There are a lot of pictures from today... so I won't waste time:
BREAKFAST:
we were hungry.
^^ We had mixed reviews from the group on the quality of this breakfast, and although we all agreed that the service wasn't much to brag about, I'm happy to say I was in the camp that didn't find my food totally detestable.
After breakfast, the gang decided it would be fun to head off to the kart tracks. I was on the fence about the whole idea until I walked into the bathroom and was confronted with this:
"screw you, short people!" - this mirror
That solidified my decision to accompany Esther to the other end of the plaza, and go to a nail salon. I haven't been in a nail salon in probably 10 years, and according to the nail tech, that's FAR TOO LONG AND [MY] CUTICLES ARE PROOF OF THAT! How dare I. How. Dare. I.
It took me 15 minutes just to tell the guy I didn't want my nails podged onto my hand [acrylics], but that I really just wanted them painted. We compromised, and he did this gel french tip manicure, which is better I suppose than having fingernails 5 inches thick with gunk. I like my natural nails, so I'm okay with this. I think. At least there was a double sunroof in the car to distract me from whatever self-doubting concerns I may have had about my nails, which was a superfluous concern to have in the first place, but whatever. I'm not the type to go to a nail salon, so do I at least get points for doing a girly thing?!
umm..
We finally headed back to the cabins to help the boys get dressed for pre-wedding pictures; it was cute seeing them all dressed to impress, for one of their best friend's weddings. Seriously, they looked good!
friends help friends with bowties..
mike. rob. dillon
work it, boys.
the groom & all the groomsmen!
rob. dillon. kenny. mike. chad
They wouldn't be our guys if this didn't happen:
that's better.. almost didn't recognize ya'll.. haha
off they went!
Esther and I were back on the pool deck watching the boats cruise by when the boys headed off for pictures, and couldn't help but laugh when we turned back around 15 minutes later to find them huddled together on the back porch of the cabin:
hideout?
Soon enough, it was time to head over. The ceremony was on the bluffs, and there couldn't have been a better day for it!
so pretty!
Esther and I finally got ready, and I don't think we did too bad, either!
pretty esther!
We took our seats and watched with the crowd as the ceremony unfolded:
the preacher, the groom & his men!
here comes the gorgeous bride!
It was a beautiful ceremony, complete with some funny moments, serious vows & lots of love all around. Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Pilic!!!! ♥♥
mr. & mrs. pilcic ♥
AND THEN COMES THE PARTY!
my handsome date!
this hilarious moment when matt was voted in as an employee... red or white, sir?
this unnervingly close-to-the-edge-of-a-200-ft-cliff picture of matt... :/
dillon on the bluff.. that looks like a riverbank.
these two dapper pinterest models bluegrass bandmates groomsmen.
my bra strap making an appearance... jerk.. haha
future facebook cover photo for dillon..
with the stunning bride!!
matt thought this was a stranger's phone.. but that's okay.
we both look a little creepy here.. haha
rob & ryan
congratulations, mrs. pilcic!
In the midst of the evening fun, I admittedly didn't get a ton of pictures, but I'm sure they'll surface over the next few weeks, especially when the official wedding pictures come back.
I feel quite blessed to have been included on such a beautiful day with such an awesome group of people!
Congratulations a thousand times over to the new couple.. cheers to a lifetime of love, laughter & learning.. together! ♥
Today was our day in Granite, before we head out for LoZ tomorrow. We spent it doing truly touristy things, which made me happy :)
First stop: Breakfast!
d'awwwww ♥
^ Let's talk about how Dillon is actually a really good photographer? I don't know why that surprises me, but I really, really like this one - thanks Dillon!
Breakfast at Weezy's: good, simple, inexpensive food.. and cool stuff on the walls:
pretty cool!
After breakfast, we found ourselves back at Dillon's; I left the boys to their own devices for a couple hours and set off in search of a dress for the wedding. I mean, I brought one, but let's not pretend I'm the first or only one who's ever done that and then decided to go out and find a different one, if for no other reason than out of sheer curiosity of what inventory the local stores have.
Fact: It's the SAME inventory, because they're the same stores that we have in Cincinnati. But just maaaaybe, it'll be something different!?
Anywho, I found not one, not two, but FOUR dresses, all of which will be donned at sometime in the next year, I'm sure. I finished up my shopping excursion and made my way north to Alton, where the boys were already a couple hours into the afternoon at Fast Eddie's.
colorful chairs! :)
Matt, Chad & Karrie eventually met us there, and we continued on to Chubby's down the street..
friends!
And then it was the Pub House..
charging my phone from the ceiling? sure.
The night continued on into the late hours when we finally arrived at our last stop; Kenny & Taryn joined us there, along with Mike & Esther and a collection of other friends. It wasn't a bad way to end the night; this time tomorrow, we'll be in Lake of the Ozarks, and in 2 days, Kenny & Taryn will be a Mr. & Mrs.!
We spent the first half of today at the mercy of a 26-foot box truck:
loaded up!
on the roaaaad again...
I cannot express the appreciation I have today especially for good friends: Mike, Andrew & Jessica, ya'll are life savers. This would have been a very different day if the three of you hadn't made an appearance and donated your time, brute strength and encouragement. Haha.
At the new house, the boys took to unloading the big stuff, while Jessica and I committed to building furniture. This wouldn't have been a priority, except that Rob's parents were due in town in the evening and otherwise would've been shacked up on the couch... which... no. So bed-building it was! Ikea certainly doesn't operate on any shortage of screws, bolts, washers, nails and HOLES DRILLED THE WRONG SIZE.. haha. The hammer ran a marathon today, but we made it happen.
go go ikea go!
The frame was built and the mattresses were laid. The guys showed up at the last minute before the mattress pads and bedding were added, to test it out:
exhausted movers approved.
mattress topped!
It was nothing more than a blink it seemed between the time that Andrew, Jessica and Mike left, and Rob's parents arrived. When they did, this little blur came tumbling out of the car. Meet the newest addition to his dad's house: Duke the pomsky!
duke
stop it, ya cutie..
I'm obsessed. Seriously. This dog is so freakin' adorable, it's disgusting.
dog selfies. dogfies.
^ I mean... c'mon. Look at this guy! I'm excited to head back to Illinois in a couple months or so to visit and see how much he's grown.
In the meantime, we've just inhaled dinner out of styrofoam boxes with plastic utensils, because the dishers and real flatware are hiding in some unmarked box somewhere in this place still. That's all part of the adventure though, right? Hah.
There are a couple things for which nobody really prepares you. The most obvious of those is becoming a parent for the first time [an entirely separate diatribe; you parents out there know what I'm sayin'.... ]. Driving on the major Cincinnati highways would be the second thing [71, 75, 74, Beechmont Ave., etc.].
Okay, there are a few other things that are hard to gauge until they're in your lap. My point is... we've just opened the chapter of Homeownership, which 1) I'm told is not one word [don't care], and 2) introduced itself as everything except subtle.
We signed the closing paperwork yesterday, but ran short on time in the evening to journey across town to get the keys. We put it off to tonight, and had Becky & Mike joining us as we set foot inside for the first time without our realtor.
We showed them the upstairs; Becky claimed her bedroom ;).. haha. We toured the dining room, the other dining room [I'm still uncertain I'm grown-up enough for that kind of spacial awareness], and peered out into the darkness at the backyard that ends at the golf course.
And then we ventured into the basement, aka future mancave. It was going just fine until our solid footsteps were offset by the sounds of splashes.
Splashes = water.
Water inside = no good.
something... isn't quite right.
It took a moment to register, but we quickly realized [oh, and it was raining all evening], that the sump pump had broken and the water was flowing freely into the basement through several ruptures in the pump and pipe.
I know. Awesome.
This is a first world problem, for sure. Yeah, it's a pretty big deal, and it wasn't what we'd hoped to find in our new house that didn't hold even a towel of our own possession [which would've been immeasurably useful at this particular moment]. BUT - the silver lining is deeper than the puddle.
We 1) have a warranty from the sellers, thankfully, that will cover all of these damages. That's the operative reassurance that made this nothing more than a minor inconvenience and I'm sure a good story five years from now.
2) We brought Mike & Becky, probably the best two individuals to have on deck at a time like this. There was no griping, but instead almost cheerful engagement in the cleanup.
3) I'm taking up curling.
Which of those 3 things is false?
Haha.
This was Rob's and my first time setting foot in our new home together without Tiffany [realtor].
This will be forever how I remember this moment:
hahah.. that's about it!
new basement, coming right up!
I guess now, we get to update on the basement renovations. Everything happens for a reason!
Good times [kinda], good friends [definitely], good night [phew]!
Gah!! Adulting is most definitely my least favorite thing this week. What I wanted to do Monday through about 3 hours ago was to crawl back into my imaginary blanket fort with a coloring book and a capri sun. MAYBE even add some One Saturday Morning to the mix, and give me a bowl of cereal while you're at it.
But noooooo.. instead, I'm doing adult things and showing up to my adult job and making adult money to pay my adult bills. Grown up life is for the birds sometimes. Haha. I'm kidding.
Kinda.
Fortunately for me, I have a small collection of friends who also do grown up things by making grown up livings from their grown up lives and who also don't avoid the real world despite the siren-esque temptations of aluminum juice pouches and Crayola. One of those friends just got back from a Habitat for Humanity trip in Trinidad & Tobago, and that meant dinner was in order to catch up on the last 17 days of her being gone.
The cards didn't work out to do dinner with Jessica last night, but at least we won't be temporarily cheated out of hangtime with two of our dearest friends. Becky's back, y'aaaaaaaallll.....
ta daaaa!
^ Don't act surprised. Seventeen days isn't enough to change the fact that we're perfectly weird in each other's company.
Now if only we could get Jessica back on the calendar, and then maybe somehow get all our folks in one place at our new digs, that'd be the bees knees.
For the time being though, I, along with the rest of my pseudo-adult friends, have got to survive the rest of this week... ;).
WE CAN DO THIS. I'll be in the kitchen getting the plastic bowl with the built-in sippy straw... ciao.
Rob surprised me by taking me to Comet to meet up with Becky and Mike. I was due in for both some time out with Becky as well as a tofu quesadilla. It was perfect.
setting up at comet!
tofu quesadilla
Not to mention, we demonstrated our clear choices in beverage selection. Can you guess who's who?
guesssss..
Okay, okay.. from left to right it was Mike, Becky, me and then Rob. I mean, we all know Becky's obsessed with MadTree, Rob's the Jamaican beer drinker, and I can only handle pale ales these days. And Mike? Well, Mike's a dark brew guy.
I needed this. I've got a man who knows me, and knows how to put me back in a happy place :). I'm a lucky girl, for sure.
I made it a point to tell myself this about once every 45 minutes today. Why? Well, the USWNT ladies were set to play Colombia tonight, and along with the rest of our country, I really wanted to see them win.
yiiiieeee!!
I couldn't tell you what happened at work that would've been anywhere near comparable to my excitement to head home and catch this game. I spent the early evening monitoring my TV to be sure Time Warner would hold out [it usually doesn't, I'll just be honest], but I was pleasantly surprised when it came through and brought the game into our house. Becky, Brandon, Clark, Mike & his girls Avery & Alyssa comprised our viewing party, and what. a. game it was :)
It was a wild first half, but no score to count after the first 45...
"i believe that we will win!"
The 2nd half was a different story! We were screaming at the tv by the time 90 hit, and after the few stoppage minutes to count, we were done, and HEADED TO THE QUARTERFINALS!! :D
I'm not kidding at all when I say that my childhood is re-living itself. I'm a little girl again, glued to the TV in admiration of our women's national team. My teenage years are back in swing again, too: back to 1999 when I watched the same Rampone that's playing now, alongside the legends of Mia, Christine, Brandi and the rest. We are BACK in the World Cup run, and I am 110% CERTAIN that WE. WILL. WIN IT!!!!
