Shannon’s World

at least for the Pizza Express stores in Indianapolis and West Lafayette.  Betsy and I drove to Indy on Friday to attend a shower and bachelorette party for Courtney Grimme.  We didn’t manage to find the time to get breadsticks while in Indy, but on Sunday we stopped at the Pizza Express in West Lafayette.  We arrived at Pizza Express about 15 minutes before the ovens were hot and ready (around 10:45 am) so we started talking to a few employees.  I asked where were the signature plastic cups?  It turns out the stores in the Northern half of Indiana are changing their names from Pizza Express to Hot Box Pizza . . .interesting.  Bloomington does not seem to be affected by this name change.  Apparently you can’t trademark Pizza Express because any pizza place can claim to have express pizza.  Regardless of the name, the breadsticks are the same.  Betsy enjoyed hers with cheese sauce and I had ranch sauce with mine - yum!!

This past weekend Mike and I attended JT and Meredith’s wedding in Columbus, OH.  We had a great time celebrating and seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while (Mike’s frat brothers and their wives/girlfriends).

The place card and favor at the wedding was Paul Robinett candles.  I was not familiar with his candles, but Meredith shared that they are made in Columbus and have been in the Academy Awards presenter baskets for the past 3 years.  Neato!  Meredith and JT gave their guests Hawaiian Wedding Flower scent - very appropriate.  They’re probably on the beach in Hawaii right now!

The girls and I enjoyed a night of true girly-ness, attending the Bon Jovi concert with 55,000 of our closest friends last Friday night.  What can I say?  The man is almost perfect - he’s hot, he can sing, he’s charitable.  But he does have one fault - he can’t dance.  As Carolyn put it, there were times when it looked like he was doing jazzercise up on stage!  Regardless, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed.

The concert was a great show.  Bon Jovi started at 8:30 on the dot and did not stop until after 11 pm.  He played all his hit songs from over the years and a great time was had by all.  I am really impressed with Jon and the band - they’ve been able to change and adapt their styles and looks from the 80s hair band days to the present and their style ranges from rock and roll to balads to country.

Ok, I will stop gushing . . .

Nathan finally published a sample album from my good friend Laurie’s wedding.  Nathan and I traveled there at the end of June to shoot her rehearsal and wedding.  You can view the album on Nathan’s blog.

A while back my dashboard (to the left) indicated I was making necklaces for Laurie’s bridesmaids. Laurie picked out some beads that she liked (stick pearls, peals, crystal) and I made about 4 - 5 different necklaces for her to choose from. Laurie picked a pearl and crystal floating necklace that looked great with the bridesmaid’s dresses.

Nathan photographed (I assisted) Laurie and Brent’s wedding a few weeks ago. I am hoping he’ll post some pics on his blog soon! It was a great wedding, set on the water, north of Boston - I have no doubt the pics will be great!

I’ve been in New England for over a week now visiting with family, going to weddings and working. Today, Mike and I are heading up to Maine for a week of R&R with his family. We will also celebrate his Grandmother’s life at a cocktail party and memorial. My parents who have also been all over New England this past week are going to visit the Barron family cabin for a few days.

I am looking forward to the lobster, the lazy days and fun with the nieces and nephews!

I am very excited about a movie that is coming out in the fall: The Guardian staring Kevin Kostner and Ashton Kutcher. For those of you that have seen the Devil Wears Prada or Pirates of the Carribean this holiday week (like me), you’ve already seen the trailer. If you haven’t, you can view it here.

A funny story about the movie - Ashton Kutcher (and Kevin Costner) play Coast Guard rescue swimmers. My Dad said when Ashton showed up to begin training with the Coast Guard crew, he didn’t know how to swim! By then end of the training Ashton became quite a good swimmer.

For those of you that know my family, the helicopter in the background of the poster is the one my brother flies.