Now that wedding season is in full swing, we have weekends booked out through September.  Showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, weddings, rehearsals.  It’s crazy, but it’s always fun.  We had Anna’s wedding shower at our house this weekend.  Her sister, Maddie, worked all night Friday making awesome dips and snacks.  Kendra came on Saturday morning with Ava and we made fruit pizzas and tomato, mozzarella & basil snacks.  We also cooked up 3 boxes of suddenly salad pasta salad.  You just buy the classic kind and then use Olive Oil instead of Vegetable Oil and add fun things like olives, cheese & tomatoes.

It rained all morning, but mid afternoon once we had finished opening presents, the sun came out and people were able to sit on the patio.  It was so nice to have all the girls together in one place.  It only happens a few times a year if we’re lucky.  The years where there is no wedding, we’re lucky if it happens one time.   No group picture this year… big mistake, but here are a couple good ones.

I did make Anna allow one game at the shower and was pretty easy.  I created a “junk drawer” and everyone had to guess how much the contents cost.  I included tiny bottles of flavored vodka, lint roller, sparklers, duct tape, paper clips, push pins, wet wipes, batteries, thank you cards, pens, band-aids, febreeze, light bulbs, and fingernail clippers.  The guesses were all over the board.  We had guesses from $35.00 to $107.00.  The correct price was $52.70.  It worked out pretty well.

Also, yesterday was Father’s Day.  Justin & I started our day by going to see Rock of Ages.  I don’t care what the critics say.  I thought it was amazing.

Justin didn’t think that Julianne Hough was very impressive with her acting skills, but I don’t think that acting is important in a musical 🙂 Also, we decided to stop saying that we hate Russell Brand.  We don’t like the things that he does, but he is funny in movies as a side kick, so he has some talent.  The REO Speedwagon song that Alec Baldwin & Russell Brand perform was amazing.

After the movie, we met my parents at Boca Chica for tacos & margaritas.  That is my second new restaurant in St. Paul – so I am slowly working on my 30 before 30 list.  I cannot believe that I have never been to Boca Chica.  It is the best Mexican restaurant in the Twin Cities.  The margaritas were amazing.  We also had a bean & cheese dip that was awesome.  I will definitely be returning.  Boca Chica Website

My father is one of those guys that has everything he needs, he has most of what he wants and he doesn’t tell you what he’s missing, so he’s hard to shop for.  Socks and t-shirts go a long way, so does a case of beer.  I found something for father’s day that he couldn’t turn down this year.  I went to Patina (one of my favorite stores) and bought a book called “Outwitting Squirrels.”  It has 101 creative ways to outwit the neighborhood demons.  I also purchased him Squirrel Underwear.  They are to protect the neighborhood from incidents of indecent exposure of these small animals.  He laughed so hard.  It was the perfect gift.

After a nice afternoon with my mom & dad, we headed to Blaine to meet up with my in-laws.  We had a nice dinner at Applebees.  Dan brought up a commercial he had seen for Gilligan’s Island, the Musical, which is in Minneapolis for another week.  I checked online and found front row tickets for $30.00 so we are going on Friday evening.  After dinner, we made a quick stop at both Justin’s sisters’ houses to visit the girls.  Poor Kennedy cried when we left because she thought she was coming with us.  Maddie made my night when Justin asked her if she was a dude (because she kept saying it), she turned to him with a snotty look and said, “NO, diva.”  She is quite the diva.

This week will hopefully be a little slower so I can get some things done around the house and start my couch to 5k with my mom this evening.  Progress updates to come.  Hope you had a wonderful Father’s day.