What fun I had these past few days. My niece - daughter of my oldest brother Frank, married in St. Louis Friday evening to a precious young man she has dated for a while. Mother and I flew up on Thursday, early enough for mother to go to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at Matt's parent's house. Renee and Matt were to be married at Randall Gallery - a chic little gallery in downtown St. Louis. Due to a conflict in scheduling, the rehearsal was to take place at Matt's parent's house. After the dinner and rehearsal, several out-of-town family and friends were invited to their house to meet the family for a little meet and greet and mingle. I went out, visited, caught up with Marie, Renee's mom and her husband Charles; Justin (Renee's brother), his wife Marissa & their eight year old son, Jayden. I also met Matt's family and all their friends who would be in the wedding. We had a great time, played games and really enjoyed the evening. After we got back to the hotel, mother went to bed and I went down to the pool and visited longer with Marie, Charles, Justin & Marissa while we watched sweet Jayden swim his heart out until the pool closed at 11:00 pm. My, that child has ENERGY! He's so adorable!
The next day, mother and I slept late, relaxed in the morning and went to lunch at a very "eclectic" little bistro on Washington Avenue, just next door to the salon where Renee' and all the wedding party would spend the afternoon prepping for the wedding. The "chef", this hilarious black, we think gay, guy visited with us about the "group" he was seeing going into the salon next door. It was a "wedding group", he said. He LOVED watching these groups from the windows of the bistro. When we told him who we were and that we were "family" of the group, it made his day! We had so much fun with him after that. I thought he would join us for lunch. He even brought us free desert. What a fun lunch!
After lunch, we stepped next door with the wedding party and visited for a couple of hours. We took pictures, laughed and even waved as the "chef" from next door walked in front of the salon window and waved at us! What a hoot!
We went back to the hotel, rested and got ready for the wedding. The wedding wasn't far from the hotel. The gallery was a small three story building, very eclectic, with wood flooring, white walls and nice art work. It is rented a lot for events. It fit Renee' and Matt perfectly.
The wedding was officiated by a friend of Renee's she was very close with. The toast from the best man was hysterical and Frank's toast to the couple was sweat and precious. I have to admit, it brought tears to my eyes. Course, all weddings bring joyful tears to me. I do love weddings!
There was a sit-down dinner (very good too), open bar, great cake, dancing and their friends were adorable. I really loved them all. I do love young people. They are so funny and cute....I could be around young adults and families forever.
The next day, Tommy and Linda (my "NU" other brother and BFF sister-in-law) picked mother and I up and toured us around St. Louis. Linda is from St. Louis and T lived near there when he was based at Scott Air force Base. Tom's daughter, Brittney, lives just outside St. Louis and joined us for lunch in "The HiLL", a famous area of St. Louis. It is were Joe Garagiola, Yogi Berra and other famous Italian people are from. The restaurant were we ate has a table that boasts Al Capone was caught there - whatever! Anyway, Britt brought her precious two year old, Fallon. Huge dimples and the funniest little tike you have ever seen. Sooooo adorable! Britt is expecting another in 4-6 weeks - a little boy who will be named Hanley. Can't wait to see this little guy! PawPaw ("NU" "Other" brother Tommy) is not toooo proud.
Tommy and Linda gave us a little more touring before delivering us back to the hotel. We then packed up and took off to the airport. One big problem...there were some blocked streets due to a free Sheryl Crow concert under the Gateway Arch. The concert was given to raise money for cancer, I believe. But the other mass of people were due to the Baseball Hall of Fame which was in town that weekend. Also, set up across the street from our hotel in the convention center were huge exhibits selling baseball stuff from teams and etc. People were everywhere. Little kids with teams, with their families...EVERYONE in red Cardinal shirts. Masses of people in red turning out to purchase baseball stuff. Amazing to me since I HATE baseball! Just don't understand the sport where all men do is chew tobacco, spit, scratch, maybe hit a ball and run around a circle and take steroids. Amazing! Anyway, the city was a madhouse and many streets were blocked and full. We got messed up and turned around, got off a little late, but finally got to the airport and in plenty of time. I think Mimi was a little worried though...even I was a little concerned. I hate being lost in a unfamiliar town.
All in all - we had a GREAT time and the wedding was beautiful. I loved that Mimi was able to go and I was able to share in Renee's joyful time. Glad to be home - hope everyone enjoys the pics!
