Here comes the groom's friend, all the way from Panama.

September was a busy, busy month. There was something sort of mind-bending about trying to plan a trip to my friend Josh's wedding in Michigan by way of Chicago while planning our move to Medellin (which was to take place two days after we got back from Chicago), wherein I've decided I'd make a terrible personal assistant.

So, let's skip the boring part where I was pulling my hair out, and fast forward to everything being perfect as our plane touched down at O'Hare.

We spent our first night at an apartment I found on airbnb -- where our hosts were Colombian, which we didn't know until we met them!  We then went down the street and had a drink at a Colombian bar!

The next morning I took my CPR re-certification class, and we hustled downtown to pick up the rental car and drive to Holland, Michigan: the reason for the trip.

Josh is a special friend of 12 years, and missing his wedding was quite out of the question. I've had our plane tickets for a year. We figured we'd go to the wedding but then spend more time in Chicago, because....what's in Michigan?  Turns out, Holland is a very cool little town near Grand Rapids. 8th Street is great with its shops and restaurants, which all led to a big farmer's market that Saturday morning. The area is also getting known for its craft beers, and we stopped off at one brewery that makes numerous ales and lagers as well as its own gin, vodka, rum, and whiskey.

The morning went quickly, and we went off to the wedding at 3:00.

Even though Josh is important to me and I was looking forward to being there for him as he got married, I wasn't expecting to have a great time at the wedding: because he's the only person I knew there. How silly! We had a fantastic time! His friends and family were wonderful, and even though Josh was busy with being a newly married guy at the reception, we still got to chat a bit. The food was awesome, the cupcakes were killer (even though I'm not usually a wedding cupcake fan), and Brent danced with me.