Perfection in the Form of a Wedding

It feels a little weird to update this thing midweek, but here goes:

Last week was the busiest week I've had since moving out here. My work week was essentially condensed into only 3 days (more on that in a bit), so I needed to get everything I would normally have 5 days to do done in less time. That involved me staying at work late Monday through Wednesday, but I always enjoyed what I was working on, I never stayed too late, and there were always other people there. The good news is that I managed to get everything done on time. Even with all that, though, there was still plenty going on.

On Wednesday, Apple announced the iPhone 5. This impacted me as a potential consumer (since I'm in the market for a smartphone) and as an employee that helps develop software on Apple platforms. I've had lots of people ask what I think about the iPhone 5, and ultimately I don't have much to say. It was pretty much what the industry expected it to be, except for the fact that it lacks Near-Field Communications (NFC) which allow you to do things like tap your phone to a sensor to pay for things at checkout. It seems to me to be the incremental upgrade everyone was hoping for, and it also sold out the fastest of any iPhone yet. Again, nothing new to the story here. Do I think it's an awesome product? Yes. Will I be getting one? Maybe. My dad and I seem to be the last holdouts on the planet in getting a smartphone, and I'm not sure I'm ready to let him win that race...

The coincidental followup to the Apple announcement was the Microsoft Company Meeting on Thursday. This was a day-long event where thousands of people assembled to watch presentations and demonstrations from executives throughout the company. They also stream it for employees to watch, which is good since not everyone can go (not enough tickets, employees around the world, etc). It was quite an experience being there; I'd never been to anything like that before. There were high and low points, and I walked away pretty excited about the next year for the company, and the role I will play in it.

The other reason I had a shortened work week was because I agreed to be Kristen's (my friend from Tufts) +1 to a wedding in California last weekend. This had been planned for at least a month, but I had no idea what I was in for. My flight left on Friday afternoon (so I took a day off of work) for Sacramento, which is only a 1.5 hour flight. It went by even fast because as soon as I sat in my seat, I passed out until we were getting ready to land. After killing some time in the airport, meeting up with Kristen, and getting to our hotel, we got dinner in town. We called it an early night since we were both tired from the week and traveling.

Disclaimer: I didn't bring my camera, so I don't have pictures. The post after this will have tons of pictures to show you my day-in-day-out routine of work, so just deal with the wall of text until then.

We spent Saturday in an area called Old Sacramento, named after the fact that it keeps the old-western/gold-rush aesthetics of decades ago. It's a very strange place because it really does look like it came right out of an old western movie, but it's right in the middle of the state's capitol and next to I-5 (the major highway that runs all the way North to Vancouver, B.C.). There is a lot of interesting stuff there, but really it made me thankful that I live in a modern society. Although if I lived during the time, I probably would have thought the telegraph was coolest thing ever.

Attending a wedding was also a good reason to wear the suit I bought a few months ago. Packing it was definitely an interesting exercise - apparently you fold half of the jacket inside-out and then tuck the other half into the inside-out half. It worked like a charm, and before I knew it we were off to the wedding. It was at the bride's mom's house, and I didn't really know what to expect. It was almost an hour away from the city, and got very rural very quickly. Once at the house, though, I started to understand why those chose that location.

Rolling hills and valleys spread pretty much as far as the eye could see. Trees dotted the bare ground, giving the land a touch of green. After parking the car, there were little carts to take us up to the house, where you walked through a trail of sunflowers to the front lawn. Immediately following that were the seats for the ~200 people attending and the wedding canopy, all outdoors without a cloud in the sky. There was a small pond just beyond, with a little paddle boat. Guests started to congregate and shmooze, while everyone in the wedding was getting ready and taking pictures.

Eventually we took our seats, making sure Kristen got an isle seat so she could see everything and have a got spot to take pictures from. I had never met the couple getting married, and I really only saw them for a few minutes before they were finally married. It was a picture-perfect ceremony, and I will admit to tearing at the event (for many reasons). After that, everyone proceeded to the reception on the other side of the house. We sat with some of the newlywed's friends from school (high school and college) and their dates. We had a great time meeting them, watching the requisite slideshow, eating awesome food, and watching people make fools of themselves (us included) on the dancefloor.

I could go on and on about everything that happened, but hopefully by now, you've got the picture. If not, allow me to be more direct: people in Hollywood film romance movies hoping that the wedding scene turns out even half as good as this wedding actually was. When I say perfect, I really mean that I don't think there's a single aspect of the whole event I would have changed. Granted, I know as much about weddings as I do about art history... nothing. This is the first real wedding I've ever been to (not counting relatives from when I was too young to remember), so every one I go to from now on has the bar set pretty high. If anyone needs a +1 for a wedding in the future, look no further (references available upon request).

I returned to Seattle on Sunday night, wishing my extended weekend vacation wasn't over. This was the last major thing I had planned until Thanksgiving, so for now I'll just continue learning what it means to live and work in the pacific northwest. Possible activities include a bar-tending class, motorcycle driving class, hiking, mountain biking, electronic music festivals, baseball/soccer/football games, and more.