Hot in Cleveland, Hot (Water Music) in MKE

If you're tuning in to see all the glorious strides we took on the house this weekend, I'm sorry. Work on the home was put off this weekend for a very special weekend: I was a bridesmaid in my friends Lauren and Craig's wedding in Cleveland!


I've been friends with Lauren since our freshman year of college, and I've known her husband since college, as well. They're two of the sweetest and most fun people I know - obviously, their wedding was a blast!

Their rehearsal dinner was held at Corner Alley, a really cool bar/bowling alley in Downtown Cleveland (that just so happened to have some crazy delicious buffalo chicken pizza). We had a VIP area reserved, including our own open bar and private bowling lanes. It was a blast! And Eric was especially happy, because he won the "high score" award of the night. The boy cannot turn down a chance to compete.

I was so happy to be a part of the wedding - living out of state, I don't get to see my college friends often. We always manage to fall right back into step whenever we're all together again, and there's never a shortage of shenanigans. The weather for the weekend turned out PERFECTLY. Everything fell into place!

[The "first look." I don't think any of us had a dry eye.]

I had such an amazing time! Happily, my friend Kelly is getting married next year, so we'll all get to do this all over again. Can't wait to see these girls again!

Because airline tickets are out-of-control expensive, Eric and I opted to drive to Cleveland for the weekend. I was really dreading the trip, but it actually went really well! The trip to Cleveland took only a little over seven hours, and traffic was really smooth. The trip back took longer, because we are absolutely insane and decided to stop at IKEA outside of Chicago on our way home. Who volunteers themselves to go to the most stressful place on Earth after six hours in a car... AFTER an epic wedding weekend? Ugh... At least we weren't in the mood for serious shopping. We picked up a couple of rugs, a kitchen island and some frames.We were in and out within an hour. It was a total success.

And if we hadn't packed enough into our weekend, we capped it all off with heading to Turner Hall just a couple hours after arriving back to Milwaukee. Hot Water Music, a band that I used to listen to waaaaaayyy back in the day, and also a band that was on Eric's must-see "bucket list" of live shows, happened to be in town. We were both pretty exhausted, but we just couldn't miss the chance to see this band - it was somewhat of a reunion tour, so we may never be able to see them again! They were fantastic - they played with energy, looked like they were having a blast, and the crowd was having a blast. I've learned my lesson and stepped out of the way once things got pushy at the front of the stage, but Eric stood strong. After the show, he was soaked in sweat, totally lost his voice and beaming with happiness. What a way to end a great weekend!

This week is going to be FILLED with house projects - we have our very first overnight guests coming on Sunday, so things need to be in tip-top shape for our visitors. Stay tuned for projects upon projects!