winter weekend getaway packing!

This weekend my friends and I are headed to the Poconos for some tubing, rest, and relaxation.  There will be 10 of us going and cars will be tightly packed for the journey.  I have been trying to narrow down my packing list to the bare necessities.  We will be spending most of our time hanging out at our rental house, so comfort is key.

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Major necessities for me are : a water bottle (always!), warm hat, moisturizer with SPF 30 to protect my face on the slopes, American Apparel winter leggings (extra warm!), cute wintry nails (Mariah Carey for OPI in Ski Slope Sweetie), and a cozy sweatshirt (I usually prefer men's).

We are also bringing lot's of food, games, and bathing suits for the hot tub :)

snow day crafting!

Since today was the third snow day in two weeks, I decided to try to be productive instead of the typical lazing around.  Valentine's Day is tomorrow and I made two different garlands that I will use to decorate for vday dinner and just to have around the house.

The first was a sparkly heart garland:

{materials = sparkly pink and gold card stock + gold string + scissors + tape}

STEPS:

-draw a heart on the back of the card stock and cut out to make pattern-

-use this pattern to trace many different hearts on the back of each color card stock-

-carefully cut out each heart-

-tie a loop at each end of a long piece of gold string-

-tape hearts onto string alternating pink and gold-

-hang from a mantle, window, etc.-

The sparkly card stock catches light beautifully.  I hung mine on the mantle and it moves slightly on its own, catching the light each time.  It looks almost like lights!

The second was a pom pom garland.  I picked up a bag of valentine's pom poms at target for $1.  

{materials = small pom poms + gold string + large looped needle + scissors}

STEPS:

-measure out a long piece of gold string-

-tie a knot + loop at one end-

-loop the other end through the needle-

-arrange pom poms in desired pattern-

-pierce the needle through the center of each pom pom as you string it on-

-keep them spaced evenly apart-

-tie a loop at the other end-

Enjoy the valentine's festiveness!

{excuse my chipped nails !}

valentine's day gift ideas

Last year the bf took me out for a really nice (and far too expensive) dinner.  I decided that this year we should just do something low key instead.  I feel like it's my turn to plan it this year so I've decided to make dinner and have been trying to think of a creative gift idea.

Some ideas:

1.  A wooden beer carrier from Meriwether of Montana on Etsy.  This shop also has wine carriers, racks, etc.  I could fill this with some of his favorite beers as well as other fun valentine's day goodies.

2.  A bkr water bottle.  I like to think that my water bottle obsession is rubbing off on him.  But really who wouldn't want a bkr bottle? (my current favorite)  It really is true that drinking out of glass tastes significantly better (and is much better for you!).  The standard 16 oz size comes in a nice dark grey called "storm" and they have new liter sized bottles(!) with one in a black called "moto."  I could also fill this with some small candies or include it with other small things in a gift bag.

3.  Cooking classes.  Some local restaurants offer cooking classes for around $40 per person.  We've talked about doing this and he could choose which day and which recipes he wanted to learn to make.

4.  I could also just go with the standard gift card idea, but I really prefer to put together more festive and meaningful gifts.

These are pretty random gift ideas but Valentine's Day gifts for guys can be tricky because most festive things are super girly and heart covered (which I of course love, but the bf not so much).  Next challenge will be holding back on going completely overboard with pink decorations for our dinner!

starting a blog and my rifle paper co. obsession

I've decided to start a blog to organize all of my entertaining ideas, keep track of successful and failed pinterest attempts, and be able to remember my favorite time with friends and family - celebrations!

I have always loved holidays, birthdays, seasons, small gatherings, dinner parties, really anything that involves decorating, festiveness, gift-buying, and planning!  I am an extreme list maker.  I make so many lists that I lose track of them (kind of defeating the purpose) but it makes me feel so nice and organized to write down my ideas and to-do lists (and in terms of holidays and parties it makes me so excited!)

Few things make me happier than a beautiful journal or notepad in which to keep lists and ideas.  My current obsession is anything Rifle Paper Co.:

I'm not sure if they still sell this one, but other favorites are their pocket notebooks and the weekly desk pad that I bought my mom for Christmas :)

Speaking of Christmas, they have ridiculously cute wrapping paper and cards:

Ok enough about Rifle because I could probably go on about them all day!

My hope is that this blog helps me to better keep track of my ideas for celebrations and reel in my excited list-making a little bit, plus this way I can share my excitement and plans with my friends, family, and whoever else may be interested!