The last week has been pure madness so instead of trying to separate my thoughts too much, I'm writing them all today before I forget. Get prepared for lots of updates...
Alexandria
After spending my entire summer in Alexandria, which is not one of my favorite cities, I was not completely enthused to go back. But I had a wedding to attend and was actually pleasantly surprised by the city. As a PSA, don't try to find free wifi there, it is sparse.
We went to my favorite Greek place on King Street for a late dinner the first night I was there, which was a lot of fun with the whole group of bridal party and dates (minus the bride and groom).
Saturday was filled with wine tastings, at Dry Mill, 29 Vines, and Quattro Goomba. 29 Vines was in a town whose actions prompted my first major memo at the law firm I worked for this summer, so I had got nerdily excited about actually being there. Pictures from the wine tours:
Age gets better with wine, and other similarly-themed signs/magnets
Redneck wine glass: a mason jar with a stem
The set up at Quattro Goomba
Random entertainment: the other Tar Heel on the trip got him to play Carolina in my Mind
Wine slushies with the bride and groom
That night was a bridal party dinner at the hotel, then drinks at Joe Theismann's with my new friends (girls at weddings tend to make BFFs quickly) :)
The wedding was the next day, at the George Washington Memorial Mason Lodge. It's an interesting building, so much so that when my parents and Scott were in town over the summer, we could see it from my parent's hotel and we were so intrigued we had to look up what it was.
It was my first Jewish wedding which was interesting to see all the traditions. The best part was what was called, according to my best Jewish friend Carly, the "schtick" (a frequently-used Yiddish word, I just never knew where it originated). After the typical circle dance and the chair raising, the bride and groom sat in chairs on the dance floor and guests tried to entertain them. Carly said sometimes this involves silly hats and comedy, but this schtick mostly consisted of dancing. Two guests were proficient at the typical Russian dance (it hurt my quads just watching) and some guests did a red rover type game where they linked arms and ran at each other.
I enjoyed the wedding theme of the Rat Pack, all of the tables were named after songs or nicknames of Frank Sinatra (we sat at the "Chairman of the Board" table) and many of the songs were big band or rat pack songs. Some pictures of the wedding:
The wedding was the next day, at the George Washington Memorial Mason Lodge. It's an interesting building, so much so that when my parents and Scott were in town over the summer, we could see it from my parent's hotel and we were so intrigued we had to look up what it was.
It was my first Jewish wedding which was interesting to see all the traditions. The best part was what was called, according to my best Jewish friend Carly, the "schtick" (a frequently-used Yiddish word, I just never knew where it originated). After the typical circle dance and the chair raising, the bride and groom sat in chairs on the dance floor and guests tried to entertain them. Carly said sometimes this involves silly hats and comedy, but this schtick mostly consisted of dancing. Two guests were proficient at the typical Russian dance (it hurt my quads just watching) and some guests did a red rover type game where they linked arms and ran at each other.
I enjoyed the wedding theme of the Rat Pack, all of the tables were named after songs or nicknames of Frank Sinatra (we sat at the "Chairman of the Board" table) and many of the songs were big band or rat pack songs. Some pictures of the wedding:
At the beginning of the ceremony, the bride circles the groom 7 times (representing the 7 days of creation or the 7 blessings of a wedding) under the chuppah (the structure representing the house the couple will build together)
First dance
Circle dance: men
Circle dance: women
Schtick
Cutting the cake with a WWII bayonet (the groom is big into weaponry, he gave all the groomsmen knifes for a present and his engagement present was a gun)
Of course there's a giant head of George Washington
The Temple lit up at night
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