A trip down memory lane, a wedding, a jinx and a fire.

Let's pretend it's not Wednesday and do a little weekend recap, shall we? 

I spent the weekend in Rosemary Beach for the wedding of my friends Chris & Theresa.  Because the wedding was on Friday evening and Rosemary Beach is a six and a half hour drive from Orlando, we set out bright & early on Friday morning.  The Mister, The Sister and I piled into the car and joined a small caravan of friends for the trip.

Also making the trip, our friend Flat Stan. 

For those of you who aren't glued to the NBA Finals, "Flat Stan" is Stan Van Gundy, the head coach of the Orlando Magic. My sister made Flat Stan and brought him with her to watch every Eastern Conference Playoff game. Coincidentally...or not...the Magic lost each of the three games my sister brought Flat Stan to.  More on that later.

The route to Rosemary Beach took The Mister and me through our old grad school stomping grounds, so the drive ended up being a bit of a trip down memory lane. 

First up, Gainesville - home of the Florida Gators.  I attended law school at UF and thus spent three years living in Gainesville.  It's a great little college town  filled with all things students love - great bars, cheap food and approximately 9 Starbucks in a 3 mile radius.  Unfortunately, we were tight on time so our adventure in Gator Country was limited to stop at the Exxon to refuel with gas and Diet Coke. 

We continued on our merry way and as luck would have it {or as I had meticulously timed and planned} we found ourselves hungry as we were approaching Tallahassee.

While I was in law school in Gainesville, The Mister was attending graduate school at Florida State University (boo!) and working in the Governor's office in Tallahassee.  The Mister's apartment in Tallahassee might have been 400 square feet, had no real kitchen to speak of and when the legislature was in session, was shared with one of The Mister's friends.  Needless to say, we ate out often.  I think I mentioned my affinity for a certain Tallahassee fast food joint we frequented called 1 Fresh Stir Fry.  Well, if you think I was going to drive within 3 miles of this place and not go, well, you don't know me. 

I organized the caravan to stop for a quick lunch break at 1 Fresh.  It was just as good as I remembered - so delish.

I got a bit excited and forgot to take a picture of my lunch. Then I ate it all.  Oops. 

Flat Stan liked it too! 

After lunch, the trip down memory lane ended and we were headed to our final destination.  We arrived in Rosemary Beach in time to check out our "cottage" - which was fabulous - and get ready for the wedding.  I'm sure most of you have no interest in what our cottage/condo looked like but Mom asked for pictures.  Mom, I'm going to put them at the end of this post, so scroll all the way down to see the details on our accommodations.

Theresa and Chris chose a gorgeous backdrop for their wedding.  Rosemary Beach is such an adorable seaside town and the beach was absolutely perfect for their ceremony.  The sun was shining, the water was blue and there was not a drop of oil in sight. 

Yes, I wore black. To a beach wedding. I know, I know. 

It was a beautiful wedding and we all had a great time.  Theresa and Chris threw one heck of a party!

We spent Saturday poolside, enjoying the sunshine and the company of good friends.  Saturday night we BBQ'd and watched the Magic game.  Things were going well for a while...

...but then the game started.  And it was ugly.  The Magic - not so magical.  Somehow we decided it was Flat Stan's fault.  The Magic had won 14 straight games and had swept their first two play off opponents.  And then Flat Stan came along.  It was decided he was a jinx and had to die.   And  at halftime, die he did.

So sad.

R.I.P. Flat Stan.*

Sunday morning we got up early for the long drive home.  Because we crossed from the Central Standard time zone into the Eastern Standard time zone, we lost an hour - making the drive feel even longer.  Or perhaps it was two days worth of sweet tea vodka and Bud Light catching up with us. I prefer to blame time zones. 

We were about half an hour from home in a neighboring county when we hit a traffic jam.  It turns out that a brush fire on the side of the road had caused a lane closure and rubbernecking, thus the traffic jam. 

This in itself, not an interesting story. However, as we approached the fire, we spotted our friend Lisa on the side of the road, fighting the fire. 

We resisted the urge to roll down the window and holler at her on the job.  Aren't we mature?

It was a fabulous, exhausting weekend which I have almost managed to recover from.  I should be good as new by Friday.  Such is the never ending cycle of my life. 

*Torching Flat Stan at halftime of Game 3 was not enough to help the Magic, who went 0-3.  However, they were victorious in Game 4, which clearly Flat Stan did not attend.  Coincidence?  You decide.

Mom, here are pictures of the cottage/condo we stayed at in Rosemary Beach.  It was beautiful, but you should have seen the enormous homes the bridal party rented.  Holy moly.  It would be a great place for us all to go - if we fly.  That drive is a beast.  Love you.  xoxo

Ree & Me

If you follow the Pioneer Woman you know that she was in Orlando last week. 

Coincidentally, so was I. Or maybe not such a coincidence because I live here. Whatevs. The stars aligned to bring Ree & me together. Or maybe it was Barnes & Noble that brought us together.  Technicality.

Anyhoo, the last stop on Ree's The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook Tour was in Orlando last Wednesday.  I had to be there.  I love Ree and greatly enjoy her hilarious, witty and honest blogging style.  Whether it's calf nuts, basset hounds or biscuits, Ree knows how to tell a story.  And her photography is down right amazing.

Unlike those of you in this mythical place we call Blog Land, most of my IRL friends have never heard of The Pioneer Woman.  I'd venture to guess that my girlfriends would have better odds of picking Trick Daddy out of a line-up than The Pioneer Woman. ("Trick love da kids.") The majority of my friends have very little interest in cooking.  And even fewer of them read blogs.  So, a cookbook signing by a famous blogger is most definitely not high on their list of Wednesday night priorities.  All of this to say:  I went to the book signing alone. 

Ree was scheduled to appear at 6:00 p.m. so I knew I'd have to get there well before that if I wanted to see her.  I cut out of work early and made it to Barnes & Noble by 4:15 p.m. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to find no one waiting in-line outside the store. (Not sure why I was expecting Bono sized crowds...)

Armed with my cookbooks,

(The blue dots indicate the books were paid for.)

I made my way into the store and found the line wrapped between the stacks in the fiction section. 

I camped out on the floor with everyone else and pulled out a book to pass the time. (Since I was ALONE and had no one to talk to.  The biggest loser at Barnes & Noble that day? Definitely this girl!)

At about 5:00 p.m. they started moving everyone upstairs where Ree would do her Q&A session and sign books.  Though not as cushy as the early birds who scored seats, I got a pretty great spot to stand in and wait for Ree to arrive.

Someone brought a blow up horse.  People are weird. (Says the girl who came alone...)

Other unexpected things observed in the crowd: people bearing gifts, a pug puppy in a basket and lots of babies - guess they liked cookbooks. 

After moving upstairs, there was still another hour or so until Ree was schedule to arrive, so I entertained myself by flipping through the cookbook and reading blogs/checking Twitter from my Blackberry.

Ree arrived right on schedule and brought her girls with her.  When they entered the store, everyone started taking pictures paparazzi style. I followed suit.

Let's pretend you can tell that's Ree and her daughters.

Ree came out and talked with us for a while and was sweet enough to answer questions from the crowd.  She even sang upon request!  She claimed to be nervous but she seemed pretty comfortable up there.  Turns out, telling the crowd that you almost forgot to take the tissues out from under your armpits before you came out to speak is a pretty good ice breaker!

Ree was absolutely gorgeous in person - tall and thin with beautiful red hair.  It's hard to believe she's had four children!  She sure doesn't look like she's been living the ranch life. 

After the Q & A session ended at about 6:20 p.m., Ree began signing books.  Cue more waiting. (Totally worth it by the way.  I'm not complaining, just trying to paint a picture.)

The people who brought the blow up horse were among the first to get their books signed. After angling somewhat embarrassingly (and unsuccessfully) for an invite to the ranch, they left.  And took their horse with them.  Again, I say, people are weird. 

As the line inched closer and closer to Ree, my location moved from the Biography section to the cookbook section.  This was akin to torture.  It was after 7:30pm and I was HUNGRY.  

Still, I kept my eye on the prize. Eventually, the line of people in front of me looked shorter than the line of people behind me.

These are just some of the people in line behind me on the second floor. There was another line of people waiting on the first floor.  I don't want to know how long they waited...poor things.  Such devoted fans.

Finally...it was my turn! 

Here I am cheesin' it up with Ree!

I gave my two cookbooks to Ree to sign and explained that one was for me and the other was for my girlfriend Kristen who was a big fan (I left out the part about our other friends being bigger fans of Trick Daddy - didn't seem relevant), but couldn't attend because she just had a baby five days earlier.  Ree asked whether this was Kristen's first baby (yes), whether the baby was a girl or boy (boy) and what his name was (Brooks).  Then she wrote the sweetest inscription in Kristen's book.

Kristen didn't know I was having a book signed for her so she was very excited when I sent her a picture of her special message from Ree.  I can't wait to go visit Kristen & Baby Brooks very soon to deliver the cookbook (and to kiss all over sweet baby Brooks!). 

Here's my message from Ree:

Ree was so sweet and took a minute to speak to every person who came up to have a book signed. This was the only signing I've ever attended - cookbook or otherwise - but I was surprised that Ree took a minute to look everyone person in the eye and share a genuine compliment or word of thanks for coming. She posed for as many pictures as people wanted to take and never frowned, much less complained. She was absolutely lovely.

If Ree ever makes a stop in your town, go visit her.  She's worth the wait.

I tried.

I tried so hard to get a post up for you guys today.  But I failed. Miserably.

Sort of like the Magic.

But I digress. 

Blogger is giving me fits and I'm ready to toss the laptop across the room.  It's after midnight.  I'm waiving the white flag. 

Sorry Charlies.  I'll try again tomorrow night.

xoxo

P.S. Glee was awesome.  I love NPH. 

That is all.

and then there were two

May 14 is a special day.  It's the day I met my best friend.

So today I am wishing a very Happy Birthday to my sister,

my partner-in-crime,

 my sidekick,

my drinking buddy,

my shopping buddy,

and the one I'd call to help me hide a body.

To the girl who threw up on my head,

scratched my name into the bathroom counter,

let me cut her hair,

 and made me wet my pants.

(payback!)

To my best friend of 28 years.

Happy Birthday Jilly Bean, I love you!