Playing Bride: The Cast of Characters

Well, I still don't know the color scheme. So there's that.

What I do know, however, is that I have some awesome friends standing up for me? with me? near me? on my side of the aisle. (Really, we're not doing sides, because I want everyone to have good seats, but that's beside the point.) They're so great, in fact, that I want to present them to society--in a bridal cotillion of sorts--complete with fun facts and embarrassing pictures.

I am the best, I know.

Now, for the bridal party, organized amount of years they have had to put up with me. :)

1. Caroline Skibinski (Maid of Honor)

Circa 1997-98, the year of the leopard bathing suit.

Nicknames: CC, Carrie, Francesca
Date Met: February 7ish, 1994 (They didn't let me see her the day she was born, okay?)
Fun Facts: I have snapped a branch into her eye, resulting in a very long day at the eye doctor's, and I have knocked out her tooth by running into her bike with my own. Yet she still likes me.
Favorite Memory: Making videos on my camera about a) being out in the wilderness of the local forest preserve, b) running for a fake presidency race in history class, or c) random crap when we had the giggle fits at 11 p.m. on a Saturday.
Reason I Chose Her: Because she is my sister. And my first best friend. And it was one of the few things I knew absolutely needed to happen at my wedding. Also, she has really good taste in clothing and decor and colors and did an interior design summer camp. Also I love her. D'awwww.

Circa 2011. By far one of my favorite pictures of us.

2. Lindsey Webber (Bridesmaid)

Circa 2006, based on the datestamp. I knew it was early high school because I am still sporting the part down the middle to enhance my egghead.

Nicknames: Linds, Bev, Beverly
Date Met: Probably sometime around 1998/1999, but I stopped hating her for her reading prowess in junior high. Now I just envy her, compassionately.
Fun Facts: Our longest, biggest fight was in my senior year of high school. I wanted to do a profile on her for the school paper, but she was in, like, 20 billion clubs, so she/we had to reschedule a lot and I got super angsty about it. I don't remember when we made up, but we did, and all was well with the world. That was an awful fun fact. Let me try again: I still have the scrapbook she gave me in high school. I look at it frequently, and the handwritten note on the inside back cover still makes me tear up. I am a girl. A weepy, weepy girl.
Favorite Memory: That time we Party Boy'd B., our high school physics teacher. Oh geez. Do you have a photo? YES YOU DO!!!

Prom 2007. Because duh.

Reason I Chose Her: In high school, she was my other half. I wanted to talk to her all of the minutes of all of the days, and I strove to be as passionate about the things I loved as she was about all of her extracurriculars and hobbies (Fun fact: Originally, I wrote "hobbits.") and endeavors. The woman was BFFs with Denny Hastert, for Pete's sake. (Who is Pete? Why do we care about him?) Now, she is one of the few people from high school (and earlier) who I bother to keep in touch with. Although our lives after OHS have gone in two separate directions, we still choose to take time out of our journey for each other--to meet in the middle, if you will. And we don't have to communicate every second of every day to be friends. We have our own worlds, but we value each other. And I think that's why we work.

Also, she loves Bingo. So I keep her around.

Circa May 2008. I was going to pick a Bingo picture, but this one, I think, is my favorite.

3. Jason Bena (Bridesman)

Prom 2007. FYI: Jason and I have no pictures together. You should see our Facebook friendship. It is totally empty. He's in the center, by the way.

Nicknames: Jason Behna Behna. It's how Siri pronounces his name on my phone. I do not call him this to his face. He doesn't care for it.
Date Met: 2006ish? 2007. I don't know.
Fun Facts: Jason really likes beer. He also enjoys traveling and bantering with me about Pokemon. He will straight up tell me when I'm being an asshole, which I hate, but probably need. Also, I love his mother.
Favorite Memory: That time he came over, told me I was being an asshole, but then shared his beer with me while we listened to Kyla's ex's broody songs. OR the time I went to his apartment and we went to a party and I met all of his friends all at the same time and wasn't even overwhelmed!
Reason I Chose Him: So. Looking back, I think there were times when I really wasn't a good friend to him. Or, at least, I could've been better. Despite that, he still likes me, wants to hang out with me, and visits me time and again. He's one of those friends where I am confident that he will always be there, and I hope he knows that goes both ways. Anyway, when I grew the ef up, I had a "Kim, you're such an idiot" moment, and realized that he is one of my nearest and dearest friends. Even if we really never take any pictures together and he only communicates with me on Facebook chat because I talk a lot and it's cheaper. :) Like you!

Circa Monday. He's basking in the sunlight atop some sort of peak. I almost Photoshopped myself in.

4. Nora Fergus (Bridesmaid)

Circa...2010? Originally, we dressed up to mock 16 and Pregnant, but it escalated quickly. Into this.

Nicknames: Rah Rah? Did I just make that up? Probs.
Date Met: Sometime in fall/winter 2008-2009. 
Fun Facts: Much like with Lindsey, I hated Nora the first time I met her. (I guess this is how great friendships start?) See, I was interviewing a group of new friends-ish for a story at the Star, and she shows up with them and wants to hijack the whole interview--even though I told her I have plenty of info for the story. Yet she still cut people off while they were talking and went on ridiculous diatribes anyway. She annoyed the crap out of me. But after two weeks (and one hilarious moment on the cafeteria stairs), we were buds.
Favorite Memory: "It's the Chronicles of Narnia up in here!"; reaching for the green light; Cinco de Mayo; that boat birthday surprise I totally ruined; learning Spanish while playing basketball; joy riding with Taylor Swift blasting in Corey's thumbtack car; pretty much any memory ever was a happy one.
Reason I Chose Her: Everyone needs a Nora. She is fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants wacky and I love it. She stuck by me through some weird college drama, and she taught me (without knowing it) that being yourself is okay and acceptable and people will love you so just do it. I never thought I ever spent too much time with her; I regret not spending more time with her when we lived minutes apart. She has a love for life that is unreplicated, and I am a happier, better woman for knowing her.

Circa 2009? Ish. We wiped out so hard on these ice skates. Like pros.

5. Leslie Adams (Matron of Honor)

Circa September. Pre stomp.

Nicknames: She keeps asking me to call her Les, but that's weird for me. I would probably go for Lez, but I don't think she's as into that. We're not at the nickname point yet.
Date Met: March 18, 2014.
Fun Facts: I didn't know her name when I first started at PatientPoint. I casually tried to avoid saying her name in any conversation, and when she gave me her number, I panicked and put in "Designer Lady." Smooth, Kim. So smooth.
Favorite Memory: The first time she ripped my closet apart in order to make me cute outfits. And/or the first time we awkwardly agreed to hang out. I am not good at initiating friendships, guys. I get so nervous and sweaty. It is not cute. OR when we had a really sappy (read: bawling) moment in my car in the Walmart parking lot and I asked her to be my matron of honor and then we ate Teddy Grahams.
Reason I Chose Her: In the grand scheme of things, our friendship is relatively new. But I have never met someone who has invested in me and her relationship with me so quickly and with such compassion. She is so kind and so supportive of everyone around her, and within seconds of meeting her, you can just tell that she cares. Genuinely. 100 percent of the time. And because of that, I'm like yeah, cool, I'll walk through fire for you. I'll jump off a cliff for you. Let's go do something fun. Or just stay home eat. Who cares! I have no doubt she and I will remain friends forever, and we will die, holding hands, Notebook-style. Was that weird? Am I being weird? Meh. It doesn't matter. We have a banter now; she's stuck with me.

Circa Halloween 2014. Because tutus.