It's Friday and I'm just now getting around to posting this recap. #sorrynotsorry. This past weekend was so wonderful that I knew there would be more than five great things within this post to participate in Five on Fridays with some of my favorite bloggers!
I'll be linking up with April & friends today!
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I've been waiting for this weekend for several months now and it finally came... bachelorette weekend! I was so thrilled to be able to celebrate Christina before her big day with so many other wonderful women.
I left Friday afternoon with my sister-in-law (who technically is Sammy's SIL, and not mine yet, but I love her so I claim her as my own SIL because it's easier and because this is my blog and I do what I want) and we hit the road for Michigan! The plan was to stay in a house with the women in the bridal party and some close friends of the bride's and do a winery tour on Saturday.
We got there before most of the guests and were able to help Sarah (the Maid of Honor and the bride's sister) and the mother of the bride finish decorating/prepping dinner for night. And when I say I helped prep dinner I mean I sat on a bar stool and ate peanut M&M's out of the bowl (HEY AGAIN, WEIGHT WATCHERS, HEY). I did help blow up balloons though. Clearly I was instrumental in the execution of this weekend. Aka not at all since the women in charge of this weekend are flawless and everything I hope to be in life (which is not a dramatic, nor creepy, statement at all).
Sarah picked a champagne theme with black and gold as accent colors. Everything came together so beautifully.
We all got a bottle of prosecco and a champagne flute as a favor which was so cute.
We showered the bride with more gifts than this, FYI, I just took these pictures before most of the guest got there. I got her a black lace, cotton nightgown, some pretty lace thongs, flip flops that say "bride" on them she can wear while getting ready, massage oil from Bath and Body Works, a bottle of champagne, and two monogrammed champagne flutes.
Wouldn't be me if I didn't document all the snacks...
Like pumpkin Reeses? Yes, honey, yas.
Impressively enough this was not made at a bakery but by the Maid of Honor and her boyfriend. Like get out of here. Realism people. Realism. (or Surrealism? I joke, I joke. Because honestly I don't even know the proper definition of Surrealism I just felt like there was a joke there).
The Chrstina's mom made pesto pasta for everyone and we all got to know one another while we ate (if we didn't already). It was a really fun, low-key night to hang out with the girls before a long day of winery hopping the next day.
Our winery tour was hosted by Fruitful Vine which provided an awesome service and experience for us. A shuttle picked us up from our house at 10 am and took us to our first winery where our wagon was waiting to take us on the rest of the tour. They provided all the transportation, paid our tasting fees, and were genuinely nice people (our driver was so funny and even carried our complimentary glasses and purchases to the wagon after every winery!). I was very impressed with their services. I will most likely be using them when I plan my girlfriend's bachelorette party!
We started off our day of vino at Lemon Creek Winery. It had such beautiful scenery (my favorite of all four wineries we stopped at) and I wished we could have spent more time outside here before we were whisked away to the next one. We moved on to Domaine Winery (cute but not a favorite), Round Barn (a favorite among us girls...I also bought the most here), and finished at Gravity (we really liked the scenery and being so close to the grapes but the service wasn't our favorite). The Wine-O-Wagon tour was such a fun way to spend the day. I would recommend it to any bride (or for any celebration! we saw a 30th birthday group doing a tour while we were out) who isn't as into the traditional go-out-get-trashed type bachelorette party/weekend. Not that there's anything wrong with that ;)
This was during one the wagon rides in between wineries. I really got a glimpse at just how beautiful the Midwest can be. It gets a lot of flack, sometimes most often by those who live here, but I think it's beautiful and I'm never leaving. :)
After the tour, we all went back to the house and calmed down a bit. I am a light weight so I ended up falling asleep on the FIVE MINUTE shuttle ride back to the house... so clearly I needed to decompress. We showered, got ready, and headed out for dinner at a restaurant in town. The town looked so cute (at this point I think we had crossed over into New Buffalo, MI) and I wish we would have time to explore it a little during the day. We'll just have to come back!
After dinner, we came back to the house, full and exhausted, so after hanging out together downstairs we called it a night a little before 1 am (while all the groomsmen were just getting started in New Orleans ;) ).
We had to be out of the house by 10 am the next morning so after a quick breakfast, and we cleaned up, we headed out. On our way home from Michigan we stopped at County Line Orchard in Indiana and I got to cross apple picking off my Fall Bucket List!
At first it seemed like a lot had been picked over but with a little persistence we found a golden row and got a big bag full. I regret to mention that I actually said, "snapchat it or it didn't happen" as I took this picture. I feel like that's the saying all the kids say? I don't know, but I said it, and regretted it immediately.
Grabbed one too many purchases from the huge store next to the orchard but I regret none of this. It was a fun, Autumn-y, way to finish off our little trip!
I ended up getting home much earlier than I thought I would have so I was able to join my grandma and mom and go with them to the Cary Main Street Fest in Cary, IL. My Mom and Uncles grew up with the Mayor of Cary and another friend of my Mom's had a photography booth at the fest we had to check out.
How adorable are all the little touches she had in her booth? I had to take pictures for future decorating inspiration. Her photography is stunning (and further solidified my longing for a new camera) and so were all the unique pieces she hand makes as well.
I grabbed letter pressed gift tags, a St. Theresa prayer card, and this quote hanging. My mother told me it reminded her of me and Sammy so I promptly told her friend Linda to wrap it up ;) (I also ordered the book immediately). Check out her photography page if you're interested: Linda Barrett Productions. & her Etsy page as well for all the cuteness: Soulful Handmade
Since I have Mondays off, which was much needed after this weekend, I finished off my "weekend" by having brunch Monday morning with my grandma and dad.
We stopped over to Grove Kitchen in Palatine which had a new, modern interior. All the food seemed to be fresh and they serve Intelligentsia Coffee which means I'm an instant fan. I ended up getting the Salmon Benedict with a side of hash browns which was rich and filling. I think I liked it more than my Dad did (he's kind of a tough critic, although he thoroughly appreciated the Intelligentsia) and I'd go back just to see their dinner menu.
It was packed weekend but it was so much fun. I was thrilled to be a part of Christina's bachelorette weekend and get to spend so much time with her, her family, and friends as well as some much needed time with my SIL & Sammy's cousin's girlfriend (love her and it was so awesome to bond with her even more).
With my work and school schedule during the week, I don't get a lot of quality time with my family or friends (since I get home after 11pm), so it was great to spend an afternoon and evening with my grandma and momma AND getting to see my dad, and grandma again, the very next day. A weekend filled with blessings, that's for sure.
This has taken me a week to write which is totally ridiculous but I ended up getting a little sick smack in the middle of the week which threw my work/graduate school/blogging schedule for a bit of a loop. But I knew I wanted to remember everything so it must.be.written.
Blog it or it didn't happen, am I right?! Am I? I'll stop.
Happy Friday, people!
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