08.06.2012 - Just Epic

Elizabeth just flew back out to Iowa and is probably ready for some rest... because let me tell you, did we PAINT THE TOWN RED...

We left our first mark on the town of Seaside Heights, where Eric's family has a shore house, and where we promptly hit the ground running!


We packed in visits to the beach, the Shore Store, the Aztec AND Beachcomber for some sun, souvenirs, salty beers and salacious crab legs - in that order!

The best Girly drinks for girls night are of course, wrapped in girly labels - pink and black!

And then we switched it up and went with boy colors, because everyone needs some balance! (we mostly just needed the hydration after a day of drinking in the sun!)

We then traipsed all over NYC: The journey started in the Upper West Side at Shana's... And after fueling up at the famous Gray's Papaya, we trekked to Times Square (where we got caught up with the tourist-y vibe and paid SIXTEEN DOLLARS for two beers...)

That was followed by GroundZero and WorldTradeCenter, and then onto the Brooklyn Bridge. We caught a subway back to Shana's studio apartment just in time to get changed and rest briefly before heading out to dinner in Chelsea, where the waiter/host/WHOEVER was a hot little piece and verbally delivered the specials like they were sex on a plate... WHEW we all needed a cigarette after we placed our order!

(Also, you will see no pictures from this time span because 1 - we were big time celebrating being in NYC with lots of wine and limoncello and cupcakes paired perfectly with pinot grigio which led to 2 - that we were WAY too busy living life to worry about recording the memories. Some memories are better left fuzzy anyways...)

In fact, the next and only other shot I have from the Epic Visit is from a lazy Sunday in Central Park where, after sloughing through some nasty city heat and humidity, we enjoyed some post-hangover bagels and berries:

08.02.2012 - Shock Factor

To start off with good news, my good blogger friend is coming to visit from Iowa for 4 days and arrives tonight!! (I'm so freaking excited, I sit here at my desk at work, dancing like a 3rd grader on a Friday afternoon before a big sleepover!)

Every minute of every day is planned and scheduled with beach time, shopping, paddleboarding, martini time, NYC sight-seeing - and TONS of pictures - GET READY for an epic post on Sunday night from this most-likely exhausted gal!


It rained yesterday - who can resist a good shot of some pretty dew drops??

(and no, our lawn is NOT that long - it's some decorative long grass growing in our flower beds... bees or no, Eric is religious about keeping the lawn mown!)
























So I stayed inside and got the house ready for Elizabeth to arrive, according to "Bunny Williams' Tips to Prep Your Home for Houseguests" from Country and Living!"

Set out some nice flowers (dried counts right??)

Make sure your guest has a nice lamp to read by (just make sure there's oil in this antique hurricane lamp!)

And when I was done sprucing up (ok not much sprucing up was done - mostly took pictures - cleaning still to be done in the 2.5 hours until I run to the airport tonight) I rocked out in my haven:

07.31.2012 - SURPRISE!!

We NAILED the surprise party this weekend!!!
Kristy's husband Chet did a fantastic job getting Eric down to Seaside Heights on time, and played into the whole "your friends and wife abandoned you this weekened - that happens when you get older and birthdays don't count for as much."

All 24 people in attendance sat in utter silence in the backyard, waiting for what felt like eternity as Eric and Chet unpacked the car and bags in hands, made their way slowly down the alley way to the backyard. (I think I clutched Kristy's arms so hard, finger marks are still there.)

We did it. We all yelled SURPRISE and he just stopped walking and started smiling really big as he noticed each face that had traveled down for his 30th birthday. And it was all worth it.

The times where I know he felt I was hiding something (that sucked); and the night before the party when I partied with his sister and friends and felt HORRIBLE that he had to sit at home all alone with his beer and TV shows; and the morning of the party, his ACTUAL birthday, when I didn't call him until noon and he was all peeved that he had to be calling all of his friends to see what they were doing and did they love him enough to come down and maybe barhop with us later.

He cancelled the divorce papers (ha!) and even though he'd told me months before that he would never want a surprise party, Eric had a kickin' 30th:

And yes, it poured.  But we still had a blast - thanks to a neighbor/friend's canopy, and Hefty garbage bags, as Danielle modeled during beer pong.

Rainy! Rainy! Rainy!

HEFTY!! HEFTY!! HEFTY!! 

By the end of the night, Eric and his buddy Billy had finished:

a bottle of Jameson
a bottle of Cafe Patron
a bottle of Jack Daniel's honey


and their dignities, as they ramped up on their drunken testosterone and peed in different corners of the backyard.

07.30.2012 - Sneaky Peak

Surprise party pictures to come - blogger's being a pain in the ass...
but, aside from the pouring rain, it went flawless!
more tonight!

07.27.2012 - PreParty Update

Quick update before we head down the shore for E's surprise party tomorrow!
We grilled out the other night - deliciousness...

  copyright Moments Captured 2012

We had all of Eric's family over last night for pizza, cake and coffee - with 11 adults and 2 teenager girls, a tornado basically tore through my house for 3 hours and left as soon as it came! (And better yet - I got NO pictures of any of it... cake, candles, gift opening... that's what happens when you hostess his family!)
 Hoping to get some great pics this weekend at the surprise party (of which I still think Eric has no stinking clue!) Checking out for the weekend, see you all Sunday night - hopefully sunburned, hungover and thoroughly partied out!

***ANDPLUSALSO

I wish I lived in South Africa. That is all.

Graeme Moore and his South African swim 'bros' chill out in an ice bath

07.25.2012 - Almost There!

"That's what she said!?" HAHA - had to do it...

Eric's surprise party is almost here!!  And bit-by-bit, it's coming together - and I honestly think he has no clue... I mean, I probably look like a bad wife in his eyes right now - doesn't even plan ANYTHING for his BIG 30th BIRTHDAY!  MUA-HA-HAAA!!!

My Evil Plan's WORKING!!

Eric's grandfather shares the same birthday - he's turning NINETY ONE this year!! - and the whole family is coming to our house for pizza, cake & coffee tomorrow night.  So to further throw off Eric, I've got a number of gifts for him to open (if I'd skimped, he would guess I'm skimping for a REASON - i.e. some type of party) And Kristy's gift to him is dinner Saturday night at a great seafood restauraunt down the shore - hopefully he'll think that's the big plan I've been hiding! So now we just need to get to the store for some Dirty Thirty props - napkins, canes with horns, v.iagara.
It's gonna be epic.

RandomStoryAlert!

 I went home at lunch and decided to sit out on the back deck in a bikini top for some sun (nice stand of trees blocks our neighbors from that faaah-bulous view...)

As I was sitting there, a butterfly came and landed.
RIGHT on my Nook.
Right where I was reading.
I wish I had time to grab my camera, but it flitted to my watch for a second, and then fluttered off.
It was awesome.

07.24.2012 - And we All Float On...

Get this - I've cooked two nights in a row now... You read right. Me. I cooked. Two. Nights. In. A. Row!! (Eric's wondering where his real wife went, and how long her replacement will last...)

So when Eric suggested a movie night, I said - We're going ALL OUT, dinner date too! So hot date set tonight - which is always a **high five** moment when I'm feeling pretty sexy in my work clothes.

So Eric really wants to see The Dark Knight, but I've deferred to Spiderman - out of respect I guess? I've always sat in theaters and watched the PSA's and think, yea right - you want hundreds of panicked movie-goers to "calmly and quickly follow the exit signs in an orderly fashion in event of an emergency" ?!?!? And my weird, OVERactive imagination has created scenarios - and my solutions and/or actions to take - in case of anyone on a rampage where I am - be it work, a grocery store, etc.  (Forget Grey's Anatomy - I watch too much news.)

I can't even begin to imagine the horror of actually going through this - let alone TWICE, as one of the victims from Aurora had: Just a month or two ago, she left a food court in a Canadian shopping mall just a few minutes before a gunman entered and open fired.  I cannot even begin to fathom what would possess a human being to want to inflict this kind of damage.

But in Respect and In Memory of Aurora, Colorado on July 20th, 2012: