Happy Birthday!

On Mario's birthday, Dec. 28th, we both had to work. Mario had to be in L.A. by 6:30am, and then he was back at Aliso to help me trim by 9:30! Rough start for the birthday boy... That night we went out to Ferraro's, a Ventura standby ~ old school Italian food, always good and a fun place to go. Many memories there!! Stephanie and Nick surprised us by being able to get out and meet us, since Steph's mom was in town to babysit little Melina. We had a yummy dinner before heading to the movies (where we met up with Randy and Leticia & Alex and 2 of their kids) to see Tron in 3D. Mario handled turning 39 like a pro, no fuss or freaking out that the big 4-0 was approaching. I hope I can handle it as calmly as he can... much harder for a woman of course, but ... he did give me a good lead to follow!

I love you, baby!
Happy Birthday!!!

My SuperMan ;-)

Merry Christmas!

On Monday the 20th I drove my mom to the airport (in the rain - phew, we got a LOT of rain!) to go to Oklahoma to visit Peter. On the way back I trimmed 4 horses, and put off 2 more due to the crazy mud and wet. And, !@#%! - I hurt my back! I felt a little funny getting in the car afterwards, but thought nothing of it until I got home and went to get back out of the car... and found myself once again unable to stand fully upright. Damn! I immediately went in and put my velcro ice pack on, took a bunch of Advil, and tried to nurse it quickly back to health. I had a busy week of trims booked in order to take off 3 days over Christmas. Alas, it was not to be, as my back did not allow me to get my job done and I limped along with Mario doing as much as possible.

Logan checks out the decorations

I booked myself for what turned out to be an excrutiatingly painful sports type massage ~ I was holding my breath and whimpering, but I walked out of there upright! Progress! She informed me that the location of my problem is my sacrum. Mario fired up the hot tub and I had some long hot soaks in there and felt a bit better again. I think I will be in there alot more this year in an attempt to keep my back healthy. Since I was trying to get in a few horses a day so as to not fall painfully behind, we ended up working on Christmas Eve and only actually had one day off over the holiday.

But, a lovely holiday we had regardless. Christmas Eve I baked more cookies (peanut butter kisses and traditional chocolate chip) and we had the traditional Chinese food dinner and watched Prince Caspian from the Chronicles of Narnia. Christmas Day was wonnnderrrful. We basically did nothing all day. And loved it. :) We took hot showers but then put on our new cookie pants (we each got a new pair!) pajamas and didn't get back out of them. Mario made a delicious egg, bagel, facon and coffee breakfast and we enjoyed mimosas throughout the day. I had mine with ruby red grapefruit juice, as I learned last year is my new favorite. Mario had his with orange mango juice. We opened the few presents we had gotten each other, and played with the dogs as they opened their Christmas bones. Then I made little paperballs out of the wrapping and played with the cats for awhile longer... I got a new Patricia McKillip book for Christmas and parked myself with it on the big chair by the Christmas tree, alternating kitties and pugs in my lap, sometimes both... a fire in the fireplace, and later, rain against the window panes. ahhh... Mario watched a seemingly endless series of basketball games, played poker, and talked to friends on Facebook. We made more spaghetti, salad and garlic bread for dinner since we decided it was really good the other night... and switched from mimosas to a delicious zinfandel blend wine (Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet). During dinner we watched the animated movie "how to train your dragon" - which was really cute! - and after some more book reading...drifted off to sleep. :) Despite being atypical and unplanned, it was just a really nice way to spend our first Christmas alone together in about a decade.

ahhh...

It's beginning to look alot like...

Our California weather just never ceases to amuse me for some reason, and I find myself wanting to post about it on the blog fairly often. :)

...Spring

White lily of the valley alongside blooming purple sage

The lily of the valley that was transplanted from alongside the house a couple years ago is now in bunches on either side of the yard -- on the fountain side as well as the "palm" side. They are in full spring bloom right now...

...Summer

The white iceberg and pink clilmbing roses we planted a couple years ago have taken off big time this year... they cover our entire fence and the pink ones smell wonderful... I LOVE them! :)

We also planted red climbing roses on the trellis on our side yard this year, and we have our first 2 blooms from them as well. And, as a really sweet touch, a gorgeous mauve colored rose bush that was originally given to Nancy when she was sick ~ has started to bloom as well. There are 3 little roses nestled together blooming right now as I type this... I would take a picture but it's pouring...

But, it was in the 80s a week ago, and my horses and Dylan all got outdoor baths with cold water -- and it felt good! ;)

...Fall

View of the trees out my car skylight, Creek Road in Ojai

Early rain, mixed with some cold, I think, has led to beautifully colored fall leaves. I saw some incredible colors this year, I really *miss* having my camera!! The iPhone camera really doesnt' do it justice because there aren't any options (zoom, setting, flash) I missed alot of great opportunities to capture the red, gold, purple, and orange colors - sometimes all on the same tree - but, I definitely appreciated them this year!

...Winter... CHRISTMAS!
We are currently in the middle of a multi day rain storm which has been dumping water on us for days, with several days more to go! I have a large bucket on the front step to collect water away from the tiles and it filled to overflowing in only 10 minutes today. I've busted out with my fabulous pink and lavendar Wellies - joy! and today at the barn, after feeding supplements, cleaning, and digging trenches for the water to get to the drains, my feet were the only things dry! My water resistant jacket turns water permeable at about 45 minutes of deluge, I have learned... But the horses were happy as I finally drove away - a small river or two running through their DG (better than a giant sandy soup bowl) and fresh dry hay to eat standing under their shelter.

Last night was especially cozy ~ a rainy day, no trims booked... I baked cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip cherry, and gingerbread with raw sugar), we decorated the tree, and made a big dinner of spicy spaghetti with mushrooms, tomatos and olives, garlic bread, salad, and of course some chianti. Watched a movie and had a fire in the fireplace, covered in sleeping dogs and cats with the rain against the windows. Ahhh...

November Update

This kittay from the Epona clinic looks ferocious but was a giant marshmallow! He loved to have his belly rubbed and would stick alternating paws in the air to show his approval.

Phew - I barely made it to a November update while it was still November!

Usually I don't write in when I am just overloaded, but this time around it's been your fairly normal fare... not sure what's been going on, just haven't really been all that motivated to write. Which is weird, but I guess I am processing things and relating to things, etc. on levels I don't know how to write about on a blog.

However, there is always something I could share, and since I have been asked for an update by my sweet friend Nancy in chilly MN... and I'm sitting here in chilly Ventura (honestly, we are supposed to get to the 30s tonite! that definitely qualifies as "chilly", right??)... just doing laundry and feeling the calm of a Sunday off, before the impending storm of "The Holidays".

A few weeks ago Mario and I attended an Epona shoe clinic. It's an actual horseshoe, meant to be nailed on a hoof. And yes, we both NAILED shoes on horses feet! It was something I said at one point to myself that I would *never* do, and yet here I went and did it. Now surprisingly, it was not that weird and that in itself seems a little weird. But the shoes are polyeurathane composite of some kind, they aren't even horseshoe shaped, they have a gel like liner, and you are meant to use them with glue prior to nailing. So - it didn't sound like I was nailing on a shoe, and it didn't even feel like it really because it didn't have a lot of vibration due in part to the plastic material and also because the glue that was used first dampens whatever vibration would be left. And the horses the shoes went on had been shod already, they were not my own or even client horses... OK all those disclaimers aside, I did like the shoe for certain rare scenarios that I would run into with some client horses. Maybe less than 5 out of 200?

A finished shoeing job - glued, nailed, and packed with dental impression material

The clinic itself was in Paso Robles, and we went with my friend Jennifer and stayed at a great little hotel that she got us a killer deal on. On the way up we stopped for dinner with Anita, Carl and Julie - all friends from Arroyo Grande (remember from the Mark Rashid clinic this past spring), and had a delicious Italian feast in Pismo Beach. The clinic itself consisted almost entirely of members of PHCP ( remember from my last post about the conference) so that was cool because we were all the same page as to why we were at the clinic as well as how we planned to use the shoes ~ and how we all planned to use our trim under the shoes rather than the one they were teaching at the clinic. ;-) Barefooters at heart, ya know.

Mario at the clinic


They even make mini horse sized shoes...

For Thanksgiving Mario, my mom and I went to Randall and Rhonda's new house in Camarillo. They had a ton of family and kids over, and tons of really good food. It went fast and was kind of a blur... it felt like -- hi,hi,food,wine,more food, more wine, playing with kids/babies, bye! Their new place is really cute and in a great location for them... Savannah, Mario's godchild, is growing up really fast, yet she's a petite cute little peanut, while her brother Justin is a chubby smiley little bruiser. Savannah absolutely adores Mario, and it was really fun to watch him interacting with her. It made me laugh and reminded me of how Rebecca and I felt about our older cousins and fun uncles!

Work is going well. Sometimes I have bad spots where I am frustrated, stressed and overwhelmed with trimming, but right now I am in a good place where the horses are doing well, clients are happy, and I feel comfortable with the trim. That seems to be a fragile balance but I am learning to really appreciate it and be grateful for it when I have it! ;) There was an article recently about barefoot horses in a really big performance horse magazine called Quarter Horse News, which is for the working western sports like cutting, reining and barrel racing. I was interviewed for the article, as well as a couple of my clients/friends, and I got some nice recognition in the article. That was a pleasant surprise! It's not available on line to link to, at least not yet, but I did order a couple of copies for myself to keep and share.

My horses just got a massage, the lucky weasels. One of my clients is going through a certification program to become a professional equine massage therapist, and we did a service swap - trims for massages. She found some interesting tightnesses and compensations in both horses which relate directly to how they choose to stand and use themselves posturally, or how I ride them/they use themselves under saddle. I think they both really liked the massage, of course some spots more than others ... {coughFaithcough!} I rode Jordan yesterday after his massage and tried to focus on where exactly he was less strong and try to ask him to gently use those parts of his body more. For those that don't ride dressage (or ride at all ;-)) this will sound really funny, but I had a nice breakthrough recently with my seat bone usage while riding, and yesterday I got really good downward transitions just by focusing on where my seat bones where and what they were 'saying' to the horse.

Tomorrow the horses are going to visit a horse dentist after I trim in the morning. Yes - the horses got massages and dental care, and I can't remember the last time I had either! Typical horse owner!!!

Mario and I were supposed to ride today, but sadly we got a pretty hard rain last night and everything was too wet to go out. We are tentatively going next weekend, but we're supposed to get rain then, too! The weather has been really cold like I said earlier --- we've had several overnight rains and everything is greening up! There was even snow on the Topas recently... They were saying this would be a cold, dry winter, but so far it's been a cold wet fall. (er - for us!)

Speaking of winter, we recently had our trailer re-wired so that I can run the dressing room and side flood lights off a battery. That means I can tack up and groom, etc. at the trailer after dark. The arena lights at Aliso are great, but since I use my dressing room as my tack room I didn't have any lights and was using one of those forehead lights. I temporarily blinded the poor horses accidentally while grooming and even blinded myself a few times turning the lamp on while staring directly at it. :-P The new set up will be much nicer... if I can convince myself that nighttime weather in the 40s is suitable for riding!!

I remember in NJ when weather in the 40s was very civilized and in fact quite nice for riding. I've become a WIMP! And speaking of NJ... last night was my 20 year high school reunion. I obviously didn't go, and I feel weird about that. I really would have liked to have gone, and Mario and I talked about it a bunch of times. At one point we thought maybe I would just go and he could watch the critters and it would save $$ too, but ... I would have had to have gotten a ticket going/returning along with thousands of other holiday travelers, it would have been crazy and expensive, and none of my friends were going. They are the real reason it is fun to go to those events anyway (reference Mario's reunion and my 10 year!). My friend Stephanie and I decided a 21 year reunion would be good. :)

That's about all I can think of at the moment.

I hope everyone is enjoying their fall, and feeling very grateful for all of their blessings.

Something for Everyone

New windchime I got for the barn... once again, the perfect symbol for Hope was hanging right there in front of me... a peacock!

In no particular order, as I guess life sometimes seems, here's a recap of the last month or two or so...

Somewhere around the reunion and Bell's wedding, I can't remember if I mentioned, that we attended the Pacific Hoof Care Practitioners first annual conference. It was a momentus thing because I was a founding member of the original version of PHCP... well, to backtrack, I was a part of the AANHCP. It was a natural hoofcare training organization, the first of its kind in many ways. It had an implosion of sorts, and a mass exodus. Out of that fairly painful experience was formed the PHCP. And that then imploded, even more painful than before... and a new PHCP was born. And THAT, despite many challenges, managed to not only survive but somewhat to thrive - as in, over the course of 2 years we grew to about 150 members -- enough even to warrant having an annual conference...


That's me standing in the front of the room


We had a clinician come from Australia giving a fascinating talk on his research on their version of the US mustang (the brumby), social events, board meetings, and mini clinics... one of which was given by me. ;-) It was my first time talking to a group of people that large, and certainly about something close to my heart such as horse feet. But I had managed to make up a kind of cute PowerPoint to lead me through, and I think the event went off really well. And I found I had a new sense of confidence afterwards, which was a really nice side effect!! :)


Bailey and Bogey crammed into the cabbage which is sitting on top of another dog bed. Both beds really made for only one fat pug at a time, but they make do...

We went to NJ for cousin Chris & Erin's wedding. We flew in on a red eye (aptly named of course) and took that first day to drive around some old stomping grounds. I found myself a little lost on the old freeways I used to zip around without a thought --- but after a few segueways into areas of NJ I had never actually stomped on... we ended up at the good old Whippany Diner for breakfast. Ahhh...entirely too much food... coffee, juice, rye toast, pancakes... served by a NJ friendly, perfectly accented waitress.

I then escorted (tortured?) Mario by taking him everywhere I could remember in the immediate area. We went to my high school, a couple grade schools, several old houses, grandparents house, cousin's old houses, places to eat, places I worked. We went to Fairleigh Dickinson where Mario was going to school when we first met. I took him to a park or two where I had hiked as a kid or layed in the sun as a teenager. We walked around Foxwood, the condo development in Morris Plains, NJ, where I lived when we first met. It was a gorgeous sunny day and it was a lovely way to spend the morning. Before heading south to Club Pesce I (and II!) we hit up a Kings grocery store for wine, cheese and chocolate to bring with us.

New (to me) statue in Morristown's Green

Park Avenue, the Civil War era Victorian we lived in when I was pre-school until 3rd grade, when it burned "down"

Troy Hills Road, the house my mom and aunts grew up in, my Nana & Grandpa's House

Grove Place, triply famous... The Pesce's lived there when they first got married, then my mom and I loved there with the Pesce's when our 2nd house burned down (no picture of that because it's a parking lot now), and then my mom and I lived there with roommates after the Pesce's had moved out

Foxwood - the condo we lived in when I was in high school until I left NJ at age 22.

It was a tudor when I left!

Me sitting on the bench at Foxwood that Mario and I used to walk to... when we first met!

The first night there, Elaine & Vinnie treated Mario, my mom and I to dinner at one of their favorite taco spots.

Aunt Laineesha & Mario

The next day Mario helped Chris set up stuff for his wedding, hauled items to the dump with Vinnie and helped paint an outdoor bar. That night we got to meet the adorable and charming Stoshua, Rebecca & Richard's baby boy. I got a face ache from smiling at him and laughing with him. He totally charmed me!!!!

And then to make my laugh lines that much deeper, Jeromy & Stephanie arrived with their precious baby girl! Seeing the two baby cousins meet for the first time was priceless...

Cousins Sophia and Stoshua

Since Sophia was only 2 lbs when she was born, it was wonderful to see how healthy and strong she was ~ smiling and round with baby chub. :-)

Aunt Lois, my mom, neighbor friend Diane, Momma Rebecca, Aunt Elaine (grandma - aka Nanny Lain), dogs Cubby and Linus, and baby Stosh in the stroller, out for a walk

The boys went sailing in Uncle Vinney's boat! Captain Vinney, with Mario Richard and Jess's boyfriend playing first (and 2nd and 3rd?) mates


Mario says it was a perfect day for sailing...

We had a really nice rehearsal dinner evening out with all of the family and even got to celebrate Dave's birthday at the restaurant.

Happy Birthday Dave!


Me on the beach, the day of the wedding

The day of the wedding was ideal... despite the recent rains it was sunny, breezy and warm. Chris' good friend was the minister and he did a beautiful job. Erin looked gorgeous, Chris looked handsome, the teal blue ocean in the background and even fluffy white clouds going by all seemed to be as if on cue. A rousing backyard reception at their new house closed up the evening, complete with a tear jerking speech by brother Dave, the bride playing beer pong with her nieces and nephews, scream singing and dancing cousins Becka, Sossity, Jess and Alison, and Mario doing a backwards kickworm on the beer soaked dance floor. Good times!

Precious family time - aunts and cousins looking at photos while sharing many bottles of wine. In this case Alison is showing photos of a favorite place in Milwaukee, Barnacle Buds, where, just a few weeks later - she got engaged!!!!!!! Congratulations Alison & Jeremy!!! :-)

Now at this point you might be wondering about the suspicious lack of photos of the BRIDE or GROOM or many of the things I mentioned in my paragraphs above, many of the things I would typically share photos of. To that, of course, I have a story. Chris & Erin had a post-wedding BBQ type event -- everyone comes over, eats/drinks leftovers and pizza, watch football, play Dingleballs, ya know... your normal fall weekend with the family kind of stuff. I had my camera with me, my little Olympus digital camera that I bring with me to work and everywhere else, and Mario and I were snapping away as usual. On the post wedding day, the battery was dying and I put the camera in my back pocket, where it was never to be seen again. I truly searched the house and yard (and the neighbors yard) high and low. Everyone, it seemed, joined in on the search. It was just... gone. But, or shall I say, butt, at the same time, Chris's downstairs toilet became clogged. Ha ha ha, wouldn't it be funny if it was my camera? ha. ha. hah.

Well, yeah, it actually WAS my camera that clogged the downstairs toilet of Club Pesce II. This is a fact that I can hardly accept but was told by the proprietor of Club Pesce II himself, Mr. Christaphah Pesce, that it was indeed the case.

Rumor has it that the memory card was working, but the camera is not. To be honest, I am not sure I want that camera back!!

Sooo, anywayyyy, the photos in the blog post here were what we had on our iPhones - basically as quick backup to the Olympus. Maybe if I get those images back some day, I will post them here -- because I am sure everyone is curious what toilet camera pictures look like.

Going through Mario's iPhone for photos to load on the blog, I came across this cool golf shot and wanted to share it. :)


Pinot noir grapes freshly picked by a client who owns a winery.

It's crush time!

Mario's horse Buck was at Aliso for a week while his owner was away, so Mar and I got to go on a couple of rides together. Unfortunately the first part of the week was insanely hot and we were not able to ride. Now let me say that this past summer has just been really cool overall, not that I am complaining... but it was generally only in the 80s in places that would typically be in the 90s and 100s, and some places were in the 70s or cooler, foggy/overcast, etc. But a week ago Monday it was record breaking heat in many parts of Southern and Central CA, reaching up to 110, 113, 115 degrees!! A week later, it was in the 60s and it RAINED. Then it got warmer again, and now we are looking at the typical sunny and 70s and 80s for the next week or so.

Anyway we had a few nice rides on the horses, and even though it was a short one - the first night we head out was my favorite. It was after work, late afternoon, and it was just Mario/Bucky and me/Jordan -- and 2 of the ranch dogs Toby and Spike accompanied us. Riding along chatting side by side, through the lemon orchards, it just felt like we had gone back in time or something. I was also feeling extremely grateful - not just for the wonderful luxury of having wonderful horses to ride, the great weather, the dogs with us, etc., but the fact that Mario is willing to wear a helmet for me, even though it's not the 'cowboy' thing to do. Wearing a helmet is a personal decision (it is not the law), but one I take pretty seriously personally.

I just appreciate it so much that Mario loves me enough to wear his helmet! :)

Amanda on Cowboy, Mario on Bucky (note the new dark green helmet!) and Jordan's ears. We had just gotten to a ridgetop - you can see how dry it's become.

My friends Stephanie and Nick had their baby girl - Melina Leann Branca. She was born healthy and happy and we got to see her at her 1 week birthday... She was a total lady for the visit, sleeping in my arms in a most entertaining way (arm stretches, hand gestures, smiles, and leg stretches as well). I'm so happy for Stephanie and Nick!

1 week old birthday cupcakes and candles for Melina!

Nick & Stephanie ... and Melina of course, doing one of her funny sleep poses!

Stephanie and Melina, and Daddy Nick holding their giant, FAT cat Cali!

(no, it is not all hair! LOL)

Randall & Rhonda at The Cave

We met Randall & Rhonda for a lovely evening at The Cave in Ventura for wine and small plates. It was a great evening with friends! Rhonda has been running mini marathons and looks fantastic! It was inspiring...

Luna today, walking the path to the fountain

Indian Summer

My wrists and back are starting to bother me, so I am going to end this post, but I'm glad I got in a little catch-up... Hope everyone is doing well!!

Buena HS 20 Year Reunion

And now for something completely different....

After Bell's wedding Mario and I worked our asses off for about a week while preparing for the next big thing... his 20 year high school reunion. We had gone to his 10 year, but only 1 of his main group of buddies made it to that. This time around, most of the main group was planning on attending, and there was a lot of excitment and planning around the big event. Secret handshakes were practiced, golf tournaments booked, old war stories recounted and new shoes were bought. (Well, you can't wear $2.50 thrift store shoes to your reunion... and did I mention in my last post that they were WOMEN'S shoes?)

Mario's friend Kevin rolled into town first, making his way to Casa Gargiulo from Minnesawtah! His first night in town, a bit sleep deprived, we all went to see the late show of Inception. Maybe that's not the type of movie to see when you are exausted, but I must say I enjoyed it immensely!! Mario and Kevin got in a round of golf the next day, practicing for the big tournament on Saturday.




Next, Mario's friends Sean and his wife Jules came in from Miami. The Ventura County Fair was in town, so after a good Mexican dinner with Kevin (apparently MN is not known for their burritos) we all met up for a night of fun at the fair. In true form I indulged in the wine garden and funnel cake, and then stood outside the ropes and laughed and tried to take photos as everyone got queasy on some flippy upside downy fair rides. We all went on the ferris wheel, which was really cool -- on the one side you look out to the lights of the fair and the hillsides of Ventura, and the other direction looks right out on the ocean and the pier.



Another highlight of FaiR Night was Jules kicking ASS on a Marine hosted strength competition. She weighs about a buck total, and is this hot little Venezuelan blond... the guys running the event didn't expect anything, but she hung on for the full time (I think a minute and a half?) and beat all the guys as well. The funniest part was when time was called she slowwwly lowered herself down and then flexed for us all as we cheered and laughed. GO JULES! (let's just say I would have crashed and burned and there would have been no flexing afterwards!! ha ha!!)



We closed up the fair and it was determined that the night was still young, so we head to good ole Wine Lovers for a drink. Many of you who have visited me have been to Wine Lovers, it's seen many a fun time had by us all. My friend Miranda's (fellow trimmer) boyfriend's reggae band was playing, and she was there, so that was a nice surprise too.

One of Kevin's drunk faces... with my friend Miranda in the background


The golf tournament was a huge success, with Mario winning on his home course with a 77. His friend Maynard, who flew down from Seattle, was hot on his heels with a 78! Randy played too, as an honorary Buena grad (even though he graduated from Oxnard ;-)).



Friday night was the pre-reunion night on the town ... it was held at the Watermark (where I spent my 38th bday, you may recall those photos from another blog post...). Mario and I met up at Sean and Jule's hotel room ahead of time to gather our wits and have some drinks ahead of time, and then we walked to the Watermark from there. I strayed from my stand by of wine, and had a mojito ... and then another... and another... it was a mojito kind of night I guess.


They were super yummy there - fresh lime and mint, just a little brown sugar... lots of ice and rum. YUM. The night was a blur of laughing, drinking, and "oh my god-ing" as different friends and faces from the past seemed to materialize from the crowd. We made some new friends with a guy Mario graduated with but didn't really know well and his wife, and they joined our little herd of revelers for the night. We walked back to the Keagan's room (Sean and Jules) after closing down the bar, to try to carry on the fun as well as sober up for the drive home. I think we actually got home in the wee hours... 3? 4??










Saturday was the "actual" reunion which was held at JOnathan's (also featured in a blog post "Wild Hearts Have a Date"). The reunion organizers booked both the restaurant and martini lounge sides of the location for the evening. This time Mario and I met up with Kevin, and his wife Jen who flew in later from MN, Maynard and his friends, and Sean and Jules at the hotel bar, and walked from there to Jonathan's. It was a typical foggy Ventura evening and by the time I got to the place my carefully curled hair was flat and straight. :-/ Oh well, it was sort of curled for our group shot at least!!



View of Ventura from the Keagan Staging Room

View to the west from the Keagan Staging Room (we had our wedding rehearsal dinner at the place on the corner there by the smaller palm trees... in case anyone recognizes it - where it was once known as Pineapples! ;-))

We met up with the new friends Tammy and John and proceeded to have a really nice evening of catching up with old friends (or some new ones to me!!) and laughing ... and laughing... and laughing... with old ones. :-) Mario had some high school sweethearts in attendance, one in particular was a surprise - but I think we both managed to get through it all unscathed. ha

Me, Jules and Jen

After Jonathans had closed we ended up at Bombay's, which I haven't been to in a very long time. There was dancing, rapping, goofing around.

Kevin & Mario at Bombay's

Finally we head back to the Keagan's hotel room to hang out and talk about impressions of everyone that attended. The whole thing was this wild whirlwind of fun times with good friends, and then suddenly... it was over! Mario and I were walking to the car, once again between 3 and 4am... when it hit us that everyone was going their own ways on Sunday, and the big reunion was over. We both got really bummed out! Why can't everyone live close to each other? Or why can't we have some kind of teleporting deal figured out. It's 2010 after all.

Me, Tammy, Jules and Jen posing on the Professor's Chair

Sean, Mario and Kevin

On Sunday morning I had to be up and at 'em for my friend Stephanie's baby shower. I was regretting the fact that I tried to party like it was 1990 for the last 4 days in a row, I can assure you! Especially with Mario situated comfortably on the couch watching golf for the day, eating pizza and nursing himself back to reality. But the shower was really lovely... every detail was just perfect, from the amazing catered food to the butterfly decorations and flowers.

She was surrounded by love with family and friends, on a beautiful day, as she should be! Stephanie is a friend from 7th grade, and she lost a pregnancy of a son to a rare untreatable heart defect... so this little baby girl that she is expecting (in 3 weeks) is really extra special I think. :)

Steph & her mom Anne

Weddings, reunions, and births... oh my!