Kiss Me!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Is everyone celebrating their Irish heritage today, be it authentic or honorary Irish heritage? I know I am!

There's a parade on Fifth Avenue at 11:00 this morning, so I plan to go out to watch that, and hopefully Eric will be able to take a long lunch to join me. For tonight, I foresee drinks and Irish fare at one of the many local Irish pubs. I love St. Patrick's Day!

Enjoy your day, and luck o' the Irish to you from the W. family!

Remembering My Bachelorette Weekend

I can't believe it's already been over a week since Kristina's Bachelorette Bash, and in just a few days we'll be heading back down there for the wedding! Thinking back to the fun of last weekend has also been making me think back to my own shower and bachelorette weekend, over a year and a half ago. Since those festivities took place in the pre-Blog era, I thought I'd share my reminiscing with you now!

That weekend was the best weekend I've ever spent with my friends. It was the week before the wedding, and my dear cousin Molly flew in the morning of my shower to spend the whole week with me. She and my sister Heather hosted my shower for me, with the help of my mom, my Aunt Debbie (Molly's mom), and my Mom's friend Wilma, who was kind enough to lend her house as the venue. Here are some of my favorite details from the shower...

The food and decor! My family knows my true love of things that match and coordinate, so everything at the shower matched my wedding color scheme of deep red and blush pink. They even went so far as to get a cake that looked like the front of our wedding invitations! Man, they know me so well. In addition to the cake, there was a yummy food selection, including fruit skewers, taco dip, sandwiches, potato salad, veggies and dip, and strawberry lemonade. Oh! And another part of the decor that I loved was the pictures of Eric and me over the years that they hung over the table. I'm a sucker for old pictures.

The food, and you can see the old pictures on the mirror above it. Do you see the pink and red cups, and the pink and red alternating napkins? It's a detail-oriented bride's dream come true.

Heather holding my invitation cake!

Molly put together games for us, including pin the veil on the bride and "memory" using items she bought from my registry. A note about Molly: she is an awe-inspiring packer. She's quite the traveler, and she makes packing look like a fine art. For my wedding, she brought only carry-on luggage! And she stayed for a week, plus had to bring not only her bridesmaid gown, but also all the little stuff she bought for this memory game, including things like shower curtain rings, measuring cups, giant mugs, tongs, a potato masher, etc. Is that not amazing? If I'm traveling for a week, I need a whole carry-on just for shoes.

Molly helping my mom pin the veil on the bride

And my guests were so generous. I hope they all know how much Eric and I appreciate their generosity. I was overwhelmed with all the gifts! And I think I kept my ribbon-breaking to a manageable number, so according to tradition, there is no forecast of an unmanageable brood of W. children. My bridesmaids also dutifully assembled my bow bouquet, which I proudly carried at our wedding rehearsal. Molly also recorded everything I said as I opened my gifts, then read them aloud so we could all hear the preview of what I might say on my wedding night. Oh, good times!

With my bow bouquet

I love this picture of me laughing at my wedding-night preview with my sister-in-law Stephanie, and mother-in-law Toni!

And of course, the best part of all was spending time with my loved ones. Everyone was so good to me, and made it so special!

Me with my bridesmaids, minus one (Megan): Molly, me, Kristina and Heather

After the shower, all of the present bridesmaids went out to Shephard's Beach Resort on Clearwater Beach for the Bachelorette Extravaganza. I rode with Kristina who stalled as much as possible to give Heather and Molly a chance to get everything set up, including scandalous balloons, my sinfully delicious penis cake, and all the liquor, shot glasses, and other accessories they bought for the weekend. Everything was awesome!

The first night, we all got ready to go out on the town, which included Heather doing everyone's hair so we all had "poufs." She also did Molly's makeup, and Molly looked HOT! Then we went out to dinner at Frenchy's, where we had seafood, beer, shots, and a close encounter with a cockroach. From there it was back to Shephard's for dancing at their nightclub, which also led to a shout-out on the local radio station, a run-in with Jared of Subway Sandwiches commercial fame (did you know he has a body guard?), and dancing on the stage! It was a blast. Dancing was followed by a late-night swim for Molly, Heather and me, which was of course followed by more cake at 5 a.m.

The next morning started with mimosas, and after a short rain shower, we spent the day on the beach. Unfortunately Kristina had to leave that day, but Molly, Heather and I enjoyed our time in the sun. Note: wearing a veil at the beach will result in lots of free drinks.

That night the three of us went to dinner at Post Corner Pizza then went back to Shephard's for more dancing. Another wonderful evening!

The next morning Heather had to go to work, so Molly and I slept in, had breakfast (and by breakfast, I mean leftover pizza for me and more cake for Molly), checked out of our room then hit the pool. Meanwhile, Eric had picked up my missing bridesmaid, Megan, from the airport and the two of them came out to meet us for some sun time. What an awesome weekend!

I put together a little Bachelorette Montage below, if you want to see some pics. Of course, the same "Explicit Content" disclaimer preceding Kristina's Bachelorette Post applies here, as well:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was such an great weekend. Thanks to my girls for giving me such great memories! And now Kristina has her own bachelorette memories to look back on, so who's next? Heather? Molly? Meg? Let's do this all again!

Lucky

Last night our beautiful view was even more beautiful than usual. The lights from the buildings were accompanied by the light of a full (or almost full) moon, rising above them. It reminded me of the full moon we saw on our honeymoon, rising over the water. That was so romantic! The skyscrapers of New York provide a very different backdrop from the waters of the Caribbean Sea, but both were breathtaking.

The view from our living room last night. A picture cannot do it justice!

Being gone last weekend gave me the opportunity to come home and re-realize how lucky I am to be here. I can't believe we live here. I can't believe this is our view. I can't believe the opportunities we've had. We're so blessed and I'm so thankful!

Kristina's Last Fling Before the Ring

WARNING: Viewer Discretion Advised

This post contains subject matter and photographic evidence relating to a weekend of bachelorette debauchery. May not be suitable for young children or office environments. If you are offended by baked goods and decor in the form of male genitalia, and/or the consumption of alcohol, please refrain from reading this post and return later this week when regularly scheduled programming resumes (we'll be back to posts about things like dog boots and visits with family soon enough).

If you're still with me...I spent this past weekend in South Florida for my friend/college roommate/former bridesmaid Kristina's bridal shower and bachelorette party! I had a wonderful time and was so glad I was able to be there to celebrate with her. She is getting married in less than two weeks, on March 20. Eric and I will be going back down to Florida then for the wedding, too, of course. I can't wait!

I left our apartment at 8:00 a.m. on Friday to catch my 10:50 flight. I got to Florida around 2:00p.m. Kristina picked me up from the airport, along with her friend Shannon, who had just flown in from Texas. It was so great to see Kristina! The last time we saw each other was my wedding, now over a year and a half ago. She's looking beautiful, and I also was finally able to see her engagement ring, which is breathtaking! Her fiance, Frankie, did a good job!

After leaving the airport, we stopped to pick up some lunch (Publix subs, which I haven't had since college, and forgot how delicious they are) and Kristina's cousins Riana and Kimberly, then went to Kristina's house to eat. After that we went to the mall to do some shopping for the weekend, then out for dinner. We all had a nice time at dinner, drinking wine and laughing at the ridiculous dancing that was taking place in the bar/club portion of the restaurant!

The girls at dinner: Sandra, Kimberly, Kristina, Riana, me, Shannon

When we got back to Kristina's house, we visited with her parents for a bit then went to bed. I was so tired, and we had a busy weekend ahead of us!

Saturday was the Big Day. I slept in a bit, then showered and went to run a couple of errands with Kristina. It was nice to have her to myself for a little bit to chat and catch up. When we got back to her house it was time to get ready for the shower, which began at 1:00p.m. Kristina's mom and aunt had been busy cooking and setting up all morning (and the day before), and their hard work paid off. Everything was beautiful!

Beautiful daisies and an adorable picture of Baby Kristina (eating a daisy) in the entryway

Tables set up by the pool, with pretty tulip centerpieces

One detail that I loved was that everyone was instructed to wear white, except Kristina, who wore bright pink! It was great because she stood out and looked amazing.

The stunning Bride-To-Be. And would you look at that rock?!

The shower was just lovely. We drank champagne mixed with Chambord raspberry liqueur, which was delicious. There was an abundance of amazing food, including salmon, beef tenderloin, caesar salad, fruit, cheese, bread, and a plethora of desserts.

The dessert spread

After eating, it was GIFT TIME! Kristina got some great stuff, both for her new married home and...um...some more personal items, if you follow me. She was certainly showered with gifts!

Gifts!

Kristina opening her gift from me

After the gifts were opened, the shower started to wind down. Kristina's friend Nicole presented Kristina with her bow bouquet (Kristina broke about 4 ribbons), and I gave her the list of things she'll say on her wedding night (taken from what she said while opening gifts). Then Nicole, Shannon and I got ready to head out to the next phase of the day.

Kristina with her bow bouquet, and her very sweet mother

Shannon, Kristina, Nicole and me

Nicole, Shannon and I left to go get checked in to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, where we would be spending the night. Naturally, we made a stop at the liquor store on the way! When we got in to our room we immediately began setting up and decorating with all the goodies Nicole had brought, and were soon joined by Kristina's cousins Sandra and Riana to help. ALERT: This is where the post turns naughty, so look away if you must!

There were flashing penis lights. Penis balloons. Penis straws. A beautiful professionally-made penis cake. Shot glasses to wear around our necks. Temporary tattoos. Buttons to wear that said things such as "Flirt" and "Friksy." Liquor as far as the eye could see. Nicole also made wine glasses for everyone that said "Last Fling Before the Ring, Kristina's Bachelorette Party." And of course, there was plenty of stuff for Kristina herself, including a sash, veil, buttons, a big whistle, etc. It was glorious! Before long Kristina arrived and was so pleased with everything, which was great.

A fully stocked table

One of the beds, adorned with balloons and goodie bags for each girl. Each bag contined: a shot glass necklace, a whistle necklace, a temporary tattoo/sticker, a button to wear, and a penis straw.

The cake! Awww, look at the pretty flowers. How lovely.

Kristina trying on her bachelorette accessories. Unfortunately, she didn't end up wearing the veil because it bothered her head!

We cut into the cake right away. It was so good - vanilla cake with strawberry filling. Although I must admit, even though Kristina's cake was beautiful and delicious, it was not the best cake in the form of male genitalia that I had ever tasted. The one that Heather made for my bachelorette party was the best cake I've ever tasted in my life. I'm embarrassed to admit that, because I don't even want to think what that might say about me psychologically, but I must give credit where credit is due. My sister makes one heck of a penis cake. My cousin Molly will back me up on this - she ate it multiple times that night, and again for breakfast the next morning. Penis cake must not go to waste.

The next part of the evening did not go quite as planned. We all started getting dressed and made up (and drinking), while we were waiting for what was supposed to come next, but ended up falling through. That was the...um...adult entertainment. Yes, the stripper. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your outlook), the stripper was two hours late and when he showed up, apparently was so unattractive that Kristina's cousin's boyfriend, who had hired him for us, told him to go right back home. So, no stripper. But, we still had fun beautifying ourselves together and drinking in the room. Also, I will mention that seven girls can really make a mess of a hotel room in a short amount of time.

With Kristina, ready to par-tay!

Me with our old college friend Jordan. I can't even remember the last time I saw her!

Before long we were just about ready to go. Before we left, Kristina and I engaged in an old college tradition. Back in our college days, we had a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. If you are familiar with Grey Goose, you know that it is generally out of a college student's budget. So we hid that bottle in my closet so that nobody knew we had it, and every time we went out on the town, we took a lucky shot of it before we left. Often we would have our poor friends over and serve them ABC brand vodka, while we snuck off to my room to have a shot of Grey Goose. Ah, college. Anyway, I was sure to pick up a little shot bottle of Grey Goose so that Kristina and I could take a lucky shot before we left! And this time we even shared that little tiny bottle with Kristina's cousin Sandra and our friend Jordan. We're such selfless adults now.

Kristina enjoying her Grey Goose

Me, Sandra and Kristina

When we finally left the room, we went down to the main bar in the casino, where we hung out for a bit and enjoyed a few shots before heading out to the nightclub, called Pangea. Kristina's cousin Sandra's boyfriend (the one who had tried to get the stripper) was so generous, and he purchased a couple bottles of vodka at the club for us to share, and got us a VIP booth. We made ourselves comfortable in our booth, made some drinks, and had a blast.

The gang in our VIP booth: Me, Shannon, Sandra, Sandra's boyfriend Alex, Kristina, Nicole, Riana and Jordan

Shannon, me, Sandra, Kristina, and Nicole

Shannon, me, Kristina and Nicole dancing in our booth

We spent the rest of the night in the club dancing, drinking, and being generally crazy. I don't think I've been out dancing like that since my own bachelorette party, so it was nice to cut loose!

Me with the girl of the evening!

Slowly but surely as the night wore on, people started to trickle back up to the room to call it a night. The last four standing were myself, Shannon, Riana and the Bride-To-Be. We left the club very late (I want to say maybe 5:30a.m.?) and went to a diner to have some food before going back to the room. I think we got to the room around 7:00a.m., crashed, and woke up three hours later to get our stuff together before checking out at 10:00a.m. Phew. I'll tell ya what...I'm not as young as I once was. I'm still tired from it all.

After checking out we had lunch by the pool, and then it was time for me to head to the airport. I was sad to see it all come to an end! We had such a great time. I can't wait to go back for the wedding so soon! Congratulations, Kristina!

My Mom in Manhattan

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and thoughts after yesterday's post. I'm still kind of down about the whole thing, but I am feeling a little better. I know things will work out.

And that's enough talk about that...now it's time to talk about my mom's visit this past weekend! Get ready for some pictures! First, however, I would like to mention that I was able to get our apartment completely unpacked before our guests arrived. I was so proud of myself. And our apartment rocks, if I do say so myself!

Our dry erase welcome for our guests

We had a great time overall, although things got off to a later start than anticipated. Their flight in was delayed by quite a bit, and they ended up having to check luggage that they had planned to carry on because there wasn't room in the overhead bins. It was a mess. So, instead of arriving via bus at Port Authority around 8:30 or 9:00 as planned, she and Gary got there around 10:30p.m.

Eric and I walked out to meet them and walked them home through Times Square. We took some pictures and made some stops in the M&M store and Toys 'R Us, then went back to our apartment, had some drinks and snacks, and played a little Rock Band. It ended up being a late night - we got to bed around 2:00 in the morning! That's late for Eric and me these days, and practically unheard of for Mom and Gary.

Mom and Gary in Times Square

Gary having some fun in Toys 'R Us

Mom and me in front of the giant Barbie Dreamhouse in Toys 'R Us

In the M&M store (Gary's being an "M," in case you're wondering)

Saturday morning we got up and moving pretty early. We started out the day by walking down to 42nd Street, where we took the shuttle to Grand Central to start our walking tour.

With Mom on the subway

The men on the subway, having a super candid conversation

With Eric and Mom and Grand Central

Grand Central

After checking out Grand Central we walked to Eric's office, stopping for some pics of the Chrysler Building along the way. We took Mom and Gary inside Eric's office to get the full tour.

Eric's office building

Eric pretending to be hard at work in his office

From there we headed over towards Rockefeller Center, with a quick stop into the American Girl Store on the way. As a child, I had two American Girl Dolls, and my sister and cousin Molly each had one as well. We loved them, and my mom loved them too. We had a good time in that store! Although we were sad to see that they discontinued my sister's doll! The others were still there, though.

With Mom in front of the Felicity display (she's one of the dolls I had)

We then decided we needed a quick rest, and the timing was good because our next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. My mom took pictures while the rest of us sat and rested our feet for a bit. Then we moved on to Rockefeller Center, where we took some pictures and then purchased our tickets to go up to the Top of the Rock.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Rockefeller Center

Mom and Gary at Rockefeller Center

With my husband

Before going up to the Top of the Rock, we walked to Magnolia Bakery and got some cupcakes and hot chocolate. So delicious! We also took Mom and Gary by Radio City Music Hall, then finally went back to Rockefeller Center to make our way to the top.

The Top of the Rock was probably one of the highlights of the weekend. It was a little hazy, but the view just cannot be beat. We spent a good bit of time up there enjoying the scenery and taking pictures. As a result of this visit to the Rock, we were able to figure out which building in the view from our apartment is Rockefeller Center! So that's something cool we can point out now.

Looking south from the Top of the Rock

Mom and Gary at the Top

A hug from my husband

With Mom

Clear view of the apartment from the Top of the Rock!

Fun souvenir photo! (We're supposed to be "falling" off that beam, in case that doesn't come across right)

After Rockefeller Center, we made our way north on Fifth Avenue to FAO Schwartz. We had a great time there! My mom and I had a wonderful time looking at all the dolls (the boys loved it too, I'm sure), and we showed them the Big Piano. The highlight, however, was the candy section. My mom and I were standing around wondering what green apple licorice might taste like, when a salesperson happened on by and handed us a piece to try. She explained that you're welcome to sample anything you like (with the idea that you're going to buy some later, of course). Well, we went on a sampling rampage. Mmm, a tasty snack! (And in case you're wondering, green apple licorice is delicious!)

With Mom and the FAO Schwartz doorman

The candy section! That toy soldier you see is made of over 150,000 jelly beans!

After leaving FAO Schwartz we decided to head back west through the lower portion of Central Park. Naturally, more pictures were taken. After we left the park we stopped for a late pizza lunch at our favorite local pizza place, then went back to the apartment. We were exhausted!

Eric, Gary and me walking through the park

Mom and Gary by the bridge

This picture was quite a topic of discussion over the weekend. We're "candidly" watching the ducks in the pond.

Pizza at Casabianca

We spent the evening relaxing at home. We dined on Eric's homemade sauce and pasta with meatballs and French bread, drank some wine/whiskey and played a rousing game of Catch Phrase, which was quite entertaining! Then we retired for the evening to rest up for the next day.

Sunday morning we got a little bit of a slow start. We relaxed around the apartment, and I made breakfast frittatas for us. Gary even helped Eric hang our big picture in the living room, which was nice. Then we all got ourselves ready to go and took the subway downtown to Battery Park. We walked around down there then made our way to Wall Street and the Stock Exchange, and then to Trinity Church. We spent quite some time in Trinity Church. It's really beautiful. We then continued on to Ground Zero.

With Gary, Mom and the Statue of Liberty

Fun with statues in Battery Park

The Wall Street Bull

Wall Street/The Stock Exchange

Trinity Church

Cemetery at Trinity Church with some very old headstones. The church was founded in 1697!

Mom having some statue fun on our way to Ground Zero

Ground Zero

That concluded our downtown sightseeing, so we got back on the subway and went back north to Times Square. We stopped so Mom and Gary could pick up some NY sweatshirts as souvenirs, and bought some nuts from a street vendor to snack on. Then we got in line at the TKTS booth to get discounted Broadway tickets for that evening. After much deliberation we ended up with tickets to Mamma Mia.

Just hanging out on the streets in Times Square

In line at the TKTS booth

With our tickets in hand, we made our way back to the apartment. We did make a quick stop to pick up some paint sample sheets because we're thinking of painting the apartment, so that was fun! Then when we got home we ordered in burgers and fries and had some drinks, including Bailey's and hot chocolate.

We were relaxing and about to get ready for the show when my mom checked her email to print out their boarding passes for their early Monday morning flight home. However, it was then that she found out their flight had been cancelled and they had been rebooked on a flight out on Wednesday! Isn't that crazy?! So she and Gary got on the phone right away while we all got ready for the show. Gary even stayed on hold for the whole walk to the theater, and up until it was time to take his seat.

The show was wonderful! It was really a lot of fun, and ended with the audience standing up and dancing in their rows. We laughed and laughed and had a wonderful time. Definitely a good way to turn what had become a stressful evening around!

Mamma Mia at the Winter Garden Theater

After the show

However, when we left the theater, we started to understand why the flight may have been cancelled. It was snowing. A lot. I had known it was supposed to snow and probably would be doing so by the time we got out of the show, but it was really snowing. Just pouring down and accompanied by crazy winds. It made for a very unpleasant walk home.

When we got home Gary immediately got back on the phone to try to get through to the airline. Meanwhile, we checked the computer and found out that they were anticipating 14 inches of snow in NYC overnight! Whoa. Gary eventually was able to get them booked on a Monday evening flight to Orlando, but we all wondered if that would even be possible if the snow continued as predicted.

And the snow did continue. When we woke up Monday morning, it was still coming down hard. This is the scene we woke up to:

Looking down across the street from our living room window

Looking SE from our window. The left photo is the view on Monday morning. The right photo is the view on a sunny day for comparison. Quite the difference, no?

As the morning wore on, the snow did start to die down a bit, and the rescheduled flight was still showing up as being "on schedule." So, we were optimistic. I had a hair appointment scheduled at 2:00p.m., so Mom and Gary left for the airport when I left for my appointment. Apparently although they boarded their plane on time, it didn't take off for over an hour because of all the de-icing that had to be done. Then they had to rent a car and drive back to Tampa from Orlando to pick up their car, and then drive home. So they had a long day of traveling. I'm glad they made it safely!

It was a great visit! We had a wonderful time and did lots of good sightseeing. Thanks for visiting, Mom and Gary! Come back soon!

Thank-you from our guests!