Annie's Notes of Caroline Getting Married (aka the Wedding of the Century: Part 2)

I was extremely excited for Caroline's July wedding for many reasons:

• It was being held in Duncan, my hometown which I have not been to for over a year since my parents moved to Houston. 
• I would get to see Mary... always a cause for great excitement. 
• Another tagline for the incredible bachelorette party in Vegas was "Why party like a rockstar when you can party like a Garis?"... so we all knew it was going to be a damn good party. 
• And finally, I was so excited to see Caroline, who I've literally known since she was born and have always considered to be the little sister I never had, be the most beautiful bride ever. 

I was not the only one excited for this joyous wedding celebration.  This event had been quite the talk of the town, or so I've been told.  I witnessed this excitement myself as I was getting my nails done the day of the wedding.  I think every person there was talking about the evening's big event.  Literally.

And Caroline absolutely did not disappoint.  She was a BEAUTIFUL bride and everything about the wedding was just exquisite and incredible.  Here are some of my favorite photos of the festivities.

My lovely family... love them so much. 

Carol's bridal party walked in to a stringed quartet version of The Beatles "All You Need is Love"...so original and cute.  The beautiful bride walked in to the traditional wedding march and gave us all chills and teary eyes...she was breathtaking!  (ps--I love the timing of this photo... check out the Terracina clan there on the left.) 

The groom kissed the bride not once... but three times! Ha. 

Following a cocktail hour (that was a huge reunion with many, many people from Duncan I hadn't seen in YEARS), we were given our dinner table assignments in this GORGEOUS room. It may be extremely difficult for anyone from Duncan to believe... but this is the Simmons Center!?!  For everyone not from Duncan, the Simmons Center is a large rec/convention center in town, and these large convention rooms are where we held everything from summer camp to company Christmas parties to prom...and I can assure you that never ever in its entire existence has it ever looked like THIS.  It literally was unrecognizable.  Completely transformed.  So amazing. 

Brother and I enjoying the glorious splendor of the transformed room (and the delicious 4-course meal... steak and lobster=SO good!!)

Speaking of glorious splendor... I think the cake was taller than Caroline.  ;-) 

Mary achieved the perfect combination of humor and sentimentality in her amazing Maid of Honor speech... a difficult feat indeed.

I love this photo...cheers Mr. and Mrs. Brown!

After din, the party moved to "dancing under the stars" at the Garis's house.  This photo definitely doesn't capture the full essence of the scene, but at least it gives a slight idea.  Their backyard literally looked like a trendy Hollywood nightclub, complete with a clear plexi-glass dancefloor over the pool, white leather couches, and two bars made from ice sculptures. It was amazing! (and the band was awesome). 

A soulful saxophone player from the band serenaded Mary like I've never seen anyone with a musical instrument do before. I was dying laughing. 

When we weren't dancing our booties off (or getting serenaded) on the crazy dancefloor, we were in the very fun photobooth. Here we have the wonderful combo of Mary and myself and our mothers (who are also best friends as of the last few years). A photobooth is an absolute MUST at my (hypothetical) wedding. Too much fun. 

...and they lived happily ever after! <3 

Such a beautiful, FUN, joyous event.  I saw one facebook album from it entitled "the best thing to happen to Duncan since the land run", and I think they might be right. ;-) 

I love you, little sister! 

xoxo, 

Annie

Las Vegas: Of Dice and Men

Without any further ado (and a three week delay)...

What do you get when you combine 12 fun-loving ladies, 1 Barbie suite, 1 poolside cabana, 2 tables at clubs, approximately 7 limos, a slew of hot Australian men and countless cocktails?  The most amazingly ridiculous Bachelorette weekend of all time. In celebration of "Caroline's last night on the town before she becomes Mrs. Brown" (one of a few taglines for the weekend), Annie and Mary headed to Las Vegas to party down with Mary's younger sister Caroline and her bridesmaids and friends. We  definitely sent the gorgeous bride-to-be out of singlehood with style.  Here's a photographic journey through some of the shenanigans.... captions by the caption queen herself, the marvelous Maid of Honor (and planner of the whole party weekend!), Mary.

Poster children of bachelorette weekend misadventures. 

Our digs... the Jonathan Adler-designed Barbie Suite at The Palms. Thank you Diane!

Things took a turn for the crazy en route to the Thunder From Down Under show...

Cheers to Caroline! (ie- Getting ready for an all Australian Male Revue. Yes, please). 

Good show, mates. Good show. ;-) 

Scandalous gift wrap at a scandalous breakfast party. 

Nothing says 'Bachelorette pool party' like crazy sunglasses... it goes without saying that we were a huge hit. 

MTV Spring Break... aka The Palms pool at all times. I'm not sure how to party at this level, nor have I ever seen so many Jersey Shore cast lookalikes in one place. 

Sorry for partying?... The bachelorette took a poolside disco nap. 

Our 22 year friendship has aged prettttty well, if I do say so myself.

12 girls in a limo built to hold 8... if that's not impressive, I don't know what is. 

White sequin dress? check. Bride to Be sash? check. Feather boa? check. She totally looks the part. 

Group pic at Marquee. Please note that I would never be caught dead in this club in NY (well, never again), but it is THE place to be in Vegas!

Bachelorette and Maid of Honor reclining on a sofa, and occasionally demanding, "Veuve Me!"

My own narcolepsy continues to surprise and amaze me. 

Champagne Brunch at The Wynn can be sumarized as such: "Marquee may have won the battle, but we will win the war." -Blaise Peitner

Parting is such sweet sorrow... 

xx, annie and mary

8:11-June Highlights

Hello hello... after way too much time being MIA, I am back in the blogging world! I've been traveling a lot the past several weeks (and I made the tragic mistake of not bringing my laptop...first and LAST time I ever do that, I assure you), and work has been a bit nutso, which has caused me to slack significantly in the blogging. (Please forgive me).  How is it already the middle of July...I haven't even done my 8:11 highlights from June yet?!  Yowza.  Well, before I get any tardier... here are my favorite things I did at 8:11 pm last month. :-)

8:11-Day 1 on Alabama trip: feeling a revived after a (much needed) shower and din w/ @kkallam, @Ellen_Godfrey, etc...

8:11-movie at @GodfreyTweets's home theater-we're talking movie screen, popcorn/theater snacks, reclining seats, etc. (!!!)

8:11-making my fave food....SMORES. Glorious last night in Alabama.

8:11-tea time at Bricks and Scones with my darling Katie. She's the best. And so is this coffee shop.

8:11--extra good spread tonight at the Bachelorette watch party. Yesss. :-)

8:11--enjoying Dodgers dogs in the Warner Bros suite at the Dodgers game with @katiehutchings and@kierstenlyons!

8:11-@CarolineGaris's Vegas bachelorette party (in the Barbie Suite)! (And reunion with @marygaris too!)

8:11-lovely din at Scarpetta. Check out "Bachelorette Barbie" in the middle there. ;-) @CarolineGaris

Currently listening to: "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" by Robert Randolph & the Family Band

Why: I sporadically watch "So You Think You Can Dance," and there was a snazzy jive routine to this ultra-catchy-make-you-wanna-clap-along tune this week. I naturally looked it up on youtube and have been listening (slash dancing) to it many times since.  ;-)  Enjoy.