This, of course, meant that all of my favorites came into town sans Chrissy and Robin. Chrissy was too busy being a budding off-broadway star in opening weekend of the ATA production of “The Eumenides”, which is excusable.
And Robin gets a free pass since she’s dealing with her own bridal stuff on the other side of the country.
I did, however, manage to get one long distance bridesmaid in for the shower all the way from sunny Florida.
One from across the street even though she had worked a twelve hour shift and was running on one hour of sleep.
One in a pretty red dress.
And two junior bridesmaids with fresh, beach-ready tans now that elementary school is out for the summer.
And of course lots of other lovely ladies from every aspect of my life.
I got lots of lovely presents. But my favorite was a silly one from Nicole.
Back in 2006, Nak and I were shopping for a Christmas present for my then boyfriend, James. We were at Best Buy after having been to 5 different stores looking for some stupid Nintendo DS game. We were hanging out in the video game section looking for this game and this guy who was working there came over and was trying to help us.
Nak had on her red shoes that day and the ongoing joke for the last 4 years has been that those were the reason Alex (the Best Buy employee) came over to help us - he was attracted to her ruby red flats. Even though she was unable to help me find that stupid video game, Nicole did attract my future husband. So for my shower, she wrapped up those shoes and gave them to me.
Being me, I of course cried like a baby at this as you can see in the following picture.
Another sentimental gift was one from my Mom. My dad collected 50-cent pieces (and all sorts of other coins for that matter) so she picked out one that has a 1951 date on it, my dad’s birth year, and saved it for me for the shower. She also took my original baptismal bonnet which was made from a handkerchief, cleaned it up, and tied it with a ribbon with the 50-cent piece inside.
Now I have not only a meaningful handkerchief but also a memento of my dad for in my purse on my wedding day. All of this was attached to a huge box, so of course I was crying before I even go to opening her gift – a beautiful “mother-daughter” lamp.
Another great, creative present came from Aunt Allyn…a sixpence for my shoe! A sixpence worn in the left shoe on your wedding day is supposed to bring good luck and financial security to the marriage. Apparently the “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” poem sometimes includes another line, “and a sixpence in her shoe!”
In addition to some memorable gifts, despite all of my protests, Alice and Katie went ahead and created the most elaborate bow hat I have ever seen in my life. Now it’s just a matter of how to get back at them…
Now that the shower is over and the thank you notes are sent, I’ll be buckling down to finish invitations, finalize some last minute details, and get myself ready to head out to California for Robin’s big day next month.
