Wedding Gift

One of my sorority sisters got married this past summer and when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to do something like it for her gift.

Source: occasionsonline.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Here's my take:

Basically the idea is to put a bunch of bottles of champagne in a gift basket and put a little tag on each one telling them when to drink it.  I put a note on the front that kind of explained the gift (it didn't print well and I waited until the last minute so I couldn't really get it right.)  

The one with the baby tag is sparkling grape juice and the others were different types of reasonably priced champagne.  I used some washi tape from Target to embellish the tags.  The basket is from Hobby Lobby--it needs to be something sturdy enough to hold the bottles.  You can't really tell from these pictures but instead of using tissue, I used extra bridesmaid dress fabric (the dresses we picked were long but we had them altered to be knee length since it was a summer wedding).

It was really a super easy gift to put together and I loved how it turned out.  You could customize it to the couple really easily.  Sorry my pictures aren't better.  I forgot to photograph it at home so had to snap a few quick pictures during the shower.

Life

Hey friends!

Sorry for my absence the last couple of weeks just after I got things going again.  I had something come up that pretty much shut me down for a couple of weeks.  Its not something I want to talk about just yet because the situation isn't fully resolved yet.  I'm trying really hard to let go and let God handle the situation.  I know that He is trying to teach me really great things out of this whole ordeal and I have been trying to reflect on that instead of worrying. 

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  We were busy, of course, but enjoyed the weekend.  I'm pretty sure that Christmas will be here before we know it and then 2013 will bring a fresh start.  I personally plan on using the new year to get a few different areas of my life a little more sorted out.  Some of them are big projects, some not so much, but I'm thinking I will probably share some of them here with you all.

So that's more or less (probably less) of what's going on here.  Here's a little something to think about for this week:

Source: redletterwords.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Cinco de Mayo

Once upon a time we had a Cinco de Mayo party.  Back in May.  I took pictures of it for a blog post and never wrote it.  Better late than never right?

This was so long ago I can't even remember what we ate.  Probably tacos.  Whenever I think of Cinco de Mayo I think of the party the people in my study abroad program threw for our British friends when I was in England.  It was an epic party complete with hillbilly margaritas (we could not for the life of us figure out how to make a good margarita with the ingredients available to us so one of the guy's mom saved the day and sent us a recipe that used beer--it was delicious) and Mexican wrestling (our British friends managed to convince school officials that it was an American tradition so they should not force us to stop despite the fact that we were creating a ruckus outside at night during exam time).

Queens Wing kids--those were the days

Anyway back to this year.  Apparently all I took pictures of are the drinks.  It may be more accurate that the only pictures that survived my computer crash are those of the drinks.  Either way, here you are:

Margaritas and limes--a Cinco de Mayo staple

 The whole set up.  I put a white sangria type drink in the drink stand.  And a sneak peak at our old coffee station (I have since rearranged a time or two)

If I had the resources (money and storage space) I would serve drinks in mason jars at every party.  The straws are from Target. 

Check back soon to see what other random pictures I find on my computer to post :)

Alex's Birthday Party

So Alex had a birthday.  Back in June.  I threw him a birthday party.  I took pictures for a blog post and never wrote it.  Better late than never, right?  I procrastinated a little too much and didn't get quite as much done as I would of liked but it was fun none the less.  The party was beer themed because Alex likes beer.

I cheated and ordered cupcakes for dessert.  I got a Groupon for a place that delivered and let Alex pick the flavors.  They were delicious.  The Boulevard (a local brewery) thing came from my dad.  I'm not sure if it was originally supposed to hold bottles or candles or what.  It held the cupcakes nicely.

Dinner was hot dogs and a topping bar. Think of it kinda like all those new frozen yogurt shops but with hot dogs instead of ice cream.  I picked that because it was relatively cheap, relatively easy and did not require me to turn on the oven (it was hot this summer).

The little bowls came from Target.  I was going for the colors in the Boulevard logo as my color scheme.  The table decorations were kind of lame but I just used whatever I could find.

The idea was that everyone would bring a six pack or so to share so people could try different beers.  That didn't go so well but I think that was partly because we didn't push the issue.  I set up the drink station with small glasses for tasking and big glasses for full beers.  Plus a bowl full of lemons because I like lemon in my beer.  And bottle openers too.

I had stuff to play games (drinking games) but we didn't end up doing anything other than sitting around and chatting.  It was a fun party (I had fun at least) and we got to hang out with some pretty cool people.  Anytime Alex gets to talk to people he's a happy camper.  :)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Being a Grown Up Kind Of Sucks

Sorry for the long absence friends.  I've been dealing with some grown up growing pains lately and have been having a hard time getting my thoughts sorted out.  I've also kind of been having a blogging identity crisis but I think I've finally come to terms with what I want to do.

So what's new?  Mostly just being really busy living and trying to figure out life.

One of my big projects right now is trying to get a healthier.  I've spent the last year trying to make up for being socially deprived during law school and a result, I've put on some weight.  But I'm working on it and will probably share a little about that along the way.

Hope everyone is having a great day and happy first day of basketball season!

A Day in My Life

One of the blogs I read is doing a day in the life link up and I thought, hey that's something I can do that doesn't require any pictures so I don't have to be at my laptop.  My poor laptop has been super neglected since my boss decided we needed iPads for work.  So here you go:

6:20--My first alarm on my phone goes off.  I used to pretend that I actually got up when this happened but now I'm more honest with myself and really this alarm just wakes me up.  I use this time to wake up slowly, pray or fall back asleep. 

6:40--My alarm clock starts going off.  This is (sort of) my actual cue to get out of bed.  What actually happens is that by now, Alex's two alarms have gone off.  If he gets up with his alarm, then I get out of bed halfway through his shower so I can take a shower when he is done.  Sometimes if he was slow getting out of bed and needs to shave, I will shower first because I can get my whole shower in before he is done shaving. 

7:00--On a good morning I am out of the shower by now.  If its a late morning I'm just getting in the shower.  Then I get dressed, do my hair (which means I brush it and put mousse in it) and wipe down the sink and toilet in the master bath.  Then I move to our guest bath to do my make-up and wipe down the sink and toilet in there.  Wiping down the bathrooms takes two seconds in the morning and means that if we have unexpected company the bathrooms aren't gross.

7:15-7:45--Breakfast gets made by whoever got to the kitchen first, we pack our lunches and coffee/drinks for the day (I take two water bottles to work with me plus whatever I am drinking that morning) and if we have time eat breakfast and watch the news.  If not breakfasts get packed up to take to work.  If by some miracle I have extra time I will pick up or switch laundry or something like that.  Then I make sure I have my stuff for the day and head out a few minutes after Alex.

8:00-4:30--Work.  I work at a tiny law firm so what I do every day varies a lot.  Sometimes it is research, sometimes writing a memo or drafting pleadings, sometimes I go to court or do a million other things.

4:30--Leave work.  Here is where things get interesting.  If I am going straight home it only takes me 15 or 20 minutes depending on traffic.  Sometimes I will run an errand or go to the gym on my way home.  If we are having dinner at home I will start cooking when I get home and usually put on some trashy TV and empty the dishwasher/deal with laundry until Alex gets home a little before 6. Then we eat and he cleans up the dishes (whoever does not cook cleans up).  Then we will either run errands or maybe hang out at home and watch TV or go to they gym together if neither of us has been yet that day. 

If something is going on that night, like we plan on going out to dinner or to a game or something, I will usually go straight home and try to get a couple of things done around the house while I wait for Alex.

11:00--Bedtime, although lately we have been watching an episode of Game of Thrones while we lay in bed so we don't turn the TV off until later.

Weekends are a whole 'nother ball game.  Pretty much there is no normal weekend for us.  Last Sunday included tailgating, Chiefs game, batting practice for Alex and two-year-old wrangling for me, dinner at Pizza Street (not a good idea) then chilling at home.  Last Saturday I got my oil changed then we went to brunch/lunch and then zoo and met up with some people to watch the Mizzou game and hang out.  Last Friday night Alex was helping his dad with a boyscout thing so I got to relax and home and enjoy the quiet.

So there you have it, a day in my life.  It isn't much, but its where I am right now.  Ask me again in a few months and who knows what it will be like.  That's the great thing about life, I guess.