so, it's been a long while. as promised, this is a real post with updates on all fronts:
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i haven't posted here--or elsewhere--in a mighty long time. i have a giant glass of wine to my right, so now seems like a pretty good time to post about one of the things i've been meaning to post about.

.Bermuda.
...was wonderful. the best 8 days of my life. i was having so much fun vacationing with my family and best friends that i kind of forgot why we were all there together in the first place until someone happened to mention it one night while we were all sitting around drinking. ...which could have been any number of nights, to be honest. we drank. and we drank. and then, after that, we drank some more. and then we retired to the beach where we continued to drink and make fun of the boys who were wrestling shirtless in the sand. some of our pictures from the trip are here.

highlights of the trip were (in mostly chronological order):

• flying in and seeing the water. i can't even begin to describe the colors of it, but i know kim and james got a couple of really good shots, though i'm not sure where their pictures are being housed.


• arriving at Ariel Sands to be greeted by lots of wind, the ocean about 10 feet away, and my BF.


• our first dinner in Bermuda, all together, when Kit somehow got grandma to talk about sex on the beach. also for the super-fun time we had after dinner. we had stopped at a couple of liquor stores to get enough alcohol to accommodate all of us for one night, and boy, what a night it was: shamus is one of the most hilarious people i've ever met in my life. BF being there with the Rockstar Baby was pretty awesome, too. Kit showing Ben her nipple (singular)--for educational purposes only--in the bathroom, only after asking my permission. Kit holding Rockstar Baby with an evil "i'm about to eat this baby" look on her face. James T getting more drunk than i think i've ever seen him get. Kim sitting with her back against the wall, not getting very drunk at all. going to the beach to drink some more and to have Ben and Shamus wrestle shirtless in the sand. oh, the hilarity of it all.


• getting to the hotel with all of our bags...only to realize, after we arrived at said hotel, that one rather important bag was missing: The Shoe Bag^TM--containing, you guessed it, every pair of shoes i had packed for the trip, including my beloved flip-flops. Oh Holy Noes!! After much confusion, hassle, and two days of wearing shoes that weren't great to do a lot of distance walking in, we decided to go to the airport and see if we could rescue the bag by begging the people in the Delta office. after talking to the agent, we realized that the bag had been checked in under my mom's name, not our name, and eventually were able to retrieve the Bag O'Shoes. an hour and over $50 later, we arrived back at the hotel, shoes in toetow, and ready to do some more drinkin'.


• covering for Lisa (which entailed standing in front of the window so Matt couldn't see her) while she drank all of the unfinished margaritas at the table because her husband, the Baby Nazi, wouldn't let her have more than two sips. Three words: Pump-And-Dump!


• Ben talking the bartender at the hotel into giving us a bottle of rum on Sunday, which we would replace the next day with another bottle once the liquor stores opened again.


• the crystal caves--pretty, pretty stalactites and stalagmites.


• Grandma busting her face on the ground when she fell getting off of a ferry with my brother. Scary at first, but then kind of funny.


• The Pickled Onion. enough said.


• getting a Tiffany starfish necklace from Ben as a wedding gift. it's perfect and i love it!


• giving Ben a Swiss Army watch for his wedding gift, even though it was about eight sizes too big.


• getting drunk on the beach with my best friends and favorite cousin. i think there are pictures of this floating around somewhere. the bad thing about having a kickass camera is that you don't want to take it to gatherings where having a camera is not only fun for everyone, but essential (see kit's pictures, wherever they are, of my cousin's husband peeing in the ocean...visible penis).


• not being freaked out or nervous at all on the actual day of the wedding.


• all of the ladies getting their hair done together--awwww--and looking smokin' hot.


• getting ready with everyone in our suite, my mom giving me a lock of my hair from my first haircut for my "something old".


• the actual wedding, natch.


• the preacher and his pastel bermuda shorts, black knee-highs, and black jacket. he cracked me up!


• the picture-taking, oddly enough. the photographer was really cool and took some amazing pictures...which i will post a link to shortly.


• the reception--the food was amazing, the company even more so, and all of the drinking!


• having my brother reveal to everyone at the reception that he has a third nipple. apparently, while we were changing clothes, he and Neal were having a contest to see whose was bigger and better...and my brother won. so proud!


• the honeymoon, in its entirety: candlelit dinner on the beach, couples massage by candlelight, the enormous basket of cheese, crackers, and fruit from our travel agent, and then...well, all of the obvious honeymoon-related activities.


• the honeymoon location itself: Cambridge Beaches, where, if we go at least 5 years in a row, we get our name put on the enormous board in the lobby. the breakfasts here were amazing, too. one morning, we had chicken curry for breakfast. quite an experience.


• the most monstrous plate of nachos i've ever seen at The Swizzle Inn.
  
• Tea! and finger sandwiches! every day!


• The Unfinished Church.


• trying to snorkel and failing because we were too cold and scared of the sea goobers.


• coming home as man and wife.

naturally, i gained about 10 pounds over the honeymoon, because seriously, how could we not? so much good food to be had. and then i gained another 6 or 8 over the holidays, what with the two wedding receptions, two thanksgivings, and all of the holiday and birthday gatherings with food and no time to work out with all of the trying to catch up with work and shopping and traveling and such. it's time to stop eating altogether and get back on the treadmill, because seriously. even my fat pants are tight now. boo on that, but yay for being married!