New York Weekend


Lauren heads east for the Bohn - Hemmerdinger wedding

Over a decade after they started dating for the first time, my college roommate Tracy and her high school sweetheart Steven decided to become husband and wife. Marc had to stay in Austin, but I couldn't imagine not being there for the nuptials -- plus, of course, I welcomed another excuse to visit friends and family in New York.

I arrived on Friday in time to spend the evening with best friend Rachel and her (now official "live in") boyfriend Rich, who is great. Even though Rachel's evil law firm had her working practically 24 hours a day all week, she napped and rallied and we went to a great dinner at their local neighborhood favorite, Divine Bar. After catching up, we called it a night because by 7AM Saturday, they had to be on their way to visit Rach's brother Jared at college. Here, I say goodbye to Rach and Rich as they depart in their best approximation of "what the kids are wearing" (they were intent on fitting in with the students, but I hear crashing at midnight Saturday ruined the charade):



Saturday morning I headed to the upper west side to spend time with Aunt Irene and Bella and Beckett (cousins Monica and Jeff were away on vacation). Bella decided she wasn't in the mood to pose, but Beckett was clearly intent on making the blog:



Soon it was time to head to the village to meet up with Casey and John, whom I hadn't hung out with for AGES! I hadn't seen John since just after college, and had barely spent time with Casey since he moved from Austin in '99. In that perfect way that good friendships last, we started goofing around and within minutes it was as if we'd hung out last week... except that as a group we have less hair, more money, and a waning desire to drink beer in the afternoon, among other things.


After losing track of time, I said quick goodbyes and ran to catch the Long Island Railroad out to Tracy's rehearsal dinner out in Rockville Centre. The dinner was especially fun because I got to spend lots of quality time with old roomies Stacey and Bonnie:


The wedding on Sunday was beautiful -- a very traditional Jewish ceremony in a gorgeous synagogue where Steven's parents had married years before.


The reception was outrageous -- never ending food and drinks (including my favorites, a sushi chef and multiple desserts) that made it feel more like an evening feast than lunch, a 10 piece band with skills such as one man playing two trumpets simultaneously, the biggest dance floor I've ever seen at a wedding, etc. The highlights, of course, were seeing old college friends. Here are old marrieds Stacey & Jason with Brian and Rysse Goldfarb (plus a future Goldfarb under Rysse's dress!):


And we managed to quickly pull Tracy aside for a "Quattros" shot of the old roomies -- I forgot how tiny they all were!


Soon it was time for goodbyes, and wishes that another college friend will hurry up and get married so we'll all get to be together again soon. I headed back to Queens with Bonnie for a little more quality time before my early Monday morning flight. By Monday afternoon, I was back at work, missing friends but just a tiny bit relieved that the Davis 2004 Wedding Tour has ended. Stay tuned for next year, as we only have a short hiatus before Erin & John, Jeff & Cori, and a handful of Marc's childhood friends have us dry cleaning our formal wear and supporting our neighborhood dog-sitter.

Posted: Sun - October 10, 2004 at 11:45 PM        

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