Philly trip

The Philadelphia trip for Vince's brother Quinn's wedding provided me with a much-needed vacation from my job. Here's a recap:

Thursday August 5, 2004:

Vince and I drove to Rush Hospital and parked his car so we could take about an hour train ride to O'Hare. We both figured this was the easiest way to get to the airport to avoid the AM traffic. We arrived in Philadelphia at about 2pm. A shuttle took us to the Sheraton Rittenhouse. The first person in the wedding party we saw was Quinn, the groom. It was nice seeing him again. Vince showed Quinn his tux, and to my horror, Quinn said it was the wrong style. It was strange that Quinn said it in nonchalantly as if he was not worried about it being the wrong style. Vince had to spend the next few hours getting in touch with the tux place to get it replaced.

Later on in the afternoon, Quinn asked Vince and me if we could go with him to look for his bride's gift. Julie gave him a violin and he wanted to give her something special, too. The Rittenhouse area is peppered with lots of little shops, restaurants and hotels. We found an antique jewelry store two blocks from Sheraton. Quinn wanted to give Julie a pearl pendant. The owner showed us many different pearl necklaces and pendants but nothing appealed to Quinn. So the owner, who was a nice, talkative man, offered to have one of the loose pearls made into a pendant. It wouldn't be ready until Saturday morning, but he promised that it wouldn't be late. Quinn agreed to pay for it. Vince's job was to pick up the pendant on Sat morning.

Walking back to the hotel, we met up with Uncle Stanley, one of the Hume's family friends. Uncle Stanley's a nice jolly man who reminded me of Santa Claus. We also saw Julie, the bride having drinks with her bridesmaids at the hotel restaurant. We came back to our room to get ready for dinner.

The seafood restaurant where we had dinner served this yummy sweet bread and special butter. The entrees were also delicious. I had tuna which was perfectly seared. Of course, I couldn't finish it so Vince ended up eating the rest of it. Uncle Stanley was so generous to pay for our dinner.


Vince's parents, his brother, Bernie and his family arrived late after dinner. We went to the hotel restauran/dinert to eat late dinner with them. Stevie and Ronnie, Vince's nephew and niece, have grown so big since the last time I saw them. Stevie was much more talkative(even more talkative than he already was at 2 1/2 years old, the last time I saw him) , and Ronnie grew as tall as me. Those two kids are really smart for their age. I sometimes feel so dumb when I talk to them:)

Friday, August 6, 1004:

Quinn took Vince for his bestman gift, so I went with Vince's parents, Bernie and his family, and Uncle Stanley to see The Liberty Bell in the morning.

The wedding party had a rehearsal in the afternoon, and I stayed in my room for a nap. When Vince came back after the rehearsal, we got ready for the dinner. I finally saw Vince's sister and her family again. I also met some of Julie's family and friends.

Saturday, August 7, 2004:

The morning of wedding, Quinn, Vince and I had breakfast. Then I picked up Quinn's wedding gift for Julie. The wedding party started getting dressed for the pictorial around 11am. Then, I got ready myself. The shuttle took the guests up to New Jersey for the wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony lasted an hour and included a Catholic Mass. Julie was stunning in her strapless gown, while Quinn looked like a dashing prince in his tux. After the ceremony, the shuttle took us around Philly for brief sight-seeing. Back to the hotel for the reception, I chatted with Tina, one of the groomsmen's gf. She was nice and very friendly.

The wedding reception was a blast! Julie was very creative with her centerpieces. The whole wedding included Chinese themes. She even wore a red cheongsam at the end of the night. Quinn and Julie suprised everyone with their first dance. They must have taken a lesson. Vince gave the most touching and funniest bestman speech I have ever heard. Hahaha, if I don't end up marrying him, he's definitely the guy to ask to make a speech in my wedding. Quinn mentioned how this was the first time he ever saw his brother Bernie dance. Mr. Hume and Mrs. Hume danced, too. Nicole, Vince's niece, could hardly get out of the dance floor and had to take her high-heeled shoes off. That twelve-year old girl sure had energy that night. Stevie, the up-and-coming rockstar, rendered a song for the newlyweds. I still can't get "Obladi-Oblada" out of my head. To sum it all up, Quinn and Julie had a wonderful wedding.

Sunday, August 8, 2004:

Woke up, had brunch with everyone. Later on in the afternoon, Ed, one of Quinn's friends, and his fiancee, Cindy saw us waiting outside of the hotel and asked if Vince and I wanted to get some coffee. We walked along the streets and found this small coffee and diner. The three had another round of breakfast while I just sippped some soda. I was still full from the brunch that Julie and Quinn gave. After that, Vince and I walked along the streets while Ed and Cindy left for the airport. Vince and I left Phillly back to Chicago around 3.

When we got back to Chicago, we had to take the train ride back to Rush again. As we were riding on the train, I had this strange feeling that something wrong was going to happen. Like the train would be derailed or something. Halfway through the ride, I smelled something burning, I thought it was just me, cause I always smell something that other people don't. But one of the passengers said, there's fire. There actually was fire in the car next to us. As soon as the train got to a station, the train operator calmly told everyone got off the train. After some waiting, she said it's ok to get back to the train. We got to our stop safely after that. I told Vince that I won't be riding the el (what Chicagoans call the train) again.