Now that it’s November and chilly (you know, only mid-70s) here in Palo Alto, it’s fun to go back and look at pics from our engagement party when the weather was warmer (high-70s) back in good ol’ October. Know what I mean? Perhaps not… You know, on a weather tangent… everyone who lives in California has a hard time imagining how the rest of the country survives, especially in places like, say, Williamstown. This was a common and serious concern I had to address in my days as a Williams admissions officer: “how cold does it get??!!” Many a time have I had to reassure people that, yes, humankind has been known to survive the harsh, withering winters of the Northeast and that not wearing flip flops 11.5 months of the year has also similarly, been known to happen without dire consequences for socked, booted feetsies’ happiness. Indeed, it’s been occurring for hundreds of years, I’ve heard. And really, I complain about being cold at least as much in California as I did when I lived in Williamstown. It’s all relative! You get spoiled quickly and there aren’t as many fireplaces, heaters and divine-smelling wood stoves to counteract cooler temperatures when they hit here in California. Plus humidity intensifies the cold, and we all know winters in New England are dry, dry, dry.
Wait, what were we talking about? Oh! Engagement parties! Yes… in case you missed the link up there in my little diatribe about weather wusses, here it is again: PHOTOS from our Palo Alto engagement party!
One thing my dad didn’t capture completely on film: food, which is surprising given his deep affection for it (I didn’t get it from nowhere, people.. this stuff is hereditary!) Luckily, as I mentioned the other day, my high school friend Michelle (who has been wrangled into being a bridesmaid, yay!) wrote up a little review of the food on her Chicago-based food blog. Click, read, admire the pics and drool!
Instead of blathering on for too long about the parties, I’ll just take a few sentences to express my appreciation for them. Joe’s mom went all out planning the Acton shebang, and my mom and Clarissa pulled together a similarly fantastic event here in Palo Alto. We’re incredibly lucky to have such wonderful and supportive family members who were willing to plan, organize and host both events.
It was really, really lovely to see so many people we love in one place, whether in Acton or Palo Alto. The engagement parties were little test-runs for the wedding, in a way; wanting to talk to many people but not having enough time with anyone (which means we’ll want to do multiple little events during the Wedding Weekend, instead of being overwhelmed at the reception), seeing that various friend groups could mingle and integrate, seeing that our family members truly enjoyed one another’s company. And being pretty dang tired at the end of the day!
We really just feel so blessed and now I realllly can’t wait for the actual wedding weekend, especially to see those of you who couldn’t make it!
