Mom and Vincent come to visit

After being in Boston for 1 year and 8 months Mom and Vincent made their way East. And we made the most of it! I was able to take two days off work and tour them around Boston, cook them dinner at the house, (Shane, once again, was the master of the grill) we took a quick trip up to Marblehead, wandered through the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, they watched us cross the finish line of the marathon and we headed out to Provincetown for the night. It was very busy but great to be able to hang out with them so much and just enjoy each others company.

Steph's Graduation Dinner

After a quick night up in Maine in order to get the camp ready for the season, I headed out to dinner with Stephanie and her family at Lucca, thanks to Uncle Mark for dinner! It was such fun to see the Orrico's! I feel like I have seen a bunch of them since hanging out with Stephanie more and it has been so great to get to know them better. Stephanie is an amazing woman with so many talents and I can't wait to see where her life takes her. Congrats to Steph and remember- "We're all counting on you!" ;-)

Shane's Birthday

We ran down to Newport, RI for the day- about a 1.5 hour drive one-way and we picniced on the beach. It was a beautiful day, and so nice to be on a beach. We finished off the day with a great steak dinner (courtesey of whole foods and Shane's perfect grilling skills). All in all I think he had a fun, low- key birthday.

Trip to Atlanta

Shane's sister celebrated her "28th birthday," again, in real style Mother's Day weekend. We all flew down to Atlanta, where she and her family live, and headed out to Barnsley Gardens where she and her husband threw a very fun birthday bash- see sunset picture below. We also did a mini celebration for Shane's birthday on Friday night, with his favorite: chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, and of course the niece and nephews!!

Jackie Greene Concert last night

So, I stepped off the plane at 7pm got luggage and was home by 7:30pm. Shane had bought tickets to see Jackie Greene at the Paradise, and we headed over around 8:20pm. We got to hear the opening band The Brakes, Shane bought their CD and called this morning offering rave reviews! I love Jackie Greene, and many of the readers of this blog will agree with me, just click on the link above and enjoy! This guy has a great voice, writes amazing lyrics and is timeless. He has this deep soulful voice that makes anyone of any age get up and move. It's the perfect music for Sunday morning breakfasts, windows open, trees in bloom and music flowing through the entire place, filling you with the urge to just groove. And to top it off, the guy is 28... So if you get the chance, check him out!

Orange County

So, at 3am after 20 minutes of sleep I got in the shower, and back on the road to make a 6am flight from Portland to Orange County via Denver (see I told you!). I BARELY made the flight, at the counter and back check- in area at 5:20am when the cut off time is 5:15am, I was very lucky. Who knew it was going to be that busy?!?! I actually was one of those ones that was pulled out of line because she was due to miss her flight. I hate those kinda people, because it's just clearly poor planning on their parts, but with the number of miles that I have logged over the past 5 years, and having never had to be pulled from line, I think I am doing pretty darn well. I was headed down to Orange County for the AAAA Leadership Conference, and my company was sponsoring. The show went very well. We made a few good contacts and are excited to follow up and see what happens. I also got to see Lewis Black perform, he was hysterical. I posted some of his performance on YouTube, you can see it here. I was also lucky enough to have dinner with the Hellings'. Aunt Frances, Uncle Glen, Brittany, Chris, and Katie. They were on different nights, but I got to see everyone. We had pork and salmon on the grill and it was soo much better than going out! Aunt Frances and I went to get our toes done on Wednesday after my conference concluded, and ooo, it was soo nice to sit there and not talk about work but just enjoy having someone take care of my feet after all the standing and talking about Maconomy... I couldn't have picked a better pedicure partner! And on top of that, she got up at 5am to drive me to the airport. I love my family!

Megan's Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Weekend!

Friday evening I headed out to Oregon, via Denver (you will see that phrase "via Denver" a lot over the next few posts) for a quick trip for Megan's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette party. Carrie, Megan's sister and maid of honor did an amazing job planning, cooking, and throwing a wonderful party! All of the bridesmaids were there with their mothers as well as a few other college friends of Megan's. It was a great way to get to know some people that Megan spends a lot of her daily life with. She seems so happy, as you can see from some of the pictures below. Huge thanks to Rachel for hosting at her lovely home!

We headed down to Lincoln City that night to a great house that Carrie found where she booked two nights of girl time for Megan and company. The house was amazing! Such a great find Carrie! We all went out that night to Chinook Winds Casino that was just down the street, found a great cabbie named Bill who carted all of us- quite a feat! The Chinook Winds Casino is interesting. I think they had more security on staff then bartenders. Not my idea of making good money, but whatever. I also saw a fair share of be-dazzled jeans... I have to say, that look isn't good on anyone! But, we got our dance on, and Megan was out, in the veil and was a great sport. I think she really liked the congrats from random passers by!