Weddingbee Blog

The weekend before last found Mr. CP and I dragged apart by our well-meaning friends. We went willingly, of course. After all, it was our Lady/Man Party weekend!

We started out our Friday evening waiting for the Oregon contingent to arrive so we could get the party started. Mr. CP and one early arrival went out to the Elysian on Capital Hill to celebrate his graduation from the Seattle Uni Accelerated Nurse Practitioner’s program. CONGRATS, JUSTIN!! And I, well, I took a shower and drank some beers.

Once everyone arrived, it was time to let the games begin! In the spirit of the Olympics, the first order of business was a challenge. A little friendly competition for Mr. CP and I. A contest to see who was manlier.

See, I’m a bit of a tomboy and Mr. CP is a bit metrosexual. So it’s a toss-up as to who wears the pants in our relationship at any given time. The contest, our friends explained to us, was designed to test our masculine prowess by awarding us points in the form of “man cards” for various manly feats. These feats, given to us on a handy list, ranged from little things like drinking a dark beer to hilarious and awful things like chopping wood, getting a lap dance, and asking strangers if they bought their tickets to the “gun show” while flexing biceps. There were also freestyle points for “random acts of manliness.” YEAAAHhhh…

First things first, we headed out to The Red Door, a bar in Fremont, and proceeded to earn a hefty amount of “man cards” while getting disastrously drunk.

( Mr. CP and crew yukking it up because he stole my shot of cheap whiskey. Bastard. )

Time flies, and as our Oregon friends had arrived at 10:30 PM, it was easy to close down the bar. Unfortunately, the guys had planned a backpacking trip for Mr. CP’s bachelor party and were slated to get up at 5AM to catch a ferry. Not only that, after they got back to the apartment and we girls took off for our girly sleepover, they decided that they just HAD to get a Dick’s Burger. But that’s a story for another day…

We crashed late that night and woke up far too early for a morning run, breakfast, and then a swim in Lake Washington. One thing I don’t recommend? Letting 8 girls in a row use a toaster with grease in the pan. You’re likely to set the toaster on fire…

After we nearly burned down the house, we went off to the first official stop of the day, Seattle’s Russian Bathhouse and Spa, Banya 5. We spent a good 2 hours between the steam room, sauna, salt pool, and cold plunge just soaking it all in and relaxing. Mmmm….

Here are a few of us after a quick trip to Venik, the spa’s bar that specializes in vodka infusions. The girls got me a flaming pink cowboy hat with a “Miss Bachelorette” sash and a cowgirl bride tank top!

And of course, they had to embarrass me further with some “dicky bopper” antennae. Welp.

Thanks guys, I can’t say you don’t know what I like.

After the Banya, we changed and went for delicious BBQ at The Frontier Room, where we were joined by my three younger sisters (and bridesmaids):

( Yes, they are hitting me with a wooden spoon. And they gave me “butt butter” for cycling as their “inappropriate” gift. Heh. )

While we were there, I of course completed lots more “manly” tasks. I won’t explain the following photo except to say that you can probably guess what male body part a “pink rolex” is a euphemism for.

Sated on BBQ meats and full of good cheer, we headed out for a walk around town. Well, actually, we were looking for a liquor store (that was closed) but you won’t guess what we did along the way…

More to come in the next installment!