How Old Are We?

This weekend, I took my friend Deb as my date to a friend's wedding in Maryland (my husband was unavailable at the last minute). I had a feeling that Deb would be a good choice, and she did not disappoint. In order to lure her into the deal, I promised her Chicken McNuggets for the road. I also omitted a few minor details of the event - namely that the reception was in Pennsylvania. I planned to let her in on that once we hit Baltimore.

We barely made the wedding. Mapquest said the trip would take about an hour and forty minutes from Deb's house, but it probably would have been wise to recognize that I-95 is always a mess at least somewhere along the route. For us, it was bumper to bumper pretty much immediately after seeing the signs for Elkton - 5 miles. We sat there and watched the minutes tick away: 2:12, 2:15, 2:22 (the wedding was at 2:30). We rolled into a parallel parking spot next to the church just in time and snuck in a side door (the bridesmaids were blocking the main aisle).

After the wedding ceremony, we breathed a sigh of relief. We got our map to the reception and headed out on the country roads to Mendenhall, PA. Somewhere in Pennsylvania, we passed a cute little shop: "Candy for All Occasions." Since there was no possible way the bride and groom would beat us to the reception, we decided to make a stop. The place was adorable. Walls filled with chocolates, old fashioned lollipops, gummy candies - they had it all. We were particularly drawn to a little "tobacco wannabe" corner. They had the crunchy candy cigarettes, the bubblegum "sugar puff" candy cigarettes, chocolate cigarettes, cigars, pipes, you name it. We each selected several packs and hit the register (as much as it panged us, we knew a selection of their fine chocolates would only end up in a chocolate puddle in the hot car all night). Then we got a crazy idea: let's buy a pack of the bubblegum cigarettes to share at the reception. We can take them out with us for a smoke break with the smokers at the reception.

All through the cocktail hour and even during dinner, we giggled about our little plan. Deb even spent some time getting the bubblegum cigarette pack ready. She ripped off just a portion of the top - like a softpack - so only a few cigarettes would slide out at once while the others stayed fresh inside. Finally, after the toasts and an interesting orange dessert thing, we were ready to make our move. We started to head out to the patio, but half chickened out. There was only one person out there, and she was on a cell phone. We paced for awhile, and Deb finally decided we should go for it. By then, there were a few other smokers out there . . .

So I am happy to report that a great way to get the chatter going at a wedding reception is to "light up" a bubblegum cigarette. It only took Deb and I a few puffs before a couple came over and asked what we were doing. When we told them, they of course, wanted a piece of the action. And then their friends, and some others too. Bubblegum cigarettes = instant party.

Deb and I shed a little tear at the end of the night when our pack was empty.