the last of the beach pics (m&m 2010)

You can see the others here, here, or here.

It’s been 5 days since we got back from our over night trip to the beach and I am still finding sand in my purse, car, backpack and clothes. I just wanna be there sitting on the beach with Mandy RIGHT NOW!!!

Of course I took about a million pictures in the 24 hours we were there. I still giggle as I look back through them, deciding what to share. I think I will just go with classic beach goodness.

dangerous for the camera!

bright bright sun.

beautiful sun set…

and of course, no beach trip is complete without this…

As much as I am glad there is coolness in the air, football on the tv and Halloween and Thanksgiving around the corner, I CAN NOT wait to get back to the beach next year!

-m

beach creatures and a bag of sand (m&m2010)

We thought this little guy was dead…

I snagged this shot out of complete luck… right before he ran one direction and Mandy went running (squealing) in the other… he wasn’t dead btw.

We were pretty sure this one REALLY was dead…

but we took no chances* (jelly fish are less jelly than you would think. They should probably be called rubberfish.)*there were no jellyfish harmed in the making of this picture, promise.

Somthing used to live in there…

I am pretty sure this was a fish at some point. I think we saw it’s head floating around later. Crabby Mccrabberson up there probably helped nom on this…

and this is Mandy taking some sand home to her honey. All we had was a chick-fil-a bag. We work with what we have people!

prettier, less dead pictures later!
-m

m&m day(s) 2010

A little more than a month ago, my friend Mandy and I celebrated m&m day 2010. We talked about all the different ways we should celebrate m&m day in the future. Cruises, beach trips, Vegas, etc.

All summer I have been dying to put my toes in the sand. I had a beach trip planned earlier this year, but due to the ending of my last relationship, I had to cancel it. I called Mandy and said “hey, let’s go to the beach.” She said “hell yes”. Mandy works at a bar here in town and is only off on Monday and Tuesdays. I spent some time on the interwebz and booked a room for monday night. That’s right, we drove down for ONE night.

It was totally worth it.

We had a blast on the drive down. Neither one of us shut up the entire time. By the time we got to the Gulf Shores Parkway exit on 65 south, we were giddy. Numerous people laughed at us in the BP parking lot, while we “shook it like a Polaroid picture.” That’s the kind of fun I have with this girl.

I grabbed this shot when were about 3 miles from the ocean :

We got to the hotel a little too early, and after dealing with the bitchy girl at the counter, we headed straight for the beach. The moment our toes hit the sad, all of the worries in the world went away. When our feet were in the ocean, we both took a deep breath and let all the craziness in our lives wash away with the waves. Then we plopped our asses in the sand for a little bit.

I have 70+ photos from this trip that I love big bunches. Here are some of my favorite of the details.
I am sure I will be back to show you some more as the week goes on. Though this one taken with my iphone hipstamatic app sums up the feeling of the whole trip.

here are some of the simple shots that I love plus one of me and Mandy lovin the beach.

this one is postcard material…

This trip was aaaaaamazing….

-m

m&m day(s) 2010 preview

This sums the whole 24 hours at the beach in one picture…

more tomorrow!

-m

it’s 5 o’clock somewhere (at the beach)

And me and this girl currently have our toes in the sand, drinking beer.

Be back later this week to tell you about our 1 night trip to the beach…

-m

left over beach pics

I have so many pictures from our most recent beach adventure that I could probably post blogs for weeks about it!

I think this one will include cute dog pictures. Susanna and Logan brought their 90+lb 1-year-old lab to the beach. It must have been Yellow Lab weekend in Perdido Key, because Campbell made plenty of friends. Be ready to say AWWWWWW…..

Campbell and Charlie: Campbell is a year old, Charlie is 12 years old. She was not a fan of the puppy energy, but she did enjoy the company I think!

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854426070_CnNwJ-L.jpg

Hayden (and someone’s goggles!): Hayden is only a couple months old. I met Campbell when he was the same age… he was never that small!!

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854428172_zS6qY-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854428126_qYgGB-L.jpg

Campbell and Daddy: see… told you  that you would say awwww….

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854426343_GyzmN-L.jpg

Campbell LOVED the ball:

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854428153_BCMRj-L.jpg

How about some hermit crabs…

I had never seen hermit crabs in the wild til coming to this patch of sand… this one was HUGE!

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854427570_cHJNb-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/854427550_wpwy4-L.jpg

OK…  I think I might be done posting beach related pictures!

-m

a day to celebrate!

DAY 30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made it. 30 days of blogging. Woo-Hoo. And this is my 100th post!! (crazy how that worked out)

(imagine balloons and confetti falling from the sky!)

and to reward you for faithfully cheering me on…

Pictures of… ME!!!!!!! (and a couple of Wayne)

Haha! While at the beach, the condo had these great huge windows which gave me awesome natural light. I took a great picture of Wayne and the he played paparazzi with me. I have to say… one is kinda inappropriate, but it makes me giggle.

Wayne (and Campbell behind):

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852073247_WnGCV-L.jpg

Wayne (on the beach):

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852073215_kWhev-L.jpg

and ME!:

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852073297_tXFU7-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852073342_6ErWF-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852073402_Pwida-L.jpg

-m

p.s.

I will probably take a mini break from blogging for a minute. (It won’t last long… I have too much I wanna share!) I have a lot of photo editing and organizing I need to get done, a birthday album to complete, beer to drink, Netflix to catch up on, books to read and softball games to attend, but I will be back. Sooner than later.

my beach buddy

I met Susanna in early 2004. We both ended up at the same CVS and became fast friends. We had only known each other a  month or 2 when she wanted to go to the beach for her birthday…  so I went with her. (I DO NOT pass up a trip to the beach! Don’t invite me unless you really want me to go!) We had a fantastic time hanging out, getting to know each other and planning a para sailing adventure. Instead I ended up renting a car and driving from the pan handle to Birmingham then on to Arkansas the next day. Long story short, my ailing Granny had passed away and I had to book it home to be with my ailing mom and help with arrangements.

Almost every year since (maybe EVERY year since?) Susanna and I have had some kind of  sand time.  I have a ton of funny stories of our trips… Once we added husbands and boyfriends and other friends to the mix it got even funnier. We have had melted ice cream birthday cakes, “slap your momma” tuna dip, beach weddings, too much wine, 3 hour-long UNO games… but always a good time.

For our most recent beach trip, Wayne and I headed down to Perdido Key this past weekend to join Susanna, Logan and Campbell for her birthday weekend. The weather sucked, but we got some shopping done and enjoyed a little bit of sun. I had the chance to take a million and three pictures of Campbell, but I also managed to get a few nice ones of them too.

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852066965_CEY3Z-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852066929_K6XgC-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852067037_mJpum-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/852067130_rZKbg-L.jpg

I am so thankful for my friendship with Susanna. Everyday we manage to steal a few minutes at work to catch up, bitch, moan, groan, laugh, be each other’s life coach, etc. There is definitely a reason she was put in my life when she was. Through my Granny’s death in 2004, my moms sickness and death in 2005, separation and divorce in 2008, (and a million other small things she has helped me through) Susanna has been an incredible friend. And I love her!

Hey Susanna… When are we going back to the beach!?

-m

row row row your boat

I am on day 27 of blogging every day. 3 more days and I am done with a little goal I set for myself. I wanted there to be more writing to go along with the pictures I have posted, but some days it was all I could do to post a few pictures with a little back story. In the weeks to follow I hope to come up with more words, more stories, more laughs. I am pretty sure I have them somewhere in my brain. Right now I am just a little brain-dead, and the stories are silenced somewhere! Work has been busy this month, the kid started softball, and I have been sick more often than not. We are almost done with April and I have missed most of the days in it!

While at the beach this weekend we stayed on a waterway, not directly on the beach. It was nice to not have to fight the waves or other people while relaxing by the water. We also got to see several varieties of boats come through. small speed boats to huge barges being pushed by tug boats. I was lucky enough to get a few shots of some. I really loved one of the sail boats that came through, but wasn’t able to get a good shot. (I was too busy snapping cute puppy pictures!)

Here are the 3 I snagged:

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/848979562_aCK7Z-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/848979512_Qw9Z5-L.jpg

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/848979599_W6tpZ-L.jpg

(Of course the Shrimp boat brought on the “Forrest Gump” conversation about the different types of shrimp. And made me want to watch the movie again a million more times! All shrimp boats should be named “jenny”)

-m

a short review of the beach weekend

We spent the weekend with Susanna and Logan in Perdido Key. We drove down Friday night leaving beautiful weather into rainy, cloudy ick at the beach!

So, Friday and Saturday we had this….

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/847718079_mU4dx-L.jpg

On Saturday, the boys headed to FloraBama for the 26th annual Mullet Toss and Susanna and I headed to the outlets to get our shopping on.The rain deterred out beach play and put a dent in my checking account!

We had to head home today, but woke up to this…

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/847718134_wcmsD-L.jpg

Fortunately we didn’t have to rush home, so we were able to spend several hours baking in the sun. (Wayne is a lobster right now!)

Let me tell you, I took 500+ pictures and most of them were of this guy… meet Campbell.

http://melissagay.smugmug.com/photos/847718371_iTWTt-L.jpg

There will be plenty more for me to share throughout the week!

-m