BWE (part 1)

Could stand for several things…best weekend ever, perhaps?  Or Bachelorette Wino Elaine? 

I don’t even know where to start after such a fun filled weekend.  Friday was my friend Elaine’s bridal shower followed by a weekend getaway in Calistoga for her bachelorette party.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few.  If you have no interest in the commentary, scroll away.

After lunch on Friday I collected my energy and hit the road for a 1/4 marathon.  It was way more uphill running than I anticipated but I finished in 50 minutes.  Note to self: chai tea + coffee NOT a great pre-run decision…I stopped twice around the reservoir for very necessary bathroom breaks which totally killed my stride.  Good thing I had Flo Rida on repeat to get me going!  I think I’m going to OD on that song by Wed at the rate I’m listening to it.  Anyone else do that with songs?  Play them to death on repeat til you become so sick of them you have a violent reaction upon hearing the first few seconds. 

Anyways, after my run I got all cleaned up and my mom cut my hair (since it was free, I’ll consider myself even from the $$$ taxi fare to the airport)…then off to the bridal shower I went.

The bride to be, Elaine (left), and me (right).

It was SO great to see all my friends from high school.  We played cute games and ate and got all caught up on each others’ lives.  Elaine, the bride-to-be, happens to be my most loyal and dedicated reader.  In fact, she was the only one who even knew about my blog for a few months, so in honor of her and her upcoming nuptials, here’s some photos, so you can see JUST how gorgeous she is (and how lucky her fiancé is).

Elaine, over-reflective bling, me, and Lauren.  You may remember my besties from this previous post. 

Chocolate-tinis!!  I only had a half sip to taste it (they were WAY too strong and full of dairy)…so I moved on to wine

Other vegan apps included home-made hummus with veggies and crackers. 

For dinner we started with a fancy salad (avocado, dried cranberries, walnuts, topped in a vinaigrette) – clearly the nuts were pushed aside by moi.  For the main course there was bread, asparagus, and chicken.  But then the hostess completely surprised me and brought out tofu that was just for me!!!!!!!!!!!  Umm…could she have been any more thoughtful! (no)  This was a total surprise and the sweetest thing.  I was floored with how good it was too, considering the hostess was a virgin in the vegan cooking department.  I was MORE than touched that they were so accommodating. 

After dinner we opened presents and then got the chocolate fountain flowing!

On the side to dip in the chocolate love: pineapple, bananas, strawberries, wafer cookies, etc. (there was cake, too!)  NOM.

After some more pictures, we all headed home to get to bed…because Saturday morning we were off for a fun, relaxing bachelorette weekend getaway in Calistoga!!!!!

…to be continued…