Surprise Ben!! You're 30!

Ben's birthday weekend was full of excitement. We had our 4th annual BYOP party and later I had a surprise party planned for him that included racing RC cars. I was able to rent a room in our church, then Ben's good friend, Patrick, built a race track out of PVC pipes, including ramps and all. About 15 of our friends were there to surprise him. Even Devin and Marlena were up from Nashville for the weekend and were able to participate!Ben was definitely surprised and grateful for the friends who came. After the party, we headed to our landlord's house to have carrot cake and watch the UFC fight.

BYOP 2008

We held our 4th annual BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) event again at Kelly Park in Wheaton. This park is right down the road from our house and includes plenty of space for football, carving pumpkins, basketball and even has a really nice children's playground. It's the perfect setup for our party.There was a great turnout this year. Unfortunately, some people already left before I remembered to take a group photo (the one above wasn't the best photo, but I like the candid shot, especially Marlena's face). The weather was polar opposite of last year. Last year we were in short sleeves and shorts. This year, we couldn't bundle ourselves up more! It was COLD! Nonetheless, everyone had a good time and it was fun being able to have it on Ben's 30th birthday. Little did Ben know, though, that I had plans for him later that night with some more friends!

Click here to see more BYOP 2008 photos.

Check out some of the food I served on my food blog here.

Happy 30th Birthday, Ben!

Ben's 30! Below is a slideshow of Ben in the last year. Since he allowed me to go to the NKOTB concert on the eve of his 30th birthday, I thought it was only fitting that NKOTB sing him a birthday song to the slideshow... :)

Happy birthday, Sweetie! I love you!!

NKOTB! Reliving the Past...

When I heard that New Kids on the Block was reuniting and touring again, I immediately emailed my girlfriends and asked who was dying to go see these five, once young and hot, guys get back on stage and relive a 13 year old dream once again with me! It didn't take long for the gals to respond. A few didn't think paying $75 was worth seeing them, some said they were the ones who grew up making fun of NKOTB, others stated they would love to go, but just couldn't make it to Chicago, but...then...finally, responses from the ones who were just as excited as me! There were five others who were giddy and would pay whatever price to see these hunks try to dance across centerstage again, singing in their falsetto voices, making the ladies swoon.

And swoon we did... We couldn't have even imagined how great of a concert this turned out to be! I've never been in a place where there were so many women in their 30s (soccer moms, if you will) screaming at the top of their lungs, dressed in their 90s gear and dancing like 1999 hadn't even happened yet.I've been to many concerts, and I'm not ashamed to say that this was the best of them all. Maybe it was the hype from reliving a childhood dream, or maybe it was because the not so new "men" on the block could actually put on a great show!
Yup, that's Donnie.

It was fabulous because they sang all of their old popular songs (which weren't many to begin with) and then they did quite a few of their new songs from their new album. And, I have to say, I'm hooked on the new album.

My five girlfriends and I wore t-shirts that said "Team Joey" or "Team Donnie", etc., depending on who our *crush* was back in the day. Marlena wore crazy eye shadow and tied her shirt like we did in the 90s. I wore torn jeans, like Donnie did when the group was first together. Other women there also wore 90s clothes, big NKOTB buttons, big bangs, and shirts that said "Before Justin, there was Jordan". Loved it!
Call me crazy...call me nerdy...call me what you want. But, this NKOTB experience will never be forgotten.

Wisconsin Apple Picking & Golf

Last weekend Ben's parents were in town, so we drove up to Wisconsin to also see Joel & Dana (Ben's brother and sister-in-law). Friday night we spent the night in Madison and "da boys" went hunting in the morning.Our friends, Pat and Jessica, came up on Saturday afternoon. The guys headed on out to hit some golf balls while the gals went apple picking at an orchard called Epelgaarden.We spent Saturday night at the House on the Rock Resort, then the gals visited the House on the Rock Museum (you can see it sticking out in the trees below) while the guys went golfing.
The trees and fall colors made for a beautiful drive!