Pretty Maids All In A Row....

Lauren, Sara and I went shopping for bridesmaid dresses today...

We didn't have a lot of luck.....

South, South-er, South-est

I started out this morning in Ruskin, Florida and will end it here in good ol' Toledo. I've been awake since 4:30 a.m., so I feel like it should be MUCH later than 6:18 p.m. right now...

Florida was the end of our 5 day trip to take my grandma (who's what we here in the Midwest call a Snow Bird) down to Florida, where she will stay till Spring. Which almost sounds like she's a groundhog... Anyhoo. The trip was Cory, my mom, my grandma, my grandma's cat, all of my grandma's stuff she will need for the winter, and me...in a Pontiac Vibe. We started out in Toledo, stopped in Tennessee the first night to visit my grandma's brother, Jerry and his wife, then stopped in St. Augustine, Florida the second night/third day, and went to my grandma's the third night/fourth day, and spent the fourth day at the beach near my grandma's house. Then me, Cory, and me mum flew back to Toledo this morning.

How do you travel with a cat in a car for four days? It takes adjustments and fancy packing...















And yes, in Tennessee, we ate at a restaurant called Family Ties.



No, Michael J. Fox was not there, but there were singing/dancing waitresses who sang along to what Cory and I theorized was a CD made by a local artist they were advertising all over called "T". Cher and Madonna may think they're cool with just a first name, but times are a'changin'...it's much more "in" to go with just a letter.














Obviously, I did not have coffee or food yet when this was going on...





































In St. Augustine, we stayed at a questionable hotel, but it was clean enough...BUT, while I was showering the next morning, the power went out. Which is all well and good except that there are no windows in hotel bathrooms, which is practical until you are in the shower and the power goes out and it is PITCH BLACK. After 2 minutes of yelling, "Hey! HEEEYYYY!!" my mom finally came to my rescue and opened the door so I could at least have a little bit of sight...

Then we were off for some St. Augustine sight-seeing. There are a lot of really nice things to see and do in St. Augustine, but one of my favorite things was this:

It is a regular tree with a palm tree growing through the center of it. I call it the Love Tree, because according to legend, any couple who kisses in the vicinity of this tree will stay together forever. Cory and I kissed under both sides of it just to be thorough.

There is also an old fort in St. Augustine...I forget what it's called, but apparently it was so strong back when it was needed that cannonballs would bounce right off of it. Here are my mom, Cory, and a sucker he got for free from our waitress at lunch in front of the fort...

And me and my grandma at the fort...

And me and Cory IN the fort....

After St. Augustine, we stopped and had dinner with my mom's friends in another part of Florida (by then I lost track of where we were), and Cory and I got to have Yueng-Ling beer, which was awesome. We got to my grandma's house shortly thereafter, and when I was going in and out bringing stuff in, I was surprised by this little fella, who was going in and out of the blinds on the front door. Don't worry, we liberated the poor guy...

And better a frog than an alligator...

Which I did see later in the pond in my grandma's neighborhood... Luckily he was a baby and didn't notice me sneaking up to take pictures.

And after a very lovely day at the beach full of swimming, shell and stone skipping, and laying in the sun, Cory and I got more Yueng-Ling and spent the evening playing cards with my mom and Grandma, who totally kicked our asses at Euchre. My grandmother may be a card shark...I accused her and she just laughed, so if that doesn't say guilty, I don't know what does.

Then we flew home early this morning...VERY early...

And luckily Toledo was sweet enough to give us 70 degree weather upon our return. Thank goodness! Nothing's worse than coming home from a very warm place to cold, shitty weather. And I have the day off tomorrow. And it's supposed to be warm again. Abe and I are going to the park!

BIRTHDAY!!!

Today I received free spaghetti, free Panchero's, new socks, perfume, a Harry and the Hendersons doll (complete with accompanying movie), a purse and matching wallet, and shots, shots, and beers.

My mom took me, Cory, and Kyle to see Robin Williams do stand up in Ann Arbor. Vulgar AND hilarious.

I got drunk for free. And am now drunk-blogging.

I received Belinda Carlisle in the mail.

I received countless good wishes and lots of love.

Tomorrow is our 4th annual Halloween/costume/joint birthday party.

I was serenaded by a genuine Italian at the bar (with the happy birthday song), and then we confused each other because I kept saying "fiance" and he kept saying "Beyonce"...clearly, a language barrier. Until Kyle did the "put a ring on it" gesture and all became clear.

28 is pretty fun so far...

Some Notes for October 24th, 2009...to you, sincerely me...

To the lady at the gas station who sold me beer earlier: Don't be embarrassed about your sudden, loud outburst into song as I was walking away. I totally got into my car, found that station, and belted some lines myself.



To the sheep who eat pumpkins all day on my way to and from work: Who knew sheep liked pumpkins so much? Everyday I drive by you twice, and you are all always eating pumpkins. Where did you get so many pumpkins? Don't you ever get full? Are pumpkins really that delicious when they are not in pie form? Man...I just have so many questions for you...



To the people who already have Christmas lights up on their house: No. NO. Just....no.

To my fear of giving blood: Take THAT! I kicked your ASS!!

To the chicken stir fry I ate earlier: Thank you for being so delicious. You are my sunshine.

To my birthday: See you in a week!! You don't scare me!

Buzzzzzzz.........

Things have been super busy lately, but lots of good stuff going on.

Cory's cousin Richae is getting married next month in Chattanooga. I went to her bridal shower with Cory's sister Dawn and his mom...here's me, Dawn, and Richae...


Next month, Cory and I are going with my mom to take my grandma to Florida. Along the way, we are either stopping in Savannah, GA or St. Augustine, FL (we haven't decided which yet). Then we will be going to Chattanooga for Richae's wedding...then we'll be going on our annual trip to Philadelphia/New York City over Thanksgiving. Then it will be December and I will be very sleepy...

In the meantime, my sister Lauren had an opening at an art gallery last Friday- at Space 237. They even featured one of her paintings in the Toledo Blade, because she is amazing. Her art will be on display there for a few months, I recommend everyone going to see it. Here are Bethany and Lauren at the opening. They are adorable. And I have a bad feeling I am never getting my purple cardigan back...

Here is one of Lauren's paintings....my current favorite. I want to buy it. Dibs. And please note that this painting not only features a Santa Claus monster and a vampire monster, but also a Jesus monster.

Yesterday my mom and I drove up to Monroe to visit a Halloween store that someone recommended to us. The store was kind of a bust, but we did end up following some signs that said "Island", because we were like, "What island? This is Monroe." and we found a secluded road that took us alongside Dog Lady Island. There were lots of cranes, seagulls, and a lotus bed. But no dogs. Or ladies.

Oh, and I ended up getting my Halloween costume accessories back in Toledo. And just in time, cause our annual Halloween/birthday party is soon. And my mom is taking Cory and I to see Robin Williams for our birthdays. Kyle, too. And Cory, Mike, Steph and I went to see David Cross last week, which was AWESOME!! And a long time in coming, Mike and I have been waiting for him to come around for YEARS.

Anyway, time to get ready for a family meal. Some of my Texas relatives are in town and my cousin Linda is making food and she is an excellent cook, so hooray!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!

J'aime Mes Amis

So last weekend was a bit of a rough one for someone very close to me and his family, who I also love ("bit of" being an understatement). But, one thing I have always admired and loved my friends for is that we are all family, and everyone comes together in bad situations and, you know, makes it better.

On that note, in no particular order, here are a bunch of people I truly adore...

Walkin' for a Reason

Today was the Toledo Race for the Cure. It's so much fun every year and for such a good cause (breast cancer, btw) that we've made it a yearly thing. This year, it was me, Lauren, Bethany, Brittany, and Sara.

We started out the morning the way we always do- with general mishaps and disorganization. First Bethany's car wouldn't start, so I zipped across town to grab her, then we all met at Sara's as planned...all of us, that is, except Lauren. When calling her over and over didn't work, we drove to her house where I simultaneously called her and tapped on her window. She finally woke up and came out giggly and mismatched, and we were on our way.

There were over 18,000 participants at the Race this year, which was a new record. The skies looked threatening, but luckily it didn't rain. And after the Race, the weather actually turned sunny and quite pleasant. My mom and I went to an orchard and bought apples and cider.

In case I've never mentioned it before, I LOVE the fall. :)

Breathe In, Breathe Out...

So I have bronchitis. Blech. I've never had bronchitis before. I've had pharyngitis, which Stuart so lovingly calls "Erin-gytis", which was hell on earth, but never bronchitis. I was not prepared for the way it feels to not breathe at full capacity for days and days. It's unnerving and uncomfortable. Luckily, though, I caught my bronchitis early and got on antibiotics right away, so I do not have the hacking cough that normally accompanies this lil' respiratory problem. Thank goodness. I am, however, constantly tired and missing my real breathing patterns. And for the first couple of days, I had regular hot and cold flashes, which was a fun preview of menopause!





But, I digress. The real reason I brought you all here today was to tell you about my engagement party!





We had an engagement party. And it was SO much fun. My parents were kind enough to let us yet again take over their house and yard and fire pit. We had a beer potluck and made a hairy buffalo. Our friend Justin brought 8 pizzas. I brought snacks. Kyle brought me owl shorts.





Everyone brought the good times.

There was such an out-pouring of love for us at this party, it was awesome. People brought us presents, and even more importantly, people came despite bronchial pneumonia, sick relatives, and family drama involving a black eye, among other things (side note: this last part makes me wanna exact revenge not suitable to put in writing on the intra-web). And the next morning, we were left with 3 coolers still full of beer and bottle upon bottle of liquor that was gifted to us the night before. Then I got bronchitis and didn't feel like having a drop of any of it- but all in good time, dear friends.

All in good time.

P.S. I did a spell check on this blog and apparently, blogspot.com doesn't think "Erin-gytis" is a word. Pssht! Whatever, blogspot. Whatever.

More Exciting Than Watching Grass Grow...

You've seen it on The Simpsons. You've seen it on the 1990's Dennis the Menace movie. And now, it's coming to you straight from my parent's backyard.

The Queen of the Night. The flower that only blooms for one night a year. Yes, a few weeks ago, we sat and watched a flower bloom.

It was a bit tedious at times, but the end result was worth it:

Pretty thing, ain't she?

P.S.

Reactions to our engagement:



Dad: "Wasn't he supposed to ask me for your hand and like, slip me a check under the table?"



Stu: "So are you gonna have an open bar at your wedding?"



Holly: "I thought you were gonna tell me you were pregnant!"


Angel: "I talked to Erin, guess what?" Angel's Mom: "Is she pregnant?"



Everyone's reactions upon seeing me in person when we got home from Hawai'i: "Hey! You aren't sunburnt!"

I'm so responsible.....

Aloha!

Cory and I are back from our trip to Hawai'i! We had SOO much fun! And...we're engaged!! Cory proposed to me on top of Diamond Head! We haven't made many wedding plans just yet, but it'll be sometime within the next year! I'm super excited!!

Anyway, back to the trip. It sounds cliche, but Hawai'i seriously is paradise! Everything is so beautiful! And there's tons to do...which means, here are some pictures... :)

Inside the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor...

A Hawaiian rainbow at the beach...(see, paradise!)

The view from the top of Diamond Head...where Cory asked me to marry him! :)

Another view from the top of Diamond Head...

Kualoa Ranch...

Me at the Kualoa Ranch, on Hurley's Golf Course (as seen on LOST!)

Me on a dinner cruise, going past Diamond Head...

Cory and I at the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau...

Most delicious smoothies ever!!

Now we're back home, and of course it was raining and cold as soon as we got off the plane in Detroit. But, such is the Midwest! And it is beautiful outside today...and now we get to plan our wedding!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Waiting for a Star to Fall...

Only one week to go before Cory and I are outta here and on our way to Hawaii!! I seriously can't wait!! But to help me pass the time during my Countdown to Hawaii, 2 of my cousins from PA and one of their girlfriends are coming to visit this weekend! So I will have lots of family fun and then off I go for sunshine beach time!!

We visited our PA cousins last month for my cousin David's high school graduation party. I LOVE my PA cousins, they are awesome. There are 6 of them. The two who are coming to visit are Johnny and Stevie. They are tons of fun.

Johnny and Stevie with Kyle in the middle...

They build bonfires this big for celebrations...

Good times.

Other than vacations and visits, not too much has been going on, except that I started my new position last week. I am in the stage where I don't know how to do anything and that's always frustrating to me cause I like to know everything about whatever job I happen to be doing. But that won't last forever...

Oh, and my mom and I went to the fair last weekend and a llama stole an ice cream cone out of my hand. And when I took it back, he spit on me. Then I saw a kangaroo.

Have a great week, everyone!

P.S. There is a meteor shower tonight, keep your eyes to the skies!

P.S.S. Cookie Monster's body was finally hauled away during the night, but the culprits haven't been caught and prosecuted. And one of them set a fence on fire in our parking lot a couple of days later. Maybe as a warning to me to keep my mouth shut... Sesame Street just ain't what it used to be....

Neighborhood Watch, Failed Again...

There was a serious crime committed in the parking lot of my apartment complex...

I know who did it, but I'm a little nervous about coming forward...

What if they come after me next??

P.S. Dibs on the leftover cookies...

Yay!

This will be a quick one cause I'm on the iPod touch and it's tedious to type this way but so many good things are happening, I had to share! First, cory and I booked our vacation for next month. Destination? Hawaii!!!

Second, I sold my car!! The grand am, not my new one. I sold it to a really sweet teenage boy who was super excited about it so that made me happy.

Third, I interviewed for a promotion this week and found out Friday that I got it! And I got so many work-related compliments on Friday, I'm still blushing a bit.

And yesterday, me, cory, lauren, Kyle, my mom, and my grandma headed out to Pennsylvania for my cousins grad party. Right now we're at our hotel and we are being lazy but we need to check out so more later!

You Knock Me Off'a My Feet

To: Anyone who has seen as many episodes of Scrubs as I have,

Do you remember that episode after the one where Dr. Cox punched Dr. Kelso in the nose? And Dr. Kelso is walking around for most of the episode making a loud squeaky noise through his nose? And everyone at the hospital can hear him coming so no one does any work till they hear him coming, then they all start working really hard right as he walks by? Then Dr. Cox gets annoyed by the squeaking he created and re-centers his nose in the elevator?

Well, there's a lady at the library right now whose nose is making that exact same noise, and it's not comedically funny, it's gross and annoying. Actually, the squeaking part is just annoying. The gross part is that she keeps hacking things up out of her throat and coughing all over the movie shelves.

Also, I was behind her on the way into the library and there was a dog barking who had to be at least a mile away, yet she still found it necessary to yell, "Shut up, you stupid fucking dog!" as she opened the door. Now she's in the kids' book section, telling a teenager all about how much she hates kids. Which begs the question, why is she in the kids' book section, then?

Anyhoo. Had tons o' fun yesterday. Lauren, her friend Micah, Stu & Bri, and Kyle came over to Cory's mom's and we all had a BBQ and swam. We made a killer whirlpool whilst holding beers above the water. Running out of beer and trying to get a new one from the edge of the deck was dangerous. It usually took me 1 or 2 tries to grab one before the water swept me away and back around the circle of the pool.

Now let's talk about Michael Jackson for a minute. So there I am at work on Thursday, reading all about Farrah Fawcett's death. Then I leave work, am in the car for about an hour and a half (Ann Arbor rush hour traffic, combined with a thunderstorm and very heavy rains, equals fun-sized traffic jam). During this hour and a half, I listened to a book on CD. Also during this hour and a half, Michael Jackson dies and I am completely unaware. So I get home and start to hurriedly change clothes and get ready to meet my parents, Kyle & Lauren for Kyle's birthday dinner. Then Bobby texts me and says, "I just heard from a kid at work that Michael Jackson died." And I text back, "What? No, no...Farrah Fawcett died, not Michael Jackson." I'm pretty much like, "Duh, Bobby, get your shit straight, dawg!" Then I get a text from Bri, "OMFG! Michael Jackson is dead at 50!" And my immediate thought is, "Oh, I didn't believe Bobby's little joke so now he's getting Bri in on it and having her text me his lies." But then I remember, with Bobby, you never know what you're getting, truth or fiction-wise, so I turned on the BBC and low and behold...they were right. And Cory was napping on the couch so I ran out and said, "CORY! You have to get up, so many things are happening!" Then we all spent Kyle's birthday dinner getting text after text that said, "Did you hear that Michael Jackson died?" I'm surprised the whole cellular community didn't just crash from exhaustion. I heard the internet almost did...

I've always been a very big fan of Michael Jackson's music- my sisters and I always request it so we can dance to it at weddings, I grew up watching the videos (including the ones that debuted after In Living Color, remember that?) and Kyle may or may not have a video floating around the internet of me and Stuart attempting the Thriller dance. I even got into that newer song he made that featured Chris Tucker, and used to listen to it so loudly while dance-cleaning my first apartment that I had my first angry neighbor run-in with a guy who didn't think it was necessary for me to listen to Michael Jackson quite so loud at midnight on a weeknight. As far as his personal eccentricities go- well, I think his upbringing, non-stop superstardom and media intrustion from the age of 6, and we, the ridiculing American public, are mostly to blame for that, although I am in no way condoning anything tawdry that may or may not have happened with children. All of those things aside, you can't deny those songs, or that dancing. Which is to say that I did fully enjoi all of the Michael Jackson song marathons on the radio this weekend, and I was pretty excited about the music video marathon VH1 ran on Saturday, although I didn't manage to stay awake for all of it.

My point is this...I have a Michael Jackson cassette tape and I will sell it to you for $175.

No, I'm just kidding. That's not my point at all.

Especially cause that tape has The Way You Make Me Feel on it and what else am I gonna listen to while wearing my black mini-dress and being pursued through the streets while simultaneously being serenaded by a dancing man?

I mean, jeez, a girl's gotta have her hobbies.

That Baby Don't Even Look Like Me

My weekend has been spent first going out for Kyle's birthday on Friday, beers and dancing with my sisters and our friends; out to eat with Cory's sister Dawn and her boyfriend Scott; swimming; rummage sale-ing with Sara; BBQ'ing with friends and lounging around in the sun, enjoying the weather; fireworks in Point Place; outdoor nighttime lounging with friends; hovering between sleep and consciousness while watching a Michael Jackson music video marathon; and today more swimming, BBQ'ing, and lazing around in the sun with my sisters, Cory, and our friends.

Up next for this week: Darren will be in town on Thursday, I have the day off on Friday and 2 BBQ's scheduled (and more fireworks), neighborhood 4th of July party...

Man, I loves me some summertime...

Peas In A Pod...

Who wouldn't love a dog this chill?

Hot Like Fire

So I'm totally going to delay the updates I promised in my last blog and instead update you with a more updated update...as in, how Cory and I spent our Memorial Day weekend.

We went to Virginia Beach! It was pretty last minute...I realized around Wednesday that I was going to have the following Monday off, so we decided that we wanted to hang out on the beach. We left after work Friday night and arrived in Virginia Beach early Saturday morning. Since we couldn't check into our hotel until 3 p.m., we ate at the Denny's next to the hotel. They closed both of the Denny's we used to have in Toledo, which is just as well since I had been banned from both of them by the time they closed- totally not my fault- so I hadn't been to Denny's for years...it was...eh, ok. Our waitress was awesome, though.

After a trip to a skatepark at a place that was for real called Mount Trashmore, we decided to head to the beach. I then proceeded to put sunscreen on all of me except for my feet and legs. In true Erin fashion, I then proceeded to get extreme sunburn on my feet and legs. This is not the first time I have sunburnt my legs and feet. I am very smart and always learn my lesson. Or not. (If this were the '90's, I would have just said "NOT!" and then I would have been awesome.)

Everywhere I went for the rest of Saturday and the beginning of Sunday, I could hear people whispering about me and my red legs, or strangers would exclaim, "OMG! That looks like it HURTS!" To which I would respond, "Yes. Yes it does." (Fucking duh.) It was pretty embarrassing after awhile and I also wanted to keep my legs from getting any more burnt, so I bought some loose white pants at Target and they became my beach pants for the rest of the trip. Luckily before this, I did manage to swim in the ocean and frolick on the beach. And after I got the pants, I still frolicked and it was too chilly to swim, anyway, so it all worked out.

When I got home, Lauren wondered why I never learn my lesson. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I learned it this time cause this time, I had a crazy reaction to the sunburn and my feet have been very swollen since Sunday. I can only wear flip-flops! I've been wearing a pair of flats at work that I usually take off about an hour into my day, and this morning Knuckles puked in them. So if I sunburn my legs ever again after this, well...there are no words.

Anyhoo. Besides the sunburn, the beach was so great!! We had such a fun weekend, and it was totally worth the long drive. There is no place I love to be more than the ocean.

And there was this sweet statue of the god of the sea. I forget whether it was Poseiden or a different one... We happened to wander past it while we were walking around. Oh, and I forgot my digital camera so all of these pictures are from my cellphone. We also took pictures on a disposable camera, including some that include me, Cory, Jesus, and a boat, but those still have to be developed like in colonial days.

This is me, after my ocean swimming and sunburn extravaganza.

In conclusion, I want to live at the ocean.

And now for something completely different...

Here is Cory, wearing an awesome beard shirt that I found for him on Etsy. I heart homemade goods.

The ad below came with a coupon for pizza. Just to clarify, it is a picture of a pig and a chicken on runaway horses who are leading them to their certain deaths so that people can have chicken bacon ranch pizza. This did not make me hungry for that particular pizza.

Lastly....did you know there is a plant called the Weeping Pussy Willow? There is.

Happy birthday to Lauren tomorrow!

Hope you all had great long weekends!