Okay for those of you who know me, this post won't shock you at all. For those of you who don't, allow me to introduce you to my type A, major control freak, plan everything, organize organize organize, don't mess with my schedule side. As you are about to see I can be a bit over the top when I comes to planning but that's because of my past. (Post to explain that later) I don't like not knowing what's coming up in my life. My planner that I carry around with me daily is packed full of stuff. Small things to huge events, you know like attending Running of the Brides in Atlanta next week. You know just the major points in life. Hehe! Being that the Run is just over a week away I want to start my ROTB series and the only proper way to do that is to start at the very beggining. Did anyone else just hear Julie Andrews in their head? Anyway, here we go...
(Source)We left on Thursday afternoon, the day before, so we could get up there, eat a great dinner, and get some sleep before the big day. Yeah that sort of happened. We did make it to Atlanta; however we were an hour late to dinner because one of our GPSs took us on a crazy trip through richyrichville. But the food was amazing when we got there so it was a happy story in the end. Once we got back to the hotel, which was only a few blocks away from Filene’s Basement, we made signs, watched a slide show I made about the ins and outs of the day to come, laid out our clothes and hopped into bed…it was 12am! As instructed by the Bride we set our alarms for 1:30am. Yep, about an hour of sleep! No need for showers or makeup, because we didn’t want to get anything on the dresses. I bounced out of bed dancing and singing. We all put on our Auburn Orange shirts, and the bride dressed in her clever outfit (Nike shorts and a strapless bathing suit top) and we were off. Liz, Whit, Mere, Wilson and I.
We took my Gigi’s van so we could all fit and as we pulled up to the building we were in shock. There were people lined up all the way down the block. They were in sleeping bags, tents, chairs, you name it they had it out there. The first two people in line were guys. We later learned that they were the fiancés of some very lucky ladies. I might ask Philip to do this for me but who thinks he will say yes….yeah me neither! So we parked in the parking deck behind Filene’s basement and headed down to the street to get in line. Umm yeah, at 2am we were 2 blocks away from the front door and at the very end of it at that. We sat on the cold ground for what seemed like hours. Before we got there I was honestly worried about our safety but we were well guarded. There were police/security guards everywhere. Oh and side note…they do allow 3 or 4 people in to the store at a time to use the restroom. Elizabeth found 2 girls camped out in there waiting for it to start! Cheaters! The Bride told the guard outside and they were quickly escorted out!
Waiting outside before the doors opened.
So around about 6am the ladies arrived with breakfast, Gigi (my dad’s mom), my Aunt Tamara (Liz, Whit, & Mere’s mom), Ms. Kelly (Wilson’s mom) and one of Aunt Tamara’s friends. The five of us that had been sitting outside in the COLD got into the car in the parking deck while the adults held our spot in line. Around 6:30ish the Filene’s basement people told the “campers” to pack up and form a standing line. Well this is a very key moment. Remember how we were 2 blocks down from the doors. Well during the packing of camp episode we, the stragglers, moved up! Sure we stepped over people still asleep in their sleeping bags and chairs but hey, you snooze you lose! And yes there may have been a verbal argument here or there about cutting in line but who cares. Like they say on the Bachelor, “We weren’t there to make friends. We were there to find the love of our life.” Or in Elizabeth’s case, the dress of her dreams! OH OH OH…and the whole time we were waiting, there was a radio station at the doors. They were doing contest, which I will do if it means I get to go inside an hour early! They were playing music; taking pictures….it was crazy! So around 7:30am the line starting looking like a mosh pit. We were packed in like sardines! We had the idea to hold hands and form like a fence across the line…we learned that was not the best way to go.
Up next: The Countdown!
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