the zilla's celebrate #5!

photo of m'zilla & p'zilla by rufus diamant

so, 5 years ago, around this time, i was a blushing bridezilla walking slowly down the aisle at st. agnes catholic church in san francisco. the soloists, karen feder and scott grinthal were singing the prayer and i couldn't stop crying - my tough girl facade dissolving like my eye makeup, in front of God, my friends and family.

all the madness that occurred the evening before was finally moving out of focus and popzilla was moving into it.

the wedding rehearsal didn't go very well. alot of our attendants were late and everyone was so excited about the wedding and being in san francisco that hardly anyone was paying attention to what we were there to do. i was specifically worried that the kasalan portion of the ceremony wouldn't happen as seamlessly as i was hoping.

finally, the rehearsal was over and we were all looking forward to the rehearsal dinner. weeks before i had reserved tables at one of our favorite restaurants, e & o trading co. by the time, popzilla and i had gotten there, most of the wedding party was already there and they all looked really scared. apparently, e&o trading co had LOST our reservation. it was about then that i LOST my marbles and started to have a nervous crying fit on the staircase. after some calming and reassuring words from the wedding party and family, the manager on call actually did find the reservation which was "hidden under a bunch of stuff on the general manager's desk". they seated us pretty promptly after that but we didn't catch any breaks on drinks or anything. the dinner was delicious and we all had a really great time. it was the first time in a long time that my mom got wasted and silly on one frou frou drink. THAT was priceless....

since three of our wedding party were celebrating birthdays that same weekend, we'd decided a while back that we would go to bimbo's and dance the night away with the cheeseballs, the bestest 80's music cover band. i don't know how anyone got home that night and even weirder, we actually had tickets left over but i'm not sure who didn't show because it looked like we were all there.... i dunno. blame the al-key-hal...

i returned to our suite at the marines memorial club and didn't sleep a wink that night. thankfully, i also didn't have a hangover, unlike popzilla, who i called early that a.m. to remind him of some wedding day duties. no rest and no sympathy was to be found for poor popzilla on his wedding day...

i think MOH and i got to the wak shack early to get our vintage updos done by the lovely and talented kim long (who used to be the mermaid at bimbo's long ago, btw...) but we still managed to run late, after returning to the marines memorial club and changing because i remember getting out of the rolls royce and getting rushed into church with some hushed admonitions by the wedding coordinator.

and there i was, crying my eyes out. the wedding and reception were just this short of "perfect" but totally unforgettable.

and here i am five years later, truly living a life i really used to dream about. and i owe a (big, ginormous, hunking) lot of this happiness to popzilla - who loves me unconditionally and encourages me to "dream BIG".

popzilla, we might not be "doing much" to celebrate our anniversary this year (how can you when the traditional 5th anniversary present is wood - "dearest, i offer you this toothpick/tree branch/pencil/baseball bat as a symbol of our 5th wedding anniversary." ???!!!)

but, really we've done so much in five years... i really don't mind that we're "resting on our humble laurels" and just kickin' it at home w/ k'zilla and bellyzilla and dreaming BIG about our futures. :) i love you, babe. happy anniversary!