Here comes the bride ...

Ahh, young love. It is so sweet, isn't it?

My friend Tamara is getting married Labor Day weekend to Travis. They are "good people" and an adorable couple, clearly in love and clearly best friends.

Her other friends -- us girls at work -- threw her a surprise shower/bachelorette party last night. Yes, a surprise party. The most amazing thing is that 10 of us could actually keep a secret. Though Tamara says we didn't do a very good job of hiding the fact that we were up to something. We were acting too strange, she said.

I've never thrown a surprise anything and it's been a dozen years since I've been to any type of bachelorette party. I was clearly out of my event planning league but I applied some creativity (clean creativity) to the gift area.

I asked the girls (I call us that so we sound young) to give me some words of advice for the new bride. We then incorporated those into gifts from her registry. For example, "Remember it is not all about you or me; it becomes we" was printed on a tag attached to a mixing bowl. The advice to "Take time for yourself, even after kids" was attached to a cooking thermometer and timer.

You get the idea. I think our favorite to shop for was "Never compromise. The woman is always right!" Since Target was out of wooden rolling pins, we settled on a nutcracker! Tamara loved it! (I don't know if Travis will.)

She also was a great sport about wearing her bachelorette gear while we all sipped our drinks out of amusing straws, which I will not picture here.

My friend Jana asked if we'd make the blog and I said no, but then changed my mind when I realized my mom does not have a computer and would never read this! (Unless my brother prints it out and tattles.) It really was not wild or out of control but it was a great girls night out to talk and laugh ... without thoughts or worries about work or kids or hubbies or home.

When I did get home (by 9:30, Mom!), I found my neglected hubby lying on the couch, icing his aching back while waiting for the laundry to get done in the drier. And he asks how my day went!

Some advice for the bride and groom from the Austins: They say there is nothing like "young love," but in my book, nothing tops growing old with someone -- especially your best friend.