Girls' Christmas Party/Sleepover

Last night was our first annual girls' Christmas party sleepover!  It was so much fun, and I was pretty sad today to say goodbye to all of my girlfriends.  Nat and I decided to plan this little event a few months ago, and we had a lot of fun putting it together.  We decided to do a potluck, so each girl brought one or more dishes to share, and we had everything from vegan oatmeal cream pies to cucumber sandwiches, goat-cheese stuffed mushrooms to mini red velvet cupcakes. We also decided to do an ornament exchange, so each girl brought an wrapped ornament, we chose numbers, then picked a box. It was so fun to see what ornament everyone brought and received. Since we are going to do this party every year, I think it will be a fun tradition to have a little collection of ornaments as the years go by.

It was such a fun night, and it was another one of those times where I just had to pause, look around, and feel so thankful for all of this love in my life.  To have all of these girls from all of these different parts of my world in one place, all having the best time was pretty awesome. We went out downtown for awhile to look at the pretty Christmas lights and dance for a bit at some of the bars, and we ended the night in our pajamas, talking until 4am in my kitchen.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, but the friendships I have with my girls make my world go 'round and last night was so special. I already can't wait until our Christmas party next year.

Today was a great day too- we all slept in a bit, then went to lunch before the girls all left.  I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling being weirded out out about being home alone (what to do with all of that me-time?!), but then got into watching Water for Elephants and the day went by pretty quickly. Hank and Henry got home from Phoenix an hour ago, and I don't think I've ever been so excited to hear our garage door open. I missed them so much.

I'm off to bed now, but I wanted to share some photos. I was having too much fun to focus on taking many with my normal camera (next year we need a proper photobooth!), but here are a few via my iPhone and instagram that capture the weekend.

Girls' Night & Randomness

Hello, Phoenix! I'm currently down in the valley for the week getting ready for Sarah's wedding. It's in TWO short days, and I keep thinking back to the week before my very own wedding a few years ago. This week felt insane to me and went by so quickly. I know Sar feels the same, and even though she's feeling the pressure, she took last night off from stressing to go to dinner and a movie with our girlfriends.  We ate dinner at Oregano's and then went and saw Drive. Funny story: Natalie and I chose the movie, based solely on the fact that our lover Ryan Gosling was in it. We knew nothing about it whatsoever, and thought if we were lucky we'd get an adorable Notebook-esque film or maybe even a darker Blue Valentine. Nope. I don't want to give anything away, but even though it was actually pretty rad, it was perhaps the very worst pick for a girl's night movie there could ever, ever be!  I do have to say that the music was pretty awesome though, and outside of the actual storyline (which I found to be incredibly intriguing, odd, interesting, etc.) I thought the soundtrack was rad. Just be prepared for some gore. And that's all I'll say about that.

[bathroom fashion show in my parents' guest bath, Sar and Nat, Pizza!, Jen and Anita, a delicious pizookie, 

our movie of choice, tickets, a quick shot of the gore while I probably looked away, Nat and me]

It's also so great to get together with this group of girlfriends. I feel fortunate to have a few different groups of ladies in my life, but this group in particular is especially special to me, because we're (almost) all mamas and with that comes such a deep understanding and bond. The candidness of our conversations always make me laugh, and I so appreciate the "real-ness" between us. Love love love these girls.

As for today, Henry and I are headed out to try and find the perfect pair of black shoes that I can wear in Sarah's and then again in Shirley's wedding next month. Tonight is the rehearsal dinner then Saturday's the big day. I was there when Sarah found her wedding dress- I was actually the one who picked it out off the rack (love that!)- and I am DYING for everyone to see it. It's honestly one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen, and her tiny little self makes it look even more gorgeous. I'll be sure to post a million photos via twitter and instagram as the celebration begins tomorrow night, so feel free to follow along.

Other than that I'm just trying to decide on Henry's Halloween costume and get started on really planning his first birthday party. We aren't doing a theme or anything - just a color scheme and lots of special decorations and food. I'm really excited to get planning as soon as I get home from Vegas next weekend. And speaking of Vegas...I can't believe it snuck up on me so quickly!  Anita and I are driving up on Friday, and we'll be meeting up with more girlfriends, who are flying in from different parts of the country. To say I'm looking forward to it is an understatement!

And now...the shoe search begins! Have a great day. xo

Sarah's Bachelorette Party

Well, I've been on a bit of a bachelorette party kick these past couple of weekends, and last night was the last of 'em, at least until my next friend gets married!

We spent the evening in Scottsdale, starting with a little bath and beauty product shower for Sarah (so much Lush!) at our hotel, the Hotel Valley Ho.  I adore the Valley Ho, and it's one of the cutest spots in town for both a little stay-cation or a cocktail. It's a mid-century modern resort so there is eye candy everywhere, and around every corner there's something beautiful.  After we opened presents, ate some candy and toasted with pink champagne, we headed to dinner across the street at Grazie (delicious pizza, salad, and wine - highly recommend it), then spent the evening being silly in Old Town Scottsdale.

Overall it was such a fun night. I got to spend a lot of time with some of my favorite ladies having a super fun girls' night and laughing, laughing, laughing!  We went to sleep around 3:30am, and due to my "awesome" internal clock, I woke up at 6:30. Oh boy. The rest of the day was all about relaxation, and I definitely enjoyed an early bedtime last night.

I am happy we could treat Sarah to such a good time - she's such a great friend to all of us and it was neat to be able to have a fun night in her honor. Next up, the wedding! So excited.

Here are some photos-

Girls' Night

I love my girlfriends so much. I really couldn't imagine life without them, and the busier everyone gets, the more special it is when we can plan a night out together. I'm lucky enough to live in the same place as one of my dearest gal pals Adie, and twice a year another one of my nearest and dearest comes home to visit too. I always soak up the time that Amber's here, and it wouldn't be a visit without at least one good girls' night out. Last night was that for us, and our friend Erin came up from the valley for the evening too, to celebrate Amber's last weekend night in town before she heads back to Austin, Texas, where she goes to college.

We started the night out at my house (fresh watermelon margaritas a la Adie and beyond-delicious Bill's pizza) and played the Michael Jackson game on Wii (so, so fun), then headed downtown for some dancing. I rarely drink (literally a couple times a year) so when I do decide to indulge and have a drink or two it's always really fun...and really cheap! ha. One drink and I'm done. We spent the evening dancing to ridiculously awesome/terrible music at various bars, laughing so much, and as the night progressed, we just got sillier and sillier as expected. It was just what I needed, and I woke up with Henry this morning around 6:30 feeling so renewed and happy. Yes, renewed and happy after four hours of sleep- that's how much fun I had.

Now Hank and I are in bed on our computers, Henry's taking his morning nap, and we're waiting for everyone to wake up so we can go to brunch. Today's going to be a busy day- I'm looking forward to a hard workout this afternoon and then we're having my in-laws over for dinner. It's homemade pizza night!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Saturday night. Here are some photos from mine -

the tired "babysitter" ;)





 practicing our obviously amazing Thriller dance moves ;) (best Wii game ever!)

and a couple from my phone -