Category Archives: Friends

PaintNite DateNite with Cody!

(Another pre-Daddy draft finally gets finished….)

Last Christmas I got Cody two present: One functional (a gift card) and another fun: PaintNite Date Night with ME!!!!

You probably know the whole concept of PaintNite but I think each one is a little different. This one is run by local artists, hosted at various local bars, (so constantly roaming) and highly encourages drinking while painting. Everyone works on the same piece, which is different per class, and each painting is gauged on level of difficulty.

Shortly after I gave Cody his Christmas card we got on the phone and started looking at which paintings we wanted to try out – after a bit of back and forth, we nailed down a date in February that looked REALLY cool called “Raining Paint.” The painting had a drip-like style that looked like multi-colored rain coming down on two little birds who were perched on a wire with umbrellas. It looked freakin’ neat, super fun, and hopefully easy.

Our event was held at Graffiti Junction in College Park and upon arrival we did what we do best: Pony up to the bar, order martinis, and take a selfie.

Let the games begin!

Let the games begin!

Then we got smocked up and took a pre-painting selfie.

Looking cute and ready to paint!

I seriously love taking photos with this man.

We were sitting on the backside of the room so we didn’t have a super great view of the painting we were there to mimic, but we had blank canvases, high hopes, and globs of paint on a paper plate.

Oh, and mimisoa’s. We were ordering doubles and throwing DOWN!

The painting instruction started and our teacher was a super cute blonde who encouraged us to keep drinking – and that was a good thing. She had an assistant who kept us flush in the core colors of our painting and drinks. And we had cute neighbors that were there on a “real” date nite.

Which leads me to my number one observation – PaintNite is for two audiences: Groups of Girls, and Early Dating Couples. Cody and I are neither of those things, so of course we were having a blast with our people-watching and inadvertent-evesdropping.

At first, our paintings started out REALLY well with an awesome base for rainy day clouds. Cody actually helped me craft my cloudy background with lots of texture and depth.

Cody paints clouds.

Cody paints clouds.

And then….

Then….

Then we started painting the “rain.”

And that’s when my pretty clouds turned into the ugliest thing I’ve ever made.

Because instead of the paint truly dripping down the canvas (which we thought would be the case), we just kind of… painting a wavey line on the canvas.

And then we added lots of multi-colored poofs and clouds at the top…

Followed by the wire for the two birds…

And the birds? Those were two circles painted, filled in, and given a little triangle beak.

I’m not sayin’ mine is ugly. I’m just sayin’… okay yeah it’s really ugly.

Rainy Bird Painting

Mine is on the left. Cody’s is on the right. Yeah no.

I don’t know why mine came out so dark and dreary. I remember not really liking the yellow paint in my clouds. But otherwise, I don’t know what happened!

But Cody’s is cute, right?! 🙂

Either way – I am proudly hanging my monstrosity in my house, right next to my closet, in public. And most importantly – We had a FANTASTIC time, and I would absolutely go again.

Go PaintNite Orlando!

Go PaintNite Orlando!

How I Witnessed My Best Friend’s Episcopal Wedding

On May 18, 2013 my best friend and heterolifemate, Grace, got married!

My bestfriend is married! SQUEEE!!

My bestfriend is married! SQUEEE!!

The wedding was in Brooklyn, the weather was beautiful, the dress was handmade by the bride, and I was A Witness.

Grace asked me to be uh witness three weeks prior, after the rehearsal of my own wedding in Asheville. Since she and Aaron weren’t having any attendants, I was honored to be given a role on her special day.

Here’s what I know uh witness is responsible for at a wedding:

  1. Watch two people get married.
  2. Sign a marriage license saying you watched said people get married.

I’m pretty sure that’s all my witnesses had to do, and that’s what I was prepared for.

So when Grace asked me to attend her rehearsal the night before her wedding, I figured “okay, couldn’t hurt.”

She mentioned I would probably hold her bouquet and that in other Episcopal weddings she had attended, the witnesses signed the marriage certificate at the alter, during the ceremony.

That shoulda been my first clue that uh witness and A Witness are not the same thing.

So here’s what A Witness does in an Episcopal wedding:

  1. Walk down the isle to the bridal processional. (So when that special ‘bride music’ comes on, everyone stands up, turns around, and see’s… A Witness).
  2. Stand next to the bride throughout The Exhortation and the giving of the bride to her groom by her father.
  3. Hold the bride’s bouquet.
  4. Stand next to her throughout The Declaration of Consent, and The Presentation.
  5. Sit next to the bride at a chair in front of the first pew (you know, the special pew reserved for family) during the Ministry of the Word, The First Reading, the Second Reading, the Gospel Reading, and the Sermon.
  6. Follow the Priest, Bride, and Groom to the alter while a choir sings and organist plays beautiful church music.
  7. Stand beside the bride during The Marriage Vows, The Blessing and Exchange of Rings.
  8. If you’re the male Witness, this is where you hand over the rings to the Priest and then hold the Bible for him while he reads and blesses the couple.
  9. Sign the church register and marriage license right there, on the alter, right after the vows.
  10. Be by the bride’s side during the Pronouncement, the Prayers, and the Blessing of the Marriage.
  11. Straighten the bride’s dress and veil, hand her back her bouquet.
  12. Curtsy to the groom. (For realz).
  13. Leave the alter after the bride and groom on the arm of the other Witness, to the bridal recessional.

That list is obviously 11 steps longer than me, the other Witness, the bride, or the groom thought it would be.

To say we ALL got a shock at the rehearsal would be an understatement.

But honestly, I am so incredibly glad I was A Witness and not just uh witness.

I already considered it an honor to put my name on the piece of paper that officially binds Aaron and Grace to one another for life, but to play such an important role in their actual wedding ceremony, in a beautiful church, throughout their fantastically traditional vows… it was easily the most important day of my life after my own wedding day.

The Witness of Honor and The Best Witness!

Me and Jeremy. Or as we dubbed ourselves that weekend, The Witness of Honor and The Best Witness!

Additional duties of A Witness, included:

  • Queuing up the photog to get shots of the dress, veil, jewelry, bouquet, Groom and Best Witness before the ceremony.
  • Helping Grace’s mother dress from head to toe.
  • Working with the wedding planner to get everyone to the church on time
  • Giving THE one and only toast at the reception (Shaking like a leaf the whole time optional. I threw it in for free).

Things I am so, so thankful for:

  • I did NOT wear the same dress I wore to my own rehearsal party and instead ended up in a last minute, surprisingly perfect dress appropriate for a Witness of Honor in a daytime wedding.
  • I brought my Grandmother’s cream pearls that matched Grace’s dress perfectly and which was her ‘something borrowed.’
  • I conveniently had comfortable, sapphire satin shoes from my own wedding to run around in all day. (Emphasis on “run.”)
  • I gave Grace a fabulous Linea Pelle clutch as a gift for being my bridesmaid that happened to work as a perfect alternative to the bouquet I didn’t have.
  • My own wedding was only three weeks prior, so I knew what had to get done and when.
  • Aaron’s friend Jeremy is cool as hell and was an awesome Best Witness to work with.
  • I got to play such an important role to my heterolifemate and her…. other heterolifemate(?)…err… new husband on one of the most special days of their lives.

The weekend held so many amazing moments and memories but these were my favorite, and how I witnessed my best friend’s Episcopal wedding.