Graduation Weekend

Today I am linking up with my fabulous friend Kathe to share my story of my daughters graduation. Come join in. The rules are, there are no rules! Anything you LOVE, post it!
Check out her link.

For those of you who follow my blog, you know my daughter graduated this weekend.  She graduated from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. Google it. The campus is incredible. It is surrounded by the ocean and mansions. It is probably one of the prettiest schools I have ever seen.

The school is about an hour and a half away from us. We had to be at the ceremony at 9:15 am on Sunday morning so we decided to go early Saturday afternoon and enjoy Newport. We were taking my daughter and her "friend" to dinner. I really wish we were better planners because it was the most beautiful weekend. We should have gone on Friday.

Usually when the weather will be in the 80s at my house, that means it will be about 65 in Newport. It is right on the water. That was not the case this weekend, it was in the 80s on Saturday even in Newport.

We had the sun roof open on the way there and I got a little tan. The sun was that strong.
We Checked into our hotel and just dropped off our bags. We wanted to walk around in the downtown area.

My daughter was on the fence about going to the Baccalaureate Mass. She went to a  catholic college so the Baccalaureate Mass is a must to receive your hood. I told her to just go and we would meet up with her later.

We did a little shopping. I wasn't really in the mood.  I got a few cute baubles and I was satisfied. They have some great little shops there. I always like to look for the unusual and you can usually find that in Newport.

I had my fill of shopping and I wanted to go have a drink (I know, shocker). I wanted to go to the outdoor bar in the middle of the wharf that we had been to the last time we were there. A little back story here, the last time we were there it was pouring rain. We were at an outdoor bar and it had a roof. We had the best time. Picture a bunch of people stuck there because they didn't want to get soaked. The camaraderie was great. We were in the middle of a downpour, outside, at a picturesque wharf, drinking and staying dry.

We got to the bar and it was full. They let us sit at a table right next to the boat slip. It was really crowded and the service wasn't great but it was so beautiful out that we didn't mind.

My handsome husband getting his tan on.

Me before Cosmo's

Me after a Cosmo. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

We had a few drinks then made our way to the little Italian restaurant we were going to.
My daughter and her "friend" were a little late. The mass went longer than expected.
We ordered appetizers. The appetizers were so good. I knew we were in for a good meal if this was the preview. I was wrong. The portions were very small and not to toot my own horn, but I am a better Italian cook.
We finished dinner and walked down to my daughters favorite bar and had a drink and called it a night.

My daughter and her "friend"

When we woke up the next day, we were exhausted. I gave my husband half of my energy shot. We didn't have a lot of time to sit around and drink coffee.
We had to go pick up flowers and ended up running a little late. My daughters "friend" actually thought he had to redeem himself for being late the night before (he didn't, we barely noticed) and he got there early and saved the seats thankfully. I also want to add that he is the nicest young man . You can tell he was raised properly.

I do want to add that in all of the years they have had graduation ceremonies, you would think they would have a better set up. The seating was horrible. Unless you were in the first few rows, you couldn't see a thing.

This is the view from about 8 feet up in the air, thanks to my daughters "friend" being 6'8 and holding the camera above his head.

The woman my daughter has been babysitting for from the time she was old enough, who lives a few houses over,  drove down just to see her graduate. She left right after the ceremony. She said she wouldn't have missed it. I thought that was so sweet. My other neighbor also sent her a text congratulating her and telling her she was proud of her and she put something in the mailbox for her. I do have a few good neighbors.

My parents made it just in time (2 hours into the ceremony) because they were driving around lost for 3 hours. My daughters name still wasn't called 2 hours in, so they got to see her receive her diploma.  A little side note here, they followed us out to the highway on the way home so they wouldn't get lost again. I insisted. They needed to stop and get gas. We pulled into the gas station and my mom pulled up to the pump on the wrong side and my dad walked around the car for about 15 minutes trying to figure it out. My husband and I were waiting patiently and pulled out a bag of chips and started snacking and wishing it was popcorn to enjoy the show. How these people function day to day is beyond me. We took them out to the highway then took off.  My mom still hasn't told me if she got lost again or what time she got home.

My dad, the graduate and my mom

My mom was chomping at the bit to have her picture taken with my daughters "friend". She LOVED him and kept saying he looked like a movie star. I think she was actually flirting with him and being the gentleman he is, he played right along.

We ended up leaving our seats before my daughters name was called to get a better view from somewhere else. We ended up with a great view and being able to go down and take pictures when she got her diploma.

We lined the walkway and were right in front to see the graduates walk out. I have to tell you, my husband was out of control with his comments. There was a woman walking in the middle of the walkway (you weren't supposed to) with a big hat on. My husband said "look at that dolly, look at the hat, The Kentucky Derby was last week honey".  If you know my husband, this is not him. Sure he is sarcastic, but he saves it for private. This went on and on, he had the two little old ladies next to us cracking up. I am blaming the energy shot. It did something to him. He is now banned from energy shots, at least if he will be out in public.

All in all, it was a beautiful ceremony. I was overwhelmed with pride in my daughter. She worked very hard these past four years. I am wondering how long it will take her to decompress.
She will be back home today or tomorrow. She had to finish cleaning out her apartment.
I hope she is as excited to be home as I am to have her back home, at least until her next chapter unfolds.

My daughter and her roommates.

I am one proud mother!

Just as I am about to finish this post I received a text from my daughter. "S" just asked her to be his girlfriend and she said yes. So take out the "friend" parts in this post and insert "boyfriend" I am too lazy.

The happy couple