mainely magnificent

jet blue, take 2

maine from above

i’ve come full circle and am blogging from my favorite terminal yet again! this time, i managed to keep my muji spending to a minimum (vickie, your pens will arrive shortly!). i can’t believe this week is over — i feel like it went by SO quickly, yet i’ve done SO much! work is going to be a rude awakening tomorrow. but yesterday’s events deserve a full recap before i start singing the back-to-the-hospital blues.

but first, a note regarding purple
that is, a quick defense of my alma mater, williams college. marathonmaiden, judging from your comment, it sounds like your sister isn’t having the best time — i hope things get better for her! there were definitely some cliques and some snobbiness that wasn’t my scene. i wasn’t on a sports team, so maybe i didn’t fit the typical williams prototype. however, that was true of so many others that it didn’t matter. i met so many amazing people during my years there.

i tended to hang out among an artsier crowd (a capella + theater), and also with those who took their studies very seriously — miss emily of MB fame was valedictorian of our class! along with traditional booksmarts, i found people that were fascinating and fun in other ways. the academics were truly top-notch: so much personal attention and professors who REALLY did care about teaching. finally, the idyllic mountain setting won me over, although admittedly the winters got a little OLD after a while (hence my migration south after graduation).

i may have ditched the snow, but i got so much out of my time at williams. it was there that i discovered the field of endocrinology, and college was definitely the first time i ever really studied hard and learned how to hunker down and WORK (in fact, i wish i had some of my college-era discipline back sometimes). maybe even more importantly, i made wonderful friends that i know will last for a lifetime. maybe i’ve got rose (or purple?)-colored glasses on, but i have so many amazing memories of my years at that place! i would choose it again in a heartbeat.

the rain in maine . . .
okay, back to yesterday. SO, running in the rain — oh. my. god. wow.

despite downing a manhattan of mammoth proportions on friday night, emily and i had planned a morning long run on saturday, and this was NOT something i would have reneged on. so we headed out at 9 am to run all over portland . . . in driving rain.

i’ve run when it was sprinkling before, but never in a full-out new england squall. one mile into our journey, we were both drenched. i spent the next 12 carrying around what felt like at least 10 pounds of water soaked into to my running jacket, capri pants, and squeegee-like shoes. at some points, i wished for windshield wipers on my contact lenses! but emily is a BADASS and seemed completely unphased by the tempest swirling around us.

13.2 miles went by in 1:55, for an average 8:43 pace. AMAZING considering the conditions! and then emily (as i said, badass) headed out for 5 more!

i wish i had a picture to capture the truly drowned rats we were by the end. you will just have to use your imagination . . . emily: thank you for inspiring me to see this adventurous journey to its finish! i wouldn’t have made it without you.

lobster time!
after that, it was LOBSTER TIME! san franciscan nicole had a hankering for a lobster roll, and the portland lobster company was an excellent post-run-in-a-deluge choice.

they had little light-up, vibrating lobsters to signal that your order was ready! azusa wanted to chomp hers:

classic maine lobster roll! i actually had lobster stew, but this photogenic sandwich just wanted its picture taken:

emily and her fiance andrew enjoyed their well-earned eats (andrew ran those last 5 miles with emily out in the rain! what a keeper!)

and then it was wedding time

gorgeous lighthouse at cape elizabeth

accordian players — so romantic! and a cake that was pure fall fabulousness

an artistic shot of azusa’s well-adorned feet

after their vows, there was not a dry eye in the house

cutting the cake! isn’t aimée’s j. crew dress TO DIE FOR?

lovely ladies!!! and as you can see, i went with the rainbow, as planned.

after our photo session, we headed to the reception at evangeline (of recent new york times fame!)

we enjoyed a 5-course extravaganza that was absolute perfection, with plenty of champagne and wine to wash it down. my favorites were the scallops:

and the bacon-wrapped clabber-fed chicken.

afterwards, we hit the dance floor — with a vengeance. vickie even found her favorite beverage:

and we finished with a lineup of shots at the bar, still dancing away while a dramatic thunderstorm pounded outside

it was a fantastic finale to a crazy whirlwind week – the only thing missing from the wedding weekend was josh. we texted pictures and messages back and forth, though, and i am super-excited to meet him at the airport this afternoon. i think i may need a week to recover from this week’s festivities — detox, perhaps? in any case, it was all worth it. hooray for vacation!