Wedding Update #26 - First Wedding-Related Party!
The rally gals always talk about how we should hang out outside of rally - see each other in “normal” clothes, all cleaned up, and without helmet hair. A couple weeks ago, when Kris and I were at the Seed9 Rally, we got a chance to chat with Erik and Amy, who we knew were engaged. They’re getting married on March 31st, so we both thought it would be a great idea to celebrate our upcoming nuptials together. We also chatted about how our birthdays are both in March (actually Erik’s is too!). Our friend Jen was kind enough to organize what I am fondly calling our “Rally Gal Birthday/Bachelorette Bash!”
First of all, thanks again to Jen! Also thanks to Amy, who was gracious enough to not only let me come over early, but also let the other 5 of us stay over for the evening!
After I got to Amy’s last night, she helped me decide what to wear, which was basically what I had planned on, but it was nice not to have to wear my nice pants for an hour or two in traffic on the way up. Amy and Erik let me park in their garage, which is a 3-4 garage. I was so jealous of them to have a garage actually right below their apartment! Amy was also kind enough to show me how she and Erik made their invitations, and gave me some great ideas about lots of things for Kris and my wedding. We shared our websites with one another while waiting for her friend Diane to arrive.
Once we met up with Diane, the three of us drove over to the parking lot where we met up with Jen and Renata. We got their cars safely parked, then piled into Diane’s Jetta and headed down to Hermosa Beach. First we had a light dinner at El Cantina Real, a Mexican restuarant. Then we walked around looking for a bar/club to drink and dance. We decided on Blue 32 (because there was no cover, always a plus!), which when we got inside was still serving dinner, so we had no place to sit. We only had to wait a few minutes for the lights to turn down and the music to get going. Bristol joined us for the drinking and dancing, and once she arrived, Jen surprised me and Amy with the cutest shiny “wedding” blue purses, which contained kazoos, a ring-pop, and beads to designate the “brides to be.” She also had candy bracelets for everyone!
This was the first time I’ve ever gone out that I didn’t have to pay for any of my own drinks! It was really nice of the other girls to pay for them! Since there wasn’t a lot of dancing actually going on, we decided to check out another place called Sangria. However, that place had a REALLY long line, and a ridiculous cover charge, so we decided not to go in and to head back to Amy’s to chat.
We had a great time hanging out in Hermosa Beach; I think we had an even better time with the “girl talk” a little later on. Bristol had a really cute card and some nice bath products for me. She used some rally terms to describe what would be upcoming in my life - ‘Engagement “tightens” to marriage’ etc. 
It was cute and funny!
Thanks again to all the girls that came out, and for making my birthday a great one, as well as thanks for throwing a fabulous bachelorette bash! I hope we all get to hang out again soon, outside OR inside a rally!
