The house was tucked back on a one-way street that was only accessible by going past it. There was a hint of this on the invitation, but not on Mapquest, so I dithered and took wrong turns and backtracked until I was ready to give up hope. Then someone I knew - who I knew knows the bride - drove by so I pulled out and started to follow her.
She hadn't seen me, just the car following her, so she was trying to fly casual and not let on that she was lost. She started making random turns trying to both shake me and look like she was going *somewhere* and I just kept tailing her until she finally pulled into a parking lot and realized who I was.
We had a good laugh and we compared notes and Mapquests until finally I suggested we just get on the main road and try again. This strategy actually worked and we were not the last ones there. We even beat the bride to the party!
I don't think I've been to a shower since I was a teen. I only knew 2 people there by name and face, but a couple people recognized me from Fair and a lot of them remembered me from Afterlife of the Mind so I was a bit of a minor celebrity. They kept asking where my leather pants were.
We played a couple silly games. My team won the toilet paper wedding dress contest. We had the groom's mother, who designs costumes, and one of my secret talents is that I make very nice tissue paper flowers. I suggested we add a bustle to the dress and decorate it with the crepe flowers I was making to disguise the fact that I'm incompetent at any other arts and crafts endeavor. The bustle is what the bride loved best. It was stiff competition. Team 1 braided a halter for their dress and team 3 had the 4-year-old guest as their model.
After the shower I met