it's done!

what a strange feeling: my sister is married, the photos are printed, the brunch was hosted, and we all flew home. and it was *amazing.* so many stories i could tell. you'll forgive me for being away.

first valuable life lesson learned:
have a backup camera, in case you leave yours in a restaurant on the first night of the weekend like an ass. (or like me.)

second valuable life lesson:
*never* alter yourself to fit a dress. alter the dress to fit *your* shape.
those boobs from nordstroms? little silicone anchors. stupid little chest-weights.

combined with a strapless bra, i didn't stand a chance. i could feel the contraption sinking even before i walked down the aisle. thank god the video doesn't show me at all -- me with my red satin cone-boobs sticking out from mid-torso. but the photos do -- if you're nice, i will post a good one. better to show one's real strapless self than spend the reception hiking up your al-qaeda torture garment.

third valuable life lesson:
tell the hairstylist when something is going very wrong.
this one for my 11-year-old sister, who ended up with, in her words, "pageant hair." an odd soup-can-curl crown with a weird shellacked half-mullet. with sparkly pins stuck in it. (we're from texas, and we know from pageant hair.) the owner of the salon overheard us discussing how we'd wash it out back at the hotel room and insisted on fixing it, sweet mercy. the day goes by fast but the photos last forever. you don't want to pass by pageant hair in your sister's hall the rest of your life.

finally: have brunch the day after with everybody. sure, it's one more thing to plan, and not entirely necessary, but people love it. i loved it so much i've gone into hock over it (did you know that a carafe of coffee and two carafes of OJ is $106? only in vegas) and i swear i don't regret one minute. it was awesome to get everyone together again.

one of my uncles i hadn't seen since i was 16, who is barely out of chemo for a wickedly nasty cancer (and is at the moment miraculously kicking its ass), remarked on this at brunch -- these days the only times family comes together from all across the country is for weddings or funerals, and he was damn sure glad this was one and not the other. too true, and easy to lose sight of when you're freaking out about losing your camera and how the eff you ended up with pageant hair.

everything will be fine -- it will go by *way* too fast -- your cheeks will cramp -- you will yell at one of your closest family members (guaranteed!) -- something will go wildly off -- but the little blue spots on your retinas will fade, so enjoy the hell out of whatever you've put together for your day. do at least one thing that feels to you like the best celebration ever. and just think how weird it will feel the week after, not having everyone call you for 1000 decisions. i kind of miss it :).