For those of you who haven't heard yet, my future husband has an alter ego. Starting a few months back, CK Kung Fu in Wilmington began a monthly Pro-Wrestling Showdown event and it turns out the fighters are a bunch of characters. Think WWE-style fighting — a little actual wrestling, a lot of smack talk, and ridiculous theme music. Let me tell you, the kids love it.
Check out the recap from ProWrestling Showdown 3, featuring Skateboard P, Buff 'n' Stuff, Shonuff, and of course my favorite...The Broski.
So after the Broski's tough loss to Shonuff, he's put himself in the drivers seat and decided to host his own version of the Showdown. Be sure to come out next Friday for the ProWrestling BroDown IV. I promise you it's totally worth the $8.00.
image copyright 2010 Kalen Foley
So it turns out that choosing a wedding photographer was one of the easier choices we've made for the wedding so far. I did a bit of comparison shopping and found a handful of folks that I liked, including Alex's friend and former coworker, Kalen Foley.
I set out with a photojournalistic style in mind, meaning I want candid, clever shots with lots of attention to details. The problem is that all photographers advertise as being photojournalistic because that is one of the biggest buzzwords out there in the industry right now. So I scoured through portfolios and only found a few that really did a great job of capturing teary-eyed mothers, beaming brides, and proud dads in a way that would be meaningful looking back at the photos for years to come.
Unfortunately, of my favorites, more than a few were just a little out of our price range and the price didn't seem to match what you would actually be getting. Lots of time limits. Limits to the number of photos. Thousands of extra dollars to add a second photographer. And for the most part, the photographer owned the copyright, which would make getting prints made a total pain. In all honesty, even though some of the photos were beautiful, they just weren't worth the price.
After speaking with a few different folks, it turns out that Kalen is able to offer us everything that we're asking for at a price that fits snugly into our budget. Not only does he offer himself for an unlimited amount of time during the course of the day, but all of his packages include a second photographer without a ridiculous upcharge. And when it came to grilling him with all of my logistical questions, he had all the right answers. Liability insurance? A back up plan if you're ill the day of the wedding? A plan to visit the church beforehand to get a feel for the space? Yes. yes. And most certainly, yes.
Also, as far as reviews go, this kid has some stellar ones. I'm looking forward to a great experience so I can add to his ever growing list of comments from happy brides. Go check him out for yourself at www.kalenfoley.com and let me know what you think!
So if there's one thing that can be said for the Papilis, it's that they definitely know how to have some fun.
Over the weekend, I headed down to Wildwood for the yearly beach trip. Britt, Matt, and Cait and I left after work and drove down to the usual haunt on Pine Street. We've been going to the same place for as long as I can remember — my earliest memory being the infant Caitlin eating sand crabs in the surf and her parents freaking out...so that's at least 20 years worth of memories right there. As far as I can tell, not much has changed since those days. We're even still rocking the same orange, green, and white umbrella from not only MY childhood, but apparently Dolly's own kids' childhoods.
That's Cait in the foreground with the pail and shovel, Nick directly behind her, my dad behind them, and me off to the left with the ponytail and shades.
Friday was a perfect night in my opinion. The weather was gorgeous. All my favorite folks were there. I got a chance to sit and talk to Pop Pop on the patio outside the room for a few hours, which is one of my favorite things to do. I got to hear about things from his childhood, how his parents got to America, and even a bit about his Dad who was long gone before I was ever even thought of. It turns out that Pop Pop's dad passed away just a year before he and Dolly got married back in the fifties. Like Alex, Dolly only got to meet Pop Pop's dad a few times before he passed away, and like my Dad, Pop Pop's dad was already very sick at that point. It was already special that Pop Pop is going to walk me down the aisle this time next year, but there is something comforting about the fact that he understands my loss in a very real way. I will be very proud to walk down the aisle of our church on his arm surrounded by generations worth of history. There is something very special in that.
Besides conversation and a shared funnel cake with Pop Pop. I also got the scoop on what's going on with everyone at St. E's from Mary Ellen (along with a really grusome story about Uncle Lou injuring himself for a second time this summer), stories from Mary Ann about her newly retired lifestyle, and talked to Mom Mom about getting ready for my wedding at her house. I think that made her really happy. Caught up with Sis and Barry as well, and Matt Byrne joined Barry in a whole lot of torturing Mom Mom. This year there was a whole lot of banana antics. I have to say that Matt has come a long way in feeling comfortable around the family.
Mom Mom said she wanted to make sure that she didn't eat that banana, so she said she was going to mark it so she wouldn't be confused. Barry went ahead and did it for her.
Also, I was fortunate (unfortunate?) enough to suffer not one, but several Uncle Barry attacks. This is something that happens at family dinners pretty frequently, and happened to my Dad even more than most. Barry will wait until you least expect it, come up on the side of you, and lick your face. Here's him getting my dad at Christmas in 2009.
And here's Uncle Barry attacking me in Mom Mom and Pop Pop's hotel room.
Along with catching up with everyone, I made it down to the beach where Aunt Mary Ann helped me make sure I didn't get burnt too bad. As compared with other years, I didn't do too badly. Its sort of inevitable that I miss a spot or two, so I always have some sort of bizarre pattern. This time I have spots on both my knees and one on my chest. I was even careful and got out of the sun to have lunch with Mom Mom, Pop Pop, Aunt Ellie, and Uncle Lou. All in all a very good beach day.
That evening, I had dinner with Britt, Matt, Cait, and Marcus. We played some boardwalk games and shopped a little bit. We ran into Aunt Mary Ann on the boardwalk as well and she treated us all to glass bead necklaces (which I LOVE and am wearing right now). After the boardwalk, we walked back to Pine Street and took some photos. I really like this one of Mom Mom and Pop Pop. It's not often that you can get them both looking at the camera and smiling.
And I'm thrilled to have a new one of the three of us since the most recent one I have is from three Christmases ago. The only downside is you can see my terrible sunburn, but that's okay.
You really can't help but love this family. I'm so glad to be a part of it all.
When it comes to humor, I sometimes have the sophistication of a 12-year-old boy who loves nothing more than a good, old fashioned fart joke. This is why when we saw these two establishments along Route 13 over the weekend, I of course erupted into a fit of giggles.
Okay, so I'm all for natural foods. I like organic (which after I read the name of the store, I accidentally read as "orgasmic"). I get the idea, that yes, you can get everything you need here and it's your last stop before you can go home and enjoy your fresh, delicious food.
But really? Third Base produce? The baseball metaphor automatically comes spilling into my head, and now I can't think of anything else. You know how KFC's logo is "finger-lickin good?" Well this produce is "finger-ban...". Nevermind. I'll keep it PG.
So not even 5 miles down the same road, we came across some really poor sign placement. So the Crown Motel is obviously a less than upstanding establishment (which there seem to be quite a few of on this road...my favorite is the "Dutch Inn." Whenever we pass it Alex calls it the "Dutch OV-Inn." Classy.) Well anyway, we were stopped at a red light in front of one of Route 13's many shady establishments, and we saw this.
It appears to be a short list of services offered at the motel! Honestly, I thought that stuff this unfortunate only happened in Smyrna and the rest of slower lower, but apparently we can count on New Castle to throw in a few classics every now and then as well!
So summer has rolled around and the kids are out of school, which of course means that the ice cream trucks are out in force.
I didn't believe him when he told me about it, but Jerry mentioned that someone in his Smyrna neighborhood had actually taken a traditional minivan, cut off the roof and added a piece to it so they could stand up inside, and created a makeshift ice cream truck. Classy.
So it turns out the best way to meet your neighbors is to have a power outage.
A few weeks ago, I came home after dance class with Mom and pushed the button to the garage door opener. When the garage didn't open, I pushed it about a million more times. Got out. Aimed it at the garage. Cursed. Gave up. Went inside. Realized the power was out.
So I called Delmarva Power, gave my number and address and reported the outage. Like every other company we are a customer of, they have us listed as Estelle Bordley, so I explained to the lady for the umpteenth time that Estelle has been dead since 2007 and we just happen to be the lucky ones who got her old phone number. After that, I went flashlight hunting in our basement since it was still light enough to get around. I came up with zero flashlights and one crappy bayberry scented candle.
After the hunt, I saw that Amy and Floyd were outside (which is sort of funny because I see them more than any of the other neighbors, but they don't actually live in their house yet. It's not finished, but they stop by to check in every few days). Stuck my head out and said hi. Ended up standing out there chatting. Scott from next door came over and we all stood in Kevin's driveway. Kevin came home and tried to open his garage, wondering what we were all doing in his driveway. He got out and did the aiming and cursing thing too. Frank from across the street stopped over. We met Amanda from across the way. Nancy came home and wandered by.
Kevin brought out beers, we all changed into comfy clothes, and sat around outside in lawn chairs. Eventually we ended up inside Kevin's (the only one with a grill) with the contents of everyone's fridge. And after that? A flashlight guided tour of each other's houses since we really had nothing better to do.
So, like I said before, power outage. Not a bad way to meet your neighbors! And I am excited to say that my neighbors managed to turn what would have been an annoying night of hanging out in the dark into a fun social event. I think this bodes well for the dynamic in our little neighborhood.
For those of you who haven't heard yet, my future husband has an alter ego. Starting a few months back, CK Kung Fu in Wilmington began a monthly Pro-Wrestling Showdown event and it turns out the fighters are a bunch of characters. Think WWE-style fighting — a little actual wrestling, a lot of smack talk, and ridiculous theme music. Let me tell you, the kids love it.
