My Very First Indian Wedding

So back in March (yes I know that was eons ago, but as you read here, I have been a bit busy recently) I went to my first Indian (Indian as in from India Indian, not Native American Indian... just to clarify) wedding. Let me tell you, it was like NOTHING I have ever experienced before in my entire life.  I can't even begin to explain what it was like... but I sure am going to try.

The wedding was at the Sheridan Crossroads in Parsippany, NJ... the hotel seriously looked like it was a castle.

The place was HUGE and I was nervous that we weren't going to be able to figure out where the wedding was.  But don't worry, we managed.  

The bride and groom had a traditional Indian ceremony which was beautiful.  N is Indian while her husband M is not, but they still decided to go with the traditional Indian ceremony which I thought was awesome.  The ceremony started with the groom and all of his family/friends outside dancing to music and having a grand old time.  Eventually the rest of us followed outside to clap, dance, get really excited, etc.

Getting excited for the ceremony

N the beautiful bride watching everything from inside

Yes that is the groom M and yes they have lifted him up into the air... I tell you, these people really know how to celebrate

Things eventually moved in side where there was something between the groom and the bride's family... I didn't really understand much of it since it wasn't in English.  But it looked as though there was a lot of symbolism and like it was almost welcoming the groom into the bride's family.  I could be wrong about that, but it's what it looked like to me. 

Finally we all made it into the room where the ceremony was going to take place.  The ceremony was not at all what I expected it to be like.  First off I realized that for the Indian culture the wedding ceremony really is a time of celebration and a time for family, friends, etc. to be together and to really honor the couple getting married.  There was lots of clapping and smiles, and everyone truly seemed to be elated for N and M.  The ceremony also contained lots of symbolism... my favorite part being when the couple walked around the fire 4 times... with the groom leading for the first 3, and then the bride leading for the last time.  I also enjoyed the part where the bride and groom had to sit down quickly and whoever sat down first was supposed to be the dominant one in the relationship... of course N sat down first.  The ceremony was long, but it really was beautiful and I was so happy to have been able to witness it.

After the ceremony there was a luncheon for all the guests while the bridal party took pictures, etc.  Then MD and I were off to see my parents for a while during the break before the reception.  Cocktail hour before the reception was a lot of fun, but I was really looking forward to the reception and getting to see the bride and groom for the first time after the wedding.  The reception was gorgeous!  N and M looked fantastic.  I have never been to such an upbeat wedding reception where everyone was just so genuinely happy, excited, and ready to party.  We danced the night away (yes even the love of my life danced) and had a fabulous time all around.

Sweetheart table and cake

Disney Castle sculpture... they got engaged during a trip to Disney

Love of my Life and me at the reception

M, N, and Me... what a gorgeous couple

Dancing the night away

Congrats to M and N on a beautiful wedding!! I wish you all the happiness in the world! XOXO

Blogging Hiatus... No More!

As much as I love blogging, I have discovered that I truly am AWFUL at it. I don't really mean awful in the sense that my posts are awful, but awful in the sense that once life gets busy and I probably need to let off steam the most I just shut down and stop blogging all together.  I have had so many things that I have wanted to blog about, but I just haven't had the time.  That changes TODAY though.  I have decided that I am really going to try to blog as often as possible because well writing is a stress relief and needless to say, studying for the bar exam is STRESSFUL.

So in case you were wondering where I have been these past couple of months the answer is really simple... working my life away and now studying.

For the past 2 months or so I have been working AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE because I want to make sure that monetarily I am ok to take a week off before the Pennsylvania Bar Exam.  I know that I am going to need that time to hard core study and make sure I know all of my stuff, so I NEED to have enough money saved up to do so.  Of course I do have money in a savings account that I could definitely use to get me through if I need it, but I really don't want to touch that money if I don't have to.  Today is actually the first of like 8 days in a row that I will be working this week... my next day off isn't until Saturday, June 18th.  As much as it stinks and as much as I don't want to work so much I am hoping that the money will be worth it and that I will be on my way to feeling like I don't have to stress about money during the week that I will be off.

Besides working a ton, in my "free" time the bf and I have been looking for new places to live.  We decided that we didn't like where we were living now... we have really SUPER inconsiderate neighbors and management has been terrible recently, so back in March we decided that we would not be renewing our lease.  We finally found a place that we both liked and we got approved to live there a week ago, so now I also have the stress of moving on my plate.

Plus of course there is the fact that I am studying for a bar exam... AGAIN.  This time it is the Pennsylvania Bar Exam.  I know I need to really study, but I am sooooo NOT motivated at this moment in time and I'm not really sure why.  I know I NEED to pass this exam because I NEED to find a job that is not waitressing, but I'm just so not into it right now.  Maybe it is because I have done this before, maybe it is because panic has not yet set in, but for whatever reason I just don't seem to care right now and that my friends is NOT good.  I'm hoping that after the move I'll definitely get my butt in gear and buckle down and study, but for now it is just not happening for me.

Oh well, I know everything is going to come together at some point... it just has to, right??

What's on Betsey's Phone...

This past week I managed to find a bunch of interesting stuff to take pics of.  Lots of it came from the same places, but hey, when funny stuff happens, it just happens.  Here are some of the more interesting pictures off of my phone from this past week or so....

I think we skipped spring and went straight to fall... there is no way that it should still be this warm out at 10pm!

I love when my friends come in to visit me at work... I also love when their math skills make me chuckle... what makes me chuckle most is that this friend could be a math teacher ;)  (<3 you babe if you're reading this)

You know you're driving around the city of Wilmington when...

Cup from Atlanta Bread Company in Harrisburg... glad to know the drink is colder than mothers-in-law

Look at how dilated his eyes got at the eye dr... mine NEVER get that big!

and then we were outside after a bit and they got this small... crazy

PS, I do love MD very much even if he does have strange acting eyes ;)

Cool growler from ABC in Harrisburg, PA

Getting a tour of the Troegs Brewery in Harrisburg from one of the owners HIMSELF... so COOL!

Our new menu comes out tomorrow... we demoed the food on it... yes that is right it took the kitchen 61 minutes and 5 seconds to make all of the new foods... we are in trouble

Oh... and it also took them almost half an hour to try to make the new strawberry shortcake dessert...so screwed

Well that's all for now... I'm off to make dinner for the bf... using a recipe I got from this blog ... wish me luck trying to make my own tortillas!  I'll try to take pics so that everyone can see how this turns out!

Things I Miss on Thursdays... My Besties

So life has been a bit, ok you got me, SUPER, crazy recently. I have been working like a maniac and don't have much time to spend with my bf, let alone any of my friends...it's downright depressing.  We did manage to get out for a little bowling with a few friends on Saturday night (my first night off in 10 nights), but that wasn't even enough to make me feel better.

So today what I'm REALLY missing is spending time with my best friends.

I miss living at Bucknell so that VG was living right next door to me or across the hall from me.  VG and I have been friends since our Freshman year of college... which was almost 8 years ago!  Crazy!  We are sorority sisters which means we have a bond closer than just 2 ordinary friends.  Almost 2 years ago now (where has the time gone?!) she moved to Arizona. (Insert really sad face here :()  I feel like we have grown apart a bit since the move and that is NOT OKAY!  It's just with the time difference and the fact that I work like EVERY night we don't get much time to talk.  We did get to catch up for a little last week... yay for hour long phone dates!  But even that isn't enough.  I miss you BFF...VG...

VG and I together at a wedding last May

Typical Us... we started taking pics like this early on in college

At a Jungle Themed Mixer our Soph Year at Bucknell

We had sooo much fun together!

I miss my best friend from elementary school... AW.  AW and I met in first grade and have been friends ever since.  She is probably my longest friend and will most likely be the MOH in my wedding (if I ever get married).  We have been through a lot together... she has definitely seen me at my best as well as at my worst.  AW and I are the friends that can go a month (or 2 or 6) without talking and pick up right where we had left off.  One of my favorite things about AW is that she has a heart of gold.  She is one of the nicest and most amazing women I know.  I don't know what I would do without her in my life....

AW and I at my end of the bar exam party

I feel like we look like we haven't changed much over the years... well minus my hair style lol

Us with our dates before our Senior Prom

Then there is CS.  We have been friends I believe since our sophomore year of HS... making her my 2nd longest bff.  We pretty much have an "online" friendship because we have never actually really lived close enough to be able to see each other much.  We do however try to see each other whenever we can, but we STINK at taking pics together.  CS is the one person other than the bf who I talk to basically every day.  Granted we pretty much only talk through Gchat or text message... she still seems to know more about what is going on in my life than anyone else.  I hate when we don't get to talk a lot...i.e. these past couple of weeks... but I know we'll find the time to catch up soon and everything will be back to normal!

The one and ONLY pic the two of us have together!

So far I've pretty much only talked about my friends that I have had pre-law school.  It's funny how life works out.  When I was graduating from high school and leaving for college I was devastated because I was leaving all my friends behind and I was afraid I would never make friends who I could be as close to and who I would trust as much as my high school pals.  Then I got to college and I really only keep in touch with a couple of my high school friends.  Then I left college to move on to law school and again I felt like I would never be able to find any girls that I would be as close to as I was to my college friends and my few high school friends I remained close with.  I should have learned from the first time around, because I met some of my closest friends EVER in law school and I definitely wouldn't be where I am today without them.

First we have JG who is my birthday twin and bff down here.  We met working together at Fridays (you will notice this as a common theme with all of these besties) and bonded over the loss of a co-worker who was a mutual friend.  We became super close and she definitely became one of my bestest friends ever.  We are both so busy now that we RARELY get to see each other, but when we do it's always a good time.  We actually just had a shopping and dinner/drinks night out a couple of nights ago and it was GLORIOUS!  She is one of those girls that you can just always have fun with and who knows how to make people smile.  Love you JG...

How could you not love this girl??

We <3 mudslide martinis

Celebrating our birthdays together

I <3 us

Then we have NS.  NS I feel like got off to a slow start with our group.  She was really quiet and reserved at first, and honestly I wasn't sure if we were going to be good friends.  Boy was I wrong.  Once she started to open up I realized what an amazing person she was.  She is the type of friend who makes sure to pick up the phone and call just to chat and catch up.  She is the friend who knows I've been working a bazillion hours so shows up at work to visit me so that we can catch up.  She is a friend that I know I can always count on.  NS is someone I know I can talk to about the good stuff as well as the bad and I know she'll give me amazing advice.  We don't get to see each other as often since she moved to Philly... but we still see each other a bunch.  Hanging out with this girl is always a ton of fun, and hopefully now that the weather is nicer I'll be able to take more trips into Philly to hang with her... and maybe even watch her run a race!

NS and I at my end of the bar exam party

Out together at Bucknell

Love how we both have slightly different hairstyles in EVERY pic

Last but not least is my long lost best friend KT.  KT moved down to NC last year when she got a job as a teacher.  I definitely don't see her or talk to her as much as I would like, but I still consider her one of my besties.  She is the friend who never bails.  We used to always joke that the two of us were the dependable ones.  You could always count on us to be on time and to show up.  KT was always the one who would open the champagne when we had girls nights.  She is also one of the biggest Phillies fans I have ever met and we could always count on her to plan trips to see the Phils play!  I miss this girl!

Our standard bathroom pic when the two of us go out together

Us at a wedding together

Hanging out during the Snow Storm

Braving the wind, rain and cold day for the Erin Express in Philly

I miss a lot of other people in my life too, but right now I really do miss my girls.   And I miss more of my girls than I can devote time to on my blog.  I just particularly miss these girls because they have been with me through it all... at times they know me better than I know myself... these are the girls that I know I can completely trust.  It's funny how things change over time because I know that in the past there were friends who I would've thought could have been a part of this post but we're no longer really close.  Then there are friends who I am continuing to become closer with and I think would make this post if I were to write it in perhaps another year (AE, ILC, EO, NMS, MC, SS).  

If any of you ladies are reading this... I love you all!  And let's plan a girl's night out soon!

What's on Betsey's Phone...

So I definitely think I win the prize for world's worst blogger because I do this blogging thing in spurts.  Life has just been super duper crazy recently and I haven't had time for too much.  I have lots of past events to blog about so stay tuned... but for now here is the 2nd Edition of What's on Betsey's Phone on Tuesday

Here we go.....

That's right... we're going to start this one off with beer... my loving bf is turning me into a complete beer snob and after trying 2,576,908,091,120,357, ok maybe it was only 3, beers I finally was able to settle on a black and tan as my beer of choice for the night.

Sketchy White Van with a licence plate of "cupcake"... Free Candy anyone?!

Rita's may not be what puts me in my happy place... BUT I just love the whole concept of it.

This is one of my managers at Fridays.  His name is Robert... and he is totally oblivious to the fact that we have put this on his back.  Too bad you can't read it that well, but it says "Mr. United States"  He walked around with it on his back until Etel was nice enough to tell him it was there.

See ladies... engagement chicken is NOT a myth!  It was featured in this month's Glamour magazine! I'm thinking that maybe I should try this one out on the love of my life??  What do you think?

This is Lindsey... another one of our Fridays managers... and this is what she does when she hears about a bar guest throwing up on the bar.  She was ready to kick some butt!

That's it for this edition of What's on Betsey's Phone...  Sorry it wasn't as entertaining as the last edition, but in all fairness I have been super busy and haven't been able to whip my phone out to snap as many pics as I would like.  I'll try better next week!

In other news, stay tuned for some updates as to what has been happening in my life the past month or so!