Thursday, November 3, 2011

my last day as a single lady.

it rained today. kinda, a lot. i know cuz i was stuck walking in it in a pretty soaked jacket. i really need to get windshield wipers on my glasses, i think - couldn't see a damn thing.

it was my first of 14 days off of work. pretty intense, because that job of mine has consumed 99% of my existence for the past 6 months, and i was pretty nervous to transition the madness on my recently hired soon to be sister in law. don't want her hating me when i come back. she's a tough cookie, though, and can take it.

last night some colleagues from the office took me out for a 'bachelorette' party (although my real one with penis paraphanalia and justin bieber goodies def was waaaaay better and raunchier) at some overpriced irish pub downtown after work. kind of awkward, but also kind of awesome. dr. perlman bought me a shot of citron, and several martinis were consumed, which led to an urgent affair with the porcelain throne soon after my arrival back to the apartment, around 8:30 or so last night. (i'm old, lame, whatever).

the warm wishes and presents from my work acquaintences has been so incredible. i never thought i'd get as much loot as we did from co-workers, but it's definitely helping. turns out planning and implementing a last minute move across neighborhoods and maintaining a comfortable lifestyle in lakeview east isn't the cheapest. but fuck it, we live on the lakefront now. and have furniture. and vinyl. and big tvs. and color coordinated toothbrush holders/soap dispensers/bathroom garbage can sets.

life is comfortable. and sexy. i'm marrying a pretty good catch, tomorrow. his name is vincent. i met him almost 2 years ago, when i began dating a friend of his. this friend, wasn't the fit i wanted in my life at the time. took me on a bumpy emotional rollercoaster of a journey for an entire year. then, as i finally jumped off that dizzying ride, emotionally drained, there was vincent. full of affection and mentally, emotionally and physically, the partner i'd been seeking for all that time. without realizing it. i was very aloof at first, not really ready to break the whole 'bro's b4 ho's' code, but no matter how much i tried to pretend we didn't have an immediate spark, we both knew we did. things got messy for a little while, but after an 'anonymous' love letter, some mystery flowers delivered at my office, and a handful of semi-regular reoccuring 'team friendship' hangout seshes, we inevitably succumbed to our previously denied (by me) romance one liquid courage fueled ridiculous non-date fun night.

we never really turned back, after that. we courted (does that still happen?) for a couple weeks to which point we crossed the official bf/gf bridge. had a lot of fun continuing to get to know one another. butterflies. late night talks. really delicious (too much so) co-cooking dates. a ton of really bad redbox movies. family introductions. a trip to mexico. then, come june 19, 2011, one random bike ride to budacki's turned into a marriage proposal. (in our underpants on a mattress in a bedroom decorated with only a ratted russian doll and a bloody jesus crucifix and a calligraphy poster which read SILENCE). i said yes.

one month post engagement, mr. sassana moved into my dungeon of a garden apartment in the dirty, less hip side of wicker park. we went to jewel a lot. played mario kart. (after we co-invested in a wii together, there was 'no turning back now'). then we purchased a 40 inch flat screen television (now we're definitely in this for the long run). adopted a second cat, the notoriously naughty and awful biter, elliott. we continued to grow and evolve, and became the bestest of friends. had an engagement party that went quite well, thanks to our warm and caring friends and family, and their endless support.

then one day, i woke up and couldn't breathe. not because of my bff 4 lyfe, but literally. and neither could vincent. our apartment had turned into an ant infested dust trap, and living with a 3rd roommate just wasn't working out anymore. i branched out on one of my infamous instant gratification desires to do something new and NOW. 'let's move out,' i said. he said, 'yeah, sure, i can't wait.' but didn't realize i already had a plan in mind. in less than a week, i had arranged for my cousin to relocate from wisconsin, take over my lease in the garden unit, moved to chicago and started a job with my company. vincent got us our dream apartment through his employer, and we now live in a nicer home i've ever had. we have nice things. we clean our apartment together. but shit, was stressful. between moving, working, and barely having a day and half together, we didn't have the time we wanted to prepare for our life together, but we made it work somehow anyway. thanks to friends, family for helping us with our move and planning our wedding on our behalf.

and now here it is, 6:49pm. the night before go-time. vin's in the bedroom, reading a book. the kitties are jingling with their collar bells, and i'm wrapped up in a beautiful granny shawl just presented to me by my good friend sarah, hand knitted just in time for the wedding tomorrow. my nails are freshly manicured, hair dyed, eyebrows waxed, house cleaned, everything except our honeymoon luggage packed.

i'm getting married, tomorrow. to the love of my life - who yes i admit, i haven't known all that long. but even though we may not have met in person years ago, i feel like i've known him (or at least knew of him) my entire life. i wrote about him in my childhood journals, wrote wretched poetry in my highschool years yearning of an intellectual and physical counterpart, and here he is.

tomorrow, i become mrs. jodi robin root sassana. (shit ain't hyphenated, though, just keeping root as a middle name). we're going to celebrate with our friends and family, and then jet off to jamaiaca for a whole week. although i'll miss my babies, i'm pretty sure caroline/renee will take good care of miss mols and els in our absence.

here's to the ending of one chapter, and beginning to a new one - the start to my long overdue and much anticipated, happy ending.

i love you, vincent.

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