The Voss Dufour World Tour

We had barely touched down at Heathrow, when a day and a half later we were off to my cousin Stephen’s wedding. Wedding season 2010 was officially open. This was our first of 3 weddings in just 3 weeks. Phew!

Not only did Stephen’s wedding offer an opportunity to catch up with my immediate family (minus my fave bro Doogle!) but I also got to see lots of cousins, their kids, aunts, uncles and cousins of my mom. And even more exciting was that James and I got to wear real clothes. Real, adult, grown up, clean clothes. I was over the moon excited.

It was also the debut of our tailored Vietnam wedding outfits. While in Vietnam back in March, James and I made a pit stop at his favorite tailor with wedding outfits in mind. James had a gorgeous 3 piece (hey, he’s a classy guy) made out of this silk, cashmere material while I had a hot little number made out of orange silk. To top it off, the tailors made a matching tie and handkerchief out of the orange material from my dress. I must say, we looked smokin’!

That was March and it was now, the end of June, time to debut our outfits. Except unfortunately, somehow the tie and handkerchief somehow didn’t make it to England. Friends of ours that we had been traveling with throughout Asia, had been nice enough to take some of our stuff with them when they went back to the Netherlands with plans to mail it to my aunt and uncle’s. Seems like the tie never made it into the pile of stuff to the Netherlands, leaving me to believe it’s floating around somewhere in Cambodia. Oh well. While we wouldn’t match, we still had nice clothes that we were excited about.

Wedding day rolls around and we drive to another aunt and uncle’s home (where the wedding and reception are being held) only to discover that James’ pants were unfortunately still at the home of the first aunt and uncle, 2 hours away.

I can’t put into words how frustrated/annoyed/pissed off James was and how my heart went out to him. Not only was he recovering from our time in India, but he was jetlagged, dehydrated and exhausted while trying to spend time with my family in his waking moments. Granted between my mom, my aunts, my cousins and I, he was competing for coveted talk time which no doubt was also exhausting. He had slept on the car ride out as well as taken a 10 min snoozer prior to jumping in the shower. And now he was to attend a wedding….in shorts? and flip flops? That was unheard of….but the outfit of the day.

In the moment, it’s not a time to tell the person who has just discovered they are missing a crucial component of their outfit, that it will all be okay. But if anyone can pull off a waistcoat, jacket, shorts (which cost $5 in India) and flip flops (which cost $5 in Vietnam), it’s James. And that he did—granted it might have taken a drink or two before all was good again. Well that, or some long naps during the toasts part of the reception!

Funny enough, more than one person, my cousins included, thought that James’ outfit was how Americans are dressing at weddings these days. Not sure quite what that says about Americans, but they didn’t even blink an eye. One other guy who also wasn’t wearing a tie wanted a photo with James–not exactly sure who that guy was, but he found solidarity in numbers! It did make for some funny comments later on in the evening when my Uncle Mike, father to the groom and whose house the wedding was happening at, referenced things that had gone “awry” or “forgotten” during wedding prep. The answer became, well at least you didn’t forget your pants.

All in all, aside from a missing brother and cousin with her family, the wedding was absolutely beautiful. The bride was gorgeous. The flowers were in bloom. The food deelish. The toasts not embarrassing enough if you ask me and good times were had by all.

James and I have taken lots of plane rides over the past 11 months. Actually 20 now that I sit here and tally them all up. Some were short, around 5 or so hours. Others were longer than 10 hours. But that plane ride from Mumbai to London had to be one of the longest.

I don’t if it was due to the fact that I thought it was only a 6 hour flight. Unfortunately it turned out to be 9 hours so my expectations were off. Or if it was long because I knew my parents were waiting for us at the other end. Or it was because we were leaving behind the 3rd world and arriving in the 1st world. Whatever the reason, it was the longest. Flight. Of. My. Life. I watched 2 movies, a couple TV episodes and some documentaries to pass the time. And stared at the clock. I walked up and down the aisles. And stared at the clock. I stared out the windows at the changing landscape below. And stared at the clock. I stared at the clouds and tried to figure out what shapes they were. I had some wine. And another small bottle. And still stared at the clock, willing the time to go by.

Eventually as it happens when flying, the pilot came onto the overhead, telling us to get back into our seats, shutting my movie off (right in the crucial last 10 minutes!) as they prepared for landing. Once I got over the idea that I would never really know how The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock ends, I grabbed James’ hand and started bobbing up and down in my seat. Yes, while strapped in!

We saw England below and circled and circled until finally we were on Tierra Firma. Then things started to move a bit faster. We grabbed our luggage and filed off the plane. Down the clean, wide, bright hallways where you could smell how clean the air was, we walked, soaking it all in; quite a change from what we left behind. Immigration was a breeze for me (the last celebration of the British passport for now), but James got held up (apparently you shouldn’t write that you are unemployed!) Our bags were waiting for us on the carousel which saved us a wait.

And off we were thru Customs to my parents and uncle waiting for us with Pompoms and Leis to celebrate our arrival!