Par-tay!

The search for a nice honeymoon still continues. We found a great rate on an all-inclusive hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, but we still don't know if we can leave the country. Funnily enough, Sam actually does have his birth certificate here; it's mine we're not sure of. I asked my dad to see if he can find it for me. Otherwise, we'll try to find some last minute deal in the good ol' US.

This past Saturday was a pretty crazy but really fun day. I had suspected something fishy was going on cuz Sam and my bridesmaids had been acting very strangely over the past week and a half. Ciara (my BM/cousin) was talking in code, and Sam kept receiving phone calls from a girl who I presumed was Nimalee (my MOH/best friend). Despite my suspicions, I was still really surprised when I opened my door Saturday afternoon to a very loud "Surprise! Happy Bachelorette Party!". Nimalee and Ciara had white hats on; Nimalee's said "Maid of Honor" and Ciara's said "Bridesmaid". :) Then they dressed me up in a mini-veil, a large sash with "Bride To Be" on it, and a "Bride To Be" pin - complete with flashing lights. o.O;; They quickly blindfolded me and led me out the door to Nimalee's car, as I called out an uncertain "Um... bye, Honey!" to Sam. Apparently people were kinda staring as we walked through the parking lot... (LOL)

They drove me around for a while, and I overheard Ciara say the word "massage" (Nimalee glared at her a little, I later learned). They led me out of the car, and I heard a man chuckle and say "You dressed her up like that? Awesome!". As I walked in, sure enough, I smelled the familiar scent of massage lotion. They took off the blindfold and we were at this cool massage place called Massage Envy! It was really very clean and modern-looking. We filled out some paperwork and ate candy while we waited for our massage. They even offered us tea and water while we waited! Nice! We looked through some of the massage therapists' bios, and I was pleased to see that a few of the people went to the same massage school as Sam did. My massage therapist for the day was one of them.

My therapist, Laura, then came to get me, and I followed her to a really large massage room. She left as I took off my clothes and wriggled under the sheets. The bed was heated! Cozy! The sheets were really soft too. She came back and began my massage. It was very relaxing. Even though I've gotten lots of massages now from Sam, it was my first time getting a massage in an official place, so it was really cool, and I was a little nervous. I'm used to firm to deep pressure when I get massages from Sam (it helps get the kinks out!), so I opted for firm pressure on the paperwork. The therapist was kinda gentle, though, and that was great too. I kinda wish she had used some harder pressure, but that often hurts, so the painless massage was very relaxing. We chatted as she massaged me (I giggled a little when she massaged my feet), and it turns out that she knows Sam! So we talked about wedding plans and the massage school. When she was done, she left the room so I could get back into my clothes, and she was waiting outside with a cup of water for me. How nice! I gave her a tip and wandered back to the lobby. I had had a slight headache when I went there and, after the massage, the headache was gone! Yay! I found Ciara in the lobby feeling lightheaded and a little dizzy from the massage (it can do that to you).

After Nimalee came out, they paid the receptionist (and scolded me for tipping my therapist cuz they were gonna do it) and we were on our way again. They wanted to pick up a few snacks, and I needed to buy me and Sam (who said he was hungry when I called him) some sandwiches, so they brought me to the supermarket across the street from my apartment. They dressed me up in my mini-veil, sash, and button, then paraded me through the supermarket. And everybody at that supermarket knows me because Sam and I go there so often. So the employees and shoppers stared at me. After a while, they wandered away to find their own food, so they abandoned me at the deli with the giggling sandwich lady and middle-aged shopper lady also buying sandwiches. "You're getting married??" Shopper Lady said with wide eyes. "But you're so young! You're just a baby still!" Thanks, Shopper Lady. :P

We went back to my apartment with our food and while I ate my sandwich, Nimalee and Ciara prepared champagne with sliced strawberries in it. None of us were too big on champagne by itself, but we added sparkling apple cider to it and it was suddenly very good! Yum! Nimalee was the designated driver for the day, and they had more plans for the evening, so she didn't drink much of hers. So I finished my glass and drank the rest of hers. :) Nimalee left to do something mysterious, and Ciara started putting makeup on me in the pretense of practicing my wedding day makeup, and she did really very well, considering she was kinda drunk. (Oh, don't deny it!) She's underage, so she hasn't really built up a tolerance yet. And this probably isn't an entry she should ever show her mom... Anyway, after she was done with my makeup, she started practicing my wedding day hair-do. I want it to look like this:
I think with a little hairspray (we didn't have any) we could easily pull it off. My hair is straight with curly-wannabe tendencies, which ends up looking frizzy most of the time. So she straightened it with a straightening iron, put it up into a couple ponytails, and curled it with a curling iron. The curls fell out without the hairspray, but it still looked pretty cool. Nimalee had come back but she hid in our messy bedroom, so I didn't see her for a while cuz I wasn't allowed in there. My good friend Paige came (yay!) and we chatted for a while, as Ciara hid away with Nimalee. Then Paige hid away too. During all this, Sam was napping on the couch. :) I talked with him for a while as I danced around in our living room, and after a bit, Nimalee came out again and told me to change into one of two halter tops. I had to change my bra and I was very embarrassed with the state of our bedroom, which was the only place in the entire apartment that wasn't clean and guest-worthy. I put on a simple, purple halter top, but Paige made me change it again, cuz she said I needed more sparkles, so I put on the sparkly green one instead. They instructed me to put on heels and get a small purse. By then, I was feeling very much unlike myself, what with the makeup (which I never wear), the done up hair (which I never do), and the slightly revealing halter and heels (which I also never wear - I borrowed Nimalee's shirt!). It was good, though! I never dress up, so it was a nice change of pace. I felt very girly and shy. I presented myself to Sam, who seemed to enjoy the change as well. :P Then off we went again!

They were still very secretive in the car as we drove to wherever we were going, which apparently required reservations. They had a big trash bag with them, filled with boxes. Very suspicious. We finally reached Encino, and circled around to find parking. We arrived at Benihana's! I love teppanyaki! We were a little early for our reservation, so we ordered drinks and sat around the bar area. I had a very pretty strawberry daquiri. Ciara sampled all our drinks and got progressively loopier as the night went on.

We were shown to our seats, and soon afterward, the cook came. He started off by preparing our appetizers, in which he made a volcano out of onion slices by stacking the rings of onion on top of each other and pouring water down the middle so it steamed. Cool! He also cut and cooked shrimp, and formed them into tiny hearts. He then served it up. I declined the shrimp because I'm allergic, and he scolded me for not telling him earlier. Nimalee and I talked and often pretended to be a lesbian couple (cuz we're dorks and weird like that). The cook made some very impressive fried rice, putting it into bowls and making them do backflips on his spatula before serving them to everybody. Cool! I had hibachi steak, which was very good. And we ate and talked and had a good time.

After the waitress brought my girls the check, she took our picture with a Polaroid. Then the girls opened up the trash bag with the boxes and presented me with various gifts. The first one was Something Old. It was the puffy blue flower girl dress that I had worn when I was six for my cousin's wedding! How sweet! Apparently Nimalee had asked my dad to find it for me, which was a big task, considering she's a little scared of my dad. (My dad can be kinda intimidating) The next was Something New, which was a very cute, lacy corset lingerie thing from Victoria's Secret. I had peeked at it in the bag, since I was too embarrassed to take it out in the middle of the restaurant. Something Borrowed was an old ring that once belonged to Ciara's and my grandmother. It was yellow gold with a delicate golden butterfly on top. I'd like to try to wear it during the wedding ceremony, but I have tiny fingers, so I hope it stays. I have to return it to my aunt (Ciara's mom) after I'm done with it. We all joked that my entire wedding could be my Something Blue, but they gave me an adorable garter set that had blue ribbons on it. Then they gave me the Penny in My Shoe, which was a newly minted 2006 penny. Nimalee had called several banks asking for one. I also had a card with sweet messages from all of them in it. I really loved and appreciated that they had worked really hard to get such meaningful and thoughtful presents for me.

They had intended on taking me out clubbing, but everybody was pretty full and tired, so we wanted to go to TGIFriday's for drinks. But on the way, we had to stop at Denny's twice, due to some bowel issues (I won't say whose). We were also on the wrong freeway, so we had to turn around. By the time we made it back to the Friday's we wanted to go to, they were likely already closing, so we decided it'd be best to go home. Paige and Ciara left, but Nimalee stuck around for a while to get changed and gather her things, since she had a long drive ahead of her. (I offered to let her spend the night, but she had things to do the next morning.) So we talked for a good long while and then she went home. I plopped into bed shortly afterwards.

Wow! Long entry! But I had a great time on Saturday, and it'd be a shame to forget the details if I didn't write them all down. I'm really busy at home, but bored silly at work, so I imagine I'll still have time to update fairly regularly. There's still so much I have to do! There's only a week and a half to go! That's insane! Honestly, it doesn't even feel like it's happening. Like it's still months away. (Which kinda worries me, cuz it makes me feel like I have time to procrastinate. Must not waste time!) I can't believe I'm getting married! I wonder when it'll finally hit me?