Welcome to THE night of your life.

I am back after a whirlwind weekend with my college buddies. This was my first bachelorette party and it was worth the crazy trip!

I attempted to go to bed early on Friday night because of my 6am flight, but this was not to be. I did get a few hours of sleep and woke up at 3:30am to stumble around in the dark and then drive to the airport.

The plane was basically empty so everyone had a row of three seats to themselves. The flight attendants didn't do any work the whole flight because almost everyone was lying down sleeping, I guess the Saturday 6am flight from RDU to MSP is not the most popular.

Diana and her mom picked me up at the airport and we went to get some coffee at the Mall of America while we waited for Caitlin (the Maid of Honor aka MOH) to arrive from Chicago. It was so early that none of the stores were open and I was so tired I kept walking in the wrong direction, luckily Diana was there to tell me what to do.

We got Caitlin and went straight to the Marriott where we settled into our party suite and changed for the bridal shower. Meghan (the final St. Olaf bridesmaid) arrived getting dropped off 10 blocks away and walking in the rain and snow with giant bags full of vodka and sodas. She had come in from Oregon the day before.

At the bridal shower we met more of Diana's friends and family/family to be, ate delicious catered food and watched awkwardly as Diana opened her presents.
Sadly I am a bad bridesmaid and ordered Diana a gift off her registry (good bridesmaid behavior) but had it shipped to her house (bad bridesmaid behavior), so I made her bring it all the way from Madison to Minneapolis (and back), just so I could watch the joy on her face as she opened her stemless wine glasses and wine carafe (selfish bridesmaid behavior). I hoped she would wrap it up so it looked nice, but it was just the box it got delivered in (that one is her fault).

Meghan was a bad bridesmaid too and got Diana Tostitos, salsa and Velveeta as a gift!!! (I guess she also got her a chip n dip platter....if this rumor is true, then she is a good bridesmaid)
Then we dressed Diana up in an embarrassing toilet paper gown:
And then it was back to the room and time to party!
Diana's ring is a shot glass!Meghan made this sign:
We turned the coffee stand into a makeshift bar:
And gave Diana very practical gifts that were appropriate for her to open in front of her mother and future mother-in-law (who were also in the room with us):

After a few drinks in the room we grabbed some dinner at a pub across the street and then it was time to hit the bars! We ended the night at the same pub we started at and DJ Dustin hooked us up with our favorite tunes, like that one by "cylie myrus". There was a telephone on the dance floor that was a direct line to the DJ booth, so we used that frequently.
We ended up going to bed at 3:00am central time (4:00am eastern), so I was up for over 24 hours. I was exhausted and slept for 10 hours when I got home, but it was totally worth it! I can't wait for the wedding in March!