something fun

my aunt got me this cute frame for keeping their kitties alive when i house/kitty-sat a few weeks ago. i found the perfect picture to put in it.

love it! so cute! also, i love these picture-hangers from Ikea. they go on the wall so easily and i love how easy it makes to arrange them and not have to worry about them being straight or even on a wall!

i think i'll keep it in my room for a while until josh let's me decorate his apartment...heheh

bachelorette weekend: day 1

as i said in my last post, i had no idea where the girls were taking me. i figured out (and KC kind of gave it away...purposefully) that we were picking up Katie and Nikkie in Pittsburgh, so off we went at 10am Friday morning, stopping in Edinboro first to pick up Stace.

unfortunately things were thrown off Thursday night for Katie and her husband due to a family emergency. We were afraid Katie wasn't going to be able to come with us, but we just changed some plans around - picked up buffalo chicken wing pizza for the group for lunch Friday - and just left a little later than (probably) originally planned.

as we started driving out, i was paying attention to road signs, but then realized i didn't want to know where we were going until we got there. the girls kept making jokes that we were going to go to Ikea and sleep there and get a bunch of free stuff (um, that would have been AWESOME), KC (who was driving) even joking that she couldn't get off the exit to get to Ikea (of which i totally believed she was trying to). soon enough, everyone was looking at me, smiling and giggling, so i finally looked up to see we were pretty much in the Pittsburgh airport. i was in disbelief.

we parked. still disbelief.

Katie dispersed baggies to put our liquids in. again, disbelief.

they kept joking we were going to go in and come back out (how hilarious), or they bought tickets to take us back to Erie...(could you imagine?!)

Katie managed to hide my ticket from me and convince any security peeps to not tell me where we were going (we had our bride/bridesmaid tube tops on at this point, so everyone was like - "VEGAS???!" and we were like "shut it").

at this point they told me to turn around and go back to where we just came from...

then they debated on hanging out at a different terminal so i wouldn't know until we got ON the plane...but they decided against that (after making me ride the people-movers back and forth). also, note i had a DUFFLE BAG b/c you know, the secret.

anyway, soon enough we got to the terminal and i didn't dare to look...but there it was! ORLANDO, FLORIDA. yes folks, these ladies took me to Orlando.

one may not thing this is the best "bachelorette party" city, but having a friend that knows her way around (except for when she gets lost...) and can get us into the parks for FREE makes this TOTALLY the spot. and having just awesome friends like the SKANK's, i mean, that makes for a weekend ANYWHERE awesome (and when i say SKANK's, A=Alicia at this point, not me).

after our flight we took a taxi to the hotel, which took us 1/2 hour longer than it was supposed to - our guy totally had no idea where he was going, and he had GPS...and overcharged us...

we had an amazing two bedroom (two beds in each room) suite with two full baths, kitchen and living room with pull-out couch, so we all got our own beds! it was awesome.

Alicia showed up a little later with some snacks and some drinks so we hung out, signed the Bachelorette Oath of Secrecy, then ran across the street for some real food (ok, greazy fried appies) and more fun.

also, Katie made a friend with a native Floridian...

so that was our amazing first day/night - traveling, surprises, surprises revealed, junk food and raspberry champagne (and SKAANK).

the bachelorette weekend: why it's more than just a party

the SKANK Bachelorette Weekend tradition was started in 2007 when our "S," Staci, was the first to be married. at the time, she was living in Virginia with her then-fiance-now-husband, Shane. us SKANK's up north thought we should pay her a visit to see the couple and their brand new house they just bought. also, we knew she needed a Bachelorette Party.

the idea spiraled into a surprise visit, with special help from Shane who made plans for them all weekend...that were fake, cause we were going to come crash them. we surprised Staci on a Friday night, stayed at their house, then went off to Baltimore for a fun-filled day and evening. we drove home Sunday morning.

thus the tradition began.

when Katie got engaged the following year, we knew the SKANK Bachelorette Weekend had to live on, but we didn't see the *surprise* aspect to be fully attainable. we reserved Katie for a weekend and planned the trip with her only other bridesmaid (maid of honor), her sister Amy. Katie's trip involved the Finger Lakes, a 2-night stay in a full cabin, a day of wine tasting (since it rained and we couldn't go kayaking) and drinks and dancing with a random band.

Nicole got engaged a few months after Katie and was married a few months after her. Nicole's surprise was Toronto, Canada, with a stop in Niagra Falls on the way. Nicole's only other bridesmaid (maid of honor and cousin Jen) also attended. we did the Maid of the Mist, visited the Toronto Zoo, walked Chinatown, visited Steamwhistle Brewery (did not make it in time for the tour, however), went to the biggest nightclub i'd ever been in and ate at the amazing Pickle Barrel.

we all joked that each weekend had to top the last, so we started getting excited that the last party would be Vegas, or better yet - Europe.

now up comes my weekend. my desire was for all my bridesmaids to come, but because my sister just had a baby and started working, my cousin is only 19 and my friend Alicia lives in FL...we thought we would just stick to the original five.

Alicia told me several times how frustrated she was that she didn't know what the girls were planning. she knew she couldn't come, but felt so left out without them telling her anything.

i really had NO IDEA where the girls were going to take me. i knew we would leave from Erie or drive to Pittsburgh to pick up Katie and Nicole, but that's about all i knew.

i'm going to end this post here and pick it up in a few days with day 1 of My Bachelorette Weekend! stay tuned...

catching up

oh. my. gosh! i have so much to blog about right now! well, mostly i just have too much from this weekend to put into one post!!!

so, stay tuned for:

• more engagement photos
• bachelorette party: the why
• bachelorette party: my trip
• wedding updates

ok. that's it. it's not that much i suppose.

anyway. back into work today after being off since Thursday. lots to catch up on today!!

a birthday post

today would have my grandpa's 81st birthday! he was an amazing man, father, husband, grandfather...brother (ok, i can't attest to ALL of those, but i know he was anyway!).

for those of you who don't know, my grandpa died in February after a 9-month battle with cancer. it was sad, but we know he is now rejoicing with Gramma in heaven!

papa, rach, me and mum

papa and my beautiful mother on her wedding day

they were known for jitter-bugging!

my dad with papa

engagement photo teasers

my amazing sister photographed josh and i for our engagement pics on Friday. i've been house/kitty sitting at my aunt & uncle's and thought they had some great garden spots for awesome pics.

she's shown me four to keep me shut up until she's finished the rest. my sister is SO TALENTED. if only we could've cloned her so she could've done the wedding pics too...haha, just kidding. i'm so blessed to have my very good friend Danielle doing our wedding pics, and i'm SO excited for those as well!!

so, here they are, and some observations i came across while checking out the pics...

we're fun and we love each other. i mean, you probably knew that second part...



we're goofy. and it's hard for us to take serious pictures without busting out laughing. also, it's hard for us to not create our own fun poses while Rachel tells us to do something serious.



um, we're super cool. i mean, hello? look at how cool we are.



josh is amazingly photogenic and so so handsome, and i look way skinny in this pic.

stay tuned for more pics at the end of this week, hopefully!