We, literally, partied up a storm.

Where to begin about my shower? Oh, man, did we have fun.

My day began, actually, with an engagement session with Lauri for Joel and me all around Rye Town Park. I know she was nervous about the shoot, (because limited time + mid-summer afternoon light + shooting two photographers= scary!) but the praise is well-deserved! Check this out, right?



This is the best picture ever taken of us. EVER. I can not thank you enough, Lauri. The photos are great.

The shower was held at Seaside Johnnie's, a lobster/crabcake/burger joint on Long Island Sound where Joel and I had our first date. My mom, sister and bridal ninjas planned a beach party clambake for me, and it was, literally, just what I wanted. I didn't take any pictures personally, but Lauri did (see entry below.) I'll post those as soon as I can. :) They rented a pavilion adjacent to the restaurant, which handily kept us out of the sun at the start of the shower and kept us dry when the thunderstorm hit.

I just want to thank everyone. It'll be like my own little personal Oscar acceptance speech. Here we go. I want to thank the Academy and my agent and God and Tom Hanks... and...

• My sister, my maid of honor, my hostess and MC, who- OMG- made a Mad Libs game out of my blog entries about me and Joel. HI. Larious. This entry about our first date went from this:

"I suggested we go to Seaside Johnnie's, an overpriced beach shack on Long Island Sound where you can blow $16.95 on a cheeseburger if you aren't careful. Ordinarily, I wouldn't suggest it for a first date if dinner is involved, but since we were only going to have drinks, I figured it wouldn't be too pricey."

became something like....

"I suggested we go to Disney World, an overpriced armpit on Long Island Sound where you can blow $0.05 on a cheeseburger if you aren't sparkly."

Absolute genius, AJ. Best. "Bridal Shower Game" Ever.

• My mom, who made all this work, who did the tedious shower-related labor (helping build a game board, gift-wrapping favors) to bring my sister's ideas to life, from getting the lights in the party pavilion turned on as the storm clouds darkened, to making sure a present from one of my Like-a-Moms from East Pete who couldn't attend in person actually arrived, to assisting my bridal ninjas every step of the way... It didn't go unnoticed, Mom. I can't say thank you enough.

• Kelly and Sarah, who helped plan despite going through massive life overhaul changes, including but not limited to finishing nursing coursework, selling homes, job-hunting, doing a long-distance marriage. They ran present after present to the car in the rain- IN KITTEN HEELS, Sarah, my GOD, woman!- passed out towels to the guests (excellent beach-theme shower favor! Also handy in a torrential downpour!)

• Andrea, for pouring your heart and time and talents into my headpiece and cake topper, for keeping me calm in the hours beforehand, for carrying a quilt and sunglasses and wallets and lip gloss throughout the engagement shoot, for the give and take of creative energy, for knowing me and getting it.

• Heather and Liss and Gwen, for showing up early, and helping set up, and running my flower girl to the bathroom just in time. For singing Girl Scout camp songs to a huddled group of women as lightning crashed all around us, for leaning across the table and saying to me: THIS. IS. GREAT! LOOK AT HOW MUCH FUN EVERYONE IS HAVING and MEANING IT as the rain blew in sideways, for getting through wedding planning and gift-opening just a few weeks ahead, reminding me that I'm not alone, that I'm doing great, too. If it were easy to have the same best friends you had when you were 14, everyone would do it. I am so lucky.

• My co-worker girls, the reporters who negotiate my security clearance at West Point despite my pesky NSA profile, who carry my tripod when I've got to do videos AND stills, and oops! Sen. Schumer's people have spontaneously relocated the press conference! who ALL came and rearranged weekend shifts around at not only the Nournal Jews, but also the Jall Weet Strournal and the Aten Stisland Advance, who were the last to leave, who did so well on the "Angie's Life Quiz" that I realized something I already knew in a whole new way: I spend more time in the newsroom than I do at home. ;) Thank you.

• Oh, HDL, I know it must have been a little lonely without the rest of the '97 peeps. Thank you for taking the subway, to Metro-North, to a taxi to the beach. Yours is the wafflemaker we're keeping... Shhh... :)

• Thank you, Kristen and Mrs P and Table #2, for knowing me the the longest (and loving me anyway.)

• The New Yorkers who crossed bridges and tunnels and braved traffic and highways that are treacherous in the best of times, let alone on a rainy Saturday when the Mets are in town, who made me a member of the "framily" (friend + family= framily), who have always, always treated me as so much more than their husbands' friend's girlfriend. You guys are the best.

• All the out-of-towners who drove in from PA and Jersey and Boston and Baltimore, my mom's friend Linda whose laugh fills a room, my mother-in-law's friends who've known Joel for his entire life but whom only just met me, the cousins who remember holding my future husband as a baby and not wanting to leave for Hebrew School because "the baby" was so cute, the new (and newish) moms who decided that the best Father's Day gift would be to leave the under-2 crowd home with Daddy so they could enjoy the non-stop frozen tropical drinks (yum!).

• and my mother-in-law, who wrote me the sweetest card, made me a wedding cake out of bath towels, and raised the love of my life. Thank you for Joel. Thank you, thank you, thank you.