Jackie's wedding weekend
Congratulations, Jackie and Brian!

We flew out to Denver on Friday afternoon so we could attend Jackie and Brian's wedding that Saturday. We got to the airport in plenty of time so decided to bide our time in the Chilis in the airport, which is seriously the most happenin' of happenin' places in O'Hare. Who knew? We should go and hang out there all the time. When people get off the plane to visit, I'll be all: "Naw, we aren't leaving the airport...we're hanging at CHILIS HERE!" (Too bad if you land at Midway: we're still training it to O'Hare.)

Our flight to Denver ended up being delayed for two hours due to weather reasons. This would have been only mildly annoying if we weren't trying to rush to Jackie and Brian's rehearsal dinner that night in Boulder. If our plane had landed on time, we would have been kind of late as it was. With the additional two hours tacked on, we missed dinner entirely, so we ended up just tumbling into the (very fancy) hotel and crashing like clazy. It was midnight my time, after all, and Grandma likes to be in bed early. We realized afterward that our entire trip took nine hours door to door, and driving would have only taken a few more hours maybe. How did that work?

Jackie and Brian's wedding was lovely. Cozy and perfect and filled with friends and family who love them. They had a bagpiper at their ceremony! And they know the way to my heart, because the food was yummy too. Their ceremony was in the early afternoon and the reception was in the early evening, so in between, Todd and I hung out with his old bandmate, Ryan, and Ryan's date and his parents, who were also attending the wedding. I must mention how great the dj was as well, because he took *every* request! Maybe I was the only one asking for them, but he earned my devotion forever since he played "Bizarre Love Triangle" with no questions asked. I was a dancing fool all night. I even danced to "Achy Breaky Heart." The wedding lasted from 6pm till midnight and I enjoyed every second of it. I hate going to clubs, but I love dancing at weddings. I need to go to more weddings (get married, people!).

Although we didn't get to Denver proper, we did spend a morning in Boulder and were struck by how fresh everything was. This opposed to Chicago, where the streets smell like pee and exhaust. Plus, every place we went to in Colorado, from the airport to the hotel to every restaurant to every place of commerce we passed: it all seemed brand spanking new. Also very different from Chicago. Granted, our scope of exploration was limited to say the least, but still. I had last been to CO to visit my dearest Suzi and her family back in 2000 and was struck by how pretty the mountain line was on the horizon. I was still struck this past weekend: you can't beat those mountains. In Boulder we ate a delicious breakfast place called Foolish Craigs and strolled through Pearl St where we stumbled upon the very tiny Pride festival there. Also, we stopped in a candy store where Todd bought some Necco wafers and inhaled them in about five minutes. I only am reporting this because after looking at the nutritional facts, we discovered that one package contains 55 grams of sugar. That cracks me up a lot.