Ash's Bachelorette Weekend!

BACHELORETTE WEEKEND....ALREADY?

Not mine, of course, but one of my bridesmaid's!  Ash is getting married about a month and a half before me, and I am honored to be standing by her on HER big day coming up June 4th! It's just about 2 months out...I KNOW...CRAZY TALK...and we thought it was a very appropriate time to celebrate HER and her last few months before she becomes a MRS!

Friday morning, I met up with 2 of the other bridesmaids and we carpooled down to Ft. Lauderdale for a wonderful weekend getaway with the girls!  Ash knew what city we were going to and what weekend, but that was IT! She had no idea about any of the details, and boyyyyyy was she in for a surprise! :-D

We all arrived about the same time, but we tried to stall Ash as much as possible so we could decorate her room.  We had about 30 minutes to spare, so we were rushing to get everything perfect.

WELCOME to Ash's Bachelorette Party Weekend! <3

Come on out and enjoy the view....

The Atlantic Resort & Spa - view from our balcony...such a great hotel!

As Ash arrived, she was truly surprised and had no idea where we were going to be staying!  I have to say this hotel was on the nicer end, and we truly felt like we were "getting away" the moment we stepped inside.  Immediately, we went downstairs and enjoyed Happy Hour to kick the weekend off right, and we became instant friends with one of the Hotel workers, Jeffrey.  He was a "cutie patootie" as some of the girls put it, and helped us with suggestions of what to do and where to go!  After unwinding for a little bit, it was time to get ready to go out in our "Ashley's Heartbreaker's" Bachelorette T-shirts!  Another bridesmaid coordinated theses bad boys, as well as matching koozies with our names on them - simply adorable.  Unfortuately, both Ash's "Future Mrs." koozie and my camera did NOT make it through the weekend...so I don't really have a good picture of them, so bare with me! :( (I stole all of these pics from Facebook, so thanks girls for posting them!)

HM, Ash, and Me.  Besties since high school! <3

Bachelorette Party Koozies!

Ready for Night 1 on the town!

There we were, all ready to go with scavenger hunt cards in hand...ready to make sure Ash had an amazing weekend!  For the most part, this night was fun and under control, and she got a lot of points racked up! :)   

Bachelorette Weekend Fail 1: Ash's "Future Mrs." koozie disappears! One minute it was in Britt's purse and the next it's not.  Throughout the entire weekend we kept "missing" stuff and we think there was someone following us around waiting to take something each time we aren't looking!

 

The other bridesmaid spent at least 30-45 minutes looking for the beloved koozie, but didn't have any luck.  This brought us to back to the hotel, sad, but still ready to have a great weekend!  Day 2 arrives and we are all excited to go out to brunch!  We ate at a great crepe place called Un Bonne Crepe and we couldn't stop saying "HOLY CREPE" when we saw the size of these things! (Again I had a picture of this...but obviously can't upload it!) :( I guess you can use your imagination on this one...

Next on the list? BEACH TIME!!!! It felt SO good to finally catch some rays and take a load off.  I have to say it's always interesting going to the beach with a big group of girls because you never know what kind of  people will walk up to you.  Well, I have to say the guy that chose to say hello to us on this trip certainly boggles my mind the most...picture an extremely dark complexion, swimtrunks down to his knees, and boxers that literally say "COUNTY JAIL" on the bottom of them, and that's our guy.  He chose to use the opening line of "Hey, do you watch 90210?" and I knew from then on he was going to be a joke.  Man...that was funny.

Beaching it with the ladies!

So the BIG NIGHT was finally here! We packed up our stuff and went upstairs to get ready for Ash's NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN!!!! She had no idea what was in store for her, and I know she definitely had a good time!  We started out with dinner reservations at a great Hawaiin/Polynesian restaurant called Mai Kai. It was SO good I want to go back!  Not only was the food fantastic, but the restaurant was really cool...it looked like we were actually in Hawaii and during the middle of dinner we were entertained by a 45 minute hula and belly dancing show!  Of course, at the end they called Ash up on stage and she got to shake her money maker for everyone...YAY!  Stuffed, giddy, and ready to move on to our next destination, we all piled back to the hotel to drop our cars off and head to the real show!

Ready to celebrate a FUN NIGHT OUT with our favorite Bride!

GREAT dinner & show @ Mai Kai!

Let's just say, Ash really put her dancing skills to the test during this outing, and we ALL had a fantastic time!  By the end of the night, I was proud to say that my friend had completed almost every single check off of the real Bachelorette Scavenger Hunt we gave her.  She was such a great sport about everything we did and proved to be a true champion. 

Bachelortte Weekend Fail 2: HM lost her iPhone either on a taxi ride or inside of a club.  We are thinking it was at our "VIP" area, and once again it was there one minute and gone the next.  We were really beginning to think someone (or a klepto!) was following us!

After a few more stops, we headed to an Irish pub and was entertained by a live band that played great music!  We had so much fun - singing and dancing and taking a bazillion pictures.  And, what do you know...Jeffrey showed up!  I know he was feeling pretty good being surrounded by 7 beautiful ladies.  It was this point of the night that I was finally pleased with the amount of photos I took and knew I would have TONS to share with you all when I got home.  I put "the brick" down (as we all named her...she's a little on the bigger side but takes really clear pictures!) for 2 seconds and before I knew it...she was GONE!!! UGH!!!!! REALLY?!?!? WHO steals a camera? And as Jeff said "who goes for the brick when there are plenty of smaller cameras on the table next to it?" :(  

 Bachelorette Weekend Fail 3: R.I.P "the brick" camera!!!! It figures that as timing would have it, I am just going to keep having random extra expenses come up this year, of all years.  I was so sad to report to Mr. Hess that our beloved cam was gone, including over 2,000 pictures on our memory card! It still makes me sick to think about how much $$$ I really just lost...UGH klepto person, I think we've had enough already!

Despite our losses, we are STILL having FUN! :)

Even though we had to get through 3 Bachelorette Weekend Fails, we all had an amazing time! I love getting away anytime, but I especially love getting away as a Bridal Party and getting to know the other girls that will be next to Ash on her BIG DAY!  She has some sweet friends, and we all got along really well.  Her Bridal Shower is only a little over a week away, and I'm sure that will be just as nice of a day getaway.  

LOVE YOU ASH! I'm so glad I got to celebrate your "Final Fling before the RING!" I'm also so happy that we get to celebrate such a great event in our lives together!  You are such a great friend, and I can't wait to be your bridesmaid in just under 2 months from now....BFFAEAEAE! (8th grade flashback, ha!)

Love, Clothes, and CHI Straighteners,

Presh