Janet's Wedding

On August 18th, Janet and Nick got married!

They had a perfect sunny day, not too hot, not too cold.  

We got there just in time from our day of tourism, to enjoy their beautiful outdoor ceremony at the courtyard of the Galleria.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Wittmann!

They met in Hawaii, while Janet was working on a Navy boat, and Nick was in the Navy.

Their tables were decorated with simple elegance with lovely pink flowers.

The reception was beautiful.

Janet and Nick had a highly cooreographed first dance, and did amazing at it!

They couldn't be happier!

Their cake was so tropically decorated!

How cute!

Janet, you really picked a sweet guy!  Can't wait to get to know Nick better over the years!

Everyone danced the night away in celebration of the newlyweds.

Congratulations Janet and Nick!!

New Friends

At Janet's bachelorette party, I got to know one of her good friends Angie.  She and are a lot a like, and really hit it off.  We're both vegetarians  sell on Etsy, and are knitters.  Angie and her fiance Edvin are from Austin, so when they came to Cleveland for Janet's wedding, we spent the weekend with them, being their own personal tour guides!  

Friday night, we took them to Tommy's in Coventry, shopped around Big Fun, and then went down to the feast.

We were going to have dessert down there, but were too full for a canolli!

After the feast, we went over to Great Lakes Brewery before dropping them off at their hotel.

    

The next morning, I picked up Angie and we went to the Christmas Story House.  She is a big fan of the movie, and I'd never been.

   

    Here we are, standing by the famous leg lamp!

Leg lamp!

Christmas tree, complete with presents and the bee-bee gun!

This is how I felt dressed up as a kid to go out and play!

After the Christmas Story House we went to the observation deck of the Terminal Tower.  I'd never done that either, and we had a beautiful day to see the whole city! 

Public Square 

Rock Hall

We met up with the guys, and headed to Melt for lunch!

   

Enjoyed their selection of fall treats!

    

And indulged in some delicious eats!

I totally understand, I take pictures of Melt every time, it never gets old and is always delicious!

Angie got the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sandwich.  I'm going to try this next time.

Angie and Edvin, we had so much hanging out with you, and are sad you don't live closer!  We're looking forward to visiting you in Austin sometime soon!

Date Night

It was Robb's turn to plan our date night in August.  I told him that I'd like to go putt-putting and look what he found!  

A Glow in the Dark putt-putt course!

And it was air conditioned!

We had a great time playing. (I creamed him)

Afterwards we used a bunch of gift cards and had appetizers at Fridays, and dinner at Buca DiPepo.  Before we went home, we had dessert at Yogure V.  (Not impressed, Froyo and Menchies are much better.)  

Mutt Strut

We had a cool day this August for the Mutt Strut.  I get my work to sponsor the event, and also participate with Charley.  

The Mutt Mall has all kinds of dog vendors.

Here's Charley, helping to work the booth, wearing his CGC bandana.

Charley's Aunt Miranda helped me with our booth, and helped to keep Char entertained.

It didn't take much once I bought him a new BALL!!

Here we are, about to go on our walk!

Walking for all the other Mutts who have no homes.  We hope to help the Humane Society help those dogs find forever homes!

Thanks to all who helped Charley reach his fundraising goal!

Janet's Shower

I think it was the hottest day of the year.  Janet came to Cleveland for her wedding shower!

We had lunch and drinks on the patio!  I remember my shower, and how much fun it was to have everyone I cared about throw a party for me!  That doesn't happen very often!

Here's the beautiful bride-to-be and her gift helper.  

We had a great time celebrating in between drops of sweat.  Congratulations Janet!

Chocolate Party!

The weekend after New Jersey, Jill came home to celebrate her birthday.  We were invited to her parent's for a Chocolate Birthday Party!

I missed Braden's birthday while in NJ, but brought him a new hockey set that he's requested from our trip to Toys R Us.  He loved it and got the hang of it right away!

Kayla was very curious about what Braden was playing.  She's so big!

The whole theme was chocolate since it's one of Jill's favorite foods.  Her mom planned a chocolate meal, had chocolate games with chocolate prizes, and Jill got chocolate presents.

She even had a really big Hershey's Kiss Cake!

Jill and her little helpers.  How would she blow out all those candles without them!  :o)

Happy (very belated) Birthday Jill!!!

Visit to New Jersey

In June, I took the Amtrak to visit my good friend Janet for her bachelorette party!  She lives in New Jersey, so I took the train from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.  I actually really enjoyed the ride.

The train I took runs every day from Pittsburgh to NYC.  It took about 7 hours to get to Phili.

I paid a little extra and got to ride "first class."  I really enjoyed the extra leg room and free drinks!  The inside was just like a plane, except you had access to your luggage all the time.  

It was actually a very pretty ride.  Most of the way it was just woods.  I slept, watched movie, and read books.  The time went very quickly.  It was much better than driving, and much cheaper than flying.

The station in Phili was something else.  It looked really old.  It was all marble and very ornate.

This station was like a mini airport, with people everywhere, and a little food court.

That evening at Janet's house, Hannah (Janet's sister and maid of honor) planned a lovely night of wine and cheese, finger foods, and a girls only "tupperware" party.

This is Janet, bride to be!

Janet's sisters did an awesome job with all the food!  I loved the chocolate covered everythings.

Also love the many different wines, paired with cheese and fruit.

The next day, we drove to the beach, where we spent the day relaxing in the sun and swimming in the water.

I loved the ocean!  I went out an floated in it forever: 1) to cool off from the 100* sun and 2) to ease the stress on my broken ankle. The water did wonders. 

That evening we stayed in a local hotel, and went out to an ocean side restaurant, and then to a few bars.  I had such a great time celebrating with Janet and her friends!