Beach Bound

In a few weeks, I will be heading to Longboat Key, FL for a few days of sun, sand and seabreeze cocktails. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

Joey and I are meeting my mom and dad in the same villa that we stayed in last year. I love, love, love Longboat Key. The beaches are great, cute boutique shopping and there are several fabulous restaurants. My favorite place is The Sandbar. The restaurant is on the beach so you sit with your toes in the sand - doesn't get much better. It also helps that the sand is like baby powder and you can hear the waves amidst tropical live music while you are enjoying your lunch or dinner.

I also can't wait for a nice slice of real Keylime Pie! FL here we come!

Succulent City

Over the past few weeks, I have discovered my love for plants and growing things. Last summer, my mom gave me a few basil starts which grew tremendously and provided me with many fresh tomato basil salads.

I also bought a few succulent plants that I have enjoyed taking care of over the winter months. There is something about having fresh growing plants inside when outside is lacking in green.

So, recently, I have become more and more interested in growing herbs and veggies from seed. I have my seedling starts planted and hopefully they are growing. I’m working on sweet basil, cherry tomatoes and vine tomatoes. Also, I plan to start some banana peppers and mint but before I create a huge potted garden, I need to figure out where Joey and I will be moving to in May.

On a side note – although we love our apartment from the inside, the outside has left us no choice – no garage and a history of vehicle theft and break-ins is a clear indicator that our time in Brewer’s Hill is coming to an end.

Anyhow – besides my seedlings that I am nurturing – I have become more and more intrigued by succulents. What is a succulent you might ask – well, succulents are from the cactus family – HOWEVER – they don’t stick you and can be very bright green and soft. I have several succulent gardens where I have mixed and matched mini succulents. They are so cute and easy to care for.

One of the coolest things about these plants is that they multiply and can live for years. If a leaf brakes off, you can replant it and start a new plant. Or, if your plant gets too big – you and take snippets and create new plants. I have a few plants that I found on the floor of a greenhouse and nursed them back to healthy plant status.

Luckily for me – there are several green houses and garden centers that carry a variety of these cute plants and it has been fun finding the good places to go. I hope for my plants sake that if we move to a new apartment, we have a lot of sunny windows!!

Ummm...what was that?

So this evening, I went to get a massage. Every semester at Marquette, the physical therapy students have a fundraiser Massage-A-Thon which allows them to get their required number of massage hours. I have done this about three or four times and have always had really great students who knew what they were doing. I have always left feeling very refreshed and relaxed.

Today - I wasn't so lucky. I spent 45 minutes getting pinched. Literally...the girl pinched the skin on my back, neck and arms for 45 minutes! And...I let her do it.

I didn't tell her that she needed to use more massage lotion and that it felt like I was getting an Indian burn on my entire back. I also didn't tell her that a slow massage is much better than squeezing and pinching as quickly as possible. I also told her she did a great job when she asked me at the end. (I forgot to mention she told me I was one of her first massages - not that I was surprised.)

So I learned a few lessons - 1.) you get what you pay for 2.) the squeaky wheel gets the oil and in this case massage lotion, and 3.) request a third or fourth year massage student.

Rosie Gaga

Rosie was getting a bath and when I took out her top knot, she reminded me of someone....

Best part of the morning

If I'm up early enough on Sunday morning, I can hear all the church bells ringing at the same time at exactly 8:30. Because we live in the highest point of the city, we can hear church bells for miles. It is one of my favorite things.

Jason and Molly's Wedding

As some of you might know, Joey and I were invited to Jason and Molly’s wedding!! Joey and Molly were co-workers and met at Kohls. It was so fun watching Molly on The Bachelor. We watched the first episode with her and to think we ended up going to her wedding is amazing. We are so happy for the two of them. They are truly great people and we were honored to be invited to share their special day.

We knew about the wedding for a few months but because of the risk of information getting out, we were not allowed to speak about anything...which was SO SO SO HARD. To be honest – we didn’t have much information ourselves. All we knew was that we needed to book and flight to LAX on a specific date. SO we did.

When we arrived at LAX, we took a shuttle to an airport hotel. We had to look for someone with a sign that had M&M on it. We found the girl with the sign and were taken to a room to "check in" with our personal information to make sure we were who we said we were. Because the wedding was televised, we had to sign a number of confidentiality agreements and consent forms.

From there we took a bus with other guests. At this point, we still had no idea where we were going. 

We pulled up to an unbelievable resort on the cliffs of the California coastline – the resort – Terranea Resort and Spa in Palos Verdes was picturesque.

After we checked in, we went to the pool and hot tub. We got to see Jason for a little bit- he truly is a very nice and genuine person despite the tabloid drama. We sat around the hot tub for a few hours – and Ed made an appearance sans Jillian. She spent the day shopping and he hung out drinking a beer on his blackberry. Can’t blame her!

We also saw Chris Harrison and his wife walking around the resort grounds. We ended up seeing him later on and he was very nice and his wife was cute.

Also – Gavin DeGraw was walking around, as well. At this point, we didn’t know if he was part of the wedding or not but as you know, he played for Jason and Molly's first dance. 

After walking around and taking in a few of the many breathtaking views, we went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We went to this restaurant called Nelson’s. After dinner we realized that the Ed and Jillian were at the table right behind us. She was tiny!  I mean she looked exactly like she did on the show but I’m telling you – she’s a pixi like the kind you can pick up and put in your pocket. 

The Wedding

We had to be completely dressed and ready by 1:10. We went through another round of "check in" and metal detectors to make sure we did not have any cameras and cellphones. We were then escorted into a waiting area. And we waited for a while...unfortunately - as you saw on TV, the weather was not cooperating. Because of the delay, we were taken into the cocktail lounge for drinks and seats: high heels + standing for several hours = bad situation. 

As for the wedding - you saw it all. Molly was stunning! Everything was so beautiful but because of the pesky paps in helicopters, we couldn't hear much of the ceremony. I was so excited to watch tonight because I could hear everything.  For those of you who DVR'd the wedding - we were in several of the shots during the Chris Harrison interviews. Unfortunately - you see a lot of my ponytail and the back of Joey's new suit. Haha!

Following the wet and wild wedding, we enjoyed a cocktail hour. Camera's were going through the crowd focusing on Bachelor stars. Funny story - after Joey and I were on our way back from the restroom, Diana Papas was fixing her shoes when she saw Joey and literally did a double take - she looked up at him and was like, "Ohh my gosh! How are YOU?" Joey - totally shocked but noticeably gitty was all, "I'm good, how are you?" To which Diana replied with, "Good, good - Its so good to see you." I don't know who she thought he was but she thought he was someone. 

After a few hours of socializing, we were let into the reception hall which was unbelievable. We were seated right on the dance floor and had amazing views of everything. The room was glowing.  The music was great. The food was to die for. It was absolutely delightful. Molly and Jason looked so happy. It was just like any wedding - the camera's went away after about 2 hours and the party went on through the night. We are so grateful to have been given the opportunity to share all of this with Molly and Jason. It was definately a once in a lifetime experience.

So, let us know if you have any questions! We just might have the inside scoop. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to have cameras at the wedding so most of our pics are scenic. Also - the magazine with the exclusive was OK Magazine. I was very annoyed by InTouch because the story was all false. It really is amazing how much they just make up out of thin air. 

The view of the ceremony location from our room. They never stopped working on this the entire time we were there. 

A Big Night!!

I hope everyone will be watching Jason & Molly's Wedding tonight on ABC!! You never know who you might see!!

Congrats Jason and Molly!

Real Obsession

OK so I have this obsession…to reality TV. I can’t get enough of it. For example, tonight is the season finale of Real Housewives of Orange County and the season premier of Real Housewives of New York. I have been looking forward to this night of television for so long and it has finally arrived. These women amaze me. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I can’t believe them…but regardless of how I’m feeling, they come back week after week to entertain me. For that I am appreciative.

This season, the OC women have been interesting to say the least. More train wreck drama than in seasons past but it is such a drastic transition from the blond, tan, money obsessed women of CA to the more natural, limelight craving, money obsessed women of NY. I have to say, the women of NY are definitely more comfortable being the best version of them – where as OC women want to be the best version of Barbie. Such a difference from one coast to another.

Anyhow - I don’t know what it is about the Real Housewives but I can watch the same show over and over again and never get bored. I love being a fly on the wall. Thank you Bravo and Andy Cohen for being my sanity and I know you will have a fabulous season of Real Housewives of New Jersey waiting on me in a few months!