My Epic Weekend In Pictures: Spring Cleaning, With A BEAR

I just want to let you know that my Epic Weekend In Pictures next week won't be posted on our web site until Tuesday late morning. You can of course always see the action as it happens in real time on my Instagram story, @steveallanradio. Thank you so much for following me!

Well this was certainly an Epic Weekend In Pictures I won't forget anytime soon. It was great to have almost a blank canvas and the freedom to roam wherever I wanted. I was originally possibly planning on going to see my family up in New England, but they talked me out of it saying there was too much driving to only be up there for 12 hours, plus I'll see them this weekend. It was better for me to have a low key weekend and start preparing for my Epic Weekend away next weekend.

Friday night was a chill night in watching the NFL Draft with a friend. I was okay with how my Patriots did in the NFL draft, even if I would have preferred drafting at least one Linebacker. Ah well. They know more than me. I'm happy for all of my Giants and Jets fan friends. It looks on paper like your teams absolutely crushed it. Then again, none of us really know, especially in early May. I wish the best of luck to all my friends and their teams, except for when they're playing against my New England Patriots. ;)

Friday night watching the Draft late night had me wound LOL. I think I didn't go to sleep until 2am, much later than my normal preferred bedtime. All good. I actually slept better, maybe it's was like that trick of trying to tire out kids and/or pets? LOL.

Saturday morning it was time to do some fun errands. Last week when my friend Kelly and I saw John Waite at Newton Theatre, John was kind to autograph lyric sheets for 'Missing You. It's on a normal piece of paper. I told Kelly that I would get both of our autographs laminated. I had it narrowed down to Staples or Michael's. When I was on the phone with Madre during my Saturday morning weekly check in phone call, I told her my big plans. She stopped me and said "wait, does Michael's actually do laminating?" I said "Madre if you don't know, I DEFINITELY don't know!" We figured that Staples did. I ended up at Staples in Riverdale on 23. This weekend was so gorgeous out (FINALLY,) that even errands were more fun when you can cruise around with your windows down and the radio cranked up. Staples in Riverdale were fantastic. Granted I didn't give them the most difficult of tasks, but they had me in and out of there within 5 mins, $6 total for the 2 autographs to laminate.

Saturday afternoon I felt like having an adult beverage outside. It was just so gorgeous, yes I could have on my deck but there's always time for that. I was out and about and wanted to enjoy seeing smiling faces from our beautiful weather weekend. I went to Penning's in Warwick off of 94. I definitely wasn't the only one with that idea. I think the line was 20-30 people deep just to get a beer. I wanted a drink outside, but not nearly that bad.

Talk about perfect timing. Right as I was getting ready to leave Penning's, my bestie Jasen called me. He was around so I could go over his place, have a glass of wine, and receive my suspenders and groomsmen gift. Jasen and Brendan gave me an awesome YETI with their and my name on it. I can't wait to use this in Punta Cana! I looked at Jasen while we were enjoying the glass of wine on his deck and said "buddy, can you believe it's going to happen one week from today?! I can't!" I am so excited and honored to be a part of their special day. Even more honored to have them as besties. They're always there for me during good times and tough times. While the past few months haven't been easy after the breakup, knowing that they're always just a text or call away and I can hang with them makes all the difference. I'm so lucky to have them.

Saturday early evening I got a text from my bestie Carrie asking if I was around. I hadn't seen her in person in quite some time. Ever have one of those deals where when your friend reaches out last minute on a whim to see if you're around, or vice-versa, and you're already somewhere else? That's been our story the past couple of months. I brought a mini charcuterie style spread of meats and mozzarella cheese. We were joking nonstop, normally Carrie has a spread on the counter when we go there, this time I delivered! I joked that by hugging her so much throughout the years I think some of her Italian ancestry was rubbing off on me literally. We had a great, quiet night in. Success. We were counting down until the wedding having so much fun.

Saturday night I then stayed in and was happily surprised to see the movie Old School end up on tv. I LOVE THAT MOVIE! Will Ferrell always has a way of making me laugh, along with Vince Vaugh and Luke / Owen Wilson lol. I always love it when my night can end on a laugh before I try going to sleep.

Sunday morning I was mission oriented lol. My main big goal was to sweep off my deck. I love my deck. It's like another living room for me during warm weather. I had other goals that were important for me to tackle earlier though.

For 7 years in a row, I started a kinda accidental tradition. I'm lucky to have some amazing single mom besties. I love getting flowers and seeing them smile. 7 years ago I didn't start out with a grand master plan, I just basically did it. Now every Mother's Day I give a bouquet of flowers to Ty and a bouquet of flowers to Carrie. Ty admitted to me that she didn't necessarily look forward to Mother's Day, until I started doing that. Well, I certainly don't need any added motivation to do something that can make Ty happy! I flew to ShopRite Of Sparta knowing they would have a decent variety of options for me. I was able to get one for Ty, one for Carrie. Then Carrie texted me back saying she was over hanging out with our friends Christine and Chris. Perfect! I got a bouquet of flowers for Christine too.

With me being in Punta Cana this weekend, I won't be able to give my friends flowers on Mother's Day. The silver lining with me being in Punta Cana Sunday after the wedding? I'll get to see my Mommy. Yep, Madre, Karen Allan, this will be the first time all 4 of us have been together in person on Mother's Day in 9 years. I can't freakin wait.

I was able to drop off the flowers whilst enjoying my trienta shaken iced green tea from Starbucks. Carrie even borrowed a sip and said "oh wow, that really is delicious!" I then went back to watch my Boston Celtics take on the Milwaukee Bucs for the first game of this playoff series. We got crushed. Once we were down by a certain amount of points, I just listened to the game through my screen door while I swept my deck. It took my probably an hour or so to sweep it. The leaves are tough enough but unfortunately my upstairs neighbors (sweet as they are,) drive me NUTS with their sunflower seeds on their deck. It all falls through to my deck. Not only is it gross and inconvenient to clean up (they really stick to everything,) it's also dangerous. I've had bears go ON my deck railings directly because they love sunflower seeds. That's why it was a high priority for me to sweep on the first nice weekend we have had in what feels like forever.

Success. Within 15 minutes of me cleaning off my deck, I had my first bear of the season walk by. The bear just kept about his business and walked right past me barely (no pun intended) looking at me. It's always amazing when you can safely see them up close as long as you have a great exit to work with just in case.

To cap off my weekend, I cooked some Cape Cod Cafe Pizza that I picked up at Price Choppers in Warwick. It's still better than anything around here SORRY. You can always feel free to prove me wrong with your recommendations, direct message me on Instagram @steveallanradio LOL.

Overall I had a fantastic prewedding weekend. The countdown is on. My first destination wedding, my first time in Punta Cana, so many new experiences that I'm excited to take on. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures!