I’m a special kind of friend. The kind who takes joy in seeing those close to her somewhat uncomfortable, a little on edge and, at times, down right mad. This is only for certain and very specific occasions. Like a Stagette (Hens) weekend planned for a special person in my life. Enter Ms Terri Chaffey. Terri is probably my polar opposite in many ways. This was brought to light one day when we were making a birthday card for a mutual friend. I filled it with so many colourful, swirly stamps that it made Terri physically anxious. The idea of straight lines and empty spaces makes her excited. Terri is the friend I call when I need the Micro to my Macro; opposites in many ways, very similar in others.
Terri was told that during the #recklessabandontour that regardless of whether or not she and Drew (future Mr Terri) were going to get married, I would be wearing purple and making a speech at some point. Luckily for me (and the potential unsuspecting restaurant patrons that would have been surrounding us at the time) there is a wedding occurring and my speech will be confined to those nearest and dearest. I even get to be a bridesmaid! Woot!
Of course with weddings comes the pre-party and all the many ways the bride’s closest friends can embarrass their soon to be married girlfriend. RIGHT!!??? Not in this case, we kept it totally classy and totally secret. Which is why Terri was losing her mind. Friends and family would occasionally drop a subtle penis reference here and there (all male appendage related paraphernalia was strictly forbidden) and Terri would freak out. The more she freaked out, the more fun it was. SO FUN!!! You could see it in her face that she was internalising some serious rage. This was often met with a hug and a friendly jibe that she needed to “breathe, let it go, and trust us”. Did I mention this was SO FUN!!!???? While I understand this will be met with a strong “get what you give” policy, I don’t care. Messing with Terri was seriously a great time. Even better was seeing how much she loved every bit of it and how grateful she was of all the effort that had gone into the celebration of her (and by extension our friendship with her) for the whole weekend.
In an effort to cover off on some major points in Terri’s personality we did some pretty awesome activities. Friday was a whirlwind of wine, home cooked (read AMAZING) food and Cards Against Humanity – played in an effort to truly get to know everyone’s moderately warped side. Saturday was Horseback riding through Banff (Ahh-Maaazzz-ZING!) wearing specifically made shirts – which had one signature penis that was small enough to be unnoticeable, yet enough to continue to drive Terri slightly bonkers; followed by lunch in Canmore, a run with two Aussies and one very full Canadian, a well deserved nap, Roaring 20’s themed evening featuring signature cocktails and underwear games, and lastly – Tequila shots and dancing until approximately 2am.
I can’t speak for all the ladies present, in my opinion this was a perfectly ‘Terri’ Stagette. We got to see her be annoyed enough that we could laugh with (at) her, while also spending time doing activities that people do for their annual vacation. As a point of reference, there was a man from Uganda on our horse back ride. He was loving it and the group was reminded that Banff and surrounds are a world class destination conveniently located at the doorstep of Calgary. I also quite enjoyed watching the divide between Canadian men and Australian men on the dance-floor. There is something in the Australian culture that prohibits a majority of the dudes carving up the dance-floor in a manner that appears to be comfortable to those spectating. While the Canadian’s were grooving the ladies about the place, the two Aussies stood awkwardly in the middle of things holding their beer (also wearing Hawaiian shirts – conspicuous in every way). Points must be given for being on said D-floor to start with, next step is being comfortable/brave/whatever enough to let loose a little. Maybe their time in Canada will impart some dance cues and we can start a pub dance floor revolution back home… Maybe. Would be a great time though! Think of the twirling that could ensue in regional pubs everywhere!
After the long walk home in bare feet due to a shoe blow out, we retired to our comfy hotel beds and passed out until 10:30am Sunday morning. Thank goodness for the dance floor anthems encouraging my presence and energy, otherwise my head would have felt significantly worse. Upon waking we all swore we would never drink again and that the weekend had been beyond expectations. Terri was happy that there was no paid male appendage flailing (dance floor flailing could not be controlled) and we were happy she had been driven a little crazy for a couple of weeks with a successful outcome. Overall a great adventure with the meeting of new friends and some catching up with old ones.
Bring on the Wedding! Though none of us will be drinking ever again I’m sure.
Happy wandering
Hx