I guess things got started around 1:30 pm when Deels had her hair appointment. I was curling my hair in the bathroom downstairs already because I had to have enough time afterwards to get dressed and do my own makeup as well as Delia's. Eric was with me, watching the Doctor Who Season 2 Finale. It was really sweet because the whole weekend was so focused on Deels that spending two hours with Eric pestering me ("What'd he do that for?" "Are they going to explain that?" "WHAT?!" "Pleeeaaase tell me!") was really nice.
She got back around 3:30, at which point I did her makeup. This took like an hour. But was entirely worth it! It then took her 45 minutes to get into her own dress and shoes, over the course of which I finished my hair, did my own makeup, and got dressed.
We left the house at 5:30 and got to the hotel with plenty of time to set up candles and centerpieces and take lots of pictures with the help of our beautiful and professionally dressed photographer, Cristina! She did a fantastic job and I'm DYING to see all the pictures!
It was wonderful to have all the family together again. All the Raggis, Brengels, Gasperis, Scagliolas, Stracquadanios, Finellis, Miliones, Ginger, and the Schizzanos (because what's the difference really, when we've been so involved in each other's lives for thirteen years) were all together with all of Delia's close friends, dance friends, Lifeteen friends, theater friends, and family friends. Lots of dancing and merriment. Except for like the 14 cousins that refused to dance with me. Let me tell you, you missed out.
Then, of course, there was the whole spiel of Sweet Sixteen traditions over the course of the evening. We had her photo montage of every adorable picture ever taken of Deels from birth to like the week before the party. Seeing as every picture taken of my photogenic sister is adorable, there were lots of pictures. I'm flattered by the number of pictures I was in with her. :)
Her friends that love her so much put together a sweet video in which they re-wrote the lyrics to "I Will Survive" to be about surviving our parents' bad dancing at the party, with verses about how each of them met her and her importance in their lives. Since I don't exactly remember meeting her for the first time, my verse was just fluff like "Our inside jokes range from pretzel dance to wedge of lime." It makes sense, I swear. ("Manic waitress at Ninety-Nine: "WOULD YOU LIKE A WEDGE OF LIME WITH THAT?!") She was entirely shocked and thrilled. The whole thing went over nicely.
THE FOOD WAS GODLY.
Then of course there was her candle lighting ceremony. Guys, remember all the crying we did at mine? We did just as much, if not more at Delia's. She's always been a fantastic writer and she really shined with these seventeen candles. I am more than honored to receive her second out of seventeen candles. I talk a lot about how close we are, but hearing her talk about it, and how difficult it gets when I'm in Boston and she's home, made it sound all different. I started crying at the second candle and never really stopped. "Sisters by blood, but more importantly, sisters by choice." :') <3
She then had her father-daughter dance and her grandfather-daughter dance and we had ice cream. There was also a Grease Sing Along and a Hand jive competition. It was rather excellent.
The party ended at 11, but it was midnight before we got home, considering all the decorations, centerpieces, favors, gifts, leftover food and cake, and goodbyes. Once we were all changed into the most comfortable slippers (heels are hard on your feet!) and pajamas we own, we ate our way through a lot of the leftover food and cake and opened all her gifts. "We" includes Ginger, who we are always thrilled to have stay with us. We started missing her the hour she left. :( But Delia got some truly precious things! I had a playlist running of all the songs that had been involved in the party-her entrance, her candles, the favorites played by the DJ- and it was a great hour and a half to close up the festivities. I remember how hard it was after my party to just go home and go to bed when you were still all abuzz. This tradition is almost as precious as the party.
As everyone else went to sleep, Deels and I then continued our long-standing tradition of hanging out in my bed and talking before going to sleep. At this point we were both exhausted and only lasted about a half hour before falling asleep together. It was kind of cute except we felt gross waking up with our faces still caked in makeup.
The moral of the story is that it was a beautiful day. The only tiny glitch was that it was awful hair weather out. Let's be honest; if that's the biggest problem we had, then we're truly lucky.
I was trying to explain all of this to Andy, who looked at me a combination of confusion and disbelief at all the components of the party. He said, "It sounds like some bizarre coming-of-age ritual from another culture." It kind of is. It's a really fun thing, but it's also a deeply emotional thing. My Sweet Sixteen was the night of my life and this was the night of Delia's. I could not be more blessed to have the sister I do and I'm grateful we got to share these nights with each other.
:) <3
On another note,
She got back around 3:30, at which point I did her makeup. This took like an hour. But was entirely worth it! It then took her 45 minutes to get into her own dress and shoes, over the course of which I finished my hair, did my own makeup, and got dressed.
We left the house at 5:30 and got to the hotel with plenty of time to set up candles and centerpieces and take lots of pictures with the help of our beautiful and professionally dressed photographer, Cristina! She did a fantastic job and I'm DYING to see all the pictures!
It was wonderful to have all the family together again. All the Raggis, Brengels, Gasperis, Scagliolas, Stracquadanios, Finellis, Miliones, Ginger, and the Schizzanos (because what's the difference really, when we've been so involved in each other's lives for thirteen years) were all together with all of Delia's close friends, dance friends, Lifeteen friends, theater friends, and family friends. Lots of dancing and merriment. Except for like the 14 cousins that refused to dance with me. Let me tell you, you missed out.
Then, of course, there was the whole spiel of Sweet Sixteen traditions over the course of the evening. We had her photo montage of every adorable picture ever taken of Deels from birth to like the week before the party. Seeing as every picture taken of my photogenic sister is adorable, there were lots of pictures. I'm flattered by the number of pictures I was in with her. :)
Her friends that love her so much put together a sweet video in which they re-wrote the lyrics to "I Will Survive" to be about surviving our parents' bad dancing at the party, with verses about how each of them met her and her importance in their lives. Since I don't exactly remember meeting her for the first time, my verse was just fluff like "Our inside jokes range from pretzel dance to wedge of lime." It makes sense, I swear. ("Manic waitress at Ninety-Nine: "WOULD YOU LIKE A WEDGE OF LIME WITH THAT?!") She was entirely shocked and thrilled. The whole thing went over nicely.
THE FOOD WAS GODLY.
Then of course there was her candle lighting ceremony. Guys, remember all the crying we did at mine? We did just as much, if not more at Delia's. She's always been a fantastic writer and she really shined with these seventeen candles. I am more than honored to receive her second out of seventeen candles. I talk a lot about how close we are, but hearing her talk about it, and how difficult it gets when I'm in Boston and she's home, made it sound all different. I started crying at the second candle and never really stopped. "Sisters by blood, but more importantly, sisters by choice." :') <3
She then had her father-daughter dance and her grandfather-daughter dance and we had ice cream. There was also a Grease Sing Along and a Hand jive competition. It was rather excellent.
The party ended at 11, but it was midnight before we got home, considering all the decorations, centerpieces, favors, gifts, leftover food and cake, and goodbyes. Once we were all changed into the most comfortable slippers (heels are hard on your feet!) and pajamas we own, we ate our way through a lot of the leftover food and cake and opened all her gifts. "We" includes Ginger, who we are always thrilled to have stay with us. We started missing her the hour she left. :( But Delia got some truly precious things! I had a playlist running of all the songs that had been involved in the party-her entrance, her candles, the favorites played by the DJ- and it was a great hour and a half to close up the festivities. I remember how hard it was after my party to just go home and go to bed when you were still all abuzz. This tradition is almost as precious as the party.
As everyone else went to sleep, Deels and I then continued our long-standing tradition of hanging out in my bed and talking before going to sleep. At this point we were both exhausted and only lasted about a half hour before falling asleep together. It was kind of cute except we felt gross waking up with our faces still caked in makeup.
The moral of the story is that it was a beautiful day. The only tiny glitch was that it was awful hair weather out. Let's be honest; if that's the biggest problem we had, then we're truly lucky.
I was trying to explain all of this to Andy, who looked at me a combination of confusion and disbelief at all the components of the party. He said, "It sounds like some bizarre coming-of-age ritual from another culture." It kind of is. It's a really fun thing, but it's also a deeply emotional thing. My Sweet Sixteen was the night of my life and this was the night of Delia's. I could not be more blessed to have the sister I do and I'm grateful we got to share these nights with each other.
:) <3
On another note,
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces. I hate braces.
I actually physically wrote out that sentence forty-two times without copying or pasting to make it clear just how much I hate braces. I actually do not plan to ever have kids, partly so I never have to put them through anything related to the Orthodontist.
I generally make it a point to be a happy person. I like to bask in the happiness of all my family and friends and music and books and just be happy. Do you ever get filled with negative energy? There are times when I'm just filled unnecessarily with anxious or angry energy and it's all I can do to get rid of it healthily. It's the most aggravating thing ever. You know the feeling; that one Facebook post on someone else's wall that implies you're being left out, that assignment that you're entirely restructuring the night before it's due, that friendship you tried so hard to keep alive but is just useless now, that bracket that fell off your tooth when you weren't even eating something chewy, (and the fact that you have to go through the braces crap for a second time anyway)--things that just make you go a little crazy. My advice for coping when you just want to yell and punch your pillow is to invest some time and money in a spoon, a jar of Nutella, and some old Seinfeld re-runs.
Watching Grease:
"I feel like a defective typewriter." Rizzo
"I hope you don't plan to need that line..." Sean
It was much, much funnier in the moment.
"ME WOVE WOO." Deels
"HOW COME ANY TIME I DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE THEY MAKE A WEIRD FACE AT ME?" Also Deels
"You don't have any reason to sing a sad song like that." Me
"ME WOVE WOO." Deels
"HOW COME ANY TIME I DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE THEY MAKE A WEIRD FACE AT ME?" Also Deels
"You don't have any reason to sing a sad song like that." Me
"I'm sad because I'M ALONE." Deels
"BUT YOU HAVE ME!" Eric
(It's rather less funny without the screaming and accents and pushing each other around.)
I love my family like a lot, a lot, a lot. I'm so grateful that they came all the way to Boston for a two hour orchestra concert, and even managed to all be excited about it.
Side note, my brother is starting to know more about the history of Doctor Who than I know, in addition to teaching himself the main theme on cello. As far as brothers go, it really doesn't get any better.
God, I am blessed to live the life I do. When I get whiny, don't let me forget that.
"BUT YOU HAVE ME!" Eric
(It's rather less funny without the screaming and accents and pushing each other around.)
I love my family like a lot, a lot, a lot. I'm so grateful that they came all the way to Boston for a two hour orchestra concert, and even managed to all be excited about it.
Side note, my brother is starting to know more about the history of Doctor Who than I know, in addition to teaching himself the main theme on cello. As far as brothers go, it really doesn't get any better.
God, I am blessed to live the life I do. When I get whiny, don't let me forget that.
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