the shenanigans continue...

Since we're always game for a good ol' "my friends love me more than yours love you" competition, the weekend of August 14th marked the second bachelorette party for Elissa. This time, Santa Barbara was the victim of our wrath...

To say we'd be planning for weeks would be a horrific understatement. "Planning" doesn't quite cover it. Obsession, hilarity and covert coordination are much better words. Lis keeps mentioning that she felt a bit left out of the hundreds of emails that flew back and forth conspiring against her, and this was the big show. Talks of who/what/when/where started in early June, and the pace was breakneck. I counted no fewer than 416 emails and 7 spreadsheets related to this very weekend, and it paid off big time. Our bride-to-be was in the dark as to our weekend plans...all she knew was that we were going to SB, who would be there, and a few things to ensure she packed (per a spreadsheet from me...I know, I'm a total nerd).

(sidenote: there were many "hey dumbass, you should be an event coordinator as a career" moments during this extravaganza, so we COULD call it career-path-research, right?!)

Now you know that. Here's what actually went down: The NorCal crew made way for Santa Barbara on Friday afternoon, road-trip style. Cool Ranch Doritos, NutterButters, Goldfish, and a spilled Starbucks made the journey along with us as we hauled ass down to SB. We arrived and met up with the SoCal crew around 6p and all hell broke loose pretty much immediately. Mind you, I'm not typically a girly-girl, but this was damn FUN! No pillow fights, fellas, and we didn't give each other makeovers, but some quality time in the estrogen ocean can be pretty awesome. It's a new-found practice I hope to keep up (b-party #3, anyone?!).

Lindsay and I had been quite thorough in thinking through the beverage aspect of our weekend, knowing that we'd need enough cups to accommodate seven thirsty girls. The four teeny glasses in our hotel rooms weren't going to cut it (glass plus booze equals danger - eeek!), so we made these bad boys, personalized of course:


Friday was dubbed our out-to-dinner-and-mellow-hotel-room-slumber-party night, but we were so starving that we didn't make it out of the hotel (which we would learn was a BIG mistake, thanks to the worst service I've ever experienced in any dining establishment):


On Saturday, we'd hooked up a rad seven-hour wine tour of four wineries. Win. Because I love any excuse to be crafty and make things for people I love, I made customized wine glass tags so we could keep our glasses straight as the day wore on. Along our tour, we passed the house where the Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing recipe was founded, the far border of Neverland Ranch (I saw buildings, people!), a miniature horse ranch and the little Dutch town of Solvang.

our best buds for the day...they egged us on, made sure that pics were posed to perfection, and made some recommendations for embarassment of our bride-to-be

Jen, Molly, Louise, Elissa, Lindsay, me, Morgan
and some very delicious wine and sausage

Saturday evening consisted of lounging by the pool, a Trader Joe's beer run, take-out pizza, drinking games, and finally, a jaunt over to State Street. A few of my favorite moments from the evening:

• The BEST $8 cab ride ever from Brenda, complete with the Matrix on DVD and playlists galore
• Swearing up and down that we'd only have one beer while out, which was immediately foiled by Joe and his amazing Cafe, where they may make the strongest drinks I've ever tasted (seriously, they rival Rob's...)
• The guy with lightning bolts expertly shaved into his hair
  
• Meeting and harassing Batman and a cowboy, who were in the club to spy on Batman's fiance's bachelorette party
  
• Linds and Molly toppling into the street outside of Tonic immediately after the club closed for the night
• Louise BOOKING it and diving into a cab after realizing that a tie she'd pilfered belonged to a guy on the street, and that he wanted it back

Morgan's RAD party trick...if only I could impress future employers with such talent

Tonic, stop number two of the evening, and stop of no fewer than THREE other bachelorette parties! I still maintain that we were having the most fun!

if only I'd caught the fall on film...dammit

Sunday morning was only slightly less rough than that of the previous b-party...we headed back to "the crime of the scene" (per Louise) and had a late breakfast/early lunch at Joe's Cafe with Andrew Firestone. Yeah, we're breakfast buddies. HAH!

SHOUT OUTS:

• All - thank you for being a huge part of such an amazing weekend...*sigh*
• Diane Lane, Diane Lane, and Steven Segal, Steven Segal - hah!
  
• Elissa - I love you, friend. I love celebrating you. Could you maybe get married on an annual basis, please (to Lee each time, of course)?
• Molly - you effing rock. Thank you SO much for hooking up the sick-ass hotel and the rental car. Our warp speed email exchanges make me smile...Molls, you got the key, babe?!
  

the amount of happiness that this pic brings me is completely and totally indescribable