from sea grove to columbus

So! I have been back from the beach for a little over a week now, and most of my pink skin has faded into tan skin. (I did a much better job with the sunscreen this time, thankyouverymuch.) We had a blast at my college roommate Jessica's bachelorette weekend. The condo was adorable, the town of Sea Grove was gorgeous, and the weather was great. We did have to field worried phone calls from 5 sets of parents/husbands/boyfriends all weekend, but Hurricane Gustav didn't rain on us one bit. Our first day on the beach was absolutely stunning - can you believe this is between the less-pristine Panama City and Destin beaches on the Gulf Coast?!



Our first day we spent just about like this, with short breaks for water time and sandwiches.



It was glorious. The coolest part was that we saw tons and tons of dolphins, not all that far away from us, swimming and playing together in the water in big groups. When they started surfacing, everyone on the entire beach stopped what they were doing to watch.

Sunday morning was less gorgeous - on Saturday we could see straight through the clear water, but Gustav started bringing in some cloudiness, big waves, and seaweed. We still had a blast playing in the waves.



We had a pretty safe weekend, despite one of our girls cutting her foot pretty badly on a raised boardwalk nail, and another having a fish hook get stuck in her toe. There were some pretty inconsiderate fisherman with their lures out in the water right around all the other swimmers - even in the big waves - and the hook that grabbed ahold of Natasha's foot was new, not rusted. After all of that raucus, one fisherman tried to tell her (kind of rudely) "Well, at least it wasn't rusted," as he walked back to fish some more. Um, okay buddy, let's hook your 10-year-old son in the foot with one of your hooks, let the waves pull on it a few times, and see if it makes him feel better that it wasn't rusted after you tear it out of his foot.

Anyway, we had a great time, but I was sure glad to get home. Vacations are exhausting! But on that note, oh well - because I am headed out of town as of midday tomorrow to go to the Country Living Fair in Ohio!



I'm going with some coworkers, and as a last-minute addition to our crew, my mom gets to go with us. I am so glad she'll get to come! I can't wait for us to get on the road. I promise to take lots of pictures and report back.

Just as an FYI - I am going to take off this week for my Friday Links. Being gone and being so busy, it's just best if I skip out this time. I'll be back next week with a lot of good stuff!