the ten year engagement ends

B & I were legally married on Wednesday, February, 4, 2009 - the anniversary of our first kiss. It was a private ceremony held at the LA County court house. There were no witnesses as we took advantage of the confidential (aka rock star) marriage license. The record is sealed. It takes a court order to get a copy of the marriage certificate. It should save us from unsolicited mail.

We arrived a half hour early, as instructed. We had to pay the fee for the copies of the certificate plus the ceremony fee. We were then told to wait in the waiting area. That was the saddest part of the day. Lots of pregnant women getting married. People in jeans and t-shirts. It just felt like people didn't really take this seriously.

Our appointment was at 1:30pm. We were called in at about 1:40pm. We had to go around to the chapel, and be let in. The wait seems forever. Ironically my cell phone rang. I didn't answer it. Turned out to be a wrong number from Chicago.

Once inside, things happened pretty quickly, although it also felt like time stood still. The officiant said we were the sweetest couple she married this year.

I think we broke every rule. We made our own rules. There really aren't any rules.

B ordered a ring while his family was still here. Since they extended their stay there really wasn't much choice in the matter. As it turned out, the ring arrived the morning of the wedding. It meant we got the grand tour of LA county. We drove across the San Gabriel Valley to Pasadena to pick it up, and then out to Norwalk for the ceremony. From there we headed to the Westside.

Neither of us had eaten more than a cup of tea and a couple of bites of baked goodies from Bakesale Betty, so first order of business (after switching shoes) was to find something to eat. It was after 2pm, so we headed northwest and tried to figure something out. I remember talk of a Jewish Deli in Culver City that had been there over 40 years. I thought it was called the Rock 'n Rye. Google correctly routed us to the Roll n' Rye. The food was plentiful and delicious. I had a chicken salad sandwich on sourdough and B got the cheese blitzes. The homemade pickles were to die for. Learned that they were a family recipe.

Next it was off to the W in Westwood. Gigi* at the front desk noticed the note B put in the reservation (that it was our wedding night), and upgraded us to the WOW Suite. Oh my! WOW!! It had a living room, a separate study, along with a separate bedroom and bath. We had views of UCLA and the pool. You could actually see clear to the ocean. The weather in LA on Wednesday was 80F. Can't believe we left our swimsuits back at the house. Oh well. Next time.

We had dinner at a lovely place in Santa Monica. We got their early so stopped at RiteAide to get some cough syrup for me. I am still sick. Somehow the staff at the restaurant thought it was our anniversary. They sent over a plate of cookies with a candle. We didn't correct them. Technically it was the anniversary of our first kiss (that links to the story if you missed it).

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* She was also the first person to officially call me Mrs. Go aloud when she called to check on how we liked the room.



on the night stand :: The Impossible Advantage