Thursday, January 26, 2012

Girls Weekend

So this past weekend was my bachelorette weekend...OH.MY.GOD.
It was everything I had hoped for and more!
My friends that came were so amazing and truly made it a weekend I will never forget.

Lindsay and I flew out early Friday morning and had a layover in Tampa where we kicked the weekend off with margaritas and chips y salsa...just to get in the flavor of Tejas!

When we arrived we met Katie, another bridesmaid at the airport where she had arrived from Reno. 
Tricia, the one in charge of the weekend, picked us all up and we headed to the rental house. 
At first is wasn't starting off as we had expected..there was a group of old mexicans standing outside with a frazzled hippie woman in her mid 50's and the front door wide open. They were apparently waiting for a mattress to arrive (SCORE!) for the master bedroom.
Frazzled 50something lady won't stop rambling on about light switches and keys and blinds, and all we are thinking is "get the hell out" so we can start our weekend! Tricia gets bored and walks away and me and the rest of the girls stand around pretending to be interested when we hear her say 
"We didnt have time to clean, the people here before rented it for a month and took forever to get out today"
EXCUSE ME?!
Not only are you standing here with a group of people that don't speak english putting an awkward damper on the start of our kick ass weekend, there is also no bed in the bedroom, but you are honestly telling us how this place hasnt even been cleaned!!!! 
Cue Tricia coming in and whispering that there is a jacuzzi in the next room with a steam room!
Before I had a hissy fit about the cleaning situation., or the lack there of, Katie opened a bottle of wine and we all had a glass while they brought the new bed in and then we decided we couldnt take anymore of this lady and we left to do our grocery shopping.

We decided that we would try to get the cleaning fee back and an inconvenience fee because of the experience but who knows if that'll ever happen.

That night we played lots of games and drank more wine then I thought we could consume. 
Aren't we pretty? haha





The next morning we hung around and had mimosas and bagels, while we all got ready for the day.
We called a cab to pick us up around 1230 and as we are all (5 of us) walking to the itsy bitsy cab we realize there isnt enough room for us. We desperately plead the driver but not a chance! So Vanessa, Tricia's long time friend and one of the niceswt people I have ever met, offers to drive.
Katie, Linds and I get in the cab and we arrive to the brewery a good 30 min later!
We thought it was a 10 min to drive, so we were a bit bitter but whatever...we got there!
The owner and brewer greets us in a Gorilla suit and tells us cheerfully, "Wow first time a cab has dropped any one off way out here, how much was the ride from the city!" and then true magician style he disappears. 
We walk in and immediately are so happy we made the decision to come! It was such an awesome, rustic place. It felt kind of lofty with big window and exposed pipes but kind of rustic with old looking wood making up the few walls that were in the building. There was great contemporary artwork hanging around that was forsale by local artisits and a huge great patio!
It was a small group of people working and touring so by the end it felt like you new everyone. It was lots of fun and I definitely reccommend...












after..obviously

The beer was delicious by the way :)
We then headed home and I made a quick dinner and we all got ready. Cabs were back to pick us up but after making dinner, doing tricias updo and getting dressed I still hadnt even done my hair or makeup and they were already outside! So we had to pay a stupid 7 dollar waiting fee and not to mention we had to take 2 cabs because of the stupid 4person per vehicle (even if it is a van!) in Austin. bleh. 
Regardless we made it downtown to Pete's Piano Bar!
They are known for Bachelorette parties and their wonderful dualing pianos!
It was the most fun I have had in a long long long time! We got there around 8 so we didnt have to pay the $20 covercharge which was a really good decision because we were able to make friends with bartenders and pianists because we were the only ones there. Not to mention the great table we got!!! 

We made so many friends that night! A cougar that sat next to us basically hung out the whole night with Katie. The bartender from Tahoe, whom I wanted to bring back home to buffalo with me! And a sweet mom from Texas with a great southern accent! Not to mention all the other bachellorette parties that were there! Seriously so much fun. 

















We were having such a great time we didn't really make it to any other bars lol. Which is what Austin's 6th street is all about. 

Only made it to one other bar, called the dizzy rooster. I.DONT.REMEMBER. lol
Well maybe a little bit, I remember we ordered a shot and the bartendar put mine on a beam over the bar with my i.d. and said the only way I was getting it was if I climbed. 
So, naturally I did. 
We met a huge group of friends there as well. 


Then it was time to go home. We tried getting a cab but there was way too many people so we took a bicycle cab to a less populated area. Never done that before!
It worked!

Oh wait I forgot to mention...somewhere between Pete's and Dizzy Rooster, this bachelorette lost her phone! haha Typical.

So the next day we all filled in each other memories with bits and pieces of that night and laughed at pictures and videos over a delicious greasy Mexican breakfast. yum!




Then we parted ways. sad face!

It was soooo much fun and I was so happy all of my friends got along so well. They all had never met one another so it was so comforting to know that they will have a ton of fun at the wedding all together too!

Thank you to all of you who made this weekend the most perfect girls weekend, whether you were an attendee, a brewer, a bartender, a new friend, a pianist, a cabbie, or my fabulous fiance whom without asking me to marry him, none of this would have been possible!!!!! Love you all :):):):)


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Einstein said it best...

My oh my what a horrible blogger I have been lately.

I feel like at a time like this in my life I should be doing more blogging rather then less blogging. 
There has been so much going on and so much that has been making me crazy that I should really find more time to come here and let loose. It really is therapeutic...yeah I said it. 
I love blogging.

So about the whole life being wild and crazy and me wanting to just explode...

The house officially has dry wall...ceilings are painted and paint colors have been chosen. 
IT LOOKS BALLER!!
Cabinets should be in soon, and tile has to be ordered asap.
We decided to go with a gray tile, and light gray grout. Our cabinets will be a dark brown maple, and the counter top is Corian called "chalk white".
 We are going with "Golden Haze" aka yellow paint color for the kitchen and a silvery gray for the dining/living room.

Look at how far it has come, already!

BEFORE:




AFTER DEMO AND DRYWALL
 notice the the place where Tristan is standing is where the stick man is standing in picture above.
Hopefully that gives you a better perspective and
understanding of how much has changed!

We are also shuffling to get all of our last minute things done for the wedding. Invitations just went out and getting addresses was not has terrible as I anticipated, and against my own will Adam did all of the addresses on the envelopes (I was biting my nails through it all) and they came out beautifully! And we saved a ton of $$$!!

Adam said him and I should write a book about how to save money while planning a wedding. We have been taking so many shortcuts!

Besides that, we are still living at Adam's parents and its going really well, Annabelle loves getting up in the morning and seeing Grandma and Grandpa. She has started getting REALLY attached to Grandpa. Like, "take me away from him and I'll scream my bloody brains out" kind of attached. It's cute, but stings the ear drums.

Adam's grandfather passed away on Jan 2nd, and I am very sad that Annabelle won't remember him, but I am feel so overjoyed that he knew her. They loved eachother, regardless of her remembering or not and it was wonderful to see them together. She brought so much joy to him and I loved seeing him smile at her. Came across this quote the day he died and posted it on Facebook, but I want to share it again because of the perfect way it expressed how I was feeling.

Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. ~Albert Einstein

Adam's family is all coming in this weekend for his Grandpa's memorial and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone.


As for Belly;

SHE IS SAYING MAMA AGAIN!!!!!
It was her official first word but then she learned how to say Dada and apparently that one rolled off the tongue easier so yeah...but alas, she is saying mama again. So now everyone and everything is mama, dada or boo (balloon). Or g-ee, for Doggy. haha

The kitchen gets painted tonight so you might be in for another late night update! We will see.

Oh and I forgot to tell you what has been taking up every open moment in my life, after the baby, work, wedding centerpieces and sleeping, my new kindle. Holy obsessed with reading over here!

ok, catch ya later!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

woah...a whole year is over?!

2011 brought soooo many great memories and not to mention the greatest gift ever, Annabelle, duh!

In the past year we:
HAD A BABY!
Visited TX twice
bought a house
Planned our wedding
ran an 8k
watched a crap ton of The Office
drove to NH and Boston
went to an NHL game
went to an NFL game
moved in with Adam's parents
Felt like grownups on a daily basis
obsessed over our daughter
demo-ed the house
laughed a lot at ourselves learning new parent things
were happy :)

In the past year I:
crafted
read a lot of books
started this blog
had serious surgery...a c section!
had to deal with some wicked bad anxiety
felt helpless
fell in love with my daughter
breastfed
flew on a plane with Annabelle alone
interviewed and got on a reality tv show, but bowed out
lost my milk while traveling
spent lots of time with my soon to be mother in law
missed my mom a ton
became obsessed with mommy and me classes
realized that I am the luckiest mom in the world, no joke.

In the past (almost) year Annabelle:
opened her eyes and took her first breath 2/11/11
nursed
became a dada's girl
projectile vomited ALOT
slept...a ton
swam in the pool
pooped in the tub while mom was having a girls night and dad was home alone
took 4 plane rides
did some road tripping
looked at lots of houses with mama and dada
fell in love with doggies
blow kisses
laughed on the swings
walking all over, but prefers to have someone to hold onto.
pointed at a lot of men with glasses thinking they were grandpa
enjoyed doing housework with grandma
learned to do pretty smiles from momo
skyped
read books
3 photoshoots
sat in a scary man's lap at the mall, Santa
was spoiled by everyone

It has been a great year and seriously flown by!!

In other news, the house is making serious progress! Dry wall is up and it looks like a new house. I can't believe the shape it has taken. Feels like things are really starting to happen, and now the hard ppart for me starts. Picking colors...I know what I want in the living/dining room but I am freakin clueless for the kitchen. I will upload some pictures of the house progress once I get a few pictures of color inspiration or a clue as to what direction I am going to take. 






ok kids hope you are safe tonight and if I am absent again for a while I am sorry! Have a great weekend! :):):)