Friday Letters

 

Dear Humidity, You do realize I spend time fixing my hair in the mornings, right? And then POOF! How is it possible you make my hair both frizzy and flat at the same time? Moral of the story: Cut It Out.  Dear Candy Crush Level 42, You are impossible and you're starting to piss me off. Yet I can not stop playing you. It's getting ridiculous, really.  Dear Fiber One Bars, You taste so yummy but you have very embarrassing side effects. Not cool, bro. Not cool.  Dear Mom, thank you for taking pity on your broke-and-it-ain't-no-joke daughter and buying me some new clothes. It is much appreciated. You are the bomb dot com.  Dear Weekend, Wow you are jam-packed with events, aren't you? One trip to try on bridesmaid dresses, two bridal showers AND a bachelorette party? My bank account and gas tank will be hurting but it's ok. I am blessed to have friends who invited me to share in their special occasions and that makes me happy!

Girls Night Out

Before I get to all the juicy wedding details, I've gotta talk about my bachelorette party. Obviously.

I think it's great that some girls do "bachelorette weekends" and head for the beach or Vegas or Florida with their friends. That's just not me, though. I couldn't imagine asking my girls to shell out hundreds of bucks for a bachelorette party, essentially. I honestly just wanted a great night out with my friends - no need to drain anyone's bank account for little ole' me.

We started at my friend Maureen's house where my girls had decorated, made sangria, and laid out a spread of amazing food. I'm in the middle of drinking my champs when I hear a ruckus at the front door. In walks my future mother-in-law and a whole slew of aunts and Geoff's grandmother carrying buckets of shots and HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE PENISES. As in, my future husband's grandmother made me chocolate penises for my bachelorette party. Whaaaa. Thankfully they only stayed for a little while - I did not want to drunkenly embarrass myself in front of them.



I'm classy.

Next up: Houlihan's Restaurant.

A little backstory: I met Geoff at Houlihan's (or Houli's, as employees tend to call it). He was a manager and I started out as a hostess (eventually served, bartended, and become a trainer). The story of how we got together deserves a post all it's own, but Houlihan's has quite the track record among our circle of friends. To date, one Houli's couple is married with a little one on the way. Three Houli's couples are getting married this fall. Another Houli's couple is getting married in March. And I'm only counting our friends! The restaurant business is a funny thing.

ANYWAY. It was only fitting that we hit up Houlihan's as a nod to Geoff and my relationship. I had a drink the size of my head and a few shots.

   

Next up, a bar down the street from Houli's called Top Dog. Our group took this espresso vodka shot...

 

...and one of my bestie's threw up. Right there in the bar. On some girls sitting next to us. And walked calmly away. *ahemAmy*

I got pulled onstage by the band which was great. Then I lost my balance and fell down, which was awesome. Apparently it looked like I "just decided to sit down. On stage." I imagine it looked a little something like this:

The usual drunken dancing and shenanigans ensued. Love my girls. :)

One of my very favorite photos from the night.

Things got very hazy after that. We MAY have been asked to leave. Womp womp.

Back at Maureen's house we continued with the debauchery and of course, had an *NSYNC dance party. I actually have video of this but there's no way in hell I'm putting that on the interwebz. I've got a reputation to maintain. :)

I had an amazing night with my favorite girls. Couldn't have asked for a better bachelorette party!

Next week on Wedding Wednesday: The Morning of Our Wedding!

Beachy Weekend Shenanigans

After a long week of work (in which I was too tired to blog), the hubs and I decided on a spontaneous weekend at the beach. Best decision everrrr.

Friday night, we drove down after work, had a few cocktails, and went to bed early. Why early on a Friday night, you ask? Because there is nothing worse than sitting on the beach in 80+ degree weather hungover and I say this from experience. Eff that.

Saturday we spent most of the day on the beach. The weather was perfect! 

Heaven.

After happy hour and a much needed nap, we dressed and went out in Dewey. I'll say this: TruTV did a short documentary about Dewey Beach because of all the crazy drunk shenanigans that go down on the reg. Like, if you're looking to party, Dewey is the place to be. It's not unusual to see people wasted at the bars at 11:00 in the morning. It is the greatest.  

 

Comfy dress. Grapefruit Crush. Me and my handsome husband. :)

Geoff and I went out with my cousin's boyfriend while we waited for her to get off work. Safe to say we were plastered by the time she met up with us. Those Grapefruit Crushes sneak up on you, man. Oh, it might have been the jagerbombs and Fireball shots, too.

 

Drunken photo dump. You're welcome.

Sunday it was overcast and rainy, so we headed back from the beach early, booooo. I got some quality time with my DVR, though, so I'm not complaining.

Hope y'all had a good weekend! I would write more but RHONJ is on and this shit is getting good.

 

Linking up with Sami's Shenanigans!

More Weekend Shenanigans!

So we ran a 5K in Philadelphia on Saturday. I'm proud to say I didn't collapse or otherwise embarrass myself, although there was no way in hell I was running the whole 3.1 miles. My sweet hubby stuck with me the whole time. What a guy.

 

 

Obviously we needed drinks after such rigorous exercise, so we drove into the city to bar hop on South Street. (Did I mention we were covered in dye from the run?) Lickety Split is one of Geoff and my favorite bars in Philly, so we stopped there for food and alcohol. I had a Pink Vagina, in case you were wondering.

We finally made it back to Delaware around 7:00 and both passed out immediately. Damn, we are old.

Sunday I hit up a friend's bridal shower. Loved the wedding gown-shaped red velvet cupcakes and hand painted wineglass favors! (Overheard during the toilet paper wedding dress game: "You look like a pregnant ninja bride!")

And then, of course, after the shower Geoff and I went to visit my dear old dad. We brought him dinner and drank wine by the pool until a rainstorm drove us inside. My dad and I have a great relationship and I am so proud to be his daughter. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Linking up late with Sami's Shenanigans!

 

 

 



Five on Friday

My first 5 on Friday!

 

 

1. Italian Festival

 

Source

 

 

Every June, my former Catholic grade school + high school parish put on the most epic of festivals. Yummy Italian food, wine and beer, local bands and rides. It's a ridiculously good time and the best way to kick off the summer! I never miss it.

 

 

2. Sarah Dessen

 

 

Sooo glad this finally came out in paperback! I read young adult books and I'm definitely not a teen anymore, whatevs. Sarah Dessen is the bomb dot com and her books are the perfect summer reads. Check out This Lullaby, you'll thank me later. :)

 

 

3. Joe's Crab Shack Corona Steampot

 

 

Crab legs, shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes in a steam-pot smothered in Corona-butter?! Plus a margarita in a mason jar? Heaven. (Geoff looks pretty happy too).

 

 

4. This Right Here

 

 

Don't we all, Mama June. Don't we all.

 

 

5. It's the weekend!!

 

Got a busy weekend ahead of us. Running a 5K on Saturday (ahahahha), bridal shower and Father's Day on Sunday. Cross your fingers for good weather.

 

 

Happy weekend!!

 

 



This Should Be Hilarious

I love food and I have no willpower. There, I said it.

Example:

I eat Girl Scout cookies by the sleeve.

I always have two servings of rice at dinner because rice is delicious.

Sometimes I wake up in bed after a night out drinking and find myself swimming in Cheetos. (Sorry, husband.) 

That said, I actually really love healthy foods! I actually considered becoming a vegetarian for a while but it sounded a little complicated. Yep, too lazy to become a vegetarian. Wow.

It's not only food, though. Finding the time to exercise has proven to be more difficult than I thought. I belong to a 24-hour gym and somehow only manage to make it there 1-2x a week. That is, if I go at all. I know, I'm making excuses. But sometimes after working an 8 hour day, I just want to go home and watch House Hunters while browsing the interwebz from our comfy new couch.

There's a point to all this, I swear.

About a month or so ago, our friends asked if we wanted to run a 5k with them in Philly called Run or Dye. They hold "runs" (not races) all over the country and they support local charities. It looked like an absolute blast - something fun to do with our friends and also an excuse to get into shape. So we signed up.

 

Doesn't it look like so much funnnn?

 

 

Big surprise - the run is this Saturday and I am not prepared for it in the least. Oh, I was pumped for it in the beginning : "Yeah I'm going to count my calories and lose a few pounds! I'm going to run every day! Geoff and I can bond and lose weight together. This is going to be awesooooome!!"

Ok, no. The "running" lasted about a week - and by running I mean huffing and puffing around our apartment complex while old men lap me power-walking. The calorie counting is iffy at best (is it normal to have Jagerbombs under "Snacks" in MyFitnessPal?). Meanwhile, effin' Usain Bolt aka Geoff is running 3+ miles a day and dropping pounds like it's nothing. Shitty men and their metabolisms. 

This text from my brother-in-law pretty much sums it up:

 

 

This should be hilarious.

 

 

Wedding Wednesday - Bridal Meltdown

I was not a bridezilla in the least. I mean, sure, I had my moments of frustration and annoyance, but that's normal. Weddings are freaking stressful and they tend to bring out the crazy in people you wouldn't expect. You're talking money and people's feelings and "doing what's right," not necessarily what YOU WANT TO DO. I picked my battles; I lost some, I won some. And our wedding turned out pretty amazing.

Well, except for what I refer to as My Bridal Meltdown. It was a doozy.

We got married in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Close to 200 people traveled several hours to attend our wedding. The immediate families got to Rehoboth on Thursday to begin our "wedding weekend." Everything was great - we hung out on the beach, relaxed and went out drinking in Dewey (the next beach down from Rehoboth and also where we stayed Thursday night).

Grapefruit Crush - Dewey Beach staple. Best summer drink ever.

 One of my favorite photos of us. It's my iPhone background. ;)

Friday we were supposed to check into our hotel but they kept pushing our check-in time back. Rehearsal and dinner was supposed to start late afternoon, so I said SCREW IT and decided to get ready at our beach house in Dewey. Then we got a call that our room was ready, so we rushed to the hotel so I could get showered and dressed.

Big effing mistake.

Somehow, I ended up in my hotel room with no hairdryer, no curling iron, no hair products, no makeup, no rehearsal dinner dress and no family members. No one was answering their cell phones. I took multiple trips up and down the elevator, evading our wedding guests, to find that my mom's car was locked with all my stuff inside and she was nowhere to be found. (Thanks a lot, Mom.)

I don't know, man. Something in me snapped. I had a meeting with our wedding coordinator to finalize details, then rehearsal and dinner immediately after. I would have no time to get cute and I was PISSED. I cried. I paced the hallways of the hotel, ducking down a stairwell when I saw some of our wedding guests. I seethed and smoked a cigarette and was generally acting like a big baby. 

Finally, I showered and went to the meeting with wet hair. I entered our venue (which was on the top floor of our hotel) to find our coordinator talking to some of her male staff. 

Coordinator : Hi there, bride. How's it going?
Me: I'm about to have a meltdown. *scary face*

I've never seen two dudes hightail it out of a room so fast. She managed to calm me down, saying she had all kinds of beauty products tucked away nearby. Our meeting lasted five minutes and I hauled ass back to my room. Thankfully my mom had magically appeared with all my shit. My sister made me take some yoga breaths. Then I got ready and that's it. That was my bridal meltdown.

It may not seem like this was a huge deal. But mere minutes away from the beginning of wedding festivities and I couldn't get ready? It seemed like the end of the world but it clearly wasn't. As my sister said, "You're the bride. Everyone will wait for you." (Although what asshole bride makes people wait for her? Really.) We met everyone in the lobby so our marriage license could be signed by the best man and maid of honor. Geoff appeared with a glass of pinot noir, which our wedding coordinator had sent down to "calm my nerves." Thank yoooou, delicious wine. 

Rehearsal went great, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a little on edge. (Oh and the groomsmen were all drunk, which definitely helped my mood. What a bunch of yahoos.) We walked down the boardwalk to the Stoney Lonen for our rehearsal dinner, which was laidback and fun, just like we wanted it.

My uncle and I.

Me and my mamadukes.

 

Best moment of the dinner: my sister (and matron-of-honor) told us she had a very sentimental gift for us. And then proceeded to hand me a minature wagon full of sex toys. Hilarious and also embarrassing. I mean, my grandmother was sitting RIGHT THERE.

After dinner, we met up with some friends at a local bar and had a few drinks before heading back to the hotel. It felt amazing to let loose a little and have some fun before the next day's shenanigans.

So our one-year anniversary (8/18) is coming up fast. I find that I'm having trouble remembering certain details from our wedding weekend, which is why I'm blogging about them here. It was the most exciting and fun weekend of my life. I mean, all your family and friends in one place, celebrating and supporting your relationship? If I could go back and do it all over again, I totally would. Plus it would give me another excuse to wear my wedding dress. ;)

Oh Target, You Minx

I feel a true sense of joy upon entering Target. The mechanical doors open and singing angels descend from the heavens. It's ridiculous, really.

I was just running in there for few toiletries, I swear. How I ended up with a bag full of beauty items, I'll never know. I've been hearing such good things about Elf products here in blogland and I'm never one to pass up a good deal. $1.00 brushes? Bronzer for $3.00? Even a girl on a tight budget can appreciate prices like these!

 

Essie nail polish in Turquoise and Caicos - $7.79

 Elf bronzing brush - $1.00

 Target brand nail polish remover - $1.09

Elf eye primer and liner seal - $3.00

 Elf tinted moisturizer in nude - $3.00

 Elf golden bronzer - $3.00

 Elf mechanical eye lash curler - $1.00

 Elf defining eye brush - $1.00

 Elf eyeshadow brush - $1.00

All this for $22. (Oh and Delaware has tax-free shopping. Boom!) Now I have realistic expectations for inexpensive stuff like this - I'm not expecting miracles or anything. But it's always nice to try something new and I desperately needed new brushes and bronzer.

So far I've tried the tinted moisturizer (it provided light coverage, which is what I wanted) and the bronzer (which gave me a nice glow). I think I'll stick to using a Bobbi Brown brush when applying the bronzer, although the bronzing brush is perfect for highlighting. I think the eyelash curler will be a decent substitute until I can get my hands on another Shu Uemura (the greatest curler of all time!). And can you believe it, this is the first Essie nail polish I've ever owned? I don't usually buy nail polish (I stick to my tried-and-true OPI "La-Pazitively Hot"), so I was super excited to try this color.

It's the little things, dudes. ;)

Weekend Shenans!

Ugh Monday. Not you again. Womp womp.

Friday was rainy and generally crappy weather-wise, but I wasn't going to let Tropical Storm Andrea mess with my weekend! The hubs and I hit up happy hour at our favorite local bar before heading over to our friends' house for a few drinks, which turned into lots of drinks and a dance party, I think? ;)

Apparently I'm getting seriously old because I CAN NOT hang anymore. I was so hungover on Saturday that I did nothing but lay on the couch and watch movies (Easy A and Superbad, in case you're wondering). I only moved when Geoff mentioned Sweet Frog. And this, my friends, is what $18 worth of frozen yogurt looks like.

My husband's (left) is bordering on the ridiculous.

 

Sunday I managed to be more productive: I painted my nails and laid out by the pool, natch!

 

 

 

Sunday night, we watched Stepbrothers while Geoff dozed and I slathered myself in aloe vera (sunburn, really?). The next few weekends are going to be jam-packed; I'm sooo glad we kept a low profile the last few days. Sometimes you just need a commitment-free weekend, ya know?

  

 

Hello, Ms. Lady! I'm Dale, I'm Brennan's stepbrother, and I think I may be able to help with the Pan-Pam dilemma...