Day after the Wedding
We stayed at the Embassy Suites that night and got up early, packed up and went home to drop off all the stuff we had. Then we headed to Pleasant Hill for the gift opening/brunch. Deb put together a great brunch for us, so delicious. I got to take pictures…having a slight withdrawal from the day before. Then we opened all the gifts. Usually I get uptight about people watching me open gifts (I hate the attention), but I was so exhausted that it didn’t even phase me. And holy gifts, we got some truly amazing stuff. Again we felt the love of everyone. Another humbling moment for us. And with dad’s packing talent (and it is a talent) we got everything in my tiny Saturn.

Days after
Yes, we went back to work on Tuesday. I got so much shit for this, but I only had to work Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, and it was kind of fun to talk to everyone. It reminds me of working on your birthday. Then that next week we went to Chicago.

Mini-Honeymoon
We did want to get away, but not too extravagant since we are planning London in September. We stopped in Aurora to visit family. We got some pizza and just hung out. Got downtown around 9:30 p.m., went to check-in and the hotel lost our reservation and they were booked. Thankfully they found a suite on the top floor next to the pool and outside terrace for us! Sweet! It was an awesome room, awesome view, awesome whirlpool tub with awesome robes. We spent our time eating at great places, Brazzaz (again), a yummy, upscale burger joint Rockit and we tried Pizzeria Uno. Side note: we have tried Pizzeria Uno, Giordano’s & Lou Malnati’s and this girl is a Giordano’s fan. We also went shopping, shopping, shopping. Nick got a lot of stuff, I bought one truly blinged out sweatshirt. We had drinks one night at Rock Bottom. We swam, relaxed and read a lot. On Wednesday we got wasted at 6:30pm, passed out by 7:30 and tried our hardest to salvage the night, but it never worked. We also had a minor scare with Evie, but everything is good and my poor brother had to deal with sick dog. Other than that little hiccup, it was a great time!

Present Pictures.
Mini Honeymoon Pictures.

Starting the day off classy
Evie was slightly annoying throughout the night, so my night of sleep was a little touch and go. I got everything together that I needed for the day, drove her to the kennel and headed to Kari’s for a bridal brunch. She threw a great little gathering of some VIP ladies in my life. She had amazing breakfast and delicious drinks, including a “build your own bloody mary” bar. My good friend Drea also helped with set-up and making some very yummy sweet bread (zucchini!). Also, some intimate gifts were brought and yep, I got a little embarrassed, but they were all very nice. And if you haven’t heard/seen, Nick got me a gift which was amazing! Kari L, came in with a small, beautifully wrapped gift. I asked who that was from, she said “me” (to throw me off). They had to leave first due to their hair appointment so I opened what I thought was her gift…while unwrapping Ally walked by and said “oh, you are opening Nicks”, so then I was a little shocked. Unwrapping, it is a jewelry box, a ring box, then a gorgeous, so-me ring. I was so shocked that in front of everyone this classy girl said “Holy Shit, What the Fuck”. Obviously I loved it.

Appointments! It takes hours and a team of great people to get me looking decent.
Next was hair appointments for the bridal party. Hannah (and her assistant) did an amazing job on everyone. It was great to watch the girls get their hair done and see Kari and mom before I left. I was actually done early, which got me to my house to pick up my dress then to my make-up appointment early. My make-up was pretty dramatic for me, but that is what I wanted for a late afternoon/night wedding. After that I headed downtown, I was a little worried about finding Terry (that was the plan, find Terry so I could get a close spot to the Temple), but my phone went dead, so I circled a little bit and ended up finding a real close spot. Terry helped me lug the heaviest dress on the planet. Once I got into the Temple, I was so impressed by the staff, they already had all my menus, table numbers, guest book, etc. out, which was the job I gave Jan and Joy…I was so happy about all that. I then hung out in the back room, by the air conditioner and cooled down until I had to get dressed for pictures. The back room was pretty fun. People coming and going and everyone so excited. It was a lot of good energy.

Picture me rollin’
Getting dressed for pictures was pretty easy. All my girls were ready to go and Jen (our photographer) was awesome with her sister/assistant that we love, Jamie. Girls got the pictures done. Then Nicholas showed up. And a little side note: throughout the day I was getting bits and pieces of a pretty crazy night that the groom and dudes had before the wedding. At one point someone told me he didn’t get to bed until 5:00am (that ended up being a slight exaggeration), so I figured he and the groomsmen would be a hurting unit for the wedding. However, it was just the opposite, everyone was just excited and in great moods. My brother was suffering a little due to neck issue that he is still dealing with, but you would have never known it if you saw the highlight video. So we were done with photos within an hour. Easy breezy.

Ceremony, the big kahuna
After photos I basically hid in the back room, talked to some peeps and waited. I was as cool as a cucumber. I loved that I wasn’t a nervous wreck and that I really could enjoy everything. Then we were called to the hall. I heard a big roar of laughter in the ceremony room. Nick escorted Mother after Mother and Grandma after Grandma, then he went to go get another Grandma only to realize there were none left to get and realized it halfway up the aisle. The bridal party went down (Vitamin String Quartet’s Hallelujah), then my turn, escorted by Mom & Dad we squeezed our way through a very tight and crammed aisle. Let me say this, once we got on the riser I didn’t notice anyone but, Dee, Nick, Tim and Kari. It was like it was just us in a room. And within that space was like a big ball of love and good energy. It was so awesome. Dee did an amazing job, it was very personal, thoughtful and detailed. You would have thought she had been doing ceremonies for years. I can’t say how perfect it was. Our bonus parents both did a reading, they were both incredible and touching. Then the vows, Nick suggested we write our own. I must admit I was not jazzed about this. I have a hard time with words, believe it or not. However, I am so glad we did. Both of ours were unique and ended up pretty mushy for us. The ring vows were a little more difficult given I had to repeat after Dee, not a strong suit of mine, but I got through it with flying colors. Then signing of the marriage license. And ta-da! The Leeperlands are official! Hells Yeah. We exited the hall and headed to the upstairs hideaway while guests had cocktail hour. We chilled with some friends and just hung out for a 1/2 hour. That was so nice.

Party!
We were announced on the balcony to the Imperial March, which contrary to some people might thought was my idea. After that was a whirlwind. I can’t believe five hours goes by like seconds. We cut our “cake” and then sat at our sweetheart table, which was a great idea. Got to eat a little, i loved that spinach salad, yummy. Jen and Eric toasted us, which was so sweet. Then we did our first dance, which we tried to show off our Waltz moves, haha, apparently we forgot all of them so we box-stepped the whole time which was fine with us. Then we did some more pictures with Jen, checked out the photowall, then tried our best to get to everyone to at least say “hi”…we failed hardcore. We got to maybe half the room. Danced a little more and then the night was over in a flash. I am so glad we had Jen & Jamie and our videographer, Lance there to document.

My Top 10 Moments/Highlights
Not that this article isn’t long enough, but I just wanted to say what my favorite moments of the day were.

1 - The love. After being introduced and looking down over everyone from the balcony it was so awesome to see all our friends and family gathered to celebrate with us. Just so much love, it was truly humbling.

2 - Our vows. The moment, the words, everything will just be dear to my heart.

3 - The Back Room. Hanging out with my ladies and spending some time with my mom beforehand was awesome. Especially since she was lame and didn’t make it to the bridal brunch.

4 - The Bridal brunch. I cannot emphasize how needed and appreciated that was. It was truly the best way to start my day with some great friends and family. Perfect. Not to mention this is when I got my gift from Nick.

5 - Sweetheart table. Genius. Thank you, Derek & Kari for the idea. It gave us some time to chill with each other.

6 - Dancing/Music. Seems like when I looked on the dance floor there was some awesome happenings. I think one of my favorites was Miley Cyrus came on and there was my good friend Tia getting down. My brother was also another star on the floor, the highlight video really captures that. He was trying to drag me out there all night.

7 - Cake. It was delicious and I didn’t even get a piece until the next day (mine was taken away at the wedding by mistake). Considering this was part of our theme, I glad it was good.

8 - Photowall. It was awesome to get people involved, dad did a great job building and designing it and I can’t wait to see the pictures.

9 - Ring of Fire. What started as just a fun dance and paying tribute to Grandpa got into a whole group dancing along in a huge circle. It was so awesome.

10 - Into the Mystic. The perfect way to end the most perfect night.

Regrets, not really, things I might have done a little differently sure. One, I got married in July in Iowa…not the smartest month to pick, but at least we were indoors. I was pretty much a bucket of sweat all night, but who cares. And second, we didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone, we tried and it never happened…but I think that is the nature of the beast and we didn’t want a receiving line. I just hope those we didn’t get a chance to talk to know we appreciate and love them and hopefully they had a good time.

And finally to wrap this novel up, I think one of the best things is talking to others about what was going on around them and their stories and pictures. I can’t say it enough, it truly was the perfect wedding for us and it couldn’t have gone any smoother. We are so blessed to have so many family and friends that love us and support us and share that incredible day with us. And what it boiled down to is I married one hell of a guy.

PICTURES (so far):
Mom’s Pictures
Jan’s Pictures
Dee’s Pictures
Kari L’s Pictures

Couples Shower #4 (The Trolley Bus Awesomeness/Gallbladder attack)
Our very dear and awesome friends Derek & Kari threw us a “stock your bar” couples shower, Saturday the 12th. The plan was hang out at their place for some food and drinks then hit the town in a sweet ass Trolley. We did just that, hung out with some friends, ate amazing food, drank some amazing drinks, opened gifts (bar-themed related) and loaded onto the trolley heading to Star Bar. Right before we loaded up Nick started mentioning a pain he was having in his lower side/ back. Thinking it was just a pulled muscle we decided some aspirin and beer would do the trick. Halfway on the ride to Star Bar it got a little more serious, by the time we got to Star Bar we were looking for a ride to the hospital. Luckily our friend Luke lived close and was willing to shuttle us to the emergency room. To our shock and amazement we got in right away, though it took a while for a doctor to actually visit. During that time period Nick progressed to awful. He was doubled-over in pain, now nauseous and miserable. Doctor came in and determined it was one of two things: kidney stones or gallbladder issues. Morphine was given, tests were ran and three hours later the diagnosis was gallstones. The doctor advised us that it might be wise to remove the gallbladder prior to the wedding, but it was probably livable if Nick did wait. Noted. With some minor discussion and a referral to the surgeon’s office we decided to remove that gallbladder before the wedding. We arrive home around 12:30pm and in true Nick fashion wanted to find our friends and finish the couples shower. And that is what we did, we found most of them at Wellman’s Rooftop having a pretty good time. If anything, that is one memorable shower.

Gallbladder week
With the consult on Tuesday we found out that the earliest they could schedule Nick for surgery would be that Friday and even that was a stretch. Slightly bummed it wasn’t earlier, we decided still to get it done with before the wedding. Friday came and Nick’s surgery was scheduled at 1pm, we had to be there at 11am which was when the stupid tornado sirens were going off and the wind was awful. The whole trip there was kind of annoying. We sat in pre-op, he got prepped, where a nurse with a great sense of humor remarked on “his cute little legs”. However, 1pm came and they wheeled him off. I actually passed by the surgery board and saw “NL” - “Dr. Roe” - 1pm…it felt very TV Drama-ish. I sat with Deb and Paul in the waiting room until Terry showed up. He had quite a trip since he ran into all the bad weather. Around 2:30 we got an update, his gallbladder was infected and enlarged which meant they had to increase the incision which ultimately meant that the healing time would be much longer. Once he was in post-op we got to see him and it wasn’t good. Apparently his reaction to anesthesia is very similar to mine, not good. He couldn’t wake up, he had a massive headache. Eventually we got him in the car and headed to Paul and Wanda’s. Nick stayed there for the weekend because of my weird work schedule. They did an excellent job taking care of him and Terry stayed the weekend too. If you ask Nick what the worse part was he would say it was the extra gas they left in his stomach (which is normal).

Week before the wedding
Nick came home and we did some crafting, he rested up and felt pretty normal by Friday. I had appointments all week, including my final fitting, a make-up trial and hair coloring. It was a pretty busy week and to finish it off we headed to dad’s for his birthday party. It was a good time and it was good to relax with some family.

Wedding week!
This is the week of awesome. I worked Monday and Tuesday and the rest I took off, which was perfect. Nick and I still had some stupid crafting to do, we put ribbon on the menus and constructed some of the table numbers. Note to soon-to-be brides: I would say never again would I assign seating! Not only do you have to worry about the physical table numbers, the place seating cards and then the RSVPs and where to sit people…it was the most time consuming and stressful thing I did, no joke.

Wednesday: Met Kari for lunch at Gateway Market. And then hit the ground running, to do those last minute errands. That night we got everything organized for the rehearsal dinner.

Thursday: The only day during this entire wedding planning that I had a mini-meltdown. While heading to World Market I got a phone call from Mom telling me that Dee has been sick and there is a possibility that she wouldn’t be able to officiate. I was fine on the phone and once I hung up and Nick asked me what was going on I broke down. I think it was just the stress of the day. After a few conversations we came up with “plan b” and Nick and I headed to our final walk through at The Temple. The final walk through went so good, actually beyond good. It helped ease any stress I was having. Then we headed to Perry picked up the heaviest dress in the world. I never realized how big it was until I put it in my office and I had no room. That night was rehearsal. When we arrived everyone was there, yes, including our amazing officiant! And she looked great. Rehearsal went great, we got done early which meant we got to socialize a little. It was perfect. Dinner was at Centro, it was so yummy. The drinks so good, the family so awesome and our fantastical friends who I consider part of the unofficial wedding party Derek & Kari joined us. Afterwards some of us headed to Raccoon River for a little more fun. After Raccoon River Nick and I went home to make his scotcheroos and my “crack” dip for Friday. Note to soon to be brides: Thursday rehearsal are actually better, you get all day Friday to have fun and relax.
See Mom’s pictures.

Friday: What a Friday! Nick took off to downtown and I wouldn’t see him until pictures on Saturday. I woke up, got my ring cleaned, picked up a few things for spa day and then headed to The West Glenn Spa. The bridal party and moms were invited to a day a relaxation and food and it was the best ever. It was so good to hang and talk with everyone. We had the whole mani/pedi area to ourselves. Wine, water and tea were complimentary and we had quite the spread. I got a pedi, mani and one hour massage. The massage pretty much knocked me out, it was so relaxing I really couldn’t even focus afterwards, it was that good. It also was mom’s first mani/pedi and I was worried at first, there was quite a large scream when she first put her feet in the water (apparently it was too hot). After that it went real well. Note to soon to be brides: Do something like this to pamper yourself, it was amazing. That night I met up with Drea, Tia and Kari for some mexican food which was the perfect ending for the day.
See Mom’s pictures.

- Oscar Wilde

(23 days!)

On Friday, we went down to the courthouse to get my birth certificate, our passports and the marriage license. It was a very easy, carefree process (other than my mini-breakdown during the name decision). I’ve decided (if you haven’t heard) to keep my last name and that’ll be another article later. After telling the lady who was doing our license that the courthouse should have a bar, we headed to Open Sesame with our witness, Kari and our witness’ husband Derek. After another delicious meal there, Nick and I did some East Village shopping. Later that night the boys went out as Kari and I enjoyed the night outside on their deck. Very nice night.

Saturday night was the Andersen/Leeper couple shower at the Red Monk. It was all themed around our honeymoon in London. The tables had fun facts about us and places where we are going to visit. The food was authentic english pub food and it was amazing. So delicious. We played a little trivia game, I did horribly, Nick did awesome. Then we opened gifts and it was much better with Nick by my side and drink in my hand. We got some great gifts and got to see a lot of people, in fact most everyone was there, so that is awesome. The cake had one of our engagement photos on it and it was a very yummy cake. Everything was totally us and we really appreciate all the planning that Nancy, Connie, Marsha and Kari did.

Here are the photos from me & mom

Mom, Deb, Jan, Dee and Jenni all put together an amazing bridal shower. I can’t tell you the energy, time, money, creativity and love that was obviously put into this shower. They (for the most part) respected my “no games” rule; there was one, which was fast and fun. Here is a breakdown:

Guest Book: mom brought a guest book where people fill out how they know Nick and I, advice to give us and they had to draw a picture. it was so funny to read through them.

Cake: Holy amazing cake and cupcakes, they were so me. Jenni’s friend made them and they were so good. Also, Jen brought a delicious Frappe drink, a punch, sort of, but so much better.

Tables: Each table was “themed”, Jan’s was ISU/Iowa, Dee & Jen’s was Clue, Mom’s was flowers with our colors and Deb’s was England. Also, each table had a purse for me. What! How awesome.

Food: Delicious. It was BBQ Pork & Jan’s Chicken Salad. I heard so many compliments on those and the entire spread.

People: I think everyone except four people didn’t show. What a turn out, that is incredible. It was great seeing and catching up with people. That was so fun.

Gifts: Yeah I had a little trouble here, I hate being the center of attention, so unwrapping gifts with everyone watching got me a little flustered. So much so people thought I was going to faint. awesome. However, I pushed through and got some amazing things: rice cooker, dishes, glasses, pot holders, an apron, wedding day survival kit, cupcake making basket, duvet cover, pillows, beatles pint glasses, pyrex casserole dishes, can opener, vodka, paper shredder, gift cards, money and one amazing book. That is just some of the items. Nick was pretty jazzed about everything.

Again, it was so fun and I really loved everything. Thank you everyone who participated in planning.

My Pictures.
Mom’s Pictures.

I’m now 30 and one day old. Still loving life! Here is how I spent my 30th birthday:

My celebrating started on Friday, I took the day off and met up with Grandma & Grandpa for lunch and then headed to Williamsburg to the Coach outlet. Yep, found a cute bag(s)! Got back into town, got flowers from Mom & Tim, went shoe shopping and hung out with Drea, Tia & Kari.

Saturday, woke up to a doorbell and flowers outside the door from The Leepers. Had lunch with the fam (Tim, Mom & Chad) at Manhattan Deli, delicious. Then I headed to my spa day that Kari planned, it was amazing. We got our own room and Kari brought awesome snacks. We (Kari, Tia, Drea & Jen) all got different services. I got a wonderful massage and an hour long pedicure. It was great hanging out and getting pampered. After the spa we headed to Derek & Kari’s house for cake and drinks. Kari got me, of course, a fantastic champagne cake. And then the boys, who just got back from Omaha, joined us and we heard about their very amazing and inspiring weekend. Then off to dinner, to my fav, Dish and I was a little turned off at first by the loud music and weird standing-up crowd, but after a drink I was singing along to Pure Prairie League too. Had a great dinner with Craig & Tia, Ando & Jen, Derek & Kari and then went to Good Sons to finish off the night, met up with Brother and his date. Headed home to find flowers and a balloon from Dad & Brenda. And that ended my birthday. A relaxing, fun and perfect Nicole weekend!

Side note: Nick was of course the amazing boyfriend, the minute he got back into town Saturday he made my birthday fudge, surprised me with awesome jewelry, a trip to Kansas City and a hilarious card.

I look towards my thirties, hopeful and excited. It seems like each decade gets a little easier and I’m really seeing who I am and what I stand for. I’m finally starting to really like me. That sounds strange, but I’m beginning to accept my faults and love my strengths. I am Nicole. I’m not perfect, I am awkward, I hate camping, I love men’s cologne, I enjoy fruity cocktails, I laugh at my own jokes, I won’t walk evie by myself (in fear of being kidnapped) but I’ll walk around San Francisco by myself, I love puns, I love the Tudor era, I am so many weird things and I like that.

So here is one of my favorite cliche e-mail chain letters (i just love it):

“Children of the eighties” by unknown

We are the children of the Eighties. We are not the first “lost generation” nor today’s lost generation; in fact, we think we know just where we stand - or are discovering it as we speak. We are the ones who played with Lego Building Blocks when they were just building blocks and gave Malibu Barbie crewcuts with safety scissors that never really cut.

We collected Garbage Pail Kids and Cabbage Patch Kids and My Little Ponies and Hot Wheels and He-Man action figures and thought She-Ra looked just a little bit like I would when I was a woman. Big Wheels and bicycles with streamers were the way to go, and sidewalk chalk was all you needed to build a city. Imagination was the key. It made the Ewok Treehouse big enough for you to be Luke and the kitchen table and an old sheet dark enough to be a tent in the forest. Your world was the backyard and it was all you needed. With your pink portable tape player, Debbie Gibson sang back up to you and everyone wanted a skirt like the Material Girl and a glove like Michael Jackson’s.

Today, we are the ones who sing along with Bruce Stringsteen and The Bangles perfectly and have no idea why. We recite lines with the Ghostbusters and still look to The Goonies for a great adventure. We flip through T.V. stations and stop at The A Team and Knight Rider and Fame and laugh with The Cosby Show and Family Ties and Punky Brewster and what you talkin’ ’bout Willis? We hold strong affections for The Muppets and The Gummy Bears and why did they take the Smurfs off the air? After school specials were only about cigarettes and step-families, the Pokka Dot Door was nothing like Barney, and aren’t the Power Rangers just Voltron reincarnated?

We are the ones who still read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume, Richard Scary and the Electric Company. Friendship bracelets were ties you couldn’t break and friendship pins went on shoes - preferably hightop Velcro Reebox - and pegged jeans were in, as were Units belts and layered socks and jean jackets and jams and charm necklaces and side pony tails and just tails. Rave was a girl’s best friend; braces with colored rubberbands made you cool.

The backdoor was always open and Mom served only red Kool-Aid to the neighborhood kids- never drank New Coke. Entertainment was cheap and lasted for hours. All you needed to be a princess was high heels and an apron; the Sit’n'Spin always made you dizzy but never made you stop; Pogoballs were dangerous weapons and Chinese Jump Ropes never failed to trip someone. In your Underoos you were Wonder Woman or Spider Man or R2D2 and in your treehouse you were king.

In the Eighties, nothing was wrong. Did you know the president was shot? Star Wars was not only a movie. Did you ever play in a bomb shelter? Did you see the Challenger explode or feed the homeless man? We forgot Vietnam and watched Tiananman’s Square on CNN and bought pieces of the Berlin Wall at the store. AIDS was not the number one killer in the United States. We didn’t start the fire, Billy Joel.

In the Eighties, we redefined the American Dream, and those years defined us. We are the generation in between strife and facing strife and not turning our backs. The Eighties may have made us idealistic, but it’s that idealism that will push us and be passed on to our children - the first children of the twenty-first century. Never forget: We are the children of the Eighties.

With that all said, a lot of things have been going on. We are completely booked every weekend (except one) until the wedding. April was super fun and super short. The best thing was the trip to Minnesota to go shopping with some ladies in my life. Also, Nick and I took some very basic ballroom dances, which both of us really enjoyed. Who knew?

So far, May has brought some awesome events. We attended the ICADV Gala again this year, Nick bet on a golf excursion in the silent auction, but didn’t win. We celebrated all the May birthdays on my mom’s side. I had a mini-work bridal shower at Flying Mango and I had a mini-dad’s side shower at Centro, both were very awesome and very nice. Finally this weekend was Nick’s bachelor party and Mother’s day. Below is more of a break down on some of these events, with the corresponding pictures.

MOA Shopping Adventure.
Call us crazy, but 10 of us all headed to Bloomington to go shopping, particularly for those who didn’t have dresses for the wedding. 6 of us piled into Jan’s van. Lex and Deb drove up separate and Kari and Andie flew in from Illinois. This is where I get a little teary-eyed… it is truly amazing the love everyone has for Nick and I. And doing all these extraordinary things, it is so touching and I couldn’t be more happy and thankful. I’m truly grateful and blessed. And I think one of the greatest part of this wedding is bringing everyone we care about together and getting to hang out and spend time with everyone…I’m really going to miss that.

Ok, I digress…back to the MOA weekend. So, after getting slightly lost on our way there, we met up with the whole gang at the mall for dinner. At first we were going to eat at this Mexican restaurant and took photos in front of it, but then changed our minds and went to a Bar & Grill spot. Which was really good, or I was super hungry because it was around 9pm before we ate. Mom nearly died. After dinner we went back to the hotel and prepared for Saturday’s shopping. We got up fairly early and ate the pretty decent breakfast. Made a plan to all meet in the front of Macy’s and headed off. 5 minutes into Macy’s…5 minutes…Jan, Mom & Jen made jewelry purchases. We met up with the whole gang and the trying on dresses began. It was so much fun for me to watch. I really got to see Andie and Jen trying on stuff and they were finding such cute things. Jen (who already had a dress) found one she liked a lot better. Mom found a just a cute random dress. After Macy’s we all split up to meet back up at lunch. During the split up, Kari realized her wallet was missing. Hoping it was back at the hotel, we (kari, andie and I) headed back there. After some scary moments we eventually found it in Lexie’s car. Thank goodness! When we did find it, it was time for lunch, so we all headed to the food court. Refueled and split up again, some peeps headed to Ikea, I just traveled the mall looking for bargains. Then we all met up for dinner. Mind you that was seven hours of pure shopping. And everyone was pretty successful. Kari got a dress, Andie got a dress, Lexie got a dress, Joy got a dress, Mom got an ashtray, Dee got some accessories and I ended up with a purse, a ring and a pair of jeans (dee also got me a awesome ring)…I think I bought the less of everyone, go figure. We went to dinner at Ciao Bella and it was super good. Afterwards we did a little fashion show at our hotel room. It was a great weekend and being with everyone made it so special for me.

May Birthdays.
My mom’s side is really fertile in August/September. We have a lot of May birthdays. We were particularly celebrating Becca’s and Ella’s. We headed to Norwalk, had a pizza & salad dinner, played cards. Kim showed off her “cupcakes” and we hung out. And the twins were a riot.

Mother’s Day.
Dee put on a Mexican fiesta for all the mothers. It was super yummy, I love my mexican food. Mom showed up with cute, short, straight hair. LOVE IT. And Dee had the idea of all the mother’s get to wear the sombrero to get into the spirit of things.

—Paula Scher