Meeting the Bachelor

So something pretty cool happened earlier this week. Remember this famous "bachelor"?

Ben Flajnik

Well he just so happened to drop into my hometown to do a wine tasting/signing at one of my favorite stores. Of course, I had to get myself out of work in order to get a little meet and greet with Mr. Flajnik and it was worth it. Overall, it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be... I expected long lines for some reason. But it turned out perfectly since I got to learn more about their wines and the business that comes with it. I absolutely love learning about different winerys as well as getting to taste new wines. Win-win.

The best part? I got to walk away with a signed bottle of their Epilogue Chardonnay. I love when random things like this happen... especially on a weekday. So defintely keep a eye on your local stores to see if his signing tour will be rolling into your town!

Has anyone else had a run in with a reality star? I want to know about it!

Come Have A Ball! Party

Well it looks like my little blog hiatus is officially finished. I apologize for the lack of blog posts the last few months, but I needed to take a break from the constant updates and hours spent online in order to get a few DIY projects and party ideas completed. Now I am logged back on and ready to share what I have been up too. (Also, I was peer-pressured by one of my girlfriends to get this baby going again… cough, Kate, cough.)

So why not start with the fact that my “little” brother graduated a week ago. Yeah I can still call him little even though he’s 6’4”and 200 lbs, right? But he is the baby of the family and the last one to graduate high school, so of course I have been living vicarously through him and started planning his graduation party.

My brother played three varsity sports - football, baseball, and basketball - throughout high school and most of his life. Since my family has spent a majority of our lives sitting in the stands of stadiums, ball fields, and gymnasiums, I thought the best idea was to do a sports theme. So here is how it turned out:

My favorite feature of the party - The Candy Bar a.k.a The Concession Stand

All of his favorite candies - Hot Tomales, Sour Patch Kids, Laffy Taffy, etc.

Getcha Popcorn!

Now onto the food... We had two options to choose from for lunch, either BBQ pulled pork sandwiches or...

Build Your Own Hot Dog!

Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to find the idea over on Hostess with the Mostess blog and use her free hot dog menu templates. It was a huge hit and everyone liked how they could try new combinations instead of your typical ketchup, mustard, and relish combo.
After creating your hotdog masterpiece it was off to round up some sides. This is where I got to use all my sports related serving trays and bowls.
{Yes, those blue things are Jell-O Jigglers football helmets. Told you I went all out on this theme, ladies.}

My favorite serving tray... its a referee uniform. Love it!

Here you will get to see the final project of my cupcake dessert table. Be expecting a post on this experience alone. It was quite the endevor to get 150 cupcakes baked and decorated. I had three different kinds for each of the three different sports.

Football Cupcakes = Chocolate on Chocolate
Basketball Cupcakes = Funfetti with Vanilla Frosting (dyed orange)
Baseball Cupcakes = Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Safe to say he was this excited on his graduation day and during his party. Looks like all the hard work really paid off! Thank goodness...

Anyone else have a themed grad party or attended one lately that they loved? I want to know.

My Golf Basket.

The last two days have been surprisingly sunny and warm up here in Michigan... we lost the 2 feet of snow we got hit with last Saturday and it already feels like Spring. With warm weather comes my obsession to planning out my summer and thinking about what to do on my weekends off of work.

Well...a few weeks ago, I went to silent auction with my parents and boyfriend that benefits our alma mater high school's athletic program. Almost instantly I was drawn towards the "golf table" which had every golf course in Michigan up for auction as well as a brand new golf bag. Now, I have a bucketlist that I fully believe in completing and playing a game of golf on all the courses located up here have made the list so when I read, "Golf on The Jewel located on Mackinac Island," I died.

Auction Golf Basket

I continued to read as it mentioned "4 tickets aboard the Arnold Ferry to reach the Island. 4 person tee time. 18 holes of golf. Golf carts included and transportation between the Grand nine and Woods nine is riding in a specially-designed horse-drawn carriage." I quickly pictured myself there:

LIKE WHAT? Seriously, it looks like the most romantic thing I have ever heard. I quickly wrote down a bet of $100 and ran away to find the boy. Of course, he is at the bar and after a FEW drinks we decide that between the two of us we would only bet up to $300. (I started looking up prices on my iPhone... this trip is worth $610 easily.) So an hour later, I had competition and had to bump my bet to $250. I was a nervous wreck... however, it was all worth it. I WON! For $250 dollars I get a romantic gateway on the most beautiful island I know, while getting to golf on a course I never thought I would be able to play on. Plus we will be staying in this room:

Crazy, huh? So now I am looking up golf outfits, especially since the boy and I will be matching no matter what! Ohh, and I need cute outfits for riding a bike since there are no cars on the island. Only bikes and horse drawn carriages. So check out my blog post tomorrow since it will be full of outfits for that. I swear I am going crazy! I cannot wait until July when we go.

Anyone else ever been to Mackinac Island between the two penisulas of Michigan? If you have any golf trips or outfit ideas, let me know. I need to make this trip truely memorable!

Lazy Is In The Forecast.

Turns out we are supposed to get 10 to 15 inches of snow up here in Northern Michigan today. This always happens…we get hit with a March storm. Little does this snow know, however, that I am fully prepared to enjoy it. Yes you read that right. I know I happen to be the queen of complaining about how snow ruins my plans but I have accepted that since there isn’t a weekend agenda that in turn I can just kick back, snuggle up, and relax. I am already making a list of “can goods” (aka beer, for the boy) and in my case some bottles of wine to make it through the hard times ahead. Haha! Other than that, I plan to go to the bar literally across the street from my boyfriend’s house for some late night entertainment later though.

I would want us to look like this:

But I know this will be what we will end up looking like (picture one girl as a guy):

Most of all, I am just excited to spend Saturday morning like this:

I also want to make hot chocolate and spend the afternoon catching up on TV shows and movies. Nothing is better than lazy days with the boy. Here’s part of the line up:

Nothing like scary movies chased with completely girlie shows. The boy will watch literally anything and probably like it, so its the perfect combination.

The snow will not defeat me. I definitely need a little downtime and thankfully the weather is allowing me to just say “Well I am kind of stuck indoors, so I might as well…do nothing."

What are you plans this weekend? Anyone else feeling like staying in and being lazy is in their forecast/agenda? I want to know!

Pinky Promises Do Come True.

Here's a few things I am loving on this snowy, Michigan morning:

Last night was Date Night! This included finally getting to see "The Vow" with the boy. I know I am behind the times (I originally wanted to see it on Valentine's Day but he had other plans), but I couldn't agree more with all the reviews... it was amazing. I cried from beginning to end and thank goodness, the boy was there to squeeze my hand as I watched. Go see this movie! Mike and I couldn't stop obsessing with how great Rachel and Channing played their characters... Perfection.

The text message leading up to watching this movie is one of my favorites, I made him pinky promise we would see it. Hey I am not taking any chances!

Yeah, we are losers... Other than that, I also did a little shopping on Etsy yesterday for new artwork... Purchased this card which I will be framing as soon as it arrives. How cute?

If anyone has some favorite prints or know of a great Etsy shop let me know!! I need fun pieces because in a few weeks I will be getting my own place and there will be plenty of decorating needed to be done.

This weekend we are going to finish the project I have been working procrastinating on for the past 2 months. Painting and organizing my family's back porch/laundry room. Thanks to plenty of Pinterest inspiration, I will be in charge of making sure it ends up looking like this:

...while the boyfriend, who is a professional painter (thank goodness), will make sure it is painted beautifully! Cannot wait to see him work his magic.

Swoon! There will be more on this later.... it will get its own post since it's going to entail a ton of hard work and probably really good stories. I cannot wait to do a little DIY project with the boy... bonding time!

Anyone else planning on getting their hands dirty this weekend with a little DIY project? What are your weekend plans, I'd love to know!

Retro Style.

This weekend definitely kicked my butt. The boyfriend was out of town for 3 entire days, but luckily I have great friends to keep me distracted in the meantime. So while he was playing his little heart out at a hockey tournament, I was getting geared up to attend a Throwback 80's Ski Party at my favorite bar. So here's the outcome:

My best friend since kindergarden, Kathleen and me.

I keep laughing how I was basically deaf and blind all night long due to my dark neon sunglasses and purple earmuffs... but I feel like it definitely helped my dance moves.

Yeah, I rocked a high pony all night... complete with lime green bow.

The boys wore onesie snowsuits... Still don't know how they survived the HOT bar wearing those suits.

Overall, it was a complete success. Kathleen ended up winning first prize in the costume contest, while I clinched third prize, so in reality we got paid to attend the best party of the winter so far. As the boy was going theough the pictures from the night, he just shook his head and said, "I think I missed a good one!"Its true! Maybe he should stick around town more often instead of ditch me for hockey tournaments and boys nights :) Haha.

So has anybody been to a good themed party lately? I want to host one soon and I need a good idea like this one to start planning. Please let me know!! How were your weekends?

Ohh, Something Shiny!

Is it March yet? I only say this because I will be receiving lots of pretty jewelry in the mail on the first day next month. I got a little crazy this morning and ordered a monogrammed necklace as soon as my paycheck was placed in my bank account. I have always wanted one and this work week finally made it possible. {Just picture it reading sRj}

Then at my lunch break I called Tiffany and Company to talk about a ring I sent in a few months ago to be fixed... Yes, after 5 years of watching Miami hockey and having glass seats {slapping the glass 99% of every game}, my ring started to flatten until one day it broke in half. I was heartbroken. But now I have wisen up and realized I can send it in to be repaired, duh, so soon I will be getting it back in ONE piece on March 1st. Ahh, I am very excited to reunited with this beautiful ring.

It was a Christmas present from my then-boyfriend of 4 years, when I was a senior in high school. Lots of good memories tied to it as well as the ring being a timeless piece. I am kind of obsessed with sterling silver, if you haven't noticed.

In the end, I want plenty of arm candy, so if anyone has any jewelry ideas from Etsy or their favorite websites that would look good with my ring and this bracelet below let me know. I want to start bringing on the bling!