Life, Love & the Pursuit of Chocolate...: Real Talk: My parents are Embarrassing

We had a crazy whirlwind of a Memorial Day weekend! On Friday night when the boy got off work (at 9:00...) we headed down to Atlanta for a wedding. Although we originally planned to leave Saturday morning super early (well, actually the original plan was for the boy to have the day off on Friday, but that didn't happen), but came up with a completely unique and never-thought-of-before idea to leave that evening and miss all the holiday traffic. As it turns out, we were somehow not the only ones to come up with this idea and we still hit traffic on the KY/TN border. At 1:30am we were only halfway(!!!) and I was not a happy camper. We stopped to use the restroom and get some coffee and I decided that I needed a pint of gas station ice cream as well...yeah I did. So the boy and I shared a pint of cookie dough ice cream as we hopped back on the interstate and made it to my sister's house around 4:00am.

1:30am gas station look....

Lucky for me, my body is trained to wake up around 6:15 every morning, and even on the days where I "sleep in", I can only make it to about 7:30am. Saturday morning was no different, and so after only 3.5 hours of sleep, I got up and proceeded straight to the living room to kiss all over this little nugget:

That face is surely worth getting up early for.

After going on a 3 mile walk through my sister's hill-filled neighborhood (it was 90 degrees and GA humid....running was out) and getting a $10 manicure at the chop-shop around the corner, I headed back to the couch for a nap while the boy was off with my brother and Dad drinking beer and eating crap he knows I don't approve of (i.e., unhealthy crap like fried bologna sandwiches...BARF). At 4:30 we were out the door and on our way to Katie's traditional Greek wedding.

I was a little curious about the Greek wedding ceremony, and I will admit, I did wonder a little if Katie had to take an oil bath in a baby pool like Sex-and-the-City-Aiden did in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. My guess on that was "no" but I never bothered to ask. Katie and Vasilis ("Billy") did a great job in their wedding program of highlighting all the traditions of the ceremony so that the guests would understand what each step meant. The ceremony itself lasted almost an hour, and throughout most of that time, the officiant was SINGING everything he said. No lie...he sang every bible verse, story, prayer, word... It was by far the most interesting thing I had every seen!

The Ceremonial Walk - yes, I too first saw this on "Full House" when Uncle Jesse's family came to visit

The Stefana Crowning - this is when the couple actually become husband and wife.

After the ceremony we got the party started at The Trolley Barn in Atlanta. Katie and Billy had a great reception venue, and an awesome band, which I had been hearing seriously awesome things about. I immediately got one of the bride's signature cocktails in my hand (Pomegranate and Prosecco...yumm!!) and braced myself for the parental embarrassment that I knew was inevitable once the dance floor opened up.

Debauchery walking...

Outdoor tables and cocktail area

Inside table..."family style".

Me and him...39 days to go!

Bride and Groom!

First dance!

And then the dancing and ridiculousness began...Katie and Billy had an awesome locally famous band. Decked out in full-on 70's attire, they played some awesome tunes! I highly suggest checking out Yacht Rock if you are planning a wedding or event in the area. We danced like fools all night, but there were no bigger fools than my parent's who pretty much do this at every wedding they go to (or really anywhere they go that plays music).

Still somewhat normal....

Yes, this is for real...

And of course, there was this....

I think it goes without saying that a good time was had by all. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I literally had sore butt muscles from dancing all night...no joke. Luckily for us, we had a very relaxing morning complete with playing with the nephews...