Oh, what a night!

Wow!  This past month has been quite hectic with lots of busy weekends and weeks, but last night was a great way to unwind now that the hectic days are over.  Last night was my bachelorette party and I'd have to admit that I can't remember the last time I had that much fun!  The night started at Nicole's house where we had dinner -- enchiladas, rice, chips with guacamole and salsa, sangria, all followed up by dessert -- penis decorated cupcakes...

And you can't forget the beautiful daisies...my favorite...in a fabulous package (literally!)...

Then it was time to open gifts.  I'd have to say that I'm now loaded with cute lingerie (nope, sorry, I'm not showing pics of that), an awesome cover-up for Mexico that I've been eyeing for the past two months, and the most creative bracelet and earring set that I've ever seen (care of Becky who made the jewelry)...

From there we went to the Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak to see Nicolas Anthony, a comedian that was on "Last Comic Standing" on TV.  He was hilarious...definitely a great way to start the night.  Then it was on to Woody's, where we hung out and drank on the rooftop for a while before dancing.  Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of anything once we left the house -- all the other girls have pictures of those -- but it's probably better that way.  Just trust me - we had a blast!  Many thanks go to Nicole for throwing me such a fabulous party, and also Val, Erin, Becky, Sheila, Jen, and Caryn for all their contributions, gifts, and of course for coming out to share my last night out with me!  

** FYI -- 32 days until the big day... 30 days until we're in Mexico (except Nicole, Mark and Morgan who will beat us there by a few days!)  ** 

Yet another vacation!

What a weekend!  Last weekend Troy and I flew down to see Kelly and Ian in Las Vegas.  We flew in Friday and landed around 9am.  Since both of them had to work and we got there so early, we decided to rent a car and drive down to the Grand Canyon since it is about 4 hours away.  We stayed the night in a hotel just 2 miles out of the park and was able to see wonderful views of the canyon, including sunset at Hopi Point and sunrise at Mathers Point.

Sunset at Hopi Point

Sunrise at Mathers Point

Saturday we headed back to Vegas and spent a beautiful day (about 105 degrees) by the pool of Kelly and Ian's friends, who live in a high-rise condo on the strip downtown.  We spent hours by the pool hanging out and enjoying a few drinks....oh yeah, and a few rounds of chicken fighting!

 

On Sunday we completed our pre-wedding ritual...tattoos!  We were going to add to our current star tattoo on our foot from her wedding, but the tattoo artist said that since it was so close to our heal, it would be a bad idea to get something so close to the bottom of our foot.  So although we had already decided on getting a butterfly we both had a different idea of what types of butterflies to get, so we each got our own.  Troy even joined us (not with a butterfly tattoo though), and got a tattoo on his forearm.  

Kelly is on the left -- I am on the right

Troy's tattoo

Before we knew it, it was Monday.  We never thought we'd get home though with all the changes we had in flights.  I got a call at 1am Monday saying that our flight was delayed 4 hours (for plane maintenance) meaning that we would miss our connecting flight, so we had to get a new flight back home.  In the end, we ended up taking a flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, then to Phoenix, before getting home in Detroit.  Although we were sad to leave Vegas, it was nice to be home after 12 hours of flying.  We're also glad to know we'll see Kelly and Ian within 8 weeks in Mexico.  Thanks for a great weekend guys...see ya soon!

The missing piece of the puzzle has been found...

Troy and I decided to go to the mall today.  This is the one weekend that neither of us had much planned and we were eager to go do something.  He bought a new pair of tennis shoes and then we stopped at the jewelry store to get my ring cleaned.  While we were there, Troy was looking at some diamond necklaces...and apparently this wasn't the first time he was in there looking.  He wanted to purchase a necklace for me for the wedding, but wanted my opinion on styles and of course find out how long of a chain to get.  So, I tried a few on and said what I liked, but still ultimately left it up to Troy.  Ironically, the one I liked was also the one that he looked at originally, when I wasn't there.  Here it is -- a bit vintage/antique-like -- simply beautiful if you ask me!  

 

The Pre-Wedding Activities have been decided...

Troy has made his decision!  For the guys activity, he would like to take a 3-hour ATV tour through the "multiple elements of Mexico" (quote from Troy).  Hopefully this is something that all of the guys would enjoy doing (more details on time and all that once we schedule it with the company).  When you're done, you'll meet up with the girls and have dinner at Portofino (remember, formal wear is needed at this restaurant).  

For the girls, I would like to email our wedding coordinator, hopefully within the next week with the spa services all of us want to get.  Please email me, or comment on this blog, so I know what service(s) you would like to get.  

Only 79 days!!!

More Pictures and an update...

For those of you who have been wondering, Troy has decided sleeves down (YEAH!!!! -- that was my pick too!). Also for the ladies, please email me what spa service you would like so I can email that to my wedding coordinator. She is the one making our reservations and although it is still a few months away (but less than 3), with there being 7 of us, I want to make sure we are all scheduled in the same timeframe. For the guys, Troy is still trying to figure out what to do. They are more than likely going off the resort for ATV rides, snorkeling, or fishing, so I'll let you know once he figures it out himself!

Here are some more pictures of our Smoky Mountain adventure:

The first few pictures are from our cabin. The master bedroom (with inside jacuzzi and outside hot tub are upstairs)

We saw a mama bear and her 2 cubs on the way to Ramsey Cascades:

More waterfall pictures:

(from behind the falls)

Our Smoky Mountain Vacation

Since it was my spring break this past week, Troy and I decided to take a recommendation from Bryan and Erin who have been to the Smoky Mountains in the past, and rent a little chalet outside of the mountains for a few nights.  We were quite anxious to get to our chalet on Wednesday after staying Tuesday night in Kodak, Tennessee, so at 3pm on the dot we checked into our chalet.  We followed the back roads to get to our chalet "Barely Naked", and couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the driveway to get to our chalet.  Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice, but lets just say that after I tried and Troy tried twice, we could not make it up the driveway in my little Prius (they didn't mention the need for a 4 x 4 truck to get up the driveway on the website!).  So we just decided to park it at the bottom of the hill, which unfortunately just meant that we had to climb and descend it any time we returned or left to go somewhere.   

   

(looking up the driveway)

 

(the top of the driveway, facing the house)

On Wednesday we just settled in and on Thursday we went on quite a hike.  We traveled an 8 mile round trip trail to see Ramsey Cascades Waterfall.  The travel guide did say that the trail was "strenuous", and boy was it, but it was definitely worth the hike up.  On the way, we crossed little log bridges, saw mini waterfalls, and even some bears!

(Troy crossing our first log bridge)

             

After our long hike and dinner, we then took a drive to Clingman's Dome.  It is the highest point within the Smoky Mountains (and technically in North Carolina), at 6643 feet above sea level.  We went for sunset on Thursday, and then for sunrise on Friday morning.  Although the weather on both days was beautiful, it was quite chilly up at the observation tower!!

   

(before sunset)

  

(sunset)

 

(sunrise)

After sunrise on Friday morning, we decided to do a bit of a shorter 2.6 mile roundtrip hike to Grotto Falls.  These falls were pretty cool in the fact that you could actually walk behind the falls to get to the other side.

  

Saturday morning, it was time for us to go!  We woke up with the sun and got ready to come back to Michigan.  Aside from our 10 hour drive back, our vacation was just about over!  

(Sunrise from our bedroom window in our chalet)

** Troy has some very nice pictures that he took from his good camera, which I will share with you as soon as I can download them onto my computer.  They include better sunrise/sunset pictures, the inside of our chalet, the bears we saw, and some awesome pictures of Grotto Falls.  They will be posted in the coming days!!

To roll or not to roll?? That is the question..

A couple weeks ago, Troy was looking through one of my wedding magazines to get an idea of what some of the guys wore at their destination wedding.  He looked at a few websites mentioned in the magazine and was very lucky to find a nice white linen shirt and some black linen pants that we thought would be perfect because it was dressy enough for a wedding, yet nice and light.  He ordered it and actually got it today.  It fits perfectly, but he isn't sure yet if he should roll the sleeves up or if he should keep the sleeves unrolled.  That's where we need your help.  Rolled or unrolled?  Feel free to comment if you have a preference of what you like better...