How Does Your Garden Grow?

Went out with a bunch of my ladies last night. Went out to a new Mediterranean restaurant called Ambrosia, tried a bunch of delicious foods, and then out to the Ottawa Tavern, where we met up with more ladies and some of the boys (including my boy).

Tons of fun, we MUST do this more often. :)

Also got all but one bridesmaid dress ordered! And flowers bought and other wedding accessories. Making progress...

Now a Grizzly Bear?! I'm Outta Here...

Today I have the day off because I work at a bank and it is President's Day. I really enjoy bank holidays. Today I slept in, ate some cereal, finished a book, started a new one, and am now drinking some coffee and watching a wolf (druid?) carry off the spinal cord of a dead animal on PBS. Aw, now a bald eagle stole another wolf's carcass share. Sad. When Cory and I were on the plane back from Hawaii, we watched a documentary on meerkats and a bald eagle killed a really cute meerkat (after the narrator made us love him, of course) and fed him to her eagle babies. And don't even get me started on the one who stares at me at the zoo. I am not very fond of bald eagles. They are bullies. Sorry, America.



Next weekend Cory and I are going to Chicago with some friends, so I get next Monday off as well. And I don't mind Tuesdays cause Lost is back! Back and awesome. I spent this weekend walking in the snow at the park with my mom, helping her try on Mother-of-the-Bride dresses, hanging out at Mike and Stephanie's, shopping at the new Savers with our friend who is in town because of a foot injury, Nevaeh's 4th birthday party (yes- fourth! so crazy!!) and going out to dinner with Sara and Aaron. Today I might go out and do wedding-related errands...as soon as I feel like leaving my cozy cave...



Animal documentaries are traumatizing. I was sitting here thinking, "Aw, that wolf reminds me of my dog," and then a bunch of bigger, meaner wolves attacked him all at once and ripped him to shreds. Literally. While his mate had to flee cause she's having his babies. This is what happens when the Olympics preempt my soap opera.


Books are so much safer than TV.

And then...and then....and then....

So, besides the blog I just blogged about 20 minutes ago, I have been absent from the blog world for awhile. So I'm going to do a catch-up blog the way I always do...with lots and lots of pictures...

In November, me, Cory, his sister Dawn, and her boyfriend Scott went to Chattanooga for Cory & Dawn's cousin Richae's wedding. Richae is a super big sweetheart and her wedding was gorgeous. This is us with Richae...and I didn't notice till I uploaded the pic that Scott's eyes are closed...and now I'm too lazy to switch the picture, so- sorry, Scott.

After the wedding, we went out with a bunch of Cory's other cousins and got nice and drunk, and wandered the streets of Chattanooga a bit. Super good times!!

The weekend after the wedding, Cory, his mom and I all took our annual trip to Chalfont, PA (outside of Philadelphia). We shopped and went to a Jim Henson exhibit, which was awesome!! We also went into Philadelphia and I got to see the Liberty Bell for the first time. It was...underwhelming. I mean, there's this small building and it's super crowded and hot (even though it's cold outside) and people crowd around the bell and you can't see it, then when you try to take pictures, it takes like 7 times before you can get one without some asshole's head in it. But, 7th time's a charm...

We also ate a lot of delicious food, courtesy of Cory's aunt, and rode a train and ate the best Philly cheesesteak sandwiches ever at a place called Delsandro's.

Lauren also had an art show during Christmastime. Here is her super adorable tree topper on her studio Christmas tree....

...and here are Kyle & my mom in front of the giant monster Lauren painted on her studio wall...

Somehow I don't have any pictures from Christmas, but it was a really great one!! Well, except for the part where Cory had to go to the ER. But he is OK and we got out in time for church, so it was a minor snag. I went to church with my mom, Lauren & Kyle, as usual, and Lauren's wife Erica joined us this year. Then me & the sisters went out and met everyone at the bar, which is our Christmas Eve tradition. Spent the night at my parent's house, opened lots of presents, and ate delicious food.
Cory made me go on a scavenger hunt for my present and hid it under and behind his mom's bird cage. Which was mean, but it was an awesome present, so it was worth it. And the bird didn't kill me, which was a plus.

We spent New Year's Eve at Mickey's first, then went to our friend Tim's house. Our friend Jewel spent NYE with us...she is super cute...

Here are Cory, Dustin, and Jewel...

Oh, and also during the holidays, Angel was in town!! We ate out at a bunch of different places, went to the mall a bunch, and accidentally got drunk at a bowling alley and had to have her 18 year old brother pick us up....

We also hung out at her parent's house and karaoke'd, played pool, and generally had lots and lots of fun!

Angel, Karaoke Superstar...

CORY KARAOKE'D!! No one would believe it without a picture...including me...

Anyhoo, since the holidays, I have been wedding planning, working, and trying to catch up with everyone I haven't seen in awhile. Today I had the day off cause of MLK Day and man, do I love a day off...

Hope you all had great Novembers and holidays and are having great 2010's so far!!

One Step Closer...

So we went out again and tried once more to find bridesmaid dresses. And we were successful!! Hooray!! I feel like I've made some good progress with the wedding planning in the last couple of weeks, which is a relief cause I let it kind of fall to the side over the holidays and then realized...oh, crap, I better get back to it cause it's coming up really soon!!

Here's Kyle, me, and Sara, picking out what the girls were gonna try on...they think I like that I get to tell them what to do, like, "Try on this one. Now this one. Swirl around. Let me take a picture. You will not wear watermelon, you will wear purple. No tiaras!"

And they are right, it is fun to get to be the boss for a little bit. Cause none of these broads will put up with it any other time. :)
















Lauren did not like this dress. So she pouted in my picture as her form of silent protest. And it worked cause we didn't pick that one.
















We didn't pick this one, either. But isn't Lauren such a pretty princess with her bra straps, tiara, and argyle socks?























My sisters are very sad that I'm not letting them wear tiaras during the wedding. But I am not wearing a tiara. I told them we can all wear tiaras at the bachelorette party, but they said they are going to sneak tiaras into the wedding. I told them that I will probably notice them doing something like that, seeing as how I will be looking at them at some point during the wedding.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for an update on everything non-wedding related!

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...