Love and Marriage, Memphis Style

They did it! Anna and Erez got married! And we had a fabulous time celebrating...

I arrived in Memphis around noon and after meeting up with Julie in the airport, reunited with my Jacob, which made me ridiculous happy and not even a little bit irritated that Stacy’s flight was delayed and we had to wait. Over drinks in one of the airport’s eleven Starbucks, I entertained Julie and Jake by explaining my seatmates on the airplane – two identical obese twins wearing Hard Rock Café t-shirts who munched on Snickers bars for three and a half hours straight. After finally retrieving Stacy, Jake took us to our hotel, conveniently located RIGHT ON Beale Street (this would prove important later), and then whisked me off to tour Memphis and enjoy lunch with his Mom (who I finally met after five years of being Jacob’s best friend) and his sister Sophie, who I adore. Lunch was delish – my sandwich had creamed spinach ON IT (nope, never saw that before) – the only downside was he didn’t allow me to order a fried pickle. Guess I’m gonna have to do that the next time I’m in Memphis, which should be ASAP, since I refuse to be separated from Jacob for months at a time anymore.

He took me back to the hotel and I rejoined all the friends and we all got dressed up for the rehearsal dinner, which was at this place called EP’s Delta Kitchen. We enjoyed appetizers and cocktails on the roof of the restaurant, then headed downstairs for dinner and speeches. I of course felt the need to make a speech, even though I did not have one planned, so Jeremy and I got up there and talked for a little bit – representing the rest of the Arizona crew who did not have the balls to get onstage. We did say some nice things – I was slightly intoxicated but remembered wanting to convey my happiness that Erez had seamlessly fit into the group. Jeremy mentioned how originally he had not been pleased when Anna and I had set him and Erez up on a playdate, but now he appreciates it, because Erez is his friend too, not just Anna’s fiancé. You are welcome, Jeremy. Told you it would all work out.

Then we watched a slideshow that Susan put together, and then it was time to SHAKE IT! All of the Arizona people, Jacob’s Camp people, HUC people, and other random Jews blew it up on the dance floor. We danced and drank a LOT of wine at EP’s before Jacob collected everyone and moved us onto Beale, which was CRAZY. I LOVE the South. Every guy was hot and had a hot accent and was wearing some hot seersuckery/linen ensemble…mmm. After a little while at a bar called Silky’s (which Jacob says he goes to all the time) we dragged our drunk asses back to the hotel, conveniently located ten steps away, and passed out.

Saturday we woke up bright and unnecessarily early and headed out to explore Memphis in the HUNDRED DEGREE HEAT WITH HUNDRED PERCENT HUMIDITY. Literally I was melting like a tiny M&M. NOT CUTE. A bunch of us walked through downtown Memphis to grab some Memphis barbeque at Rendezvous – to be honest, we were not big fans, but I think that was probably because most of the group was from Texas and Texas and Tennessee have some sort of random barbeque rivalry. I dunno. My sausage plate was good. We ran around Beale for a while, eating ice cream, taking photos and doing touristy things like standing on top of the balls at the FedEx Forum (ok, maybe I was the only one who couldn’t stand on the ball and had to kneel), then came back to the hotel and gathered in the hospitality suite to eat cookies and play hangman with everyone – which was SO fun!

Then it was time to get ready for the wedding! We arrived downstairs looking GORGEOUS and started taking photos. (Several times over the weekend I felt it was necessary to explain our behavior to some of the other wedding guests, telling them, “This is what we do – we drink a lot and we take a lot of pictures.”) The bus arrived to take us to the temple and we hopped on – cue 25 minutes of us sweating profusely in the non-air conditioned bus and Jacob literally mopping sweat off his face like a grandpa with a handkerchief. When we finally got there, we quickly took our seats outside, started fanning ourselves with the fans Anna so generously provided for us, and THEN THE WEDDING STARTED!

It was beautiful. I didn’t think I was going to cry, but when Anna walked down the aisle, I needed Jacob’s handkerchief. I could NOT believe it was finally happening! She looked amazing, Erez looked snazzy in his suit, and in about 20 minutes, it was over and my very first friend was married! (SHOUT OUT 1409 – WE WON! FIRST MARRIAGE IN THE GROUP!)

The actual wedding was great – there were speeches, cake, and a ton of dancing, just the way we like it! Jacob and I tore up the dance floor and he only had to yell at me a few times for stepping on his toes. After the wedding, we took the bus back to the hotel, changed into flipflops, and headed back onto Beale Street, which was… quite different than the previous night, to say the least. I can’t really describe it, but Jacob had to hold my hand. We hung out at AC Pat O’s drinking and dancing (the band played Take Me Out to the Ballgame – wtf?) and then the Marrieds showed up! As we all walked back to the hotel, I said to Anna, “This is the happiest night of your life. You will remember this night forever. It is supposed to be incredibly special and memorable – and you’re ending it the way you always end it, walking home with your drunk friends trying to find food!” I think she and Erez got the hint – they left right after!

I wish I could say the night ended there, but it was 3:30am and we were damn hungry, so room service was ordered and some late night visitors – namely, Ziggy and Ben Berman (Anna’s camp friends) joined us in our room to eat, laugh, and talk… oh, and Ben took his shirt off and showed us how he can lactate. Yes, you read that right – at 4am in Memphis, Tennessee, I watched a 23 year old man squeeze milk out of his nipples.

After the lactation incident and the screaming that came with it, we only got a few hours of sleep. Sunday morning we headed off for the brunch and then sadly said our goodbyes :( I hate when we are all together and we have to say goodbye. Anyways, after the brunch everyone left… I had booked an evening flight so I could spend more time with Jake. He took me on a tour of his house, we hung out with Soph, and I met his daddy, before he decided to take me to lunch in MISSISSIPPI! Yes, I can now say I have been to Mississippi. Thanks Jake. Then we effed around downtown Memphis for a while, hung out at his apartment, and watched like six hours of Memphis Barbeque cooking shows on Food Network before he took me to the airport.

All in all a pretty fabulous weekend. I am never happier than on weekends when we are all together and I am always depressed the next few days thinking about how much I love and miss everyone… I love my friends so much. Anna and Erez, I am SO happy for you and I am SO glad you live in LA so I can see you whenever I want to! Enjoy Vegas you crazy kids :) and come home soon so we can play!