Just to recap on the previous week...

Day 10, Wednesday:
After the last blog entry, James, Ben and I did end up going down town to Fells Point and Inner Harbor. It was a pretty cold day even though the sun was out but we had a great afternoon. We had lunch at a place called The Greene Turtle where James bought a t-shirt of 2 turtles humping, haha. I picked up some souvenirs around Fells Point and we walked around for ages. I went to one store and bought Fred a mailman toy... unfortunately it lasted about an hour before he destoyed all bar his vest!! We were going to go to the National Aquarium but we were a little too late getting there so we'll leave it for another day, maybe when Lynn and Ryan join us in Baltimore next week. By the time we got home I was really tired, unfortunately this virus thing just won't go away... so I stayed home tonight and James went out for a while to Wolf's I think.

Day 11, Thursday:
Today I went shopping with Debbie, Apple, Aunt Donna and Gina at the White Marsh mall. The whole purpose of this shopping trip was for me to buy a dress to wear to the wedding- and amazingly I accomplished that within 20 minutes of looking! I also picked up a black wrap to wear and Apple bought me a beautiful necklace to wear with the dress which perfectly matched the jewellery she bought me for Christmas. I grabbed a few more gifts to take home during our shopping trip- We had a great time together but came home exhausted and I can now officially say that I am OVER the American mall experience (for now, anyway)!

James went out with Steven- they went to the movies and saw Aragon (pretty average apparently) and had a pretty good day together even though Steven said that he didn't have much fun!!

Mike brought home subs for dinner- I had my first cheese-steak sub (it's supposed to be a specialty here) which was pretty yummy. Later on after tea James, Wolf and I went over to Cheers for a few beers, and met up with Ben and Tim later on.

Day 12, Friday:
The wedding rehearsal was tonight, I didn't go but James had to, being the Best Man and all! The rehearsal dinner was held at the Hard Rock Cafe Downtown in the Power Plant Live! district- a very cool place- attended by probably about 60 people! Following the rehearsal dinner was the bachelor and bachelorette parties (the buck's and hen's night). The boys just went back to Rob and Maria's new condo and drank beer... while the girls (I think there were 9 of us altogether including the bride to be) stayed in the Power Plant district and went to a couple of bars- we had such a brilliant time!! One of the bars we went to was called Howl at the Moon- this place was amazing- I told James that we would have to go back again before we go home (hopefully we have time!!) Maria seemed to have a great time, unfortunately I haven't had a chance to really talk to her since!! I got a lift home from Jill (one of Maria's bridesmaids) and I think I hit the sack around 1.30am. James got in about 3.3oam!! He said the boys had a good time, but he didn't really elaborate too much!

Day 13, Saturday:
James and I went with Debbie, Mike and Steven to visit Mike's parents (John and Betty) for Christmas. Mike's dad John is quite unwell at the moment with cancer, and has just finished his course of radiation treatment- he has also had a recent respiratory infection and consequently had a short stay in hospital and with the viruses that Debbie and I have had we didn't like to visit him any sooner, so finally we managed to go around today. It was really nice to meet them, John and Betty seem like lovely people, and we stayed for some morning tea. James and I then went over to Towson Mall to organise Rob and Maria's wedding present (easier said than done with the pretty average service from Macy's and the gift registry department!!) so it took us much longer than anticipated!! Mike brought home pizza for tea and afterwards I opted for another night in with "the family" and James went out to Wolf's once again.

When I get home I am going on a SERIOUS diet.

Day 14, Sunday (New Year's Eve):
Today was the day of the "big wedding"... Debbie, Apple and I went over to the hairdressers down the road to have our hair done at midday, and can I just say that we all looked extremely spiffy indeed :-) (I had an "up-do", all curled and pretty... I felt like a princess!!) After the hairdresssers we all went home to relax for a while and kill some time. James went out to the gym in the morning, then headed over to Aunt Donna and Uncle Mark's with the rest of the groomsmen to get ready for the wedding where his tuxedo was waiting for him.

The wedding was at 6pm, and eventually got underway around 6.15pm. Rob looked very handsome, wearing a black tuxedo with a white vest, a mistletoe lapel boutonniere and black patent leather shoes. James, Ben and the other groomsmen all looked fantastic, wearing black tuxedos with a black paisley vest and patent leather shoes to match. Maria looked stunning wearing a white strapless satin wedding gown with beaded embroidery on the bodice and train. The bridesmaids wore one of 2 varieties of black dress and carried bouquets of red roses. Maria carried white roses. The wedding ceremony included a full mass and was in a Catholic Church nearby. The church looked beautiful, still all decorated with red poinsettias for Christmas. It was a gorgeous wedding, attended by probably around 200 people.

The reception was held at Maria's parents home, called Windy Ridge Farm- a palatial home situated around 30 minutes away from the church. Buzz and Bunnie (Maria's parents) had hired a marquee to adjoin the house to seat the 200-some guests, complete with a dance floor, DJ and bridal table to seat approximately 20 attendants. The wedding cake was a 6-tier vanilla sponge cake, there was a vase of white roses on every table and even the wedding cake bags and serviettes were personalised with Rob and Maria's names and the date printed in silver. The marquee (and the house) looked absolutely stunning. Can you imagine having a wedding reception at your home- let alone one that included 200 guests?!?! In my humble opinion, they could not have done a better job!

By the time the guests had all enjoyed the amazing buffet-style main meal, and the speeches and formalities were completed it was almost time to see in the New Year... which we all did, very loudly, complete with balloons, glitter, party hats and horns!! James and I had a fantastic time- we cannot tell you how much fun we had!!! After we rang in the New Year the dancing continued, Pop (who's turning 80 next week!!) started a conga line... even Apple (in her 70's) joined the dance floor in a rousing rendition of 'The Booty Call' dance!! It was AWESOME!!!

We got home around 2.15am after seeing off the bride and groom and showering them with rice! I think we eventually went to bed around 3am! Maria and Rob are leaving for their honeymoon on Tuesday, and are returning the following Wednesday, so we'll get to see them again before we go home!

What a brilliant night!