Monday, February 14, 2005

Weekend Report/
Happy Happy! Joy Joy! #14

It is impossible to separate my weekend report from the happy announcement that is Bearish’s marriage to Denise yesterday, because my entire weekend was spent celebrating their simcha. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: being part of a community is one of the greatest aspects of this lifestyle that I’ve chosen. Celebrating a happy occasion is so much more than saying “Congrats” and giving a present. When the happy occasion is a wedding, the celebrating goes on for a week and a half, starting with the aufruf/shabbos kallah and going through the sheva brachos week. It’s indescribably wonderful to be a part of the celebrating.

My entire weekend was wedding-focused. I can’t remember the last time I spent that much time with that much estrogen surrounding me. Both shabbos meals were lovely and fun, filled with lots and lots of girl talk that would probably make most men squirm uncomfortably. Major kudos to Ronit, Miryam and Gila for all that they put into making the shabbos kallah extravaganza so wonderful. While I was too full of other tasty treats to sample any of Gila’s cookies (though I know they were spectacular, because they always are), this blog can report that both Ronit’s peanut butter chocolate bars and Miryam’s lemon squares were superb. Even if Miryam didn’t put them in the freezer to bring out the flavor.

My motzei shabbos was also wedding-focused, albeit focused on a different wedding. Emily was in town to hammer out a few wedding details, so we went out for coffee and planned and schemed. It’s hard to believe that there are barely over four months left until her wedding. I also learned that as maid of honor, I get to give to a speak. Since Emily and I have been joined at the hip since we were twelve, this could be a very dangerous assignment.

Sunday dawned grey and rainy, which ruled out the possibility of straightening my hair for the wedding. Besides, I was feeling lazy, and it would have taken two hours to do well. Finally it was time to get dolled up for the wedding, and hop in the car with my parental units. We got there just in time for me to swing into place behind the very beautiful kallah and sing her to the kabbalat panim. I get the prize for being the first one at the kabbalat panim to make the kallah cry. Actually, she made herself cry, when she was giving me a bracha. But it was her party, so she was definitely entitled to cry if she wanted to.

The entire wedding was wonderful. I’m not very good at describing weddings without being cliché. So all I will say is that the dancing was as full of joy and laughter and love and all those other warm, fuzzy emotion as it should have been. The chosson and kallah were beautiful to see together. And I learned quite a few interesting stories about the chosson from his pre-Denise days from his nephews, who were at my table. I danced so much that my legs were not very happy with me when I tried to make them get out of bed this morning.

It was an amazing weekend. Mazel tov, Barry and Denise! Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives.

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