i am a huge puddle leftover after an enormous rainstorm of ruach. FUTURE COUPLE of RABBIS are now, officially and forever, COUPLE of RABBIS (CoR), even if one of them, JEWISH BARBIE, still has a couple of years to go. i had not shared too many details about my plans for the festivities beforehand because JEWISH BARBIE is a sometimes reader – but all the secret preparations produced a major payoff!

i travelled to huntsville – yes, i have now been to the deep south – with a suitcase big enough for me to crawl into filled to the brim with things to make the wedding celebration that much more. hot pink tshirts for my team of fellow revellers, noise makers, bottles of bubbles, and enough tinsels and streamers to decorate every xmas tree that will soon fill PINEAPPLE NATION (but we’ll save that rant for another post).

it should come as absolutely no surprise that JEWISH BARBIE has the most awesome friends, because what makes her so special is what an incredible friend she is. we had swapped many-an-email about who would be up for the challenge of joining TEAM RUACH and when i arrived at the airport i found a number who couldn’t wait to help with projects: a trip to walmart – we were in alabama people – to purchase pool noodles (apparently, it’s tough to get pool noodles after labor day, so we settled on pipe insulator – amazing). our hotel room was transformed into ommanut (arts and crafts) as my new BFFAE GG (guitar Goddess) and i covered the insulator with tinsel – eventually they would be used as arches for CoR to walk through as they entered the insane hora that was planned. oh, we also purchased a pink mop to be used as a maypole at the end of the hora – which caused this red head a ton of anxiety but i’ll get to that later.

the rehearsal dinner was held at the space and rocket center which makes it officially the coolest rehearsal dinner site…ever (i mean, how do you top it? there was an actual, full size, real live space rocket). a true highlight of the wedding weekend for me was my reunion with TWEEDLE DEE (i’ll leave you to imagine his best friend’s name…got it?). he played a huge role in my last two years of college in too many ridiculous and inappropriate stories to recount here (although our reminiscing this weekend got me thinking – laughing and reeling – don’t be surprised if i start writing some of those stories down eventually). it had been at least 4 years since i had seen TWEEDLE DEE and longer since we had spent any real time together. he has a smart, beautiful, funny, quick, JEWISH gf. i always knew he was capable of this kind of relationship but just wasn’t sure he would realize in time. he told me i looked amazing and i told him to please make sure he tells everyone he knows. what?

sunday morning three of my new friends and i went over to the temple to decorate chairs for CoRs to sit in during pre-ceremony festivities (i could go into more detail but it basically amounts to singing and drinking…it’s a jewish thing – men and women are separate and while the men share embarrassing stories about the groom – women offer the bride advice for her wedding night and beyond. i shared the advice from NANI: always get up before your husband and brush your teeth and put on a touch of lipstick so he see’s you at your best – and sleep on a satin pillow – it prevents wrinkles – the southern women LOVED it!). we then spent the rest of the day with JEWISH BARBIE as she prepped – she looked absolutely gorgeous – obviously meant to be a bride. she even had a pink veil (that seemed to get pinker as the night went on, with pomegranates embroidered along the bottom).

we all started to cry as the procession began and GG sang as they started down the aisle – including JEWISH BARBIE who was a perfect balance of snotty, teary, pink.

we headed to to the reception where we ate pigs in a blanket and drank pomegranate mojitos – which are perfect representations of each member of CoR. then TEAM RUACH went into overdrive. tshirts were donned. there was lots of jumping, lots of singing – there was more ruach then alabama (or the band for that matter) knew what to do with. the arches were inspired, the signs, which guests held as CoR were lifted into chairs, made them feel like rock stars, and the maypole – the maypole rocked! PERFECTION! i can’t wait for the next wedding…takers?

the rest of the night was filled with really good LBN/ABN time – a lotta dancing and nice talking too. obviously in the last couple of months we’ve spent a lot of time together just the two of us, but its been a while since we had time set aside together away from work – and that felt different and special. there were many trips to the bathroom, to hold JEWISH BARBIE’s dress as she took care of business. there was dancing and laughing with all my new friends and TWEEDLE DEE too – which might have included a tequila shot (this is maybe why i can only see him once every 4 years).

we’re now on the first of two airplanes to get home – home to san fran. this first flight is longer then i had calculated in my head (i think i forgot the time change) so i’m anxious and itching to get off. i’m not scheduled to work until friday which is great because i can do things like have my brakes checked (squeaky brakes and san fran hill are not the best combination), possibly have an old friend over for dinner and spend a day in a cafe writing (it seems like forever ago that i filled my days in cafes). but as much as i look forward to some time off that does not involve me losing my voice from screaming with excitement – i also know i tend to get a bit lonely/depressed during unstructured time. i do best with a routine. that’s so boring – but ultimately i know it to be true.