8.30.2007

The Glamorous

Wow.

The plane touched down and I wondered, how to people leave here? Upon approach I'm seeing the E.verglades, palm trees, downtown Miami (I'm assuming), and gorgeous, gorgeous water. It just looks hot and fun!! I start squirming in my seat... but back up.

You know how that last day before vacation everything makes you want to hurt someone? Like every single teeny tiny thing makes you want to harm someone? I had to chant Florida to myself. Hahaha. I left early to try to convince my oral surgeon to cut the fragment out of my face. That was a no go. Hater. Lolol. But I presume it's for the best. Because those drugs make me nauseous and with all the turbulence yesterday, I had to put the book down on the big swoops. Not cute.

My flight to Atlanta is uneventful. I'm asleep before we finish taxiing. If I don't get my 9 hours, naptime is always an option! I get to the airport and channel Jarrod's post about how ginormous it is. Luckily I have more than an hora to figure it out. Droppin that espanol homes!! The girl sitting next to me was staring out of the window like a fiend. I (kind of) felt bad when she told the woman on the other side she doesn't ride planes much so she's not used to it. I could've switched. Then I thought of the fact that the strange, environmentalist-looking lady next to her with the Badl.ands t-shirt could be talking to me. DESPITE the fact I had on headphones and was reading a book. That never stops the most persistent ones. And you know I try. Oh yes I try. I just don't like talking to people on planes. Something about being a captive audience does not appeal to me. Epiphany. When the conversation gets stale or boring, you can't say, "Ok. Well... it was nice talking to you but I gotta go now." GO WHERE?!?! YOU'RE HEADED THERE! No. Better to not start a conversation at all or I will never read more than one sentence of this book and I'll have to read that 8 or 9 times because you keep TALKING TO ME. I know that's not friendly, but on a plane, that is not my goal.

As we're boarding the plane to FT. LAUDERDALE!!!, I see that it's raining. I'm like. Oh. Great. But I'm from the South so I know how thunderstorms work. They pass quickly. If it wasn't raining earlier in the day, it's just a passing storm. We won't be here for hours. BUT we were there for almost an hour and a half. We took off 15 minutes before we were supposed to reach our destination, which for some reason was comical to me. Not that I wanted to get to Ft. Lauderdale uber late, but after the baggage loading guys had to run off, leaving our bags outside, some passengers decided to get nasty. Hmm, would you prefer for the workers to be surrounded by all this metal INCLUDING THE 737 WE'RE IN, get struck and die? Think of the delay then if you can't muster up a care for a human life over your PRECIOUS LUGGAGE (most likely filled with horribly out of date clothing but I digress). When I see people getting crunk over foolishness, it calms me down. You want me around in a crisis. Breaking news? Jameil's your girl. I'm all about a solution. Everyone calm down and let's make this happen. Know why? Because getting all up in arms does not help. It distracts you from your goal. I can be a very hyper person, but when it counts, I'm muy level-headed.

So we touch down in the land of liquor and I'm so excited about what I'm seeing!! I'm snapping pictures of the skyline and the everglades. So fun!! I get off the plane and feel very overdressed. Hahaha. Oh yeah, we are in South Florida!! I call Stace. No answer. I get nervous because though she was excited, and I'd already talked to her in ATL, I know how she is. She will disappear for days and not tell anyone. I head down to baggage claim. I see a giant balloon, the bottom of which says "birthday to you," trailing a teeny tiny person and I start smiling. As she's walking away from the escalator (she can't see me), I get off, run and tackle her! Hahaha. It was so funny. Then we start screaming like girls. Hahahaha. Hugs for her and Drew... Then I get a giant star balloon that says "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU" with a 2 inch wide tail covered in glitter. But I really need you to understand the size of this balloon. Its bigger than my body across. Like at least 12 inches. IGNORANT!! BUT Very inconspicuous. Then she hands me cupcakes, an Every.day with Rachael R.ay magazine... YAY!! And a card from Hall.mark that says "HAVE A RACHAE.L RAY DAY!!!!!" LOVE IT!!!!!! I'd seen it when I was there with my mom and almost bought it for myself!!! (I know I still have to post about my birthday). But instead I got it from mystace!! Yay!! We are being very loud like we are every time we're in the airport together. Keep tradition alive!!

We get my bags and ride out with the Spanish music pumpin. And it's hot as all get out. Almost 7 p.m. and 90 and humid. I'm like, I'm definitely in Florida!!" We go to a Mexican restaurant for some food!!! Yessss!! I decide on the beef burrito Cancun with meat, cheese, sour cream, guac, rice and beans and a house margarita. Easier to eat. I had to take it slow but I was determined to eat through the pain!! If you don't already know this, drink margaritas at Mexican restaurants. They are insanely strong. I didn't get a to go box for the first time in forever and right now I want that stuff. I would tear it up. I'm gonna email them and see if they could carrier it over. No? Just let it go? Alright. After the restaurant, me and Stace shower and change, then head to Ginge.r Bay Cafe to hear Drew's band perform. The lead singer is a model... I see why. Lololol. I don't know why models are not my type. It's not that I don't notice they're attractive. Maybe I just like more normal looking people. At the end of the set, I meet the band. Everyone was aware this is the trip of the century. THAT'S RIGHT, RECOGNIZE!! Hahahahaha. Tho the model did ask me if I brought his blanket. I was so confused. Apparently he loves airplane blankets and Stace and Drew were supposed to pass the message along to bring him one. CRAZY MAN!! That's how people catch scarlet fever. Airplane blankets. I'm just sayin. Think about it.

After the intros, we leave and head back to West Palm Beach. Do you know it takes FOREVER from our jumping off point in Hollywood? Seriously an hour. I fell asleep. I'd been mostly awake for nearly 24 hours so you know what that means. Jameil is gone to the world. The Raphae.l Saadi.q was bumpin, too? Please. Gone. Until I wake up in the city of Palm! Wheeeee! We go to sleep. Wake up and Stace goes to school. I was supposed to go but I was too sleepy. I was re-awakened, though by Ashli calling me at the crack of dawn aka 8:43... GIRL!! IT'S VACATION!! Boooo. So that's why I'm up right now. I already used the gift card she sent for my bday to buy some FIERCE shoes. Wait until you see them. They reminded me of La. I will use 3 words. Magenta. 4 inches. That's all I'ma say! Love you mucho!! VIVA FLORIDA!!!

8.27.2007

Er um

So I went to the oral surgeon today so he could pull out this bone fragment and... HE GOT IT!! (Thanks to the bloggers for prayin for me!)


Well... 90% of it, but I can eat! That's what I yelled when he pulled it out. He said, "Don't be surprised if you have to come back. They have a way of working themselves out." I gave him this look like, "Skrrrrrrrrrrr!!" But I said, "I'm just glad you got this one out!!

Except when I was tearing up this big juicy burger, I started feeling that other 10%. Ok, no. It's really startin to hurt again!! Y'all trippin!!! I will be going back tomorrow. It's not nearly as bad as the other piece but still not fun. I've received my tentative south Florida itinerary and I am ready to GRUB!! That means get as much of it out as possible (i.e. ALL) YESTERDAY. That's if I can't coax it out myself. Because I AM about to try. Not even caring. Just want to be free to move my tongue and eat and swallow my own spit if I like without cringing or doing like I did on the way to work: throwing a temper tantrum. Why? Because that bone fragment was stabbing my tongue to death while I was trying to drink a MILKSHAKE!! Son of a. It's a bad day when you can't even drink a milkshake.

If you're going to will this bone fragment out with a little manual labor from me (faith without works is dead), let me hear you say YEAH!! (Like Steve Harvey on the Apollo). YEAAAAAAAAAAH!! (It's not working. TRY HARDER!!)

8.26.2007

Oh the Pain

We've already discussed, multiple times, how much I like to eat. And the fact that I'm a foodie. SO WHY ME!?!?!

My sockets where the 3 wisdom teeth were (some people have 3, some have 4. one of my co-workers had 5!! glad I was on the low end. I only had 3) are fine. They were okay after about day 2. And I was beautifully unswollen. However, they tell you to look for bone fragments. (The reason why this happens is because when they take out your wisdom, the cut some bone. Ew, right!! Who knew? Not me!) I thought I had one poking me in my tongue way in the back of my mouth and guess what? I was right.

But I thought it would be a quick fix. Um... no. Unfortunately I have to wait for it to protrude through my gum before he can pull it out. (Could I be swollen for a day or 2 instead?!?!) Cutting through the gum will make the situation worse. Hold up. So it hurts now, but it's going to get worse before it will get better? Oh but it does get better.





He doesn't know how long it will take.




*THROWS UP HANDS, STOMPS, FLAILS MADLY WHILE MUTTERING MANIACALLY!!!*



Breathe in Jesus, breathe out peace.
Breathe in Jesus, breathe out peace.
Breathe in Jesus, breathe out peace.




I tried to impress upon him the fact that I'm going to Miami/Hollywood/West Palm Beach/Ft. Liquor I mean Lauderdale for a week and will need not to be bothered with this. Hello!! Food!! He seemed excited for me but didn't offer a better solution. Instead he said, well, maybe it'll be through by then. COME. ON!! BAH!!

So! It hurts to talk too much, and definitely hurts to chew!! That means mostly soup, milkshakes and applesauce. Tired of all three. Especially because the soup can't have too much actual food in it or it hurts because I HAVE TO CHEW!! Seriously, I can't afford to lose anymore weight. I don't want to disappear! I haven't been to the gym in more than a week because I've been too loopy from the drugs and my mom and my line sister were here so bad week for the gym. I do plan on going to the beach and doing a workout in Florida so I'm muy excited-o (brushing up on mi espanol!) about that.

When you can't eat, all you can think about is food, so a post about the birthday will have to wait, loves. While eating last night I made my parents stop in the middle so we could pray that this bone works its way on out by Tuesday. They both looked at me like I was insane. Hey man. Prayer works. So y'all get busy, too, bloggers. I need some peace!!

8.23.2007

Go Jameil, It's Your Birthday!!!

Just so you know, I don't count birthday greetings not on my actual birthday, (bratty is who I am... BECAUSE IT'S MY DAY!!) so CONGRATULATIONS to X for being the first person PERIOD to wish me a happy birthday. My cousin Amber who I haven't spoken to in more than a year was actually 2nd. Good job Amber!! Next was Ashli. Hurray!!!!! Wait... I just checked the myspace. Cnel was actually first... but X you were first here! :)

Y'all. I'm 25 now. Wow... Except on my birthday my mom likes to say, "You're not here yet" since I wasn't born until 11:04 p.m. Uh.. mom... that doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to celebrate!! BTW I hate August 24th. It's like December 26th. A giant letdown. But TODAY IS ABOUT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Remember when this blog was called "All Me, All the Time"? That's right, the good old days! Hahahaha. At 12:06 this morning I was smacked in the face with the reality that I'm 25 and can never go back. Not that 24 was a year I'd like to relive. Everyone who's anyone says the 30s are the good times. YES!!! That's hot. I've still got years until I get to the good stuff.

So... in honor of me (how hilarious is that statement?), I will fulfill the tag Liz smacked me with of 10 things I like about myself. She said she wanted to know about me because "she always makes me laugh and has such a youthful and positive energy." What?!?! Who on earth could say no to that tag?!? People! You want my attention, flatter me!! :) La, dear late La, insists I do it, too, but "because she hates tags. And because I am gonna harass her mercilessly until she does it..." Brat I say! So this is for Liz because she asked so nicely!! :P

1) I love food!!! Really. You read that last post about me stepping out on a food limb. And I don't need only crazy fancy food, though I enjoy that, too as long as I'm not paying. I love breakfast... normal breakfast like bacon, eggs, grits, hashbrowns, sausage, wheat toast with butter. I do NOT like Waffle House. So please don't try to make me go. It's gross. I live to eat, not eat to live, so make it good!!

2) I'm the life of the party. I am. When I left Wynel's wedding, a couple of her friends said, "You're leaving?!? But it's not a party without Jameil!" Fab!! At Hampton we have Freshman Ball and Senior Ball, each at the end of the year. You get all dressed up and party, party, party. Freshman ball, I was the first person on the dance floor. And once I lit it up, the party kept going all night long!! I showed up fashionably late to senior ball so I did not start the party, but you know I kept it going!! If there was an invitation to a party, be it house party, club, whatever, back in college, no matter the day of the week, I was there! Far be it from me to lessen your fun by not attending!!! So I went and I loved it.

3) I'm really smart. I started reading at 3, then went to school and learned more and taught my sister to read at 4. My mom wouldn't let me skip kindergarten because I was already the 2nd smallest kid in my class. I think that was a good move. I've always been able to fit in with older people, but there's something to be said about growing up with your peers. A lot of the people I've known who skipped grades were a bit socially stunted. You know I can't have that!!

My family tells me all the time that they always learn stuff from me. What greater compliment is there than for your parents and older relatives and family friends to learn from you every time you're around? That's hot!

4) I love my friends. Like am fiercely protective of them. You hurt them and I may be more mad than if you hurt me. They are my chosen family and I choose well. I pick friends you keep forever because I like to surround myself with people who keep drama to a minimum. I don't like cutting people off, but I'll do it if you make me.

5) I can be kind of ruthless. I call it tactful, but my dad says I'm mean. Sometimes I try not to be and I've really become much nicer about it. The most common question from people who have found me again is, "Are you still not taking any stuff from anyone?" Jam right!! But in a nicer way.

6) Sometimes I just don't care. If you are cutting up and not listening to reason, I can't care more about you and your life than you do. At some point I have to step away and let you figure it out on your own. I will try to help you, but sometimes people don't wanna be saved. (I know I was wrong for that but I couldn't resist, sometimes the southern pours out of my soul).

7) I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!! No, like really love it. Like want EVERYONE AND EVERYBODY to make a big deal out of it. Again, it's who I am.

8) I love to travel. But I like local guides. So bloggers, if I'm coming to your city, prepare yourself. You will be forced to be tour guide. I need someone who knows where they're going and all the hot spots. And of course, THE FOOD!! Tell me the best places to eat... and party! I want to be a field producer at some point in my career so I can travel and learn new things about different people and places.

9) I'm creative. Part of it has to do with my visual-nessocity. It's been a while since I made up a word so I thought today is as good a day as any!! I have good spacial awareness. I crop a picture in my head before I take it so there's less work once I get home. Digital cameras are the love of my life. If I don't like the shot, I'll just take it like 8 more times until I get the one I like and delete all the subpar ones. I can also write in a straight line on unlined paper which freaks people out. I've been doing it since I was like 7... almost 20 years. I can dance and have an okay voice. I've been called dramatic once or twice so I can act, too. But I don't like people in my business so I don't really want to be famous like that.

10) I love love and the idea of love and I won't let anyone kill that for me.

Right now I'm going to eat my breakfast: caramel ice cream! LOVE ME!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!

8.22.2007

Tonight I Saved A Life

By becoming a true foodie. To consider oneself a foodie, it is necessary to have a sense of adventure when it comes to food. First, for my own personal sense of food adventure, I'd like to thank my homie Ashli. She introduced me to the chef love of my life... the one and only Rachael Ray. *heavenly sounds* Watching Rachael Ray led me to something of an obsession with the Food Netw.ork and my beloved Top Chef. This show is such a joy. Sigh.

Before the latest episode comes on let me tell you how tonight my father and I went to Mont.erey Bay Fish Gro.tto. Oh comma my. To start, we had oysters Rockefeller since you know I now love oysters. For bread, I had a gouda cheese roll and rosemary olive ciabatta. My entree is the life-saving endeavor... blackened cajun mako shark. That's right!! I had shark! From Florida. I may have saved my OWN life since I'm going to Florida very soon. For dessert, I had a peach float with fresh peaches and raspberries, peach ice cream and champagne poured at the table. YUM!!!! Glad I wasn't paying. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Less than 2 hours!

Setback

Last night me and the l.s. went to Ch.ili's. I had their chili... for the first time ever and I've been to that restaurant no less than 50xs. AND it was actually good! Not MY chili, but still good. We used to go there after every football game in high school my junior and senior years. Then we went a lot in college and my work crew used to go all the time before one of the riders moved to Florida and another got moved off of the weekend shift. FAKE RIDERS!! Hahahaha.

I also had their molten chocolate cake. If you live under a rock, its a piece of chocolate cake shaped like a volcano with warm chocolate syrup inside topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm not a big fan of chocolate, but when I want some, I just do and will go get it. So I did. Yum.

When I got home, I had to brush the teeth. They felt disgusting and the booklet said I can. But why did I start bleeding? And have to put the gauze in? And have my Nichole running for the bags in case I needed to vomit again. I didn't, but that lower left socket does not feel lovely. I had to take some percocet last night and this morning which I HATE and will not be doing again. I NEED TO BE IN CONTROL!! What? That's just how I am. And I'm okay with that when it comes to the drugs. I can't be feeling like my body does not belong to me.

After the l.s. got on the road I started reading one of the crazy books I bought for my laying up period, then passed out. I woke up, checked the mail and THERE WAS NOTHING FOR ME!! WTH?!?! This is not how I roll. I'm supposed to be fielding birthday mail like a shortstop!! TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!! I got so crunk when I heard the UPS truck pull up. Then I saw the size and shape of the box and knew it was for my neighbor. It was. CURSES!!

My co-workers already feted me and gave me a card. One of them also gave me a set of paper and stationary. Another gave me his fun mail (mail companies send producers that has something we can actually use i.e. a book (of course my personal fave). This time it was a cookie cutter). I got a few early b-day messages via myspace-- I love you but unless it's something coming through my mail box, they don't count. What? I know I'm bratty. It's part of my charm.

But guess what just happened? One of my co-workers just called to check on me post-surgery. How nice!! This is why you should talk to quiet people. Did I tell you I love quiet people? Even though he gave me his "I was out for 3 weeks with my wisdom teeth" horror story before I got mine out. I'm still feeling a bit woozy from the percocet so I think I'll take another nap even though me and dad are supposed to be going out to celebrate our birthdays tonight. I can't even drink. Know why? Because even though I don't plan on taking anymore percocet, I'm just not in the mood!! What?? Boooooooooo. (Lest I get cursed out, Mi Ashli and Mi Stace both called to check on me post surgery and I love them for it, too!!!)

I did have some chicken corn chowder about 20 minutes ago and it was BANGIN!! Who knew Al.di's made good soup? Not me. But I found out once I ate the whole can. What? All I had to eat today other than that is apple sauce which kind of makes me feel ill since the vomit incident. My stomach is extra flat again since I can't eat a whole lot. I'm so tempted to take pics of my abs and post it on the internet but I think I've enticed the stalkers enough in the last couple of weeks with pictures of me. Lololol. Guess what? This time next week I will be in FLORIDA WITH MYSTACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch out world!!! The bikini will DEFINITELY be making an appearance this week if I have to walk the entire mile to the beach from her house!! *raucous laughter*

8.21.2007

Minus Teeth, Plus Height, and Nic!!

After a long, arduous drive from the 'Cuse, complete with wrong turns and detours, my line sister finally got here around 8:30 Sunday night. Since it was so late, we went to Wendy's for my last meal *enter dirge*. I had a single with cheese and french fries. The next morning, Nichole took me to the oral surgeon. I was feeling a bit nervous, but when the doctor asked me how I was doing, I said, "Overjoyed." That got a big laugh.

I met the anesthetist who was nice, also and walked me through what he would be doing. He asked who was here with me and I said my sorority sister. He asked what school I went to. When I told him I graduated several years ago from Hampton, he said, "And she came all the way here to help you?? What a great friend!" I know!! He said the surgery would be so quick that I would wake up and ask, "Did it happen yet?" When the i.v. started going into my veins (which he'd warned me about), it felt cold. Very strange. Oh yeah the questions that garnered a big laugh from me, "Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" Only through a miracle of God. And, "Are you using any recreational drugs?" I mean I guess because I'm not it was funny, but it's so strange to me that adults with jobs still do. It's like, now at what point will you decide to grow up?

After the surgery I definitely did not wonder if it had happened already because I had a mouth full of gauze and felt mildly crackish. Not in the shaky way but in the "Whaaaaaaaa??? I so confrused" way. Yes I meant to write that question like that. They let me sit there for a minute then walked me to recovery where I laid my head down and they brought Nichole in. They gave her the instruction sheet and we walked out but before we got out good, I had to turn around for a nice vomit. Just blood and stomach acid. Delightful. I made it to the trash can, then sat down for a minute or two, then the nurse walked me to the car.

The parking lot attendant yells, "I told her not to drink before she went in there!" I said, "I couldn't help it!!!" Hahahahaha. We headed back to my house with a stop at the drug store to fill my Percocet prescription and get some egg drop soup. Yummy!!! I love egg drop soup and never eat it because I'm not the biggest fan of Chinese food in general. (Too much of it as a child). I walk in and my dad goes, "OOH! Who hurt you? Where they at? You want me to go beat em up?" How about he'd forgotten... AND MY MOM FORGOT TOO!!! PARENTS!! My mom said, "I thought it was tomorrow. I would've remembered if you were there." Hmph!!! Both of them need lashings.

I ate some soup, popped a pill, then went to sleep because I was still coming down from the drops. I decided I didn't like the drugged out feeling so that would likely be my last percocet. My hand was feeling more pain from the i.v. and catheter insertion point than my mouth. When I woke up about 4 hours later, still feeling drugged, me and Nichole watched "Mean Girls" which she thought was ok *gasp!!!!* and "Superstar" (my line name), which she thought was hilarious while I sat drifting in and out with ice on my face. Too funny. Then we watched some tv and called my mom to make her feel bad. My dad went to the grocery store for us. I ate some apple sauce and more soup. I said I'd be eating real food by tomorrow. Both of them were amazed at how quickly the swelling had gone down. Then I threw up again when I put the gauze in my mouth. The smell of it instantly made me nauseous. This time apple sauce tinged with egg drop soup, but smelled mostly like apples. Isn't this a delightful post? I'm not fiending for actual food too badly, but when my dad brought Nichole back a homestyle chicken sandwich with fries I just stared at her. It was hilarious. So we called my dad to ask him to bring me back a baked potato. That definitely counts as a soft food. Yummy!

Then I went to bed again. And now its morning. That experience made me feel like I don't understand how people go through voluntary surgery. I guess if you're that upset with your body, you'll take the pain. All I had was 3 wisdom teeth and I'm like, "Nah, I'll pass." OOH! My line sister saw my stomach and was like, "Wow!! You're my new stomach inspiration!" What?!?! That's hot!! So I showed her all the ab exercises I do.

The other day I decided I'd like to be taller. I'm 5'1 and 1/4" and I want to go out and be the same height as other people with everyone wearing heels. Now I'm sure this feeling will eventually go away as I've always liked my height for the most part. I know my mom's short, but her mom is 5'10 and my grandma's sisters are all around that height except one, and she's about 5'6. And their mother was over 5'10, too. I did ask my grandmother when she started growing and she said at 19. So until I hit 20, I was mildly hoping for a growth spurt, though at 13, my doctor'd told me I'd likely already hit it after growing a whopping 2 inches in a year or something ridiculous like that.

And I don't want to go out with a bunch of people under 5 feet to feel tall. Now, I will say I'm so used to being short that when I'm around people I can look down on, it feels very strange. Maybe I can just be tall for a day. I'm internally tall, but for just one day I'd like to be tall. Just moderately tall like 5'8. Anyone want to trade?

Also, today is Dad's birthday, tomorrow is my parent's former anniversary and my beloved birthday is THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOT WHOOT!! My mom's coming to town and we shall have a blast.

8.17.2007

Wynel's Wedding Weekend Pt. III

Apparently doing installments of lengthy weekends will also get you stabbed in these streets. X is threatening me again. I'm splitting it up because it's a lot to read and it's a bit taxing to add 7 million pictures but since it was requested, here is part III.

Catch up with one and two first.

The first part of the bachelorette party was at a hotel so Wynel's church friends wouldn't feel left out and uncomfortable. Everyone brought the bride gifts. We did a toast.


Yes that's my cup in the foreground. I gotta get in the pics somehow. There were some hilarious games. One was to use toilet paper to create the "lingerie" Wynel would wear on her wedding night. Of course for our group I was the model. Yay! But we didn't win. Boooooooo. One bridesmaid, Jocelyn interviewed Sinclair. Wynel had to guess his answers. For every correct one, she got a dollar. For every incorrect answer, she had to chew a piece of bubble yum. She had a mouth FULL of gum by the end of the game.


Hilarious.

We also had to pick a button with various sayings on them i.e. flirt, sexy, wild. If J thought you picked the wrong one, she would let you know. I picked this one.


She looked at me and said, "You straight." Hahahahahaahahahaha.

Before we headed out, Wynel was given a list of tasks to do on her last night as a single woman. She had to pick 4/8. I don't remember all of them or which ones she picked but here are the ones I remember: get a guy to buy you a drink for the last time, give a guy the wrong number for the last time, and my favorite (which she did not do), smack a guy on the butt. But when he turns around, instead of acting like it wasn't you, ask "would you like another?" CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW HILARIOUS THAT WOULD BE to do to a dude!?!?! I would die with laughter!!

We had a BLAST. I have no idea what club we went to. By that time I was just like LET'S PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And party we did!





And it got hot!!

We had a blast. I did the matrix... in a mini dress... wow. I'm a show off on the dance floor. I can't help it.

Oh yeah! I was supposed to tell you guys about the drama. So some people who I won't identify were being pouty and rude. Moody!! This is not about you so whatever your issues are you need to slide them to the side. Trife. Bridesmaid C the rider had told me about her days in middle school where she was ready to fight two of the other bridesmaids over a dude. HILARIOUS!! So they were like "[The dramatic one] is bringing up old stuff. That'd be like me stepping to C saying, 'Remember back in middle school when you wanted to fight me over that dude?? I ain't like that and we need to settle it now.'" Dra-ma!! We kept the bride away from it. Focus on you and your man.

The next day was the wedding. Wow... I woke up to find Sinclair in the house. Wynel wasn't there because she'd spent the night with some of her other bridesmaids at the hotel where her bachelorette party was, but I was still like WHAT?! So I call Wynel to let her know he's at the house. She says, "I know, I already talked to him." I say, "You're not supposed to talk to him." She says, "I thought we just couldn't see each other... oops. Well I guess we messed that up." Like I know the rules of these traditions!! Hahahaha. Do what you want girl. The strength of your union is in God's hands. But they did want to keep the not seeing each other thing alive. He was on his computer and I was in the other room on the phone with my mom and I heard an owl. I was very confused. I was like, "What's going on out there???" He had his computer sounds on nature. I was DYING!! Bridesmaid C said through her sleep she heard me ask, "Is that an owl????" Too funny. W she called me to tell him to leave because she was on her way back. He started laughing then said ok. They are so cute.

Wynel and Bridesmaid K went to get their hair finished. K's hair was wow... she'd sweated it out. All the bridesmaids start coming over so everyone can get dressed together. Bridesmaid J2 cooked breakfast for everyone. Eggs, bacon, mmmmmmmmmmm. When W got back, she gathered everyone around and told us she was so happy to have each of us in her life and that she doesn't see differences like cousin or friend, but we're all her sisters. Then she went around and told each person what she loved about us. She called me the adopted bridesmaid and said I'd been such a big help and I would be with them while everyone was getting ready. We were all in tears. I'm so glad I was able to be there.

Then it was time to go! (The wedding was at 7 p.m. Sunday night). I realized W probably hadn't eaten much all day so I made her a sandwich for the road. We can't have her fainting at the altar! We got to the ceremony sight on the water on the naval base and the covered chairs were set up outside and threatening clouds were overhead. We left that one to God and started getting ready.






And then it was time.

They started a little early because the rain started.


This is the point where I started bawling. By the time the first prayer was over, the rain had stopped.


They each read letters to God thanking Him for putting each other in their lives and asking Him to bless their union. Then they exchanged vows.



And just like that, it was over....



And then it was party time again!! Boy did we have a blast. All the black wedding dances. The cha-cha slide, electric slide. The dances from Beyonce's extended mix (start at 3:43... no, we did not get down on all fours)


Then a dance I'd never even heard of because I don't listen to the radio: the cupid shuffle. I picked it up quickly as its the simplest dance in America.



The newlyweds got on the dance floor with the rest of us when the "Internation.al Player's An.them" came on. Love this song!!!






Afterwards some of W's dad's friends told me they loved watching me dance. So funny. I was so sad to leave W, C and K since I'd been with them non-stop since Wednesday. I talked to W Tuesday and she said it was so weird for us not to be there. It feels weird not being there, too! Big hugs all around when I left. Awwww! I had a great time.

8.16.2007

Wynel's Wedding Weekend Pt. II

Start here... and here are a few new pics to get you caught up.

The first night we went to dinner on the beach. I became extremely obsessed with this shot and took a lot of pictures of it. For that, X called me a tourist and asked if I actually went to school there.



Hater!! You know how when you live somewhere you kind of ignore the sights and sounds? I'm sure people in Philly don't visit the Liberty Bell. I didn't go to the Hezekiah Alexander house in Charlotte. Matter of fact, I didn't even remember who that was until I just looked it up. I lived within 10 minutes of a beach all four years while at Hampton but the waterfront on campus was about all I saw. I didn't go to the beach until senior year!! That is madness. But I love the water and really miss it. Hence the mildly obsessive beach shots. *sticking tongue out at X*

While we were there, a woman on the beach took a picture of all of us and said, "Everyone say sex!" Except we were with Wynel's mom and aunt so clearly we did the nervous laughter and just smiled.



The same couple decided to give the now newlyweds some advice.


We spent hours on hours on hours (I'm not exaggerating here) making the bridal party bouquets, pulling apart roses for the petals the flower girl would throw


...and making the favors. They were small silver tins with a clear top. There was a purple ribbon tied in a bow around them, with a small silver charm that said love. Inside were purple M&Ms that said "Wynel and Sinclair."


Guess who cut that mountain of ribbon for 180 tins and didn't even get a favor?? OR TAKE A PICTURE of it?!?! Yeah... that would be me. But it's ok because I never want to see another purple M&M in my life. Ever. Hahahahahaha.

While we finished up the favors, Wynel and Sinclair started getting ready to go to a wedding. One of her friends got married Friday night. Wynel's wedding was Sunday night. As usual, clothing, jewelery, shoes and accessories got passed around like mad. This night my purse got the time to shine.


Those are my gold bags on the bed! How fab are that dress and hat!?!?


I made them stand like that since that's how the bridal party had to walk in. Hahahahaha. That picture really shows her personality and trust and believe it was HOTTTTTT outside. Like 95 and humid at 5pm hot. Yeah. I live in Pittsburgh now. We don't do that kind of heat up here. It's one of the best things about this city. Lack of summer heat.

While they were at the wedding, me and three of the bridesmaids went to MacArthur Center aka mall heaven in that area. I didn't get to go in Nordstrom's... *tear!!!* BUT we ate at California Pizza Kitch.en!! Yay!! Despite the so so service. Oh let's clarify something... I was NOT a bridesmaid but since Wynel wanted me to stay with her, and I told her I could come in to help whenever, I was there for everything. It was very confusing for everyone who'd seen me everywhere and then on the wedding day saw me sitting down. AND her mom's side was telling each other I was the wedding coordinator which was hilarious. I'm like WAIT!! Wynel planned this with a lot of help from Sinclair's aunt. I just showed up to help.

After the couple got back from the wedding, we headed to "Dunkin Hoes at Bard.o's"

That's what Wynel called it on the itinerary. It's just donut holes but she wanted to confuse everyone. That worked out nicely! Clearly that was the first thing everyone asked about. It's just her fave dessert. Donut holes that you dip in chocolate, caramel or raspberry sauce. We met up with the Hampton homie Jarrod there. Good fun. I ordered multiple drinks with crazy names. One of them was "dontplanoncallinya." None of them were up to my flavor desires. Booooo.

After Bard.o, everyone else was tired so me and Jarrod headed to Granby Street. Immediately we run into some Hampton folk. I recognize one girl but she's soooooooo into the amazing J-rod that she doesn't even bother to wave in my direction in the 5 or 10 minutes they were talking. Get it pimpin. One dude gives me a hug because he recognized me. I didn't know him then and wouldn't know him again if he stood next to me while on campus. He told me he was a personal trainer so I told him to give me an impromptu workout. HUH-LARIOUS!! Then I remembered I was in heels and quite full from the drinks. So much for that.

We went to Bax.ter's for more drinks. "Jump, jum.p! Everybody J.ump!" came on and you know I got crunk and started yelling it and some white dudes got to work and started jumping. J-rod refused to participate in my directions and was cited for non-compliance. Why is it so difficult for some people to follow directions?!!! Once the bar shut down, we walked up and down Granby Street until I saw these steps and had to stop!



Photo shoot!


On the way back to Wynel's from Granby, "THE slow jams deluxe get the draws tape" (if you don't know what movie that's from, you and I cannot be friends) is on and I'm not even paying attention until the DJ is switching songs like mad (I thought it was the radio) until I yell RELAX! and ride out. Good times! Hahahahahahaha.

The next morning Wynel gets up at the crack of dawn to go pray on the beach with Sinclair. Then her and her maid of honor, K go to get their nails done. Me and the bridesmaid rider, C (I LOVE HER!!), drop W & K off at the hair dresser and go to... SONIC!!!!! I loooooooove Sonic. The burgers are so yummy. So, so yummy. C had never been before and she fell in love, too. Yay!!! C and I just laid around all day. I definitely needed one of those. I read the newspaper. We picked W & K up and started getting dressed to go to the bachelorette party!!! Whooooooo!! First we went to meet up with Wynel's dad, brother, step mom and that side of the fam and pick up the last bridesmaid to get in town, her cousin S.

Then we headed to the hotel for the first part of the bachelorette party. There were no strippers because male strippers are gross (rarely attractive and too aggressive) and why would we want to see a woman take off her clothes? After the hotel portion, we headed to the club where she had a list of tasks... Here is a preview of the fun until part 3...

8.14.2007

Man With the Oyster Plan

Remember the story about the guy with the oyster sandwiches I eluded to a few posts back? Well Royce's Daughter touched on "the spark" after watching "Love Actually." Stace loves this movie and it's okay to me. Cute enough. Makes you smile. But let's talk about the spark.

It was summer 2002, just a few months after I crossed. I was home for the summer. It just so happened a fraternity (we'll call them the Cs) was holding their conclave in my hometown. (It's become the hot spot for national conferences lately). We knew that meant PARTIES!! I studied hard and partied hard in college. It's important to have balance. So the first night we headed downtown to the host hotel to find out where the best parties were. Well the police ended up shutting down the whole block for an impromptu block party. Charlotte, what?!?! Now you know they usually shoo black people on at the end of the night. Some high-ranking policeman must be a member of that frat! Lol.

Now I did meet some raunchy people. Me and my sorors were posing for pictures and some man LICKED MY FACE!! Vomit marries unacceptable and has a child. IT'S YOU!! Too through. But this convention taught me something. A national convention is one of the best ways to get a read on the organization. For every out of control C, there were 2 more acting like gentlemen. You cannot judge an organization based on the individual or chapter you are most familiar with. I happen to like the C's at Hampton, but the clave opened my eyes a bit more. And trust and believe I know that people are one way in some situations and normal in others. Another great story is the NPHC convention. BLAST!!

Enough with the digressions. The night of the block party, me and my crew are making our rounds. I see this guy and we lock eyes. TALK ABOUT A SPARK!! Wow. I had never felt anything like that before and haven't since. I said to myself, "If he doesn't come talk to me, I'm going to speak to him." That is not how your girl does it. If you don't have the cojones to come speak to me then it's not meant to be. You are not the man for me. You need to man up. He did.

We started talking... and couldn't stop. He was from New Orleans and I LOVED his crazy accent. Have you ever heard someone from New Orleans speak? It has a lilt to it almost with a Caribbean vibe. To my untrained Southern ear, that's what it sounded like. I couldn't stop giggling. It turns out we crossed the same day, March 23, 2002. Me and one or more of my girls went back every night for the rest of the convention. I let him read my writing and he loved it. He just liked to hear me talk which HELLO I love! He liked that I'd been to Europe and we swapped college stories. I found out he liked oyster sandwiches which I was appalled by. It just sounded so disgusting to me but it's a very New Orleans food. Like po boys. I'm not the groupie girl so there was no typical convention behavior. I figured that meant the end of his time in Charlotte would mean the end of our conversations.

He called me the night he left which I thought was nice. We talked for a few hours. (Royce will hate this) I thought that would be the end of it. Then he called the next night. And the next. And the next. And the next. We ended up talking for 3 or more hours every night for the next month until he went to visit his mom in Puerto Rico (she was in the service). He sent me a post card and some sand since that's what I'd asked for and put his picture with it. One night we talked for 8 hours. Our phone batteries kept dying so both of us had to keep letting a phone charge then switch again, but we kept talking anyway. When both of us got back to school, the conversations died down a lot because we were busy. Then they pretty much stopped.

But we would email each other on our shared frat/sorority birthday and reconnect for a minute. Then one time my sister went to a dance conference at his school. By this time he was in grad school. She recognized him and we started up again. Then it fizzled out. Regardless, that spark was FIYAH and for that I will never forget him.

LISTEN UP!!

I'm taking a page out of my Brooklyn blogger homie's book and posting some of the things you all need to know about your on the job conduct. Lately it has not been a good look. Some of it is not your fault because you didn't know. Some of it is common sense your mother should've taught you before you left the house for kindergarten. That is not the point. There is no time to learn like the present.

1) Resume: please do not include your 5 months as a waitress on your application for a job which requires a college degree. First, those are not skills that apply for the job you desire. Second, it does not show your longevity in any way. It's 5 months. Charge that one to the game.

a) PUH-LEASE have someone look over your resume. Spelling and grammar errors are ridiculous. Especially in this day of spell check and grammar check. See that ABC with the check mark underneath? USE IT!!

2) Interview attire: please, please do not show up in your pastel pink suit. Yes, I have actually seen this. Black, dark gray, navy. That's it. No big earrings. No tongue rings or extraneous piercings. No gaudy jewelery or ties. No open-toed shoes. YOU LOOK CRAZY!! This is an interview, not a club. Dress like you are in a professional environment. I don't care what job you're applying for. Show the interviewer you take yourself seriously and therefore have the potential to view your job in the same vein.

3) Leaving: Hey, we all leave for a myriad of reasons. But when you leave, do it on a good note. Do NOT start going down the lists of wrongs or accusing your employer of sucking the life out of you or criticizing your co-workers. Stuff like that follows you. Don't burn bridges. You never know when you may need that person you didn't really know, but who was negatively impacted by your actions.

That's my good word for the day folks.

8.13.2007

Pas de Poke

That's my franglais (French and English, pronounced "frahn-glay"-- the french version of Spanglish) for no poking.

So the trip to the oral surgeon yielded good and bad. The good-- there was no poking. The bad-- those suckers have to come out. I guess it's kind of good, though because if I am awakened at 5:30am on my day off again by pain in my wisdom tooth, we're gonna have a problemo! (Multi-lingual)

Next Monday is the big day. My line sister is coming down from Syracuse to drive me there since D most likely will be out of town. How's that for a line sister! Back off. You can't have her. 10 days to my birthday. Enjoy.

Also, I went to Mt. Ararat to hear their senior pastor finally. May I say wow and oh yeah?!?! He is BANGIN!! I also signed up to be a mentor while I was there. My orientation session is Wednesday. Look at me giving back. 'Bout time.

8.09.2007

Talky Talky So Why Not?

I'm posting again... and I may post one more time before the day is out. I'm feeling a bit loopy after my visit to the dentist this afternoon. I was numbed and scraped where my gum is swollen around my wisdom tooth. I still can't feel the left half of my face or the left side of my tongue. He stuck a needle in my face TWICE and that mess hurt even after the numbing. I've never had tooth issues. No cavaties, nothing so it was such a strange experience. The dentist prescribed Vicodin for the pain (whoo!) and an antibiotic for the swelling/minimize risk of infection.

Tomorrow I go to the oral surgeon. Yikes. It's only a consult but still. I'm sure they'll be poking at my face again. The problem with these meds is that you have to eat with them... well that hurts. I haven't eaten all day other than a little ice cream so once I started eating the chicken spinach pizza me and D (dad for the new readers) had for dinner, I didn't want to stop. But it was such a tedious process I didn't feel like continuing. Oh the decisions of life. I stopped at one piece unfortunately. Wow. This stuff is starting to kick in. I see why they tell you not to drive. So much for the workout. I haven't been to the gym in more than a week. HOWEVER. I did get some good dancing in while in VA. And I used W's fiancee's barbell. AND I got on the scale this a.m. and was down to 131. WOW!

I have cropped, red eye reduced, resized and color corrected almost every single picture (out of 233) from my trip. I did that for 2 hours last night. It was tiring but worth it. I want to be able to get some pics in the mail within the next couple of days so they'll get them a few days after they return from their honeymoon in the Bahamas. I think they come back on Tuesday.

In honor of X, I am doing my own version of tales from the pharmacy since I thought of her the entire time I was there waiting for my script.
*This woman was on the phone w/some woman calling about her sick son. She said no less than 4xs, "I would just take him to the E.R." then the lady would continue with what the tech described as "her life story." I would've said a la X, "FOR THE 8TH TIME, take him to the ER!!! Now BEAT IT!!!!"
* Two people wanted to drop off prescriptions at the pick-up window.
* Generic IS THE SAME THING!! Hahahaha. X... I kind of knew this but had never asked but thanks for refreshing that fact for us!! Don't be mad! We love you!!
* A man brings in a prescription from 3/27 and asks if he can get it filled. "Sir, this is probably why your face is all inflamed and you're walking like there is something stuck in an uncomfortable place. No we still cannot fill it immediately. Yes there will be a wait." Fool. Who does this!??! You didn't need that medicine until today?

Still can't feel half of my face. And I feel like I'm on drugs. Oh... that's cause I am. Let's hear some "one time when my face/arm/whatever was numb..." stories. Make it good.

Since I was so bitter this morning, I also decided to do Thankful Thursdays a la X's Grateful Wednesdays (why are you on my mind so heavy today? What's going on with you?) and Honey's something or other.
* I have good insurance which allowed me to not have to think twice about making dentist appointments and get two scripts filled for a total of $7.
* Getting two free meal cards from Chickfila just for letting them know I wasn't pleased with my service.
* The two-day week I just got to partake of since I took off Saturday-Monday for the wedding.
* Seeing the love my friend and her husband have for each other.
* Having a great time fellowshipping with Black women, most of whom I'd never even met prior to this weekend but hope to see again.
* Being able to afford my ticket to see Staceface in Florida AND finding one for just $153.59!! Can I get an amen for reasonable tix to Florida?!?!
* The pastor at Mt. Ararat in Pittsburgh doing a revival in Charlotte and giving my mom a boost AND for her telling me I need to be in his church. So I'm giving it another shot this week since he wasn't there the last time I went. (I have a knack for picking the churches the weeks the preachers aren't there).
* Not being afraid of the dark since it's been storming like crazy here for the last few days.
* Liking storms (see above). Rain looks so gorgeous to me when I can be in my house with the window open watching and listening to it and not having to experience the ill effects of it.
* Bloggers. Even though your lives went on w/o me!! WTH?!?! People posting who haven't in 2 months, some of them 2xs while I was gone. I love you even though (and maybe because) you kept moving on!! At least it gave me something to read when I got back. :)
* My mommy coming for my 25th birthday in just 2 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

Customer Service is for the Birds

Obviously.

Do you know I'm having to breathe in Jesus, breathe out peace all over Pennsylvania and Virginia? I mean really. It's a good thing I'm trying to control my anger or I would be a stark, raving mad LUNATIC right now.

I'm having some pain in my wisdom tooth, right? So much pain that it woke me up at 5:30 this morning. That's right. On my day off. I call my dentist. They don't open until 11 on Thursdays. WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS DOESN'T OPEN UNTIL 11!??! Ridiculous. So I go through all the drama of setting up an account with my health insurance company just so I can search for a dental surgeon. By 6:30 I call and the woman at the answering service says they open at 7:30 and to call back. I do at 7:40. She tells me their business hours are 7:30 to whatever but they're not in yet so I have to call back.

WHAT?!?! YOUR BUSINESS HOURS START AT 7:30 BUT AT 7:40 YOU'RE NOT IN YET?!?! Not acceptable. I say, "So why was I told to call back at 7:30?" She said, "They're not in yet." I'm getting angry again writing this. That was only 8 minutes ago. Breathe. Breathe.

I say, "But that doesn't make any sense." Do you know this b-- woman hung up on me!?!?! Oh she doesn't know. First of all I'm going to call BACK when someone who actually works there is answering the phone and report her, THEN I'm going to take my service elsewhere. WHYYYYYYYYYYYY must people make me go through all this extra work? Why? It's just not right!! And I don't feel good today, either?!?!

AND I just spent the last hour letting Chick-Fil-A know I didn't appreciate ordering a 3-piece chicken strips meal and getting a 3-piece NUGGET meal. Come on. Does anyone other than me know that their nuggets are about the size of a quarter if that??? I also had to let Arby's know that the girl who worked 2 nights ago was slackin. AND I had to get to California Pizza Kitchen because the waitress did not offer us bread, but carried some over to the next table. THEN when she boxed up my food, she left out one of my slices of pizza. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!??! So I've been online ALLLLLL DAY already taking care of business. I see she just wants to get in. Don't worry girl, I GOT YOU!!!!

*rant over (for now). If you're looking for the first vacay update scroll down.

8.07.2007

Wynel's Wedding Weekend Pt. I

Chile. This thing is about to be so detailed, there's no telling how long it'll be. I took 233 pictures. Yes. You read that right. Sigh. I'm kind of not even ready myself. I don't know how much the bride wants floating in cyber space so some pictures will have to wait. But heeeeeeeeeeere we go.

Wednesday I call Wynel as I walk off the plane to let her know I'm here. She says, "Already?!?! Yay!!" My baggage comes off the carousel like this.

and this.



USAirways. Y'all know y'all are trippin. WHY is that giant dent in my bag accompanied by a rip? I rolled my bag straight into their baggage services office. The lady said she had a bag she could give me. I'm looking like does she really think I'm going to take someone's disgusting, re-purposed suitcase?!?! But she rolls out a brand new piece of luggage. That's more like it. Simple black which means I'm really going to have to put some sort of identifying stuff on it if I'm ever to find it in the airport. It was about time for a new one anyway, but still. It's a bit shocking to be greeted by that foolishness.

I head outside and am reminded of the fact that I'm in the south. It's about 3:15 and blazin hot. I start taking off clothes and am like THIS is why people wear so little clothing in the south. Not because we're fast but because you have to stay cool. I still have on jeans and a t-shirt but that's better than the jacket and black t-shirt over it that I needed in Pittsburgh on THE FIRST OF AUGUST. So sad (for Pittsburgh). That jacket never left my suitcase again. Whoooo! But the humidity was stifling. It was oddly comforting. I mean it is August. It's really not supposed to be comfortable. Sweating as you walk to the mailbox. Only being outside for more than the walk from your car to the building before 8 and after 7. The heat is supposed to choke you until you die. These sorts of things. That's how I've always known it. So while I like cooler weather, it's not natural in July and August. At some point it has to be summer. If it hits 95+ (notice I said if) for more than 5 days, then I'll retract that statement.

Biiiiiiig hug. Then the tug of war to get my ginormous pieces of luggage into her car. We head to Subway to grab some food, then back to her house. She drops us off then goes to pick up her mom and aunt. They come back to the house, then Sinclair gets there (the now hubby) and we all go to dinner at Ocean View Pier.


The restaurant is on the top floor of that building.






I went a bit crazy with the picture taking. I couldn't help it. I really had to restrain myself to keep from running onto the beach. The only reason I did is because I knew we were coming back. For dinner I had Yuengling, fried oysters and french fries. I'd never had fried oysters before... not to my remembrance. The only reason I got them is because I saw them on the menu and they reminded me of this guy I met 5 years ago from New Orleans who had the most fantastic accent. He was in Charlotte for a convention. I'll tell that story later. The point is he loved oyster sandwiches which sounded disgusting to me. But I got oysters anyway. Turns out they were delicious! Mmmm. I did not take a million pics of food this time. I tried to control myself. So yay!

Then we headed to her cousin Janet's house where Wynel and I went for Thanksgiving after we left Sinclair's family's house. They started talking about the Minnesota bridge collapse. WHAT?!?! W doesn't have cable and all the rest of us had been with her or on planes all day. I have never fiended so badly for AP wires, newspapers, the internet and CNN. Well... that's not true. Katrina and Virginia Tech had me like that, too. The Sago Mine tragedy is in our viewing area so I was right in the middle of that. We flipped to CNN and it was a taster. Good thing she gets the Virginian-Pilot. Still not enough but 1) at least its not the Daily Mess and 2) it's better than nothing. After that we headed back to W's and I crashed. I'd been up for 24 hours. Too bad we were up early again the next morning. We had lots of shopping to do, but first Wynel made us breakfast.



How gorgeous is that? Strawberries, blackberries, yogurt and granola clusters. Do it big then! After that we headed to a wholesale flower shop to get a look at the flowers she was using. BEAUTIFUL calla lilies.


The purple callas and white roses were for the bridesmaid bouquets. The bride's bouquet was white roses, purple & white callas and white callas. Gorgeous.

For lunch we had MEXICAN!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOO!! I LUUUURVE Mexican food. So much that I want to marry a Mexican IN Mexico on cinco de Mayo surrounded by tacos, burritos, taquitos, rice, black beans and margaritas. Help a sista out. Look you don't care about a lot of the stuff we did. There were the hours and hours and hours we spent making these insane favors. I mean insane. Guess who didn't get a picture of the finished product or walk out with one? Yeah. Me. Son of a... There was more last minute shopping, then the rehearsal. I was a stand-in since some of the bridesmaids weren't in town yet. After that we headed back to Aunt Trisha's house for the rehearsal dinner. Yum. O. Ribs, fried fish, green beans, potato salad, salad. For dessert I had german chocolate cake, angel food cake with strawberry topping, and a fruit cup. I know that was a bit ridiculous but it was vacation.

After the rehearsal dinner we headed to W's friend's house to say goodbye. She was heading on a mission trip to Africa. We ended up having an impromptu bible study over that Zachariah verse. Turns out it was a prophetic verse and represents God's promise and eventual deliverance from Babylon which represents sin. How did you explain that better in 3 minutes than that woman did in 20? Please let me give you her number. She needs your help. After that we prayed and W had us all in tears because she said such sweet things about each of us. Fantastic.

Then we headed to her friend's bachelorette party since her friend's wedding was the following day (Friday). But by the time we got there it was over. So we just hung out for a while relaxing. Then we headed back to Wynel's. By this time it was 3 in the morning. We were supposed to go to the beach at 8 but were too tired. No go on the beach. BOOOOOOO!! That meant I knew we weren't going because her and Sinclair were going to the beach alone Saturday morning (the wedding was Sunday night) and I knew we'd be too crazy on Sunday to go there. So no beach for me BUT that means the bright fab bikini will make its debut in MIA. What better place, really? That's just the first 2 days. 4 more to go. But a sista has to get up from here.

Still to come: "Dunkin Hoes at Bardos" "I was ready to fight her over Kaeger, both of them matter of fact" "THE deluxe, slow jams get the draws tape??"

8.01.2007

Aaaaand I'm Back!

By back I mean at my home by the sea. Oh Haaaaaaampton a thought sent from heaven above to be a great soul's inspiraaaaaaation! Love it!! Those lines from the alma mater ran through my head as soon as I started walking through the airport in Norfolk! Faaaaaantastic!! Yay!! Howsomever, then I got my bag and WHY did it have a big dent AND a giant tear? Wow. I rolled it right over to baggage services and got a replacement. Quit trippin. Wait until I show you the dent tho. Ridiculous.

Then we ran a million errands already. BUT tomorrow we're going to the beach!!!! Can't wait. Break out the bikini baby! The bride needs a tan. Hilarious. At Philly's airport, when we touched down, I said "Heeeeeeeey 1969!" Lol. Blogger shouts are so funny from a plane. As I walked around the airport I was suddenly reminded of what it was like to be ogled. That's too strong a word, perhaps. Admired. NOTICED!! I need to get out more. Geez. It was lovely. I'm gonna have a great time. I brought 7,354 outfits so I need to go figure out which one will debut tonight when we go to dinner with the 'rents. I'll get atcha again if I can and if not, PEACE!!