I've been collecting a lot of firsts this year -- bought a house, successfully ran an entire 5K (twice), attended a bachelorette party, went to Las Vegas (those last two things belong together), etc.
November has been especially very "first" heavy.
I rode my first train on Nov. 8, traveling from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. on Amtrak to hang out with my friend, Ellen, for the day. She took me around the CNN offices (where she works) and then we took in the Newseum (my journalist heart was happy) and the National Museum of Art. It was a great day that went by much too quickly.
While staying in Baltimore, I had Brazilian coffee for the first time. My best friend, Bruna, is a Brazil native, and I was staying with her and her family in the week leading up to her wedding. Brazilian coffee is strong and delicious. Loved it. I only wish I knew more Portuguese so I could have gotten to know Bruna's extended family a little better.
On that note, I was also in a wedding for the first time ever. I will never forget the day Bruna asked me (via text, of course) if I would be in her wedding. We've been best friends since a chance meeting in an N Sync IRC chat room in June of 1998, so I didn't even pause before saying, "yes." The months leading up to the wedding had been a whirlwind and tumultuous, and I ended up serving as maid of honor. I don't even care if my maid of honor status was by default; I was flattered just to play a role in Bruna's wedding to Shay. I adore them more than words can say, and I look forward to watching them build a life and family together.
Here are a few of my favorite shots from the wedding, courtesy of Frest Photo (she was AMAZING!) ...
The whole weekend was a great success, many thanks to the parents and families of the newlyweds as well as the rest of the wedding party -- Stephanie, Julie, Jessica, Lisa, Taylah, Maddison, Brett, Tom, Peter, Jamie, Aaron, David, Marino and Owen. I sure hope I didn't forget anyone because I enjoyed meeting all of you.
My weekend ended with a not-so-fun first -- lost baggage. My flight landed in Omaha a little after 10 p.m. Sunday night. I was anxious to get on the road for my two-and-a-half hour drive home. Well, anxious to get home, not necessarily to make the drive. As I waited for my suitcase, I saw a man pick up a purple suitcase that looked a lot like mine, but since I wasn't sure, I decided we just had similar luggage. So I waited. And waited. One purple bag was left, but it was not mine. I regretted not stopping the man. The remaining purple bag had a tag complete with phone number and address, so I began calling the phone number, as did the baggage agent at the flight counter. Eventually, the man answered and said he'd be back soon. The wait cost me forty minutes, but I suppose I was fortunate it all went that smoothly. Still, it was a first I would have rather not encountered. Especially not after a long day of traveling that was not yet over.
All those firsts and November is still quite young. I'm hosting my very first living room concert this weekend. The very talented Ernie Halter will be playing for select guests at my home. I'm very excited to see him again and to have several of my friends see and hear him for the first time.
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