Happy Friday, friends and neighbors.  Today the weekend is starting a little early, though not for anything extremely fun.  When I got to work today, I was feeling decidedly normal, but that faded fast.  Slowly and surely, with tummy rumblings and general malaise, I realized it was bound to be a half day.  It’s likely some perfect storm of not eating a real dinner last night (but nibbling on calamari, shrimp and salsa, and making a peach crumble sundae…), my past two weeks of travel catching up on me, and my own, personal shark week (explanation may be TMI for regular readers, but feel free to click if you don’t understand.)  No matter the culprit, my body just needed some R&R (&S… for salad!)

I sprinkled some sexy chia seeds on top for a little crunch (and because… you know… all the cool kids do it.) It reminded me of sesame seeds, and the salad was delicious.  Probably very good for me to get some greens into my body after the lousy food and drink I put in my belly last night.

I thank you all for sticking it out and following this wedding journey to the end, and in case you haven’t (but want to) here’s the recap so far:

• The 61 Hour Wedding Whirlwind Weekend: The Rehearsal
• The 61 Hour Wedding Whirlwind Weekend: Rehearsal Dinner at Monterey Bay Fish Grotto
• The 61 Hour Wedding Whirlwind Weekend: Primping
• The 61 Hour Wedding Whirlwind Weekend: Pictures and the Ceremony!

We all know, to quote a great man, that “After the show, it’s the after parrrrrrrrrtyyyyyy” (R. Kelly, 2003).  The wedding party was danced onto the boat where the reception was held, one of Pittsburgh’s infamous Gateway Clipper Fleet ships.  Unfortunately, one of the groomsmen didn’t quite have his “land legs” yet, and promptly spilled an entire glass of red wine on the table.

Luckily, the crew had it cleaned up in a jiffy, and in a few minutes, after the rest of us got our drinks, the table was again ready for sitting.

Up next was the part of the night I was the most anxious about… the SPEECHES!  First up was Miles, brother of the groom, and best man.

His speech was top notch.  Clever, touching, and to the point. It touched on the loyalty of the groom, the generosity of the bride, and how right they were for each other.

The other MOH, Breanna, discussed the meeting of Caitlin and Eamonn as a fairytale, starting with dorm rooms and shot glasses.  I’ll admit, I had very little knowledge of this inside joke, but I know it meant a lot to the happy couple, and was happy that someone who actually knew them well as a couple could speak to their love story.

I don’t have any pictures of my own speech, since I was giving it and all, but all of my anxiety flew away the moment someone handed me a microphone. I looked back at Caitlin and tried to speak from the heart, and I did it all without crying at all (though there were some seriously intense cracks in my voice, made me feel like a pubertal boy… one who was about to weep openly in front of his friends.)  It went over well, though, and then the fun could begin!!

And the night was capped off with beautiful fireworks (that were meant for the Pittsburgh Pirates… but we felt like they were all for us!)

All in all, I’d say a successful wedding.  Romantic, inspiring, and on a boat.  All the best parts of a night out, right?

PS my sincere apologies to Ryan, my beau, for being such a camera ham…. and for posting pictures like this.  Thanks for tolerating dating me.

Ok, now I’m off to try and feel better…. maybe with the help of this week’s US Weekly.  Apparently Denise Richards is gonna “tell all.”

I’m riveted.

Do you like celebrity gossip?

Do you take ridiculous pictures of you and your significant other in hopes that one day, you can show them off for all the world to see?

Yeah. Me too.