I Love LA

We had a whole lotta fun this weekend.

We left the girls in the care of two overlapping sitters and flew to LA for 30 hours for my dear friend Amy's wedding to Jerome. (We met Jerome in Palm Springs and approved heartily and blessed their union).

The face of a man who didn't travel with small children. Ahhhh.

We arrived at the hotel and made our way to the bridal suite where hair and makeup were in action. I don't usually threaten violence but upon meeting Amy's makeup artist Lori I told her I was going to bonk her over the head and steal her hair. Was that weird? I think she took it the right way.

Gettin' ready mirror selfie. We wore the same clothes to our wedding and after party. Luke found his a little too big and mine was a little snug. C'est la vie, c'est la Oreos.

View of the ocean from fabulous Le Meridien Delfina. You can't see it in this photo but a man in full Batman regalia was walking purposefully but unhurriedly down Pico Boulevard.

Wedding ceremony at Bel Air Bay Club. Fabulous doesn't even do it justice. I felt like I was in a SoCal soap opera.

Talking to my parents before the ceremony, I told my dad -- your shoes are great. He replied, 'Everyone says that when I wear these.' Five minutes later Jenny walked over and said, 'Bob! I love your shoes!'

Sunset ceremony with Amy & Jerome emblazoned sunglasses.

Hi Mom and Dad! I'll see them next in Las Vegas because this party train is.not.stopping.

Amy and her mother.

So beautiful!!! The officiant was droll and wry and the personally penned vows each included references to puns and eating (Amy to Jerome: 'I love that you are a good eater, both in quantity and adventurousness' and Jerome to Amy: 'Sometime you get hungry and angry, and I will throw you a snack pack out of self-preservation'). He also wrote 'you've moved me to joyful tears without your knowing it'. You want your friends to be loved well and I'm so happy for the both of them <-- huge understatement. This was one of the happiest days of my life!

Little buttons down the back, divine.

Cocktail hour with bacon wrapped dates that Luke and I have talked about at least five times since.

With the inimitable Jenny. I love you too, Jenny!

Catherine and Jessica pretty in pink.

SLUMS reunion!

First dance, 'God Only Knows'.

Now for my specialty - blurry dance floor pics.

I'm not actually hitting Jenny in the face but I do deserve Jessica's look of '???'

Doesn't Amy look so happy?

'Single Ladies' but you already knew that.

When you are married to a professional party animal...

Perfect day, perfect weekend, favorite people. Yay for love!

What's Making Me Happy

// There is a bird that begins singing within a few minutes of midnight every night. This bird lives right outside of our bedroom window.  There was another midnight bird outside of my apartment in St Louis -- found this old photo from my move in day, December 30, 2009. So I consider midnight bird songs auspicious. Also I miss those windows something fierce (also the entire building).

// If I explained the plot to you (68 year old man drives around New Jersey) it sounds like a snoozer but I couldn't wait to get back in the car each day to listen to Richard Ford's Let Me Be Frank With You this week. On yesterday's drive home the protagonist wanted to visit La Fogata here in San Antonio - the collision of art and life! A huge component of my enjoyment of this audiobook was narrator Richard Poe -- I could listen to that man read anything. He read several of the Cormac McCarthy books Luke and I listened to when we shared a car. Richard Poe reading Blood Meridian -- I still feel chills.

// Luke installed a bunch of shelving to curb our clutter problem -- and we have kitchen surfaces again!

// George. George works at our dry cleaners. I drop in there no more than once every four months but each time he remembers my name and greets me, at 7:05 am, with an ebullient -- JULIE! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! And then we chit chat and I leave with a smile on my face because he makes me feel so special and recognized. This week I dropped off two silk-front shirts and a sweater and even though it's been more than six months since my last visit, George exclaimed JULIE! GOOD MORNING! WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? Before I picked up my clothes the next day, I popped over to the diner next door and bought George a blueberry muffin and presented it to him (YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!) and he told me that he noticed my sweater was cashmere but he charged me the $5 noncashmere sweater price instead of the $14 cashmere price (IT'S OUTRAGEOUS!*) -- and set up my account such that I would always receive the deeply discounted price as a military discount. To which I replied, George, it always makes me so happy to see you, you just make my day. I walked around the counter and we hugged.

It made me think about the Georges in our lives ... let's all try to be a George for at least one person.

*if you met George you would agree he speaks in CAPITAL LETTERS