Congratulations, Matt and Melissa!

Another great weekend! At the end of the workday on Friday, Kathy and I needed a beer. So we went to Casa, where it quickly became obvious that it wasn't beers that we needed, but margaritas. So we got some margaritas and hung out in the Cantina. Then we noticed Jason's dad sitting alone with a margarita! We invited him over and it turns out he comes there every Friday to have dinner and margaritas with one of his other sons, Brendan. Brendan was out of town so Peter came alone. He ended up inviting us to eat with him, and bought us our dinners! What a nice surprise! Dinner was fun and there was lots of laughing. And deliciousness.

On Saturday I went to Parkersburg with Yumi and Leighanna. We did the usual shopping, and had lunch at The Olive Garden. Mom was in Parkersburg for the day, so she joined us for lunch. We got back into town shortly before we were to be at Matt and Melissa's wedding. They got married at the new OU Rotunda, and the ceremony was short and sweet. They played fun songs and had interesting readings. Their reception was at the OU Inn. It was a great time.

They had a keg of Blue Moon, my favorite beer. Also some delicious merlot. Dinner for me was Salmon (I chose fish). They had a fun montage of photos that they played on a big screen. There was also lots and lots of dancing. A great celebration! Afterward, a bunch of us went to Tony's. We hung out for awhile, then went to our place for a mini after hours. It was great to see everyone, and I'm so happy for Matt and Melissa!Congratulations, Matt and Melissa!



Click here for photos.

Third Annual Slip and Slide!

Man, this weekend was a blur! It was action packed. Friday morning I picked up my friends Jamie and Jason from the airport in Columbus. Jason just moved to Chicago, which is where Jamie lives. They met and got to know each other on the airplane, which was cool! After I picked them up, we headed back to Athens but somehow screwed up and ended up driving on the beltway around Columbus for an entire hour. Whee. Circles. When we finally made it back to Athens, I dropped Jason off at his house and Jamie and I headed uptown.

We went to Bagel Street Deli for lunch. YUM. I had roast beef and cheddar. After that it was time for Anne to arrive in town, so we met up with her and went to get ice cream. We went to the Lollipop, where we discovered the Most Delicious Ice Cream Known to Man. Anniversary Cake Ice Cream, which is bright yellow and tastes just like cake. Then there are little BITS of cake swirled throughout, along with brightly colored frosting shaped like giant sprinkles. Heaven in a cone, I tell you.

After ice cream, we headed back to my house, where The Great Jeans Disaster happened. So that took up a good hour. Then we got ready to go to dinner! We went to Casa Nueva. Jamie has never been to Athens, so she has never gotten to enjoy a Casa Margarita!!!!!! So we enjoyed some margaritas and burritos. Then we went to Tony's for some darts. We all got tired really early, but it was torrential downpouring outside and we waited for it to clear up a little before going home. Luckily, Julie was there and she was a hero. She drove us to my car! We didn't get soaked!

Saturday morning, Jamie, Anne and I went to Casa for brunch. When someone has never had Casa before, it is crucial that they have Casa twice in 24 hours, to enjoy both dinner AND brunch! After brunch, we shopped a little bit and then got in our swimsuits, bought some beer and headed for the Slip and Slide!



Click here for Casa photos!

The party was great this year. The slide was really great! The pool was better than ever, and there was foam under the slide making it a breeze to go down. Unfortunately, the plastic didn't last all day and a large hole formed. It HAS endured three years of parties, I guess it's time for a new sheet of plastic. Summer and Leighanna hurt their arms in the hole! I didn't go down after that.

One of the best parts of the night was the fire pit behind the hot tub deck. We made S'MORES. I love s'mores. The worst part of the night was exiting the fire pit. The deck was really dark, and my eyes were adjusted to the bright fire, so I somehow missed the bench while stepping onto the deck and fell right onto my butt. Don't miss the pictures of my horrendous bruise.

The next day, Anne and Jamie and I went to Pita Pit for lunch, and tearfully said goodbye.



Click here for Slip N' Slide photos.

The Great Jeans Disaster

So, this weekend I have some guests in from out of town. I picked Jamie up from the airport in Columbus this morning. Let me start from the beginning. About two weeks ago, I was in Parkersburg, West Virginia, at the Gap I always go to. I tried on some of their new low rise jeans, and they were awesome. The pockets and hems were just SLIGHTLY distressed, and they were stretchy and comfortable. I wanted them, but decided I didn't need any full-priced jeans. I rarely buy full priced merchandise!

Well, I couldn't get these jeans out of my mind for the next few days, which PROVED that I NEEDED them. So I ordered them online. I made sure to carefully inspect the online photos, and they looked exactly the same. Well, they arrived in the mail last week, and the pockets weren't distressed. They weren't my dream jeans. So I looked up the number for the Gap in Lancaster, since I would be driving through there today, on my way to pick up Jamie at the airport.

I asked them if they had the ones with the distressed pockets and they sure did. I asked the lady if they could hold them for me, and I could pick them up at the end of the week on my way to the airport. She said they could only do holds for 24 hours, but that I could buy them with my credit card over the phone and they would be shipped to me before this weekend, and I could just return the pair I didn't want at the store on my way through. I said, "okay."

So, today's Friday, right? I have already been through Lancaster, Jamie is at my house, and I have received no jeans. I call mom and ask if she's SURE the jeans never came. (I get packages delivered to her house because she has a front porch and there's always someone home all day.) She says I had better call because they shouldn't have taken this long.

So I call Lancaster Gap and explain my situation. Although, since I am soooo used to going to Parkersburg, I look up the Parkersburg Gap's number online and call THEM. They were like, "Which store did you purchase these from?" and I said, "Lancaster." And they were like "this is Parkersburg." I was embarrassed. So I look up the number for Lancaster and call them. They have no record whatsoever of any transactions taking place on that day!!!!!! I talk on the phone with the manager forever, and she goes through all their books. She keeps asking me if I'm SURE I called THAT store. I said "yes! of course! I was planning on driving past there on my way to Columbus today to return the pair I didn't want!"

She calls some official number to see if my credit card had done any transactions with them that day, it says no. She suggests I call my credit card company and see if the order was even placed. I call, and sure enough, it WAS! So now I'm freaking out, convinced that I am the victim of credit card fraud. I decide that I should TRY calling the Parkersburg store, since I had accidentally called them earlier, perhaps I had accidentally called them when I first placed the order!

I call them and um derrrrrrr I HAD bought them from that store! SO embarrassing. But here the situation gets weirder! She says "I am looking at the UPS page online right now and it says they were delivered and signed for this past Tuesday, at the side door..." THE SIDE DOOR? So I call Mom again and it turns out that the delivery truck had come to DAD'S SHOP door, he signed for the package and then set it somewhere in his messy shop! The freaking jeans had been there all freaking week!

Meanwhile I have been on the phone with TWO Gaps in two different states, and my credit card company for almost an hour while my out of town guests patiently read magazines in my living room. Moral of the story, I am an idiot. But I now own a pair of really cute jeans.

Cranberry Stilton and Bocce Ball

This was a good weekend! Friday was my office's summer potluck, at Sarah's house. Her husband Joe brews his own beer and he is really good at it. So we got to drink delicious homebrewed beer. Kathy and I also made Mai Tai's, because it was Cheryl's birthday and those are her favorites! There were lots of delicious things to eat, including a cheese tray that had CRANBERRY STILTON on it. It was delicious. Also, foccacia pizzas, tortilla pinwheels, hot dogs with Larry's Dawg House sauce, 2 pies, cookie bars and brownies.

We played Bocce Ball. Kathy and I were on a team and we kicked butt. Then we played horseshoes and totally lost, but only because it was getting dark. Kathy's brother Mark was in for the weekend, and Adam's friend Marc was also in, and Mark and Marc are good friends from college, so after the potluck we met up with them and went out to Frank and Bean's house for a bonfire. We saw a shooting star!

Saturday night I went to Casa with Kathy and Mark. Somehow they messed up the waiting list, so our 45 minute wait became an hour and a half. Luckily we had margaritas to keep us company. They gave us a free appetizer - artichoke parmesan dish, but it was cold in the middle. Gee, thanks! After Casa, we went to my house to play Pictionary. Then all the boys hung out talking for a long time and Kathy and I watched The Last Unicorn and fell asleep.

What is the deal with this COLD crap?

Today when I left work to go pick up lottery tickets, it was FREEZING outside! It's AUGUST!!! It should be hot! It's totally lame. It had better heat up before the Slip and Slide next weekend!

Tonight I am making Tortilla Pinwheels for the NBIA cookout tomorrow afternoon. I love cookouts. I get to leave work early, eat hot dogs, drink mai tais and homebrewed beer, and have pie and play bocce ball. Oh, that's right. I'm not going to a coworker potluck, I am going to HEAVEN!!!!

Speaking of Heaven, I ordered DVR today. They are coming to install my little box of heaven on Monday, and I cannot wait. I will be able to PAUSE LIVE TV and record all of my favorite shows. HOORAY!

Did I say I was the Poker Champion BEFORE?

Yeah, so back when I won at our Thursday Night Poker night, I thought I was the shit. But now, I'm REALLY the shit! Last Thursday, instead of our usual BW3's night, Mike had us all over to his house, where we got to play with a real poker table top and CHIPS! Plus we did $5 instead of $1, so since there was five of us, the pot was $25. We also had shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, olives, chips and salsa and BEER. And I was the WINNER. I won $25!!!

Then, tonight we decided to play since Mike couldn't make it this coming Thursday, so we thought, what the heck? Let's do another $5 night! This time there were six of us, so a $30 pot. Suzanne hosted. She brought us raspberry beer from a brewery in her hometown! It was delicious!!! And it must've been lucky for me because I ALSO WON THIS TIME!!! $30! I am the for real total serious big time poker champion NOW.

Cookie Day! I mean, Moving Day!

Today I helped Mer and Pete move into her new house! Tons of people helped out. There were lots of men and muscles and trucks. I helped move little things like artwork, and did things like point at where I thought the sofa would look nice.

Mom helped too, and also made lots of snacks. There were peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and Fig Newtons. Also, wheat thins, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and apples. Then, Mer and Pete's new neighbor brought over chocolate chip cookie BARS.

For our reward for helping move, Mer had our local bakery Big Chimney cater us a dinner! They brought pasta with chicken sausage and vegetables, fresh parmesan, salad, focaccia loaves and CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

I have never had so many cookies in one day in my life! It ruled!



Click here for photos.

When I got home, I hung out for awhile, and then Adam and I went over to Frank and Beans house for a bonfire. They have a great view and a nice little hill for a fire. Really, they are named Frank and Ben but Summer had trouble remembering their names at first, so she would call them Frank and Beans to help her remember. It kind of stuck. It was the perfect night for a bonfire, there was a slight chill in the air.