DPF: Wedding Snip

Allow us to start off slowly on this new re-blogging adventure...

With a Dance Party Friday of my friends Ashley and Courtney, with a little bit of Veebs, Puppy, and James in the background.

Oh and yeah...this is from our wedding...

Major thanks to Ash for pulling this DPF from our wedding video!

Dancing in the Street

Me: so today
Me: I have legit, nothing to do
Me: T is in Germany
Me: Charo is in Springfield
Me: and I just finished my one assignment for the day

Ash: watch that
Me: hahahaha
Me: I love you so hard right now
Ash:

WW: Awesome 80s Prom!

I love my friends.

No really.

My friends are flipp'n fantastic and I'll tell you why.

When I said I wanted to do the Awesome 80s Prom for my bachelorette party my friend's didn't look at me like I was crazy. No! They didn't think, wtf is wrong with you, why would you want to relive the 80s? No! They didn't scoff at me and tell me it was stupid to get dressed up and hit the town like we did the time warp again.

Instead they rose to the occasion, and boy, did they EVER turn it out for this party!

My fabulous cousin Jaclyn planned everything to a T, organized the girls, and got e-invites out to everyone, all while she was preggers. She couldn't join us day of (nursing a baby is kind of killer on your social life) but she was a very integral part of this fabulous event. Day of, Casey took the lead and hosted 8 girls in her house (we actually were expecting more than 12 originally but some NH ladies stayed in the City instead) and if ever there were an event for Casey to be on point, this was it.

She went all out. I showed up at her house and this is what I was met with:

Slowly but surely the girls started showing up and
we started teasing and spraying like crazy.
I think this is why all photos from the 80s are mad blurry,
because of the hair spray in the air!

When everyone was dressed we walked to the LIRR station a few blocks away.
But not before snapping some fantastic photos.

Chrissy & me, she had the most fabulous dress!

The sister, the soon to be sister, Meg, and me.

Is it just me, or does Julianne look FIERCE in this photo.
Totally loved the Joan Jett look she was going for.

Chrissy killing it.

Singing along to Madonna on the train.

We made new friends, they took our photo.

She loves rock and roll.
Subway to the prom!

I love the lurker in this photo, and his expression to Casey trying to lick my face.

The ladies of the Shire!
Chelsea, Meg, Kerri, Hana, and Jenn look'n fab.

Although I'll be Jason's wife after July 3rd, Veebs has been my Wifey since college.

Rock'n out. I just realized Mel went for the Sloane Peterson look, LOVE IT.


Laura and Casey take a breather.

Smashley got a second chance to wear her Gem dress!

I like this one mostly because you get a good look at the fanny pack Casey wore.
It was epic.

And here she is with her killer dance moves.
And yes, she wore a thong leotard.
And yes, people were coming up to her all night long telling her:
"Damn, you've got balls."

And like classy bitches we bough more beer in Penn Station.
And drank it from brown paper bags on the ride home.

So I had the sweetest little conversation with Amanda no the train ride home. She was basically just super excited that she'd finally have a sister, which I thought was so incredibly sweet of her to say. She grew up with two older brothers and no in-house female cohort.

Julibean and I pretty much told her we're a package deal, and that she's getting two sisters for the price of one. Amanda seemed okay with the deal :P


In review:

1. Top night!
2. I have the greatest friends EVER
3. If you decide to go to Prom, make sure you buy a package with drinks included. Trust me it's worth it! Amanda bought a round of shots and it was like $50+ ...for 4 shots. We assumed they'd be crazy NYC drink prices, but $18 for a shot is a little overpriced and the drinks in the packages are only like $5-7 each.
   

WW: Slowly but Surely

On Saturday I had my first dress fitting. I'm not going to post a photo since Jason glances at my blog now and then but it fit like a glove. As of right now I need absolutely no alterations.

How awesome is that?

I have my final fitting the first week of June so we'll see if I can manage to lose a few pounds this month, but I'm happy with the way the dress looks and everyone at the salon adored my shoes...and that's really the most important part, right?

I was very worried that there would be SOMETHING wrong with the dress, but really, it's perfect. The added fabric to the top is just high enough on my chest that I'm not in danger of falling out, but the girls still look glorious...and that's really the most important part, right Jason?

When I started dress shopping Jason's only criteria was that I find a "sturdy" dress. At Jaclyn's wedding my boobs popped open the seam on the front of the dress and I was pretty much just hanging out the whole afternoon. At Laura's wedding I had the seamstress reinforce the seam that popped at Jaclyn's wedding, but instead a strap popped.

As for my wedding dress, there are no wrap-like seams, and there are no straps. So the likely hood of me breaking a seam or a strap is nil. Did I mention it fits like a dream?

All of the invitations are in the mail now. It is taking USPS FOREVER to get the invitations to people and to get the RSVPs back to me. I have it on good authority that a friend of mine in Jersey sent her RSVP in over a week and a half ago. Usually it takes two days tops for mail to reach me from NJ...what's up with that? Just adding stress I don't need.

Since we have about 90% of the guest list responded next week we're going to start trying to work on the seating chart. I'm hoping for the most non-traditional seating arrangement we can figure out. A lot of our friends are friendly with each other. My brother is friends with people that Jason's brother is friends with, so we're not separating any of our friends by "side"...meanwhile I'd really like to have all the younger people on one side of the room and have all the family and family friends on the other side. Mix everyone in, you know? So instead of his and hers it's more a generational gap.

I was very happy to get one RSVP from a friend of mine who is very elusive and I was worried wouldn't come. But hooray! He is! There are a few friends we're waiting on but then we're done! YAY!

I still have oh...idk...a dozen beaded flowers to make for the bridesmaids bouquets and the mother/grandmother corsages, ~160 pinwheel escort cards to make once I order the wooden dowels, OOT bags for people staying at the Hilton, favors, and of course I have to stay on top of my two bridesmaids who are making all the chair ties.

But wait, there's more...I'm moving first week of June! So add into that a packing frenzy and you've got yourself one stressed bride.

I just want to give up now.

This weekend we're settling the cake, the rehearsal dinner location, the ceremony details, and I have my hair trial. Now THAT I'll post a photo of, I don't have my veil yet unfortunately so it won't be the entire look, but it'll give me a good idea of what to expect.

Meanwhile I have awesome friends and a fantastic bridal party that's trying to do as much as possible to keep my stress level down.

My Awesome 80s Prom Bachelorette Extravaganza is next weekend, SO excited, SO can't wait to see all the girls, and SO can't wait for the EPIC photos that will ensue.

*sigh* are we there yet?

DPF: Oh no!

I saw this and immediately knew I had to share it:



Thanks to Chris for brightening my day with something I otherwise would never have found on my own!

MM: Totally Making my List

Today's man isn't a real one.

I'll be the first to admit that this is crazy. But listen, it's totally legit even if he's animated, right? RIGHT?

Ashley and I have discussed at length how some cartoon characters are just freak'n attractive as all get out. Apparently she even has a very in depth list she made with her friend years ago that they add men (real and animated - they don't judge) to as the years go by.

We may or may not fight over Dimitri and I may or may not often agree with Ashley over the fact that Robin Hood is the foxiest fox in town (Oodelaly!).

But damn, just watched Tangled for the first time this weekend and hello. Sexiest man ever animated in my opinion. Go ahead, judge me. But don't deny that Flynn Rider is hot!

Maybe it's the floppy hair. Maybe it's the big nose (we know how I love me a good schnoz!), or maybe, just maybe it's that he's just a pleasant type of theif. Whatever it is, I thoroughly enjoy this Tangled character...like woah.

Check out his smolder.

March Madness

This whole not being home on the weekends...every weekend..?

It's rough.

I'm exhausted. The weekend was wonderful. Although I was too tired to go to dinner Friday night for our anniversary. I felt so horrible, but I couldn't even move. My body felt like lead, it was awful.

The NH Shower was amazing. Like really. My girls are just incredible and Amanda and MamaKoala are party-throwing-machines!

I'm just so tired. I've been too exhausted to do anything. At least I unpacked the car load of presents and organized them and stored them in the basement. At least I wrote out all the thank yous already and all but two are in the mail. At least I unpacked my bag and repacked it for this coming weekend.

Still doesn't mean I don't have three loads of clean laundry to put away when I get home, or a million errands to run this week including getting my taxes done.

Ugh. I want to cry I'm so tired.

WW: A Week in Review

So Jason came to stay with me Presidents' Week. It was nice. It gave us a little sneak peek as to what it would be like living together. Sort of at least.

Last Friday night Laura swung down and we hung out with Casey and strategized our plan of attack for everything we needed to get done that weekend. Saturday morning Julianne and Chris showed up and while we got our hair cut Chris dropped the 'rents off at the airport for their annual trip down to Florida.

We had a very productive day. Julianne ordered her bridesmaid dress and wound up finding a very cute dress at David's for her wedding that is currently in contention. We searched and searched for silver shoes for Laura for the wedding but could not find any.

Then when Jason got into town we tried a new restaurant for dinner. Julianne and Chris are still looking for a local place to have their rehearsal dinner. The Chophouse was pretty delicious, not gonna lie. We think it's a place that Chris' parents would like and as long as the dinner is timed correctly they won't have to rent out the entire place.

When we got home we popped open a few bottles of wine and got to work. Laura, tape maven, wielded the new tape gun I bought like a champ and got all of the pockets tacked down on the pocketfolds. If anyone is interested, the tape gun is Laura's new best friend. When we did her pocketfolds we literally had to hand cut and tape each one individually. Tedious is a good word for that one.

Julianne folded all of the belly bands and I spent some time gluing down the layers to the monogram piece for the belly bands. Then we got incredibly distracted and wound up watching multiple episodes of Jersey Shore. I'm not proud.

Sunday we all woke up and munched on some delicious banana bread compliments of Queen Bang herself, Julibean. Laura had to leave us because her slave-driver of a company doesn't give her off for President's Day and she has appointments with Jim back at home to look at houses. (Scary that friends are popping out babies and doing things like house hunting!) We glued down all of the belly bands and glued on all of the seals as we watched episodes of Sherlock. BTW if you for some reason get the BBC watch it! It is utterly fabulous on so many different levels. We all LOVE this show now.

Anyway...Then the real fun began.

We took a trip to Mens Wearhouse to register for tuxedos for the groomsmen and Jason. We're flipping through the book together while they're fitting a group ahead of us and Jason drops a bombshell.

He points to the following photo and says,

I was thinking something like this!

For a moment I think he's joking. I look at my sister standing next to me, then back at Jason pointing to the man in the white tuxedo, then back at my sister standing next to me, then back at Jason pointing to the man in the white tuxedo.

It's then that I realize he isn't joking and did in fact truly want to wear a white tuxedo to our wedding.

Now let me add that Jason had mentioned wanted to wear white before. It was always after me explaining that the groomsmen would all be in silver vests but would be wearing different blue ties that match their respective bridesmaid. So I guess since his comment always came after talking about vests and ties that I assumed he meant he wanted to wear a white vest and tie, which was my intent all along.

Jason is a man of few words. I know this. I love him even though he doesn't always communicate the way I'd prefer him to. I'm over it though. Obviously I'm the vociferous one of the pair. We're both pretty comfortable with this most the time. However, when he doesn't communicate properly something like wanting to wear a white tuxedo to our wedding I get a little flabbergasted.

We sat down with the guy, I really can't remember his name but he was fantastic. Really funny and personable, kind of sarcastic in our dry way. Thought us nonchalantly going back and forth about the white tux was really funny. We wound up registering Jason for the same tuxedo as the groomsmen but with the white vest and tie instead of the silver but we have up until two weeks before the wedding to change it if we want.

I am definitely against the white tuxedo. So is my sister, so is my mother, so is my grandma-like friend Marlene over at Priscilla of Boston who we called to find out what color (white or ivory) I ordered my dress in because I'm a very forgetful bride and can't remember.

The only concession I'm willing to make here is a white dinner jacket a la Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom. I'd be all over that. It's sexy, it's eye catching, and it's a compromise that I don't think would look horrible in wedding photos.

My only rule is that whatever color the white dinner jacket is, we have to make sure it matches (close enough) to my dress. I won't be able to get a swatch of my wedding dress until it comes in in April, but we'll see what happens or if Jason winds up in a plain tux.

After tuxedos we went to CozyMel's for lunch (delicious!) which is my new favorite Mexican Restaurant close to home. And then said goodbye to Chris and Julianne so they could head home.

During the week Jason and I printed, punched and stuck all the monograms onto the belly bands. They are now completely done. I'm still conversing with my mother over invitation layouts but I'm hoping to have them printed and cut down by the end of next week. Invitations are almost done! Huzzah!


(Photos borrowed from Mens Wearhouse & The Gentleman.)

Halloween: Get Messy! Make Mistakes!

I LOVE Halloween. It is my favorite holiday but it always seems to suck.

Remember the drama that ensued after last year's Halloween?

So this year I was excited to go into the city and actually have something to do! After our Kleinfelds appointment Casey and I hopped on a train up town and said goodbye to Julibean, Jaclyn, and the mothers.

We got to Ashley & Mel's and ate some delicious falafel, watched some hilarious television, and then got dressed into our awesome costumes.

Let me just say, my friends are awesome and creative. Even Casey who didn't have time to make or buy a costume came dressed as Harriet the Spy in a trench with a notebook ready to make observations.

So without further ado I'd like to introduce you to:

Mel: Your Other Mother

Ashley: Jem...she's OUTRAGEOUS!

And Me: Ms Frizzle!
(do you remember your childhood? because we do!)

Seriously, awesome costumes!

We headed down to The Bitter End and enjoyed some good drinks, good music, and good times.

Plus, look how many "Dumb Sluts"
Casey the Spy counted during our travels:

We saw some killer costumes. Originally Casey's brother Chris was thinking about coming out with us and I told him he could borrow my tutu and wear some combat boots and a Hawaiian shirt and be Ace Ventura...we thought this was a great and very original costume. Of course when we saw some guy on the street outside a bar dressed in that costume we gave him a high five as we walked past.

We pretty much saw every single costume we were considering ourselves. Carmen Sandiego, TMNT, although I think my favorite was a guy in a Snorlax costume. I snapped a photo with him to show Jason.

However, the greatest costume of the weekend was definitely a little eight year old girl Casey and I met on the subway on Sunday morning. She was standing there in a green leotard with a gigantic potted plant pot suspendered to her and her mother was holding this beautifully hand made green head thing. I knew immediately she was Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors and thought it was the most wonderful thing EVER.

I got to talk to the little girl and her mother and her mom told me that she wasn't even excited about the candy, she just wanted to wear the costume. Apparently the little girl had seen Little Shop of Horrors a few years back and was completely obsessed with Audrey II and wanting to dress up as the man-eating plant alien. The coolest part was when she put the plant head over her, the mouth would open when she shrugged her shoulders.

COOLEST COSTUME EVER.

Honestly, this Halloween was fantastic. Even if I did turn Ashley's couch cushion orange.

Betsy in my pants!

A few weeks ago I really wanted to go apple picking but the only person who shared my enthusiasm about this adventure was Ashley and neither of us were free until this weekend. When I looked up where all the apple orchards were on LI they were all out east near Riverhead so we decided it'd be the ideal time to hit up the outlets.

The apples were pretty much picked out but I did come home with a pumpkin and cider and some delicious fall baked goods. And then we went off to the Tanger Outlets.

I was on the search for a dress (for our e-session in November) and a new pair of black flats to replace the ones from Naturalizer that I had killed.

What I found was something far better. First off we went into every store that had dresses for sale. I tried on a bunch but none of them fit the right way. I want something with at least capped sleeves and a scoop neckline. The girls are my best feature and what's the point in hiding them? A few dresses fit and were cute, but weren't THE dress for me.

Because we're little kids we went into the Disney Outlet and I found an awesome Kermit the Frog stainless steel water bottle (which I needed to replace one I broke the other day) and this little guy.

Originally Ashley had picked it up and was like, WTF is this?! And once I realized what it was I threw my hand to my nose and waved my fingers at her.

In my family, that's the call sign for a star nosed mole. Call us crazy, we have lots of hand gestures that mean NOTHING to anyone else but can cause laughter and excitement within my house. Not only was it a star nosed mole, but he was wearing night vision goggles. I HAD TO HAVE HIM. He was on the clearance rack and I bought him for my mother.

When I got home I handed my father the socks he requested I buy him at Van Heusen and my mother jokingly asked, "What'd you get me?" She wasn't prepared for my twitchy excitement and was so happy when I pulled this little guy out of my bag.

Apparently Saturday was Mole Day (10/23) something I didn't realize until my mom was thanking me for the mole on Mole Day. She brought him into school today to add to her mole collection. (Hey, she's a Chemistry teacher, don't judge!)

Anyway, back to the Outlets. We still hadn't found a dress and we were losing daylight quickly. As we were making a beeline for JCrew we saw Betsy Johnson and we decided to go inside because everything's so bright and cheerful in there.

Racks and racks of crazy dresses greeted us, all with signs that read "80% Clearance!"

What, WHAT WHAT?!

We flagged down a sales associate and asked if that meant 80% off the original price or 80% off the lowest ticketed price. Lowest ticketed it was and I couldn't believe the math I was doing in my head when the dress Ashley was holding factored out to ~$50. I had to pull my phone out to double check my math, but low and behold, it was $46!

We were like giddly little school girls rummaging through the racks. Sadly the dresses in the outlets only go up to size 10 so this one was all Ashley's but she found a super cute navy blue dress that wasn't off the charts crazy and fit her like a DREAM.

While Ashley was in the dressing room I was trying on these amazing powder blue shoes. Hello, $35 marked down from $175?!? THANK YOU! Fairly comfortable to boot! Can we say wedding shoes?!

Ashley hugging her amazing dress on the way home.

We couldn't believe we were walking out with these incredible items for under $50 and $40.

I feel like I'm stealing!

All in all, WONDERFUL day. Didn't find a dress but found wedding shoes for $38 and now all the other shoes can go back! Still need to find a dress but I'm hoping the one I ordered from Overstock will be killer.



Edit to add: FOUND a photo of the shoes I nabbed!

Powder blue and perfect! I heart Betsey Johnson!

A Life in the Theater

Last night I got a call from my friend Matt at around 6:15.

Any chance you can be at Broadway and 45th by 8:00 for a premiere?

A friend of his is the assistant to a Broadway Producer and scored him some comped tickets for one or two of the shows opening this week. At first I wasn't really interested in schlepping into the City so I took all the info down and called one or two of my friends who live in Manhattan and asked them if they were interested.

Then I'm sitting there looking at my little post-it note that says A Life in the Theater starring Patrick Stewart and TR Knight and I thought, what the hell am I thinking?! I can't pass up Patrick Stewart LIVE.

Changed real quick into something slightly less business casual and slightly more Broadway fabulous and ran to catch a train. Hoofed 11 blocks up to 45th and got there just around 7:45.

Some of you might remember that this isn't the first time Matt has called and asked if I wanted to be his +1. I went to a wedding with him last summer which was incredibly enjoyable and when he found out that he had a pair of tickets instead of just one I was the first person he called to see if I could fill the seat.

So I get to the Schoenfeld and Matt's standing there with his friend Diana and since she's the Producer's Assistant and it's Opening Night she's running around trying to find all the VIPs to make sure they get their tickets and head into the private entrance.

We're standing there chatting with her when she waves her hand over my head and shouts:

Mr Grey! I have your ticket!

Who else strolls up but Joel Grey.

Seriously, walked right up to us.

Now I am not familiar with the full body of his work, nor could I remember his name (I am the WORST with names) but I knew that face and I knew he was a tremendous actor. I know he's been in things like Cabaret and the Wizard of Oz but me personally, I'm more familiar with his cameos on shows like Buffy or as Arvin Clone on Alias.

He seemed a very polite old man.

We took our seats and Matt searched the audience for other names, mentioning that Taye Diggs was supposed to be there but Adina was not. To which I replied, "It's okay I know all her solos."

Mr Diggs turned up in the aisle looking dapper as ever in a fedora.

The show was HILARIOUS. The end was a little bittersweet but the two men played off each other beautifully. I can't begin to describe what the show in essence was about, so here is the little description of it from BroadwayWorld:

Describing life in the footlights from an actor's point of view, A Life in the Theatre focuses on the relationship between two thespians: Robert, an older, experienced performer; and John, a relative newcomer. Though Robert's guidance is welcomed by John at first, as the play progresses Robert falters as an actor and mentor, and John emerges as a mature actor. Mamet was inspired to write A Life in the Theatre by what he had observed backstage as well as by his own experiences in his early career as an actor.

Really a wonderful production. I highly recommend it if you've ever been involved in theater or if you're even just interested in theater.

Afterward Matt had passes to the after party. We meandered around outside the theater while I double checked the train schedule and I almost got knocked over by a photographer. When I looked up I didn't see anyone around but then Matt turned to me and said, "I was just three feet away from Angela Lansbury."

I refrained from shouting out, "Loved you in Penzance!" and we walked back up 8th towards Penn. Unfortunately I would have missed the drunk train if I had gone to the after party.

You see, there's this break in train service from about 11:00pm to 2:00am and if you miss that last train out of the City then you're stuck sitting in Penn Station for HOURS. Not something I wanted to do so I skipped the after party. I'm sure Matty had a wonderful time hob nobbing, maybe he even got a photo of Patrick Stewart for me!

(Image borrowed from BroadwayWorld.com)

Improv Everywhere

On Saturday I participated in the mp3 Experiment. Originally I was going into the City to visit my friends James and Glenn and see their new apartment on the upper east side. Plus James had to help me fix something on my laptop and he's pretty much been my IT Savior since college so I lugged my backpack around NYC all day.

I met Matty and his roommate for lunch since they were in town to see a show and it's been awhile since I've seen him. Then I made my way uptown to James and Glenn's.

The weather could not have been more perfect on Saturday by the way, it was breezy and cool but sunny. Ideal City weather.

Met James's friend Laura and he fixed our computers and then we got ourselves together and packed our bookbags with things we needed for the mp3 Experiment and headed back down to Grand Central.

The instructions for this year's Experiment were to download the mp3 and load it onto your device without listening to it (of course James listened to it beforehand because he's James), be in a certain part of NYC at a certain time and hit play exactly at 6pm, pack a bag with a roll of toilet paper, a marker, two 8.5"x11" pages with letters on them, and a gift for someone. They suggested something you had lying around your house that you no longer want and someone else might find useful. Laura wrapped up a tape measure, I wrapped up a pair of American flag sunglasses left over from the Party in the USA, and James wrapped up a copy of Windows Vista he wasn't ever going to use.

The instructions were that you should start out in a retail store somewhere between Park and 8th Ave from 39th to 42nd. We were running a little late and met our friend Sara in Quicksilver in Time Square. The store was PACKED with people plugged into headphones.

And then we all started slow dancing with an inanimate object. Almost the entire store was part of the Experiment. Those who weren't really had no clue as to what was happening and looked a little freaked out.

Then we took to the streets and freaked people out further by freezing in place for a good minute. We continued to wander around the streets first pretending to be in a marching band, then doing silly walks. Finally we picked a stranger and followed behind them forming as long a single file line as we could mimicking what they were doing. Once that was done we gave as many strangers high fives as we could to show them that we're "fun people" and that they shouldn't be scared of us.

From there we moved onto Bryant Park because the Improv Everywhere narrator Steve was waiting for us. According to his brother Mark who was narrating for us in Steve's stead, it was Steve's birthday on Saturday and Mark was throwing him a surprise party in Bryant Park but Steve was already there and he was all alone.

We crept into Bryant Park, thoroughly confusing everyone who was already there and when Steve turned to look we ducked under tables and chairs and hid behind trees. All at once we jumped up and "Surprised!" Steve. From there we took a speed lap around the gravel track, which proved to be hilarious since half of us were going the opposite way and we had to turn around when we ran into the other half of the group.

Kind of looks like Pollock doesn't it?

Then we got together on the grass and pulled out our letters and spelled words with a partner. James and I spelled BEES and we were in high demand when we started making sentences.


After that we drew portraits of a partner on the back of our paper. The one Laura drew of me was pretty freak'n hilarious.

And then we drew a map of the world, passing our paper to strangers until all 7 continents were drawn. These maps were ridiculous. I guess I forgot that lots of people don't know geography very well. Finally Steve told us to star Nicaragua on our map. I overheard someone saying, "That's in Africa right?" *facepalm*

Next we exchanged gifts with a stranger. I gave my sunglasses to a nice lady standing next to me and from her I got Memoirs of a Geisha which I have not read so it was a pretty good gift.

James got a candle which he was extremely pleased with. Funnier still it was hazelnut scented and the fragrance was called "Smell My Nuts" and all I have to say is that they do in fact smell wonderful.

They got an awesome photo of James and a great photo of the woman I gave my sunglasses to but apparently I got cropped out of both photos even though I was standing right next to them.

After the gift exchange we pulled out our rolls of toilet paper and Steve informed us that we were going to have a mummy dance party but first we had to get ready.

We partnered up again and wrapped each other in toilet paper like mummies. Hilarity ensued as everyone stood around wrapped from head to toe in TP.

Then we danced!

Here's an awesome shot of my friend Sara. Toilet paper is SO in this season!

It was quite possibly one of the funniest things I've ever experienced. I'm so glad that we heard about this event and got to participate because it really was exciting and although pointless it was fun!

Snagged this photo with my phone.

(Photos: Group shot borrowed from Chad Nicholson and solo shots borrowed from Ilya Chigirev.)

Party in the USA

Let me first start out by saying I have awesome friends.

Then allow me to continue to explain that when I told my friends we were having a Party in the USA themed Quarter Century Birthday Extravaganza at the beach house and were requesting everyone wear the most ridiculous cacophony of red, white and blue they could muster, they all seemed pretty excited. (Or at least, willing to humor the birthday girl).

I think the best way to describe the rest of the day is through photos, so if you'll allow me...

When we reached the beach house and we realized we were a few drinks behind everyone else, we realized we had to catch up. I spied a fishbowl-like glass in the kitchen, rinsed it out, and poured some wine in it. For the rest of the weekend, we all enjoyed drinking out of the fishbowl and it may or may not have been the very best idea, but it was pretty awesome at the time.

It was about half a fishbowl in that we realized the house next door looked like it was smiling at us.
Chris showed us the importance of packing properly when going on a hike. Craig accepted to being his human backpack.

About a third of the way through the fishbowl, Amanda has a tremendous idea! Chris is obviously missing white from his ensemble and she decides to help him out by lending him her apron. ...Oh the things our men let us do to them...

We all sat around on various blankets in the backyard while some of our awesome friends cooked and BBQed.

I could have sworn I had a photo of the three of them sitting there like old men talking and eating, but this one will just have to do.

Jamie showed off her best Statue of Liberty impression.

And then Craig showed us how he gets all the ladies:

All in all I have to say it was a top night. A stellar birthday! Definitely one to remember, and it was so great that Chris and Julibean hosted us all at the beach house. We had a very random crowd of friends around and they all got along so well it was fantastic.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

Quarter Century Extravaganza!

We turn 25 this year. Quarter Century Extravaganza anyone?

My sister and Chris offered to throw us a party for our birthday at the beach house. Originally it was supposed to be a surprise, but I got really antsy and it turned into a huge celebration and bringing together of random friends.

James, Laura and I drove down together which resulted in us getting extremely giddy towards the end of the trip. Added into that the fact that my GPS brought us clear into the middle of nowhere before recomputing and we were treading down the back roads of Delaware.

Along the way it was getting darker and darker and people were lighting "candles" in their windows. We had a length philosophical discussion about this in which Laura likened the lights to Jesus and from then on as James so very well put it: "Laura has decided that candles in windows of MD country homes represent JESUS and is shouting such. Drinking hasn't even started yet."

Yes, we are quite excited when it comes to Jesus.

Finally made it to the beach house and everyone was already there and having a crazy good time. The wine was flowing, the friends were chatting, and Julibean had made us birthday cupcakes :)

As you can see <-- they were delicious. Julibean makes a mean cupcake. The boys devoured them. More debauchery continued into the wee hours of the morning.

Jim Scott took up residence in the garage, despite more elegant offers like the HP Palace under the stairs.

And we all lulled into a nice deep sleep until James woke up impatiently the next morning and wanted to get breakfast and hit the beach!

We grabbed breakfast at Big Peckers. Surprisingly although our group was easily a dozen people they only made one mistake. They totally forgot James' blueberry pancakes and then brought him some johnny-come-lately sympathy pancakes when the rest of us were halfway through our meal. Suffice to say, James' high culinary expectations were unmet. (Perhaps a bit of karma for waking us all up?)

James, Craig, Julibean, Jason, Morgan, Me & Jim

From there we made our way over the beach. It was nasty weather unfortunately, but we made the most of it. Skipping in the surf (James and Jason nearly throwing Morgan and I IN), Laura and Chris backing away every time the waves bubbled towards them, Becky and Andy building sand castles. It was a good time.

Some of the ladies: Becky, Morgan, Laura, Me & Julibean

May I just point out the awesome shirt Laura has on in this photo? Check it out! When she told me about it she basically said, "I have a t-shirt with my face on it." I had no idea what she was talking about but, by golly, that is TOTALLY her face on a shirt right there!

Soon we were joined by Schwendy and then Amanda and Chris showed up. Somehow we split off, the boys played around in the sand, tossing a frisbee, and the girls sat down to chatter. Amanda unloaded about 8 bridal magazines on me that her mother had been collecting. I swear, my FMIL is awesome.

We meandered over to play some Viking Mini-Golf. There are dozens of mini-golf places on the strip in OC but we love the Viking one. Not sure why.

Chris got friendly with a horse.

I visited my creepy mushroom faced friends.

And what mini-golf trip wouldn't be complete without a light saber battle?

After mini-golf we all went home to shower and change and get ready for a Party in the USA!