Ramblings from the Hubs

...actually, this is a rambling from me.  I feel like I should also share when I do/say something silly or, in this case, really stupid.

While cooking dinner and preparing potatoes for a yummy potato dish:

• Marc:  Are those potatoes still good?  They've been in the sun...
• Me:  Oh yeah, they're fine.  The few mushy ones I'll throw away - you know - don't want to die of potato famine (laughter).
• Marc:  ...potato famine?  How would we die of potato famine?
• Me:  ...duh...historical reference...the Irish Potato Famine...when everyone died of eating rotten potatoes (scoffs - in my head I was thinking "you moron").
• Marc: Um.  No.  The Irish Potato Famine killed the potatoes...and people died of starvation.
• Me:  .......okay I totally don't believe you.

Well...I looked it up today, and turns out I'm the moron.  I apologize to those of you who are of Irish heritage who may have been offended by my utter lack of historical knowledge.

Vegas Recap - Day 3

Alrighty - on to the last full day of our Vegas vacay...and the most enjoyable, if I do say so myself =)

Saturday was our "Lounge and Pool" day.  Our beautiful bride-to-be mentioned that she wanted part of her Vegas trip to be dedicated to pool lounging, so we took advantage of the amazing Mandalay Bay pool, and got a cabana on Saturday.

This was my first time ever getting a cabana at one of the pools, and even though it was a little pricey, it was absolutely worth every penny.  I highly recommend it!

We started the day with a little in-suite dining...

Thank you, room service!

Amy and her tiny Tobasco bottlle!

...and then put on our swim-suits, lotioned up, and headed to the pool!

View from our cabana.  I wish I was back there now!

The best pic of the inside - it had a ceiling fan, sofa, tv, ipod player, table, fridge and safe for all of our electronics when we wanted to explore!

We were all incredibly impressed with Mandalay Bay's pool.  It was extremely "luxurious" and not at all yucky.  I was a little concerned about going to a pool in Vegas, since I've heard some not-so-classy stories about things like Rehab at the Hard Rock hotel, but the concierge assured me that Mandalay Bay Beach was a little more chill and family-oriented.  They were right!  We couldn't have asked for a better pool experience.

They had a full beach, wave pool, lazy river (so fun!) and at least 2 other "lagoons", so we never had an issue with the pool getting crowded.  Overall, it was a great time!

After the pool, we headed back to the hotel to get ready to celebrate our lady of the hour!  We had a few pre-dinner snacks, a bridal shower, and then headed off to dinner.

Our selection of fruit and cheese...and a cake =)

Annie was super sweet and got everyone matching pj's for the trip!

Presenting Annie with the scrapbook we all made!

Heading out for a night on the town!

We had lined up a delicious dinner at Battista's Hole in the Wall.  If you're ever in Vegas, this place is a must - it's right off the strip but the food is great and they serve you bottomless wine with your meal!

After dinner, everyone headed over to Cosmopolitan for a few drinks and to admire the scenery.  Cosmo is one of the newer casinos, and the inside is uber-girlie and fun!

One of the bars in Cosmopolitan - it's like you're inside a chandelier!

And that wrapped up our Saturday!  We definitely didn't want to have to wake up early for our flights the next day, but alas, all vacations must come to an end.

That's Vegas, Baby!

Vegas Recap - Day 2

Alrighty - on to Day Two of our fabulous Vegas getaway =)

Annie, Whitney and I started the day by going on a little power walk.  Gotta burn off those extra, liquid calories!

Everyone was obsessed with Excalibur!  Vegas is like grown-up Disney World =)

When we got back, everyone changed and we went to the most life-changing Mexican restaurant I've ever experienced - Hussong's Cantina.  I'm not even kidding you - this place was a.may.zing.

The "original" margarita!  We'll take two pitchers, por favor =)

We dubbed Day Two our "Vegas Day" and basically started at one end of the strip and walked to the other.  It was a lot of these girls' first time in Vegas, so we wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to see all the fun sites at the different casinos.

We started at the Venetian...

At the Venetian!  Complete with mobile cocktails =)

The "outdoor" indoor section of the Palazzo - or the Venetian...

Then made our way to the Bellagio...

Stopping for a quick photo outside of Caesar's on our way to the Bellagio.

I love love love the Bellagio courtyard - it's always so beautiful!

I found Yellow Jackets!!

Chocolate fountain!

The Bellagio was fun and we were fortunate enough to find an empty Black Jack table - our dealer was incredibly nice and gave the gals a little Black Jack lesson...so fun!

OKC Represent!

It was June in the desert, so it was HOT.  We headed back to the hotel, took a teeny little cat nap, and then got ready for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi.

Mad props to Kelsey for this picture - so pretty!

All the girls after dinner - our group is almost complete!

After dinner, Amy joined us, and our whole group was finally all together!  We stopped to watch the water show at the Bellagio Fountains, and then headed to the Bank to dance the night away.

First FULL group picture!  Yahoo!

I just love this one.

Not a care in the world!

I am seriously amazed we were able to get a group picture that looks this good in the club.  Go us!

Annie has a very strict "leave while you're having fun" rule, which I am very thankful for, so we headed back to our rooms to get ready for the next day.  We needed to get much beauty rest because Day Three was a big day, let me tell you!

More to come!

Whuh Oh! The Big Three Oh!

Today, my fabulous hubster hit a huge milestone and turned 30! 

If you know Marc, you know that he's pretty low key and he absolutely hates any sort of celebration where he's the center of attention.  I am the opposite (go figure)...which is probably part of the reason that we work so well together =)

So, what do you do for someone who hates having birthday parties and also refuses to provide suggestions for birthday presents?  After much agonizing, I finally figured out the perfect way to celebrate.  Marc's an avid fisherman and grew up fishing in Pennsylvania, and he'd told me he's always wanted to learn how to fly fish.  So, we got a few friends together, headed up to the Treehouse, and got Marc some fly fishing lessons!

Doesn't he look like a pro?  Apparently the fishing was amazing and almost everyone on the trip caught a fish! 

For his birthday dinner, I made him a scrumptious Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake (thanks for the recipe, Martha!).  Marc's only birthday wish every year is for cookie cake, so I wanted to do a fun spin on your traditional variety.  I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who's slightly intrigued at the idea.  It was amazing.

Happy Birthday, Babe!  Can't wait for the next 30 years =)

Vegas Recap - Day 1

I figured I'd spare you the lengthy update and break this into several snippets.  Here's part one of our Fabulous Vegas Weekend =)

Three of us decided to fly out together on Thursday afternoon to take full advantage of our Vegas time =)

The lovely bachelorette, her future SIL and me!  Free drinks on our flight - thank you very much =)

 We decided to ride to the hotel in style, and our limo got upgraded!  Our driver was awesome and let us partake in the champagne that was provided =)

Pop the bubbly!

 

 Arriving at our hotel and we needed to stop for a quick photo-opp.  This was when we were living in bliss and thinking there would be no logistical issues...

Colorful pants.  Welcome to Vegas!

 ...unfortunately, we learned that ALL MGM properties were experiencing a computer crash.  We literally waited in line to check in for over 5 hours...but we managed to make a few new friends.  Misery loves company!

Our new friends!

Free drink tickets make all things better!

 Thankfully, Kelsey arrived JUST as we were checking in.  We headed to our rooms, drank a little more champagne, and then headed out to dinner at miX Lounge.

Rocking the self timer!

Dinner at miX Lounge.  So yummy!

 After dinner, we were exhausted and headed back to the room for bed.  We had a full day in store and needed to get a good nights sleep =)

A pleasant side effect of the computer issue was that they gave us a room with an insane view.  Check it out!

This is literally the view from our hotel room.  Breathtaking!

That wraps up Day One.  More to come - Viva Las Vegas, Baby!

It's coming it's coming it's coming...

We're heading to Vegas this weekend to celebrate a girl I've known and loved since the fabulous days of Tritt Elementary (Go Tritt Tigers!) for her bachelorette par-tay.

I.Can't.Wait.

A little preview...

The location - getting a little "beach" time in, for sure.

The outfits...

Yes - embracing my inner 21 year old.  White flowy top with a hot pink mini-skirt for Friday night.  I assure you, I will make this look as classy as possible.

For Saturday, I can't find the exact top I got, but similar to this.  Black and flowy tunic (I guess?) pairing with a short black skirt so the whole think kinda looks like a dress.  Sounds tacky - it's actually cute, promise =)

The drink of choice...

Pretty sure I will drink more margaritas this weekend than ever before =)

And, of course, spending time with some fabulous ladies that I love.  So very very excited!

Vegas, baby!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday!

I have, essentially, zero pictures of my mom, but this one does a good job of capturing her essence =)

This past weekend, we took a super duper quick trip to Atlanta for my mom's FIRST ever birthday party!  I'm not even joking.  Her beau, LeeRay, did a great job of planning and we had an awesome time.  There were about 40 of her friends at our house on Saturday and she was definitely the life of the party =)

Also, in true "Marianne" fashion, she completely surprised us by inviting some of our friends to her party!  Seriously - this woman is possible the most self-less person I know, and even though it was her party, she wanted to make sure that we got to see our friends that live far away. How sweet.

Reunited!  I love love these gals =)

Me and my little-est bro!  He's found his calling as a Jesus look-alike.

The birthday girl!

Before leaving for the airport.

Even though it was an insanely quick trip, it was awesome to see my family and some of my absolute besties, and spend the weekend celebrating my mom.  Love you and Happy Birthday!!

Mom and LeeRay at our wedding 2 years ago =)