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Weekend Roundup

April 23rd, 2012

Rarely do I make plans for the weekend and go out. In fact, I was telling Merrick the other day, I will almost always choose staying IN over going out. That being said, although I’ve become more of a home-body, I really enjoy when I do go out. This weekend was one of those jam packed ones with A LOT of social events. And A LOT of fun (although it’s the end of the weekend and I’m exhausted. It’s 8.30pm and I’m ready to watch Golden Girls and go to bed… only sort of kidding)

So here’s a recap of our fun weekend:

It all started Thursday with more visits from family, which meant fine dining in Laguna.

After a few hours of apps and drinks downtown, we headed back home for more fun family time. I was the lame duck and had to peace out early thanks to a long work day on Fridays. Lucky guys who get their Fridays off.
Friday morning we woke up bright and early (well, early for the late night party people… normal time for a workin’ lady) for a delish breakfast at Polly’s Pies. Mmm I can still taste that cinnamon roll!

Friday was a long, busy day at clinical but ended hanging with some of my favorite Cubans and the Hunger Games! (I’m totally team Gale… and I was team Jacob in Twilight. Going for the underdogs!). Our hunger got the best of us during the Hunger Games and we headed over to Yard House for late night apps and drinks (the theme of the weekend)

We went to bed late Friday and got to sleep in a bit Saturday morning, hit the gym together and get ready for the next big thing – Merrick’s company anniversary party. We got our fancy pants on and headed to the Disney Land Hotel to listen to Colin Powell talk about company growth and hard work. It was an inspiring event, made better with our good friends and good food and drinks. Plus I got to walk away with the gorgeous centerpiece!

And the lovely centerpiece that made it’s way home with me

We came home late (8pm is late for me, remember?) and spent the rest of the evening just hanging and talking. Sunday we met up with some more of our favorite Cubans for a Mexican breakfast (we’re a multicultural family here)

So although this weekend wasn’t the most productive, it was still one of the best we’ve had in a while. Great company and great food was the theme and that’s all that really matters in life anyway. Who cares that I didn’t clean the bathroom or unload the dishwasher, our time was better spent. What a great weekend!

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Easter blessings

April 13th, 2012

Last week we celebrated Easter in typical Club M style – church and a party. We went to the Easter vigil service which was THREE HOURS LONG. Then stopped for our typical post-Easter grocery store and goodie grab. We spent the rest of the evening eating junk food, drinking chocolate milk (only for special occasions!) talking about Easter and other important and not so important things, laughing and just celebrating a new season together. We went to bed late with fully bellies, happy hearts and tired eyes.

The next morning was a blitz of cooking and cleaning and getting ready for party #1 – Easter brunch. We had a few of our close friends over for some of Mom’s infamous Kick-asserole, Janae’s infamous Cinnabon cake, Merrick’s infamous waffles and a newly minted Club M drink – Bellosa, which was a Bellini + Mimosa (aka peach champagane + orange juice = heavenly bliss).

After a few hours of brunching, the morning crowd headed out and we ran a few loads of dishes and got ready for the evening crowd, party #2 – Easter dinner.

Dinner started with some delicious appetizers, wine, champagne, beer and liquor – My bartender knows how to do it right! He knows so well in fact that we got a mini fridge for alcohol. And it is full. Yes, we are in college again.

After a few drinks and apps, dinner was served – Honey baked ham, salmon, roasted potatoes, rice, steamed asparagus, mixed veggies and of course topped off with chocolate tuxedo pie.

We spent the entire evening laughing and talking. We finished 2.5 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of champagne and half a bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey. The evening ended late with happy, buzzing and full guests.

It was a beautiful Easter day spent with people we love and hearty meals, all in remembrance of Christ’s resurrection. And thanks to some wonderful friends, my house smells like lovely Easter lilies – still reminding me of the great friends and great sacrifice from a week ago.

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Weekend fun!

February 6th, 2012

I had such a fun weekend! Fridays are the ONLY day the Mister and I leave at the same time in the morning, so it started off with us able to have breakfast together then off to the clinic. Clinic ended early and I met my peeps for lunch and frozen yogurt. What could be better than Ray’s Pizza and blue skies and palm trees?
Pizza

The Mister came home early and we got ready for a night out! Put on the fancy pants, got the hurrr did and met some Cubans for fondue. The dinner went from 6pm until 10pm full of delicious cheese, chocolate, drinky drinks and hilarious conversation. I like me some Cubans. For the first time Merrick and I were actually outnumbered with 3 of them (4 half-Cubans + 1 whole ones).

You know what else I really like? Almond Joy martini’s. That’s right. It was like heaven in a glass. Delicious AND nutritious! (almonds = protein, right?)

After coming home late, loosening our belts and going promptly into a food coma, we were able to sleep in on Saturday (to a whopping 8.30am wooo!) and got right to it for the day… studying and then babysitting this little bambino for the night.

Sunday was another Funday. We were go-go-go all day long. Church in the am then headed down to America’s Finest City for a day in the sun. We had gotten a free harbor tour a while ago and were planning on being in SD anyway for a Superbowl party, so we spent the late morning and early afternoon cruising around the beautiful bay area. A couple hours, and a few drinks later, we were back on dry land.

After a wonderful beach walk (ah how I love you San Diego!), we met up with our peeps at the Hyatt hotel and began the Bowl festivities. Multiple hotel rooms and glasses of champagne later (and a sad loss for the Pats), we said goodbye to the people we love and the city we love and headed back behind the Orange Curtain.

Although it’s a Monday and life goes on and it’s back to the grind… we put in some good hours together this past weekend, lots of fun conversations, great food and time well spent with people we love. And despite the L for the game, I still call this weekend a W in my book.

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It’s Baby Makin’ Time!

January 21st, 2012

… but NOT for me.

Remember these girls? My group of college friends – the 4 of us + 1 more Katie? The ones who we all went through every stage together? Dating and getting married. Then they all sprinted ahead and bought houses. And now? Well now those same ones are ALL with child. So that makes almost every.single.friend of mine a baby mamma, and some already vying for #2. That means I’ve got 5 preggos, at least 3 trying (blarh! I hate that term… almost as much as “courting.” gross) and 2 already with little rug rats.

No mas vino for you!

These numbers blow my mind because how are we even OLD enough to be having babies? When did we all grow up so fast? When did we move from pulling all nighters partying to pulling all nighters caring for offspring? I mean, I understand in our mid late (yikes)-twenties, it’s “THE TIME,” and since most of my friends fall within that age category, it only makes sense.

Then one tiny part of me thinks, “how did I get so left out?” and the complete irony is that of the 5 of us, they all had bets I would be first to the baby room. Ha ha ha. Looks like the joke’s on me now, huh. They’re all settled in their careers and mortgages and mommy-hood, while I’m in between careers, still in an apartment and baby free.

And just as that brief jealousy of adult-mommy-settled-home-owning life sets in, another part of me is so so so thankful I’m “left out.” I’m so thankful for our child-free years, for the opportunity for grad school, for just being US for a little while lot longer. I have to remind myself all of our phases are by choice. We could buy a house now, but why? I could have stayed working as a nurse instead of moving up in my career. And if all those had fallen in place, we could have had bambinos too. I am so incredibly happy for my friends, and I am just as certain we’re not ready (Sorry Ma!). And I’m just as happy with our choices. So instead, I’ll keep on being Auntie Katie and keep spoiling everyone else’s bambinos.

I’m also thankful for being ALMOST the last man standing. And I mean almost, cuz now it’s between me and this crazy girl, who is also in no hurry to procreate. So cheers to our empty uterus’s, full nights of sleep and strong drinks!

But just an FYI to all my preggo peeps – ya’ll better be on #2’s and #3’s in the next few years when we’re ready for our #1… Our babies have to be best friends and grow up together like we did!

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Christmas in the Tundra

January 4th, 2012

We’ve been back to sunny SoCal for about a week now and it’s about time for a Christmas update!

In summary, Christmas in the Frozen Tundra (aka Michigan) was cold, exhausting, delicious and full of fun family and best friend time. There were a lot of presents, a lot of meals, a lot of laughs and a whole lotta love. Isn’t that what family vacations are about?

And as much fun as it was, it’s so so nice to be home in our own bed, our own place and in our own life. There’s a saying, “With family you’re twice thankful – once when they come, and once when they go.” And although sad to say goodbye, I was definitely happy to go to my own home.

So here are the highlights of our 2 week Christmas vacation

Friends:

My best Katie and her little man. The one who’s secrets I know and who knows mine. The one friend in our wedding. The one who’s always there.

My bestest friend in the world, Cari. We’re so incredibly different and ended up together by complete random chance, but we’ve stuck with each other and she’s amazing!

My oldest friend, Maria. I don’t even remember meeting her, I just always remember knowing her. She and her Ginga-Ninja make me happy and inspire me in their marriage and their faith and love.

Family:

My brown family

My little nephew got all sorts of lovin. And the best thing about being an Auntie is handing the kid back when he’s crying and no diaper duty. That’s a baby win!

My Mother-in-law and her baby Sunho

Crazy brothers

And my white family

Family outing downtown, had to stop for some java (and wake my Pops up)

Christmas gift madness!

We were very blessed this year with food and friends and gifts and families. It was a wonderful Christmas and end to 2011.

The end.

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Music City

November 25th, 2011

Last weekend, Merrick and I surprised our Nashville friend Casey for his birthday. I’ve been to Nashville before and loved it, but this was my Mister’s first time in Music City. He flew in Wednesday night and was almost able to surprise Casey by being the pizza delivery guy. But Casey is very perceptive and it’s hard to pull one over his eyes, so unfortunately the “surprise” wasn’t quite the surprise we wanted. Oh well…

I joined the craziness Thursday evening and we spent a few hours just hanging out, catching up and doing birthday presents before the girls hit the sack.

The boyfriends guys stayed up later and spent the ENTIRE NIGHT (and the rest of the weekend) playing Call of Duty.

This was the view Brittany and I had all weekend. Yes, my husband is 12 years old.

Friday the boys went golfing and I met up with my old high school friend who’s settled in the Nash (do people call it that, no?). She showed me around part of Vanderbilt and then we sat down for breakfast at Fido’s. Apparently, Miley Cyrus frequents Fido’s, but unfortunately there were no celebrity sightings (but I sure kept my eyes peeled!)

The golf pros got back and the 4 of us decided to celebrate Casey’s birthday. And what birthday would be complete without tequila shots, Taco Bell and a bonfire?

Either I have bad amnesia where I always “forget” I hate tequila shots, or I’m easily swayed and give in to peer pressure (um aren’t I too OLD for peer pressure?! …but somehow, the Indian pusher gets me every time!)

After nearly burning our eyebrows and fingers off (but only when the MEN decided to throw explosive fireworks into the tiny fire pit), us old gals turned in and let the guys get their male-bonding (aka Call of Duty) in. We woke up way too early to cheer on our boys in blue at the Michigan alumni bar in Nashville. But for $1 beers and a win for Michigan, PLUS Casey’s birthday – it was worth it.

After celebrating with Casey all day, we came back and got ready for another main event – the engagement party! Brittany had some other friends over helping her get ready so Merrick, Casey and I entertained ourselves by making mixed drinks (ps diet mountain dew makes ANY drink delicious) and reenacting Michigan quarterbacks, per usual.

We all came together at Brittany’s parents house and were able to celebrate the beginning of this new stage for Casey and Brittany. The party was beautifully set up and it was so nice to meet all of their friends and families.

Sunday was our final day in the Nash (it’s gonna catch on, I know it) and we drove around town a little bit, stopped at Brittany’s family restaurant for some good southern food – heavenly sweet tea, fried chicken, mashed ‘taters and other delicious southern treats. Oh plus, THIS delicious southern treat:

(yes they did PURCHASE those shirts and WEAR them around! Ps I call the “Pretty” one!)

Casey and Brittany finally dropped us off at the airport, but with crazy flight delays of 3 hours, they decided to keep us company and bring us some din-din – Taco Bell and beer of course.

After a wonderful weekend with our best friends, 12+ hours of travel time and a 2 hour shuttle bus to our place, we finally made it back home at 4am (our original flight was supposed to get us home at 10.30pm). And only to get up for work in 3 hours… Even with a bad end getting us home, it still was a wonderful weekend and we wouldn’t have traded the time for anything!

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It’s not “Goodbye,” it’s “See ya later”

October 26th, 2011

It’s with a heavy, sad heart that I write this, but I’m also incredibly happy and excited too.

I’m a contradiction of emotions.

A while ago, Merrick’s very-bestest-friend-in-the-world, who’s since turned into MY bestest-friend-in-the-world, made some life changing decisions. He decided to quit an unfulfilling job, leave the California sun, and pursue his dreams. Dreams that take the form of a beautiful woman, his family and the slower southern life in Country Music’s Capitol.

The contradiction of emotions comes from feeling the deep loss of a close friendship, the kind that only comes along once in a while. It’s the sadness of not being able to see them every day and catch up over drinks and dinner. It’s not being there for their wedding planning. It’s the small day to day things that they’ll miss out on in our lives too.

But it’s with absolute joy and elation in our hearts as we send Casey into the arms of the one he loves. The one who makes all his dreams come true and where his heart truly is. The one who’s also become like a sister to me, and whom I’ve grown to love just as much as Casey. She makes his eyes shine, and when they’ve been apart, a little piece of him wasn’t there either. So it’s clear they belong together, and that they belong together where their love first blossomed – in Nashville.
snorkel3

All these changes are great things except one bad thing… life in Nashville means leaving the “Merrick and Casey” operation. And as much as we tried and tried, the SCB didn’t fit in a carry-on bag, and Casey was already at his limit of checked bags. It stinks that their hearts are in Nashville and ours are in California, because honestly part of our hearts left with Casey and Brittany when they did.

So despite a busy week with lots of deadlines and tasks, Merrick and I spent our days with our best friends. We did lunches and dinners and helped them pack. Because in the end, relationships are more important than grades or papers or deadlines.

We had the big goodbye for Casey and Brittany on Saturday night which was a great way to send them off with a bang. But in the midst of all the fun, we almost forgot they were leaving, and thought it was just a regular night out. So in all that, I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to them Saturday night. And they left on Sunday.

All day Sunday I tried to write this but kept getting too emotional. I was especially sad that we didn’t get to say goodbye. I called both of them Sunday night and left tearful goodbye messages saying how much I loved them and will miss them. Did anybody see Michael Scott’s last episode of “The Office?” When Pam and Michael kept missing each other, and finally she showed up at the airport to say goodbye? That’s kind of how it turned out… because about 30 minutes after I left the messages, Casey and Brittany showed up at our house to say goodbye. We chatted for about 20 minutes, putting off the inevitable. But the time finally came and we brought it in for long tight hugs and said the words we didn’t get a chance to say the night before. Funny how the “I love you’s” and the “Miss you’s” mean more when you’re saying goodbye.

So to Casey and Brittany, we love you more than we can ever express. We wish you nothing but the best in your lives together and in your upcoming marriage. Remember, there’s no true “goodbyes” between great friends, only “see you later’s.” So I guess we’ll see you soon. You guys free for dinner tomorrow night?

Just remember, you can always move back and relive the good ol’ days…

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Next stop: Cancuuuuun!

September 29th, 2011

After a tiring morning and long flight (but hey – first class International = bomb diggity!) we landed in Mexico into hot hot heat with all the workers flocking to the American tourists trying to sell us everything but the kitchen sink.

We finally made it to our hotel room after a little snafu with the wrong room and a lot of waiting and waiting. However, we waited in air conditioning at one of the multiple bars in the resort. Once we finally settled into the correct room on the 7th floor, we were graced with this gorgeous view:

We knew we were gonna like this place. And so began the routine of Cancun – wake up around 8am, order room service for breakfast (included! I love all-inclusive resorts!), lathered up with sunscreen and head down to one of 2 places: The beach or the adults only pool. Once we were good and baked (or good and bored in the SCB’s case…), we would make our way to one of the 3 lunch places for some grub. All the while carrying a drink in our hands.

Our afternoons were spent much the same way – beach it or pool it until about 5 or 6pm, take our leathery selves back to the room to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner. Then we headed down to our dinner reservations at one of 5 restaurants – Italian, American, French, Seafood and Mexican, all of which were delicious, had great drinks and great service.

Merrick’s coworker and his wife were at the same resort

Merrick and I enjoyed 4 days of simple togetherness and renewed our newlywed bliss. Then on the 4th day our friends Casey and Brittany joined us for the remaining 7 days. It was a perfect mix – we got “us” time before they came, and right about the time we were bored of each other, our friends arrived!

Hey, we know you!

Once the other couple joined us, we varied our days only slightly. We still frequented the pool and the beach, but we also had a few more adventures too. One day the guys went golfing (all inclusive – heyo!) while us ladies got a massage and spent the day together talking about our men. 6 hours later we were wondering where they were, then 7 hours, 8 hours, 11 hours pass until they get back hot and sweaty messes. Around the 7 hours mark we started getting worried, thinking some Mexican cartel picked up our guys and they had no way to get a hold of us. The 9, 10 and 11 hour marks we were starting to get mad, thinking the guys schmoozed the cartel and were out drinking cerveza’s with unknown drug dealers leaving us alone! How dare they?!

Turns out, it was a difficult course which took forever, plus they stopped for lunch and got a little lost on the way back. Thankfully no cartel stole them, nor were they drinking beers WITH the cartel guys.

After a few days of golf, beaching, pooling, eating and drinking way too much (we did work out one day while were there, so we weren’t completely useless lazy sloths!), we decided to go out for a few adventures. We braved the Cancun public transport and decided if the Federali or Cartels wanted to have some fun with some American’s, at least we’d all die together. One of our adventures was to go speed boating, following the leader into some beautiful lagoons. When we got to the place, it was POURING out, but the leader/guide said where we were going it wasn’t raining. Turns out it was raining where we were going, in fact we were following the guide DIRECTLY INTO THE HURRICANE. And the rain was coming down like bullets on us, we couldn’t see the boat in front of us leading and Merrick couldn’t see a thing when he was driving. We were cold, getting beat up by bullet rain and freaking out (ok, maybe just me), but the lagoons were worth it, they were beautiful.

It may look like we’re smiling, but we’re really wondering what sort of Mexican hurricane vortex we’re going to be sucked into

Thankfully all the Mexican cerveza and pina coladas had made us strong and we survived the hurricane and prepared ourselves for the next adventure: The Mayan Ruins and Xel-Ha – a natural water park. That turned out to be SO FUN – snorkeling and ziplining and floating down the water in innertubes…

Oh and at Xel-Ha, these two hooligans GOT ENGAGED!!!

All in all, Cancun was AMAZING! Beautiful weather and great company. The icing on the cake was being able to witness the love of our two friends move to the next step to prepare for marriage! Bye Bye Cancun!

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First stop: The In-Laws

September 25th, 2011

So we made it through our 3 week vacation! We book ended our Cancun trip with trips to Michigan, and a stay at each parents’ house. The first stop – the In-Laws.

We got to their place Wednesday evening and went straight to bed (cuz flying first class is so exhausting you know…). Thursday was a fun day – we caught up with everyone and relaxed. My sister-in-law who had a belly full of baby and wanted him OUT decided to go for a long walk with me to try and convince that little guy he was going to be evicted. But he was one stubborn dude and decided he didn’t wanna be kicked out of Mamma just yet.

Later in the week, Merrick’s sister came by with her kiddos and I got a chance to be a fun Auntie and take half of them to the park (the other half were too cool for Aunt Katie’s antics). I had in mind that I’m a pediatric nurse and I’m young and in relatively good shape, I can keep up with those two whipper snappers. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Playing and running around with the two girls had me exhausted. Yikes. I better start upping my physical endurance training!

Of course family is our number one priority when we visit Michigan, but this trip was also for a good friend’s wedding, which was BEAUTIFUL! They got married at an outdoor gazebo with perfect weather, a beautiful set up and LOVE.

After the ceremony we joined them for a lunch reception and then on to the AFTER party a couple hours later. In between the reception and the after party, we decided to do a little preparty for the after party and went to two of the bars we frequented in college. It was nice to have the break in between parties where the Hus and I could just reflect on the wedding, think back on OUR wedding and just enjoy some alone time before we joined everyone else again.

Once we joined the rest of the crew for the after party, we danced and drank and had a great time. And WOW could these people DANCE! They ALL knew every choreographed step to all the top 40 songs and were all completely in sync with the music and the words too. It was pretty cool to watch. Whoever said white people can’t dance was wrong! I attempted to join in whenever I could (which wasn’t often… cuz this white girl can’t dance)

The Mike’s Hard in hand actually makes me a better dancer

After the after party, the Hus and I went back to another bar to meet up with his brother for an after-after party. The three of us stayed out way too late, talked a lot and really enjoyed the night.

It was a beautiful wedding, a wonderful party and a fun night. And CONGRATULATIONS TEO AND CRISTINA!

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A Fair Day

August 16th, 2011

On Saturday I cashed in one of my birthday presents – tickets to the fair! Casey, Merrick and I braved the traffic and the parking for some fatty foods and some nausea-inducing spinny rides for the best day ever!

And look how cute the twins are! (unplanned, I swear)

I was so excited and only a little overwhelmed going in because I’ve never been to a fair before (what?!) and there was just SO MUCH to see and do! Where do we even start?!

To keep from eating a weeks worth of calories in one day, we decided to split everything. The first thing we got was a mile long sausage… which was not a mile long. False advertising. After that guy settled, we headed to the rides! Most of the rides had a “no single riders” rule which meant one of us had to sit out every time, bummer. So Merrick and I headed to the “roller coaster” which wasn’t quite the speed demon we thought it’d be and was a little more rickety and painful than we would’ve liked. But isn’t that the best part of fairs? While the Hus and I rode away, Casey stood guard while holding his man purse, aka “Murse” (yes, it is the same word used to describe a male nurse too)

The other best part of fairs – the pig races! We rooted for the purple guy – Natalie Porkman, who unfortunately got smoked. But we did get a “Free bacon!” coupon after… which I think was sure to include Natalie Porkman. They mentioned something about the losers “retiring” heh heh heh… well, nice knowing you Natalie, you still coming for brunch on Sunday?

After a rousing race, it was time for fair food #2 – chili cheese fries as big as my face. Looked like we were eating baby poop… but good! Once that settled… if ya know what I mean… we decided to take a trip to the Michigan, the Frozen Tundra – aka the Ice Museum! It was FREEZING in there, which was a nice change from the 80 degree weather outside, but it was only nice for like 5 minutes. Then it started reminding me of Michigan at Christmastime. Except in shorts and a tank top. But the ice sculptures were pretty awesome… even if I only glanced by them as I ran towards the exit door.
Me and The SCB’s stunt double

After a few beers for him, I finally convinced the SCB to go all romantic on me and ride the couple swings. He does love me!
Flying high!

We called it a day after all our strenuous exercise (walking for 6 hours does do a number on ya…)to sit down for a home cooked meal… Deep fried cheesecake and a Butterfinger stuffed jalapeno over a bed of churros.

After I diagnosed us all with diabetes and heart failure, we headed home to a chill night to complete the obese, sedentary lifestyle by watching multiple episodes of Arrested Development. Best fatty day ever.

Life on the West Side

Archive for the ‘Friends’ Category

Weekend Roundup

April 23rd, 2012

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Easter blessings

April 13th, 2012

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Weekend fun!

February 6th, 2012

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It’s Baby Makin’ Time!

January 21st, 2012

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Christmas in the Tundra

January 4th, 2012

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Music City

November 25th, 2011

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It’s not “Goodbye,” it’s “See ya later”

October 26th, 2011

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Next stop: Cancuuuuun!

September 29th, 2011

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First stop: The In-Laws

September 25th, 2011

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A Fair Day

August 16th, 2011

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