Our friendship could drive a car

As promised, here is a post about the weekend. Because it was exhausting, the recap's going to be a bit on the skimpy side, but there will be lots of pictures to make up for it!


Friday
I got up early(ish) and worked out before heading to pick up my bestie Lisa at the Detroit airport. We have been friends since we were 8-years-old. That's 16 years of friendship. That's right, our friendship could drive a car if it were a person. Crazy!

We immediately went to lunch because we were starving and decided on Applebee's.

My meal: shrimp and spinach salad with french onion soup

Lisa's meal: Shrimp pasta of some sort

After lunch, we headed to Auburn Hills to check into our hotel. It was awesome, but a tad confusing because of the toilet:

Not only could you adjust the seat warmth, but there was a bidet for both the "front" and "rear." Neither of us were brave (or drunk) enough to try it. We'll leave it for the Europeans.

Our sweet suite

After checking in, I showed Lisa the two dresses I'd brought with me so she could help me decide. I had bought one offline way back in December for the company party, but bought it too small so I couldn't even zip it way back then. Now, I was thinking I'd try again, but I needed Lisa's help because the straps are a bit prohibitive when it comes to zipping yourself up. The other I wore in a wedding last year. Neither fit quite right. The blue one that I bought offline was a bit tight in the bust and the one I wore last year was much too big. So, we tried shopping a bit but didn't find anything before we had to go pick up Anna for dinner and Harry Potter!


For dinner, we headed to the Rainforest Café because Lisa had never been to one.

Anna

Lisa 

My clam chowda

My massive sandwich (I only ate half)

Then we headed to see Harry Potter in IMAX 3D. Woot, woot! Sexy glasses time!

We took Anna home and then attempted to go work out, but the equipment in the gym was a tad worn out. We did our best but then decided to go hang out in the hot tub because that's definitely a workout ;-)

Saturday
I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and started calling local gyms to see how much a drop-in session would cost. The answer: $20. So, around 8:00, Lisa got up and we went down to the crappy fitness area and worked out as best we could. I did some heart rate cycling on the treadmill and Lisa was on the elliptical.

Pumped to work out!

After our workout, we headed to the continental breakfast and then went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. Around 10:00 a.m., we headed to Dress Barn so I could try to find a new dress for the wedding the day of the wedding. The dress from last year was a size 18, so I thought I'd try things in a 16. Turns out I needed a 14. Woooooot! What a confidence boost!


On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Border's to check out their sales since they're closing. Lisa got a few books and I got my very first cookbook:

There were quite a few other cookbooks that caught my eye, but when each recipe required 20 ingredients (of which I'd have about 4), I decided to keep it simple. Plus, with med school, I figured this would be a good fit.


When we were back at the hotel, we did the girly things: painted our toes and nails while watching Superstar, a movie neither of us had seen in forever.

Once we were beautified and ready to go, we took the hotel shuttle to the ceremony and witnessed Ed and Liz get married. The ceremony was awesome and Liz looked amazing.

Waiting for the ceremony 

Liz in her amazing dress 

The newlyweds

After the ceremony, we headed to the pub nearby (where everyone from the wedding went) and had some empty calories drinks and some spinach and artichoke dip while we waited for the reception.

Then, it was on to the reception where we took some pictures and ate more!

Awesome door handles 

So you know, Lisa requested this photo 

Lisa and I looking good

Table 6 Awesome

My appetizer plate

By the time dinner rolled around, I wasn't very hungry. So, I had a tomato, some chicken with sauce and a bite of the beef (it wasn't very good).

Lisa enjoying her food

Me pumped to eat mine, too!

After dinner, the dancing began and a good time was had by all. Here's some proof:

Ryan putting the garter on "Kinley" 

Ryan got it pretty high up there :-)

Wedding party doing the alligator 

Dancing on my own...

We headed back to the hotel and my knees were aching pretty badly. Eight hours in heels + dancing + osteoarthritis = pain. So, I sat in the shower for a bit and let the water loosen up my knees. Then I took plenty of ibuprofen and called it a night.


Sunday
Lisa woke up before me and when I finally got up at 9:20 a.m., we headed downstairs for breakfast and congratulated the newlyweds again. Then, I coaxed Lisa into going down to the hot tub with me so I could soak my poor, battered knees.


We packed up our things and were checked out by noon and headed to go see Captain America. Awesome movie. I highly recommend it.


After Captain Hottie America, we headed to Whole Foods in Troy for lunch and a bit of shopping. I got some quinoa oats, some regular oatmeal, some chia seeds, some salad dressing, some Luna protein bars and a salad for lunch.


Then it was time to say goodbye and take Lisa to the airport. The good news is that she'll be back soon! Pwhew!


After I dropped off Lisa, I went to Plymouth to meet up with Anthony for some dinner.

Anthony with his crab cake sandwich

My appetizer feast: clam chowder and crab-stuffed mushrooms

After dinner, we walked around downtown Plymouth and took "senior pictures."

Fountain of youth!

Awesome-looking toy store 

My senior picture

Anthony's senior picture is better

Then I drove my exhausted butt home and now I'm off to bed so I can get up for a nice workout tomorrow as my knees prevented me from doing anything today.