Weekend Recap

I started writing this yesterday saying, "Monday is very much feeling like Monday. I don't know if it's because I was away from home all weekend, didn't get much sleep last night, or dealing with some anxieties at work, but today already feels like a day and it's not even halfway over."

And because yesterday turned out to be very Monday, the day totally got away from me and I wasn't able to press publish on this post. So here we are, another weekend recap on a Tuesday...

Friday

I headed up to the Wisconsin Dells for my cousin's bachelorette party with the bride and another one of her bridesmaids. After making a few stops, we made it in the early evening and spent the rest of the night walking the grounds (we stayed at the Chula Vista--not sure I would recommend haha. It was just kind of eh and not the cleanest in some areas, or so it seemed), playing some games in our suite, showering the bride with her gifts, eating junk food and sipping on cocktails (or several shots).

Obviously started the road trip out with the most trash snacks ever created.

Most graphic penis cake of all time.

Saturday

We woke up on Saturday, had some breakfast, and headed straight for the pool/outdoor waterpark. This was right up the bride's alley, and while waterparks aren't totally my jam, I'll do anything for my cousin, so I watched them go down many slides and only got myself in the water for the lazy river and wave pool ;)

My favorite part of the resort was definitely the back which we had a view of from the back door of our room. It was so different from the front--very peaceful and calming. There was a river running down below our room and lots of tall trees.

We stopped back to our suite midday for lunch and some snacks and a few more drinks before heading back to the pool. I camped out on a lounge chair for most of the afternoon reading and napping which was really nice. 

We all took showers and chilled out a little bit in the early evening before heading out into town for dinner. We had a quick bite at The Patio before heading back to the resort to pregame.

Lil' John was definitely playing during this moment. (We were about to play that pin the dick on the guy game which is why she's blindfolded haha.)

In between a few drinks/shots of Tequila, the bride and a few bridesmaids attempted to break the piñata that was brought (filled with condoms, shots of Fireball, and candy, naturally). We had no place to hang it from except outside and it ended up going flyinggg onto the walkway below our room as a result of a bridesmaid not knowing her own strength ;) it was hilarious as we had to go down to pick everything up to make sure kids weren't picking up condoms and mini bottles of Fireball the next morning.

We headed out a little while later to a club/bar which looked exactly how you would imagine a "club" in the Wisconsin Dells to look. Equally hilarious as it was disturbing/gross. We stayed until one of my cousin's friends deemed it was time to leave because she was about to singlehandedly take on a group of guys in line at the bar that "pissed her off." It was a WEEKEND, guys.

Cousin love

I mean is this not exactly how a club is supposed to look in The Dells?

Sunday

We got up decently early to start cleaning up the room and packing everything up and we were able to get on the road before check-out which was great. As much as I enjoyed spending time with my cousin, I was ready to get home haha.

Sammy had spent Saturday night at his parents' house, so I went to my mom's (which is a few minutes from theirs) and hung out with her for a little while before Sammy picked me up so we could go to his brother and SIL's house to celebrate his brother's birthday.

  

Can't see his cake, but that's what they're staring at haha.

It was a lovely evening catching up with his family and celebrating his brother, but after what felt like such a long weekend, I was ready to get back to Crystal Lake. We got home just before 8 p.m., straightened up the house a bit, and relaxed on the couch before crashing into bed. 

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I can confidently say that if I never go back to The Dells I will be a happy woman ;) it's just not my kind of place, but it was fun to spend time with my cousins and her friends.

I'm looking at a packed week with a heavier load at work and wedding festivities starting with my girlfriend's rehearsal dinner on Thursday night (!!). All exciting stuff, but I'm looking forward to some downtime next week.

Happy Tuesday!
xo

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!