Nashvegas

This past weekend I headed to Nashville for Lacey's bachelorette party!  Gina, Em, Chris, Cait, Linz, and I all flew out on Friday morning, landed in Nashville around 12:30 and headed to meet everyone else at a little mexican restaurant close to Lacey's sisters house.  There were 23 girls total, this is just a picture of the ones that got there first.

The beautiful bride to be relaxing with a marg...

Lacey's sister and cousin made an awesome dinner for all of us followed by a lingerie shower.  A surprise party bus picked us up around 9:00 and we headed to downtown Nashville!  First stop, Tootsies.  It's considered 'Nashville's orginal country music tour'.  Somehow we managed to score a front row spot.  I seriously never wanted to leave.  I've never had to pee so bad in my life (and my beer was empty) but I was not moving for fear of losing my spot. That should tell you how awesome it was. Repeat- my beer was empty.  The band we saw was amazing and we all knew every song they played.  Lots of country stars have played in Tootsies and Lace got to get up on stage and sing with the band!  Pretty awesome. Song = Here for Party.  How fitting. :)

Everyone decided we should bar hop... I cried a little.  As we were walking to the other bar (Coyote Ugly) the news crew stopped us and interviewed Lacey, Abbey and Candice about Rascal Flatts. 

Reporter : What do you like best about Rascal Flatts?

Lacey : The guitar player.  He's HOT!!

Poor Meghan had stitches in her foot and was on crutches the entire weekend, she sure was a trooper though.

Her name for the weekend?  One Leg Meg and Sausage Toes Chose.  I laugh everytime I think about it.  Seriously, have the giggles right now.

Christy and I also had our fun with the crutches...

Lacey's Last Rodeo continued with Day 2 being Lake Day! Weather was beautiful!

Lacey with the koozie that Meghan made her.  A bedazzled boot with a veil attached.  Cute!!

After 5 hours of being on the water and hooked up to a bachelor party that ran out of beer (what bachelor party runs out of beer??), led to our boats running out of beer so we decided to call it a day.  Oh wait, our boat won't start.  About 7 different people were trying to help us and no luck so we called the marina.  They are coming to get us... Note: we are 45 minutes away from the marina.  So we are stuck on the boat until then... without beer.  Tony laughed at me.  I told him it was not funny. 

Here's poor Em making sure the boat doesn't crash into the rocks:

Eventually we all get back, safe and sound.  Headed to dinner at a sports bar, had a post dinner party in the parking lot that consisted of 5 hr. energies, poprocks, and 40's... in paper bags of course.  When we got back to the house we all hung out on the deck for the rest of the night. 

I can tell it was an awesome weekend by the way I feel today.  I feel like I got beat up.  Very similar to the feeling after returning from Vegas.  My liver hates me. 

I'll sum this up with a few of my favorite moments.

Friday night Amy and I were walking back to the party bus with the driver.  Amy sees lots of people on the bus... says 'Oh, Heeeellllll No!' (in her cute texas accent) and runs onto the bus while yelling 'what the hell is this?!?'  The driver of the bus looks at me and says 'that's not your bus'.  I run after her and see this girl up in her face yelling back at her.  I'm grabbing her arm saying 'Amy, this isn't our bus.'  and we run off like little kids on the playground that just stole someone's lunch money.

Saturday on the lake, Gina gets into the water and starts freaking out that she is sinking the noodle so we throw her another one.  I'm sure she's yelling something about sinking, while flailing her arms in the air, and Lacey looks at her and says 'Why can't you swim??'  It was hilarious.  You might have had to be there for it to be funny, but it was.  The rest of day when Gin got into the water, she looked like this.  Absolutely my favorite picture of the weekend.

Our cab ride back to the airport on Sunday.  Cab is an hour late.  Gina has talked to yelled at him several times and he keeps saying he'll be there in 5 minutes.  He doesn't speak good english.  Shows up about an hour and a half late and we all get in.  As he takes off, we see a bag of green stuff in his driver's side of the door armrest.  Really?  So, that's why he was over an hour late I'm sure, and why the same terrible country song was on repeat our whole ride.  Got high and lost track of time listening to 'Blue Eyes Blue'.   Awesome.  Get us the hell outta here! 

And finally, just being with everyone!  It was fun to get to know Lacey's friends from Texas.  They are a crazy bunch just like we are.  Can't wait for the wedding in a couple of weeks!  I'm so happy for Lacey, she deserves the best and I'm so glad that she found Hunter.

More pics on Facebook, too many to put on here!

Big Love

This may or may not be a surprise to some of you - I have always wanted a Great Dane.  However, there have been times, see here, here, and here, where I almost regret having any dog.  When we first talked about getting a dog, my vote was Great Dane!  I came across these wonderful, sweet, and GINORMOUS animals when my friend from college Meghan had one named Stella.  No joke, it was like a person was sitting next to you... except she was furry. 
I would occasionally send my hubby, the cat lover, pictures like this to persue him... at one time (after a little help from his friend Vern, and I'm sure some brews) I almost thought I had won. 

Then I think I scared him off by sending him either one of these pictures via email...

I'm sure the convo went something like this. 
Tony - 'We are not having a dog that can eat our baby'
Me - 'It's like having a live in babysitter!!'

Needless to say, I did not get my great dane.  One day folks, one day. 
So the whole purpose of this post is because I ran across this blog today - Things Great Danes Eat.  Freaking Hilarious!!  Margo doesn't look so bad after reading these stories.  Is it bad that it kinda makes me still really want one???  Can you imagine if we had crazy 'i'll eat anything that's on the floor' Marg AND a great dane... I'd have to become a stay at home mom.

You would think...

...I would learn to put my shoes up... 

Another subtraction to my shoe collection has taken place.

My opinion on what the shoe should look like:

Margo's opinion of what the shoe should look like:

So help me God if she ever gets a hold of my heels...

Lake Bum

Well, after celebrating my birthday for about a week and a half, it ended with a trip to the lake.  Tony and I took off on Thursday night for the 3 1/2 hour trek to Kanopolis.  We had off on Friday and Monday so it was a well needed extended vaca!  I'm sad to report that I was terrible at using my camera this weekend... partly because my battery was dead and partly from the beer and mojitos.  We did a whole lot of laying out, hanging out with family/friends, drinking, sleeping in, and of course eating.  Tony is in a BBQ competition this next weekend and has to smoke sausage (heads out of the gutter please :) ).  He practiced a few different kinds on Friday and we got to test them out.  Tony's family was so cute and made me a 'birthday dinner' with my favorite - salmon!  Tony smoked the salmon as well and it turned out great!  (again, wish I had pictures) 

This was Margo's first trip with us to the lake and she actually did really well!  It seems like everyone has dogs up there and she doesn't understand that ALL of them don't want to be her friend, so we did have to keep her on her leash for most of the weekend. 
My wonderful friends Gina and Emily came down on Saturday to celebrate!  They are too sweet! 

I came away with a couple of pictures from the weekend - here's the view from the cabin.  Thought I'd take a beach picture of my toes :)

And of course a pic of Marg.  This is her scary face... actually she has no idea when this happens.  That's what face you get when you have a huge underbite.  Love it! 

Creativity

These are the adorable cards I received from my cousins...

The last one is from Gage, he said:  That's you (tall one) and that's me holding hands.  That's your balloon and that's my balloon.  So presh!!

Call me Crazy!

But this is why I coupon!!  Check out my receipts. 

This one is from Walgreens:

This one is from Target:

You better believe that I was excited leaving the store last night!!!

Never Again...

...will I watch The Bachelorette with my husband.  At first I thought it was sweet that he was actually going to watch it with me because I know he doesn't like it.  We got maybe one minute in and the comments start flying.  'Really??  We know she chose her job over Jake, you don't have to recap it 15 times.'  'Who actually goes on this show??'  'you can't find love in 3 weeks'  'Deutschebag, Deutschebag, Deutschebag...'
Ok, I start regretting asking him if he would watch it with me.
Then the text messages back and forth to his buddy John start (because obviously he is also watching the show with his wife).  So, he feels the need to tell me what ALL of the texts say.  I started off humering him by pausing the show and laughing at their comments.  The first 6 times.  Then here's how the convo went:

Me - pause tv for the 10th time.  'OKAY, I get it.  Seriously, I'm trying to watch this' 
Tony - 'alright, i'll just tell you at commercial'
Me - 'I really don't need to know'
Tony - 'why aren't you watching this at your friend's house?'
Me - 'I have no clue.  But you can bet I will be for the rest of the season' 

Back to show.  Commercial comes on.

Me - 'ok what was the text from John'
Tony - pouting  'nope, you don't want to know'

Can't a girl just watch a trashy reality show in peace and quiet?? 

Hi, Mom

I had fun today...

Early B-Day Celebration

We will be at the lake next weekend over my real birthday so the family got together at my parents house yesterday for a BBQ.  Normally when I say BBQ, it consists of hotdogs and hamburgers... but not my dad's BBQ's!!  He was up at 5 am putting meat in his smoker.  He loves me.  My dad is probably the best cook I know.  He really goes all out!!  We had smoked brisket, ribs, sausage and pulled pork.  He also made jalapeno poppers, baked beans, homemade coleslaw, cornbread and my FAVORITE - fried okra.  It was quite the spread and I'm mad I didn't take a pic of it!  Some brews and a few games of washers completed the afternoon/evening.  So blessed to have such a wonderful family!! 

My cousin Reagan and I.  Early Birthday Princesses:

Blowing out the candles:

Opening presents:

Gparents, aunt, uncles, and pops:

Margo and Riley watching some washers.  I love this pic!

My mama and pops - they are the best!!

Winos

This weekend Tony took me to a couple of local winerys around the KC area for an early birthday celebration.  We started on Saturday around 11 am (it was 5:00 somewhere).  We headed to Somerset Ridge which is about 30 minutes south of Overland Park.  We walked in and the lady had us belly up at the tasting bar.  We tasted about 13-14 wines- white, red, blush, dessert, and port selections.  I heart wine, but don't know much about it so it was really interesting hearing her talk about each one.  I had never tried Port Wine, which I guess is a combo of wine and brandy and meant to be sipped... I didn't like it.  Tony did.  I should mention that the pours were very generous, and I started worrying about being able to make it to the next winery on our list :) 

Tony and I both prefer red wines, but it was HOT out so we picked a cold white to buy, open, and drink while we walked around the vinard.  It was a beautiful day!!!

We sort of felt like it was our honeymoon all over again from the individual pictures of each other.... 'I'll take one of you... okay now take one of me...'

Here's the grapes that were used in the bottle of white that we were drinking. Chardonel.  I thought it was a fancy word for Chardonney, but it was totally different.  See, I learned something!

After a quick walk around the vineyard we sat in this adorable area outside of the tasting building.  Tony packed a picnic - crackers, cream cheese, hummus, smoked salmon, cheese, and sushi.  Delish!  How cute is he?!?

Finished the bottle of wine sitting outside and listening to a guy play his guitar.  I could have stayed out there all day, but we had more drinking to do... on to the next...

So we headed to Holy Field which is up by Leavenworth.  Basically the same scenerio there - tasting, more tasting, buying a bottle and sitting outside enjoying the weather. 

Not the greatest picture of us, but when a stranger is snapping the photo, you just go with it. 

This was followed by a nap and then dinner at PierPonts - tasting/wine pairing dinner.  As if we hadn't consumed enough wine throughout the day :)  I thought we both were going to turn into grapes.  It was an amazing dinner to finish our amazing day.  I have the best hubby ever!!

Here's a pic at dinner - again, not the best picture.  Hello droopy eyes.  I blame the wine... or the giant gin and tonic sitting in front of me.  Pattern in the last 2 pictures??  Apparently wine makes me hunchbacked...

Babies Babies Babies

These are my pregnant friends Erin and Sarah - aren't they cute???  Erin is due in September with a boy and Sarah is due in October with a we-don't-know-yet.  I'm very happy for them and also happy for me.  You see, I absolutely LOVE little baby things.  Tiny little clothes, or shoes, or hats... I could go on but I won't.  Tony and I are not quite ready to have a baby of our own, so I will live through my friends for now.  I can 'browse' the baby sections of stores with an actual purpose now.  Thanks friends! :)

Erin & Margo - Marg loves Erin.  And cute little Sarah and her dog, Mack. 

Marg giving Baby Brockus some love.  I heart this pic!

A.I. or BUST!!!

Another season of American Idol is about to wrap up.  The top 2 will be announced tonight. 
I'm hoping for... Lee and Crystal

 They've been my favs from the start.  Well minus cutie patootie Tim Urban, but we all knew he wasn't going to get to the end.  He was always so surprised when he made it through... deer in the headlights face. 

This is really only the 3rd year I have really been into it.  I watched it here and there before, but after my boyfriend  (it's okay Tony knows) David Cook was on it, I was hooked.  Ahh small sigh for DC.  Side note: I saved his 'always be my baby' show on our DVR for a good year and a half until we changed cable companies and it was gone forever.  Tear.

Last year I loved Adam Lambert - not in the boyfriend way though... pretty positive he is into dudes. He is just amazing and so talented! 

This year I struggled a bit getting into it.  Most of the Top24 annoyed me.  I did however always love Crystal.  I like her story and even though I think she should have more personality on stage, I think she is wonderful.  Then out of the blue, this Lee character started ROCKING it!  Last night's performance of Hallaluyah was incredible!!  Major goosebumps.  P.S. I made Tony save it on our DVR... wonder how long that will be around??  Anyways, Gina and I have been sending our love through our calling votes.  He will thank us personally when he wins I'm sure. 

I didn't get to go to the A.I. concert to see David Cook, so when he came into town for a solo concert I. was. going.  Tickets on sale at 9 am - got it.  I'm at work, 9 am hits, I call and I'm on hold................ 7 minutes later a lady answers and tells me that it's sold out.  In 7 minutes??!!  Wtf?  I think I was depressed for a good 2 weeks. 

Last year was the first year I experienced the A.I. concert ... maybe the best time of my summer.  Sunday concert at P&L when it's nice outside = Funday Sunday day drinking with friends early.  Gina, Emily and I had SO much fun!!  And getting to see Adam Lambert sing in person was pretty awesome (ask Emily about it, I'm sure she can give you a play by play of the whole concert... or not) :)  We were a little worried about being the oldest people there and getting stuck behind the million teenieboppers with glittery signs, but surprisingly there were a ton of mom's that were more excited to be there then we were!

This year we are going again - can't wait for August.  It's on a Friday this year... thank God! 

See you soon Lee!!! 

And I need to give a shout out to Gina for giving me the idea of this post :)

Big Ass Binder

I've had a few people ask about this amazing coupon binder I have, so I'm finally putting up pictures of it.  It's okay, you can laugh.  This is what I stroll through the grocery stores with - no biggie :)

The binder is Studio C - I believe it's just a regular binder.  The coupon inserts are from Mrs. A's Coupon Organizer. 
I have colored dividers separating pages so I can find each catagory easily.  Breakdown: condiments, snacks, cereal, dairy, frozen foods, pet coupons, cleaning products, medicine, etc. 

Isn't it cute??  I'm obsessed. 

Bring It

I know, it's another post about my dog... please refer to Awkward Positions if you need an explaination. 

Margo is very VERY used to going to the vet.  We'll just say, she's had issues.  Tony normally takes her and then sends me pictures from his phone.  I ran across these the other day and it made me chuckle. 

First time to the vet = scared

Last time she went to the vet = not so much

Bring it, Vet...

To My Mama

I have the most amazing mom - she is wonderful, caring, kind, funny, very extremely athletic, energetic, charismatic, beautiful, giving, creative, talented, and the most self-less person I know.  She is not just these things, I could go on forever.  I sometimes think that she is supernatural :) 

I am so blessed to have her as my mom and more importantly my best friend. 

She has taught me so much and made me who I am today.  So here's to you Mom!! 

Thanks for everything you have done and you do for me...

I might not tell you often enough, but I think you rock! 

Love,

Cal 

Dynamic Duo

Tony's parents came into town this weekend for Rich's birthday and Mother's Day.  Had a great weekend!  Margo and Rich were quite the team.  She had to be beside him at all times... it was pretty funny :)
Sorry Rich, she is the closest thing you get to a grandchild for now! 

Awkward Positions

We don't have kids (yet), so my dog is pretty much my kid for now.  I will (already do) blog about her as if she is my baby.  Sorry if this bores you... she just makes me laugh. 
Here are her top 4 favorite positions...  (apologies for not 'censoring' her privates... she is not very lady like)

Score!!

Another great day for checking my mailbox!!

Full size ReNu contact solution
Full size Redken styling product
Small secret deoderant
Small size Pantene S&C (shampoo & conditioner)
Sample Lorel S&C
Sample Pantene S&C
Cascade Action Paks
OK Magazine
Shape Magazine

Oh and a pair of heels... but I did pay for those :)