Bud's Bachelorette Extravaganza

All the planning is done. The Bachelorette weekend was the highlight of the planning, and I might have bitten off a bigger chunk than I really wanted. It was a whole weekend full of activities back to back, with 26 invited to the whole weekend and a potential 42 at the lingerie shower portion. In the end, it worked out great- most all of the important people were there, and those that weren't were late or didn't show up. The final numbers were very manageable.

I started off the weekend on Thursday night by loading down the car with champagne, tequila, and tons of party supplies. Friday morning, I woke up at my regular time (5am) and was on the road by 6:30. The drive was great- I belted out the RENT soundtrack.

I met up with Liz, Maggie, and Mrs. Eva at Liz's house to load up their overnight gear. Liz didn't know anything about the weekend, except a couple of hints. She knew we were going to lunch, but didn't know we were going to Ouisie's Table, a place she'd never been but wanted to (thanks to Sandhya for that suggestion). She was very excited when we pulled into the parking lot. They sat us at a great table right in the middle and we had a mimosa. Britt and Sandhya joined us, as did Mrs. Eva's friend Margarita. The food was great!

Then we headed to the next activity- a pole dancing class! The studio was kinda scary and hard to find but once we got inside it was nice and each of us was able to have our own pole. The instructor- who we suspect is a real pole dancer- was wearing purple booty shorts, a black bra top, and those clear stripper heels. We had fun learning a little combination, and then Liz did a show for us and we threw fake money at her.

Brittney was the best dancer- we all think it had to do with her long hair and how it flared out. Liz's friend Ivy was there for it and she was really fun and laughed a lot.

After we finished up there, we headed to the hotel to get settled in. We stayed at Hotel Granduca, in the Galleria area. It was a gorgeous hotel, and I'm glad to have spent the extra dough for a 2-bedroom suite. It was stunning.

We walked across the street at met Mrs. Eva and Margarita at The Tasting Room, where I'd reserved a table. We had a couple of bottles of wine, some pizza and fries, and just hung out telling embarassing stories about Liz and remembering random people from Elementary school. Afterward, we walked over to Crave Cupcakes and got one of each flavor they had available to take back to the suite.

I had a Pure Romance Lady, Christina, meet us at the hotel and she got there at the exact same time we were walking up with our cupcakes. Everything was perfect timing. She set up, and we got situated with champagne and cupcakes. She showed us some creams/lotions, then progressed into adult toys. It was funny and we laughed a lot. We played a game where she showed us a card with a letter on it, and we'd yell out the first word that came to mind that had to do with sex. Most of us were quiet- I was because the first words that popped into my head were gross and not words I like to use!

When we finished up with her, we grabbed a taxi (we all convinced Britt that it was not a fun idea for her to be the DD) and headed out to Howl at the Moon. Rachel has the hook-up since her husband used to work there so we saved some cash by getting in free and getting our first round free. Here's the whole group, including Peter, our escort for the weekend:
There was a LOT of dancing, on the stage and off. There was a lot of arms in the air dancing. And there were a couple of guys who danced with us but were also respectful. One of them is this 25-year old who noticed our wedding rings and told his younger friends not to get any ideas:
We had a really great time and took a lot of pictures that will never be posted anywhere. My highlight was Britt telling the bartenders she's pregnant-which may or may not be true- and then having what looked like cranberry juice with limes in it. She was so much fun that whole weekend.

The next morning, we begrudgingly got up and had manicures/pedicures that I'd booked in advance. But when we got to the salon, they were jam-packed with weirdo customers and we had to wait 20 minutes to get a chair. Their work was pretty good and the manicure included a neck massage that was great. There was an old lady across the way who yelled at the nail ladies when they didn't put tips on her. And another botoxed lady who kept catching my eye and grinning- after she talked to Liz about her custom sash forever.

We went to brunch at Cyclone Anaya's, and were 30 minutes late. But it was no big deal, we had plenty of time. I had breakfast tacos that were really great and they give you a side of fruit that's lots of different fruits cut up really small so each bite is easy to eat and has a little of each type. Britt and I talked about how much we liked the fruit and all of the girls made fun of us. We laughed a lot at brunch.
After brunch, we had some free time, where we hung out and then I'd scheduled spa treatments for some of us. I got a haircut and Maggie got a massage and I staggered the appointments so that we would be first and Liz would be closer to the end of that time period so we had time to set up for the Lingerie Shower.

Maggie and I made it back to the hotel around 4:15 and there were already a couple of guests waiting. No big deal, but the hotel room looked like crap and we needed to clean up! Since the shower was supposed to start at 5pm, I was stressing big time. I had Rachel at the mall picking up the Chick-fil-a tray and cookie cake. Britt and Jess were visiting Jess' boyfriend so I had no idea when they would be back.

When we got to the room (with the 2 extra guests), there was a sign saying that housekeeping was working on the room but inside, there was the cart and vaccum, but no cleaning lady. We started cleaning and setting up the food and drinks for the party. Then the cookie cake place called and asked if I was going to pick up the cake. I'm thinking- the cake should already be picked up and on it's way back to the hotel right now! So I called Rachel. She was shopping at Charming Charlie's and hadn't picked up the cake or nugget tray. I'm thinking about the traffic she has to get through to get back to the hotel, and how she will definitely make it back after 5pm. Then chick-fil-a didn't have the tray order (that was confirmed via phone when I ordered it) and the cake place misspelled the writing to say 'Last Sling before the Ring'.

Clare and Margarita helped us set up and kept the mood light since I was getting really irritated that nobody was there to help, and I still hadn't put on makeup that day! It worked out ok when Liz and her mom/aunt were delayed at the salon- Mrs. Eva and Aunt Kika got lost on the way to the salon and were 30 minutes late to their 30-minute facials.

So everyone showed up around the same time- Maggie and I were getting dressed and putting makeup on. Rachel fixed the cake:We had a relaxing time eating, and one guest arrived around 5:45- not too bad since we got a late start ourselves. Each guest had to call and have us come get them from the lobby because you have to have a key to use the elevators. When she got back upstairs, Liz started opening her gifts- and she's really fast at it! We played a fun game where we all gave each item a name and wrapped it up for Louis to choose from on their honeymoon.


Then my phone rang again- another guest was arriving (6pm), so we stopped the party and I went downstairs to let her in. After that Liz was just finishing opening her gifts- I think she had 2 left- and my phone rang again. 2 more guests were arriving! It's now 6:30pm and the shower is pretty much over. I tried really hard to put a smile on my face, and I might have succeeded, but I was not having a good time. Who shows up an hour and a half late for a party? Obviously it's not that important. Mainly it hurt my feelings that Liz's friends didn't think it was important enough to reply to my invites, nor was it important enough to show up on time.
So we all waited for them to make a plate (the food was pretty much gone anyway), and Liz finished up opening presents. Then we played a game called the Wright Sisters Bachelorette Party where each guest had a mystery gift and as I read the story, everytime the word 'left' or 'right' came out, they had to pass the gift so they didn't know what they were getting. It was mostly just gag gifts, but I think everyone liked that game. Then we read out funny things Liz said while opening her gifts. And then we were done!
It was pretty early, so most people left. We played a truth or dare key game and just hung out until it was late enough to go out. Then we grabbed a taxi and went to some fancy club all dressed up.
The club was about 50 degrees inside and nearly empty. We all got a drink but were so cold none of us felt like drinking anything. We tried to dance a little, but I wasn't feeling the music- it was mostly techno- and again, it was frigid inside! After a little while, the place filled up. Then it filled up some more. And by the end of the night, the place was so packed that drunk people were leaning on all of us and we could hardly move.
Then a crazy thing happened- the guys from the night before showed up at the same club. It was crazy! We didn't really dance with them because some attractive football players came up to Rachel (she stands a foot above the crowd, just like them) and we took this picture:

Some funny things they said:

"I'm Vance, like Lance with a V. We play football for Rice"- the guy in the blue striped shirt.

"So, are you married too?"- the guy in the gray/black plaid

"(silence)"- the guy in the middle. I think he's the one who figured out none of us are single.

It was funny to see the difference between the not-cute guys from Friday and the very cute guys from Saturday. Friday boys were nice and respectful and wanted to have fun. Saturday boys didn't want to talk to us unless we were going to go home with them. Lame!

The weekend was a success overall. I had a really good time. I'll refrain from the 'if I could go back, I would have....' nonsense because it makes no difference. Liz had a good time too and she said she felt so special that it was all planned just for her. That was the goal!

I can't wait until the wedding!