Catching Up

Well, I don't really have any huge exciting stories to share here, but I do have a couple little things... something is better than nothing right?

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I went out with my mom for my very first Black Friday shopping experience. I think it went pretty well, we didn't have any big ticket items we were looking for, not 97" plasma tvs for $2.99 or anything like that, and we completely avoided Walmart (thank you sweet tiny baby Jesus for that early Christmas miracle), so all in all we had a pretty easy time. I ended up with a huge king size blanket from Kohls for $19.99, House dvds seasons 1-4 for Kevin for $12.99/each, boots for myself from JcPenneys, regular price $90, on sale for $29.99, a bunch of Christmas/holiday shirts from Old Navy $5. I also know what all my Christmas presents are (from my mom), and lets just say I am very excited for Christmas morning!

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I put in my application and resume for a new job the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I am still waiting to hear back from the recruiter. Apparently it was a very popular posting, but I think if I get an interview I could do pretty well. Please send some good vibes this way! I really could use the job...

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I have a friend in my new(ish) city! It is Kevin's friend's wife, Kristin. We had a movie date last week and I really like her. It is so nice to have a girlfriend around. I hope we can get together soon!

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Kevin has had a sudden change of heart about babies and agreed that we can start trying! To have a baby! Seriously! Apparently he was talking to a guy at work who is only a few years older than us with 2 little ones, and he said they really aren't as expensive as you think... its just little bits at a time. I want to send this person the best Christmas present ever! Seriously. 

Enjoy it!

After all these years, I still don't know....

What a weekend I had, I am telling you what. Seriously.  My Saturday was a shambley mess and I loved it all. We did a Pub Crawl to benefit MS research, which my friend Meg suffers from. This is the fourth year we've done it, and it's guaranteed to be a riot. 

**SIDE NOTE #1 My college friends have not called me Meagan since the 2nd week of freshman year. We already have a friend Meghan, so I got the nickname Bud. Long story.**

Here's how the day went:

At home, I showered and tried on 3 different outfits, 2 of which I just bought the night before on a ridiculous shopping outing. I ate a muffin the size of a planet and also a bowl of oatmeal, because I knew we would not be eating for a looooong time and there was a lot of beers headed my way.

Kevin dropped me off at my friends' house at 11am. There were about 1000 girls wandering about, but only one of them actually lived there. Kyle and Rick, more commonly known as "the boys", were sitting on the couch, playing a drinking game. Seriously, who pregames a 14-hr day-o-drinking?!

11:07 - I cracked my first beer. Woof. Beer is NOT meant for 11am. 

Around 11:20, the other 2 occupants of the house return, with an 18 pack of beers. I showed off my 3 outfits and then combinations of them. I ran up and down the stairs about 8 times and then more girls showed up. The boys left for Rick's apartment because they had to poop and couldn't get into the girls' bathroom with all the extra females looming about. 

1 pm, we finally left and headed down to a bar called O'Cals. Rick, Kyle, Cair and I drove together. and minus the 1 bouncer and 1 bartender, we were the first four people there. We hung out and played darts. It got crowded pretty quickly. Before we left, we played a ridiculous game of Flip Cup, which turned into elimination Flip Cup, which turned into a huge mess. Also, only one stall in the ladies' bathroom was working. Awesome. 

Next stop - The Angry Duck. Yes, that is seriously the name. I swear to you on all that is holy. More beers. I managed to take 4 pictures before my battery died. Some of us split up (there was a taco place across the street), but me, Cair and Meg headed on to Avenue Pub, the gay bar next door. Where we got hotdogs. I hope you all see the humor in that. Also, we waited in line for the ONE bathroom. What is with bars putting in minimal amounts of ladies rooms?

Next, on to Acme, a bar so dirty that no one uses to the bathroom there, because its cleaner to pop a squat outside, but not so dirty that we couldn't order a couple slices of pizza. Since the boys didn't want to go to the gay bar with us, they were there. Stayed for a drink or two (it's easy to lose count...)

Onto our favorite - OXFORD'S! Many phone calls were made to Kevin, who was with his family celebrating his little brother's 21st birthday. At one point, I was up by the window, trying to get some reception, and some man came up behind me, wound up and hit my ass. Hard. Then, looked at me and said "Oh, I thought you were someone else" and walked away. This was around 7:30-8pm. You know, after we'd been drinking for 9 hours. So after I went back to Cair and the boys, I got really upset. Cair went and talked to him and told him that I was married and that was not cool (like it would have been if I was single, apparently). And I started crying. Which apparently the boys cannot deal with. I had been bugging them all day to do a shot of tequila with me, so to cheer me up, we went and did tequila (which, btw, was a very good idea to cheer me up <3).>

**SIDE NOTE #2 - Variety Packs, as far as I know, are one of Rick's inventions. It is 3 shots, you order them all at once, and do them one after another. I guess it could be anything, but we usually go for 2 of the bomb variety and then something else to finish with.**

Ok, so back to Variety Packs - we did JaegerBombs, Grape Bombs and then Soco&lime - WHEW! And then left and walked back to the girls' house to take a nap. We somehow picked up Christine, the ex of one of the other boys we hung out with in college who turned into a super-lame friend after graduation. She was one of the girls staying at the house, along with 5 of her friends. On the walk home it was revealed to her that Greg had some monkey-business going on at school with another girl while they were talking (not dating, just talking) and it spiraled out of control into this huge ball-o-drama when her friends got wind of it. 

Kevin came to pick me up and walked right through the crossfire of drama in the living room, and found me upstairs crying about the boy in my friend Meg's room. Despite the fact that I could not hold myself up straight while standing, I insisted I go back out. But Kevin said no and took me home (after we got a garbage plate of course, you need something to soak all that booze up!). I got ketchup EVERYWHERE, but hey, I was happy, right?

The best part of the whole day, though, happened very early on when Kyle turned to me and said, "Bud, after all these years that we've been friends, I still don't even know your name."

LMAO!

Enjoy it!!

In a rut!

Wow, I am so so sorry for deserting you. I have missed blogging ever so much, but it seems like I have hardly had anything to blog about theses days. And then there is the fact that I no longer have a job that requires me to sit at a computer for hours on end. Now that I don't have to be here, I don't really spend a whole lot of time on the computer.

Lets catch up, shall we?

Last you heard, I was married, right? Well, the honeymoon was amazing. We were completely pampered and LOVED it. Seriously. It was exactly what we both needed. On the way home, we got stuck overnight in NYC, which was pretty craptastic, but other than that everything was great.

And actually, the delay worked out in our advantage, because we stayed in Buffalo for a while and I called the photog, who said I could pick up my proofs that day, after 4. YES!!!

I've spent the past month cleaning, doing dishes, laundry and cooking. And watching obscene amounts of America's Next Top Model (Oxygen, I shall be eternally grateful that you show marathons every weekend. I could watch every season over and over and over again. The ego, the drama. Le sigh). I've tried my hand at cooking. I managed a few ok dishes and some really good ones, and still we're in a rut already.

I carried my proofs everywhere we went, it seemed, for about month. I'm STILL trying to figure out which pics we want in the albums, which we want big prints of, which ones to share, etc.

We finally got a bed frame for our amazing mattress. And Kevin splurged and got a new couch, which we both love love love. Our old couch was a hand-me-down from a friend of the family, and very formal. The new one is huge and deep and practically begs you to snuggle in. In fact, if I sit all the way back, my feet dangle above the floor (about a foot or so!). Of course, I'm pretty short at *almost* 5'4", so that is not saying a whole lot.

A few of my girlfriends from college moved up here this past weekend and I am so glad to have friends in the area. I've realized that one of the things I miss the most about being home is the familiar people. Now at work, no one I know comes in. No one knows who I am, asks how my family is doing, or that I just got married, or anything. The people I work with are very friendly, but the ones I work with on a regular basis are either 1 - still in college or 2 - have kids my age, so it isn't really conducive to making new friends. I do like the managers/coordinators/STLs a lot tho, and I am hoping that I can make friends with them more.

We are hoping to go to a couple of banks soon and find out if we can get approved for a mortgage, and for how much. It seems a little silly to keep paying rent and getting nothing out of it, when for less $$ a month, we could end up owning a home.

Geez, I guess I did have some things to blog about. I promise I will try to be more regular about it. I'm still figuring out how to hook my camera up to this computer, so hopefully I will have a few pictures to share soon.

Missed you all (and hope you missed me!!)!!

Enjoy it!

Bachelorette Pictures

Ok, so here are all the pictures from this past weekend....read the previous post for more details!

Here is my sorry behind, sleeping at the bar after a very long day on Friday...

All dolled up on Saturday night

Again

Showing off my ring...which was pretty much the best thing ever.

It was large, in charge and lit up. What more could a girl ask for?

Me and my hetero lifemate, Carolyn - one of my bridesmaids


I <3>


So does Carolyn


And Kelli....

And Meg

Cheers! One more month and Bud's a married woman!


See, we are lovely when we try real hard

Practicing our Cupid Shuffle, for all the music and dancing later...
you have to warm up, you know!

At the Pig - why hello there, drunk eyes.

So nice of you to make an appearance tonight.

I'm sure its not the last we'll see of you...

Eyes OPEN

Meghan has ridiculously long femurs and is always squatting in our pics....very flattering

My fave Fishies

(minus my friend and fave nurse, Kelly, who had to work this weekend)

Carolyn and Meghan

Kelli and Carolyn

Me, riding the bull

Clearly, this is not going well...

AHHHH!!! Get me off this thing!

Yay! Me and Cair again! Love this lady

Apparently my drunk eyes come out when these two are around

Obviously, Kelli lives in a tanning bed, and since my people shun the sun and my grandfather was Casper the friendly ghost, I'm making her look a lot tanner

Me, Carolyn, Meg, Kelli and Julia (who we ran into in the bathroom)

Weekends are my favorite <3

Well then. I have finally returned to my bloggy domain. And boy do I have some stories…. I was trying to hold off on these until I could add in the pictures, but it will just have to wait – I’ve missed you too much!!

So then, this was a big huge super fun weekend for me. It almost makes up for all the torture of the wedding and invitations and nonsense haha.

But seriously…

I took off right after work on Friday and drove up to the apartment to start preparing for my friends. I knew they were meeting in Albany around 4, so I could expect them around 7:30. I wasn’t sure if they would have eaten dinner so I had a lot of munchies to make.

I started right away and boiled some chicken, both for quesadillas (yum!) and also for some chicken wing dip (which I knew I had to make very mild, since they don’t like spicy things…). I dumped grape jelly and chili sauce and turkey meatballs into my crockpot and put it on low. I melted butter and brown sugar to start out my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip. Then I tackled the bathroom.

I scrubbed and scraped, shook out the rugs and put out clean towels. I lit the yummy candle so it didn’t smell like boy in there and rinsed everything off. Kevin has no concept of clean when it comes to the bathroom.

When the girls showed up, everything was ready and we got right down to it – beer and wine in the fridge, snacks on the table and a small country’s worth of belongings strewn about my living room. Kevin would be coming home to quite the sight.

We chatted and caught up and had a few drinks and ate our weight in bad-for-you-but-mmm-so-good snacks. When Kevin came home, he drove us out to the bars and dropped us off. We met up with a couple of friends. At this point, I have been going all day on about 5 hours of sleep, plus mixing a depressant (thanks booze) in resulted in my, snoozing at the bar. I have definitely had finer moments, but this is not so bad.

Kevin came to pick us up….which actually turned out to be unnecessary because Carolyn (one of my bridesmaids) had met up with Rick, the guy she is bringing to the wedding, so he offered to drive us home. So Kevin took me, Meg and Cair went with Rick and Kelli went with Old Man Rick, the gentleman friend she sees in Rochester. He’s a pretty good guy, so that was ok.

Cair and Rick took the air mattress in the living room (which thankfully the kittens took mercy on and decided to spare it from their claws), and Meg had the spare room all to herself.

The next morning, I was up early and then the girls started making noise. Kevin cursed and grumbled, “Don’t your friends ever sleep?” since apparently they had been up pretty late the night before. But we all reconvened in the second bedroom to discuss the night before and all the craziness that had happened (including but not limited to my unconventional napping spot) – I missed this since school. We ALWAYS used to de-brief after a night out.

We headed out for some breakfast and then to the mall. I tried on a smaller size of pants and miraculously – they fit! Of course this may not be the case anymore, after the weekend-o-empty calories, but still…..

We headed home and the girls went out to Party City to buy some supplies. While they were gone, I put my hair up in curlers and laid down to nap for a while – glorious! Napping is a wonderful thing <3

The girls came back and napped too and then the fun began. I made some quesadillas (way to be prepared, Meagan!) for dinner and downed my first energy drink – spare me the lecture, I couldn’t fall asleep at the bar two nights in a row! They brought some delicious margaritas with them, so we all had some of that, took turns getting in the shower and drying hair and putting on makeup. After we were all dolled up, the girls gave me my presents – a flashing sash, a light up bling ring, a “Bride to Be” pin, and a veil! Too funny!

Then we toasted in the evening with some yummy champagne, danced, drank and played a few games until it was late enough to head out. On the road, I drank my second energy drink (I know, I know, I’m rotting my insides). We went to a bar called The Pig and hung out there for a while. We ran into a couple people we knew from college, including one who knew Kevin and was wishing us the best and everything.

We left the Pig and headed over to Daisy Dukes – you know, the country bar. I love it there. And then….I RODE THE BULL! Seriously. After drinking, I dragged my fat ass up and rode the bull. It was so HIGH and SCARY and ridiculous. There is a trick to the bull. You have to be confident enough to do it fast. And I am not. So the guy would just jerk it around real slow, and it just made it even more difficult to hang on. I have been bucked off of these before, but this time I just gracefully…slid off. I had a blast!

After I got off, my legs were shaking and we went to the bathroom where we ran into Julia, a girl we went to college with. It was great to see her and we all went out and did a shot together. Then we headed upstairs from Daisy Dukes to a different bar, where they have music and dancing. Time to shake what our mamas gave us!

We danced for the rest of the night. It was a ton of fun. Old man Rick and his brother mysteriously showed up. Old Man Rick’s brother was hanging on Meg, and kept putting his arm around me and being a creep and I didn’t really enjoy that, but I was the only one who wasn’t dancing with a guy so I guess he didn’t want me to feel left out or something? Whatever, it helped when other guys came dancing up. I was like, um…dude – do you not see the sash and veil? I don’t need weird guys dancing up on me.

Closing time rolled around and Cair got picked up by Rick, Old Man Rick and his brother took Meg and Kelli out and Kevin came to get me. Funny how I always went home alone… Kevin took me out to stop for a garbage plate – which was on the house, due to all my wedding paraphernalia. Also, Kevin ran into the bathroom really quick and another man proposed to me, and the woman he was sitting with volunteered to be my maid of honor. So when Kevin came out of the bathroom, the man asked “Is this the guy?” and the whole place started cheering. It was so fun!

Sunday morning rolled around and we knew it was going to be a lazy day. Carolyn’s car, which she had left on the street, had mysteriously disappeared – it had been TOWED! So we had to go get it out….luckily 1 – it was there and they were open and 2 – it had only been towed and not stolen! She was pretty angry, but I did tell her not to park on the street….

We just hung around all afternoon, relaxing, eating some McDonalds and watching the Top Model marathon on Oxygen….glorious.

I <3 my friends – they are so awesome! I really enjoyed having them there…and guess what?! They are talking about moving back when their lease is up! I could have friends in my new city!!!! AWESOME!

Enjoy it!

I have the best friends in the whole world.

Yesterday, in the midst of my breakdown (you know, the one about how nothing would be done for the wedding and all that jazz) I sent an email to my friend Kelly:

I am having a huge freakout. It just hit me yesterday exactly how little time I have left and I have SO much to do and how will I finish it all. I have no time. I have a huge ass and no time. My heart has been racing and my stomach has been hurting since last night. I am at work and all I can think about is how much more needs to be done and how I have NO time to do it.

Somehow I got so wrapped up in work that I completely missed the reply. I read it this morning and started crying again....but in a good way (damn hormones!):

My Dearest Meagan,
From my own experience I have had my share of breakdowns....this is how I have handled them
1. Alcohol
2. Counseling
3. More alcohol
4. Venting to friends
5. Still more alcohol
6. A 10 hour drive to virginia
7. Act like a psychopath
8.Pizza logs

everyone is different.....u have a good head on ur shoulders....no need for counseling, cross country traveling, or loss of sanity.....however alcohol, friends, and pizza logs are always nice....i can supply all 3, anytime, anywhere

your are preparing for one of the biggest transitions in your life....anyone would b nervous...anyone would want it to b perfect.....u knew u loved kevin before u knew him....it was always real, even i believe that and i kno u do and this means that regardless of who sits at what table, how good the music is, if the flowers are on time, what anyone looks like, what ANYONE ELSE THINKS, or how much money is spend.....the whole point of all if it is for you and kevin to show each other how much u love each other by making this commitement....and that is the one thing that cant b unfinished, or not turn out perfect....and that is the only thing that matters....so dont take away from all this by letting it stress u out and taking one shred or the WHOLE POINT of this away....just get threw xmas, u can only do what u can do.....and after xmas i am on break from school, so if u need help with getting anything done or any details, i am always available, just remember to keep a part of the fun in all of it

As if this was not enough, I also got many offers of help from all of my bridesmaids, including my friend Tracy coming over last night and helping to re-stick all the invitations because the original adhesive wasn't really standing up the challenge or being opened and closed and handled.

Also, Kevin is feeling a little guilt (24 hours of phone calls to me where I ultimately end up sniffling and in tears will do that to a person) about not helping much with plans (although, to be honest, I've not really asked for help from anyone, so he shouldn't feel so bad). So he helped me cross something off the list - booking a hotel room for the wedding night (it was a bit more expensive than I was planning on, but since I didn't have to do anything, and it made Kevin feel good to help and more importantly because he contributes way more to the wedding fund than I do and he's the one who is more controlled on the spending, then I don't care. Its done and I am very very happy about that).

I know I bitch a lot (on a variety of subjects) but I am really so so so lucky to be surrounded by these wonderful people. I hope you have people like this in your life, because it really helps you keep sane.

Enjoy it!

Steph & Joe's Wedding

My dear, dear friend Steph got married in August and just sent me the link to her photos. Seriously, it is the most beautiful wedding and she is breathtaking in each and every picture...like they just walked out of a magazine. Steph and her family have a reputation to spaz out, but the whole day she was just calm, poised and gorgeous...even as I held up her dress so she could pee haha!



Obviously, I must must share these, if only to spread some of my jealousy to you all. Thanks to her amazing photographer, The RedHeaded Ninja, who did a great job...

Hanging out before it's time to get dressed

And reading Glamour, I think...

Hey, it's ok! ...to consider Spanx an excersize plan

The gorgeous bride

Me (all frumpy and with my hair wilted) with the gorgeous bride

Helping her with her earrings...

I made this!!!

One of the little flower girls, Emma

Don't they look like a magazine couple?

Seriously, if I didn't love them so much, I would hate them for how amazing these pictures are

This swing was on the school grounds where the wedding and reception were held

Me and Emma, deep in conversation about which Jonas Brother is cuter

More outside (I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to move these in order...

I tried to load them right but no such luck)

All smiles

Singing the song to our Alma Mater, the Suscipe.

That's right, we had a sing-along and broke into song at her wedding...

Me and Colleen (one of my bridesmaids) blowing bubbles, and

Kevin covering our drinks...he's always looking out for us

All the Mercy girls

Dancing

I <3>

Outside the venue

Steph and her sister Mika (Mary) the maid of honor

All the Mercy girls

Kevin caught the bouquet and gave it to me

See, we are good Catholic school girls...

See, there it is! Good thing the competition was pretty scrawny

Me and my man

Also, as you might recall, this was the wedding that my ex was at. And here he is, in all his scruffy glory. Geez, it IS a wedding, a hair cut wouldn't have been out of line...

The funny thing is, both the ex and the fiance are named Kevin. And they are polar opposites, tiny little guy and BIG man. I got upgraded!

Enjoy it