This past weekend, I road tripped it down to Virginia Beach for a super quick visit with my little brother, Chris.
He's back from Iraq! And now he's in Ranger school.
He has so impressed me with how much he's grown up in the last year!
Chris is 28 today (which is totally crazy).
Please keep him in your prayers. We're so proud of him!!
Family pic. Yay. We are hot, no?
I'm not really one for wearing a veil and a tank top with life savers on it and going clubbing... so thankfully I have awesome girlfriends who really know me and know what I really like is to get some pampering and some food!
Shout out to Gretchen, Courtney and Becky for the best. spa. day. ever! And Kim & Shaunequia for being the blasts from the past that they are.
Highlights:
The Pearl spa in Baltimore was AWESOME.
massage.
facial.
food.
friends.
BLISS.
My beautiful blonde friends.
These girls were so much fun to catch up with! They are BFFs from way back.
Lady in red. One hot mama, right??
Riding in the way back on the way home after a super fabulous ladies' night!!
I spent most of my time outside of work and work and traveling and traveling... getting my craft groove on, preparing for the wedding.
Here are some of the fruits of my labor:
Hand tied programs.
Thank you for your help Jason, Gretchen & Michael.
And Microsoft... for my free trial of Publisher..
150 little boxes of salt water taffy, for favors.
My little hands have been so busy for the past 3 months.. they should look 85 years old.
Chinese take-out boxes for left over cupcakes.
Ain't these cute?
Champagne toasting flutes.. hand painted.
Yes, I used the word hand again..
Out of town bags to welcome our guests to the OBX!
Kinda blurry... but here are examples of the table numbers and place cards.
It's getting so close, yay! And everything is falling into place. Let me just tell you that my mother is amazing. The tropics better cooperate.
And I need to spend every moment from now until the wedding that I'm not working/painting/moving/driving/crafting working on our slideshow/video.
Major countdown mode!
It's pretty sad when you have to go to the archives to post "new" pictures.
I'm ashamed of myself.
Mr. Metro.
The out-of-towners and the metro... I swear.
I'd so totally joke him if I didn't a) think he was the best, most adorable thing on the planet...
and b) didn't secretly still like the metro myself! Haha.
We went to the rehearsal for the Capitol Fourth concert and it was super fun.
Saw Barry Manilow... which was hilarous because I guess I never realized he is an actual, real person... I felt like I was watching a person impersonate Barry Manilow...
but no... he was there, in all of his Manilowness... Hahaha.
Told ya.
We road tripped it down to NC for the Brodster's birthday.
I can't believe he's 3! And now he's a big brother. I can't wait to meet little Grey soon!
And no... Michael is not a Holocaust survivor. That is a list of things for me not to forget.. on his forearm.
We had a crazy busy, but really fun and memorable time together!
I can't believe how long ago that was now!
Wow... I haven't blogged since July 1st!?!?!
I knew it has been forever, but I didn't realize it's been THAT long!
Life is full of CHANGE right now. For starters, I'm getting married in something ridiculous, like 9 days or something! Michael is at home sleeping in my bed right now, as I'm at work. Oh, the injustice! I'm so glad he's there though, and I can't wait to see him!!!
I'm moving. Okay, down the hall. But whatever, I still have to pseudo pack up my stuff and get it all into our new 2 bedroom apartment! It's crazy, trying to get all of this done before leaving for North Carolina in less than a week for the wedding, but whatever. Such is life at the speed of Dana Brown. I sure hope my hubby-to-be is ready for all of this!
When I get home today, I'm going to finish painting our floors. We have concrete floors. We had the apt. people pull up the carpet so it will be easier for Michael to get around. I was a little nervous at first that living on cement floors would feel a little like living in prison or on a basketball court or something, but I think it's actually going to be cute! And nice. As long as they aren't a beast to clean. But, they can't be worse than cleaning carpet with 3 pets, right?
I only have a few minutes, so no long diatribe. Just a quick note to say hello and it may be a while before you hear from me. But, I do want to get back to blogging... once life slows back down to our "new normal." We'll see what that's like!
Oh - in other news... I got a new job, too!! More on that soon. And, baby brother is home from Iraq! Today is his birthday, by the way. Oh, and I found a long lost friend who is really like a brother and I've been working on finding him for like 6 years, so that's pretty amazing, too.
I'll post some pictures. Standby.
