Blogger's Convench 2010

OK, for the record, I use the term "Blogger's Convench" loosely. As in, three girlfriends ate, drank, walked, played, shopped, lounged, and kept eating. So loosely, in fact, that it was just the three of us. Mrs. Potts and Name Twin had some things come up and were unable to make it.

So, b.e.g. and Brittany and myself proceeded to paint the town red! We made up new sayings and quotes, as well as just thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.

Good times were had by all, and even though I probably only got three pics of actual people this weekend, I did manage to get a lot of food shots. Yeah, that was pretty much the theme of this weekend. Food, eating, cooking. Yeah.........what's up three and a half pound gain. Are you there? It's me, Susannah. Just checking.


Friday:
-Arrived and went promptly to Olive Garden for unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks.
-Shopped (at Old Navy, the Navy commissary, and the Navy liquor store. :D)
-Stayed in and made guacamole, salsa, cheese quesadillas and CAKE BALLS. And watched Sex and the City, first season, cause b.e.g. had never seen any episodes. I know!

b.e.g. and Brittany

Marvin-he is presh and goes by about 200 names-
especially since I gave him about 195 of them. :D

Someone's hand forming heaven a.k.a. oreo truffle cake balls.
Sinner..........

Yours truly modeling Britt's apron after seven a few beers.

The infamous dryer. :D

Dipping said sinner truffle balls.



The half finished product. Oh.Em.Gee

All of those pictures were followed by Sex and the City and bed!



Saturday:

-Went downtown for lunch

-Walked ALL day and shopped/ate ice cream

-Went to the outlets. And continued shopping. Word

First up, Hyman's Seafood. We were greeted with boiled peanuts and decided it was not enough. So we ordered sweet potato fries.

Then we got the combo platter, which was SEVEN choices off the menu, with hushpuppies, coleslaw, and TWO sides. Dude, WTH were we thinking??? We got: fried shrimp, calamari, fried oysters, deviled crab, shrimp and grits, fried scallops, apparently another item that I cannot remember, collard greens, fries, a heart attack....................

And after...

Oh, wait, let me lick that plate of shrimp and grits.

Modeling a heinous necklace in the old slave market.

And again, modeling a hat in Saks. Which PS, was going out of

business and severely picked over.

Case in point. The hat.


This for Gwen. :D

This is for Hopsy. Insert fake squeal here. I'm sure

she doesn't read my blog, but here's the Lilly store.

Which we entered, acted like we could afford anything in there,

and promptly got eye cussed by the sales girls. I did find a presh skirt,

but it was about 1 foot long and cost 150$. Ridic. And then we left.

Afternoon ice cream at Ye Olde Ice Cream Parlour.

Strawberry cheesecake, yes, please.

The three of us. Signing the International Blogger's Convench Treaty of 2010.

Dinner on Saturday night. High rollers.

We were exhausted after shopping/walking all day.
So, we went and got some frozen pizzas and had date night with

Britt's hubby Patrick. We ate pizza, homemade popcorn, and continued

watching Sex and the City, season 1. We are partiers y'all! And, for the record, there were

four pieces of pizza left! We didn't eat it all!

Sunday:

-Woke up late and ate an awesome veggie quiche thing that Britt made

-Went to the beach on James Island (Folly Beach)

-Ate at Taco Boy-yum

-Bought an umbrella and had a Griswold moment on the beach

-Layed out and read for a few hours

-Showered and actually put on make up

-Went to Jestine's Kitchen upon recommendation of my stalker friend at Taco Boy

Outside of Jestine's Kitchen

Random picture placement-crap! These are all out of order

after all of my planning and hard work. Grrrr!

Moving on-hello pretty. She came home with me from

Coach on Saturday night. :D Heart happy. She is

actually not white, but cream leather. Of all my many Coach

bags, none are cream. They are alllllll dark leather.

b.e.g. installing the umbrella holder. Note to self: don't try to

"screw" am umbrella holder into packed, hard sand.

Poor girl was working those lats like nobody's business.

Britt getting ready for umbrella installation

Me-self portrait

The Griswold moment-the wind was blowing at mach 10

and our umbrella was literally sideways.

Again with the random pic placement-us Sunday

night outside of Jestine's.

And again. Why does my arm look like a side of bacon??

b.e.g. modeling the Nashville salt shaker for LG. :D

Umm, the reason I gained 3.5 pounds-this dinner is one pound.

Fried chicken (two breasts!), mac and cheese, and fried okra.

But, I "shared" the okra with Brittany. I think she ate 2 pieces.

I ate some of her collard greens.

Brittany is saying, "Yeah, I ordered that!"

And, totes random, she looks naked.

I promise, she was clothed.

The end!

It was glorious, fabulous, tremendous!

I learned a lot about Navy life.

I miss my girls already!

Blogger convench 2011-Atl or DC ladies??

:D

Who else out there has met up with bloggers and had a BLAST??

"That's Inappropriate..."

This is one saying that was all the rage this weekend at the radical Blogger's Convench 2010.

We had a blast, and I'll be back sometime tomorrow after I'm done sifting through the laundry, dishes, suitcases, shopping bags, and other assorted items that need to be dealt with.

In the meantime, I have a HUGE list of new blogs to stalk, and lots of funny anecdotes to share.

Sidenote: ALL weekend, we were referring to all you bloggy buddies out there and checking each other's google reader to see who we needed to start reading and following. That was awesome in itself-if you ever get a chance to "hover" over someone's google reader, I highly encourage it! :D

Some quotes from the weekend that will be explained later:

"So that's like carnival food??" b.e.g.

"Is this a Ford F-ISO?" b.e.g.'s mom

"Dehydration is the norm in my life." b.e.g.

"I don't really wear a bra" Brittany

"Make sure they know where the midnight snacks are." b.e.g.

Okay, so apparently b.e.g. was the most hilarious of the trip-Brittany, we need to step it up. Granted, I was the "note taker" on my iTouch, so I couldn't be as funny. :D

Explanations to come.

Rock on bloggers, rock on.

Camera Question

Calling all you DSLR camera girls and boys!

My friend b.e.g. and I were talking about taking our nice cameras on our blogger trip this weekend. We need to know how other people take their cameras around-besides the obvious-a camera bag.

I have a very nice LowePro bag, but it is large and in charge. It will not fit in my carry on bag. So, tomorrow when I fly, I plan to wrap my camera in a few t-shirts and put it in a plastic shoebox that fits in my carry on suitcase. This is the only way I will travel on a plane with my camera because A) I'm not checking it and B) I have to have more than just a camera carry on bag when flying. I tried to fit the whole LowePro bag in the suitcase last night and it just wasn't happening. So, what I want to know is, how do you travel safely with your nice camera when you don't want to/can't take the whole kit-n-caboodle?

Tips/suggestions please. We leave tomorrow!!!

Weight Watchers can suck it.....

WARNING: RANT AHEAD.....


This morning, I put on my big girl panties and decided to go to Weight Watchers. I looked back in my official WW book and the last time I was there was May 26th. I weighed 147 lbs. I got on the scale this morning and weighed in at 150.5, so I knew it was time to reign it in and revisit my old friends. I have been getting it back together since we returned from the beach, so it didn't help matters this morning to discover I had gotten my monthly "gift."

Anyhow, I shower, dress, get Emma ready, etc, and we head off. Once we get there, I get ALL of the "stuff" (mommas- know what I mean) and we get in the stroller and head in. Whereupon (is that even a word??) I am informed that since I missed a week, I will have to pay the registration fee PLUS the weekly fee. Are they insane? It was going to cost me $33 to be weighed and hear stuff that I already know. I cancelled my monthly pass at the end of May because I knew I would only be in town for one Wednesday meeting-this week. So, I was planning on paying the weekly fee of $13. Apparently, if you miss more than one week, your membership has to start all over again?!?!?!?!?

Out-flippin-rageous! I told the receptionist that this was NOT the best way to get "members" to come back to WW. That is the STUPIDEST rule I have ever heard of! Now, I was almost out for one month (28 days to be exact). I understand if you lapse for a month or longer, but if you miss more than one WEEK you have to re register.....

Someone tell me I'm being ridiculous. I still maintain that was an asinine rule. And I'm not going back to WW until I can commit to my weekly meetings again. This summer with our travel schedule, that may not be until August!

So, I give you my letter.

Dear WW,
Boo WW, very poor move on your part. You have lost me for now, and I will not come back until I am at goal and can get FREE lifetime membership. I am OVER paying you to tell me something I already know. And you were pushing it with the $13 weekly fee! if you really want people to stay loyal, give them a chance (and a week isn't a chance!) when they have other things going on. And don't tell me I could've gone on another day or at another location. I have been on vacay for cryin' out loud! You need to welcome us back when we fall off the wagon and then return.

Sincerely,
A formerly loyal, weekly weighing in, proselytizing for your cause member

As my friend Kelly would say, "Boo-Hiss!" I agree!!!!!!!

R.I.P.

It's been a fun ten and a half months, but sadly, I will not miss you. I guess I will see you again soon. Thanks for all the hard work you have done.
Emma and I both really appreciate it.

Emma's Shopping Spree

Well, first of all, Happy Father's Day to my buh-bee. A little late on the bandwagon of Father's Day wellwishers, but nonetheless, Happy FD baby! And to my Parpa and J's Pops! You all rock!

To celebrate, we took hubby to Bass Pro for a shopping spree. It is in the Discover Mills Mall. After hubby spent his giftcard, we walked around the mall. Emma got set up on some good stuff!

First up, Toys-R-Us. We may or may not have purchased Emma's awesome wagon! While there, we got Emma a cute pair of "rocker" PJ's by Amy Coe. She also needed a new white t-shirt. I'm sure she is the first baby ever to stain a white t-shirt. How rude of her! :D She also got two pairs of cotton shorts to go with her Amelia Island t-shirt and other plain onesies.

Then, the Gymboree Outlet. Right on. She got a strawberry dress

and a green seersucker dress with watermelons on it. Too cute!

Again from Gymboree, two cute pairs of PJ's with open toes.

And again, a presh polka dot dress.

Holy mother of PJ's load at the Children's Place Outlet.

We got all three of these giant zip up PJ's for 21$.

What did you all do today? Find any good deals??

Please pray for Megan and Brent over at In This Wonderful Life. Their precious son, Cohen, passed away either last night or early this morning. I found out via Kelly's Korner and just totally lost it.

I have been following Megan and Brent's journey since they found out about Cohen's congenital heart defect. I would get so sad reading about all of the scary things to come for them, and when he was born just 12 days ago, it was so heartbreaking reading about all of the many procedures his little body had already been through.

I can't imagine what they are going through, but I know if it was my family in their situation, I would be comforted by the prayers of many.

Vacay Recap!

Well, since our return from all the medical drama, we have been playing, eating, laying out, playing, eating some more, and just generally relaxing! Srsly, I am going to have to lock it down when I get back home tomorrow. I have been consuming insane amounts of calories and NOT doing much to get rid of it. I am actually scared to weigh myself on Sunday morning. But, I suppose I must so that on Friday morning when I leave for my CHARLESTON GIRL'S BLOGGER CONVENCH 2010 I am not a total hog.

So, let's see what we've been getting up to on vacay.

First up, we have Miss Emeline being presh in her bathing

suit. She is sporting two "devil horns" for her hairdo by the

pool. Very cute Emma, very cute!

Emma and daddy. Daddy may or may not have indulged in too much sun with out sunscreen. Don't even get me started on the non use of sunscreen on our beach trips. Boyfriend has turned PURPLE before and still conveniently "forgets" to put it on! For the love............

Emma and mommy. Who may or may have not worn makeup or fixed hair since leaving LAST Saturday. Glorious days they are. I really hate makeup and hair fixin'.

Emma perfecting her pirate face. Argh matey! And, girlfriend has friggin ringworm next to her mouth. Anyone have any ideas on getting rid of it quickly?? She has been to the doctor and they said to keep putting Lotrimin on it, but it's just still there. Blech, I want it to go away!

Alright, so Thursday we went to Sliders Bar and Grill for lunch. Yeah, this is mine. A steak and fry salad. With portobellos, mixed greens, a few tomatoes, bleu cheese, and nice ranch dressing. Delicious!

This is the before picture.

And after.

I ate all the goods out.

And her is little one occupying herself while we (I) finish eating. :D

Modeling her new smocked bathing suit. It's a bit big-it's a twelve month.

Excuse the nerple hanging out.

Emma and daddy in the fish bubble suit that Nonnie got/made her.

How is it that I've gone to the beach about 3 times per year for 31 years and NEVER noticed that the trunk of a palm tree looks like this.?? I thought it was cool.

And, last night here dinner at Gennaro's Italian. Umm, one word-yum!

J got this pizza.

I got this submarine seafood manicotti.
Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" is playing in my head right now.

Overall, it's been a most fun time of chilling and laying on the beach. My most favorite time of day has been right before we start getting ready for dinner and we are sitting down on the beach as a family, maybe having a beer or two and just watching the waves and people. It rocks.

I am, however, ready to get home to my puppy dogs and my bed! I have a lot to do before the BLOGGER CONVENCH 2010! Can you tell I'm soooo excited??? :D

On another note, I stopped pumping on Thursday. I am doing my sissy's way of just wearing a tight sports bra and we will see what happens. They are getting quite uncomfortable now. Not heinous, but not awesome. Any ideas to share??

My Poor Monkey...

So, we have had an interesting couple of days on our vacation. On Sunday, this was my sweet monkey.

Sassing as usual after eating some carrots.

Close up of the sass britches. Notice her left eye. All is well.

Again, sassing and being presh. Riding in an awesome wagon
that Auntie Jill let us borrow. Loo will be getting one for her

first birthday!

On Monday morning when Emma woke up, her eye was all smooshed and droopy looking. We just thought she had slept on it wrong. We decided to give it a few hours. By 10:30, it was clear that her eye was not just smooshed from sleeping on it. It honestly looked like a lazy eye. But it was just all of a sudden. So, I called my insurance and found a place to take her down here to get the eye looked at.


We went to the only urgent care on the island that took my insurance. It was in a Walmart. I'm not judging, I'm just trying to set the scene-imagine the smallness of the "clinic" once we got there. You take me, J, Emma, and a doctor, plus a patient table thing, chair, and a sink/trashcan/biohazard contraption and cram it into a 5x7 room and it's really quite Clark W. Griswold.

So, the doctor was an older woman-she took one look at Emma and did a few eye movement things-and promptly diagnosed her with Bell's Palsy. I almost passed out. That is some serious shiz. I was about to hyperventilate in the postage stamp sized room. My hubby is very hypocondriac-ish and was also about to lose it. I had to pull it together, step outside, and call our pediatrician. The urgent care doctor wanted us to drive to Jacksonville, about 30 minutes away, to go to the Children's Hospital immediately for consult/diagnosis. My pedi said, "Do what they say and go."

We get all loaded up and start driving down to Jacksonville-and we are both about to have panic attacks and are both imagining the worst. We finally get to the hospital and are directed to the children's ER. Of course, it is the nastiest place imaginable-and Emma dropped both of her pacis within 5 seconds of arrival. I was not trusting a paci wipe to do the job-I needed a sink with HOT water and soap. Anyway, we finally got called back to triage and were broken in-then sent to a room.

They told me to put my angel in a gown. See below.

I hope to God I never have to see my child in a hospital gown again. It was agonizing.
She looks very pained, right??

Mommy trying to keep it together while seeing her
blessed baby in a hospital gown.

Now, we originally left for the urgent care doctor at 10:30-her naptime is around 10. So, at this point it was about 1:00 and she still hadn't napped all day. Imagine the fun times we were having. Me, not wanting her to touch anything in that room, and her wanting to explore everything in that room. Blech. Finally, we were seen and the ER doctor said it was NOT Bell's Palsy. She didn't really see anything, and honestly the eye was already looking better. She checked all of the neurological things and Emma passed. We were at this point concerned about a tumor or some other brain issue manifesting itself through the eye. That was not the case. Thank God!

The ER doctor couldn't pinpoint any specific issue, but had several ideas of what could be happening (infection, stye, etc). She suggested we come back to Jax today to see a leading ophthalmologist and get his opinion.

We arrived this morning at Nemours Children's Center in Jacksonville, and let me tell you, once again I am eternally grateful that my baby was just here for an eye exam. Because I saw some sick and badly hurt angels. It was heartbreaking! This place was amazing and ran like a well oiled machine! We got there and Emma seemed to need a time out. :D

She wanted to go in the "Isolation" room-she kept banging on the door and at one point layed down and LOOKED under the door crack-what the???

We went back to an exam room and briefly assessed that Emma's vision was indeed working and up to par. Then, they had to dilate her eyes. She did a great job! No tears. Srsly, I was impressed! After 30 minutes of Emma becoming part owl, we came back to the room for another exam.

Me acting like I'm 4. Playing with all the doctorly junk.

Me going for a "Boo-sad face" and achieving a NeeNee Leakes
"I know you didn't" face. Yikers...

Our doctor came in and checked her out-he couldn't find any reason for the droopy eye. He did however diagnose Emmabear with hyperopia, or farsightedness. He said to get her eyes checked in about a year-she may have to get glasses around age 2. The hyperopia could cause her to have crossed eyes if we don't get it re-assessed and corrected. Hmm, a toddler in glasses-that should be fun...

But, in all seriousness, I am so, so thankful that is all that was wrong with my child. Because I was doing some serious bargaining, praying, etc yesterday when that lady told me that she thought Emma had some viral infection causing paralysis in her face. Not cool. But, I guess she was trying to be conservative and didn't want us to blow it off as a stye or something???

So, we came back and lived it up, Griswold style, on the beach for the rest of the day! Then, we went back to downtown Fernandina and ate at a craptastic restaurant-I'm not even going to mention the name-and then walked around and window shopped. Fun times. Glad all the dramz is over.

More from Clark, Ellen, Audrey and Rusty tomorrow!

xoxo