Tuesday, June 21, 2005

California Dreamin' pt.2

Palm Springs is this weird mix of old and new. With spanking new yuppie in stucco buildings adhering to strict design guidelines a block away from buildings that must have been very swanky in the 50's that have not survived the years so well. Gated communities with access to excellent golf courses. And dingy motels that have weekly rates.
I was tempted, but I did not stay here:
hotelcali
I stayed here:
Resort1
Definitely not the Ritz. And the Ice machine that my room was supposed to be right upstairs from was broken. =(
Still, my room had one of those big mirrors that makes you look skinnier than you really are which made dancing along to the VH1 top 20 countdown much more enjoyable. As I attempted to learn some new dance moves from Shakira and Gwen Stefani.

The rehearsal dinner was a fabulous fusion cuisine buffet affair which has me dreaming about coconut chicken on skewers with mango salsa. And it turns out that ripe blackberries are the perfect fruit for chocolate fondue. The chef was this burly guy who gave cooking advice to everyone there. The bride and groom were very relaxed. They actually seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I met FC (the bride) for the first time ever and PC as happy as I can ever remember seeing him. It was a scene from "PC, this is your life" as I met his friends from high school, college, MBA, and working years. We all talked about the various travel adventures that PC has told us about and reminisced. PC did not have a bachelor party so to make up for this some of us took him out to the Village Pub. Which was 10% sailors, 70% young people with tatoos and tiny outfits, 20% old foggies like us. It was a very tame night. We teased him about some of the women that he had been smitten with. Sound of Music Barbie. That's all I'm saying on that subject. PC's friend BF regaled us with many a story of sex and scandal on Capital Hill. It was at that point that I remembered that I was surrounded by staunch Republicans and would be for the rest of the weekend.

3 comments:

MomVee said...

We met FC about a month ago and think she is awesome.

The bachelor party story R. and I would have told: PC asked someone out to dinner and she said she "didn't like food." He thought it was the biggest brushoff ever but years later, knowing the woman in question, I assured him it was true.

You can tell I'm doing badly at the cold turkey internet thing.

ergo said...

Nonetheless the rest of us still think of it as the biggest brushoff ever.

(I'm glad you're not doing the cold turkey thing. Just make time for your novel, eh?)

ergo said...

Jcrash: I only partook of about 4 skewers due to over consumption of everything else at the buffet.
We were old foggies. PR, the best man, fell asleep at the table from sheer exhaustion around midnight.

The sound of music barbie story:
PC was smitten with this girl SH, who was very much the kind of girl who can't say yes but won't say no. PC was among her stable of admirers in DC at the time. She expressed to him that she loved the movie "The Sound of Music" and very much coveted commemorative Mattel "Sound of Music Barbie" (there is something so wrong about a Barbie doll dressed as a Austrian Nun.) In a mad act of love PC bought her this Barbie and serenaded her with a rendition of "Edelweiss." It was an unrequited love fiasco.