Epic Bachelorette Party

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted an entry!  Time really flies when you're having fun and extremely busy.  Taking the time away from blogging (although I missed you all) was really beneficial for me as it allowed me to focus on moving into our condo, final wedding preparations, the wedding itself (it was wonderful!), honeymoon, and getting back into the swing of things at home and work.  Now, I have the opportunity to catch all of you up on what I've been up to since the end of the August!

On September 1, my dear friend Seth (and my man of honor in the wedding) hosted a bachelorette party for me.  When I asked him in early 2010 if he would be my man of honor for the wedding, the first thing he said was, "Do I get to plan the bachelorette party?"  After I told him yes, he wouldn't stop giggling for five minutes! :)  I'm so glad he was excited to play such an important role for my wedding.  I had a hand in the bachelorette party planning, mostly with choosing the date (the Thursday right before Labor Day weekend) and a couple of the destinations for the evening.  Seth wanted to do a pub crawl for the night, and it was a blast.

At 5:30, we all met up at Seth and his girlfriend's house.

D4 Reunion: Emily (on left), Maggie (on right) and I were roommates during our college years

Seth bestows on me a tiara for the night.  It was a really nice tiara!

Putting on the veil

Seth couldn't find the "Bride-to-Be" sash that he wanted, so he fashioned one out of special Caution tape

Caution: Look out for this "wild girl!" :)

Then, it was time to head to our first destination of the night: Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge in northeast Minneapolis.

Piling into the party van.  We really should have put some of that caution tape on it!

Matt was our van driver for the night.  What a nice guy!

Seth's already living it up!

I even brought my own "Bride-to-Be" bling to wear, which I had won at a Halloween party a few years ago.

Tiki drinks and a garlic hummus pita bread plate at Psycho Suzi's... yum!

After eating dinner, I opened up the gifts I had received from my friends.  The best part about these photos is watching Seth's expression.  So priceless!

Seth was mostly all smiles...

... but here he's wondering what I'm going to open next!

There was obviously something funny written in the card!

I'll take edible gifts, too!

You know Seth is wondering what his girlfriend would look like wearing lingerie like that!

I hadn't shown Seth the front of the thong my aunt gave me yet!

We all had a great time at Psycho Suzi's. :)

The crew

Someone left a little note about the night in the women's bathroom!

The second bar of the night was Keegan's Pub, just a short drive away from Psycho Suzi's.  The following two stops were also close by, and Matt parked the van so we could walk.

Rachel, my aunt Mary (a.k.a. Old Auntie) and Seth wait for drinks at the outdoor patio

This was the first time I tried a Baby Guinness... very tasty!

Horizontal fives, baby!

From Keegan's, we walked over to what was everyone's favorite destination of the night: Nye's Polonaise Room.  Everyone goes here for the atmosphere: retro, Polish-influenced, with an awesome piano bar and polka lounge, and dangerously strong martinis!

The list o' martinis!

The man of honor and bride... good friends indeed!

Matt and Roxy

Laurie, Maggie, Emily and Erika

I drank the Nordeaster Martini... very good and strong!

Several of us sang at the piano bar, once we had a little liquid courage in us. :)  Matt's rendition of "Friends in Low Places" was awesome, as was Rachel's version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."  We made friends with the locals that were also singing at the bar, and thought the old guy wearing the Dick Tracy shirt was flirting with some of the single ladies in the group.

I sang "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from the musical Oklahoma (which Seth said was a highlight of his night), and a little Johnny Cash.  Check out the YouTube video below (you can see the Dick Tracy guy at 1:00):

From Nye's, we crossed the street and walked down the stairs to Honey, a music lounge and bar.

Their drinks were good, too... and strong!

Seth and Rachel

Unfortunately, instead of the usual jazz music playing, there was an awful underground hip-hop artist performing.  A few of us danced on the floor to try to get into the music, but it wasn't working.  We didn't stay very long.

Finally, we headed to the last stop of the night, Donny Dirk's Zombie Den in north Minneapolis.  Yes, you read that right... Donny Dirk's is a zombie bar.  The bartenders dress like Shaun of the Dead, drinks are zombie-themed, and zombie movies play on all the TVs in the bar.

The bathrooms had black toilets.  Awesome!

Interior of the zombie bar

Old Auntie and Seth

Matt successfully photobombed this one!

As one of Rachel's friends said, "We should be in show biz."

Everyone tried their best sexy Alan Rickman look.

The man himself. (source)

Some were more successful than others.

Nickie and Roxy give it a go... not bad!

Maggie's trying too hard not to laugh

Emily just looks good wearing The Hat!

Em looks like she's being interrogated

Seth has a decent rendition

We also worked on mad libs, little pieces of paper where you fill in the blanks with nouns, adjectives, etc., resulting in hilarious and nonsensical sentences.

Here's a video:

Several of us crashed at Seth and Laurie's, including me.  I did make an appearance at work the next day, but not until nearly 2:00 in the afternoon.

I had one of the best nights of my life at my bachelorette party.  I called it epic, a term often reserved for literary sagas and movie trilogies like Lord of the Rings.  To me, it was epic.  Several of my really good friends and one of my favorite aunts were there and we all had a fabulous time.  It meant so much to me that they came to the party.  So many fun memories were created that night, and will be reminisced upon for years to come.