Dear Cora, 2.5

Dear Cora,

You are 2 years and 7 months old. I have never wanted anyone to slow down aging as much as I have wanted it with you. Not even myself- I will embrace all the eye wrinkles if you will just stop it. I've always loved each step towards big kidhood, and I have no doubt you will be as fun a big kid as your big siblings are, but your babyhood, and now your toddlerhood, have been some of the most joyful years of my life and I already want to press pause and do it over again a few times before I can allow you to move on.

From the day you were born you became the happy heart and very center of our family. I'm not sure any baby has been so adored- if nothing else it gives me comfort to know we soaked up every single second with you at every phase. And I know you felt all the love sent your way- it showed in the way you soaked it all in and then sent it back out to us. You've been a ball of joy since day 1, so much so that I've struggled with writing your letters. It's hard to put feelings this strong- and a personality so big- into something so black and white and limiting as words. I think because of the timing of your arrival- when we were fairly settled in this new life in Fort Worth, a life with free time and autonomy, with big kids who were easy and wonderful and self sufficient and SO EXCITED to have a little sister, you just came at a time when we could really appreciate and enjoy you. And enjoy you we have.

And 2.5(ish) you are BRIMMING with personality. It was big before, but it's multi-dimensional now. Your biggest emotions remains love and joy. When any of us walk in the door- whether we've been gone for 10 minutes or several hours, you lose your mind with the screaming and hugs and repeated vigorous huggy screaming. You frequently and joyfully exclaim our names throughout the day and randomly run over for big hugs. You love quite fiercely, little one.

You are brave and adventurous. You are quite confident that you can do anything the big kids can, and for the most part, you're right. People are constantly gasping around us at your antics, but we're used to your exploits and know your capabilities exceed your tiny body. You crawled early, walked early, jumped on a scooter and took off cruising before you really knew what a scooter was. You're obsessed with Landon's old tricycle and demand "Hel-met, mama, hel-met." so you can bike around like you own the road.

You don't seem to fear much of anything- not storms, loud noises, jumps too tall for you to take, movies (you saw Zootopia in theaters a few weeks ago and LOVED the whole experience), or water. Now that daddy teaches your swim lessons in our pool in the evenings you are OBSESSED. As soon as we get home at the end of the day you run up to me with a diaper and a "shoo suit" and beg to be suited up. You wait patiently for daddy to get home- sometimes waiting an hour or more, playing nicely on your steps, and then he pulls up and you scream and run and hug and drag him to the pool. He dunks you, floats you, and makes you kick to the wall and climb out on your own and you LOVE it. At the end he always asks if you want to play and you say "more sweemming lesson, daddy. sweemming." And so you do more of that.

You are tremendously busy, yet also completely content. You are industrious- always cleaning or stacking or putting things in bins. You are active- flitting between big siblingss, your dad, and me- joining in whatever we're doing for a little while and then heading off to do something important on your own, before sliding back in to "help" with whatever we're working on. You can, and do, play on your own for long periods of time. And you sing. You sing constantly. Frozen, nursery rhymes, and tunes entirely of your own making (or that we just aren't understanding)- you are always making music.

Your imagination has taken off. You frequently bake treats for us in your kitchen and set the playroom table with place settings for all. Your new favorite game involves randomly stopping whatever you're doing, turning behind you with a look of fear, and yelling, "A TIGER COMIN!!". Then we have to run away or stand our ground and snarl at the tiger. He hasn't eaten us yet.

You are quite particular about your clothing. Choosing which pj set to wear can be agonizing and selecting the right tutu with the right animal shirt is a process that cannot be rushed. You're obsessed with shoes and prefer your white high heels to be worn with all outfits, including pj's, but will settle for any other shoe in the shade of purple if necessary. You delight in your accessories- a purse is always required and sometimes only four will do. You like sunglasses, but only to carry around, rarely to wear. If you do wear them, they are always upside down and you find it offensive if we attempt to correct you.

You are so proud of your new ability to wear a pony tail and run up to me every morning before work with a brush and tiny elastic band in your hand, "Purple pony, Mama. Purple pony PEASE."

Today we managed two ponies and you were delighted. Then we had to go march around the front yard for some ring-around-the-rosie in celebration.

You are talking up a storm. After many months of pointing, you decided a few months ago to use English and now I can't believe there was a time you didn't keep a running monologue going at all times. You have very strong feelings about other people's possessions. If I sit in daddy's chair at the table I'm immediately informed of my error. You don't like it when we park in the wrong spots on our driveway. You IMMEDIATELY let anyone know if anyone is touching anything that doesn't belong to them and you make sure the true owner has given permission to the thief before you stop yelling at us about it. Interestingly, these rules of ownership don't apply to you in any way.

You are inquisitive- always trying to figure out how and why things work the way they do. You repeat things I say over and over, with a firm nod of the head, as if to convince yourself of the facts. You mimic Claire constantly. Her mannerisms, the tilt of her head, her very words... you want so much to be like her. And to her unending credit, Claire takes your painstaking mimicry for the compliment it is. She is a tremendously generous and patient big sister to you- you steal everything she owns and she takes pride in it. She got that from her big brother and both of you little sisters are lucky indeed.

Your relationship with your big siblings is one of the great joys of my life. Tonight you three were playing a complicated game involving the industrial gymnastics mat I bought of our neighborhood buy/sell page, a large pink ball, two fuzzy blankets, and a lot of happy screaming. You were in the mix and thrilled to be there. You always are. When I pick you up from school your fist question is always, "Where my Nanat and Yaya go?" If they happen to be in the car, your screams are deafening. If they aren't, we have to discuss their whereabouts and their expected return for the rest of the drive home. You wait for them diligently, peaking out the windows and doors until they're home. If we go on a walk before they're back, you call their names as you pedal your tricycle, as if you might find them behind a bush up ahead. You love them so much, and they continue to delight in your every new word and skill.

Cora's Brown Bear Finale from Lag Liv on Vimeo.

Day-to-day you love school and run into your classroom cheerfully with barely a wave goodbye. Your teachers tell us you are SO busy and you love all your work. At home you are constantly busy. You always hug but rarely cuddle. You LOVE sleep and luxuriate in 5 hour naps on the weekends. You've started waking up earlier in the morning so we've been cropping your naps and for at least an hour after we force you up, you sigh repeatedly and rest your sweet round cheek on your hand and clearly long for bed. You go down at 8:00 with your big sister. Your nighttime routine consists of a book, now often read by your Yaya, and then plopping you in your crib- which you never fail to seem delighted to see again- giving you a hug and kiss, turning off the light and on the sound machine, and closing the door. You cheerfully tell us to "have good sleep!" as we walk away and at 8:02 we're on the couch and off duty until we hear you telling Yaya to wake up 11 hours later.

You eat politely with your grown-up utensils and cup and have for months. You eat everything we do, except you weirdly hate fruit. You love sauces and strong flavors and will dip your chips into the spiciest of salsas. When I ask what you want to eat you always chant, "Umm, tortillas, beans, av-cado, turkey, CHEESE!". Black beans are your favorite food, possibly second only to sweet potatoes and avocado. You love identifying colors and purple seems to be your favorite. You say, "oh goodness gracious" anytime something surprising or upsetting happens. You are incredibly patient- you are dragged on so much and always act like whatever it is you're doing (long car rides, hikes, swim meets, school events) is precisely where you want to be.

At 2.5 you have spent more time in timeout than either of your big siblings, but you are also better behaved while you are in there. You always say thank you and generally say please. Saying sorry is not your favorite. You are delighted by zebras and most other wild animals. You are fierce with your affections, opinions, and infectious joy. You are the heart of our house, Ra-ra, and you couldn't be more loved or seem any happier to be here.

Xoxo,
Mama

Pink Flower Frozen Princess Pool Party

So Claire turned 6 on Saturday.

She was, of course, very excited. Claire is excited about everything- she glows most of the time, and birthdays, any birthday, are a reason for extra wattage. She's genuinely thrilled for anything exciting that happens to anyone - she's our sunshine girl and it was wonderful to have a day to celebrate her.

We did our little decorations on the kitchen table for her to find in the morning and put out our present and the gift my parents left for her after they watched the kids. Apparently Claire had asked them to hide it so she wouldn't be tempted to look at it while we were still gone (the girl knows herself), so we spent much of Friday night looking around our room for it, wondering if perhaps Claire was wrong and my parents had taken it back to Houston with them. They're in Sweden right now and it was about 5 a.m. so I couldn't exactly ask them, but eventually, after MUCH searching we found it behind my show bins in the top of my closet. My dad, the former Easter Bunny and hider of baskets has seriously upped his game.

We had a birthday party for another friend to go to that night, so we did donuts for breakfast and whatever else Claire wanted (french toast- on Trader Joe's cinnamon swirl bread because why would you bother making it with anything else, and fruit. Done!). Claire got to blow out her birthday pig and then open presents.

A monogrammed swim bag and a Kindle.

SO EXCITED; her first electronic device- totally goes in the baby book. She also got a bag of dresses from my mom- Claire's favorite thing. She loves her clothes and accessories. We also got her 18k gold plated earrings with bullet backs that won't press into her scarred ears and they've been great! They're little pink rhinestone flowers and they look adorable on her ears. After only 3 days of wear it's like a whole new world- it really was the nickel/metal and just a few days of active avoidance have cleared up so much of her bumps and rashes and outright wounds.

After breakfast I ran off to teach my barre class and the kids played around the house. When I got back Landon had a bunch of friends over (they're obsessed with playing Four Square; obsessed. We let him have 3 friends over and they played outside on the driveway for 3 hours. James brought them water and goldfish after 2 hours and played with them for the last hour. According to one mom I was chatting with at Claire's party yesterday her son came home wide-eyed exclaiming, "Landon's dad has some trick moves mom! Trick moves!" Oh James, the six-square champion of UT swimming, you rise again.)

Claire and I went and got birthday pedicures. She was thrilled.

She'd never been to a salon before and as soon as she put her feet in the swirling water, she exclaimed, "when I'm a grown-up I'm doing this EVERY DAY!"

You and me both, girl. We discussed her future- she is going to be a teacher, swim coach, mom, doctor, and yoga teacher. I thought all of those things sounded fantastic. Her favorite thing in school is math and her favorite color is rainbow. She told her technician all about her big brother and "little baby sister." She was patient and polite and grinned like a crazy person the whole time.

it tickles!

She got a little flower and heart on her toes and polka dots and it was all so cute.

She took great care getting into the car afterwards only to enthusiastically jump out of the car directly onto her big toe on the exit. So back to the salon we went for a one-toe redo. That complete, we packed up for Landon's friend's pool party (her sister is one of Claire's besties) and Cora turned into a fish and insisted on swimming the ENTIRE time. I don't know that anyone had more fun than she did.

Sunday was Claire's party. It wasn't until 2, so we bummed around the house in the morning and then decided to run to Academy to get Claire a new bike with her birthday money from my grandparents. She's still riding the one we got her for her 3rd birthday, so it was time- she's a 2-wheel riding big girl now, she needs new (bigger!) wheels. At the store Cora hopped onto the small sized bikes and rode it up and down the aisle and then fell apart into a thousand sobbing pieces when we plucked her off it when it was time to go. So she and I sat in the car while the purchases were complete and then once home, we set out for a long family walk to try out Claire's new wheels.

She did great- she just has to push off the curb to get going. But at the rate her limbs seem to be extending, I'm sure her feet will be on the ground in no time. After our walk we started party prepping, and doing all the other usual Sunday stuff- laundry, grocery shopping, hanging balloons from the back porch roof- you know. We kept it simple with bowls of snack foods on the tables, watermelon slices, juices, iced sugar cookies, a cookie cake, and grown-up pink drink. The kids swam and swam, and somewhat unusually spent a lot of time on the playground and driveway (more four-square!). This might have something to do with the fact the pool is still about 50 degrees. Come on hot summer days!

We woke up Cora to join the party (we're starting to truncate her beloved 4-5 hour naps; they're affecting her ability to sleep in and I care about that than my afternoon break), but she mostly wished she was still in bed.

Claire was all over the place- the pool, the playground, the driveway, the pool, the cookies...

We took a break for cookie cake and I did have a moment realizing that the first time she blew out a candle in that seat, at that table, she was turning 2. Crazy.

After the party James had to head straight out to his summer pool so I finished cleaning up and turned on a movie for the kids. Landon retreated to his room to read and after finishing up in the kitchen, I walked into the TV room to find the girls like this.

A position they stayed in for the next 90 minutes of Finding Nemo. They have so much love for each other- and Claire ("Yaya," specifically "my Yaya") is the first person Cora also needs to see when we reunite at the end of the day. Their growing bond, and the care Claire bestows on Cora is a great source of joy for me. Claire is a generous and loving big sister- she takes Cora's need to mimic her and appropriate all of her toys as the compliment it is and Cora gives her back all the love and adoration she deserves. I love watching them together.

And outside her star role as a big sister, I'm just so glad this little/big 6 year old had such a fun filled weekend. She's a true creator of joy, our family's cheerleader, and such a smart, fun, athletic, smiley, super affectionate, and amazing kid. We love you Clairebear.

Pumpkins and Carriages

So it was quite a return to reality when we got back from our trip Monday afternoon. We had one car with a flat tire, James had to get to the pool he manages because it was their opening weekend, we needed food, and our AC wasn't working in the main part of the house. But it was wonderful to see the kids who had had a marvelous time with their Tara and Papa and Gigi while we were gone. Cora was napping when we got home and when I went in to get her when she woke up she lost her mind in screamy happy joy. Truly no one will ever love you the way your toddler loves you. It overwhelms their whole body.

We dove right back into the grind with James in all day lifeguard training Tuesday and me in calls and meetings. I had to leave work early to meet our AC repair guy ($200 fix!) and then the kids and I played Life until James brought Cora home and she "helped" us decide to end our game early.

I did have a brief shining moment where I realized in 3-4 years I could have THREE people to play Life with me! Just like I always dreamed! The only time I got to play board games as much as my heart truly desired was when I went to upstate New York with my aunt and uncle in 7th grade and we played Scrabble until like 3 a.m. It was wonderful, even though I'm quite bad at Scrabble. I read a ton, but somehow my paranormal vampire romance vocabulary just doesn't help me in Scrabble.

On Wednesday we had the kids' end of school award ceremonies. Claire was first- she marched up on that stage with all the joy and confidence she's had every day of Kindergarten and that I know she'll carry with her into first grade. She got the Hard Worker Award, Super Reader Award, Reader Leader every 6 weeks, Perfect Attendance certificate, and a certificate noting she has read 2,212 words- the second highest in her class! She's adorable in her love of school (and basically all other things) and we're so proud of her, especially given that she's nearly a full year younger than Landon was when he started Kindergarten. It's been a great year.

Landon's ceremony was a few hours later. He never made eye contact with the camera, though he did look tickled when he saw James and I in the audience and even gave us a wave when he was sitting down with his class. He was clearly pleased we were there, but was also clearly not going to wave at me from the stage.

Landon got High Honor Roll (I think his lowest grade this year was a 94), the Presidential Gold Seal Award (absolutely no idea what that means or how you earn it), Outstanding Citizenship (all E's for behavior), Reader Leader every six weeks, and a certificate stating he's read 267,356 words for the year which seems like a lot. He continues to love school, love his friends, and be utterly unimpressed by his academic successes. He's happy about them, they just don't define him in any way. I am still working on this.

He also got to celebrate his summer birthday after the ceremony, so we brought a few dozen donuts along to pass out to the class. You're totally king for a day when you're the one passing out the sugar.

That afternoon James had to go to the pool for a chlorine issue, so I decided to pick up Cora early and head to the zoo 45 minutes before closing because an empty zoo is the best zoo. It had been raining all day, but was blue and beautiful for those 40 minutes spent with some animals who seemed as excited to be outside as we were.

Cora in particular was THRILLED to be there. She roared at lions (and they roared back!), exclaimed over monkeys, and screamed over DUBRAS! Wearing her zebra romper, obviously. That wasn't planned, she's just always wearing it.

And then yesterday was THE LAST DAY! Obligatory morning picture:

To be compared with day 1:

I feel like Claire really does look way older than she did a year ago, but just not in that picture. Maybe she was so thrilled about going to Kindergarten she aged herself just for that photo? I now have a 1st and 3rd grader and it is crazy. Even crazier, I won't have another Kindergartner until I also have a 6th grader. Whaaat?!

Since we have a different birthday party to go to the night of Claire's real birthday (tomorrow!) we thought we'd do her official birthday dinner on Thursday night. I met James and the kids after work at Claire's selection- East Hampton Sandwich Company- chosen solely because they have a grilled Fluffernutter sandwich with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. It's in the "sweets" section of the menu, but what else are birthdays for?

Today I went to work (after Orangetheory, which I am still LOVING you guys- my running has improved so much!) and James and the big kids played all day. They start summer camps on Monday (I have a spreadsheet and schedules taped on the fridge), but today was just for daddy and that always means fun.

I even got text updates! No words, but sending pics is a pretty big deal. 95% of our chat history is me texting something and then later asking James if he got my text. He prefers smoke signals and carrier pigeons.

Claire also had her 6 year check up this morning- she's still 75th percentile for weight and height and overall healthy and strong. She was also officially diagnosed with a nickel allergy. We've had quite a saga with her pierced ears- the piercing essentially never healed after she got it last August. Every time we'd change her earrings or check them they'd be scabby and crusty and terrible and we'd chastise ourselves for not taking better care of them but then I'd remember that it had been 8 months and we change her earrings every few days and this really shouldn't be a problem. Combine that with the time her ears ate her earring backs requiring us to use tweezers to extricate them (parenting highlight for sure) and her constant various scabby itchy red rashes all over random parts of her body and I feel TERRIBLE that it took us so long to figure out. It's only luck we noticed that her latest rash was right in the same spot she had a safety pin inside her school uniform because a button had broken that morning and I wanted to hold the shirt/vest together. All her stomach rashes are from the button of her pants (unnoticed for so long only because she wears dresses 90% of the time). The rash she had on her back the day after wearing a dress with an exposed zipper. It goes on. Honestly we feel like unobservant idiots, but we're glad we can get on top of things now and hopefully give her her first few days without an angry rash in months and possibly years.

Our return to reality has also brought us back to the reality of James not having a pool in September. Someone was asking me about school year swim lessons and right in the middle of my enthusiastic recommendation I shut down, remembering that the business I was recommending might not exist in the fall. He's so good and he's built something so successful it kills me anew each time I think about life post-August. He's so busy right now with the summer pool I can forget for periods of time, but when I remember my heart rate speeds up and my stomach hurts. It sucks on a lot of levels. I'm trying not to withdraw too far into myself over it yet because right now he's still running a busy thriving company and he's working hard on pool options but it's a struggle every time I remember. The near-constant rain is not helping. So I'm doing a lot of reading (I'm like the last person to discover Cassandra Clare and her Infernal Devices and Mortal Instruments series; on book 4 and enjoying it so much!) and forcing myself to be social even when I don't feel like it because I'm extroverted^10 and always feel better when I get around other people. But I'm struggling a bit right now.

6 years ago tonight!

Tomorrow our sweet Clairebear will be 6 and we have a lot to celebrate. Her party is Sunday and then swim team and summer camp starts Monday. Our first swim meet is next weekend and we have an outdoor concert with the kids and lots of other fun stuff planned, including a trip to the lake house for July 4th to meet our beautiful new niece and cousin. Summer is crazy and my favorite and I just discovered a frozen to-go daiquiri place, so it's going to be great.

Cinderella and a Fairy Tale Weekend

We're back from our trip to New York City and it was WONDERFUL- super fun, super fancy, with lots of time with friends and still plenty of hours of just the two of us aimlessly rambling around the city and eating something delicious every two hours. While we missed the kids like crazy and can't wait to take them to New York, for our first grownup getaway, it truly could not have been more perfect.

with the groom

Things started out a little stressful. As I noted in the last post, the dress I'd rented from Rent the Runway didn't fit, so I packed a suitcase for NY that didn't include anything to wear to the wedding Sunday night. Then, as we were pulling out of our driveway at 6 a.m. (precisely on time; amazing how much easier it is to do that when you're not pushing three kids out the door with you) James realized he had a flat tire (roofing nail!). Luckily our nanny could give her extra car seats to my parents (we'd planned to leave my car for them) and we switched our stuff to my car and took off for DFW.

The flight was great and right on time, and James didn't even grip the armrest like he was personally responsible for keeping the plane aloft. He's really improving. We hopped in a cab at La Guardia and gave directions for our hotel only to have me panic partway there and give instructions to go straight to the Rent the Runway store instead. Not having a dress was really stressing me out, particularly when the person I talked to at RTR said they were out of most of their stock for the holiday weekend. It was 95 degrees in NYC and the RTR store didn't seem to have functioning air conditioning. Everything took forever and they didn't have anything in my size when we arrived (stress!), but after stalking the returns I found 4 in my size and simply decided I would love one of them. I settled on a cobalt blue gown that was long, simple, and gave me an hourglass figure I do not actually possess- plus I could wear shoes I already owned and happened to bring with me plus the accessories I'd already rented, so we were done! Except the computer system is terrible so it actually took another 45 minutes to exit, but luckily there was a tiny pizza place next door that James was able to eat at for extra shopping stamina.

Now, confident that I would not be attending a very formal affair in the maxi dress I wore on the plane, I joyfully stepped out onto the NYC streets, new designer sunglasses on, $10 Ross maxi dress ready (SO many compliments on that; at least 10 from total strangers; Ross Forever!), and gold sandals totally inadequate for the walking we were about to do, but we were HERE and we were ready to seize the rest of our day! We marched up 5th Avenue from 17th to 38th, pulling our suitcases behind us and feeling really weird about not having to keep any small children out of the street. I love cities SO much I was grinning like an idiot the entire walk, even as I sweated through all my clothes (95 degrees!) and my arm went numb from pulling my suitcase. So much energy! It's like being plugged into an electric socket and I glowed pretty much the whole time we were there.

Once at the hotel we changed into new, non-sweaty clothes and wandered back down 5th, stopping for an ice cream cone dipped in rainbow sprinkles (me, obviously), more pizza (James), and ultimately finding ourselves in Eataly near the Flatiron building at 23rd. It had been 15 blocks and 25 minutes since our last meal, so we got a table and I had the best homemade burrata and sliced prosciutto of my entire life- including when I was in Italy- and glass of champagne (a theme of the weekend). James had pasta and a million slices of bread and both of us were very happy. He took a Nutella crepe to go and we ate in Madison Square Park. Or he did, I just watched because Nutella is gross. We wandered back up 6th to return to our midtown hotel (The Refinery- fabulous), collapsed in our bed and watched HGTV and napped. You can probably guess who did what.

The casual Rehearsal Dinner was at 7 at Park Avenue Tavern where our friend Dave and his fiance Rita had their first date, so we walked over there and got to see some swimming friends we hadn't seen since our own wedding. It was so fun to chat and catch up, enjoying free drinks and snacks and the giddy knowledge that we could stay out as late as we wanted. After the dinner we went back to our hotel with our former UT swimming crew and I got to be a VIP for the first time ever by using my room key to cut the line to the apparently VERY popular rooftop bar at our hotel. Obviously, everyone was very impressed with my connections. The rooftop was fab and there was more champagne and lots more chatter and laughter.

I love these people.

We went to bed late and woke up as late as I am capable. The wedding wasn't until 6:30 so I used some of your suggestions and we grabbed a cab down to Chelsea Market for some brunching. It was AWESOME- at least 2 city blocks of restaurants and all different cuisines. I had a lemon, sugar, and butter crepe (breakfast!) and the best rustic Italian sandwich ever (I was very into homemade mozzarella and melt in your mouth prosciutto on this trip). James ate everything- I stopped keeping track. Properly fueled we headed out and went up on the High Line to walk back up towards our hotel. The High Line is wonderful- what a fabulous idea and use of space. It's a garden filled walkway built on old railroad tracks above the city. We loved strolling along it, watching the cars underneath and admiring the flowers and buildings all around.

We exited at 33rd and decided to ramble around Central Park, so we grabbed another cab to jump us up another 30 blocks and entered the park about Central Park West and 62nd. We did Bow Bridge, Bethesda Fountain, Belvedere Castle... just tons of walking and some sitting and enjoying... it was perfect. We ate popsicles and decided we were fueled enough to walk back to our hotel. We meandered, me forcing James to take a picture now and then, James trying not to shudder at how many people were everywhere.

We found a noodle house that looked delicious so we headed in there for James to eat three more plates of food just in case the fancy wedding food didn't fill him up (an absurd concern, as you'll see below). We got back to the hotel in time to rest for a bit and then it was time for my Blow Dry on the Fly appointment through Blow Dry bar. I booked through their app and they send a stylist (Lucy! who was awesome) to your hotel for a blow out, curl, braid- whatever! It was amazing and so great after a day full of walking to just chill in the room while someone else made my hair look far better than I am capable. After that I just had to do my makeup (thank you youtube videos) and don my rented dress with rented jewels and fill my rented purse with ID, lipstick, and a credit card and I was ready!

bling!

At 30 minutes out James jumped in the shower and put on his tux. I had never seen him in a tux before and it was a moment for me.

We headed out of the hotel in our rented finery, ran into our friends in the lobby, and walked our block and a half to the wedding at Gotham Hall.

my dress had a train because whytf not

I had never been to a Jewish wedding before, so I was brimming with excitement, curiosity, joy for our friend, and joy at us being dressed up and OUT and ready to party. The wedding could have been a dud and I still would probably have loved every minute, but oh holy hell it was the most extraordinary event I've ever been to and truly, other than my own wedding, the most fun-filled too.

We started out in a cocktail hour- full bar, passed drinks, passed hors d'oeuvres. It was a good start. I liked the drinking pre-ceremony and James liked the variety of tiny foods that involved steak.

and Dave; we love Dave

Next, we were ushered into the hall for the ceremony. I found this fascinating and very beautiful. The family was so much a part of the ceremony- both sets of parents stood up by their children throughout and the visual of that was very powerful. It was a less about the couple- I didn't find the creation of their union to be as poignant or tear-inducing as I often do (in part because the rabbi had been flown in from Israel and the whole ceremony was in Hebrew so I wasn't sure when they were actually married or what the vows said), but I loved the feeling of history and generations. It felt less like a creation of a new family and more of a joining of two families together to form a new branch. I found it lovely and felt honored to be there.

After the ceremony we were back in the large cocktail room- now with a second story opened up- and two full bars and FIVE different cocktail buffets. A giant sushi table with chefs making sushi as fast as we could eat it, bottles of sake for the taking, and endless sushi and sashimi. A table of lamb sliders and toppings. A mashed potato bar. A fresh pasta stations with toppings and grilled vegetables. More passed hors d'oeuvres. James was in heaven with a stack of sushi on his plate and bottle of sake in his pocket.

I snuck a peak through the 2nd story cocktail lounge curtains into the reception hall below. Oh boy.

When the reception hall opened back up, the party really began. They had a huge band that was amazing and played all my barre songs. Two more bars. Tables of food in case you got hungry between courses. A four course dinner. Flowers so big I texted my friend across the table to chat because we couldn't see each other through the plumage.

The bride and groom were radiant. We already knew Dave was a great dancer and his bride was a perfect match. The dancing was nonstop the whole night. So often with sit down dinners the energy lulls and never recovers, but they kept the band playing hits and people just popped up from their table to dance between courses while the next was set out. After the meat course, more tables were set up with salamis and breads, and a carving station of something I never bothered to identify. We danced. We drank. I discovered a bartender who made excellent Mexican martinis and the house tequila was silver Patron.

We danced a lot.

And when we wore out our men, we ladies danced with each other instead.

The dessert course began and it was an ENTIRE ROOM of six separate dessert buffets. A chocolate table. A pastry table. A table of tiny cakes. A crepe station. A gelaterie.

I was REALLY excited about this room.

James too.

There was more dancing. I don't think the bride ever sat down. The families were giddy with joy. All four parents were bogeying down and the endless cousins were always on the floor. It was a party first and an elegant formal affair second and the combination of the two- and being in the city, without kids, and with friends we hadn't seen in years- made it feel magical. Like I was Cinderella. An apt analogy given that I bundled up everything I was wearing into a bag and dropped it at the front desk on our way out this morning to be returned to RTR.

After 6 hours the party was still going strong as everyone went upstairs to the after-party area with cigar bar, another full bar, and more food. At 1 a.m. we finally had to tap out, hugging and kissing our friends goodbye and giving our best to the bride, groom, and their families. We emerged from Gotham Hall to find the city still vibrant and bursting, with a steady rain to reflect the lights all the more. My shoes were broken, my feet swollen. We limped home, a giant smile on my face as I lifted it up to the rain and walked hand in hand with my love back to the hotel.

At 9 a.m. the next morning we were heading back to the airport and our life in Fort Worth. To our 3 kids we had missed terribly, and our newly broken AC unit and the stresses of James's changing job that we had not. But I'll remember forever dancing till I dropped, singing and laughing till I was hoarse, and walking home in the rain and city lights holding James's hand.

Living a fairy tale.

For a weekend anyway.