Weekend In Baltimore

Well, I'm finally free where I can post about this, since I needed to get to my computer which had all my pics. Last weekend, I went to visit my friend K in Baltimore for a surprise wedding shower for our friend Steph.

We had a meetup of all of our internet friends. This was the second time that some of us were meeting up, however, this time, we did have some newbies joining in on the festivities.

I figured I'd just kinda post this mini TR in mostly picture format, since that's always more fun anyway. lol! However, there will be some text as well. It's not all pics! :D

Friday April 11

I got to Baltimore on Friday at around 1:00 pm. K and her husband, Marc came to pick me up from the airport (they are SO incredibly wonderful! Such amazing friends to have!) and they brought their new baby, Anastasia! (Last year, I went to Baltimore for a baby shower for K and she was pregnant with Miss Anya...so it was nice to see her in person. :D )

They drove me to their house and we chatted for a while. This was a good trip for me b/c this was the first time I'd been around a baby in YEARS! So, I learned a lot about children! And I spent some good quality time with Anya.

See, she's got my nose!

However, then it was off to the grocery store! She's such a cutie!!!

I loved this grocery store. It puts all of ours here to SHAME! This store had things that mine wouldn't even dream of selling. And it had an actual food bar. And the food looked so good. Like, the meat looked incredible and they showed you ways to prepare it! I swear, they need to do something like that at our grocery stores b/c the only one around here that does that is EXPENSIVE. I was really impressed. (Sad how you can be impressed with a grocery store...lol!)

After K and I made our purchases, we walked around the shopping center for a bit, just enjoying the nice warm weather. It was so wonderful being in the warm sun! One of the stores even offered us samples of this delicious cold white chocolate drink. Wow, was that yummy!

After enjoying our walk, we then went back home and K made dinner and put the finishing touches on the ice cream for the next day. Anya and daddy had to help though. :D

Then it was Anya's dinner time...yum...I think!

After dinner for Anya, we had dinner. Linguini with clam sauce! Delish! However, probably the even more delicious thing...her homemade rosmary bread! I could have eaten the whole loaf!!! OMG! It's to die for!

Halfway through dinner, our other guests for the night arrived. Jenny and her daughter Abby were staying the night too. It was so great getting to meet them finally after talking with them for a while now.

They ate dinner and then we chit chatted for a while. Finally, after the baby was put to sleep, we went downstairs and played Wii. OMG! It's so fun and so addictive! I halfway want one now! lol!!! After the games, everyone went to bed. (I stayed up for a while, then went to bed later.)

Saturday April 12

I woke up extremely early for me (especially since my time clock was an hour behind) and K was cooking us breakfast. Buttermilk waffles from scratch and bacon! Also so incredibly yummy. I have got to learn how to become a better cook! lol! After that, we all got ready and waited for the party to arrive.

The thing about this trip was that it was a surprise wedding shower for Steph. And let me tell you, she had no clue that it was for her...even after she saw all the presents! She thought they were all for the baby! lol!

Look, she has no clue...and there are presents in the corner, with her name on them!

We all kinda looked at each other and thought, well, now what?! How do we tell her. Finally, we came up with a solution.

Here, this is for you!

Steph was floored. She had no idea that we had all decided that we would be surprising her with this. Steph opened all of her presents...the coolest of which was this apron that has all of our names on it from Magic and will probably never be used. (Steph doesn't cook...she's burnt the easiest stuff before!)

She also recieved this giraffe that's supposed to help her grab things off of high shelves. I think it was just to make her look crazy as she talks to it. lol!



After that, we then took a break for pictures of the baby b/c well, the baby was awake now and she was not crabby. (Something she was for most of the weekend b/c she didn't want to nap. We were all just too much fun!)

Steph then opened my present...and well, let's just say she didn't enjoy one of the things she found in the bag...lol! (A Cardinals chip clip...and she's a Cubs fan! Payback for her talking smack!)

After Steph was done opening her presents, it was then time for K to open the presents everyone else had brought for Anya. Of course, Anya found the bags to be much more fun to play with.

From there, we all pigged out on delicious junk food. Ice cream, brownies, pretzels, and cupcakes. It was all so amazing! Then it was time to say goodbye to some of us. So, we took a couple of group pics.

One last reminder, however, do NOT try to steal a crown away from Dot...she gets vicious!

Also, here is a video I took before saying goodbye to Dot, Steph, Jo, and Betty.

After everyone left, K and Marc took me around and showed me a bit of the countryside of Baltimore. We also made a stop at Ritas...which is something that I'd only heard about, but never experienced. Rita's is an Itailian ice place and they really are amazing. I had one that was a mixture of birthday cake and chocolate flavors! It was just as good as I've heard about. From there, we returned back to their house and ended up playing more on the Wii. (I'm really getting addicted!) Then it was bedtime again.

Sunday, April 13

Well, now I must say goodbye. Even though it's so hard to do.

Today was a relatively quiet day, even though Anya didn't nap...like at all. Poor Marc and K. :(

We ended up going downstairs and talking while we tried to have the baby go to sleep. The 3 of us end up having the best talks! I love coming there and just chatting!

But now, they had to take me to the airport. :( I hated leaving them, but I indeed had to.

Hopefully, I don't have to wait forever to see them again! I loved visiting and they are so wonderful to have hosted me for 3 days. They really are amazing people!

I do have to thank them though. Because of this trip, I learned I am definitely not ready to have children. It wasn't b/c I thought Anya was bad or anything like that...it simply was that I am mature enough to know that children are not right for me at this juncture in my life. They will be at some point, however, right now, it is definitely not the right time. So finally, my baby itch has been cured! :D (So thanks Marc & K! Babies really are the best birth control! lol!)