I woke up Saturday morning and went into an immediate panic. Why you ask? Two reasons: (1) I drank my way into oblivion the night before my best friends wedding (open bar rehearsal dinner = bad call) and woke up dry heaving; and (2) in my drunken stupor that night, I set my alarm for 8 am PACIFIC time (FYI our limos were supposed to leave the hotel at 9 am EASTERN time). When it comes to drinking, I’m no spring chicken. My college days of morning-after rallying are long gone. So I’m not joking when I say this: I was struggling to lift my head.
EFF MY LIFE.
While I was in hysterics trying to figure out how much little time I had to get my head out of the toilet, Kyle ran to the market to grab some essentials: Gatorade, VitaminWater, fruit, and a Peanut Butter Toffee Buzz Clif bar.
And water. Lots and lots of water.
The breakfast of champions drunkass idiots. Yeah, not so much. God Bless New York’s 24 hour availability.
What’s even more shocking than my lightning quick recovery (I was in Jess’ bridal suite within the hour), is the fact that I had the presence of mind to take pictures of all my hung-over eats while I was in such a disastrous state. Now THAT’S blogger dedication. And to be clear “recovery” may not be the best word choice because I was still pretty iffy as we piled into the limos at 10 am.
I don’t have many photos from the wedding because I was doing bridesmaid-y things the whole time, but it was at The Boathouse in Central Park and was about as classy as it gets.
At the bride’s request, we all wore slutty little black dresses (her wording, not mine), while her wedding gown was designed by Carol Hannah (any Project Runway fans out there?).
My dress was from bebe and definitely met Jess’ bridesmaid dress requirements. 😉
After the wedding ceremony we mingled for a bit and then everyone was seated for lunch.
The entree options were sea bass or filet mignon…unless you are the bride’s bestie. I got my very own vegan option, prepared especially for me.
Course one: Farfalle pasta prepared with porcini mushrooms and fresh tomatoes (basically the same as everyone else’s without the parmesan)
It was actually really good, but since it was the first course I didn’t eat too much because I was busy with the fresh roll.
While the salad course was being served, Jess and I were busy getting down on the dance floor…along with the rest of the girls.
Course two: Arugula, endive, and radicchio salad
I took one bite and headed back to the dance floor. It just wasn’t worth missing any QT with the lady in white.
Course three: Mushroom risotto with sautéed portabellos on top
This course tasted too good to be true. And after a few bites, I came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, too good to be true (and that there was most definitely butter/dairy involved). As you can imagine, I steered clear of the rest of the dish and instead smuggled a couple of unclaimed bread rolls for my entree. Any athlete dancing diva knows about carbo loading. It’s really a shame that the concept of no animal products is such a perplexing one.
Course four: Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake
I skipped both the dessert and the coffee and instead made my way to the bar. After my hung-over morning of fake champagne toasts followed by fake champagne sipping, my body was finally feeling decent enough to get back on the wagon. Or is it off the wagon? Whatever. The point is, I had plans to board the alcohol train – full steam ahead.
Gettin’ down (and sweaty) on the dance floor. Holler.
Curtain call was at 5 pm, and by the time I handled by bridesmaid biznaz it was after 6 pm and all I wanted to do was pass out.
And pass out was what I did.
That is, until Jess called me at 8 pm telling me to get to Boat Basin stat. What’s a bridesmaid to do? Listen to her bride, of course!
But not without getting some food in my tum first.
Are you noticing a trend here? Booze. Recover. Booze. Recover. I’m not saying it’s a rock solid system, but it’s been working so far.
Oh, and that fresh sourdough roll was about the size of my head. I demolished it with the hummus without even batting an eyelash. Obvs.
But back to Boat Basin…
This was one of my favorite (if not THE favorite) places to go in the summer. Because it is all open, it’s closed for the cold months (aka October through May), which makes it even more packed when the warm months arrive!
When you first enter from the East it looks a bit sketchy because you have to walk past Riverside Drive, under the freeway, and go down stairs towards the Hudson River…but then you arrive and see a raised area of tables for dining in the sun. Usually it’s packed with people (I took these pictures the previous day in the AM).
The main bar is under a covered roof with more tables for dining.
And if you look farther East, you can see the dirty Jerz across the beautiful trash-infested Hudson River.
It’s gorg, as long as you don’t think of the mafia men and mobsters that are swimming with the fishes below.
The menu isn’t overly complicated or unique. They have cheap bar food and booze. So as long as you are going for the atmosphere, you are guaranteed to have a blast. I’ve tried the veggie burger before, and it’s good, but nothing amazing.
Anyways, the rest of the night was fairly mellow since I didn’t want a repeat of my previous night’s performance.
Kyle and I were tucked into bed by midnight, fully hydrated and without the spins. Even the monkeys learn?
What a great wedding! Sounds like you had an awesome couple of days. Vitamin water is a godsend for hangovers. I also plump for smoothies the morning after, so good. Not long til your big day 🙂 xxx
You look adorable!!! Sounds so fun, ha minus the hangover but you rocked it lady!
Sorry you weren’t feeling on top of your game but, dang girl, you looked smokin’!! LOVE Carol Hannah and I also love that the bride wanted you in slutty LBDs – the brides that make their bmaids wear ugly dresses are just mean. The bride looks gorgeous! I love how she did her hair!
worlds best friend goes to you my dear.
SERIOUSLY CAROL HANNAH!!!!! love her 🙂 and your besties dress is GAWJ. what a top notch affair. so ny chic.
especially the part about you double rallying. listen you can be my bridesmaid ANYDAY.
I love her wedding. It seems very personal in terms of her dress and the bridesmaids dress.
Isn’t the Boat Basin the best? It’s NYC’s saving grace. I couldn’t make it through the summer without.
Looks like you had a blast!
First off, you look SO good in that dress. Second, a wedding is not a wedding unless a bridesmaid loses the grip on her alcohol, haha. It looks like it was a beautiful and eventful wedding. 🙂
Very impressive rally!!!!! You looked fantastic considering you felt awful!
You look gorgeous for a woman with a hangover.
love the black dress…where from???
Wow, I live right by there, and I didn’t know you could have a wedding at the Boat Basin. Nice. I love that spot, despite the sketchiness of the entrance.
We have a similar bar here in Colorado. It’s called the Hideout and is a completely open biker bar that is closed during the winter. It’s a fun place to go people watch.
I love the dress you wore. And what a great idea, too. I hate it when brides get all picky about stuff like that. I’d like to think I was the anti-bridezilla. I just picked a color and said “GO!”.
Looks like such a fun wedding, that dress is the perfect mix of classy and sexy!! I’m dying to try the Boat Basin…I’ve heard great things about it but haven’t made my way there yet. My lists of restaurants to try in NYC is way too long!
Oh, wait. Never mind. Reread the post. Boat HOUSE and Boat Basin. Too many boat-places for one city!
that dress is zexy! looks like the wedding was a BLAST.
waking up to dry heaving is actually the worst thing ever, but you powered through… impressively, i might add.
bebe 🙂 and thanks!
You’re a champ! You look GORGEOUS, and I would never guess a single drop of alkie had graced your system.
Carol Hannah designed that dress?! That’s so awesome! That’s the only season of PR I watched.
You and Kyle = gorg couple! Bread is the perfect hangover food. I can’t usually stomach food or veg post drinking!
I don’t want to condone the drunk/recover/drunk thing or anything but YOU ARE A GIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART. Many a time have I not known my limits and got trashy at the least opportune time. Sigh. Fun/draining/fun.
LOVE your little black dress. It’s a stunna!
Gorgeous!! It’s incredible that you looked athat good hungover and with under an hour or primping. I’m impressed/jealous. Glad you had a good time!
Damn, I wish I could look that good hungover! You put me to shame!
Hi Elise! I’m a frequent follower of your blog 🙂
I have to say, I fell in love with you LBD, you looked gorgeous in it! If its not too much trouble, would you mind saying what is the name of that style. I looked all over for it on the website and could not find it 🙁
-Thanks!
i want to be best friends with you, your frizzy hair, that hawt black dress, NYC, Jess and everything. i just caught up on four posts, and loved each and every one of them. those flashback pictures just made my day.
love you my lil’ hippie! can’t wait to meet you out in CA 🙂
it WILL happen.
Oh lawdy. The vegan/veg thing is so hard for some people–I’m from Texas, and was once told that the stuffing at Thanksgiving was totally veg-friendly. The *sausage* stuffing. I explained that i don’t eat sausage, and my aunt’s response (with a gaping mouth) was, “my god, do you even eat brown rice?!?!”
Also, you looked gorgeous :).
Emilie
http://dulyquoted.wordpress.com
HI!! First off, thanks for reading 🙂 And for your sweet comment. I will try to find out the style number, but you’re right, it’s not on the website anywhere because I tried to find it to show to someone else! It was actually the last one in the store, so I hope I didn’t tease you into thinking it was still around.
Love, love LOVE your dress!! Where is it from?
Aw, darn! Im so determined, I might go and hunt it down in the stores 😛
Thanks for your response!