Happy Sarah!

I have a friend named Happy Sarah.


My mom gave her that name almost 15 years ago when we were sophomores in high school. Before that moment she was just known as Sarah to me.

We met when I moved from my small private school with 20 people in my class to the HUGE AND SCARY public high school chosen for me by zoning and a school board. Sarah was in my choir but she became my friend on a choir trip to Six Flags over Texas. I'm fairly sure we sat together on the bus and she was part of the group of friends that first exposed me to the music of Les Mis.

Sarah and I grew closer during the summer as we endured driver's ed together. The class was less than entertaining, but we both enjoyed Rolos during our breaks. I remember being invited by Sarah to join her and her family to see "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at the Dallas Summer Musicals. We dressed up and went out to eat before the show. Musicals and Rolos... not a bad way to begin a friendship.

We both drove beaters. Her car was powder blue and mine was silver. I have fond memories of both of us singing "My Heart Will Go On" from that powder blue car. School dances, choir concerts, plays, birthdays... totally memory lane moment for me right now. I'm sitting with a cheesy grin on my face remembering walking out of "My Best Friend's Wedding" and feeling like adulthood was forever away.

My mom gave her the name "Happy Sarah" because I knew several Sarahs that might call me on the phone... but THIS Sarah has the happiest phone voice. She still does to this day. I love talking to Sarah on the phone because she is a fabulous conversationalist. She has the best response to good news, the perfect amount of pauses, and the most inquisitive questions. She makes me feel valued in every conversation because my goodness, the woman forgets nothing!

Next week I will fly to the Lone Star State to watch Happy Sarah become Mrs. Happy Sarah. She's found her lobster and I couldn't be happier for her.

I missed my 10-year high school reunion... and so did Sarah, for that matter. She was here in Arizona, watching me get married. I'm so excited that her wedding is bringing about an 11-year reunion of sorts.

Cheers to the ever delightful, Happy Sarah... lover of ducks, cheese, cakes, travel, romantic comedies, good books, gardens, purple, a worthy man named Scott, and living life to the full! May your marriage bring you as much joy as you bring to the rest of the world, my friend!

And Then She Got Married

This past weekend I had the honor, the privelege, and the delight of attending my cousin Hilary's wedding in Houston.

It was SO much fun, full of laughter, cousin time, and then also some more laughter.

Hilary is the closest relative in age to me (even closer than my sister), and I can recall many special memories of just the two of us, including times spent singing "Barbara Ann" at the top of our lungs in the shower at Grandma's house!

It was also SO wonderful to spend time with Grant, who is still recovering but basically kicking this whole medical speed bump in the rear.

I'm so glad everyone was able to go, and that the entire weekend went so smoothly and so fun-ly. Hurray and Huzzah!

Congratulations, Hilary!!!

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK!"

D and I went to an island for our Honeymoon. Question: why doesn't the continuing "honeymoon phase" also come with an island?

Ok. Just a few snippets.

Kauai from Val Mae on Vimeo.

The Other Side

After the planning, the prepping, the dreaming, the praying, the vow exchanging, the dance partying, the picture taking, and the adventure memory making...

Mr. & Mrs. and back to the real world.

photo by Jane Zarzynski.

Wedding Recap

Ginger got married.

There are... no words.

So instead, I put together this video about my weekend trip to Phoenix for Ginger and David's (GORGEOUS) wedding!

Enjoy....

The Wedding Trip from Val Mae on Vimeo.

Using My Daily Allotment of Exclamation Points All in One Place

By this time tomorrow, I will be IN PHOENIX.

ARIZONA.

For GINGER’S WEDDING.

And I am SO EXCITED!!1!!!!1eleven

I am unbelievably happy that the trip is finally here! And I am so ecstatic for GINGER! GAH! MARRIAGE!!! WEDDING! FAMILY!! FRIENDS!!!

This is going to be. So much fun.

The wedding and trip have been taking up more and more of my brain power the closer it has gotten. At work it’s all—internety stuff! weddingweddingwedding Meetings! weddingweddingwedding Big emails! weddingweddingwedding WEDDING!!!!

I’ve been on the phone with the bride nearly every day, and with my mom SEVERAL times a day. I’ve been in constant communication with other bridesmaids and friends flying in. Joey even helped me Facebook-stalk the best man so I could send him a message! ZING!

Even as you read this blog entry, I am on the first leg of the trip,* driving to Houston and staying the night with my parents, so that in the morning the three of us can hit the airport and actually get to Phoenix!!!!

*(Thank you, blog scheduling gnomes, for making this blog possible.)

Ginger's getting married.

**Squeal!**

WEDDINGWEDDINGWEDDINGWEDDINGWEDDING!

Sigh.

See you on the other side….

I'm late.

That's how I feel about everything these days. I'm late returning calls. Our wedding wire "to do" checklist says we have 32 more items to accomplish by the end of April. Somehow my conference snuck up on me and sits a mere one week away. I'm not sure how I thought this would feel. I've been dreaming about creating a conference like this for almost 5 years, and now I'm a week away. I feel a post about reality vs. expectations coming in the future.

I wish I had more exciting news to convey, but really, my life is one giant to-do list at the moment.

I'm listening to my Billie Holiday album that my dear friend Renea gifted me via iTunes shortly after my engagement. I didn't own any Billie music prior to "Billie Holiday for Lovers" and now I'm not sure how I managed without her.

Need to go run and meet with another photographer. Happy Friday blog world, see you on the flip side... the side where I will have both a date and a venue. (Finger's crossed.)

Is It Possible To Be EXCITED To Death?

I have been running around practically non-stop like a CRAZY person for the past 3ish days in an attempt to get ready to fly to NASHVILLE tomorrow! I mean, seriously-- crazy. I had Dani on the phone last night as I was walking into Kohls, whispering worriedly that I looked like a complete mental case walking around at 9:00 at night in laundry-day clothes and purple flats talking on the phone in a nearly empty store. AWKWARD. But that's been the story of my life lately, non-stop doing and especially SHOPPING.

Here's a fun shopping story: I tried on clothes at a certain store and when I was about to leave the dressing room I realized one of my earrings had popped off! I looked around my little area as best I could, then shrugged because Eh. In the grand scheme of Val's earrings, these... were not uber special. I get to the NEXT store and again enter a dressing room try on clothes, where I found my missing earring! Twilight Zone, right? Well I will let you venture your guess as to where it was, but first you have to read the rest of this crazy blog entry....

Because the point of all this? Is-- no, Julie. Not to make more records.

The point is tomorrow.

Because tomorrow? This:
(This video was taken the day we got to California in January. The song is "Fly By," which used to be OUR SONG. Too much fun.)

I'M TOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because I get to go to Tennessee and be reunited with my ROOMMATES again! It's been WAY too long. Dani's wedding, in fact!

This time? This time we stand with our dear Julie, who so deserves this happy ending (and happy beginning!) with Todd, an awesome guy who is into Glee, which definitely makes him a winner in my book!


ALSO? I get to see my Pal Joey.
















Also? I get to see the blog goddess herself, Miss Annie P.
















I mean...can you even imagine?? Because I sure can't.

Okay, this needs to be all for now! Seriously. The bed? I need to get in it. And see if I can sleep. I don't know HOW though! I'M TOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!

But first! The thrilling conclusion to The Case of the Missing Earring! When we last left our story, my earring escaped its earlobe home and reunited with me in a completely different store thirty minutes later. How did it come to be there?

Well, if you guessed that it would later be found INSIDE MY BRA, then congratulations. You win! Also: you're super creepy. Why were you thinking about my bra??

The End.

Happiness and ShamWow!

JULIE IS ENGAGED!!!! I feel like I have probably used up the allotted number of exclamations and all caps sentences that one person should be allowed, but I can’t help it! Another House 9 girl is getting married! And I am so very elated. Her engagement story is absolutely amazing, and I am unbelievably happy for her and her FIANCEE. EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Also. When Joey and I talked about The Wedding, the conversation soon turned to this:

Joey: Will Annie Parsons be there!
me: haha i hope so!!!!!

It's true. FIVE exclamation points, Annie. We better see you there!

Okay so y’all. I have not stopped laughing at work for the past THREE days. As you know, mine is the only desk out in the middle of our marketing suite. The others around me all have offices that adjoin into that space. As of Monday though? I have a suite mate! Thank the good Lord for Will, who has come in for the summer like a ray of sunshine to brighten the entire office. See, I am an otter, meaning I love fun and spontaneity and laughter and also fun. In my area, I am surrounded by…not otters. But Will? Is the UBER otter; I swear he makes my inner otter look tame. He is all over the place cracking everybody up, and I absolutely love it. It doesn’t take much to get the two of us laughing, and we laugh loud, long, and often. So. Much. Fun.

Earlier today I was writing yet another news release type deal for work. I read it out loud to Will and my boss and a few sentences in I just had to turn it into a ShamWow commercial. I’ve now learned that when you start something like this with a question (“Do you want to blah blah blah?” “Are you looking for a way to yada yada yada?”), it is inevitable that you’ll end up sounding like an announcer for an infomercial. In the end, though, it made me laugh so much that I only tweaked it a bit more before sending it off to the internet to be posted as is. Now I’ll always be able to go to our company’s news items and find my ShamWow-style piece. Order now.

Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now

I feel like Ryan Atwood. My world is grey because I am in Chino.* Chino is grey. It sucks the life out of you. People live with mattresses on their lawns. There is no joy in Chino.

On Wednesday I will be Ryan as he steps into a world of color and wonder and sparkles and Cohens. I will be in Orange County.

I will be in The O.C. For real.

More importantly, I will be with Dani. I will be with Julie. It will be the first time all three of us have been together in a year and a half. I will also be with Kisha. It will be the first time all four of us have been together in two and a half years.

I cannot express to you the joy it brings me to finally, finally, have the sisterhood reunited at last. These are my dear friends I navigated the treacherous and wonderful years of college with. My traveling buddies that experienced London and Paris and Rome with me. My lifeline to what is real and true and ….me. We have an infinite number of inside jokes, you cannot even imagine. I think of these girls when I hear about a button, tires, spontaneous combustion, flamingoes (or is it penguins?), toucans (what’s with all the birds, ladies? Oh! Seagulls too, am I right? PERCH!) and any other random assortment of buzzwords that transport me to times of laughter and hilarity.

Kisha, Jules and I have the express honor of standing up at our dear sister’s wedding on Sunday. We knew she would be first, and that she is. She found her One. She found her Adam. I still have no idea how I am supposed to stand there and look pretty and smile as our DaniLin gets her happy ending without COMPLETELY BAWLING MY EYES OUT. Tips, anyone?

I can’t wait. I’m packing, making my lists, running to the store (againagain), and trying to calm myself down from the giddiness that threatens to overtake my sanity. In the midst of sad job loss, sorrow, work insanity, and everything else going on in this crazy life, I can’t believe I get such an amazing sigh of relief. I get to act happy and go to the beach and take crazy pictures and love on my girls and wear a pretty dress and get my nails done and laugh and remember and rejoice.

I’m on my way, blog world! California here we come, Right back where we started from...

“Welcome to the O.C., b....!”

*Note: My life is not Chino. I love my job and my life in Texas. It is actually very colorful here. But for all intents and purposes, these two days before I leave for California are totally Chino.

These Days

So since she hasn't yet taken the opportunity to crow about it on her own blog, I am doing it for her: Dani found a wedding dress!!! And bridesmaids dresses!!! I can't believe it, I'm so excited. Their wedding is going to be so completely amazing, I just can't wait. I've written before about how surreal all this is, and it is even more so now that I'm looking at plane tickets and getting ready to fly to California in January! I get to see my Dani marry her Adam! And it will be a reunion of ALL the House 9 girls! The roommates and I have been writing this way too much, but I just can't help myself: EEEEEE!!!!!!!!

If you want to see one of the CUTEST kids ever (and who doesn't love cute kids?) then you need to visit my awesome cousin Shannon's blog for some crazy adorable pictures of her almost two-year-old son Justin. See? Aren't you glad you cliked?

So new catch phrase, guys: Janky Quanky. Use it instead of crazy. You'll like it. (It comes from a misunderstanding of what someone at Bible study had actually said, but janky quanky is so much better.) Let's make it happen.

Yesterday Josh, old friend from college, came into town. Even though we drive each other crazy half the time, we always have lots to talk about and have a good time together. We took advantage of my aparment pool, ate Chinese food, and I even got him to agree to watch some "Veronica Mars!" But the best part? Josh is a licensed massage therapist, and at the end of the evening he (completely unprompted) gave me a MASSAGE!!! It was amazing, and I didn't realize how much I needed until my face was contorted in pain as he worked out the knots. Wondrous.

Today I met Josh, his awesome parents Don and Mischa, and a bunch of their family friends for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. There was a little four-year-old boy there who was an incredible little prodigy when it comes to cars. Hand him your keys and within about three seconds he can tell you what you drive. Unbelievable. Sure enough, I hand over my keys, and after barely glancing at them, he instantly proclaims, "HYUNDAI!" I was completely gobsmacked, and continued to be amazed as he identified vehicle after vehicle. "MAZDA!" "FORD!" "GMC YUKON!" He was right every. single. time. I don't know how he did it. I was surprised he didn't yawn and roll his eyes at us being amused at what was clearly such an easy feat. Kid needs to go on the Tonight Show....

I left right after lunch to hit the road back to the parents house. It's only about a 3 1/2 hour drive, but I listened to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" the whole way and the trip seemed even quicker. I can't say enough for listening to a good book on the road, guys! I mean, you know a book on tape has done it's job when I'm sitting in the garage at my destination delaying getting out of the car because I want to hear just a little bit more....a little bit more.... Although that may say more for the merits of Harry Potter in general than for listening to books in the car....

My brother Clay went to see "The Dark Knight" at the IMAX on opening night. At 3 am. Not insane enough for you? Yeah, he went and saw it again the very next night. Needless to say, he was pretty stoked when I gave him his birthday present tonight: an uber-creepy poster of a murderous looking Joker. Wouldn't want to put that thing on MY wall, but.... Happy 20th, Clay! Enjoy your new maniacal wall hanging!

So why did I drive to my parents house this weekend? Well I'm glad you asked! Is it because I have ALL of next week off, and I will be on VACATION? Hmm....yes. Yes, that is probably correct. In fact, Ginger flies in tomorrow night (SQUEAL!) and then on Monday she, the 'rents, the bro and I will be off to float the Guadalupe River! So if you don't hear from us for a while, now you know why!

Vicariously and Empathetically Deluded

It's a strange thing when a best friend gets engaged. I've squealed with close friends over their engagements, and come to their showers and to their weddings. I've been to numerous family weddings, been in their house parties, and stayed after the ceremony for pictures.

It's something else entirely, though, when it is a best friend.

My Dani is getting married. I know! Aren't you so excited?? I certainly am. This is someone that I've known (and traveled with, and shared secrets with, and lived with, and everything else you can think of with) for nearly six years. We've done it all, and we've certainly said it all. And I mean ALL all. All.

trust: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

One of the great things about having such a close friend is the amount of implicit trust she seems to have in me. If I tried hard enough, I honestly might be able to convince her to wear a dress made of meat or carry a bouquet of socks down the aisle. Not that I would ever do that, or that she doesn't have a mind of her own. But even she will tell you: I can be pretty convincing.

Although. It must be said. This has not always been the case. Freshman year I tried to convince her that the gorgeous hairstyle Kisha had spent hours on looked amazing on her (it did), but that didn't stop her from sticking her head in the sink!

Just saying.

Dani is one of my dear college roommates. We all live our experiences through each other, and at times it feels like we are all going through it together because the amount of details that are shared. This is one of those times when I feel as though it is me.

em·pa·thy: the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

But really, empathy does not even begin to describe what it is like to witness her current euphoria. There are times I am literally reminding myself, "No, Valerie, it's not you. Dani is the one getting married. Dani. Not. You." This may sound weird, or self-absorbed, and I may not be saying this right. But it's just so wildly, fascinatingly bizarre for someone so close to me to be going through this!

Sometimes I honestly feel so vested in this that I think I should be a part of everything. "When are we...I mean you...going to have the wedding?" "What do we...you...think of this dress?"

I think a big part of this is the fact that we have gone through so many formative experiences together. From thinking we were grown-ups during our first year of college, to pretending to be grown-ups in Europe, to trying to be grown-ups in our very own house. From graduating college to moving to different cities and convinving ourselves that that didn't necessarily make us grown-ups, because...gross. We've lived it all simultaneously, and experienced all the big events at once. So maybe even though she's doing this one without me, I feel like I should be going through it too.

vi·car·i·ous·ly: felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill.

Yes, that one is pretty much me. Trying to hone in on her joy and giddiness...all through my own imagination. This need to remind myself that she is one that is wearing a sparkly ring. Not. Me. So what is going on with me?

de·lus·ion: to believe something that is not true

Okay, enough with the definitions.

I cannot wait to fly to California and celebrate the amazing union of one dazzling woman and her dashing fiance. After all, this crazily awesome friend of mine is, as we've already established, pretty much me by extension.

"There is nothing like sisterhood. We stand together, determined to love one another and share life, from this moment to next summer to our weddings and milestone birthdays, and on to the rest of our lives." ~Katie Noah

Guest Book

I attended a lovely wedding this past weekend. I had met my friend through a Bible Study group here in Phoenix. Shannon bravely scheduled her outdoor wedding in the month of May. This time of year is tricky in Arizona. The weather is either on it’s way to hot, hot, or unbearably hot. The high on Saturday was 91 degrees, not terrible, but let’s just say that I’m thankful to not have been wearing a tux.

I drove across town listening to yet another book on tape and managed to pull into the parking lot around 5:10pm. The ceremony was to begin at 6:00pm. I enjoy being early. I keep a spare book in my car for when I arrive to my destinations ahead of schedule, as I’m prone to do. I finally decided to get out of the car at 5:15pm and make my way to The Wright House. It’s a lovely place to have a wedding or reception. I couldn’t quite figure out where to enter, as the doors and gates were posted with “please use the front entrance.” I walked around to the front entrance slowly (I wear heels about 3 times a year now) only to come up to a large oak door. Everyone else had been entering the “forbidden” entrances and now no one was going through this front entrance. Frightened of somehow embarrassing myself (what a thought) I decided to follow the crowd through one of the back gates. On my way I spotted my friend Rachel and her husband Anthony. They parked and then I decided to lead them through a door following some other guests. As we passed a blank sign holder I threw out my thought – “This really should say the name of the bride and groom here so you know where the entrance is!”

I vaguely recall passing a server with a cheese tray and then spotting the guest book propped on a table with two attendants standing by. I proceeded to the table and noticed the framed engagement photo with room for signing as well. To be efficient, I slid over to the guest book and penned my name in my finest cursive and left room for Rachel to sign well wishes on the matting around the photo. I had no sooner set the pen down when Rachel turned to me with wide eyes.

Rachel: Ginger, this isn’t Shannon in the picture.
Ginger: It’s not?
Rachel: And that’s not Kyle.
Ginger: Oh…
Rachel: This is the wrong wedding!!

We tore out of that garden like we had stolen something. Laughing eventually ensued as we found our way to the 2nd ceremony location at the Wright House. We asked everyone we saw if this was indeed Shannon’s wedding.


I signed a second guest book that day before taking my seat and settling in for a wedding.