Mr. & Mrs. Williams

I've officially decided that beach weddings are the way to get married. There is nothing more beautiful and simple. Let me give you the run down of Shannon and Garrett's wedding day.

First, the roommate and I got up and went to The Donut Hole. #YUM

When we got back to the condo, we suited up and went to the beach.

Umm, yes please.

Apparently my sunscreen application technique needs a little work. By 10:30 A.M. the first full day on the beach, my leg looked like this.

It continued to get worse. More red. Achy. Stingy. No relief.

But by the time the wedding rolled around, I was in fully M.O.H. mode. Kicking ass and taking names. There was nothing that would ruin Shannon's special day. And it would have been absolutely perfect had the preacher done exactly what I told her to do when she got there. Sigh. Some things just can't be helped.

The aisle was sandy. The sun was setting. And it was perfect. Shannon looked beautiful, as always.

The roommate did a great job taking pictures, and Shannon's photographer Natalie did an amazing job. I can't wait to see all the photos she took.

After the wedding, Shannon's friend Ashley and I noticed a guy laying on the beach. We thought he looked like a fine man. Back hair and all.

You can tell he thought he was hot stuff. Unfortunately, he was not. And that position is one that he should never lay in again. #yikes

More to come tomorrow. I gots lots of beachy pictures to fill your thoughts. Get. Excited.

A Farewell to the Inland

Listen.

Do you hear that?

I can just make it out over the squealing of car tires and horn honks that permeate the air outside my office.

Do you hear it yet?

It's just barely audible. But I can hear it.

Waves crashing on the white hot sand in Destin. Seagulls cooing over a small child's Cheeto's. Sand crabs snapping their little pinchers at unknowing beach combers. Sand shifting over sand with the push of the gulf breeze. Yellow flags tinking against flag poles.

Did you hear it now?

I can't even tell you how excited I am. I know I said that yesterday, but it's true. I can't believe I have to go sit through my first class tonight before I am free to have nothing but beach thoughts.

How is it that graduate school can almost ruin the best summer outing? If I didn't have to go to class, I would have been able to leave today. Right now I would be somewhere in Louisiana or Mississppi. Sigh.

But it will all come soon enough. And then it will be nothing but this.

I fear this day will be the slowest of all the days. School will take too long to let me out in the the freedom of a sweet vacay.

I can feel it now. The hot sand burning the soles of my bare feet. The sun beaming down from its place in the sky. Ok. I'll stop. Promise.

I know I haven't been doing too hot with the blogging this week. Don't fret. There will be so much glorious beach pictures and posts mixed with the new stresses of grad school to come. The last few weeks have just been a little dead.

I promise to:

• Take too many pictures
• Spend all the daylight hours on the beach
• Eat copious amounts of seafood
• Drink my fair share of beachy beveys
• Be the Maid of Honor in my best friend's dream wedding
• Wake up with the sun
• Run twice while I'm there
• Not do anything school or work related
• Not get stressed out driving through Mobile, AL
• Make the most of an amazing opportunity

But I can't promise I won't cry when I'm forced to come home.

So if you want a direct link to me while I'm beaching, follow me on Twitter @ashtenbrook.

On this Thursday, I leave you with an image of Taylor Lautner.

(Via)

Surely his shirtless, rain soaked body will suffice my being gone and not posting for a few days. (I think I'd be satisfied if you provided me with this kind of eye candy.)

I hope you guys have an awesome rest of the week and weekend. See you on the beach. HOLLA!!!

Beach: T-minus 1 Day, 2 Sleeps

Work has been a crazy place the past few days. So let's keep this short and sweet, and I will give a long, heartfelt goodbye til next week post tomorrow.

Beach Bound: T-minus 1 day, 2 sleeps. #imsoexcitedicanbarelycontainmyself

I don't think you understand how effing excited I am. BUT before I get carried away with the excitement, I must tell you that something terrible happens tomorrow.

SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN!! akjdfjalkjfalsjdslasndflkla

As of tomorrow night at 6 P.M. I will be holed up in a classroom with my peers listening to the opening rambles of the semester. The only good thing is that I'm leaving for the beach right after that.

What have you been up to this week?

A Night of Debauchery

So you may remember that I will be attending a beach wedding in just a few short weeks for my best friend Shannon and her soon-to-be hubby Garrett.

Well this weekend I threw her a Bachelorette Party. And it was a total success. Check out some of the highlights.

The night started at my house, and then we all got ready and went downtown to eat at Dizzy's. (BTW--the food at Dizzy's is amazing.) Then we headed to Willy D's for a some drinks and music.

Logan bought Shannon a shot. It was blue, and it tasted not good. Doesn't she look excited about the night ahead? Lot of shots were consumed on her part. Something about her screams I'm fun...buy me drinks. I think it's the crown.

So she had shots and beer. And life was good. Everyone was so happy.

My mom and I had a photo shoot while people were getting drinks at the bar cause we're cool like that.

Then we moved into the piano bar area to try to get Shannon on the stage so they could sing to her. But they did much more than sing. Shannon, along with three other girls, had to pick people from the audience that they didn't know to participate in song. Shannon cheated and found a guy she knew in college to be her partner. And then the competition began.

First they had to dance like it was the 80s.

Then they had to do the twist.

Each time a couple was eliminated. But Shannon remained til the last dance off. And what kind of dance off was it, you ask? Oh, it was a lap dance.

The guy had to give the girl the "lap dance of her dreams" on stage in front of the entire bar. And then this happened.

Boy took off his shirt. Shannon was laughing so much. It was too funny. People were going crazy. And they ended up winning the competition.

Just goes to show you that a good guy friend will give you a lap dance when it comes to bar dance competitions. Pure craziness. It was awesome. And hilairious.

On a completely unrelated note, I have started a new book and bought a book to take the Shannon's beach wedding. (Well to read on the beach, not during the wedding.)

I started The Hunger Games yesterday, and I'm totally hooked. I'm saving Once a Runner for beach reading and beach relaxation time.

Do you have any funny Bachelorette/Bachelor Party stories?

What book are you dying to read right now?
~~~I can't wait to go home and read the rest of The Hunger Games. It's going to be one of those books I can't put down. And I love it when that happens.

Bachelorette to Baking

This is my little.

Last night, a bunch of us celebrated the fact that little is getting married next weekend. Let's call it the Bachelorette Party. Little is not her real name. I just call her that because she is my little sis from sorority life. Her real name is Natalie.

Little wanted to have a few drinks after we all saw a play and had dinner. So we gave little drinks.

You only live once right? So we made sure she took some shots. When we left the bar, little was a bit woozy. But happy. Super happy.

It was a good night with good people. Congratulations to little and her soon-to-be hubby Jade. I am so happy for you, and I can't wait to partay next weekend. Yippie!!!

I got home at 1 A.M. and woke up for the day at 9 A.M. A full 8 hours. I feel refreshed. After having my morning coffee, I was in search of something for breakfast. And there was nothing...because I haven't been to the store yet. So I improvised.

I had three overripe bananas. First thought: Banana bread. So that is what I did.

What you will need:
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 (or 5 Tablespoons) of melted butter
3/4 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 C. flour
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan before starting on the batter.

Mash bananas in a bowl with a wooden spoon (or just a big spoon). Pour in melted butter. Stir to combine. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla.

It will look something like this, but don't worry it will get better as you add the dry ingredients.

Put in baking soda and the pinch of salt, and mix to combine. Add flour last. Stir until everything is well combined. I didn't use a mixer and my bread turned out perfect. So don't break out the mixer and dirty another piece of equipment.

Pour batter into the butter/floured loaf pan.

Smooth as best you can. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the top of  the bread is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

The final product.

Golden and delicious. Transfer to a cooling rack so you can eat it quicker.

My makeshift cooling rack consisted of a 9x13 pan topped with an oven rack the roommate and I must have stolen from the old apartment. Oops. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Cut into pieces and enjoy.

This was a very easy recipe to make. The cooking time is enough time to successful clean your bathroom to the highest quality, which is what I did while it was baking.

Banana bread, the perfect Saturday morning treat. The roommate and I will be running this evening. So there will be a lovely post about tonight's run tomorrow. Hope you're having the greatest Saturday.

What did you do last night?

What is your favorite breakfast item?

A White Sand Wedding

The last time I went to the beach it was the week before I started my Senior year in college. The roommate, our friend Abby, and I (plus a group of other people) went to the Gulf Shores for a pre-school year vacay.

And we haven't been back to the beach since then.

All that is about to change. Thanks to my best friend from high school Shannon and her soon-to-be hubby Garrett. The love birds are getting married at the beach. Destin, FL to be exact. The roommate's favorite beach.

Photo by: Natalie Gray Photography



After a long road to the alter, Shannon and Garrett will be getting married at a causal ceremony on the white sands of Destin's beach. And I could not be more thrilled. It is the wedding she's always wanted. A small, causal beach wedding with close family and friends.

And the roommate and I will be in attendance. I'm actually the Maid of Honor (MOH). So my presence is greatly needed at this wedding.

So in August, the roommate and I will be roadtripping to white sandy beaches. Hopefully Logan will get to come with us. I have a feeling this will be an epic beach trip and wedding filled with awesome stories to tell later.

In celebration of Shan and Garrett's upcoming nuptials, I decided to share the highlights from the last beach trip to get you all in the spirit for what is to come.

We met a seagull with a bum leg. We called him Gerald.

We made a sand castle adorned with seashells.

There is nothing like a good book and a cold beer on the beach. I took advantage of this fact, and I plan to do so in August as well.

Salty sea air does something amazing to my hair. And the sound of waves crashing on the shore is one of the best sounds in the world. And I love the fact that white sand has the ability to burn the soles of your feet in the matter of seconds. It's something of joy.

The roommate and I act like fools when we go to the beach. Neither of us can sleep the night before the trip. We scream at the first sight of water, even if it's not the ocean. She hangs her head out the window as soon as we cross the Florida state line claiming that she can "feel the beach upon us."

We get up with the sun. Beach it all day. Pack lunches to take to the beach. Bring enough booze to last an entire month. Make 982457 playlists and cds to enjoy when beaching. And get a twinge of sadness when the sun starts to go down for the day, but excitement builds for the next day when we will do it all over again.

Congratulations to my dear friends Shannon and Garrett. Getting married on the beach is the best thing you could have ever done for your beach bunny friends. When I say we can barely contain our excitement, it would be a total understatement. I'm basically busting at the seams to pack my bags and head to the surf. Oh, and to see you guys get married.

Photo by: Natalie Gray Photography

And you my dear blog readers will not be left behind. There will be play-by-play posts of all beach and wedding activities. So you will get a front row seat to the roadtrip/beach party/wedding of a lifetime. It's going to be awesome! Get that umbrella ready to slide into a nice icy beverage because the party starts in 36 days. Ow ow!!