Happiness is: A Few More Bad Wedding Pictures!

Friends, good morning from busy Minneapolis, on this lovely Friday morning.  Your good friend Sarah has an extremely busy day ahead, so today I will share with you some more fun pictures from the Bad Wedding Reception party this past weekend.

I am headed out on 5 weeks of business travel, starting Monday, which will morph into 3 months of only being home for a couple days here and there. After that, I will be living in New York City for about 3 months, cooking at a restaurant 3 days a week while taking in all things New York.  In between all of that, I will be writing lectures and presentations for multiple global speaking gigs and managing audits here and there for my clients. It is a busy time, a happy time.

Last night, Tami, Steve, Diane and I met up at Umami, a new pop-up restaurant by the team from Travail.  The team, there, are still finding their feet, but it was super fun to meet up with these Friends and look at more pictures that Tami and Steve took from the past weekend.  I think you can see that we sure did have an awfully good time.

 





Yes, it is true, when I decided to throw a party, it will be a barnburner of a party.  I can hardly wait until my photographer, who just ran away to Salzburg for a week of opera composing (true story---you KNOW I have interesting Friends…) comes back and sends me the rest of the pictures….because he is so talented, and those will be even more hilarious.

So today, as you enjoy your Friday, I hope you have a just a couple minutes for a little happiness, a little lightheartedness in between all of the meetings and the Fall busy-ness that has taken over September and whooshed it almost away already.  Sometimes the most important thing we can do is take a moment to be present and enjoy the right now, and so that is what I will do today.

Wishing you a terrific weekend, my dear Friends!  See you tonight at Red Cow, tomorrow at the spa, then the backyard bbq birthday, then the Walker Art Center opening night for Claes Oldenburg, then brunch on Sunday, then the Emmy’s party before Delta Airlines and I are reunited.

With love of happy love from Minneapolis,

Your Good Friend Sarah



Happiness is The Looks on their Faces

Friends, hello from your good (and very tired) friend Sarah, from sunny, humid Minneapolis, soon to be Washington DC.

I’ve missed you today, I’m not going to lie.  Normally my writing time is in the morning, with my coffee, in my yoga pants and a tank top.  Not today.  Today included a 3:30AM conference call with the Belgians, followed by working until 4:30pm, and that is when the happy times started today.  That is when I got to bring the last carload of donations from the Bad Wedding Reception party to Bridging, Inc.
 
I need to tell you something personal.  If you are just getting to know me in the past 5 years, you do not know my story.  You do not know that I grew up in a trailer park, or that every weekend every year we scouted garage sales for bikes, pots and pans, clothes, shoes, toys, puzzles tools.  You probably do not know that one Christmas my only present was a mattress, and I was supposed to be super happy about it, but all I really wanted was a Barbie Dreamhouse. 

You probably do not know that I had one pair of shoes for gym/school (both combined) from the time I was in first grade through junior year of high school, and one pair, maybe 2 pairs, for church. You probably do not know that I used to work 2-3 jobs at all times, cleaning houses, babysitting kids, selling whatever needed to be sold, doing telemarketing for teen suicide prevention taskforce.  You probably do not know that I worked at McDonalds in summers, on the breakfast shift, and that I would eat the little strip of dough baked at the end of every pan of biscuits because it was free, and free was what I could afford.

You probably do not know that my first car was a ’76 Nova that costs $700, and at 16, I had to come up with that money (way back then it took awhile, let me tell you).  I paid for high school tuition, for all of my college, for all of my grad school, for all of my clothes since sophomore year of high school, and I still shopped at garage sales and gratefully, ecstatically welcomed hand me downs from anyone and everyone, from turkey carcasses at Thanksgiving (so I could make soup and gravy that would stretch to many, many meals and also go into the freezer for future meals) to hand me down clothes. 

You probably do not know that my sister and I had to share a room until I moved out to go to college, or that, when there were only 3 of us kids, we all shared one 12 ounce can of pop as a treat, and only if we did a good job on the yard work.  You probably do not know that I learned how to cook by working the family garden.  The reason I know all the herbs and fruits and vegetables and how to tell if they are ripe, how to pick them, how to prepare them, is because we had to grow most of our own food.  I had to learn to cook.  I had to learn to take care of myself. It was really hard.

So when I set up the Bad Wedding Reception party, and when I selected Bridging, Inc. as the beneficiary of all the gift registry presents, I knew exactly how those families would feel when they were so lucky to be able to have their very own brand new blanket and pots and pans and dishes and sheets for the very first time in their lives.  I know that joy.  I know that heartache.  I will never, ever forget it.  I know the looks on those faces.  I feel that, still, and I always will, even though I am a CEO of a multinational corporation.

Today, when I dropped off all the gifts you all brought to the Bad Wedding Reception party, the staff came out, and everyone clapped and hugged me.  I cried.  You know I always cry---I’m a softie, I am a sensitive girl, more than you will ever, ever know, when it comes to kids needing something, I will give everything, always, and I will cry.

So we all cried and hugged and told stories about the families who cried that day when they found brand new things for their new homes.  We talked about the families that, even though they had 5 people, they were only allowed to take 2 beds, because they must have enough for everyone to have something to take.  We talked about the beautiful blankets they hugged to their chests and pressed their faces into, saying over and over again how soft they were.  (these were $25 blankets from Target).  They told stories about how everything was a joy to these families, all these gifts you all so thoughtfully picked out and brought and shared.  They talked about happiness, and so, as always, I will talk about that with you.

 
Thank you for blessing these families with the love you have shown.  Thank you for giving back in thanks for how lucky we all are.  Thank you for being mindful about just how much one little gesture of love can have on someone who works so hard and appreciates every little bit of help.  You did this.  You did this beautiful, beautiful thing. And you helped people like me….so I can tell you, when the staff said I should share with you these words, they come from my heart, too:  “God bless you, God bless you over and over, thank you.  You made so many families so happy today!”
 
With lots of love and joy today, (and yeah, more than a few tears),

Your Good Friend Sarah

Happiness is a Good (Bad) Wedding Outfit

Friends, good morning from rainy Minneapolis, where your good friend Sarah is going to jot a couple notes to you today and then head off to work, where the FDA is keeping me hopping.  Today’s happiness will be some sharing of more pictures from the Bad Wedding Reception party.

First, though, you need to understand something about me if you did not know this already.  My “real job” is often given the title of Compliance Officer, Quality Manager, Professor, Auditor, 3^rd Party inspector.  I am responsible for protecting the safety, rights and welfare of literally thousands of patients each year by managing multiple teams on multiple continents.  We make sure that testing on medical products is done according to each country’s laws.  We make sure the surgeons follow the rules, and when they do not, my job is to get them back in line.  Most doctors are excellent (not all…noooooo sir, but more on that later), but just because a doctor is excellent does not mean they are excellent at following the laws of ethics and research when it comes to documenting how a medical product is first tested in humans.  That is my job.  I am a detail-oriented safety freak, and if my name goes on something, you can be assured it has been done right.  I am a rule follower, and I get tremendous satisfaction in making sure all lists are complete, all boxes checked, and that all bad things are righted.

When I am not working, I need to balance out the being in charge all day with being able to play. For this reason, I cook in many professional kitchens, just for fun (but also following the rules there).  I throw parties that have elements of surprise and creative…er…shock sometimes.  I make sure the people around me remember how to be kids again.  That is what makes me happy.  This party, Bad Wedding Reception, was the ultimate, 3 year dream of mine to pull off, and thanks to some really excellent Friends, we did it, with style.  Here are some pictures.

Now, every good party needs exceptional attention to detail, and this is my Rainman-esque strength.  There will be mints in bags with varied colors of ribbon that match the wedding colors of hot pink, royal purple and black feather.



There will be programs that have an extra “oops” hole punched in them.  The paper will be crap quality, and those dang pink foil ribbons will be seen everywhere from the programs to the tabletop décor to stuck to my leg in the morning. 

There will be guest book that is ridiculously detailed, just perfectly, to make you laugh and look twice, because it is juuuuuuust that close to being normal, like all Minnesota weddings, yet is still ridiculous.



 

There will be a poofy colored toothpicks for the little smokies, and multiple flasks being passed around, and a pink gorilla (did you see him there, in the background?) that my Norwegian guests and I dubbed The Norwegian Symbol of Fertility, after they won it at the amusement park called ValleyFair when they visited this past year.

 

The gorilla is included because it is hot pink (to match the wedding colors), because Dag & Thomas could not join us in person, and because it is stupidly hilarious that they would “send” this as a gift to the “wedding.”  Many of my Friends had met them at the multiple dance parties and dinner parties I hosted this past summer, and I loved having Dag & Thomas there with us, even in pink spirit.

Then there will be costumes---planned for weeks, tweaked to be just right.  Here is a picture of my incredibly talented Friend Raymond and me, in our Christmas sweaters from the ugly sweater party.

 

My sweater was designed by our Friend Lee Ann, who has a way of just making me stop and stare in awe at her creations, they are so funny.  Below is a picture of Raymond with my “Groom,” who flew in for the wedding, he is that good of a Friend.  Raymond’s character title is “Stripper Leftover from Last Night,” and Groom’s suit just perfectly matches our bad wedding theme.  They both played their characters perfectly---confidently---which helped everyone else be able to have even more fun.  Are these not 2 of the best outfits you could possible see?  Is this picture not hysterical?!  I love these guys.

 

Then there were the bridesmaids, my Friends “Bitsy, Porsche and Ginger Claussen” (love their character names) who allegedly went to school and sorority with me t Kappa Ypsilon (spelled wrong on purpose, in order to secure the initials KY…inappropriate, I tried to warn you.)  Here they are with my Friend Mike, who is one of my biggest encouragers in swim class and who I met over foie gras at La Belle Vie.

 

Here is a picture of Brian and Bitsy.  Brian is channeling Len Gunderson, a guy whose brother was supposed to have the gig as videographer but it filling in instead.  Bitsy picked up that fine outfit at GoodWill earlier that day.

 

And then, there is a picture of me, again with Mike, as I slowly began my transition from a mixture of Courtney Love and the Queen of Belgium into Melted, Drunken Bride.

 

 

So you see, Friends, happiness is a good (bad) outfit. Happiness is being surrounded by people who are all in, who are ready to embrace the silliness of a fantastic party that raises money and household goods for homeless families.  Happiness is pulling all of these details together to create a whole bundle of energy in the evening that builds and builds and builds for weeks beforehand, then culminates in just pure fun.  That is what we had, and that feeling is carrying me through this week and so on, and so on.

I keep thinking of more things to share with you, including the inappropriate ice sculpture, which deserves a whole post of its own, because so many bad things happened.  I need to get to work, though, so I will catch up with you tomorrow.

Sending lots of love and reminder to relax and be kids more often, because it is just so much fun,

Your Good Friend Sarah

 

 

 

 



Happiness is the Perfectly Bad Wedding of your Dreams

Friends, greetings from your very tired and very VERY happy friend Sarah, from sunny Minneapolis.

Let me tell you what, you missed the party of the year on Saturday night if you were not there.  This Bad Wedding Reception fundraiser for Bridging, Inc. raised $2900 and counting for a charity that helps provide basic household items to homeless families getting back on their feet, which is awesome! 

While we were fundraising, we had a blast in all of our bad wedding outfits.  Here is just a small sample of what you missed….more to come, after I get more sleep.  When you wake up from your party and see Advil, water, and pink foil streamers in your bed, you know it was a good party.  I found those pink foil streamers everywhere from stuck to the copper cookware to inside the cards box to stuck to my leg in the morning, honest to God.

When you finish cleaning up and have a Lost and Found that includes not just an umbrella and phone charger but also a flask and a tattoo sleeve, you know people had a good time.



The pictures are so much fun!  Here is a picture of the trailer park cake that my cousin, Chef Landon Schoenefeld of Haute Dish, created.  Notice the couch outside made of Twinkies.  Notice the cake topper that Tami found, complete with broken cake cutting knife, at Salvation Army.

Here is a picture of Chef Landon and me, as the Bride.  Notice me channeling a mixture of Courtney Love and the Queen of Belgium.

I cannot WAIT to show you the pictures of the groom & me cutting the cake!  Or the pictures of the rest of the outfits and the DJ, the food, the dancing!  It was an incredible party, and I keep waking up at night laughing about little things I remember from it.  Here is just one more picture I will share, of Tina, Tim and me, before I have to go to work and continue reviewing safety information for patients (which is one of my REAL jobs):

Once I get organized and get a little sleep, I will post more pictures of the HILARIOUS bridesmaids, of my dear Friend who showed up dressed up as the “stripper leftover from last night”, (only if I get his permission, that is), and more pictures of the blessed event.  We will be scheduling a video watching session later this week, before I begin my 5 straight weeks of travel, and after I watch it to make sure nothing illegal is on there that I need to edit out  ;)

Thank you, THANK YOU to all the guests, to all the incredibly thoughtful Friends who helped out before, during and after the party (I WILL be taking good care of you, as I always do, so be ready to be spoiled!), and to all of you lovely guests who were so generous to this important charity.

Happiness is having the very best Friends in the world, and knowing it.  Take a moment today to thank the people who take the best care of you, because just when you need it, they are right there, always, and they shone brighter than the sun with the happy energy they brought to that party.  I could not be happier with how it all turned out, and I cannot wait to hear more of your stories.  Love you all to the moon and back!

Your Good Friend Sarah



Happiness is a Bad Wedding Day

Friends, good morning from Minneapolis, where it is 6:02AM, and your good friend Sarah is surrounded by wedding props. 

My living room is a disaster of pink paper lanterns and tabletop candletents.  And bottles of vodka, of course, next to the yoga mat and IT band rollers.

 

My kitchen has been taken over by bouquets of both plastic AND dead flowers.

 

My good Friends Tami, Tina and Peggy spent most of yesterday with me, putting together bouquets, boutonnieres, all of the programs and décor for this Bad Wedding Reception theme party I am hosting tonight for all my clients and Friends.  I am still covered in hot pink and bright purple glitter.  That did not stop me from attending a mini “bachelorette” party with my good Friends Todd, Raymond & Kevin at Capitol Grille.  Here I am in my appropriate hat of mourning, lamenting the impending loss of my virginity.  Ahem. 



 

The restaurant and hospitality world is my extended family---we really love each other and look after each other, and nothing makes us happier than to celebrate milestones and make crazy new stories together.  With that in mind, yes I did, as a matter of fact, wear that hat into the restaurant and kept it on as I opened my gifts of hotdish cookbooks (which is only proper and right since this is a Minnesota wedding, after all). 

 

People do not wear hats in Minnesota (except for stocking caps), so naturally, this hat made exactly the statement I wanted it to, and it got the full attention of the whole staff.  They all played along so that everyone else in the lounge could be part of the joke, too, both celebrating and mourning the impending loss of my “virginity” on my wedding night.  So fun.  Brad and I got a quick picture yesterday after he brought us steak with béarnaise, as a good piece of perfectly cooked meat is the best way to mourn with my personal shopper and the top fashion crowd of Minneapolis. 



 

Friends, I just want to take a quick moment today to reflect on how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many good people.  From the restaurants to the spas, to the vendors to the people who be playing parts in the wedding party, I am so lucky, so very, very lucky.  My Friends have stayed up late last night for wedding “rehearsal,” they have made last minute runs to Best Buy to pick up extra speakers, they have taken time off work to help, they have shopped up and down multiple Good Wills and Ragstocks for the perfect outfits (see Tina’s husband Tim, here, for just a quick taste of what one ensemble will look like tonight…..)

 

Doesn't he look GREAT in disco pants?!!  Yes.  A thousand times yes.  You KNOW you have a good party ahead when the men get into pulling together the very best outfits as much as the women do.

 

Everyone has been putting in so much happy energy into one-upping each other’s outfits that tonight will be a night of so much laughing, so much camaraderie, so much happiness, that I physically feel surrounded by love already.

 

Happiness does not need to be expensive.  Happiness does not need to be designer happiness or 4 star happiness.  Happiness is having super creative and fun Friends who jump in and write scripts with you over take out from The Lotus, like Michael & Lana did, last night, practicing the timing of the jokes, the prop placement, the moments we hope will be the funniest of the night.  Happiness is my Friend Katie and her Friends practicing their “sorority speech” as “bridesmaids” Bitsy, Porsche and Ginger Claussen, from our Sorority “Kappa Ypsilon…KY”.  They will, of course, be standing next to Peggy, known as “Bitter Friend who Wasn’t Included in the Wedding Party.”  I can only imagine these girls’ outfits----we have been exchanging giggling text messages all week.  Happiness is knowing that Dameun has prepared QUITE the processional Bad Wedding Singer performance for me as I walk down that pink leopard fabric aisle runner to meet my groom.   Happiness is getting text messages from Landon, our chef, with his ridiculously creative cake design ideas and a flawless menu to go alongside it.  He even promised to carve me a watermelon with a sawtooth “handle” out of the rind, just like they used to do for every single bridal shower I ever attended as a kid. I only hope I can keep a straight face tonight as I look around and take in all the details and thoughtfulness.

 

So, you see Friends, when you think about real happiness, it never comes from working too much or too hard.  It never comes from making more money or being seen on the Scene.  Happiness comes from having the greatest people you can think of, all around you, all at once, who are in the joke and are happy to be part of it because they know just how much it makes me happy.  I feel a little lump in my throat today, I am so grateful to be blessed with such good people in my life.  My vows today will be not only to be faithful to my groom, but to take good care and be faithful to these dear Friends who will help me make this the absolute worst wedding reception ever.  Happy Bad Wedding Day, Friends, to us!  Mazel tov!

With lots of love from Minnesota,

Your Good Friend Sarah

 

 

 

 

 



Happiness is a Bad (Good!) Wedding Video

Friends, good morning from beautiful Minneapolis, on the day before my “wedding.”  I am just overflowing with happiness today as I pull together all the last details of my wedding dress fitting, program printing, final prep of menu items, making the bouquets, and setting up the wedding ceremony room.

Tonight is the bachelorette party with my super cool Friend Todd, my personal shopper who used to be at Neiman’s.  Stoli Dolis are on the menu, as is the hot young thing he introduced me to last night at La Belle Vie.  Every bride should have a date at her own wedding, don’t you think?  My horoscope apparently agrees….here it is:

“Sure, you've got a ton to do as the week begins, but some sexy hijinks are definitely in order -- and if you position yourself appropriately (under the stars, silly!), your escapades could get rather heated. Be daring! Carry the rowdy mood through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; all things love related are favored now, so making it ought to be a snap. Singletons may find the gift of a hot new connection now, perhaps with someone from work. This weekend, create a sweet new tradition you can revisit every summer.”

Fun.  J 

For those of you just catching up, tomorrow night I am hosting a party for 125 called “Bad Wedding Reception” whose gift registry presents will all be donated to Bridging, Inc.  Bridging helps collect donations of household items to help homeless families get back on their feet.  The party is intended to celebrate the start of year 8 of my little business as well as to protest the lack of single, straight, financially responsible men available to do my bidding.  I am the “bride,” and my super clever Friends are all playing parts of the “bridal party.”  Everything about this wedding will be tacky.  EVERYTHING, from the horrifically inappropriate ice sculpture to the ridiculously ugly bridal gown. 

This wedding is pure Klass with a K.  Check out the roses I got from another guy I have been casually dating.  Beautiful, yes?

 

I received those about 2 weeks ago, and now they are just PERFECTly crispy/tacky to be included in the bouquets and boutonnieres!

This party is inappropriate enough that we had a cat, Liza Bean Bitey (of the Minneapolis Biteys), from my Friend and fellow blogger, Pearl and her colleague Indigo, put together a video greeting for the wedding ceremony.  I kid you not.  I love it and think it is terrifically funny.  Here is the link:

http://youtu.be/tapUd6Bg-OQ

Pearl and I have been Friends for about 20 years now, and she is a brilliant observer of humans being silly humans.  Here is her blog link, so you can check it out:  http://pearl-whyyoulittle.blogspot.com/

And as another little teaser about the party, here is a picture of my gloves and garter.

 

 

Oh, yeah.  Sexy as hell.  If this was a redneck wedding.  Which it is.   This is the shirt I hope someone wears, because this will happen, I promise you.

 

And so I leave you today to go put together dozens of crepe paper bells and streamers and to get the house ready to welcome my favorite people in the world.  I am about to begin 48 hours of ridiculous behavior, and I could not be happier.  Thank you for celebrating with me and for being such a part of the happiness today!

With lots of love from Minneapolis,

Your Good Friend Sarah