Good Friends, Good Times, a Great Visit Home and the Yankees?!?!?!

As I had hoped, this past weekend was a great reunion weekend. Chris picked me up at the airport on Friday night around 7:30 and we stopped by Willy's (yummmmm!) on the way to Summerville to grab a bit to eat. We made our way to my parents' house where we got to spend the later part of the evening hanging out with my parents and my brother. It was just great to be home with my family and actually being in the same room with my husband. I sincerely feel for military wives as I gripe and moan about the 10 weeks that Chris and I have to live apart. I have no reason to complain.....but I do still miss him like crazy.

Chris ended up having to do work on Saturday and it wasn't very nice out, so we just stayed at my parents' house before we headed to Rome, GA for Heather and Mark's wedding. We got all decked out in our nice clothes and made our way through the most rain that I have seen in a very long time. The rain stopped just as the wedding started. Heather was a beautiful bride and Mark was a happy groom standing at the front of the aisle waiting for her. After the wedding, we all headed downstairs for dinner and dancing. I haven't had a night of dancing in a long time, so I was excited! After a few too many glasses of wine, I made my way out onto the dance floor with a few old friends.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I expected to see some of my high school friends at the wedding and I was not disappointed. I got to spend the evening hanging out with Billy Peppers and his fiance Julie Prather (who is absolutely wonderful), Laura Casey, Carol Leguin, Lauren Elsberry (even though she left before the dancing began), and, of course, Heather Rogers (now Lawrence). It was so much fun to catch up with everyone. I find it surprising that after spending so many years apart and growing up and finding new friends, you can still fall back into the same wonderful friendships that you had before. I find that even though we may have grown apart during college and after, these people know so much about me. They are great friends and ones that I hope to keep for the rest of my life. I can't wait to see them again, and, as luck would have it, I will get to see a few of them again in September at Billy and Julie's wedding. Okay, enough mush, enjoy the pics below.

Yeah, not sure what this is about. Julie caught me mid pose or something. Who knows?!?!

We had only been together a full day by this time and I was already choking him. At least we were still smiling, lol!

Billy and Julie

Laura Nell and I

The beautiful bride and me

Laura Nell posing behind Billy and Julie (no, the black tie wasn't part of the bridal party attire). Laura likes to accessorize.

Billy breaking it down with Heather.

And Chris breaking it down....the one time he actually made his way to the dance floor. Shame!

Billy and I

Why so serious???

This pic suits us much better!

How sweet!

Laura and I posing on a street corner in Rome....

Waiting on the bride and groom to return Laura's purse that she left in the back of their car. Oh Laura!

Sunday was filled with going to church and eating. I swear, I ate more than I have eaten in forever and I don't plan to eat that much again EVER! I was so sick after lunch at Chris's parents' house, a frozen hot chocolate made with my mom's mix from Serendipity, sampling the new blackberry cobbler recipe, and then eating an early dinner consisting of ribs, ham, tenderloin, corn, squash, salad with my grandmother's homemade blue cheese dressing, and homemade ice cream with more blackberry cobbler. Ugh....I get nauseous just thinking about it!

Chris dropped me off at the airport around 8:00 for my 9:30 flight that wasn't delayed, thank goodness, even though there were lots of storms in the evening in Boston. These storms caused most of the early flights to be delayed and we all pretty much landed at the same time at Logan. This led to me having to wait approximately 30 minutes to get my bag and then another 30 minutes waited in the line for a taxi.

As has previously happened to me, I often see celebrities when I am having a bad travel experience. When Chris and I were coming home from our honeymoon our flight got canceled from Jamaica, they got us on a different flight going to Miami, they ran us through security and then on our flight from Miami to Atlanta we were on the same plane as Big Boi from Outkast. We actually got our picture made with him after we deplaned in Atlanta. This past Sunday was not quite as stressful, but was just as full of celebrities. As I was standing in the taxi line, a bus pulled up and people started to get off. They were all men dressed in nice suits and I thought I recognized one of the first guys to get off the bus. After more consideration by myself, I realized that it was the New York Yankees....straight from a loss to our Boston Red Sox. I hardly recognized any of the players exiting the bus until a few minutes later when A. Rod hopped off. I was tempted to yell "where's Madonna?", but I decided to keep it to my self. I was unable to get my camera out in time to take a picture of him, unfortunately. A second bus pulled up and I was prepared when Derek Jeter stepped off the bus. Below is the best picture I got of him. It isn't great, but at least it is proof that I saw him. To my surprise, not a single person heckled the Yankees team who walked right in the middle of the long taxi line. Maybe everyone was too frustrated from all their delays?!?!?

A Long Awaited Reunion

There are actually two reunions going on this weekend with the most important of the two being that I get to see my wonderful husband after 3 long weeks apart. I am so excited to be able to see his face instead of just hearing his voice! We are going on 6 weeks living apart and time is starting to drag. He only has 4 more weeks of work and then we can return back to being a married couple who actually lives together. I can't wait!

Also this weekend, I am attending the wedding of Heather Rogers, a close high school friend, and Mark Lawrence. The wedding will be the second semi-reunion of the weekend, as I am sure that there will be many old friends from high school there. Not old as in age old, but old as in, I don't see or talk to them as much as I used to or would like to. I am looking forward to seeing and catching up with everyone that I haven't seen in a while as well as celebrating the marriage of Heather and Mark. It should be a good time and I will be there with Chris, so it can't get much better than that! Below are a few fun pictures of Chris to give you some examples of why I miss him so much (I am sure he won't appreciate me adding to the blog, but I just have to because I miss these funny faces). Love you honey!

And....just so he cuts me a little slack for posting these, my own ridiculousness below.

Happy Anniversary Elizabeth and Adam!

Two of my most favorite people in the world are celebrating their one year wedding anniversary today! I, of all people, matron of honor at their wedding, best friend of the bride, completely let it slip my mind that today was their anniversary. How terrible of me! Anyway, they are a wonderful couple who deserve all the happiness in the world. I wish them many more years of wedded bliss! Love you both! I hope this somewhat makes up for me forgetting!

When I wake up in the morning....

And the alarm gives out a warning,

I don't think I'll ever make it on time,

By the time i grab my books,

and i give myself a look,

I'm at the corner just in time to see the bus fly by,

It's alright 'cause I'm Saved by the Bell

If the teacher pops a test,

I know I'm in a mess,

And my dog ate all my homework last night,

Ridin' low in my chair,

She won't know that I'm there,

If I can hand it in tomorrow it'll be alright,

It's alright 'cause I'm saved by the bell

To keep our sanity with our men out of town, a group of my girlfriends in Boston decided to get together for dinners on Mondays and happy hours on Thursdays. Each Monday night has consisted of a different locale and a different theme. Erin hosted Mexican Monday and I hosted Italian Monday, but the best girls' night thus far for the summer has to be the Saved by the Bell evening that Ginny hosted this past Monday. This girl is crazy about Saved by the Bell. I thought that I loved it, but it doesn't compare to her love for the show.

She had been telling us for a long time about her love for all things SBTB. In the midst of telling us about her favorite episode of SBTB being the one where they are in a murder mystery, she also told us that she owned the SBTB board game. Needless to say, I got very excited! I thought it would be so much fun to rehash and quiz ourselves on all of the old shows that we used to watch religiously. I, to this day, still watch it on TBS when it is on in the morning. Ginny somehow convinced her brother to let her borrow the game for a few weeks and so we had SBTB girls' night.

It was a great time! We had SBTB in Hawaii and Wedding in Vegas on in the background while we tried to recall anything and everything about SBTB. I was surprised at what I was able to recall, but Ginny knew EVERYTHING. We had so much fun! Below are a few pics from the evening that we all got to relive the teen angst of our SBTB friends. Thanks Ginny, aka Lisa Turtle, for a great evening!

Ginny modeling her "The Max" t-shirt and posing with the best game ever!

Just in case you didn't know what the shirt is in reference to, lol!

All of us before heading home....Me, Erin, Mary, Ginny, and Alisha.

Boston and NYC will never be the same again......

The day that I dropped Chris off at the airport, I was privileged to welcome my grandmother, Aunt Jean, Doris and Joyce to Boston. This lively group of seniors, who is used to spending many weekends a year in Pigeon Forge, TN, decided that it was time to venture out and experience something new, especially since I was in Boston to help them out. They arrived Sunday evening and I cooked them dinner and then we had a crash course on how to get around Boston.

They did an OUTSTANDING job navigating the city without me there to help them. They walked a half of a mile to the T, took 3 different trains, and found the Old Town Trolley Tours ticket office. I have to say, this is very impressive indeed. Unfortunately, they were a little uncomfortable with the city the first day and proceeded to ride the Trolley two times around the entire city without getting off at any of the 16 stops. The next day they took a cruise around the harbour and then, on Wednesday, they got back on the Trolley and actually exited it at a few stops to see the USS Constitution, Paul Revere's House, and the Public Garden.

The only pic that I have of the group and me in Boston, taken at our local Texas Roadhouse. Yes, not the dinner locale that I had in mind, but who was I to argue with their request.

(From Left to Right, Aunt Jean, Doris, Joyce, me, and Jo)

The Boston leg of their trip seemed to come and go very quickly, but they were off on Thursday to an even bigger city. Wednesday night we had another crash course on getting around NYC, which required A LOT more information, which I am not sure that they utilized very well. I hand wrote two pages of instructions for them to make their way around the city and see all of the hot spots. They spent Thursday and Friday in NYC without me. They road another set of tour buses, visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as the World Trade Center Site.

When I arrived in NYC on Saturday morning, I met them at Macy's, because they were dying to do some shopping. Shopping, my friends, is something these ladies do best. Because of all the sightseeing they hadn't been able to do any shopping, which is uncharacteristic for them. We spent a few hours in the largest department store in the world and then headed over to the Empire State Building.

Joyce, Jo, and Doris

My grandmother, Jo, and I

Aren't they beautiful in their bright colors?!?!?

One of the main parts of their trip consisted of two broadway shows. On Friday, they attended Hairspray and loved it! On Saturday, after a long afternoon at Macy's and the Empire State Building, we attend the broadway show A Chorus Line with Mario Lopez. Let me just say that he was much more attractive in person than I had imagined. Unfortunately, no photography allowed, so you will have to take my word for it. The show was good, but Mario didn't make as many appearances as we had hoped.

The ladies outside the theatre before A Chorus Line.

On Sunday, we met Chesney, living in NYC and working at MTV for the summer, and Travis, her boyfriend, at Serendipity for some yummy treats. It did not disappoint the second time around! After dessert, we made our way to China Town where the ladies enjoyed a little bargain shopping. After a great weekend in NYC, we made our way to the Amtrak station where we boarded a train bound for Boston. It was a less than enjoyable train ride because we were two hours late. Oh well, at least we made it home before midnight.

We were so delirious from the train ride...as you can tell from the laughing in the back of the cab. Maybe it was because we squeezed four people in the back. It was a tight squeeze.

Jo was not amused by our antics. I can't believe I made her sit in the front....I wasn't even thinking about it when I jumped in the back.

While their trip was extremely exhausting for me because I was constantly worried about them, I am sure it was even more exhausting for them because they actually did all the walking around and sightseeing that I didn't do. It was so great to have them in town and provide them a reason to come and visit a city that they may not have ever seen or had only seen once before. I hope they enjoyed it!

Chris comes home for the 4th!

After 2 weeks of not seeing each other, Chris flew to Boston so that we could spend the 4th together. It was so great to see him and have him at home! I hate to wish the summer away, but as I am writing this he only has 5 1/2 weeks left of work. It is honestly going by very fast, so that is good!

We spent the 4th at HBS cooking out with several of Chris' sectionmates and spouses. It was a fun day filled with good food, good friends, and whiffle ball. I didn't play but Chris enjoyed it! That evening, we made our way downtown to watch the fireworks. Rascal Flatts performed and the fireworks were amazing. The ending was just craziness where you really couldn't hear anything except for the exploding fireworks! Below are a few pics and a video from the evening. I am so glad that we decided to spend Independence Day in Boston! There is nothing like singing Yankee Doodle Dandy on the Charles River bank!

Alex at the cookout, so cute!

Chris and I before the fireworks.

Sea of people on Massachusetts Avenue, no doubt trying to all get on the T. We decided to walk the entire way home instead of fighting the madness!

We had planned to go to the beach on Saturday, but it turned out to be a gloomy day. So, we did what we, I, know best and made our way out to the Burlington Mall to grab some Chick-fil-A and do a little shopping. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying just being in the same place! I will see him again the weekend of July 25 because I will be in Georgia for a friend's wedding. I can't wait to see him again! Love you!

Congratulations Tony and Brandi!

Congratulations go out today to Tony Salyers and Brandi Spivey! They got engaged last night! Tony surprised Brandi by popping the question on the 50 yard line of the football field at the University of Tennessee! I am so happy for the two of them and can't wait for their big day to arrive! Love you both!

Boston and NYC with my Mom

My mom flew into Boston on Thursday, June 26th, to hang out with me in Boston and for us to take a weekend trip to NYC. We spent Friday in Boston on Newbury Street. We went in several stores and walked ourselves until we thought our feet were going to fall off. We ate lunch at Parish Café on Boylston Street that I had heard good things about. They serve sandwiches created by chefs from restaurants all over Boston. The food was good; however, our outdoor lunch was cut short when a very strong thunderstorm came through the area. We grabbed our lunch and jetted out of there, but not too far because it was pouring down rain and we forgot our umbrella. We hung out in Jos A. Bank for about 20 minutes waiting for the rain to stop. I have never been so bored in a store! The rain finally stopped and we were able to continue our shopping adventure. We were pretty exhausted from our day in Boston, so we decided to take it easy in the evening by ordering takeout clam chowder from Legal Seafoods.

Our means of transportation to NYC was by train. This was both of our first times on Amtrak and it turned out to be a pleasant trip down, much easier than driving or flying. We grabbed a cab from Penn Station to our hotel, Hotel Mela, near Times Square. We were thankfully able to check-in to our room around 1pm, even though check-in time wasn’t until 3. The hotel was very nice. I am not sure it was worth the money we, and by we I mean my parents, paid for it, but it was in a great location.

After dropping our bags off in the room, we made our way to Times Square to find some much needed food. We ate at the Hard Rock Times Square. I know, I know, tourist city, but the pulled pork sandwich, recommended by my mom, was excellent. I don’t live in NYC so I am a tourist and I will do as tourists do sometimes.

After lunch, we took to subway to 14th Street where we ventured to the Magnolia Bakery to grab some wonderful cupcakes. Last spring when I was in NYC for a girls’ trip we took a Sex and the City tour that took us by the Magnolia Bakery, but we were given cupcakes from another cupcake bakery, Buttercup Bakery. I have to say that the Magnolia Bakery cupcakes were much better than the Buttercup Bakery cupcakes. I also took my mom by Carrie Bradshaw’s doorstep that I also visited when on the tour last spring. After much searching on the internet, I found what appeared to be Sarah Jessica Parker’s address. I am not for sure if the street over from Carrie’s apartment is actually where SJP lives, but I will say that it is. It definitely appeared to be her place since all the blinds were closed, probably because of so many stalkers like me. Unfortunately, I didn’t see her and will probably never receive confirmation if it was actually her place. That’s okay though!

Carrie Bradshaw's apartment....the owners have to put a sign up so that they don't have too many stalkers. Too bad we didn't pay any attention to the sign.

Could this be Sarah Jessica Parker's apartment? Who knows....I will pretend that it is.

Since we were in the area, I decided to drag my mom down the street where the friends on Friends supposedly lived. To the left is a pic of the building that is shown on Friends to be the place where Monica, Rachel, Joey, and Chandler live. While there, we were approached by a homeless man who said that we weren’t vain (sarcastically) because we were taking pictures of ourselves. He also said that he liked my mom’s hair and that it was very French. Fun times!

After doing some sightseeing and more shopping, we made our way to the fun that is ChinaTown. Thank goodness we didn’t spend too much time there before we headed back to the Garment District to visit Macy’s.

After a fun-filled afternoon, we quickly made our way back to hotel to get ready to go see Legally Blonde. We didn’t have too much time so we grabbed a couple of double cheeseburgers from Mickey D’s. Always reliable! They even sell sweet tea in NYC now! How crazy!

Legally Blonde was FABULOUS! I definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a Broadway show to see in NYC. It stays pretty true to the movie and the songs are so catchy and fun. It was definitely a great decision to see it with my mom! It was perfect for our girls’ only weekend!

My mom and I before Legally Blonde started. Do you see Elle Woods' bracelet in the background?

Outside after the show....and not tired like we all were after we saw Phantom of the Opera a few years ago.

We got really good at these self-potraits by the end of the weekend!

Sunday was dedicated to sampling the frrrozzen hot chocolate at Serendipity. In the movie Serendipity, which I love, the characters played by Kate Beckinsale and Jon Cusack go for dessert at Serendipity. This is what spawned by curiosity in the restaurant. Further searching online led me to their website where it listed their own copyrighted dessert of frrrozzen hot chocolate. They also had a peanut butter version, so I knew that I needed to visit! After a failed attempt of going there during our January visit to NYC, I decided that my mom and I would have to visit. It did not disappoint! We both ordered sandwiches, which were good, but not great, but the dessert was the kicker. We both ordered one of their large frozen concoctions that were amazing! I have to say that I enjoyed the peanut butter frrrozen hot chocolate more than the regular frrrozen hot chocolate, but my mom disagreed. Anyway, the trip was well worth the wait and I will definitely return there during my next trip to NYC, which just so happens to be next weekend, woohoo! Below are a few pics from our trip to Serendipity. Don't wait, get yourself there as soon as possible!

Mom and I with our desserts!

So yummy!

Below are just a few random pictures that I took over the weekend, because I like to take random pictures. Enjoy!

Chris has a street in NYC that we didn't know about!

My mom and I were walking down Madison Avenue, I believe, and I noticed this building that looked very familiar. Familiar, you may ask? The Vanderwootsen's (spelling?) of Gossip Girl supposedly reside in this building, The New York Palace. Yes, I watch waaaaay too much TV. I really shouldn't be recognizing filming locations like this, lol! I love it though!