Awesome

I had a weekend, let me tell you.

We left for Joe and Lia's wedding mid afternoon on Friday. Though the festivities did not start until 6PM, and were located a mere hour and fifteen minutes away in Derry, NH - Adam insisted we leave before 3PM. Since this meant I had to do a rush packing job (yes it was only for one night, but when I pack in a rush even if it is only for one night I am liable to bring an iron and loaf of bread but leave behind underwear and my toothbrush). But as usual Adam was right about traffic because hello?



It was like this pretty much all the way up there.

We arrived in time though, as they started late to accommodate most of the guests who also were stuck in this traffic.

Now, I have to tell you about this wedding. It was the Most Awesome wedding ever. I have have been to more extravagant. more traditional weddings and they were extremely lovely as well but this one takes the cake as far as awesomeness goes. There are a few reasons why:
1) The ceremony and reception were in the same hall which meant no driving from Point A to Point B and, more importantly, you could enjoy a cocktail while the ceremony was going on
1a) We were seated with a bunch of party types Right Next To The Bar.
2) The music they played for when the bride and groom leave the ceremony was "Walk The Line"
3) The groom and his band performed three "wedding appropriate" songs before the DJ took over and dancing began. The first song I did not recognize, the second one was a fantastic rendition of Little Wing, and the third I knew I knew from somewhere but could not quite place it. My whole table was like "Wait....what!?" and then suddenly, collectively, we all knew what it was. "Forever" - performed famously by (Uncle) Jesse Katsopolis at his wedding to Becky on Full House! I freaked out a little, I don't mind saying.


4) The bride and groom, at the end of their first dance, broke apart and did some break dancing moves, including but not limited to The Robot.
5) When the best man (the groom's brother) began his toast, he prefaced it by saying he wanted to come up with something original but this piece was too perfect. He said "I didn't write this, but I wish I did" and began:
"What ever happened to predictibility?
The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV.
You miss your old familar friends,
but waiting just around the bend.
Everywhere you look , everywhere you go
There's a heart
A hand to hold onto.
Everywhere you look , everywhere you go.
There's a face
Of somebody who needs you.
Eveywhere you look,
When you're lost out there and you're all alone,
A light is waiting to carry you home,
Everywhere you look. "
How romantic can you get? There was not a dry eye in the house.

Also, check these out


The bride's mom made these as little dessert-favors in the likeness of the bride and groom. They were pretty much way too cute to eat!

So between all the Full House madness, the fab music, the inexpensive drinks and the good people it was just a big, fun party. We had the best time.



We spent that night at Adam's parents' home up the street in Allenstown and then in the morning we took our time getting up. We decided to drive through Haverhill on our way home. I had written about a brew-pub there called The Tap for Shecky's a month or so ago, and had been wanting to check it out in person. This ended up being a wise decision because The Tap rules!! Lots of fresh, microbrewed beer and great pub style food an an absolutely awesome juke box. I got a turkey burger and the beer sampler



Which was a great way to help me decide what beer to actually order (Adam split the sampler with me and went with the Leatherlips IPA while I was partial to the super summery Whittier White Ale). We lunched on the deck and hung out there for a few hours in the sun until we realized, HEY we have something to do tonight.

So we went back home to get our tickets and then headed into town for the Rick Springfield/Eddie Money/Scandal concert (unfortunately did not have enough time to hit up the Barking Crab pre-concert but hopefully another time soon!).

We came to the concert a little late, as usual, and missed Scandal but Eddie Money was JUST coming on as we arrived so that is some perfect timing if you ask me. We always get concourse seats when we see concerts at the Pavilion because the table style seating is just more fun than being stuck in an aisle all night. Then again I was the type who always preferred Lawn seats at Great Woods I mean Tweeter Center so I guess that is to be expected.

There is a lot to love about the Pavilion, it is outdoors, on the water, lots of space but there is one thing to absolutely not love: the drink prices.



That, my friends, is $27 worth of booze. One beer and two wines (poured into one glass of course, who wants to make two trips?).

But that was no matter because the concert was AWESOME. We poke fun at E. Money, and joke that he has not aged well, but the man can still rock. He played all his old standards and some of his new stuff (mostly covers) and his daughter who was super cute even joined him on stage! We got to meet him after his set and he signed our tickets and a CD and he was just the nicest guy. The Moneyman is a-ok in my book.

And when Rick Springfield took the stage he just brought the house down.


Adam kept turning to me and saying "Now THAT is a Rock Star!" and you know he was right. Fantastic guitar playing, great vocals, just an awesome stage presence (how many times can I say awesome today?). Wow. And of course the fact that he is HOT does not hurt matters.

We planned on going to karaoke after the concert but thanks to Jenny learned that it wasn't happening so instead we went home and watched Made.

Sunday was spent doing Sunday things, cleaning, cooking, being slightly hungover. All in all an awesome weekend. You can see more photos in my Flickr

All I have to say is, I am glad it's cool this week so I can wear my new white pants on the Fourth.