What a weekend.
Ready? Okay.
Thursday (backtracking a bit): My sister, mom and I went to the bride-to-be's bridal shower at The Cheesecake Factory. It was cute, we played some games, good times. And yes, Liza and I got her lingerie. The skanky kind.
Friday: The fam and I piled into the car and headed down to San Diego. But what should have been a 2 hour drive turned into a 4 hour one as the weekend traffic just kept getting worse and worse. In bad moods and ready for bed, we checked into the hotel.
Room 365, what what?Then it was off to the house where the rehearsal-esque pizza party was being held.
My mom couldn't handle that her Skyler was getting married. His mom was more composed than mine!
My mom, Liza, Skyler, my dad, me and Sarah (ze fiance)70 people later (and after I had a mini breakdown when it hit me that my best friend is
really getting married, ah yes), we left and went to bed.
Saturday: Woke up at 6 (gross), had coffee and got ready to wait outside the temple. For anyone who doesn't know, only a select few can enter the temple and we Jews were not in that category! Entry to the temple is an honor and a very serious one. I would tell you exactly how one gains access in, but I'd probably not make any sense and accidentally leave some stuff out as I am not completely aware of all the details. So if you really would like to know, Google it!
About 45 minutes later, the newlyweds came out of the temple to the applause and cheers of all their family and friends. It was really nice. Pictures were taken, hugs were given. You know the drill, right?
Ready to wait outside the temple
Seriously, can you get over the beauty of this temple?
The happy couple walking out of the temple
Look at that view!
Skyler (second from right) and his gorgeous siblings - Nick, Chelsea and Natalie
Then we once again piled into the car, checked ot of the hotel and were on our way back home to rest before the reception that night.
Here's where it gets (not so) good.
Luckily and unlike the day before, we were driving sans traffic and were debating on when and where to stop to eat since we had had nothing and were getting cranky. My mom and I were in the back so we could sleep because that's what we do.
I'm just drifting off when all of a sudden I hear Liza go, "why is that car stopping?" And then my dad calmly but seriously stating, "we're gonna get hit."
BANG. SLAM. BOOM.
In case you can't infer from my sound effects, we got it.
Hard.
My mom and I jerked forward, causing each of us to hit our heads. My sister was shaken up. My dad gets out.
The back bumper is gone. Well, it's still there but lying on the freeway instead of situated happily on my mom's car. The right back light is smashed in. It wasn't pretty.
Luckily, a highway patrol man was there immediately, allowing my sister to hang up on 911. The guy who hit us pretty much owned up to it, but then again, how can you not when you are driving 40 MPH and slam into the back of a stopped car (we had stopped for the flow of traffic)?
We filed a report with the policeman (who was a bit of an asshole, as I've come to realize many are), got the guy's info and proceeded to drive back onto the freeway and to the nearest rest stop to call AAA.
I should probably add here that we had absolutely no idea where we were and had to get to a wedding party in just a couple hours. Ah, timing.
We pulled over immediately since the insides of the car were pretty much on the outside and making noises similar to those of a whining animal but worse. Then the waiting game for AAA began.
If you've ever been in a car accident - a bad car accident, then you know how it goes when it comes to passersby. You know, the looks. The looks that vaguely resemble those of high schoolers looking at the girl who just got dumped. Oh,
ouch,
that'll leave a mark, yikes, that must suck, glad
I'm not her. And all you can do is a) shrug b) ignore them or c) say something along the lines of, "Enough with the pity party, people...move along!" Which never really gets you anywhere, so you generally resort to options a and b.
Anyway.
God bless AAA because in addition to towing our sorry excuse for a car, the lovely man gave me and my dad a lift to the nearest Hertz to get ourselves a rental car. We'd never been in a tow truck as massive as this (come to think of it, I don't think we've ever really been in a tow truck at all), so this was a bit of an adventure.
After grabbing ourselves an ugly grey car, we drove back to the gas station to pick up my mom and sister (who was texting me to come back ASAP as the sketchy homeless man had started chatting them up and talkin' nonsense). My newly married friend's parents and sister came by to check on us since they needed gas for the ride home. A few Ibuprofen and several hugs later, we were back on the road and finally heading home.
(By the way, I would love to post pictures of the car post-accident, but I don't think that would be the best idea. Just imagine a white convertible, sans bumper. Voila! An ugly little mental picture.)
With an hour to spare before we had to leave for the reception, we raced inside to shower and get out the door. The reception was at a park and was really nice.
The (recovered) fam
Me, Liza and Chelsea
(My apologies for the horrible picture quality!)
