Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?-Albus Dumbledore

My geekness is showing. I’m so excited for the final Harry Potter movie! I’m going with Tahoe Couple to watch it tomorrow in San Francisco.

We’re watching it in the in 3D at the IMAX in San Francisco. I cannot wait! I’m sad because this is the last movie which means there will be no more new Harry Potter book or movie to look forward to. I keep hoping that Rowling will release another book about the wizarding world that she created.

I confess…

That I was feeling a little bit guilty about going to the IMAX because it’s an expensive experience. But then Match reminded me that I have been contributing through my blog money and it’s ok to do something fun once in awhile.
I’m so happy I married that man!

I confess…

That I sort of wish I had some clothes to dress up in. I think it’d be pretty fun to represent Gryffindor with some gold and red pride. But I will be standing in a long line at the Metreon and showing my geekbess just by being there. I may have to at least wear a red shirt.

I confess…

That I wish Match could come with me to the movie. He’s not a Harry Potter geek at all. Sadly he doesn’t read the books and I chastise him for this all the time. But he has watched all of the movies and even he, the documentary watching, complete realist, has been sucked in by the magical Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I confess…

That it has been Harry Potter central in this house for the past month. I’ve reread most of the books, especially the Deathly Hallows, in preparation. I’ve also watched all of the movies again since they differ from the books. I want to be sure I’m not forgetting anything.

I confess…

That I wish I could be half as talented a writer as J.K. Rowling. To be able to come up with an entire world, not just a few characters, but a whole world in the way that she has is true brilliance. I can’t wait to read the Harry Potter series to my kids someday. I grew up reading the books, starting with my first in middle school, and my last just out of college. I feel like I grew up with Harry. I laughed along with him, and I sobbed through all of his many losses. I might make my kids wait until they’re older so they can handle the heartache actually…

I confess…

That I love the Harry Potter series more than Twilight. Gasp! I know, I know. Twilight is amazing, but the world of Harry Potter is just so intricate and involved. They both hold special places in my heart, but if I had to choose between vampires and wizards, Harry would win every time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I had a wand to do the cooking, or use it to fly a broom, or ride a hippogriff! I’ve wanted to take a field trip to Hogsmeade and drink butter beer, or get my mail via owl. Best yet would be to travel through the Floo network. Oh lord, my geekness is coming out BIG time.

Are you a closet geek? If not Harry Potter, what gets your geek heart all atwitter?

Jules: Ellie, friend test.
Ellie: Fine, I’ll come.
Bobby: Friend test?
Jules: Yeah. It’s when you call your entire friendship into question and force them into doing something. I came up with it.
Trav: Sounds like you. -Cougar Town

Last Thursday was Monica & Chandler’s wedding and it was so beautiful. The ceremony was small and not everyone was invited (Match and I were among the few friends invited, we felt very VIP). The ceremony was at a family friend’s house that was absolutely stunning. I really wish I lived in this house. I didn’t get very many pictures because I was playing videographer/gopher/bridal party assistant all day. I figured I owed it to Monica because she helped me with everything when it was my big day. It was also my sneaky way to be a part of the behind the scenes action, which I loved.

One moment I was able to capture was by complete accident. It was of Match helping one of the bride’s younger family friends tie his tie. Isn’t this just the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen? This is the snapshot of the video I took of them. Match is going to be such a good daddy someday. Le Sigh.

My favorite part of a wedding ceremony is the groom when he first sees his bride and Chandler’s expression was priceless. His eyes sparkled like blue diamonds as he teared up when he saw Monica walking down the aisle. I tried to keep the tears at bay but the minute I looked over and saw that not only was the groom crying but every one of the groomsmen I just couldn’t keep it together.

After the ceremony Match and I went with Tahoe Girl’s parents and decorated M&C’s hotel room with balloons and rose petals. Then it was on to the reception! The reception was at a winery in beautiful wine country. Ladies you need to come visit me here. This is why I love Northern California. And yes there are always beautiful women dancing at wineries. It’s standard.

Her decorations were so pretty and so Monica. I loved the flowers and floating candles.

The boys have this picture tradition, that started at our wedding. It’s the butt pose and they do at every wedding now. I think it’s adorable. Some of those boys really know how to stick out their booties!

The girls went for the classic jumping in the air pose. This would have turned out great if I hadn’t jumped too soon. Notice how I’m the only one way up in the air here?

yeah, so for the official photo, I’m the only one with my legs firmly planted on the ground. I look like I didn’t even try! I kept telling them it’s because I’m short so I hit the ground faster.

Dinner was delicious and the toasts were both funny and heartwarming. The bride and groom danced to “The Way You Look Tonight” and looked so incredibly happy. Notice awkward me trying to get video and maneuver around one of the groomsmen.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this but Monica and Chandler have been together for almost 10 years. They were high school sweethearts and have survived a major long distance relationship. She’s lives in Scotland for vet school and has been there for the last two years! So to see them finally married, and finally he will be moving with her so they can truly be together is the stuff of storybooks.

Another very memorable moment of the night was when Tahoe Guy came up to me and pointed out that 6 of our best friends have gotten married within the year, and not to people outside our group but to each other (Token Gay Couple, Me and Match, and now Monica and Chandler). That is pretty incredible. I was also so touched that he included me in that grouping of 6. At first I was really slow on the uptake. 6? Ohh you mean me and Match too? Lol! I’ve never been a true part of a group before, and this crew has known each other since high school. The fact that I’m counted as one of their best friends is a great feeling.

We danced for hours and got a lot of people out there on that dance floor. I got some classic footage of the bride and groom dancing with their moms, and some hilarious shots of Chandler and his patented noodle arms dance moves. We ended the night with a 2 hour ride on the party bus, where I drank champagne straight out of the bottle. The bride also tossed her bouquet on the bus, and I screamed “Crawl for it bitches!” because I’m classy like that. The night ended as you know, with me curled up on the dog bed at the in-laws.It was a great night and I’m so happy for Mr. & Mrs. Monica and Chandler!

Mac: Veronica?
Veronica: I’m fine.
Mac: I know. We know. But it’s okay if you’re not.
Veronica: I’m fine. Seriously. I just told the two of you because I thought you should know. I’m not looking for a pity party.
Wallace: That’s good, ’cause I always get stuck blowing up the pity balloons. -Veronica Mars

I woke up yesterday morning and I had a voice message from Monica. For some reason I just had a feeling it would be bad news. Sure enough it turns out that she wasn’t feeling well and had to cancel the hen party for that night. I’m just so sad because I just talked to her the previous day and she said we were on. That was before I’d gone to the store and bought a bunch of snack foods and dinner. Before I’d made cupcakes and decorated my house. Before I’d hand painted the hen party sign and put all that time and effort into it. What a waste.

I know it’s not her fault that she got sick. I know how stressful planning a wedding can be and she definitely needs her rest. We’ll get to celebrate plenty next week. I’m more disappointed and frustrated with Tahoe Girl, who was also supposed to come over. When she found out that Monica was sick, she flaked on me too! I called her up and asked if I could bring my cupcakes to her place in SF and maybe we could go out on our own. Instead she said she was going to head home for an early father’s day visit with her parents. I had the feeling that I was just being blown off and I won’t lie, it stung a bit.

I’m also sad because I don’t have close friends around here that I could call up and have come over to celebrate with me anyways. If we were still living in our old place, I could have called a few friends over to help me eat the cupcakes and maybe go out dancing.

On a good note I’m getting some much needed R&R time. The relaxing time would be a whole lot better if Match were home to snuggle up on the couch with me. I am getting some house work done and watching the Prince and Me on TV, with a glass of wine. It’s definitely not a bad night, just a bit lonely.

I sometimes wish you, my bloggy friends lived closer. How much fun would it have been to get together, pig out on penis cupcakes and wine and then go out for a night of silliness? I’m officially ready to go to my first bloggy meet up. Name the time and place girls. I’m there!

Speaking of bloggy friends, I wrote a guest post for the lovely Miss E over at Adventures of Starting Over. It’s about my wedding day jitters and hopefully you’ll get a laugh out of it.

I just danced with a wonderfully large woman. And three other girls made eyes at me over the buffet. Oh, I’m not saying it’s something I wanna pursue, but it’s nice to know I have options. -Mrs. Green, Friends

Saturday was the long awaited wedding of our good friend Token Gay Couple. Some may not agree with a gay wedding, but I’m a firm believer that everyone should be allowed to be happy, and to know TGC is to know these two were meant for each other.

We got ready in the morning, said a rushed goodbye to Match’s parents, then headed over to Tahoe Girl’s parent’s house to finish getting ready with the rest of the group. We were laughing because it was like prom all over again. The girls were all crammed into the bathroom primping while the boys sat around in the living room watching sports.

The minute I got there I made a beeline to the room where Monica was getting ready. I hadn’t seen her since New Year’s eve so we were both really excited to hang out. There were also friends from Santa Cruz that Match hadn’t seen since his college days. The girls helped makeup and hair clueless me get glamorous. We decided that almost all the girls wanted curls. It was pretty adorable that we all matched. Tomboy was in the wedding party and she, along with Token’s little sis, wore tuxes. She looked so cute!

Kind of a funny fun fact: out of our group, Token Gay Couple, the least traditional of all the couples, are the only couple so far to get married in a church. The ceremony was actually very traditional in many ways. It was sweet and simple and I cried the entire time. I rarely cry sad tears but I’m a sucker for happy moments. When Token said his vows, and the way the two gazed at each other…it was just pure love.

I like to think Match and I clean up nice. How cute is he in his purple shirt?

All the boys took this picture, without prompting from any of us girls. They took this same picture back at our wedding last year, and they announced that the butt pose is a new wedding tradition. I love it!

Then we piled into our cars and headed to the reception site. We staked out our table that was directly in front of the bar.  I made friends with the bartenders right away. I think they got a kick out of this short, loud little spitfire hustling up to them and saying we’d be bbfs by the end of the night. They remembered my fondness for chardonnay and by the end of the night each time I’d wiggle my way to the bar my drink would be waiting for me.

Token GC had over 200 guests at their wedding, and as such they couldn’t afford a fancy hall. Their reception was at the local fairgrounds hall, and all of the decorations were homemade. The colors were a little bright and the main lights brighter, but once they dimmed the lights the effect was actually rather pretty. Plus it really didn’t matter where we were, we were all together. Oh, and the food was home cooked by their families and it was absolutely delicious.

There were a few cool and unique parts to their already unique wedding. One was when two of Token Gay Couple’s friends sang “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat.

The other was the piñata they had set up outside. Luckily the rain stopped about an hour into the reception and the kids were able to play with the piñata. And no one got hurt. I was half expecting a bat to the crotch moment but everyone’s junk stayed in tact.

The couple’s first dance was to Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. It was a perfect song for the two of them, and they were so sweet to watch.

They had the mother/groom dance, with the song “Baby Mine” from Dumbo. Again, I bawled like crazy. I mean, how can you not hear that song and not remember little dumbo being rocked by his mama through her little prison cell? Ahhhh it was such a precious moment. Everyone cried happy tears.

Then there was dancing. Oh how we danced. My guns were blazing.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding where practically every guest was on the dance floor. The DJ was fantastic and the songs had everyone moving. He played shout and the whole crowd got into it.

We danced until the wee hours of the night. Tahoe Guy said I won because in every picture I have a ridiculous smile on my face, and as the night went on, my hair got more and more wild.

I insisted that he was the real winner, because as the night went on Tahoe Guy’s pictures became crazier and crazier. That’s him in the blue, getting lowww. 

The couple also had the money dance. For those not familiar, you line up and you give the groom (bride in most cases) money to dance with them. Of course our group came up with a very creative way to give Token his money. They had coins and he became a human slot machine. Hilarity ensued!

Like I said, I believe we have a clear winner here. ding ding ding!

Match was definitely my little good conscious on my shoulder, making me drink water and saying famous quotes like, “You’re going to regret that shot.” Which I of course did.

At the end of the night we all squished together and sang Don’t Stop Believing at the top of our lungs. We also got really touchy feely, as our group is known to do.

End of the night. Notice how everyone looks just a bit disheveled. Shirts unbuttoned, hair askew. Me with that telltale drunken grin. It was a great time. We finished off the night at Tahoe Girl’s parents house where I got even more drunk in the hot tub and played a crazy drinking game called Thumper. The last thing I remember was being curled up in the guest room at my in-laws, yelling to my MIL that “I’m INEBRIATED!” while laughing hysterically. She said, “Why yes, yes you are.”

It was my first gay wedding, and it was FABULOUS! I’m so happy for Token Gay Couple and I’m so pumped for Monica and Chandler’s wedding in just a few short weeks!

The point is you can’t trust graduation goggles. They are just as misleading as beer goggles, bridesmaid goggles and that’s just a bulky outdated cell phone in his front pocket goggles. -Robin, How I Met Your Mother

Ok, I didn’t get the pictures from Tahoe Girl yet but it’s been killing me to not write in order. So I will post the few pictures that I have, and give you the blurry details I remember from Token Gay Guys’ bachelor party.

First off, the rental house itself was incredible. I was not expecting anything fancy, but I’m telling you, I wish I could have bought this house and everything in it. I would have decorated it almost exactly the same as they did. I can see why the weekend was so expensive. Oh, and everyone insisted I stay both nights, and didn’t make me pay extra. They were all so sweet!

Garage converted into a game room.

All of the bathrooms had beautiful tile and upgraded fixtures. Seriously, don’t you want to buy this house?

This is the room I stayed in, in the attic. It was the kid’s room and sort of perfect for a shorty like me. I stayed there with the other people who came without their couple, Chandler, Chandler’s Bro, and our one single friend, Shoe Guy (he designs women’s shoes and is surprisingly not gay).

Here’s a picture of the backyard and pool area. Oh, and the guy with the really great pecks and abs. He looked like he took hgh supplements or something. He was a total tool though and had the personality of a dull pencil. Still, none of us complained that he wandered around with his shirt off half the weekend.

The place also came with a ping pong table and many games of beer pong and flip cup were played.

I’m so gangsta when I play beer pong.

We played pictionary the first night. Playing on the giant erase board is so much cooler than hunching over a notepad. There were lots of shouts and laughs at how badly drunken people draw.

And then there was the Man of the Year. He was the blow up doll that someone brought. Complete with raging erection. He ended up in most of the pictures. His face was super creepy and he looked nothing like the gorgeous model on the box that said “Man of the Year”. We nicknamed him Frank or Pete I think.

The decorations got worn and passed around for the whole party. Everywhere you looked there was a penis balloon or cartoon penis sticking out from somewhere.

Tomboy brought penis cake pans and had the brilliant idea to bake penis cakes…after we’d been drinking. She has no domestic skills (self admitted) and while I do, apparently they disappear after drinking copious amounts of alcohol. So I forgot to tell her to only fill the pans halfway. We had runny penis cake batter EVERYWHERE. I don’t have pictures of it, but it was hilarious. Of course when I told one of the other girls that normally I’m a good cook, she just looked at me and said, “Sure you are.” I really wanted to whip her up some tasty cake from scratch just to prove my point, but instead I went back to drinking.