Ready to run

This past Saturday was....busy. That might be a bit of an understatement, but so many fun, crazy, funny things happened that it was too good not to share.

First on the docket Saturday morning was a yard sale at Mom's. This was actually the third yard sale she's had this summer; once she gets the bug to clean out our storage room there's very little that can stop her. The most recent sale was by far the most successful; we got rid of the most stuff and made the most money, but it was also the most eventful.

To start things off I was running on only about 4 hours of sleep (I just couldn't say no the night before to tapas and sangria). And since my brother is way off in Michigan, when it comes to carrying things, I'm the muscle. So it was up to me to cart boxes and assorted household items out to the lawn. Which by itself isn't bad...but when Mom decides to leave her vintage snow sled (with the iron rails) in the middle of the driveway and I'm carrying boxes that don't allow me to see in front of me...it's a bad combination. And I have the bruises to prove it.

But me falling all over myself is nothing new! What is new is some random dude deciding that it's a good idea to bring his dog over to all our stuff as he pokes around and then allowing said dog to urinate all over a holiday wreath. Oh, and I busted him for it. So random dude is now the proud owner of a holiday wreath with a side of dog pee. And you better believe he paid full price for that wreath, too.

All in all, the yard sale was pretty much a success; all the large items sold, but I am still continually shocked by the cheapness of people. Seriously. If you have something actually valuable to sell, Craigslist is the way to go these days. Yard sales are where you should dispose of your crap, and people are not willing to spend over $5 for stuff.

After the yard sale, it was time for a quick costume change, because my friend Kim (whom I have been friends with for over 20 years) was having her bridal shower! Yes, she's finally making an honest man of her boyfriend Mike, and we gathered at her mom's home (just down the street from my mom) for a good old fashioned bridal shower. Finger sandwiches, cream puffs, more sangria, it was all there. But so were a really fun bunch of ladies and some kickass presents.

I was a little nervous going in since there were going to be a lot of people I had never met before, but in the end, I met some really cool ladies and can't wait for the wedding in August when I can see them all again. It's all the more nice that we got along since I'm going to the wedding stag and am going to need some fun people to hang with at the reception. I was a little worried I would be sitting there at the wedding drinking one of several glasses of wine, all by myself, looking sad as some sappy song played from the DJ stand, but now I'm really looking forward to the big event!

But there's still more! After the bridal shower, I headed out to Tysons to meet up with some friends to celebrate Rosalynn's big 3-0! A group of us met up for dinner at Gordon Biersch in the mall and had a great time stuffing ourselves with garlic french fries (OMG SO GOOD) and cake from this amazing German bakery in Arlington. It came complete with a picture of Ros as a one year old (awwww) and more delicious cream than it seemed possible for one cake to hold.


And you know what never gets old? Trick candles. There's just something so fun about torturing someone on their birthday....it really brings out my mean streak.

The birthday crew: Me, Rosalynn, Rachel, Kelly, and Tito

Up next weekend: pool party, cook-out, catching up on Harry Potter with the Rileys, and absolutely no fireworks.

See what I mean about the cake and the cream and the deliciousness?