[Life] Weekend Wrap-Up

I'm not gonna lie - the past 9 days have been rough.

First of all, thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. I know it's a bit late, but my entire last week of posts were all scheduled pre-hurricane (and so are the next week's worth). I knew I'd have a hell of a week and wasn't able to jump in to update a post to mention it. I have a lot of friends who were/are affected, since I grew up in the area that was hit. My parents were without power for a few days but fortunately that was the worst of it. It was a devastating event and we were all quickly reminded how strong Mother Nature can be. 

As I said, I've been busy. I hosted a Halloween party two weekends ago, taught all 5 days last week, and then hosted 2 more parties this past weekend. The class I taught is one I've just learned the material for, and I had a very trying student in the course, so I had a rough go of it. I also spent hours every evening going back over the next day's content so that I could better deal with said rough student. That, coupled with planning the bridal shower and bachelorette party I hosted, left me with zero time. Like I said, rough week.

But the reward was in the weekend. I was honored to host the bridal shower for one of my closest and dearest friends.

I also got to host an accompanying bachelorette in honor of Jena!!!

We got a room at the Hampton Inn to crash at after the festivities - and started out with champagne in paper Hampton cups. This led to many a rendition of "White Hampton Cup! I fill you up!"

Then, our friend Lea hosted all the ladies at her apartment.

We had an impromptu dance party to the Wobble (hey, most of us are dancers!!!)

The whole crew

Next up, a local club....

And we ended up in VIP...I think it was the veil??

Overall, the night was a blast!!!

I'm so excited and honored to stand by Jena's side next weekend as her Matron of Honor, when she marries Jason, her best friend and love of her life. <3

[Life] Halloween

This past weekend the hubby and I threw a Halloween party. You guys, I just love Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays (second only to Christmas!). I think there are a number of reasons why - it's about candy and costumes and things that go bump in the dark! (And I love to be scared....bring on the scary movies!). It's in my favorite season: fall. And it's the start of my favorite time of year: the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday trifecta.

When I lived in Pittsburgh, my roommate Katie and I would throw a Halloween party every year. We lived in the South Side, which, if you know anything about Pittsburgh, is where all the fun is (and by that, I mean all the bars). What started that first year as a small pre-bar-hop get together turned into an annual shindig that all of our friends (and many of their friends!) looked forward to every fall.

The Wharton St annual Halloween Bash, 2005

We'd start the party early - maybe 7 or so - and then around 11 we'd gather up the entire party and bar crawl down the South Side. It was so much fun and talked about the entire year. When I moved down to Atlanta, I really missed that party every October.

So this year, when the hubs said he'd like to have one, I lit up at the opportunity to throw one again. While it wasn't quite the same - there was no bar crawl - we instead added a few things you can only have when you own your own home: outdoor beer games and a bonfire!

The lights say Happy Halloween...these are a leftover from the Wharton St era! Someone stole the Y off Happy, but it's Halloween, so we can kind of get away with it.

Sorry this is a bit blurry but it's the only full length pic we have. We were Harry Potter and Hermione!

Some of my amazing friends.
Raja and Lea won our costume contest with their "Chick Magnet" costume!

The Halloween Spooktacular was a blast!!! Can't wait for next year.... :)

[Life] Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Today is a super special day. Not because it's Friday, or because I have something special going on today. It's because it's October 19th. October 19th? What's so special about October 19th, you ask? October 19th, 7 years ago, I went on my very last first date.

That's right, 7 years ago I went on my first date with this guy:

Taken November 2005 - WOW we look young!!!

It was 2005; I was 24 and he was 25. He took me to the Cheesecake Factory. He drove a red Mustang (I had a blue one!) and wore a shirt that was nice and tight on his ginormous biceps. It was a striped Abercrombie polo. He ordered a strawberry daiquiri, and I laughed. He got ketchup on his arm, and I laughed. He told me he was a vegetarian - and I laughed. Until I realized he was serious. I tried to kiss him when he dropped me off - and he laughed, as he pulled away when I went in for the kiss. That denial is still a running joke 7 years later.

One thing I remember so vividly in the years since then was how much I laughed and smiled that night. It's like my heart already knew what it would take me nearly 18 months to figure out - I had met my match. My equal. My partner. My love.

In fall of 2007, he proposed.

In fall of 2008, we had our first wedding, in India.

In spring of 2009, we got married again.

In spring of 2010, we bought a house. And got a Lexi-Lou.

It's amazing to me how the years have flown now. 7 years since we started dating. 5 since we got engaged. 4 since we got married in India. 3.5 since we got married in the US. 2.5 since we bought our house and got our Smooshasaurus Lex. And still going strong. Hubby, I am so, so lucky to have you in my life. 7 down, and here's to 70 more.

2007, camping

2008, Rockefeller Center

2008, Gatlinburg

2009, wedding

2009, honeymoon in Jamaica

2010, Pittsburgh

2011, corn maze

LOVE YOU HUBS!!!

[Life] 90 Years

A few weekends ago, I went home for my Grandmother's 90th birthday. I thought I would share some pictures from my trip and her birthday party!

WARNING: Picture heavy post!!

Me with Alex, my friend Emily's 2 month old! He was asleep here, haha.

Me, my grandmother, my cousin Cameron, my cousin Sarah

Some of my family members traveled far to be there for Grammy's birthday - family came from NH, CT, FL, VA, and GA just for this very special day.

The Hubs and cousin Sarah's 5 month old son Lee

We all had tags with our name and how we knew/were related to my grandmother. This was the first time she was meeting great grandson Lee!

And of course, my hubby thinks he's funny. What was also funny was that my brother wrote "favorite grandson" on his, and my dad wrote "favorite son-in-law" on his. Apparently this sense of humor runs in the family. My hubby is Indian by way of the UK, so he didn't spell "favorite" wrong, at least according to him. 

My "little" brother and his girlfriend, who I got to meet for the first time!

Cousin Sarah and her son Lee

My Uncle Bob; the only son and my mom's twin brother

I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but this is seriously the best representation of my grandmother. She is always laughing and smiling and giggling about something - it's how I always think of her. I firmly believe this is one of the reasons why she turned 90!!

The "Squeezebox Trio" - the one thing my grandmother wanted was to polka on her birthday so this is what we had.

Grammy, her husband, and her kids

With her daughter Phyllis's family

With our family

With her son Bob's family - one of my cousins is missing here - Mike lives in LA and wasn't able to make it back. :(

Grammy and her kids

Grammy and her great grandsons - no great granddaughters yet!

Me and Hubby...we always photograph best when taking them of ourselves haha

Just a glimpse of how many people were there to celebrate - there were twice this many!

It was so nice to see how many peoples' lives my grandmother touched and to celebrate with family I rarely get to see!!!

Happy Wednesday!