Sun, Laughter, and Bachelorette Love

When the topic of my bachelorette weekend came up, I told Megan that all I wanted to do was relax, go to the beach, and eat good food.  I'm not the type of person who wants all the "typical" bachelorette things.  I wanted a weekend that I would be proud to tell people about, not one that I would be ashamed of sharing.  That is exactly what my bridesmaids gave me :)

Because my month is starting to fill up with appointments and I have to miss some of work, I decided to work until almost 5 p.m. on Friday, then leave straight for Oak Island. BIG MISTAKE!!  Oh my word. It took me almost 1.5 hours to get to Holly Springs, which should have taken 25 minutes. Many prayers were spoken for patience, as traffic tends to make me frustrated and angry, especially when I'm excited to get to my destination.  I got a really bad headache and rode with my sunglasses on the whole trip.  What should have taken me under 3 hours ended up taking 4.5 hours.

When I got to the condo that the girls rented at Oak Island, I walked in the door and the first thing I saw was a sign on a bedroom door that said "Bridal Chamber."  They had given me a whole suite (double bed and ensuite bathroom).  Megan, Laura, Jessica, and Michelle waited for me to get there before eating dinner.  It was the latest I have ever eaten dinner, but it was good. 

Even though I didn't feel well, I knew the girls had put a lot of work into throwing me a great bachelorette weekend.  I told myself to put aside any pain I was feeling and really show them how much I was enjoying myself.  It was hard to do (I tend to wear my emotions and physical conditions on my face), but I think it was good practice for when Brett and I get married too.  I'm learning that I have to be intentional about putting self aside for the betterment of the situation.

We had a delicious dinner then it was time for the lingerie shower.  I won't be putting pictures of those on here but needless to say, there were a lot of laughs. I got some really cute things.  After the lingerie shower, Laura asked me a whole bunch of questions that she had asked Brett.  I have to say, I got about half right, a quarter where I had narrowed it down to two answers (one of which was right) but picked the wrong one, and the rest I had no idea.  Brett has never talked about Fred, his first dog, ever. Oh well.  After the game, we just hung out and talked until about 2 a.m.

One of the many sweets we had.

Before opening the presents

Reaction to one of the gifts or something that was said.

We had a slow Saturday morning.  Paige, Jennifer, and Natasha got to the condo around 11 a.m.  We were at the beach from 11:30 until around 3:30.  It was the perfect beach weather. Probably around 75 or 80, no cloud in the sky, with a breeze to keep you cool. We just hung out and laughed a lot. We had to teach Natasha some "beach etiquette," like don't shake your towel with people down wind. 

We decided to go to Fishy Fishy Cafe for dinner.  I got the shrimp and grits which were good.  We took dinner to get a whole bunch of pictures.  I absolutely love these women.

Michelle had to leave after dinner.  The rest of us went back to the condo, had some cake, tried to get comfortable with our sunburns, and watched Bride Wars.  For the second night in a row, Megan, Jessica, Laura, and I stayed up until almost 2 a.m. talking. 

The next morning, we had to check out by 10.  Everyone left except Megan, Jess, and me.  We decided to go to the beach for another day.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of only putting on sunscreen on select parts of my body.  I have finger marks on my skin where the sunscreen stopped.  The majority of the time, it was cloudy and windy.  However, for about 10 minutes, the sun was so hot that I could feel my skin burning.  Not good.  We had some great conversation though!

As soon as I got in the car, I realized how burnt I was.  I am probably still the color of the red dress I wore in the pictures above.  It was so worth it.  After dropping Jess off, I stopped by Mom and Dad's to surprise them for Mother's Day.  It was a great way to end my fabulous weekend.

Thank you Megan, Laura, Jessica, Michelle, Paige, Jennifer, and Natasha for throwing me a bachelorette party that I loved.  Thank you for giving me exactly what I wanted.  I love you seven dearly and am so thankful for all the time, effort, thought, and money you have put into my wedding so far!