bachelorette weekend: days 4 &5

ok. i'm sick of this last post just waiting to be posted.

here's some shots and bullet points from our last day(s) in Florida:

visiting the worlds greatest gift shop...and being severely disappointed.


Hollywood Studios!


more at Hollywood Studios


in line for possibly the back stage tour. at this point, my camera told me i had taken too many pictures (oh, you know, over 700). i started deleting the junk ones to make more room...


roomie got chosen to participate in the Indiana Jones stunt show! totes fun!


Muppets in 3D. it was good, but it was freezing in there. kind of ruined it for me.


end of the day - Magic Kingdom. my camera battery died right before we left Hollywood Studios. also, Alicia had to go to work for a bit, so we took the shuttle to Magic Kingdom. i didn't think about it, and had to carry my huge dead-battery-now-useless camera around the rest of the day. ANNOYING.

my trip - was awesome.
my friends - are awesome.
my life - is awesome.

bachelorette weekend: day 3

highlights:

• awesome town & country van rented and driven by Alicia
• two hour drive to Anna Maria Island to Manatee Beach
• almost-white sand, almost-clear super-warm water
• relaxing with some of my favorite girls
• 90 degree temps
• taking full advantage of "continuous shot mode" on my camera
  
• sipping frosty drinks and eating yummy app's by the ocean
• fun lights in the town & country van and feeling pretty awesome about it
• power-women songs from the 80's (including but not limited too "house of love" by Amy Grant and Celine Dion, "because you loved me")
• dressing back up in our LBD's and bachelorette box gear
  
• downtown universal, one club, avoiding creepy guys, finding a bachelor party and telling the bachelor "congrats" and "marriage is cool," staying till last call, mistaking people's genders and staci hating me cause we had her out past 3 am!

sunday was probably the best day. beach time and dancing with some crazy-fun girls. LOVED IT!!

bachelorette weekend: day 2

day 2 of the most awesome bachelorette weekend included:

• singing songs with alicia
• DISNEY: animal kingdom
• an awesome safari
• watching Stace, Kristen, Alicia and Katie on the Mt Everest ride with Nikkie (yeah, we don't like those "roller coaster" things)
• hot and humid temps and a little bit of sun burn
• EPCOT!
• margaritas in mexico
• light lunch in china
• gelato and cannolis in italy
• cider, beer and beatles in England
• little black dresses and an hour + long wait at The Cheesecake Factory
• delicious dinner and cheesecakes
• deciding we're too old and tired to go out - early bed time before midnight (postponed until the next night)

and the pictures to prove it:

baby rhino!!

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!!

Nicole's Bachelorette Party

a few weeks ago we kidnapped Nicole and took her to Canada for her bachelorette party. i can't believe she's getting married NEXT WEEKEND!!!

our trip to Canada was fun, including:

• getting "lost" and on the wrong road, trying to go to the wrong duty free shop, all resulting in us going through the Canadian border check for a second time...to the same border patrol guy...it was pretty awesome actually.
• Niagra Falls, Maid of the Mist, and a weird restaurant where a "kid's hamburger" was practically the same size as a regular one, but 1/2 the price...
• hotel in Toronto and trying to check in 6 girls though we only said we had 3...
• THE PICKLE BARREL. seriously amazing. one of my favorite restaurant experiences ever
• the Toronto Zoo, including walking 4-5 miles, the amazing Canadian Domain, and failure to find the entrance to the Mayan Ruins exhibit where there were also reindeer...also it seemed like 1/4 of the animals were "not on display"
• Steam Whistle Brewery - tried to get a tour, but they were all booked, so we enjoyed the atmosphere and some drinks, and puzzled over how they moved a giant wagon without us seeing it leaving (not that surprising i suppose, as Kristen never even saw it when it was there!)
  
• Chinatown, which included about 4-5 miles of walking to get there and get back and successfully purchasing chopsticks for Kristen!
  
• dinner at Jack Astor's
  
• drinks, a pool table with 4 balls and a defunct pool stick, so crowded we almost got in a fight, and blaring music at Devil's Martini
• traffic-free drive home

getting excited about going on the maid of the mist!



after the boat ride


at the pickle barrel. this was a "dessert sampler" of 6 different desserts!
Oreo cheesecake, tiramasu, strawberry cheesecake, key lime pie, chocolate cake, and chocolate & white chocolate mousse

cheesecake sampler - Rocky Road, Strawberry, and Turtle Brownie


in our own "private booth"


ready to embark on our zoo trip

excited about the Canadian Domain. total bummer. sorry, Canada.


at the brewery. 5 of us received 2 free samples of their beer!

ready to go out Saturday night

staci & i slept on the pullout Friday night, katie & i slept there Saturday night.
we decided the three of us could fit there though.

what i've been up to.

wow. i've been completely MIA (in the blogosphere) for about 3 weeks now. here's what's been going on:

June 19-21 weekend: Katie's Bachelorette Party (HER WEDDING IS THIS WEEKEND)
June 27: second shooting a wedding for the brother of one of my best friends
June 28-July 2: helping out with Extreme Makeover Home Edition
June 29-July 8: house/kitty sitting for my sis & bri while they are in Italy


so, that's about it. but it's been BUSY. i'm going to tackle pictures for the first event:

Katie's Bachelorette Weekend
we went to the Finger Lakes in NY. we had plans to go kayaking and picnicking on Saturday, but it rained...so we went to wineries all day!!