Life Lately | June

I'm wondering if I'll ever get around to sharing things as they actually happen in my life. I feel like for the past few months I've been doing a lot of "recaping" like a weeks after an event happens. 

It seems as though I've completely lost my tolerance for being able to juggle things and/or handle multiple things at once which I'm both happy and sad about. I've only been out of school for a few weeks and my mind is already blown that I was able to tackle everything that comes with regular, busy life and still had time to get a master's degree. By the way, that's not me bragging in anyway. That's me being genuinely dumbfounded by myself {which is honestly not all that unusual}. Nowadays if I even have a load of laundry to do after work I shut down. I gotta get better at this like how do people have children? And also do other things? 

But I digress. Moral of the story is I need to get better at getting things done. I clearly need a better routine than just going home after work and not doing my laundry. Although, I have been enjoying that lately. Until I get better at the routine thing, here's another giant recap with many pictures most likely of terrible quality. 

      

I graduated! {as I've mentioned 87 times on here} This graduation only reminded how much support I've gotten over the past year and a half throughout this program. Without the girl you see above I wouldn't have finished the program, and if I did it wouldn't have meant half as much or been half as fun. I'm so thankful to know her. 

I'm also so grateful to all my friends and family who put up with my shit while I tried to balance everything and often failed. Especially my parents, who are nothing but the most supportive best friends a girl could ask for. And of course, Sammy, who never bats an eye at my crazy dreams, whose pride in me is palpable {even when I don't deserve it}, and always gives the most surprising feedback to first drafts. 

      

One of my very best friends got engaged!! 

Her {now!} fiancé asked many of their friends and family to be apart of their special day and it was such an honor to be there and help and celebrate the two of them, especially when the groom picks downtown Chicago as the location!

      

These two are truly the kindest individuals who deserve nothing but the best. They were definitely made for one another. 

All I wanted as a graduation present was a hammock... and a hammock I got. So there have been many an afternoon and evening spent out on the hammock with this guy. 

    

I had an impromptu lunch at Antico Posto with some of my very favorite cousins to celebrate my graduation and just spend time with one another. 

      

Afterward, I got some much needed cousin time with them and their own babies. 

Don't think I could explain how much this was needed. This baby is such magic. 

Oh, more hammocking. 

I dragged took Sammy to see The Sound of Music which I've been waiting to come to broadway since forever. 

    

Before the show we ate at Petterino's. I got the spinach gnocchi and Sammy got the chicken parmigiana. 

Nothing like a man in front of a bowl of pasta. 

    

The show was pretty good! I'm a little obnoxious biased because The Sound of Music is my favorite movie so I had high expectations even though I knew it wasn't going to be the same. 

I seem to always be taking photos of him creepily.

On Father's Day, Sammy and I spent the day barbecuing with his family and then I met my family for dinner at Mack's where I ate an entire dinner of carbs {only my favorite kind} before going to see Finding Dory which was every bit as adorable as I thought it would be. 

Oh, God... more hammocking!

      

On the police front, this guy got fitted for riot gear {and looked suspiciously like Captain America to me}. He also got issued all his rifles which he requested I hold. Not sure what he gets from that... but I happen to think I look pretty badass so it's fine. Now I can't wait to get to the range. {what has happened to me?}

    

Last Friday, we went out to dinner to celebrate Sammy's parent's anniversary and his brother's birthday at Mago Grill & Cantina. I got the vegetarian tamales with the pistachio mole and it was crazy good. 

      

And last Saturday {because we clearly can't stop eating ever}, Sammy and I had a day date at Bonta which I think is going to be our new place. The service was incredible — the owner's are so kind. I had the Margherita pizza and Sammy had a sandwich with Italian deli meats on ciabatta. Everything was simple but tasted amazing and so fresh. We also split an arancini {rice ball} that was incredible. 

Sammy of course double fisted for dessert with their tiramisu and chocolate chip gelato. 

Also to note: in a weak moment over the weekend, I started to get really upset thinking about Sammy moving up to Wisconsin {more on that later maybe} and being lonely up there by himself. Now, it may have been my crying {since I am nothing if not dramatic}, but I convinced {although also somewhat a manipulation ;)} Sammy we need a cat. It wasn't much of a convincing since Sammy has wanted another cat for years. I immediately began searching that night and found this guy. I need Kevin in my life, guys. I need him. We're also super weird and have had future pet names picked out for a while now, none of which were Kevin which is absolutely stupid of me since, obviously, Home Alone. So now any cat we get will be named Kevin. No question. 

What a weird way to end a recap! Oh well. It's starting to get much less censored here on the ol' blog. & I kind of dig it. 

xo

Engagement Party Recap

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of hosting an engagement party for my best friend, Chelsie, and her fiancé!

I'm pretty pleased with how everything turned out despite some unfortunate weather circumstances. I had planned the party to be entirely outdoors, but it ended up pouring throughout most of the afternoon. Luckily, it cleared up right around dinner and we were able to have dessert out on the deck and have a bonfire late into the evening with all our friends which is exactly what Chelsie wanted.

Here's a photo dump of some of the details!

{I'm lucky enough to work with several graphic designers, one of whom is my closest friend in my office and she offered to make some signs for the party which I loved, and so did the bride.}

{I had all the invitations, recipe cards, signs, and "how well do you know the couple game" sheets made by Dana whose shop is on Etsy. She was amazing to work with & I highly recommend her and her work.}

{we had cases on cases of beer because my friends are drinkers and because my father, who wanted to contribute via alcohol, is a beer guy and knows his stuff}

{the groom doesn't drink alcohol, but his favorite soda is Mountain Dew and because I'm all about the aesthetics I got his favorite soda and Chelsie's in the glass bottle to put on display}

{for apps we did focaccia, black bean and corn salad with chips, bacon wrapped hot dogs for the groom, and peppers in hummus cups}

{dollar section find at Target!}

{my cousin is amazing and has been recently making cookies as party favors, so I knew I wanted her to make the favors for this party. She made some to look like bride and grooms and then some had the word "love" or their wedding date written on them.}

{we had vases of white and varying shades of purple flowers all over.}

{the bride and some of her bridesmaids!}

 {for dinner we did Italian sausage and peppers, chicken limone (both from Avanti's), caprese orzo salad, fruit salad, green salad, potato salad, and a zucchini and corn side dish. The food was a huge hit and I was so happy with how many dishes could be made the night before or quickly right before we ate.}

{the bride and some of her college friends}

{the groom, his father, and a groomsman}

{cutest couple!}

{for dessert I made mason jar lid apple pies because it's the groom's favorite dessert, and my girlfriend, Alicia, made carrot cake cupcakes because it's the bride's favorite dessert. We also had fruit salad from dinner and the mother of the bride brought key lime pie, cheesecake, and more fruit.}

{our whole group!}

{almost all of the bridesmaids!} 

{some cute guys :) Sammy fixed some lights so they could keep playing bags in the yard once it got darker}

{she's the best}

I've been planning the party since early March, so I was pretty thrilled to see all the details come together the way I had envisioned. I couldn't have done it without the help of my girlfriends who did some of the shopping with me, came early to help set up, and took care of little things throughout the day so they wouldn't turn into mishaps. God bless them, they kept me relatively calm all day, and if you know me in even the slightest way, you know that is no easy feat. 

Chelsie texted me later that night to tell me how much she appreciated and loved everything and both her family, and Dan's family, said how much they enjoyed the party which is all I ever wanted to hear. 

I hope they felt all the love that was present for them that day and everyday. 

Now I'm itching to plan something else! This time next year we'll be talking bachelorette party! ;)

xo