LBM's bachelorette party

Well, first off I’d like to say that I’m a long time reader…first time blogger. Thanks to Amy for allowing me to write some nonsense for the blog. I’ve never felt that I really had anything interesting enough to do a guest blog about. This week is an exception. So here goes…

As many of you know, In September Josh and I are tying the knot! So as tradition, my Maid of Honor, Sandi (a.k.a. THE Colonel) along with my Mom, planned a surprise bachelorette party for me. This past Saturday was the ‘big day’. Josh and I traveled to Racine on Friday night and everyone else (Sandi, Amy, Lisa and Ruby) got in on Saturday. I was allowed to know basically nothing about the plan other than the departure time of 5:30pm. I was able to guess who would be there because they asked who I’d like to have invited. Anyway, as the day went on, I got more and more curious about the details of the night but no one gave up any info. So, I showered up and Sandi did my hair and makeup-which turned out quite nice I might add (thanks Sandi!). When it was just about time to leave, my friend from high school Stacy showed up to ride with us.

We headed over to The Summit-a very nice restaurant in Racine. We sat and had a drink while we waited for the rest of the guests to show up. I have to say that I was very pleased with my drink selection of a Cosmopolitan. I’m not normally a Cosmo drinker but I’ve heard how tasty they are at The Summit. I was not in the least disappointed. When everyone arrived, (there were 9 of us-Amy, Lisa, Sandi, Mom, Stacy, Rachel (another high school friend), Erin (wife of cousin), Andrea (girlfriend of cousin) and myself) we ordered our dinners. We had a nice meal and interesting conversation before heading out. When we left the restaurant, I didn’t know how we were all getting wherever it was we were going.

I assumed we’d take a couple cars and head out. Well, when we walked out everyone was just milling around the exit and walking towards cars. Then Erin came out and said…”HOLY CRAP! Is that for us???” (Pointing at a very large Excursion limo sitting towards the back of the parking lot!!). I couldn’t see it when I first walked out because it was near the back of the lot and the other parked cars blocked my view. Wow! I have never been in such a huge limo! We all made our way over to the Limo and our very nice driver, Gordon, took our picture in front of it before we got in. Once inside, there was plenty of space and some champagne. Lisa was kind enough to open the champange for us so we kicked back with our drinks, opened gifts, and enjoyed the ride. As we took off, some of the girls were trying to throw me off as to where we were going. We started heading north so I guessed we might be heading to Milwaukee. But there is so much in Milwaukee there is no way to know where exactly we were going. When we got close, Stacy started teasing me that we were going to a parking ramp. Well, sure enough the driver stops right next to a parking ramp and tells us “we’re here!” So we all piled out of the limo.

We were down near the river in Milwaukee so we start walking down a ramp and there is a double decker boat waiting for us! Good Surprise!!! We got on the boat and went up to the upper level to claim our places for the ‘sunset tour’. We were some of the first people on the boat so we were able to get a nice spot near the rail. Not only did we have a nice view off the boat but of the band as well! I couldn’t believe there was a band on the boat! Oh and did I mention there was also a bar on board!?!?!? How very convenient! So we settled in with our drinks and waited to depart and hear the band. So around 9 the boat headed down the river. It was so beautiful to see all the lights of the city from the riverfront and out on the lake. The name of the band was Vinny Bex Dae. I really enjoyed their music and I think everyone else did too. I’m not really sure how they were able to play on the moving boat with the waves-kudos to them. I had a hard enough time keeping upright and I wasn’t trying to play/sing. Perhaps that was due to the number of margaritas and shots I had. Minor detail! They played for the full 2 hours we were out. Another thing I really enjoyed was that there were people around but not a huge crowd so we were able to move around a bit and enjoy the band, our drinks, and chatting with each other. We saw several other boats out for tours but ours was the only one I saw with a band! We win! After the boat ride, Gordon was waiting for us.

We headed back down to Racine in the limo, laughing and carrying on. When we got back to mom and dad’s house, Erin decided that they should carry me out of the limo (pretending I was too drunk to walk) so that Josh and Dad would see. Of course as soon as they picked me up, the guys weren’t watching out the window anymore. So I just walked up the driveway and Erin went ahead and told them they’d have to come out and carry me in. I don’t think Josh bought it but Dad did. They both came out and met me walking up the driveway and laughed because I was able to walk fine on my own. After a beer and some snacks inside everyone decided it was time to call it a night. It was a great night out with the girls! Thank you to everyone for coming and for all the planning and plotting to get everyone together--I had a WONDERFUL time!