when in wine country...

What did I do this weekend? Oh you know, hung out here...


...to be in attendance for this:


Such a quality weekend. A few quick notes on the subject:

(1) Going out to small-town bars the night before a wedding is a very risky move only to be attempted by trained professionals. The morning of their big day I woke up on the bathroom floor of a Fairfield Inn with half a cookie in my hand and my dignity somewhere in a bar called The Forest. Nothing says "congratulations on your big day" like dry-heaving in a tie.

(2) Don't drive I-5 in the summer with no AC. For those keeping track at home, that's 6+ hours in the godforsaken furnace of the Central Valley cooking in your own juices. The kids nowadays call that an "epic fail."

(3) When you take a step back and assess your surrounding cast of characters in life , I hope you're lucky enough to find -

- a bridesmaid who wakes up with blood on her dress and a genuine uncertainty as to whether or not she boned the night before.

- a dance partner who knows what you mean when you insist she "does the koala" with you....bonus points if she doesn't hesitate in accommodating that request.

- a friend that refers to her vagina as "the valley of solitude."

- a partner in crime that insists on naming the joint he or she just rolled.

- a buddy that insists he's justified in drinking out of the bottle when the reception runs out of glasses. Especially when it's a wine bottle. That he's filled with beer.


Will you have these exact friends? Doubtful. But hopefully you find something similar. People with little shame and less tact, but with hearts the size of the kegs they'll eventually empty. The type of true friends that come together regardless of time and distance and can reunite as though not a single day has passed. Find those people, and hold on to them tight.



No job, paycheck, address or label will ever come remotely close to enriching your life like they will.


**to protect the innocent and the not-so-innocent, I feel compelled to note the above anecdotes are not necessarily attributed to those shown. But great picture, yes?**