(finally) finished July! And into August

Sunday July 29 after going to church in the morning Maria and I went to the movie theater and saw Step Up 4. It was so much fun going with my sis and we both really liked the movie. It is so fun watching people who are talented dancers.

On the 29 or sometime around there my dad got a new company car. It isn't his new car, but it is one for him to drive until he gets the other one. He spent the afternoon cleaning it out, of course. Then that evening we went for a drive in it. I love it! It is a Ford Flex and really cool on the inside. We drove out to the Lindy Freeze for ice cream and out in the country. Maria and I even got to take turns test driving it!

Monday July 30 I spent the afternoon laying at my grandparents' pool. Then I got together with Morgan! It was so much fun!! We hung out and talked and told stories and then she brought out a Christmas present I had gotten her. It was a cake making/decorating kit and I got it for her because it had Duff Goldman on it. An awesome guy from a show we dearly love called Ace of Cakes. We had so much fun trying to figure it all out and see how pathetic the kit actually ended up being. The cakes were tiny and the fondant smelled funny and was hardly enough to decorate with. But it was an awesome time anyway. We even hand delivered one of our beautiful cakes as a surprise for one lucky kid, Jacob. Yay for Jacob being so lucky!

We ended our night by watching PS I Love You. Classic movie that has been one of our favorites since we saw it together when it came out in theaters. I think in 2007. The movie made us fall in love with Ireland as well as Gerard Butler of course.

Tuesday July 31 I drove to Greencastle and cleaned house for Sue, yay for that awesome summer job set up. Then that evening I went to Hilary's and we painted. Well. We tried. We had this fabulous idea to try to paint like they do from a scene in the Princess Diaries (another all time favorite movie). They use a big canvas and throw darts at balloons that are attached to the canvas and full of paint. Then the paint drips down and creates a cool looking picture, but mostly the fun part is the process of how it comes to be. However, we ran into a few issues. Like first we didn't have any darts. Then we filled the balloons up with water and paint and tried to throw them on the canvas, but they wouldn't bust. Pretty sure we had the wrong type of balloons. We ended up lying the canvas down, holding the balloon on it, and stabbing it with scissors. Then we sprinkled it with salt and let it dry.

Wednesday August 1 spent a little time at the pool before going to babysit Jensen! He swam/floated/stood in his little pool and also continued to amaze me with his ability to not only put together a puzzle with the united states of america map, but could identify each state and its name. So smart!

Wednesday evening I hung out with Hilary again. We bought shoes and tie dyed them with spray dye. They are awesome!! We are both really excited about them and proud of them. We also ended up spraying our canvas with some tie dye because the paint and water mixture left it really pale. It looked much better after adding the tie dye.

Thursday August 2 I spent the afternoon lying at the pool with Steph. This was only maybe the second time we had done it all summer, and last summer it was a daily occurrence basically. That evening we drove around in her car listening to music and talking and looking at houses for sale and watching the beautiful sun as it set. I was so happy to get to hang out with Steph once more before she left for Depauw.

Friday August 3 consisted of shopping with my mom, Maria, and my Grandma at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and buying a few things for my dorm room like my sheets, comforter, a tray to put beside my bed, and plastic plates & cups & bowls. It got me very excited! We also stopped at Michael's craft store.

Thursday July 26 started the adventure! Dan had planned a surprise for my mom and I and did an awesome job!! I love surprises, and it's hard for people to keep surprises around me. I just seem to always figure things out. But this I didn't see coming!

My mom and I drove to Indy Thursday afternoon and checked in at our 5 star hotel the Hilton Conrad. Even the lobby was gorgeous, as expected and the workers were all so friendly and helpful to my mom and I who were not the usual customers.

We got to our room and took everything in, the comfy bed with a soft, fluffy, heavy comforter, the keurig, and the tv mounted on our wall + the tv in our bathroom. Crazy!

After settling in, we made our way up to the floor with the spa on it and really got our girls day started! First we got massages. They felt sooo good. I was so calm and relaxed and didn't ever want it to stop. I could really go for one of those right now in-fact, or even one from my mom! I am really missing those!

Then we got manicures and pedicures. They also felt good, having really clean, filed, shaped, painted nails and massaged hands & feet as well as looking pretty! It was fun talking with the girls who did it, though I was still in a very calm trance from the massage earlier.

My mom and I sat by the pool for a little while, talking on our phones and sharing our fun afternoon with our friends and let everything around us and that had been happening soak in. It was a very calming atmosphere.

After going back to the hotel room, we got all dolled up and ready for dinner.

We walked downtown to Palomino's. Yummy! Though we sat outside near the road and felt every car as it went by, the food was so good! And we both felt pretty and pampered as we talked about my fear and expectations and what I was looking forward to about Saint Louis University. This was the whole point of Dan's plan. To give my mom and I time to be together just the two of us before I left for school. I am so thankful, and still impressed, that he did that! What a guy.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel room, changed clothes, and hit up Circle Center for a little while before it closed. I ended up purchasing 3 tshirts and 2 pairs of jeans from American Eagle and a cute dress from H&M.

We ended our night by talking and watching tv before falling asleep in the so comfy bed.

The morning of Friday July 27 we woke up and walked to Panera Bread for breakfast (after asking the valet hotel man for directions and it ended up being directly across the street from us. Whoops.). It was also really good eating. My mom got an egg healthy thing and I got a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese and milk. Perfect.

We went to Circle Center for another quick round of shopping. I got a pair of jade green capris and my mom got some cute clothes from the loft, all on sale- yay! Then we went back to the hotel, checked out, and headed home. It was all so much fun!!

I spent the afternoon by my grandparents pool and the night in a tent camping with Hilary and Colby and their friends. It was definitely drastic going from sleeping in a 5 star hotel one night, to a tent the next.

Saturday July 28 Dan's parents came down. Some how whenever they come I am always busy, but this time I was able to go downtown to the shops with the ladies while the guys golfed! They are very delightful people and it was so good to get to spend time with them. Then, that night we went to my dad's house for the week.

I also organized the bathroom drawers really well that morning. Just saying.