When in Rome...

Or, should I say Indiana?

On vacation the rest of the week (heading to North Carolina in just a few minutes!). Have a great week!

Fond memories of South Beach

**I seem to be having some issues uploading photos on here today. I apologize for the awkwardly cropped photos. And sorry, Jenn, about the one where you are completely cropped out. I will fix this, but...not tonight.**

I was thrilled to see that Lisa uploaded some photos from our Miami trip on facebook today. I thought that I would share some of the highlights with you (for those of you who aren't on facebook, of course!). We really did have a fantastic time, and looking back on these photos (and the amazing dvd that Lisa made me!) really took me back to our short, yet fabulous, weekend in paradise.

When we first got to South Beach, we immediately found a sidewalk square that had some important initials in it.I know it's hard to see, but yes - the sidewalk does indeed say "S & M." And yes, I know that our initials are unfortunate. But, I can't help it.

Here's a cute one of us celebrating our arrival in South Beach with some champagne:

Sadly, the weather wasn't quite as paradise-like as it should have been, and our one excursion to the beach looked like this:But that's okay, the water was super warm. That night, we got dressed up and looked fabulous, clearly:

This is the part of the evening when, while eating at Gloria Estefan's restaurant, I was forced to wear a veil covered on condoms. What can I say...it was a bachelorette party. And to be honest, I don't look like I minded very much. We had downed quite a few mojitos by that time in the evening.
The next morning, we recuperated with an amazing buffet brunch at the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne. Unfortunately, none of us felt like taking advantage of the all-you-can-drink mimosas. Oh well - there's always next time!
Thanks again, Jenn and Lisa, for a totally awesome weekend in South Beach. We clearly had the best time! Can't wait to see you again - only 14 days away!

Bachelorette recap, upcoming shower, and more!

Wow, I feel like there's a lot to blog about tonight. Let's get started!

1. My amazing bachelorette trip!

Well, it's hard to find the right words to describe our awesome weekend in South Beach. And sadly (or maybe for the best???), I don't have any photos yet to share. But that's probably good, because I'm not sure I want you to see them. Well, ALL of them. The weekend started with me driving to Clarksville, TN, where fab MOH Jennifer lives. I got to see her brand new house (adorable!) and then we left early Friday morning for the Nashville airport. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, rented a car, and immediately drove to the Miami airport where we picked up Lisa, fab bridesmaid. It was too early to check into our hotel room, so we ate a killer deli lunch here:

Jerry's Famous Deli. Delish! I had a half corned beef sandwich and some fabulous matzo ball soup. Mmmm. I could totally go for that right now. Anyway! We walked around a bit and then drove to our hotel, The Palms. Very chic! Here are some photos from their website to tie you over until I get the photos off of Lisa's camera:

And this is pretty much the exact view from our room, a killer corner suite:

When we checked in, we spent some time hanging out in our room, drinking champagne and opening a special box of bachelorette-themed items that Lisa put together for me (i.e., I can't talk about that here because I'm not sure who is reading). Needless to say, it got a little out of hand. We then got dressed up and went to dinner at Emeril's. Yummmmy! I got a great lobster tail, and we all drank mojitos. Delish. That was an early night, as we were all tired from traveling.

On Saturday, we woke up to discover that it was raining. Not that much of a surprise, since I had been checking weather.com for the forecast about every 4-6 hours. We ordered a sumptuous room service breakfast (french toast? yes please!) and ordered a movie on our flat-screen tv (one of TWO in our suite!). We later decided to venture out into the rain, and went to the beach to frolic a bit. Then...we were too wet, and gave up on outdoor activities for the day. Instead, we got in-room massages! Lisa swore here masseuse was trying to kill her, and mine definitely slapped me around a bit, but...it was still pretty amazing. We got ready and then went out to have some Cuban food at Lario's. We read pretty mixed reviews of this place, but our concierge recommended it, so we decided to go for it. We also discovered that it's co-owned by Gloria Estefan, which was...weird. But - great mojitos, and a great Cuban steak. Yummy. Of course, I'm not sure if Adrienne would have agreed with that - we also read that Cubans think it's kind of like Applebees. Oh well. Thankfully, we don't know any better.

It was at this point that Lisa and Jenn made me don my hairpiece for the evening: a veil covered in condoms. Embarrassing! But not so much after a couple mojitos. We made lots of friends, and successfully gave all the condoms away. We also met some colorful characters, for sure - mostly at the ridiculous bar we went to afterwards, called Mango's. This was recommended by the football players sitting next to us at dinner. I did a google image search for Mango's, and found this photo. It seems to sum up what the bar is like, although I don't remember the ladies looking so much like strippers...check out the one in the fishnet shirt. What is that???After that rough evening, we woke up Sunday morning, checked out, and went to an amazing buffet brunch on Key Biscayne at a restaurant called the Rusty Pelican. Yummmmmy! They had all you could drink mimosas, but I don't think any of us even finished one.

And...that was the end of the weekend! It sure was fabulous. The only way I could possibly have had any more fun is if my other two fabulous bridesmaids, Catherine and Anna, could have made it. They were sorely missed! But, don't worry ladies, I have a small souvenir for each of you! ;) ;)

2. Indiana bridal shower
This Saturday is my Indiana bridal shower, hosted by several of my almost-mother-in-law's friends. I'm so excited! I haven't really met any of them, so this will be a great time to put faces with names from the wedding invitations. My mom is driving down tomorrow for the weekend, and Jenn is driving up. Can't wait!!!!

3. New job
So, I'm a few days into my new job now, and I love it! I know it's really early, and everyone loves new jobs at first, but I really do think it's going to be great. First of all, I have an OFFICE, so that's pretty neat. I've never had an office before! I started seeing kids yesterday, and saw a lot more today. It's been totally great so far. I'm thrilled to be working in a school, where the schedule is a little more forgiving than my last job - plus, I get to work part-time in the summer! How cool is that???

Well, I think I've blogged long enough for tonight...time to read a bit before bed.

I thought the day would never come...

...when I'd be able to say, our wedding is ONE MONTH from today!!!

I can't believe we only have a few weeks of single-dom left.  I am so excited, and ready for the big day to be here.  

I'm not feeling great tonight, so I'm going to save my big post on the MOST AMAZING BACHELORETTE WEEKEND EVER for tomorrow.  Needless to say, we had the greatest time in South Beach, despite the rain.  

That's all for now...more tomorrow!

I'm still here

I know I said I wouldn't blog until I get home from Miami, but...here I am.  Jenn told me that we can call our "fun time trip" an official bachelorette trip, so that's fun.  We recently found out that Jenn's husband Ryan (also Matt's co-best man) will be deploying to Iraq tonight.  This is a bummer, obviously, for so many reasons.  One of them is that he'll miss our wedding, which we are really sad about.  But, we kind of expected it so it's not that much of a surprise.  Tomorrow will be "cheer up Jenn" day when I get to Clarksville, and then our awesome weekend will begin!

In other news, I started my new job today.  I think I'm going to love it!  Plus, I get my own office.  I've never had my own office before!  So, that's pretty exciting.  

Okay, that's all for now.  

We love you, Jennifer and Ryan!

It's almost time...

...for my fun time trip!  Through a series of events, I have found out that we are going to Miami.  However, the rest of the details are still unknown.  I'm so excited!  I will be driving to Nashville after work on Thursday to stay the night with Jenn, and then I believe we are flying down to Miami on Friday morning.  Can't wait to tell you about what I know will be an amazing trip when we return!  

I also start my new job tomorrow - exciting!  I'm really looking forward to it.  Look for a report on the job and Miami early next week!  

I'm alive!

Hello friends. I can't believe how long it's been since my last posting...too long. I'm so sorry. Life around here has been hectic, and for some reason only Matt's computer has internet (we're, ahem, stealing from our friendly neighbors).

Matt and I successfully made it to Bloomington last Tuesday night, and our new apartment is amazing! Last Wednesday, I had a great job interview, and I have a second interview for the same job tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Last Thursday, MOH Jenn and I drove to Michigan for my bridal shower weekend! It was fun, but also really busy and stressful. I really have tried to keep the wedding planning as non-stressful as possible, but when you are faced with what seems like a thousand wedding decisions two days after moving cross-country, things can get a little dicey. However, I had a great meeting with my florist and finally nailed down the flowers for my bouquet, my girls' bouquets, and the floral centerpieces for the reception. Phew! That's one big check off the list.

Saturday was my bridal shower! It was so fabulous. There really are no other words to describe it, besides WET! It poured rain for the entire day, which made for some unhappy drivers. Three cheers for my amazing bridesmaid Lisa, who drove 5 hours from Chicago that morning in a monsoon just to come to the shower. Due to the internet problems, I do not yet have photos I can post here of the shower, but I'll try to take care of this asap.

On Saturday night, Jenn, Lisa and I went out for dinner drinks, and they presented me with the packing list for my fun time trip (which is coming up in just a few weeks!). The highlights:
-beachware
-beach bag
-1 fabulously fun going out outfit
-sunglasses
-sunscreen
I think I'm going on a beach vaca!!! I'm sooo excited. I know that with these girls planning it, I will have a world of fun.

On Sunday, I braved more icky rain and drove back to Bloomington, and Matt and I have been unpacking boxes and trying to get things organized ever since!

One huge wedding highlight: we bought our wedding bands today! Talk about a huge check off the list. I originally planned on a band that matched my engagement ring, but the jeweler had a couple of diamond bands in the store for me to try today and I just fell in love with it. It's a 14k white gold band with ten diamonds that total just over a 1/2 carat. The diamonds match up really well with the diamonds on my engagement ring. He just has to size it up a 1/4 size, and we are getting the wedding date engraved on both of our bands (11-08-08). We should have both rings in 2-3 days! I'm so excited.

So, that's what I've been up to lately. I'm hoping we get real internet soon, so I can blog more regularly. I promise to upload some photos soon!

Fun Time Update

Remember how I told you about the "Fun Time" trip my amazing bridesmaids have been planning?  Well, I just received a mysterious envelope in the mail from super-MOH, Jenn.  I received it yesterday, July 26th.  The envelope says I cannot open it until JULY THIRTY FIRST.  Thursday.  This is agonizing.  I suspect that it contains information about our "Fun Time," but clearly I won't know for four more days.

As a sidenote...if I had ever sent something like this to Jenn, there's no way she wouldn't have been able to open it.  I know her.  

Fun Time

I realized the other day that I never mentioned how my most fabulous bridesmaids are taking me on a surprise trip in October!  It is a pseudo-bachelorette trip.  But, seeing as how "bachelorette party" seems to connote all sorts of indiscretions that we will clearly not be partaking in, my bridesmaid ringleaders Lisa and Jennifer have called it my "Fun Time" trip.  

I am thrilled!  I have no idea what they have up their sleeves - although I hear they have been busy scheming for some time - and they've even consulted Matt in the planning stages.  No matter what we do, no matter where we go, I cannot wait to spend a weekend with my fab girlfriends!