Dinner for this evening - Homemade Chicken Soup and fresh bread Yum!

By the way - Thanks to everyone who emailed me and wished me a safe trip! I appreciate it!

Sunday Woke up at 730am (grrrrr!) I slept badly because the morons above me made a lot of noise. No - not sexual noises you perverts! It just sounded like they were dropping bowling balls and rocks occasionally. I had packed my stuff up the night before. I loaded up my car and I checked out by 8am. Drove to the local Dunkin Doughnuts and got a REAL bagel and a GOOD cup of coffee! Hit the road and headed to Yankee Candle in South Deerfield. It was only 20 minutes north on Rt 91 so I got there by 850am. Of course, they didn't open until 930am so I drove around the town which was right by Sugarloaf. Oh my Gosh - it was just beautiful. I was speechless. I don't even know how to ski but I want to live up here. Click here and here for 2 really cool pictures of Sugarloaf. Headed back to Yankee Candle. By this time, they had just opened. I could smell all the candles before I even opened the doors. This place was enormous!! WOW! I just wandered around, looking every bit the tourist. There was so much to see. There was Santa's workshop (Mrs. Claus took a picture of me and Santa), the Nutcracker's Castle (got my picture taken in a really cool throne), a fountain, the Bavarian Christmas village (with snow falling), the Sampler Emporium - Rainbow of Scents (which featured ALL the candles - beautiful).. I had to walk through twice! Of course, I did buy some candles too. I hit the road by 1120am and made it home (via I95S to the Parkway) by 4pm. That included 1 stop in Conneticut. Not bad time at all... I had so much fun! I want to do this trip again!!

Saturday Post Wedding The ceremony was beautiful. It was held in an old Catholic church with the most gorgeous stained glass windows. After the ceremony, the guests were to immediately proceed to the Chateau Provost for the reception. The directions given by the banquet hall were COMPLETELY wrong. Thank GOD I had purchased a map of the local area. It was normally a 20 minute ride from the church which took ME almost an hour. Luckily, I made it there before the bride and groom! I was a little nervous about going alone - it's no fun to sit out all the slow songs. Jenn seated me at the greatest table. 2 older couples, and the 3 dates/escorts of the bridal party. I met Doug, who was the escort of one of the bridesmaids. He was extremely charming and I had the best time chatting with him. Turns out he is a Steelers fan too! We discussed the games from the past couple weeks. He is 34, about 6'3, a florist and is NOT gay - he even said "I am not gay!" LOL! (I found out later he was divorced) Did I mention that I also thought he was pretty good looking too? He escorted Erika (bridesmaid) but they are friends. I certainly didn't get that "just friends" vibe from Erika, who was busy shooting daggers at me with her eyes. Too bad honey.. he's mine! He bought me a drink - I reciprocated. Dinner arrived - not the best but I have eaten worse. I did cry when Jenn danced with her Dad to "Butterfly Kisses". I got teased at the table for crying . After dinner, I hit the dance floor with Jenn and a few others. Had the BEST time. What the hell - I hardly knew anyone! Doug decided he had better chat with Erika for a little while since he and I were chatting quite a bit. At one point, towards the end of the evening, I asked him to dance. I was sick of sitting out all the slow songs. He seemed quite surprised that I asked. WHY do guys get so surprised by that? Am I suposed to sit around, simpering and batting my eyes, hoping he'd get the message? It's not like I wanted to marry the guy - I just love to dance! He said, while we were dancing, that he didn't know if I would dance with him during the slow songs. That's why he didn't ask me. ::eyeroll:: Men. We looked a bit like the odd couple while dancing since he was a foot taller than I. Of course, do I even need to add that he is an excellent dancer too? Let me tell ya ladies.. he would be a VERY nice catch! I had taken a bunch of pictures (of course) and I told Jenn I would send her copies of everything. Doug also asked for a copy of a couple pictures I had taken with my digital. He gave me his address and asked me to also keep in touch with him, which I certainly will. Probably one of the nicest people I had met in a while. I realized that I didn't get to take a picture WITH him (duh) but I took a couple of him. Finally left the reception by 9pm! I was pooped! Made it back to the hotel by 940pm. Talked to Paul, took a shower, and fell asleep by midnight!