Gettin Down on Friday

This made me laugh really hard. Maybe you have already seen it, but it sure did make my Friday afternoon more enjoyable. Have a great weekend!

The Fifteenth of July

Did you know the date right away? Are you going to be there opening day?

Eastah in Jersey

Shane and I got to go home to New Jersey for Easter this year!
I love going back home. We had such a great weekend catching up with friends and family.  And my parents recently redid their kitchen and living room and it looks incredible!

Yes, sometimes I put scarves on my head and hold that cat like that. It's really not a big deal.

It is incredible the amount of naps Shane and I both take when we go home. I blame it on the cat. He just loves to cuddle.

We had our annual Easter egg hunt, smashing confetti eggs on each others heads. My mom even let me to chase down Aunt Linda in the house. She's feisty.

Those are in fact demon Easter eggs, eating another, innocent bystander, Easter egg. Shane might be the only person who could make those and have my mom laughing at them. He also put the "Jesus loves me" egg on the table so it would be the first one my mom saw Easter morning. I know, he's good.

Choosing my battles

Two mornings ago Shane put on a new pair of pants, ripped the tag off, and threw it (violently) to the floor, all in one motion. Why, I asked him, did you do that? He said it was easiest. Post evil glare, he picked up the tag and  threw it in his closet. Again, a stare of disbelief. He kept eye contact as he reached down, picked it up for the third time, and put it in a Jcrew bag sitting on the floor. It was an empty, ready to be thrown away bag, but not a garbage can. Good enough, Shane, good enough. A minute later. I kid you not, a minute, I walked into the bathroom and there was a different tag from the same pants sitting on our sink. I chose my battle. I am not good at doing that, but I made a conscious decision at 7:30 in the morning before coffee, to choose my battle, and not say the unpleasant things I was thinking at that moment.

I love him. And I am sure that I do things that make him just as crazy (eh hem, my lack of taking out the dog), so until I become perfect, I will try my hardest to choose my battles. 

Just choosing, choosing away, ch-ch-chooooosing. I even made a little diddy up about it.

I don't think I am the only one out there who constantly reminds themselves about choosing battles and sings little diddies in their heads. Right? Right? Shane, do you think about it when I am being a pain? Do you?

**Shane's response to the post (before I post)...

Is this a scathing letter to me camouflaged as a blog post? Did you take out the part about my pretty face?

Sometimes

Friday night with friends

It's fun to have a random Friday night where plans come together at 10pm. We went to Stoney's with Marc and Jilly-pie for late night happy hour. I have been dragging my feet a little to go to this bar, however I really enjoyed the laid back Colorado feel and it was perfect for a chill Friday night.

Surprise Engagement Party-April 9th

A big BEST WISHES to Melo-D-licious (and Sean)! Happy Engagement!!! We are so so so excited out here in Colorado for the upcoming nuptials of Mel and Sean and are honored to be a part of their big day! It has been such a blast to see these two grow so much as a couple and I cannot be happier for the two of them.

Sean first approached me and Shane two months ago ish, maybe longer, about proposing to Mel and it came right around the time he started to lie to her about not proposing. I was so excited and yet so nervous as I am the worst secret keeper ever. Sean asked me to plan a surprise engagement party for them and I of course said yes!

I really wanted bright colors for the party, in a nontraditional engagement style. Is there a traditional style for engagement parties? I might have made that up. Either way, the color palette was bright;  pink, green and yellow (and a little orange and gold). Is there anything happier than neon pink in April?

 I made tissue paper bunting and ordered over two dozen brightly colored balloons in addition to putting together a few other crafty decorations.

We served pink champagne punch, homemade lemonade, beautifully decorated cookies and other desserts (thanks Sean's mom), delicious brie (thanks Peggy) and a fun edible arrangement (thanks Mom). Ah, and maybe neon pink gum balls, amongst other items.

 

Thanks to friends and family for making it such a special and memorable day for Sean and Mel!

Shane's Birthday Party-March 26th

This year for Shane's birthday, he reassured me that all he wanted was to spend time with family and friends and have a great party. So I sent invites out so early that everyone had marked their calendars and we ended up with a ton of friends and family!

the evite

He decided on a hipster theme and until people seemed to think it was cool, I made it clear it was not my choice. So not-hipster of me. Mostly this theme caused fear that the enormous population of hipsters who live in our neighborhood would catch us somehow and go on the attack. Unrealistic probably as they tend to use their words, not their fists. I finally realized how pumped people were for it, especially Shane, and decided to embrace it.  

We went searching for skinny jeans. Not for me, for Shane. We found a pair at good will in the women's section. They were perfection. A deep neck t followed and he had his outfit, but the look didn't stop there. He had two additional ideas the week before the party and I quote: Liz, I think I am going to cut my hair for the party. And I am going to pierce my nose. My response: You should totally do both. Where should we get your nose pierced? Shane: Oh, well, I am going to do it myself really. He did cut his hair, but he did not pierce his own nose.  Rainbow earrings and a few tats followed his haircut and he looked like he was born hipster. Mel and I kind of secretly loved his haircut, but he shaved it the next day.

My outfit: vintage dress that was my mother's, an old necklace of my great Aunt Libby (I don't shop in mainstream stores, obvi), black tights, along with vintage shoes from Goodwill ($4, I might wear them all time, damn those hipsters), minimal eye makeup, bright red lipstick, rainbow earrings and a lip ring, and a mullet styled hair do.

The best part about a hipster themed party: minimal preparation. We offered PBRs, punch and a few snacks. We hung up a hipster picture on the wall instead of our normal giant painting in the living room. Low lighting and flash turned off on the camera. A tripod for added effect.

I am pleased that so many people were to celebrate with us and treat Shane to the birthday he had wanted. Later that night as he was mowing on some of the pickled items I had gotten him, he told me, "best birthday weekend ever".

Shout out to the husband

I have been missing, agreed. It might be because this past weekend was the third party Shane and I hosted in the last 4 weeks, perhaps it was that two of the three parties had over 30 people attending, or maybe it was just because I haven't slept in the last month.

Any way you roll it, I went missing.

I will get pics up of these parties, but in the meantime, I wanted to tell you how sweet Shane is, because I don't say it enough. I had been stressed out the last few weeks and this past week in particular (You might live under a rock, but Melo-de-licious just got engaged! Surprise engagement parties are the best, but also tend to be a little exhausting, apparently). 

It culminated Saturday night after the surprise party when the exhaustion hit, and by that, I mean Shane found me crying in our room by myself, (ah yes, typisch Liz) after what I would deem, a fabulous night. Shane responded to my crazies by surprising me with a trip to my favorite B&B in the mountains for brunch on Sunday, which he had been planning all week. Shane is not a planner. But this guy, I tell you...just when I think he has no clue what is going on in my mind, he goes and does something so sweet. 

 So yesterday we escaped life, enjoyed brunch and drove through the mountains for the afternoon, mostly in silence enjoying the beauty (alright, I might have napped a little. It's not all romance-for some reason, back country-wash boarded-dirt roads lull me).

Thanks Shane! You da best!