Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Um…Can every weekend be a long weekend?

Everything about the past few days has been perfect.

Since we last caught up, I’ve been to 16 Handles…

I’ve been to Brooklyn…

…and — surprise, Mom! — I’ve been to New Hampshire.

It’s been a whirlwind weekend, but here’s a bit more about why it was so dang great…

On Saturday night, I ventured to Bubby’s in DUMBO to watch as two of the most amazing people I know got married.

I went with pretty standard dress-up attire: a little black dress.

Gotta love those sports bra tan lines with the one-shoulder dress, huh?

And, to be super tacky, I brought a giant purse in which I brought a change of shoes. Cobblestone streets + heels = guaranteed injury.

I had some time to explore the area before going in to the wedding, and I fell in love with DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge Park. There were tons of people out enjoying the beautiful evening, which made for great people watching. My favorite.

Everything about the wedding was very “Alex and Mike” (the bride and groom — duh). The decor was simple and stunning, with lots of white paper lanterns and hot pink flowers.

I loved that the little flower girls came down the aisle with a sign that said “Here Comes The Bride…”

…And when everyone got that first glimpse of Alex they all gasped. It was awesome. I cried.

I cried more when they said their vows.

And cried just a little more during their first dance.

It was a great night with good friends.

…And good cupcakes.

I may have eaten more than two cupcakes.

I may have eaten three. There’s no way of knowing.

We danced a lot…

…and I managed to casually sip wine and not get blackout drunk.

Weird. Who am I?

Oh that’s right — I’m a girl who had a 7 am flight the next morning!

My mom’s birthday is next weekend, but she and my dad are going away, so earlier this week my dad called me and asked if I wanted to fly up and surprise my mom as an early birthday present.

I don’t go home very often.

The last time I was in New Hampshire was at Christmas.

So heck yeah I wanted to go.

I didn’t care that I had a late wedding the night before, and I didn’t care that I’d be going another weekend without, uh, any sleep.

I knew it would make my mom happy.

So after a cab to JFK, a plane to Boston, a bus ride to Concord, NH, then a short drive to a nearby restaurant, I got to greet my clueless mom!

It was awesome. She was so happy and it was wonderful having the family (minus Michaela — missed you, sister-in-law!) together for 24-ish hours.

We went out for brunch then, because I wanted to stick to my training schedule (Hi, Coach Cane — I won’t let you down, don’t worry), I squeezed in a ridiculously hot 4-mile run.

It was right in the middle of the afternoon when I went running and it was nearly 90 degrees.

And yet I maintained a 7:45 pace the whole time, and even stuck at 7:30 for one mile. I’m quick in the suburbs and I like it!

It was also fun running by my adorable old elementary school.

Once I worked up one heck of a sweat I joined my family at my old high school where my brother was playing in an alumni baseball game.

I felt really old being there.

And I was exhausted.

After getting back to the house and taking a glorious shower, I put on cozy clothes, and then this happened…

In the middle of the living room floor…surrounded by couches and yet I passed out on the floor like a moron for about two hours.

I think I thought I was spooning someone or something…but I wasn’t.

And so my brother took this picture of me. Thanks, Ryan.

But when I woke up, an amazing home-cooked meal was on the table, courtesy of said brother.

(My family gets nervous when I take photos now, because it always prompts the question, “Is this going on the blog?!”)

But no matter how much food we all eat, no meal is complete in our house without dessert.

So off to the “local” ice cream shop we went.

I say “local” because in this tiny town, it’s a 15-minute drive to the closest ice cream place.

Fine by me. They have baby goats there!

I was in bed by 10:30 pm and amazingly slept until 7:30 this morning. I don’t love my bed at home — it’s too hard, and, OK, that’s what she said — but I obviously needed the sleep last night.

My mom and I have many “traditions” when I come home, and today we knocked two off the list: a bike ride and outlet shopping.

We rode 17 or 18 miles to start the day (I kept forgetting to start my watch again the few times I stopped it). I really do miss bike riding now that I’m in the city, where I’m terrified of bike riding.

Sadly my bike is from high school and it’s way too small. My mom and I ended up switching bikes 5 miles into the ride!

It’s also a mountain bike, because I was into that earlier in life. Taking a mountain bike out on the road is less than ideal. It’s so heavy!

Still, we managed a bunch of very hilly miles and worked up quite the sweat.

Cross training day = complete!

After quick showers, we were off to the outlets, where I did some nice damage at J.Crew and Banana Republic.

When we got back home, my dad and brother alerted us that “someone didn’t close the downstairs freezer” (not me, thank God) and they “had to cook everything that was in it.”

We ate like kings today for lunch.

We chowed down on burgers and fish for a while, then had time for a quick Happy Birthday singalong for the lady of the week.

Some families cut up birthday cake and eat it politely.

We are not that family.

Sadly, the time for my departure came way too soon, and as soon as I slipped into a food coma after eating an entire chocolate cake, it was time to hit the road.

Ryan drove me to Logan Airport, where I’m blogging now thanks to the free WiFi.

I’m so glad I got to do some of my favorite things this weekend, even if it did involve a ton of travel. The wedding was amazing, and nothing can beat the look on my mom’s face when she saw I’d be joining the family for brunch.

Success.

See you soon, NYC!

(And if you’re in New Hampshire, stop by and see my parents — they will cook a ton of potentially-spoiled-but-still-delicious food for you.)