About the weekend:

Kelly and I drove up to Bethlehem, Pa (by which of course I mean, Kelly drove and I rode up to Pa) Friday afternoon, shortly after I lost my drivers' license and didn't realize it. We finally got to Susannah's house around 9 or so I think, just before Susannah got back from the airport with Sara and Brian. (Yay!) We all hung around for a little while, I made everyone look at my new boots, we ate at McDonald's (since all non-fast-food places were closed at that point), we came back and started planning wedding things. Sara, being the ridiculously in-control person that she is, has made Susannah a wedding folder with sections for each category that needs to be planned, and has also made an enormous all-inclusive time line of everything that needs to be done before the wedding. This is, of course, in addition to buying wedding-planning books and wedding magazines. (Also, we watch "Bridezilla," "Say Yes To The Dress," and other wedding planning and cake decorating shows. For research purposes, of course.) So Sara and Susannah went through parts of Sara's list, talking about things to be done and making decisions where possible, which occasional interjections from Kelly, Brian, and myself. Most of Brian's interjections were groggy confusedness, though, when we tried to talk to him--he was jet lagged and had been awake for a very long time.

Another main feature of this weekend was everyone teasing me about my upcoming marriage to David. We are not engaged, by the way. There was some teasing directed at Kelly, regarding the extent to which she and Jr are meant for each other, but she seems to have adopted the "go along with it" approach. That cut down on the teasing quite a bit, I'd say. Anything directed at Sara couldn't really qualify as teasing, since she and Brian really do plan on getting hitched as soon as they can afford it. That pretty much left me. It wasn't bad, though. I think the scariest part was the extent to which wedding planning seems to make girls go wedding crazy. Or maybe just me. Or me, Kelly, and Sara, since Susannah's other two college-friend bridesmaids didn't seem to be very much affected. Still, at the moment, I think that's what I'll chalk it up to.

Saturday we slept in, then ate out at a microbrewery, where I realized that I didn't have my license. It was good times. Then we went grocery shopping and ran back to Susannah's house to meet Betsy and Jen, her other two bridesmaids. Sara (and Kelly and I, some) worked on more planning and Betsy and Jen worked on the guest list, and Susannah tried to split her attention between both groups. Wal-Mart was briefly visited. Beauty and the Beast was watched. Wedding shows are liberally scattered throughout the weekend. Beef and chicken tacos were had by all.

Sunday we again slept in, though less so (much to Susannah's and my chagrin, as we were sharing a room and had talked until 4:30 am). We brunched on delicious sandwiches which were, as was most of the cooking, compliments of Sara, and then piled into two cars to go try on bridesmaid dresses. The stipulations were: satin, cornflower blue, length somewhere around the knees. Also, they all ended up being strapless. Kelly and Betsy both picked a pretty a-line that fell below the knees enough that they will need hemming, Jen picked a shorter a-line dress, and Sara and I picked separates that I can't describe well because I suck at this sort of thing. There are pictures, but they're on Kelly's camera. I'm a little sad that mine will be blue when they ship it to me instead of the red I tried on, but I should still be able to wear the top and skirt again separately, so that's nice. (I have heard that brides always claim that bridesmaid dresses can be shortened and worn again, but I think and hope that this time, it's actually true.)

After dress shopping came shoe shopping, despite the fact that it is currently fall, and we needed spring shoes. Sale rack to the rescue. I found three pairs--one of which was hot pink. Go figure. (The pair for the wedding was white though, of course.) We went to the Lehigh Valley mall for lunch/early dinner, which doesn't have a food court. Instead it has restaurants scattered around the mall. What?

Susannah's accessories had come in to David's Bridal, so back at her house we got to see her all decked out in her beautiful dress, sash, veil, and tiara-thing. She looked amazing. Betsy had to head home shortly thereafter, and Sara, Brian, and I all turned in relatively early, since we were all planning to leave before noon the next day. Kelly, Susannah, and Jen stayed up and watched the game.

Monday morning we all finished off the sandwich fixings and headed out--Kelly and I first. As I mentioned, I had been hoping to go stay with David for the week, but apparently that wasn't meant to be. We visited Kelly's paternal grandmother, whom I had not seen since early childhood, hung out for a few hours, and came home.

Here lies the end of another whirlwind adventure.