Wedding Pictures

Be sure to check out some pictures from the wedding on Mindy's Blog: http://www.mindychildress.com/blog/

This Wedding Weekend Brought To You By Cher, LeBron and Flava Flav

Mindy's bachelorette party, the most fun I have ever had at a wedding/reception, an incredible breakfast at the Ritz and Flava Fla. These are just a few of the highlights from one of the best weekends I have had in my life.

Against most people's better judgment, we had the bachelorette party the night before the wedding. Even though it is probably a really bad idea to do this, we managed to pull it off (thankfully the wedding wasn't until four the next day). It was just one of those crazy nights where you xxxxxxxxxx but then you decide to xxxxxxxxxx so by the end of the night you find yourself examining your clothes in a room lit only by black lights and a cage, but I think we all knew it would end like that.

Raring to go, I actually woke up the next morning like a little kid on Christmas. I couldn't wait to share my best friend's big day with her. Nothing like the bride and maid of honor doing a little chest bump and high five action ten minutes before the ceremony. Without stealing Mindy's blog thunder, I would just like to say I will never have a better time with pina coladas and schnitzel. LeBron couldn't have picked a more appropriate night to score 51. It was like he added the perfect ending to a fairy tale wedding. I am sure Mindy would agree.

I joined a great group of people on Sunday to cap off the wedding festivities with an incredible brunch at the Ritz. Probably the first and only time I will ever be able to do that (Thank You Brent!). The rest of the day was spent in front of the television watching football and sharing my cable with those less fortunate (yeah riiiiight). Flava Flav did not disappoint. That’s right I am addicted to the new Flava Flav show on VH1. He has his own reality bacheloresque show. I recommend this to anyone without anything better to do on Sundays at 10 pm.

A last word on the wedding. It really was the most incredible thing I have ever been a part of in my life. Even though my arms started to hurt as I held both bouquets during the ceremony, I still managed to tear up as I saw how happy my best friend was on her big day. It must have been the dress and shoulder wrap that made me feel so girly. However I later used the wrap to do Cher impersonations at the reception and make inappropriate gestures in the parking lot, so I guess you can clean me up but apparently you still can't take me anywhere.

Fun Wedding Picture

The Censored Nutshell

This is the fourth time I have tried to start a blog entry this week. The past ten days have been a whirlwind with so many interesting anecdotes to share. However I have been incredibly busy at work and sitting down to take the time and reflect has been almost impossible. I have to censor some of what has been going on the past ten days or so as to not offend anyone such as parents, close friends, acquaintances or anybody else who reads this blog on a regular basis.

Two weekends ago was Mark’s first official weekend in the big city. We made the most of it on Saturday night by sitting behind the Milwaukee Bucks bench with our upgraded seats at the CAVS game. After the game we xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and the next thing I know we are walking home across the Detroit/Superior bridge Sunday morning.

That weekend served as a springboard into a fun week of unplanned festivities, which included my brother and I bonding at Target and fun late-night phone calls from Meg in Chicago with CAVS updates, whether I wanted them or not. On Wednesday my water went out at my apartment (thankfully it wasn’t my fault) and a friend let me stay at her apartment while she was out of town. Unfortunately she doesn’t have a television because xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx so I had to find something to do to keep myself entertained. I realized that evening it is no small coincidence Richard Dean Anderson who played TV’s MacGyver and I went to the same college (for those of you at home who don’t know: we both went to Ohio University). I now consider myself the MacGyver of the kitchen as I made a fun chicken dish with what was available to me. It’s amazing what you can do with a little curry paste and a spice rack.

Friday I thought I was going to stay in and just relax but I ended up meeting Mindy at Ohio City’s best Happy Hour. Once home I was feeling restless, so I xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and now there is this crazy hole in my ceiling which is going to be impossible to explain. The weekend was filled with a lot of poker, an incredibly fun wedding shower (how often do you hear that?), football with my brother, a fun party in Lakewood followed by an intriguing after hours and chocolate mint martinis. Monday I celebrated the holiday in style by xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I am still shaking my head at that one.

I don’t know if it is just coincidental or not but ever since Mark has moved in downstairs things have been pretty constant. It has been so much fun though having my best friend right down stairs to drink beers with and watch sports with anytime. Not only do I have cable on-demand it is like I also have drinking buddy and sports fan on-demand as well. Life is good and not just because of the funny pact I made with Mindy Friday night which entailed me xxxxxxxxxxxxx for a couple weeks. I will keep you updated.

Pictures From New Years

The pictures from the Literary Cafe where I spent New Years are now available. What an incredible time we all had. The owners, who are just the nicest people, provided food for everyone, champagne, party favors and a DJ at no cost to anyone at the establishment. You can tell by the pictures everyone had a great time. I am only in the background of a couple shots (the limbo pictures), but as always there are some great pictures of Alison and Karen.

Maybe I Am Taking My New Role A Bit Too Far

“So who you cheering for tonight? USC?”

“No Texas. I have to cheer for Texas because they beat Ohio State. It will make Ohio State look better.”

“Oh I didn’t know that rule.”

“This is why I am your maid of honor. To teach you these things.”

Just Your Typical Night Of River Raid Until Three In The Morning

Last night I might have seen the most incredible national championship game of my lifetime. Normally this would be the best part of my evening. However the game was overshadowed by my new Christmas present from one of my best friends. Last night Liz came over and brought me the new Atari game system. The game system is almost half the size of the original and has 40 games (with all the original graphics) in the memory. After the game we debated about setting it up, but couldn’t help ourselves. This morning I am feeling the effects of staying up that late with my new toy, but it was worth it to get to play River Raid and Pitfall. I had no idea how much I missed those crazy sound effects from 1982.

The Investment

I mentioned yesterday my brother moved in downstairs to create the Camp Lieberth Annex (both the Annex and Camp Lieberth are terms coined by M. Childress) and now we have a whole house to ourselves, except, and this is the best part, we don’t share anything. He has his place and I have mine. I shouldn’t say we don’t share anything. Last night we shared the following conversation:
“If this game goes into a fourth overtime, I am going to bed.”

“Are you nuts man? You just invested five hours into this game and you are going to go to bed if it goes into another overtime. I am staying up if I have to put toothpicks in my eyes. There is no way I can go to bed now.”

What was supposed to be a buffer game between the Fiesta Bowl and the Rose Bowl turned out to be an incredible game when Penn State beat Florida State in the third overtime of the Orange Bowl last night/this morning. I must admit I am extremely excited for the Rose Bowl tonight. I am going with Texas in the upset. I think they are getting six points. Now that my brother is living below me and watching games with me, I have become very fixated on the point spreads. He has taught me a lot about how you don’t have to cheer for a team to win but to just not lose by more than nine points in the case of Florida State last night. Yes, the Annex is an intellectual hotbed.

In A Nutshell

The past three days have been a whirlwind which can only be described as:
Going out way too late Friday night, The CAVS winning a big one, my brother moving below me to create the Camp Lieberth Annex in Ohio City, the quintessential New Year’s celebration with all the fixings, a Browns win to finish the season, a New Year’s meal fit for royalty, a late night drive for Christmas Ale, the purchase of my dress for the big wedding, seeing Brokeback Mountain which is oscar-worthy on so many levels, more fantasy football winnings and a big Fiesta win for the Buckeyes. It was such a fabulous weekend. I didn’t want to see it end. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

I May Be The Only Person You Will Ever Meet That...

spent their Fantasy Football winnings on a maid of honor dress.

The Best

This past Christmas was hands down the best Christmas I have ever had. Christmas morning was so much fun with my family and my gifts were more than I could have ever imagined. I can’t thank my parents enough for the time and effort they put into making it such an incredible day. Thanks!

Not only did I get more than I expected on Christmas morning, somehow my dad and I pulled out the Fantasy Football Championship on Christmas Night. In a game we didn’t think we had a shot at going into this weekend, we won by eight points thanks to Thomas Jones who will now always be my favorite football player. Down by 13 points with one player left, Jones had to run for 100 yards and score a touchdown for us. He finished the game with 105 yards and a touchdown. Jubilation ensued throughout the house as my father and I popped the bubbly to celebrate.

I must admit this hasn’t been my luckiest year personally, but when it comes to sports I am on a roll. I won both my NCAA bracket and my fantasy football league. How many 30-year-old women can boast of that achievement?

Happy Holidays

To everyone who reads my blog, Happy Holidays! Remember the Holidays should not be a time for stress. Look at me, I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping yet and I have less than 48 hours. The vicodin I got for my foot last week has really been a nice help both with the pain and with the stress.

The Big Ticket

As many of you know, my fantasy football team is in the playoffs. This makes for a very exciting weekend of action especially with so many great games on this past weekend. My father, brother and I were all excited to see what game CBS would be airing on Sunday, knowing there were some good options and we would have our 1 pm slot open for once because the Browns weren’t on until 4 pm. Upon waking on Sunday my father informed me as I informed my brother when he woke that CBS would be showing the San Francisco/Jacksonville game. The look of devastation appeared on all of our faces. For those of you not familiar with football, watching this game compared to our other options would be like ordering a burger when you can get a steak for the same price.

So we searched high and low for whatever bar or restaurant in the area might have the Sunday NFL ticket because for whatever reason Adelphia doesn’t offer it at my parent’s house. (Yet you can get the hockey package which makes absolutely no sense!) After calling around and then driving around, we ended up at the Winking Lizard on Miles Road along with 100 other people who seemed distraught by CBS’s selection. Wow!

There we were watching all the games, on 10 televisions right in front of us, right at the same time. What could be better? I will never be able to watch a regular game again. I am that spoiled.

Have A Righteous Christmas

Why do all the cool catalogs arrive at my door on December 20, just five days before Christmas? This just doesn’t seem fair. Last night I got my Righteous Babe Records catalog and there are so many cool things I want for Christmas. I understand I do not need these things, but I certainly do want them. It is ironic because I have had Ani lyrics running through my head the past couple days from Dilate:

So I’ll walk the plank
And I’ll jump with a smile
If I’m gonna go down
I’m gonna to do it in style
And you won’t see me surrender
You won’t hear me confess
Because you’ve left me with nothing
But I’ve worked with less

Such a fine holiday jingle for this time of year.

Is There A Podiatrist In The House?

Remember that fall I took three weeks ago to celebrate Thanksgiving weekend?Apparently some injuries decided to wait before materializing. Last week my right foot began to swell up and throb with pain. I had no idea what was happening. I made an appointment with a podiatrist and found out today the ramifications from that fall were a lot worse then originally suspected.

Before I let you know what happened, I have to share the irony of the doctor I chose. When I made my appointment through my insurance company earlier this week they told me the name of the doctor. She just happened to be the one who threw that crazy party two weeks ago. However because she was already passed out when I got there, she never saw me and didn’t recognize me this morning. When she was telling me about her house today, I so wanted to say: “Yeah I know I was there dancing with some crazy black men two weeks ago smoking in your kitchen and drinking your top shelf liquor.” Instead, I just sat there without saying anything.

As for my foot, I have Plantar Fascitis, Peroneal Tendonitis and Capsulitis. In essence my ligaments and tendons are all messed up. I now have to spend the next six weeks wearing a brace and going to physical therapy. I should sue the owners of that house where I fell. On second thought, Christmas is coming up and I should probably not bring any lawsuits against my parents.

Hope You Were Hungry Enough To Eat Those Words

Last week my father received an e-mail from our closest competition in our fantasy football league. The e-mail congratulated my father on a great season and went on to say how the two oldest guys in the league were beating all the younger guys. My dad thanked him for the e-mail and told him the following: My daughter is the brains of our team. He replied back with the following: Tell your daughter to stay in the kitchen where she belongs next week.

Next week has come and gone and we defeated this gentleman handedly this past weekend to take the overall points lead into the playoffs next week. So now I must ask him: Who belongs in the kitchen now?

All The Sudden, I Love Commercials

On Sunday, I stopped in my tracks and couldn't stop staring at my television screen. Could it really be possible? Four different versions of LeBron? Check it out for yourself if you haven't seen it by clicking on the above link.

Operation Bridesmaid Dress

When I send Mindy a text message saying: "All shaved up and ready to go!" it can only mean one thing: we are about to go dress shopping. While no dress was purchased on Saturday, there was a lot of progress made with styles and colors. Hopefully the next time out will not be quite as painful. Perhaps painful is too harsh a word. Awkward would best describe my shopping experience on Saturday. It was like whole a new world out there in the dress department.

Some quick notes from the experience:
When asked for your dress size, 36/30 is not the correct response.

The holiday help working for a very small commission is crazy. Apparently she didn’t realize it took twenty minutes for me to get in and out of these things and she kept coming back to see how things were going.

The husbands felt for me. As Mindy came back to see how things were going, I jokingly said: “I hope you realize I am missing the Texas/Duke game for this.” When they heard this, they also seemed to realize they were missing the same game. However when they looked up at me and saw me in whatever dress I was in, they seemed to be saying to themselves: We may be missing the game as well but at least we aren’t in there trying on dresses.

Another interesting note is that a 14W is going to fit you the same as a 22P. This confused me even more.

After an hour, we were ready for a drink.

I also found out, you are not only shopping for a dress because in order to complete the ensemble, you must also have new shoes and perhaps even some jewelry.

This is going to be a long five weeks.

Good Show, Great Bathroom

The Gwen Stefani concert last night was a lot of fun and even better than I thought it would be. She played all her hits and probably had ten different costume changes with a great light show and a fun dancing troupe following her around the stage. The crowd had a lot of teenagers but thankfully I didn’t have to interact with any of them as the loge I was sitting in was adult only. While I enjoyed the show immensely, the best part had to be the bathroom.

If you have spent a night drinking with me, you know I tend to go to the bathroom a lot. Some of my friends even call me “TB” short for Tiny Bladder. Because of this issue, sometimes it is a pain to go to large events and venues if I am drinking beer because of the lines. This was not the case last night. Our tickets were loge tickets so we shared a clean bathroom located right by the bar which was conveniently located right behind our seats. No lines and the bathrooms were clean. I was in and out of there in no time and I actually got to enjoy the show. This was probably the most time I have actually spent in my seat at a concert or sporting event in years because I didn’t have to wait in line.

I think my opinion of the show is a little biased because I had such a great experience in the loge. When people ask me about the performance, they look at me weird when I first talk about the bathrooms instead of the costume changes and set list.

First Time

We all remember our first time for those monumental events in our life. Our first day of school, first kiss, first job and so on. One of those monumental events in my life was the first time I heard Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani.

I will never forget that night back in March when a Drag Queen at Bounce ran onto the stage in a cheerleading outfit to the craziest song I had ever heard. Everybody went crazy and I had no choice but to start singing along myself. Before I knew it, I was sitting in my car at numerous stoplights spelling out the word bananas.

Tonight I will get to see that song performed live and I couldn’t be more excited. Two months ago I read a review of one of her shows by Dooce, my favorite blogger. The description alone has enticed me enough to want to see this for my own eyes:
“Her set was nothing short of brilliant, full of lights and costume changes and displays of superhuman energy. She had a few shaky vocal moments, but she was singing and running at the same time.”

The past two months I have been begging people at radio stations for tickets and telling my friends if they get tickets, that I would love to go. Yesterday my boss walks in and hands me free tickets in a loge. I can't wait! Look for my own review in tomorrow's blog.