practice makes perfect

Ha! If only marriage were that simple… Heck! If only LIFE were that simple!

But, back to our regularly scheduled programming: Carolyn’s wedding! TODAY!

Last night was the rehearsal and dinner (immediately following our marathon 3-and-a-half-hour-long closing).

Look! The bridesmaids coordinated: the three of us on the end in black and white prints, the maid of honor in solid coral and Carolyn wore solid blue! (actually, we didn’t, but I thought it was kinda neat)

The groomsmen:

Mom and Dad Layer and grandma:

The happy couple practicing their departure:

I’m super excited for the wedding–Carolyn picked GREAT music both both our entrance and after their pronouncement, which I thought was neat. I think it’s an instrumental version of U2’s “It’s a Beautiful Day” for us and they exit to a really upbeat song, too.

We went to Pegasus, a local Greek place, for the rehearsal dinner:

Big day ahead–gotta get my run in before my hair/nails/makeup appointments!

carolyn’s bachelorette

Last night was Carolyn’s bachelorette. I’ll be honest–it was anti-climactic in the best way. We started off strong, but what else do you expect from a group of girls who don’t really “party?” We had a great time getting dressed up, laughing and enjoying one another’s company, and got a whole lot of downtown walking in, too!

Also, I wasn’t the official picture-taker, so here are just a few highlights:

We began at The Chocolate Bar–a favorite of Carolyn’s–where we got drinks and dinner.

Jill has a two-year-old and doesn’t get out much–can you tell she’s a bit excited??

I had just been to the salon in the morning for my pre-wedding cut and highlights, and Megan (Abigail’s good friend and longtime Layer-stylist) curled my hair for me–what a treat!

Speaking of treats… I had my first chocolate martini, and it definitely won’t be my last. Hello, chocolatey deliciousness in a glass! I started with the coconut macaroon–and of course we all tried sips of each others’–and I’m proud to say that two other coconut macaroons were ordered for the second round since mine was so good! I opted for the black forest–a mix of chocolate and cherry flavors–as my second. Here’s to trying new things all around!

Almost three hours later, we wrapped up at what I’ll now call ‘chocolate heaven’ and walked in the direction of the Snooty Fox, a local lounge. However, upon arriving, it looked even a little too ‘snooty’ for us, so we kept walking.

Our second stop was Cozumel, where we sat outside and chatted while sipping drinks–water for me (I was planning on running in the morning and am trying to drop a pesky few pounds before Carolyn’s big day)–until we reached the bottom of our glasses. We headed out again…

…and ended up near Allen Street where Susan assisted a local musician on the banjo!

We said hello to Andrew, who was meeting a friend downtown to kill time before he was to drive us home, and then walked off to Laughlin’s, a restaurant/bar I’d been to and liked.

On the way, we performed a three-way shoe-switch. Carolyn’s feet were no longer agreeing with her footwear, so she, Abigail and Jill all switched shoes. Martyr status goes to Abigail, who willingly took her sister’s heels.

We made it to Laughlin’s where I recognized the friendly bartender from last time Andrew and I were there. I introduced Carolyn to my college drink of choice, the Midori Sour, and again, I stuck with water. There were some Lemon Drops and a 7-and-7, of which I took a sip and loved. Thank you, Susan, for introducing me to that one!

We’d also picked up a pet rock, who we affectionately called “Allen,” along the way. Carolyn’s camera contains his antics, unfortunately.

Carolyn wore the sash Abigail got her for her shower…

…Sisters!

carolyn’s lingerie shower (a.k.a. the cupcake post)

Abigail (and I, I suppose) hosted Carolyn’s lingerie shower yesterday. Obviously (and somewhat unfortunately), I won’t be posting ALL the good photos from the par-tay since there may have been some “unmentionables” laying around…lingerie and otherwise.

(We even took a great group photo…while standing under all of Carolyn’s gifts that were currently hanging up on display. Photo fail.)

Here’s the bride, with her sparkling strawberry spritzer and personalized sash:

If you can’t read it, it says “Future Mrs. Tatlow.”

But, the stars of the show were really these babies:

High-heel cupcakes!

Andrew’s mom found out about them on one of her morning shows and they’re featured in this cupcake book. Abigail and I (well, mostly me–the perfectionist in me took over, I think) made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and assembled them for the shower. Honestly, not all that hard to do, but getting them to stand up straight was just a bit tricky. Totally worth the effort.

And, Abigail wanted to re-create something she found on Pinterest:

A zebra-striped cake! She and I were both flying a bit blind the other day in my kitchen–due to a lack of directions and the extreme heat of baking on a hot day–but I’d say we succeeded.

The adorable host, doing what she does best:

And can ya tell the girl likes pink?! Really, they both do. We’re all already at a loss wondering what Abigail will do for her (eventual) wedding since between Carolyn as the bride and Abigail as her maid of honor, there is pink EVERYWHERE.

I wonder if Abigail has seen Steel Magnolias…(Check out the first entry under ‘Dialogue.’)