If you’ve been following me at all on my social media accounts, you know that I’ve spent the past few days with my friend, Candace Cameron Bure! This isn’t the first time that we had met and been together face to face as I visited her in LA back in December! She came to town to attend a friend’s wedding in Cleveland, which is just one hour north of me, and also to meet some blogging friends who live near here. It was a perfect combination to get her out here! (Be sure to check out Candace’s post and pictures about her trip here!)

I picked her up from the airport Thursday afternoon and we grabbed lunch at the famous, “Melt”, and caught up. There’s nothing quite like talking with someone face to face about life versus doing it over the phone or emails! I could tell from that moment that this weekend was going to move much quicker than I preferred! Candace was super tired as she didn’t get any sleep the night before and had been traveling all day, so we went back to my house where we kind of just chilled. We decided that if we were going to do anything, we better do it then, or else both of us would be asleep by 7pm! So we freshened up and met my friend Leslie out for a bit. We were both ready for our beds by Thursday night!

Candace enjoys working out just as much as I do so we knew that would be on our schedule! We woke up Friday morning and leisurely had coffee with my husband and just chatted! I made breakfast for us and we got ready for the gym! (I work out at Malone University which is also where I teach pilates classes!) I was excited to put her through one of my strength routines and she did awesome! She is so tough–zero complaining–and went along with every silly move I did!

After the gym, we went back for a quick protein shake made with vanilla protein powder, coconut milk, frozen peaches, fresh raspberries, and chia seeds. I hadn’t decided on my dress for the wedding we were attending the next day, so we boogied to the mall, ran into Dillards and in a 40 min time span, I bought a dress and a pair of earrings. We shop really well together. There have been multiple times–both in the LA trip and the trip to Canton–that we both were literally holding up the same piece of clothing asking if each other liked it. I seriously have to chuckle at this! We have a very similar style in clothing!

After shopping, we got home and showered so we could meet up our friends for dinner at Gervasi Vineyard! Courtney (Women Living Well), Ruth (The Better Mom), and Janelle (Comfy in the Kitchen) were waiting for us as we got there! Courtney and Janelle both live within 15 minutes of my house (and we attend the same church!) Ruth drove 3 hours and stayed with Courtney so she could also join the fun! These girls all were a part of Roo–Candace’s online magazine that she had a year–so she was so excited to meet them face to face. We ate and ate, then walked around the grounds of the restaurant. Came back to my house where we just chatted about life! It was so wonderful having them in my home! (Make sure you check out Courtney’s blog post about her visit. She has some awesome pictures that I won’t be posting here!)

The girls left and Candace, Kory, and I stayed up talking. Finally at 1am we decided we needed to hit the sack, as we were rising early to workout and make our way to the wedding!

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Here is Candace with my kids. My daughter wasn’t being agreeable for a pic so Candace worked her magic, and got down to her level, cuz she’s great like that. 🙂

Kory and Candace chatted…a lot! As a matter of fact, I almost fell asleep listening to them one night! Ha! He was such a great help this weekend so that she and I could do what we did. He even got our coffees and breakfasts to go when we were running late one morning! I have an awesome man!

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It was a rough Saturday morning wake up as neither of us got enough sleep, but we gutted it out and made our way to the McKinley Monument–one of my favorite places to workout in my city! We did a quick, but effective 25 minute workout with the stairs and some bodyweight exercises (decline push ups, tricep dips, step ups, reptiles). We made our way home to shower up and head to Cleveland for the wedding!

The wedding was just GORGEOUS! The weather couldn’t have been better and the bride and groom (Megan and Mike) were just glowing. I felt so privileged to be part of their special day as Candace’s date! We had some time in between the ceremony and reception, so she and I went to lunch and walked around downtown Cleveland a bit. It was fun to see the people around Cleveland and Canton realize she was in town. The twitter feed was fun!

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the reception. We danced (and ate!) the night away! We couldn’t hit our beds quick enough, even though we laid there and chatted for a while. What can you say–girlfriends can talk forever, right?!

I had to post this dress! Killer deal at Dillards–70% off a BCBG!

Ahem. We weren’t hungry or anything post -wedding….

Sadly, Sunday morning came and we had to make our way to  the airport to get her home. I knew the time would fly and man, was I right! We were already talking about our next big excursion (or when I can get discounted tix to LA!) to visit. These bi-annual visits aren’t cutting it for our friendship! We truly do connect on all levels and I see God’s hand through and through our friendship. It’s rare to find someone who “gets you” on all levels.

Would you join me in praying for her when you see her on tv or social media? God has placed her in a unique place in the world, being the hands and feet of Jesus to people who you and I would NEVER get a chance to minister to! She has a Hallmark movie coming out in December, and then her next book coming out January 1st, 2014! So much to be lifting her up for and I KNOW without a doubt, she cherishes all your prayers!