Since my maid of honor is busy planning evil things to do to me for my bachelorette party, one of my other bridesmaids, Ivy, pulled together my bridal shower, which was yesterday. She, Beth, and Roni all got together Friday night to do the food, and from the looks of it, they all had a lot of fun. I've never seen finger sandwiches shaped like teddy bears and unicorns! I also had no idea that Bethy was such a good cook! She made a chocolate cake that was truly divine.

We talked and laughed and they all told stories on me to each other, and we ate teeny sandwiches and brie on crackers and cookies and veggies. I opened presents - wonderful presents, including a huge platter from my older sister that everyone else there immediately coveted, and Ivy dutifully gathered all my ribbons (of which I broke not a single one - heh heh) and created my rehearsal 'bouquet'.

It was a quiet, fun gathering. These are friends I haven't had much chance to see the last year, what with every weekend full of house-building or wedding-planning activities lately. The one benefit of this class I took the last two weeks was the proximity of Big Fish's training facilities to Ivy and Beth. Thursday night I drove down a quiet, tree-lined road to meet Beth for dinner, and we strolled down the streets of Berkeley, eating tiny little hamburgers and finishing with chocolate mouse and ice cream cake.

I've missed getting to spend time with my friends, and these brief tastes of 'girl' time in the last few weeks have only made me look even more forward to the days (coming soon!) when we'll no longer have a house to work on or a wedding to plan, and can actually take time to see friends, and relax, or to even have a weekend where nothing is scheduled at all.