Mani-Pedi Weekend

So I bought my first as seen on TV product. The Salon Express Nail Art and it's the best ten dollars I have ever spent. I spend the weekend at Ellen and Johns while Bryan had drill. Ellen and I had a mani pedi weekend with my new toy. We went to Ulta and we both spend about 30$ on nail polish. We were so scared that it was not going to work as well as the info commercial was but I can not complain at all. It was great and easy to use. It was totally something you need a friend to do with since the nail polish does dry really fast, but it was great. I would recommend this product for anyone who loves to change their nail polish a few times a week like I do. I will work on getting some pictures up as soon as possible, because I am attempting to write my first blog on my new iPad.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
-LA

Savannah, Georgia 2012

Bryan and I took a weekend trip together and traveled to Savannah, Georgia.  Before we made our way into one of the most beautiful cities in America we made a side trip to Statesboro.  We ate at my favorite restaurant in Statesboro, which is the Beaver House.  It is family style southern cooking.  Oh, how I miss going there with my girl friends on Tuesday's after class or Sundays with my "Georgia Southern Family".  Of course I dragged him to the bookstore but couldn't find the sticker i wanted for his truck.  After lunch and shopping we went down to see Cara and her newest addition Trey and her family.  I was so nervous the first time she let me hold him.  I cant remember the last time I held a month to - two month year old.  It may of been a first time experience, since she is the first of my friends to have children.


After visiting with the new family, we made our way to Savannah.  We stayed on the outskirts of the city which was fine with us.  Friday night we ate dinner at the crab shack on tybee island.  We ate a feast of seafood.  I have been craving seafood for the past few weeks and that was the best place that gave us the best variety for what we all wanted.  We had crab, shrimp, muscles, craw-fish, sausage, potatoes and corn.  It was heaven in my mouth.  After dinner we met up with a friend of mine at the local karaoke bar.

Saturday we did a lot of tourist things.  Bryan and I walked around river street and took a trolley car tour.  One of his fellow Army Reservist lives in Savannah and works for a trolley car service and we took the tour with her.  I have to say with all the tours all around the world I have been on, she was one of the best that I have heard in a while.  We learned about all the squares, the history in some of the architecture in the city and why only one square does not have moss.  And of course we had to go see the square that Forest Gump was filmed at.  While on river street they had an old Army ship on the river, where the new WWII memorial was build.  We also of course had to stop by the river street sweets.  We watched a guy make taffy in the candy store from start to finish. We ate dinner at the Shrimp Factory, and it was great.  I got my favorite drink there 2x, the Chatham Artillery Punch, it is wondefuless in the mouth.  Of course we both over ate and was miserable after the dinner but it was so worth it.  After dinner we went to wet Willy's and had a frozen daiquiri's and sat out on river street and watched the cargo ships come in and out of the port.  It was such a great relaxing night for a wonderful day!

On Sunday we ate brunch with Byran's friend that is the trolley tour giver at cobble stone and Bryan panned a private carriage ride around the Savannah area for the two of us. I do not think we even listened to the tour giver, we sat back and just rode around in the carriage and enjoyed each other company and talked about how much fun the two of us had together.  The weekend in Savannah was exactly what i needed with all the craziness that has been going on the past month.  It was great to do nothing and not have to worry about anything.  I can not wait until we go to Florida for Byran's early birthday gift!  It will be so much fun just the two of us.

Long Lost Friend ... Adios "A"

I'm usually not one those girls who vents about others but the past few months I have felt very hurt by a "friend".  I know she does not read this or has any idea that I am attempting to blog but here I go.

 I started college in fall 2002. Wow, that's almost ten years! I met my best friend; lets call her "A" in the fall of 2003 through some of my very good guy friends. Some of these guys I have know since we were in middle school. Me and A grew very close over the next few weeks and or months in my second year of college. A was my partner in crime for the next 3-4 years. We went to the football games, the bar, dinners, lunches, cried with each others because of broken hearts and deaths of close friends and family members. A and I did everything together most people knew us as trick and frat more or less.  During that last year in college I knew that her and I were drifting apart. I had found a new group of friends, she began acting strange and starting par-taking into different that I was not into. Yes if your doing your math right I was in college for six years. But I did major and have two minors! I really didn't know what I wanted to do. So graduation came and both of our parents through us a wonderful graduation party and we hung out that last summer of '08. We both moved and went on our own way after August 2008.  So our post college life started. It was very strange five years we lived with in 5 miles from each other and now were 4 hours apart. We would try and catch up and football games in the fall and then when we were both in the coastal Georgia area. After a year or so of playing the catch up game i got into my car and went home and thought to myself, why do we even do this to ourselves. It was all a fake showing every time we met up with each other.

 In the fall of 2009 I bought a house and got a new job and to be honest I never thought about sharing any of that information with her. I don't think that she had any idea that I had moved or finally found Job that I loved and house that I am proud to show off to people. When her and I ran into each other in November of 2009 it seamed like she couldn't of cared less about what was happening in my life. Once again I made my venture back and spoke to another friend of mine and told here was over A and really didn't care if we spoke again. I think it was the summer of 2009 and I heard a rumor that she was finally happy and was in a great relationship and maybe finally in my own words "grew up and finally left college".  I am sure that sounds a lot worse then it does but whatever, I guess I am just a little bitter.  For what I understand she introduced him to all of our friends from school and to my own brother, but this time I was never called or once tried to make a date to meet him. Well guess what, that relationship did not work out (which I was not surprised at all) I guess that they dated for a year to year and a half. And guess who was the first person she called.... Me.   I feel bad that I never called her back. I thought about calling back that day or hell even a few weeks later but I never did. Thinking about it makes me feel bad that I never tried to make sure that she was all right but I do not think she would call me if she heard bad news about me.  In 2011 I ran into her with my friend Kelly and my tailgating group. And even Cara (who has known A and I since we became friends. She was the one that introduced me to A) said that she knew something was not right when she saw us together. And while I was talking to Cara on my way back to Milledgeville I told her I was done. I don't see A and I being friends again.

So what brought back all of this to the service a friend of mine was telling me she was going to be moving back to Atlanta. Yes, I have heard that before. She told our friends and me that before in 2009 and it never happened. It just blew my mind that my friend knew A was coming back to Atlanta.

I guess what I am trying to get at is that it looks like I lost my BFF from college A.  Most people who do know me, know that I do not "lose" friends, the ones that I let into my world usually stay for life. I always thought that her and I would be still together as BFF. That if I ever got married she would be standing next to me as a bridesmaid or her and Ellen planning a bachelorette party for me. But I guess that will never happen. It is just good to know that I have a wonderful core group of friends that I can count on then when I need them any time of the day. If it wasn't for them and my BF Bryan the past month would of been one of the hardest in my life. I love how they all contacting me in some way to make sure I was all right when I was in Chicago for my Boppas funeral. It just goes to show you that some people will always be in your life and those that put forth the effort they will stay there forever.... Unlike A.

And that is my rant for the year.
-LA

Rest In Peace... Boppa

Boppa, (photo taken by my cousin, Alison)

On March 13^th my grandmother (Boppa) passed away.  Boppa was 93 years old.  She battled breast cancer and won about ten years, but was not able to win the battle she had been fighting for about 3 years.  The more and more I think about her passing I know that it was for the best because of the pain she was in.  Boppa was the last of my grandparents to have passed away even though I never knew my two grand-fathers.  She had been living on her own and driving until about the last 4-6 months of her life.  She attended church regularly and loved her TGI Friday Mudslides and Amaretto Sour’s or what we called “Berk Specials”.  

A few of my favorite memories with my Boppa is that she always around for Jim and I. I remember her coming over every Sunday when we lived in Chicago with our other grandmother.  She always made cookies during the Christmas time.  She also took us to the zoo, which was very close to her house and after the zoo we went to little joe's for hot-dogs. She hated McDonald, at lease when were younger.  A day or two before my mom, brother and I would go over there my mom would always take us to McDonald so we didn't ask her to go with us.  A few years ago she fell in love with Quizones and boy did that one store in La Grange know her by name and sandwich.  Boppa always had "her" favorite resturants and would eat there until she got sick of eating the same items for a year or so.  

Boppa's house the day after the funeral

The last 5-7 years my family and I have been venturing up to Chicago for the Holidays. When the four of us go up there we always stayed with Boppa.  That is 5 adults in a three bedroom home with two bathrooms and one shower.  Need-less to say it was a tight fit for us. But we always made it through a holiday season even with a  lot of complaining about not wanting to go up there or about the sleeping arrangements.  But when we left the four of us all knew it was the right thing by going up there, even though we may of whispered under our breaths that we would never do it again!  But her house and backyard always looked great when the snow fell over the winter months in Chicago.  

 

One of the trees in her back
yard Christmas Morning 2010

Boppa’s children, children-in-law and grandchildren were always able to count on her to be the first birthday card received, with a gift inside.  She sent them out at the beginning of every month for those whose birthdays were in that month.  Luckily my birthday was the 4^th of the month so I was usually able to open the card right when I receive it, but my brother who’s birthday is the 25^th he always had to wait to right away the date, at lease when were younger and or lived at my parent’s house.  I am pretty sure she knew that the anticipation would kill some of those whose birthdays were later in the year.   

She was always the first to send out Christmas cards which she always had in the mail that Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It didn’t matter if we were coming to see her in Chicago for Christmas our gift was always in those card’s and she would always call about a week later to make sure it did not get lost in the mail.  And once again we were always told by her that we couldn’t open it until Christmas meaning we had to carry the card with us to her house to open it in front of her. 

 

It was Boppa’s way or the Highway, especially when it came to card games.  She was playing card until the last few days of her life.  She loved playing gin rummy and 31.  She loved taking all of our dimes when we use to go to her house and play cards with her.  If you didn’t remember your dimes over the Holidays you had to beg for her to let you borrow some from her.  And if you won you had to pay her right back.  And from what I hear she was the card shark at the nursing home too.  

Her Five grand-children

Boppa will always be remembered as a wonderful grandmother.  She had always traveled to most of our major events in our lives even though I don’t think she really liked flying much down to Atlanta, and even went on some family vacations with us like to Disney.  She will be greatly missed for winning at 31 and her strong opinions.  She was a wonderful mother, great grandmother and loving great-grandmother.   

The wake and funeral were beautiful.  It was unfortunate that was when my cousins and I were all able to see each other.  But like many families weddings and funerals bring people together.  Hopefully we are all able to get together more often with a celebration or a holiday.  

Love you Boppa!
-La