A lovely weekend recap

Ugh, I'm already nostalgic for this past weekend. It was so good for my soul and I can't wait for more like it.

Friday

After work on Friday, Sammy and I met a few of his coworkers and their girlfriends for some sushi and hibachi at Kyoto in CL. 

Afterward, we took a quick drive over to Main Beach because us ladies haven't seen it yet. The sky was so lovely, I could have stayed there for hours. Looking forward to spending a lot of time on that lake in the years to come.

Then we headed downtown CL to The Cottage for a going away party for one of Sammy's coworkers. He had a fabulous turnout and it was fun to meet so many of Sammy's fellow officers. We're loving our five minute drives home ;) and we crashed into bed around 1 a.m.

Saturday 

Sammy and I woke up relatively early on Saturday morning to head back toward our parents' houses. He was meeting his family for breakfast to celebrate his grandma's birthday and I was headed to my mom's house because my friend was picking me up from there so we could head to our girlfriend's bachelorette party in Milwaukee.

We started the day at Dry Bar for some blowouts which was so fun (although, I was expecting it to last much longer than it did and it basically was flat by the late afternoon).

We stayed at the Pfister Hotel which was such a cool, historic spot. So after Dry Bar, we checked in, had some snacks and drinks, and got ready for the margarita river cruise we had booked for the afternoon.

The photo below was actually taken after the cruise, which explains some of our drunkenness ;)

Had to have a Titanic moment with the bride ;)

We came back from the boat and drunkenly ordered Dominos which is the only state in which to eat Dominos. 

Then we got ourselves sobered up enough to get ready for the evening. We were headed out to a speakeasy bar and because our bride is a Gatsby bride, we all got pearls and headbands to wear as accessories.

 Had to go in the back way at Bugsy's ;)

We were all so exhausted from the long day that we only made it out to one bar before heading back to the hotel. As an aside, the bride's sister (and MOH) made the cutest hangover bags as favors.

Sunday

We woke up the next morning and had a little breakfast and lingerie shower for our bride, but not before taking "morning after mug shot" pictures with these hilariously cute signs her sister made us.

It was a fabulous bachelorette party and I'm so excited to celebrate our bride next month on the big day! Can't believe it's almost here--crazy.

We got home from Milwaukee midday, and I hung at my mom's house for a little while she planted flowers in her yard. She and I had plans to run over to Home Depot to get some paint samples for my and Sammy's master bedroom, pick up some flowers, and get a few supplies to remove the wallpaper border in the master. We ended up spending several hours at two different Home Depots and between all that standing and the heat (it was over 90 here last weekend), I was so over it haha and we hadn't even done any actual work! 

We came back to CL and got to work on the wallpaper border and we were able to get it all off which is great. My mom is a super woman and much faster than me at all things, so it was such a huge help to have her there. 

After that project, we put a few samples on the wall. I think we're going to go with Behr's "Rock Crystal." It's a gray with the faintest hint of purple. We want to paint our master bath using the same color and the other grays we sampled were a little too dark and we were afraid they'd make the bathroom feel too small. I think this color is going to be gorgeous in natural light in the bedroom and with dark cabinets and marble flooring in the bathroom. Hopefully we can get that project going sometime soon.

After that, her and I ran to Jewel at 10 p.m. (classic) (and bless 24 hr grocery stores) to grab a few things for dinner I was making Monday night for my family. They were having 3 for $12 sale on flowers, so I went ham on the hydrangeas. I took two bunches and my mom took one to her house.

I put them in glasses (since we don't have any vases yet--ha!) and spread them all around the house. They make me so happy. I planned to go to bed when I got home since Sammy was working overtime till around 2 a.m., but I got an itch to do a little decorating after putting those flowers around the house. Our coffee table was delivered last week (along with our tv stand!) and I've been waiting to add books to it and to our entryway table. It's incredibly dorky to admit, but I can't even describe how happy I was to go through my books and pick ones to display--ha. They're my babies!

Monday

Sammy and I slept in a little bit on Monday morning and got up around 9 because his parents were coming over to our house. His dad had planned on coming to sand the walls in our bedroom since the wallpaper was off and his mom just wanted to come to hang out with me :) 

Sammy had to work the Memorial Day Parade downtown and then participated in a gun salute at the cemetery following the parade, so his parents and I went to watch. 

His parents couldn't be more proud. I had to take a picture of them obsessively taking pictures of their son haha.

After the service, Sammy's dad went back to the house to sand the walls and his mom and I went to a garden center down the road from us because she wanted to gift us a pot and some plants for our front yard which was so sweet of her. 

We did a little shopping (ya girl needed some folding chairs because we don't have enough seating!) and then came back to the house in time for my parents and brother to show up. I put out a few appetizers before getting ready to do some planting with my momma. Ps. highly recommend the spreadable brie with pepper jam. Holy shit. So damn good.

My mom and I planted white impatiens all around the existing bed which wraps entirely around the side of our house. I had intended on getting all white because the previous owners have a lot of perennials still in the ground that haven't bloomed yet and I'm not sure what color everything will be, so I didn't want to clash with what's already planted, but then I saw impatiens in this coral-y/red color and for some reason they reminded me so much of my grandpa, I just had to have them at our house. He loved to plant flowers, roses specifically, so I love having him represented in our garden.

I can't wait for everything to fill in and bloom up! 

I chose the blue pot from the garden center (it looks so beautiful in person, the picture is really not doing it justice) and it coordinates so well with our police flag ;) unintentional, I assure you. We filled it with double impatiens which I've never seen before but am obsessed with now. They look like tiny versions of peonies mixed with roses. We had extra, so we planted those along the sidewalk leading to our front door.

After we were done planting, we all hung out while we waited for my uncle and grandma to arrive. They brought ribs and chicken and I made baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and caprese pasta salad. Super easy but a wonderful first home cooked meal in our house. 

Sammy had to work, but he was able to come home for his half hour dinner break which was nice. I loved hosting our family and love that his parents are cool with hanging out with my family even when their kid isn't around for most of the day/night ;)

Sammy's parents left after dessert and mine hung around for another hour or so after that. I cleaned up the house a little and folded a load of laundry while watching a few episodes of New Girl. 

This weekend was just so good and Monday left me feeling so grateful to be where we are, but more importantly, to have the people in our lives that we do. My appreciation for our parents and siblings (and of course the rest of our family) grows every single day. It made me so happy to have them over and hang out with them for the entire day. Sounds dramatic, but I've waited my whole life to host people in my own home and when Sammy came home I actually started crying as I was telling him how good the day was haha. I was just so happy and feeling blessed to be living the life I always imagined. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful, wonderful long weekend. xo

Linking up with Biana!

Friday Favorites // Life Update

So it's been a week. I wanted to post last Friday since I was off and in our house for the first full day, but I just couldn't get myself to do much of anything that day.

This house transition has been a bigger struggle than I thought, but I think I'm starting to see the light even after only a week, which in the grand scheme of things, is not long at. all. Despite that fact, the first few days were extremely hard and lonely and I was constantly in need of a distraction (mostly in the form of New Girl) from my own thoughts. I feel like admitting to this makes it seem like I have no appreciation for what we have and what we're building and that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm so excited for this journey, but I'm sad about my chapter of living at home ending. So I'm just trying to navigate through the ebbing and flowing of these thoughts and feelings until I come out fully on the other side. We're getting there.

For now, I definitely have some favorites to share!

Crystal Lake is officially stuck with us :) We closed and moved in last Thursday and it couldn't have gone more smoothly which we were extremely grateful for.

Our parents have continued to be the most amazing human beings. Sammy's mother showed up to our house having bought us a bunch of groceries to start us off and my mom bought my huge grocery haul on Sunday night. Free groceries are definitely a favorite. Our moms are an even bigger favorite :)

This was right after our incredible couch was delivered and all four of parents sat down at the exact same time and I immediately grabbed my phone to take a picture haha. They worked so hard to help us on Thursday and we can't thank them enough. This is seriously my favorite photo and I can't wait to frame it and have it in our home. Every time I look at it, I get teary eyed haha. I just love these people.

Had to document our first (I'm sure of many...) trip to Home Depot. I was kind of checked out at this point because it was Thursday night after we had been up all day moving, but we ended up picking out the paint color of our entire first floor, so that felt like an accomplishment.

We went with Behr's "French Beige" (about nine people told me "of course you'd pick something French" when I told them the name of the color--ha!) and we really like it a lot.

 I spent most of Friday at the house by myself since Sammy had to work. I fielded the remaining Amazon boxes that were being delivered from the initial enormous order we placed a few days prior, built the arm chair for our family room, and tried to keep my anxious thoughts to a minimum haha.

Sammy didn't get off his shift until closer to 11 p.m. but we had plans to meet a coworker of his (the one I've been dying to meet) at a bar in downtown Crystal Lake, so we headed over there and stayed for a quick drink. It was nice to get out of the house and be in the part of town that I really enjoy. And his coworker couldn't have been nicer and now I can't wait to meet his girlfriend!

Saturday morning Sammy's parents came over and his dad helped him paint the entire kitchen and part of the living room. I was SO happy to see those flowers go. Someone in our neighborhood hand painted them for the previous owners and I felt terrible about painting over them but they were just a constant reminder of how the house didn't feel like ours yet because it just wasn't our style.

Ugh so good haha. I felt like I was finally able to breathe once that roller went over the first bunch of flowers. It's amazing how symbolic one thing can be and how it can effect your mood.

I left CL that morning to meet my girlfriends in Arlington Heights for our girlfriend's daughter's first birthday. It was a woodland themed party and the details were so cute!

From there, we met up with the rest of our crew to head downtown to see Shania Twain. A few of our friends really love her, so we decided to make a girl's night of it. I only know a few songs (like two haha) but it's rare all six of us are together, so I wasn't going to miss it.

 Meanwhile back at home, Sammy sent me this snap when the whole wall was done. SO much better.

I spent the night at my mom's house since we all got back after 1 a.m. and I loved being back in my bed haha although it probably only added to my anxiety of going back to our house in CL. 

Her and I ran errands on Sunday and then headed back to CL. My dad, brother, uncle, and grandma stopped by for dinner and to see the house for the first time (except my Dad, he'd obviously seen it before). Now we just have to get my sister out to see the house and a few other immediate family members. Already planning some major house warming parties :)

I started my new commute Monday morning. I'm luckily on the same train line with the same stops and conductors so I was happy to keep some of my routine the same, but I'm obviously starting out at a different train station now.

Monday night was the first night coming home to our house by myself. Sammy was working, so I started dinner while talking to my grandma on the phone. I threw some potatoes and chicken tenderloins into a 9x13 and spread this roasted chicken Cook House sauce my mom and I found at Aldi all over it. We really liked it and for just over $1 per sauce, I'm definitely going to be stocking up.

Sammy brought his coworker over to see the house during his half hour dinner break (huge bonus to living in the town he works, he can take a half hour for dinner and come home if he's not too busy) and it totally changed my mood for whatever reason which resulted in feeling the most comfortable I had felt in the house thus far which was such a relief.

My sister turned 21 on Tuesday (!) so my whole family gathered to celebrate at Hala Kahiki, a kitschy Hawaiian bar, near Gene and Jude's in River Grove. "Happy Hour" went until 10 p.m. so you can imagine how good I was feeling by the time we left.

My mom surprised my sister and invited all our extended cousins to celebrate with us and they all walked in intermittently throughout the night and it was SO fun to see them all show up. Did my soul so, so, so much good.

We walked next-door to Gene & Jude's and had the best late-night snack of all time.

Let's excuse what a TERRIBLE photo of me this is (When I'm drunk, my face gets so swollen, it's absolutely ridiculous.) because I had to have a sibling photo before the night ended. 

I laughed so much this night that Wednesday at work I coughed and noticed just how sore the muscles in my stomach were. It was simply the best.

These were a little surprise from Sammy when I got back to the house on Sunday night. I live with a sweet guy. And I'm obsessed with my $12.99 table runner from World Market I bought months and months prior to even owning a house ;)

We bought this tv stand a few days ago when the Memorial Day sales started popping up and it's delivering today. I can't wait to reclaim my little end table (which is what our tv is currently sitting on), get this set up, and get our tv mounted on the wall. Our family room is almost completely done! We just need our floating shelves and new blinds and we're good to decorate with some finishing touches--the fun part! 

The first night in our house we realized the family room didn't have any light fixture when we came back from Home Depot to total darkness haha. All the rooms have overhead lighting or ceiling fans with lighting so I think we just assumed this room would too. We picked up this standing lamp from Walmart (neverrrr my favorite choice of store, but we were a little desperate for a cheap item) and really love it in the space.

Wednesday night Sammy made pulled pork using another one of the Cook House sauces. Another hit. As I said, definitely stocking up.

I purchased a similar rug on Amazon for our family room and am hoping it works in the space with our furniture. I'm learning that light fixtures and rugs are my least favorite thing to look for because I seem to not like anything haha. And why are rugs so damn expensive?!

That's it for me! 

Our office is closing a little early today in order to get a jumpstart on the long weekend which is great. Sammy and I are going to a party tonight for a coworker of his who's moving to another department. And then I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a bachelorette party in Milwaukee which should be so much fun. Can't wait to be with my crew. I have plans with my mom to tackle a few projects around the house on Sunday and Monday, and possibly stop by the parade Monday morning to see Sammy participating in uniform. 

This weekend begins the string of busy weekends but I'm excited for all the fun to commence! 

Wishing everyone a wonderful long weekend. 

xo

*Linking up with April and Andrea!