Annie's gettn hitched!

My very first bachelorette party and I didn’t know what to expect. I don’t even know how to spell that word “bachleroreette” for godsake. But Annie is getting married and since that happens (hopefully) once in a lifetime, it was time to party! Jardine came and grabbed me at the Carlsbad airport on Friday aft and we gave ourselves over to the weekend itinerary of talking, sipping, and tanning.

Because we're getting on in years and so hangovers are fierce and life-giving these days, I haven't seen some of my close lady friends really cut loose like they did Saturday night on our visit to the Saloon in downtown Encinitas. Amazing stuff, really. Me? I ping-ponged around the room gaping slackjawed at the sociological experiment that is Southern California, several times uttering mom-like phrases of surprise. “Did you see what the bartender was wearing? You can see her …” and so on and so forth.

The next day we woke up slowly and stuck within the four-block radius of Annie’s backyard and the beach. Mimosas were sipped, leftovers picked at. Although I was not actually dead, I tried to move very little. When it got too hot I flopped into the ocean and floated around on my back staring up at that big perfect sky, not a single cloud, not even a jetstream. Then it was on a plane back to Portland with sand in my hair and salt on my skin.

Something I need to say: Congratulations Annie, we love you!