Friday night Jen and I had Todd and Heather over to the house for a cocktail and to start the Wedding Dress Face-Off. Heather was not ecstatic about the first one, which meant that a second trip to the car dealership bridal shop was needed to decide. After the modeling was finished, we drove into the frigid depths of Columbia to try out an Indian restaurant Jen’s friend Meg told us about. The menu selection was larger than a Manhattan phone book (and the names were just as exotic), so we started with appetizers: the best samosas I’ve ever had, as well as some potato pancake type things, and some tasteless white cakes served with dipping sauce. Once we had some drinks and food in us, we found it was easier to decide on entrees. Heather tried something whose name I can’t remember, which was delicious; Todd had the palak paneer and Jen had alu ghobi, which was just spiced enough to be perfect, and I ordered dosai masala, which sounded great on paper but came out looking like a giant rolled pancake. Inquiring how to eat this massive thing, I asked our waitress, who told me in her best english to use my hands. (This was about the time when the other patrons of the store were laughing at me.) Everything was excellent, and vegan to boot, so I think we’ve found a new favorite restaurant to explore southern Indian cusine—just minutes from home.

Saturday, Jen and Heather returned to the original bridal shop to look again at the first dress that caught Jen’s eye; after a prolonged search for the dress in question, they found it and Jen began to put it on. Heather took one look and agreed—it was the dress. Here’s the best part: when they got it to the counter, it turned out that the dress was 1/2 off the original listed price. Score!