BJ's

In about an hour, we are all going to BJ's pizza restaurant (Kalie's work) for dinner. Since she just got transferred to this location, I guess that means "low man on the totem pole" and she got the New Year's Eve shift. Well, we will keep her company!

Sunday, we will be going to La Palapa, Kalie's wedding site, to bring centerpieces and hopefully meet with the DJ. We want to see how the tables will look with our Pier I purchases. I plan on taking photos, so I'll show you next week. The DJ needs to center the K & J initials that will be projected onto the dance floor.

Kalie chose La Palapa for a few reasons.
1. Jeremy wanted to be married ON THE SAND. Not next to the sand, not looking down from a cliff to the sand, not looking at sand through a window of a church. ON.THE.SAND!
La Palapa has a beautiful runner that extends from the sidewalk area onto the sand and ends under palm trees with a gazebo. Chairs are set on each side (bride's side and groom's side) of the runner. Their feet will never actually touch sand. They will be on the runner. Mine however will. Not thrilled. I'm still trying to figure this situation out. I guess I could supply sandals in a beach tub for guests, or maybe offer hot towels to wipe their feet after the ceremony, or pretend we are really not on actual sand and simply smile a lot. Still working this situation out.

2. Kalie did not want anyone to have to travel from wedding site to reception site. La Palapa is a funky bar type restaurant on the beach in Long Beach. CUTE, CUTE, CUTE. My girlfriends and I have spent many a night there having a rip roaring time. When my mom told me that a friend of hers attended a wedding there, I was significantly puzzled. My mom said the reception was upstairs. What I recalled was a tiki style rooftop with no stairs anywhere in sight. However, when Kalie and I made an appointment to see the reception spot, we went outside to stairs that ran along the side of the building. Intriguing. Elizabeth, owner and coordinator, opened the double doors and both Kalie and I took a collective gasp. BEAUTIFUL. Simply gorgeous. A full bar as you walk in, a "cigar or international coffee room" to the left, down the wide foyer hall was a beautiful gazebo with crystal chandelier that the wedding cake sat under. The ballroom had a gigantic crystal chandelier with red and ivory swags that started in the center of the ceiling above the dance floor and extended the wall. Unbelievable. The floor to ceiling windows overlooking the shoreline and Queen Mary was gorgeous. Everywhere were European looking armoires, wing backed chairs, and beautiful wood. Stunning. We signed the contract that day!

3. Both Kalie and Jeremy were born and raised in Long Beach. This is a Long Beach wedding! 90% of our friends and family all live in Long Beach. We are using as many local vendors as possible. We love our little hometown! Their wedding night will be spent down the street a ways where they will have more beautiful ocean views, and the rest of us won't have far to travel to curl up in our own beds after a blissful night.