, the minister, was present in stuffed puppy dog slippers. My mother, Lovely and Natty wore velour PJs from Victoria's Secret. Caspian was in reindeer pajama pants and a fleece, RH wore a t-shirt featuring a T-rex gorging on a fallen candy-filled dinosaur and tropical PJ pants, and Rini was in her pajamas too. Batman was well-dressed and pristine in a leather jacket, defying my orders of course. :P!!!

The rehearsal, fueled by Krispy Kreme doughnuts, went smoothly. RH rode back to the hotel with me and I crashed for a couple of hours while she showered and dressed... in her pajamas! She hadn't brought another change of clothes other than her bridesmaid dress! I dressed in my pajamas for solidarity, and together with Roony and Lovely we trekked to Panera, where I got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I wasn't hungry after munching on the goodies that RH had brought - Chex Mix, chocolate-covered pecans and trail mix.

When lunch was over, it was suddenly 1:30 PM - time to get ready for pictures. I had to hustle. M (the photographer) came up to the hotel room after my shower and took pictures of RH, Lovely and I getting ready (I fear many of them were not very flattering, since I make all sorts of weird faces while applying makeup). I wore an ivory robe to the theatre and got dressed in the dressing room there, which took a lot longer than I'd anticipated. We had to rush outside for pictures. It was sunset and windy and freezing cold.

I spent the next 30 minutes hiding in an alcove on the balcony with the bridesmaids and groomslady, shivering and bouncing and laughing. I was a little bit nervous about one line in our vows, which was long and slightly tongue-twisty. I was also apprehensive about the rather large tattoo covering my shoulder and back, which most of my relatives had never seen before.

The theatre was very still after everybody had been seated and the bridesmaids made their entrances. All I could hear from my vantage point were their footsteps echoing through the space. I don't remember much about the ceremony except my mother's reading, which held my rapt attention. She read aloud an excerpt from The Little Prince, when the Prince meets the Fox, who teaches him the meaning of being tamed. I also remember parts of the minister's reading, Khalil Gibran's On Marriage, but I was trying very hard not to cry and had to focus on other things, like remembering the kanji for cow and ranking my favorite Jelly Belly flavors. But when she came to the words "you shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days," my eyes filled with tears that refused to stop until well after the ceremony.

I remember most vividly the moment when my fingers entwined with Caspian's as we stood facing the minister in the silent theatre after we spoke our vows.

He dipped me for our kiss.

After that, it was dinner and partying at Coquette, a French restaurant near the hotel. We and our guests enjoyed a decadent four-course meal. Caspian and I's eclectic playlist provided dinner music; opera mingled with drum & bass, JPop, post-rock and Edith Piaf. Yay! My father and RH gave two of the most beautiful toasts I've ever heard. My father toasted intensity, and RH toasted fast and furious friendships. <3

Champagne was had, and then our delicious dark chocolate wedding cake with raspberry filling. It was a lovely, sparkly evening.

After the reception ended at 10:30, Caspian and I headed to our suite, which was delightful - huge and well-appointed, with a whirlpool, a shower with six jets and TVs embedded in the mirrors. We ordered our room service breakfast for the morning and enjoyed the remainder of our evening. ;)

When we awoke, breakfast was delivered to us and we spread it over the coffee table with abandon. It was so nice in that lovely room, sitting beside my new husband and drinking gourmet coffee in the sunshine.

The next week of vacation consisted of Mario Kart Wii tournaments with relatives and family members, the pandemonium that is Super Mario Bros. Wii (SO. FUN.), dinner out, visiting, laughing, drinking coffee, eating treats and delicious food, and being with each other. I got to visit with aunts, uncles and cousins from faraway places that I haven't seen in years.

Now it's time to see Sherlock Holmes... And Avatar. Again.