Windy City Weekend

I am back from a bachelorette weekend in the Windy City... and it feels like my brain got swept up with all the rain and gloom in the big city this weekend.

It was a fun and interesting weekend, and I am so exhausted this morning that Mr. RH was up and out the door across town before I even opened my eyes.  Role reversal!

Though the bachelorette party was for my college friends, I actually brought my high school friends along for the ride.  We had an appointment to try on bridesmaids dresses, and we actually all crashed the bachelorette party together.  It was a great weekend.

The bachelorette party involved driving a party bus all around Chicago and generally wreaking havoc on some well-loved tourist spots.

Also, the photos from this weekend are proof that I really should NOT have skipped the spray tan before I left for Chicago, no matter how tired and lazy I was feeling.

The Future Mrs. and I

Homegirl Bridesmaids rocking out on the Party Trolley

Standard Bachelorette Party Fare

Me and Some of my Bridesmaids at "The Bean"

My Girls at Wrigley Field

Just Hugging it Out and Laugh/Crying in a Bar.  NBD.

Other notable things we did this weekend included a fun dinner at Untitled, a prohibition-themed restaurant in Chicago.  The wall of booze and the fun little library ladder used to retrieve them were my favorite parts.

I guilt-tripped my ladies into a breakfast at Yolk.  Had to wait a bit for food but I can't get enough red velvet french toast, although I wish I could get it as a side instead of a main course to avoid the resulting sugar crash.

Found a wall of socks at Nordstrom Rack that had Mr. RH written all over them but I resisted temptation and didn't buy them all. 

And found a nice knockoff-ring for next time my engagement ring needs to go to the shop.  Everybody needs a backup, right?  I left this one at the store, but I'm feeling like that was a poor decision.

Also worth noting - I had my nails painted for the first time since August when we got engaged.  I did them myself cause I feel bad splurging on a manicure... and man I love having my nails painted.  LOVE!

So that's what was happening up in the Windy City this weekend.  I may need a few days to recover from the excitement and the loss of an hour to daylight savings time.

Happy Monday!!

Wordless Wednesday: Chicago/Bachelorette Edition

Good Balls. Bad Balls.

Right after Christmas, The Girls and I had a fun dinner at a new Irish pub in town.

While at the pub, we learned that not all balls are good balls.

Which I think is something that can serve us all well in life.

Fried Mashed Potato Balls.

GOOD BALLS.

On the other hand... cheesecake balls?

Not so delicious at the Irish Pub.

And yes, I posed with them because... is it me or are they very, um, boob-like?

To Recap: Balls are sometimes good, sometimes bad.

May you always have the wisdom to know the difference.

Happy Thursday!

Ok, Fine

Ok, FINE. I concede that there are excellent movies beyond It's a Wonderful Life. I loved a ton of the movies you guys suggested - and I would totally watch them if I had any spare minutes around here - but they are not must haves. It's a Wonderful Life is a must-see. That's all I'm saying.

Last night my BFFs and I had our "Girls Night" Christmas Dinner. Trying to come up with a theme of some sort, we decided to twist the "Ugly Christmas Sweater" party into the "Ugly Dress" dinner. And, because we had a really bad impulse purchase at TJ Maxx about 2 years ago.... we came up with these little numbers:
Yeah, that's really all I have to say about that. We were each to put our own unique twist on them to make them our own, which you can see we all did fantastically. Although I would like to comment on the fact that mine is the shortest by about 4 inches - and I'm the tallest person by about 1 inch. How'd that happen?!

I guess you get what you pay for at TJ Maxx. Especially when silver lame fabric is involved. Yeowzers.

But my BFF hosted our litte dinner party - she's amazing, as usual. Even though she left for a cruise at 6 AM today, she had the whole house decorated and beautiful... how gorgeous is this tablescape?
Yeah, my BFF is pretty amazing... that's all I'm saying.

Much champagne and wine was consumed, which made my group gift all the more entertaining:
Yep, I bought us Twilight Scene It. And then we proceeded to decide that figuring out the board game component was too confusing so we just played the DVD part of the game. Screaming out the answers. Hilarious... and also a wee bit depressing. We are lame, but it's ok - we all liked it.

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How's this for an abrupt change of topic? If you follow me on Twitter you know I got Forever21 order and am trying to decide if I like the items I ordered.
My informal twitter poll said that #2 and #4 were winners and the other 2 should go bye-bye. I really wanted to love the other two... but the tank top is too big and frankly too long - so it's out. And I love the white sweater dress but I guess it's a bit sheer. Oh well.

So now I'm off to get stuff ready for the post office so I can get that done before heading out to the mall for the day. Somebody please remind me next year that working retail for the holidays is always a bad idea. I had forgotten.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Eve of Christmas Eve!

When It Snows it Pours

So remember on Tuesday when I was all like "OMG!! Snow!! Help - we're drowning here." Well, scratch that.

You see, my friends from home are coming to visit tomorrow. I was talking to my dad and thought maybe I should have them bring up a pair of my fake-Uggs because of the potential for snow. I finally ddecided it wasn't worth the hassle and just decided to wait until Thanksgiving for my boots. And then I woke up to this. Yep, folks, that's a solid 7 inches of snow piled on top of my car.

But WAIT, there's more. Says the weather channel:
Umm, snow squalls? What does that even mean?

So my friends will be driving up later today.... I think I'll go pray now for a safe trip.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Edited to Add: Yes, I realize the picture I posted was rediculous.... I don't know what I'm smoking over here... but I kinda like it in a weird way. It stays.

A Night at the 4H County Fair

Last week, my girlfriends and I had the opportunity to visit our local 4H County Fair. The hilljacks were out in full force.

So we enjoyed a Deep Fried Twinkee.

And lived to learn about its gastrointestinal effects. Yech.

We gave approximately 20 quarters to a little monkey dressed in his best 80s finery... I will never, ever forget how cold his hands were! He even sat on my lap, but Katie wasn't able to get a picture of the moment. So cute!

We waited approximately 40 minutes in line for the Ferris Wheel. We had the brilliant idea to go up at sunset... but since the line was so long, we missed it! Oh well!

Whitney and Emily enjoyed the Ferris Wheel.

I sat with Katie on the other side of the booth. My double chin looks lovely from this angle.

In actuality, Whitney didn't so much enjoy the Ferris Wheel. It was pretty rickety, and the cart would swing around a lot.

There was a possile escapade of stripper-dancing on the pole, but we got it under control.

All in all, it was a wonderful night at the county fair. Couldn't beat it if I tried...

love,

Girls Night Out

Last Wednesday I had a Girls Night Out with my best friends from high school. We went to Hacienda and enjoyed $1 Margarita Night.

These are the brunettes, Whitney and Emily. (Note: You can see Emily's lushness by the way she dangles her drink from her fingers.)
The blondes: Me (Sarah) and Katie. I am the maid of honor in Katie's December wedding.

It wouldn't be a girls' night without a little grooming...

... and a lot of cheesing.

I had 1 margarita, which made my head swim enough that I was labeled a lightweight. Katie and Whitney enjoyed 2 each and were both hysterical. Emily enjoyed 3 and claimed that she felt "nothing." Lush.

Anyways, there are more posts about our alcoholic endeavors to come... next up will be entitled "A Night at the 4H County Fair." hahaha

Edited to add: In no way am I promoting or implying that drinking and driving is okay. It's not okay - at all. There were about 2.5 hours in between any margaritas and any driving, just so we're clear. Good :-)

love,