Lessons Learned from too Much Wine out of a Mason Jar

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

We spent the weekend at my parents' house and went to a wedding on Saturday. I absolutely loved spending so much time with my parents and the wedding was on a farm and an absolute blast.

 As with any social occasion that involves alcohol, I've come away with a few important lessons and feel that it is my duty to share them with you all:

-Even if you are in a happy relationship with a man who loves you a lot, when you arrive at a wedding and shout "I want to get married here!" your boyfriend is probably still going to say, "Woah! Slow down there." Calm down everyone, I didn't say "I want to get married here tomorrow!"

-When you are drinking wine out of a mason jar and the bartender fills the jar to the top everytime you get a refill, drink slowly or before you know it, you've had 1 and 1/2 bottles of wine, a shot of crown and you become a drunken mess who is being mean to your sweet boyfriend for no reason.

-If that boyfriend still loves you the next day after you've thrown his phone, likely embarrassed yourself in front of his family and needed him to take care of you when you got sick from drinking too much, don't ever let him go.

-If you also find out that he took your makeup off for you (while you cried and asked him not to break up with you) and helped you change into pajamas in your drunken, sick state, yet he tells you that he loves you more than ever the next day, close your eyes and thank God you found him.

-Drinking heavily does, in fact, help you survive wearing really uncomfortable heels all night. After a while, you don't even notice you are wearing shoes at all.

-Even though you may have had too much to drink, embarrassed yourself a bit and turned into a hot mess, at one point in the night, you were having an absolute blast and this is what is most important about situations like that.

I hope your weekend was just as much fun (and a little less embarrassing) as mine!

It's Okay Thursday

I'm linking up for It's Okay Thursday because let's be honest, I am in a major blogging funk and don't really know what to write about right now.

Let's get started, shall we?

It's okay that Blake has been acting out lately. On the way to my parents' Saturday, Jonathan and I ended up chasing him around a rest stop...and getting help from everyone at the rest stop to catch him. Good times...he will snap out of it, I hope.

It's okay that the heels I bought to wear to a wedding this weekend are extremely uncomfortable. I've even tried wearing them to work a few days this week to break them in and I still don't see how I am going to survive in them on Saturday. Will alcohol help or make this worse? Only time will tell...

It's okay that my BFF Taryn and I bought each other matching rings for Christmas and just exchanged them last night. Just 2 months later...no biggie. It's also okay that we staged a whole proposal-type situation and asked someone to take photos.

Yep, this happened.

It's okay to be a little obsessed with Mindy Kaling after reading Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). I absolutely loved reading her thoughts on marriage.

It's okay that I stay in bed until the very last minute and throw my hair in a bun because Jonathan and I can't get out of bed when we stay together during the week. It's becoming a well-known fact that if my hair is in a bun, it's because I stayed at his house. It's okay because it is so worth getting the extra few minutes together in the morning.

 

It's okay to take the day off from my full makeup routine sometimes.

 

It's all okay! What's okay with you today? Link up!

 

Sweet Treats and DIY Gifts for my Valentine

Whether you are single, married or in a relationship, I hope you are still celebrating all the love in your life today. You don't need to be in a happy relationship to enjoy today, just take a moment and think about all the wonderful people you've been blessed with and you'll realize you have plenty to celebrate.

I know a lot of people say they don't feel like there should be just one day to show the person you love how important they are, that it should be an everyday thing. Agreed. However, I do believe that if you happen to have someone special in your life, why not at least recognize the day?

With that being said, I don't make a big deal out of it. I don't expect Jonathan to make a big production out of it, either. I'm just looking forward to spending a nice evening together. I would hate to know that he stressed even a little bit over what to buy me, what to plan, how to surprise me, etc. I also wouldn't want to stress over what to do for him. I've always been a big fan of "it's the thought that counts" gifts and this Valentine's Day, that is exactly what I did...

I treat every holiday as an excuse to bake and Valentine's Day is no different. I swear, you just can't go wrong giving baked goods as gifts for your man. This year, I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to give to Jonathan.

While I knew he would love this and it would be more than enough, I was feeling ambitious, so I also put together a gift basket of some of his favorite snacks and things. I thought this would be a good way to present the cookies and cupcakes, while also being a sweet, thoughtful gift that wouldn't break the bank. I bought the basket, wrap and gift tag at World Market (which is my new favorite store) and bought everything else separate so I could include what I knew he would like. There are so many different things you could include, but to keep it simple, here's what I put in Jonathan's basket:

-A random selection of beer
-A bottle of wine for us to enjoy tonight
-homemade cupcakes and cookies packaged in treat bags and a cupcake tin
-beef jerky (I will never understand it, but he loves this stuff)
-Sour Patch Kids, circus peanuts and gummy worms (some of his favorite candy)

 

To stick with the homemade theme, I also skipped the card aisle at Target and made him a homemade valentine. I could've found so many great cards to give him at the store, but I'm so much more excited to give him something made just for him by me. I'm not super crafty, so I kept this pretty simple, but I'm happy with how it came out. It was also nice to take the time to come up with a sweet message for Jonathan's card instead of something already written for me.

This is the front of the card. When we met for the first time,
I had a string of Christmas lights wrapped around me,
so I thought it'd be cute to play off that. On the other side, I wrote a sweet note 
basically telling him how thankful I am to have him in my life.

I've always loved the idea of homemade, DIY gifts, but I rarely put the thought and time into making them. I'm so glad I went this route for Valentine's Day though. It was fun to put all this together for Jonathan and even though it's a simple gift, I know he is going to love it. I can't wait to get over there tonight for a relaxing evening with my man.

I hope you all have a happy day and take time to appreciate all the love in your life.

Tell me...

Do you prefer homemade gifts or would you rather buy something ready to go? How are you celebrating Valentine's Day?

Random Thoughts #3...anything but work.

Happy Wednesday! I'm sitting in my office with the lights off due to the massive headache I've been suffering from since I crawled into bed last night. Unfortunately, work is the last thing on my mind. I'm too busy daydreaming and wishing I hadn't gotten out of bed this morning.

As usual, there are lots of random things running through my head. Here goes.

-I'm so excited for tonight. My BFF and new roomie, Laura and I are having a girls night at home. We're baking for Valentine's Day and making homemade valentines. Life has been hectic for both of us since she moved in earlier this month, so I'm really looking forward to quality girl time tonight.

-I've been trying to figure out what to give Jonathan for Valentine's Day without making it a big deal. I don't think guys really expect anything, but I still wanted to put something together for him. I'm baking tonight, so he'll be getting lots of treats from me tomorrow. I'm also going to put together a little gift basket for him including a bottle of wine, some of his favorite candy and snacks, and a six pack of beer. I feel like that is a thougthful, simple gift that isn't over-the-top cheesy or anything.

-Speaking of Valentine's Day, tomorrow we plan on spending a relaxing night at his house. Nothing too crazy...we're going to cook dinner together and relax. You can bet there will be wine and lots of making out. I'm gonna go ahead and say it'll be an absolutely perfect way to celebrate.

-Do you all ever get in a blogging rut? I kind of feel like I'm in one right now. Blogging topics have always come pretty easily to me, but lately I haven't felt super inspired to write on anything aside from updates on my life and relationship. I'm wondering if I need to take things in a different direction, or if I should wait it out and hope this is just a temporary thing. I love to write and can't imagine not having this outlet, I just need to find some direction again, I guess.

-Reading list. I go through phases where I read several books in a row, then I go months without picking up my Kindle. I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading a little bit every day. It's something I enjoy, so I need to make it a priority to do this more regularly. First up:

I've also heard great things about Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth, so those are definitely on my list. I'm planning on reading The Help again, because it is that good.

Well, that's all for today.

Tell me...

What are your Valentine's Day plans? What types of gifts do you typically buy for your man?

Also, any book recommendations...send them my way!

Love found us.

Yesterday was just another day. Another wonderful day, but still...just another day. I absolutely couldn't wait to head to Jonathan's house after work. We didn't have elaborate plans...just to go for a run, go rock climbing...something active. Instead, when I got there we both decided we weren't up for all that so we relaxed for a bit and planned to see a movie later in the evening.

Later on, we got in my car to head to the movies. In the driver's seat, Jonathan sat there sorting through his mail as I texted my roomie something about how I was probably going to stay at Jonathan's for the night. There we sat in the driveway, me texting away not really paying attention to anything else...when out of nowhere he blurts it out..."I love you."

Before I share what happened next, I should probably tell you that I kinda already said this to him last weekend. I say "kinda" because (1) I had a few too many drinks downtown that night and (2) up until last night I wasn't sure if I had actually said it or I had simply dreamt that I said it to him. I hadn't said anything to him after the fact because I didn't want to make him uncomfortable if he wasn't ready or anything.

To be honest, I have been holding myself back from saying it for a few weeks now. What can I say? When I fall, I really fall. I've been falling in love with him since our first date when he knocked on the door of my favorite frozen yogurt place begging them to let me in after they'd already closed. I don't know the exact moment I went from falling in love to being in love...but I've known for a few weeks now that I'm absolutely in love with this guy.

I obviously didn't want to say those words to him too soon and certainly didn't want to drunkenly blurt them out, but there is no doubt about the fact that I absolutely meant it.

So back to the driveway...

He says it and I can't really believe what I just heard. I slowly look up from my phone and say "Did you mean to say that?" He laughs and says of course he meant to say it. "I love you." He said it again. Here we are on a Tuesday night just sitting in the driveway and this man manages to make me feel like I could stay here, in this car, in this moment, forever. I obviously tell him I love him too, give him a big, smiley kiss and we finally pull out of the driveway and head to the movies. Just like that.

A funny part of all this is that I proceeded to text Natasha right after this (I had been texting her when it happened) and the conversation that follows is seriously one of my favorites ever. We were both too excited to type apparently because this stops making sense at one point.

Yes, she is talking about my dog, Blake

Only a best friend gets just as excited as you do about this kind of thing. I love her!

For the record, I cleared things up later last night by asking if I drunkenly said I love you the other night and he confirmed that I did. I did say it. Of course I did. To be honest, though, I wasn't freaking out too much. After all, if I had said it, he didn't run away or anything so no harm done and I knew if anything, at least he would know where my head was at when he was ready to put his feelings out there.

I'm in love with someone who truly deserves my love and affection. The best part? This wonderful human being loves me right back. He doesn't just say this, he shows it and we show each other every day. I've never felt so safe and secure in love. I'm overjoyed beyond belief.

P.S. I promise to get back to other topics around these parts eventually. This relationship has overwhelmed me in the very best way, so bear with me while I soak it all in and I promise to start mixing it up soon.