our last hurrah

i am a blogger failure.
i went to santa barbara with some of my besties in early may and failed to blog about it.
please forgive me. i will make up for it now.
we traveled to santa barbara to celebrate our friend heather and the fact that she is becoming a MRS.
our theme for the trip - Our Last Hurrah.
bachelorette party in SB - need i say more?
4 of us left early friday morning and flew to LA to meet up with heather.
heather and her dashing fiance (now husband) live in LA.
just after she picked us up from the airport - we found the first IN & Out burger available.
the line was massive but we were in and out in probably 35 mins. not too bad!
we then drove from LA to SB.
we stayed in a sweet hotel with adjoining rooms! it couldn't have been better for 5 adult ladies.
we had tons of room!
we ate at fancy restaurants, spent all saturday on a wine tour of SB County and visited a coach outlet.
it was fabulous.
the weather was amazing
and the company even better.
cheers to heather becoming a MRS and our last hurrah - sort of, i'm sure they'll be more!

**4th pic down we're outside the gates of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch 
** 5th picture down - we were delayed i think about 4 hours? I think we were supposed to leave at 6 but left LAX around 10. So to kill some time - we visited Strand Brewing Co. Fantastic.

babe miller

My dearest friend at work is about to leave me high and dry for the next 10-12 weeks.

She's supposed to have a baby on monday 4/3.

That is if baby miller decides to come on his/her due date.

Jayme (my friend) is betting that it happens closer to easter weekend.

Today was our last walk during work.

We try to walk at least 30 mins every day that we're both in the office.

We use this time to catch up, step away from our desks and talk about things other than work.

She is going to WFH next week hoping that her water breaks.

She was concerned about it happening at work. i mean really? lol

I am not really sure what I am going to do without Jayme at work.

She keeps me sane

She lets me vent

She proofreads my really important emails

She makes me laugh

I am so lucky to have such a great friend at work.

When you spend so much of your day at one particular place one could only hope to enjoy the people you spend it with.

Jayme has had a pretty crazy couple of years trying to get pregnant, the process of adoption, etc.

I remember when she told me she was pregnant this past summer.

I started crying knowing that is what she and her husband had hoped and prayed for so long.

She was very calm, cool and at ease with it.

You could tell it was meant to be.

I can’t think of two better people to be given a sweet baby.

Jayme - i'll miss you pal. wishing you a heathly and speedy delivery. and a precious baby!

over the past couple of days i realized (for about the 100th time) that i have some pretty amazing friends. 
people i have known and enjoyed being around since the 3rd grade, middle school and k-state.
a few of us this year will celebrate being friends 20 years! 
i had the privilege to sit around a dinner table with many of them over the past few days.
gabbing about the days activities, new babies, weddings, recipes, husbands and planning vacations. 
we all come from different places, families and backgrounds. 
but one thing is for sure i can count on all of them. 
some are punctual (one of my favorite qualities) - you know they will always be on time or early to whatever is going on.  to me being early or on time is a sense that what you're doing is important and they want to be involved.
some are good listeners
some can always make you laugh
some share my passion to be creative and crafty
it is interesting to see so many different people just click. 
i'm lucky to have those of you in my life.
i'm also lucky to have those of you that are far away ...you make me a better 'phone talker'. 

behold. the babysitter

we are just entering the winter season here in kansas. in fact i think the first day of winter may be today or tomorrow.  which means - we have about 2 - 3 months left of cold, icy, snowy weather and the occasional  random 60 degree day that is comes out of no where. my pups are missing the nice weather - i know they dream of going on walks when we get home from work. they follow me to my room where i change out of my work clothes, hoping that the workout clothes i put on really means they can go on a walk. i think winter literally takes over their mind and they get ants in their pants. they will wrestle with each other at night, run up and down the staircase practically ripping the carpet up. they chase the daylights out of each other.

but behold - the babysitter. the trick that calms the ants.

the fireplace. one flip of the switch and they are set.  there is no begging to throw the green ball across the living room. no bones being chewed.  just peace and relaxation. they cuddle, put their feet up and chill.

by no means would i trade them for anything.  i love hurley and harper and i would throw the green ball till my arm fell off. one of my dearest friends is a vet and she happened to come over for dinner tonight. and well i happened to ask her after dinner to examine their teeth...and look at their tails that are losing hair and ask her about dog food.  but hey - anything for my hurl and harp.  love you dr. weeks.

6 - 0, Rank #11

This fall has been so much fun cheering on the Wildcats!

Tailgating with friends, the trips to Manhattan, the sea of purple in the stadium.

Bill Snyder at the age of 72 turning around the K-State Football Program

We are so excited that we purchased tickets this year! 

We have loved hanging out with old friends and making new ones!

Here are a few pics from the past weekends. Luckily we had only one day of rain.

* pretty sure the guy in the middle hates when I ask him to do the W - Cat! He smiled in the picture though - it can't be that bad!

just meet me at the court house

Our friends Little and Cody were married on Thursday evening . She arranged for a trolly to pick everyone up at McCoy's in Westport and drive us out to the JoCo Court House in Olathe. The mood of the evening - chill, comfortable, friendly and Shaffer style. I had never been to the court house but could not think of a better reason to go!  Little and Cody said their I-Dos in front of their very dearest friends and family. It was so wonderful to see the support from all of their friends that day.

 After the ceremony we headed back to McCoy's for a great dinner. I love how their wedding was on their terms and what they envisioned.  They kept it true to how they wanted to remember the day.  Cheers to Cody and Little - wishing you many years of happiness!! Thanks for keeping it real.

EM is a MrS!

my dear friend emily was married last saturday.
i had fun being a bridesmaid
everything went as planned
we were on schedule
the bride was gorgeous
the groom - super sweet in his converse
the weather was fantastic
the maid of honor gave one of the best speeches i have ever heard at a wedding
 the bride's father speech was special and endearing
the groom's family is the best dancing family that i have ever seen.
needless to say - i sat on the sidelines and did not dance.
are you surprised?
cheers to emily and ryan.
may the years ahead be as magical and special as your wedding day.
love you!

due to my maid duties - i failed to take pictures. sorry EM! so i stole this great pic from victoria.

the perfect pair

this weekend was spent celebrating my dear friend melissa - which i will normally refer to as Little. she is getting married 1 week from today to a very special guy. on friday evening we were out on the town celebrating her last night as a single lady. then on sunday i hosted a bridal shower for her. when i asked Little if i could host a shower for her and she agreed- my mind immediately started bringing ideas together. i have been to some pretty amazing bridal showers and i did not want to disappoint her. i had found on a blog a 'baby shower' idea for a girl that was having twins. the theme for the shower was 'the perfect pair'. well i figured i could probably with a bit of effort turn a 'twin' baby shower theme idea into a bridal shower.'together they make the perfect pair'. brillant - yes, because she and her soon to be husband are perfect for each other! the color scheme was yellow and grey which i think is super fab. my friend Vic designed the invites for me as well as a few of the fun decorations used at the shower. you can find her stellar work here.

i started making my list of to dos categorized: food, games, supplies, gifts & house chores.i had to find some sort of fabric or table cloth for sure to set the tone for the shower. see my kitchen table is smack dab in the middle of my house. i found an amazing table cloth in yellow and grey with a fab print at target. it was not on sale. which if you know me i only buy stuff on sale. but i didn't care, it was perfect. once i had found that table cloth i knew i could continue with the theme. i then started thinking about all of my friends that are super crafty. and i pretty much stole one idea from each of them. i completely give them credit for the ideas notated by their initials in the pictures. i can only take the credit for the execution. thanks friends.

my mom let me borrow my grandma's glass plates and cake stand. they are super antique and i love how vintagey they are. i thought they went great with the yellow and grey. the food was pretty good, i must say - chicken salad on ciabatta, orzo pasta salad, fruit and cupcakes. i also made a pear sangria that went over great on a sunday afternoon! my friend erica gave me the recipe for the orzo and it was a hit! thanks friend!.

I had so much planning and hosting this shower for Little. I think that she had a blast and felt the love from all of her amazing friends.

I cannot wait to celebrate Cody and Little - 1 week from TODAY!!!!!!!!!!! 

They are the 'Perfect Pair'.

toast a final drink to single life!

On Saturday evening I gathered alongside some of my best gal pals to celebrate my 'last night' as a single lady. My friend Tara hosted the party at her house...and boy did she go all out. She had a mexican fiesta...with amazing food, drinks and decorations!! Lets start with the invite. Love the orange and pink.

 

 Check out the table decorations (monogram S napkins), hanging streamers cut by hand and lovely flowers.

A few pictures of the spread!

 

We played a few games from guess the lingerie gift giver (too many pictures to post) and cracking the pinata at the end of the night.  Unfortunately we did not get a group shot - not sure how I missed that one!  

Thanks everyone for making it a special night!!!

Loving Lawrence

Our dear friends Cody and Little got engaged!!! Cody had told us that he was going to pop the question this summer - and that he had purchased the ring. This was about maybe 2 months ago. That meant I had to keep this darn thing a secret from Little - for that long. That was hard. We see them all the time....and a secret like that is ridiculous. He decided that he was going to ask her sooner than he was initially thinking. So the plotting began. He planned for them to spend the day in Lawrence -where they first met. Eating at their favorite places and just spending the day together. He had arranged for us to watch their dog Mojo - which meant they had to drop him off prior to leaving for Lawrence. I mean - holy crap I knew what was going on and why they were going there - it was hard not to freak out and blow it. So they dropped off Mojo and headed to Lawrence. What she didn't know is that he invited some of their closest friends to meet them at the Eldridge Hotel for dinner and drinks after. She had no clue. I told Little we were going to a BBQ that night.  HA no - we were meeting them at the Eldridge. Cody gave specific instructions on where they were going to be and what time to be where. The fiance and I are pretty familiar with Lawrence area and Mass street but prior to leaving I plotted out where we were going to park because I did not want to be the one to blow the surprise. So once we parked we bolted to the Eldridge.

While we were sitting there - EVERYONE at the table received a text from Little saying "Cody and I are engaged" - funny thing is everyone there TEXTED her back - which is not normal. Usually people would be so excited they would call back. Well she didn't know we were all sitting in the same room - waiting for her to show up!!! When they arrived around 9PM - she was super shocked. She could not believe it and soon figured out why no one called her back!! That evening we celebrated in Lawrence with Cody and Little. I couldn't think a better couple. They are family to me and the fiancé and we're so lucky to have them in our life. Cheers to Cody and Little!!! Let the planning begin!!!!!

keep calm

my lovely friend erica threw a 'keep calm' royal wedding watch party last friday evening. our bookclub met to watch the pre wedding festivities and the actual wedding. good news for me - i was able to watch it a second time...on purpose!

erica went all out and even set her table with her wedding china. lovely of course.
(did you see her new awesome sage green buffet table. nice one - mission antique mall)

her menu was divine and thoughtful. the drinks of choice were delicious.

The guests had a blast! Even the little ones.

This is one of my favorite erica parties. She is quite the hostess with the most clever ideas. Thanks for inviting me! check out the adorable party favors!

green and purple

3 of my best gal pals threw me a fabulous bridal shower on sunday. talk about making a girl feel extremely special. i was blown away with their beautiful decorations, delicious food, creative games and organization/planning. it was absolutely fantastic. plus all of my other favorite gal pals were able to join in on the fun. here are some pictures from the day. i am very much a newbie to picasa....but i managed to figure out how to make this collage and get it posted on here.... i have a lot to learn.

thanks girls for everything! what a fun day!

ThE bAcHeLoReTtE

this past saturday we celebrated Ashley - my friend that is getting married in may. it was her 'last' night as a single lady!! boy did we have a good time celebrating her becoming a MRS!!!!  we started off the evening with a dinner at cafe trio on the plaza. it was my first time there- and it was pretty great! after cafe trio we headed back to the roos casa for a lingerie party, chocolate fondue for dessert and some fun bachelorette games! what a fun night celebrating a truly great friend. here are some pics from the evening!!!

DC - Part 2

aside from the amazing cupcakes in DC, i have to admit i really enjoyed the busy city and surrounding towns. here is a breakdown of the trip -

friday (day)- emily, abbey and i headed to mt. vernon to check out george washington's pad. lets just say it was pretty awesome. it is surrounded by beautiful magnolia trees, gardens and of course the potomac river in the background. we were able to tour the grounds and inside his actual house. in his bedroom is the bed that he actually died in...creepy. i was sort of wondering if his estate was haunted. good trip - definitely visit if you're planning a trip to dc.

friday (evening)  - downtown dc! dinner at Founding Farmers. check out victoria's pictures and recap here ... Out to Dinner with Girls

saturday (day) - i am pretty sure this is the day that belle (victoria's mischievous dog) escaped. yes, i had been warned several times to make sure you close the door quickly or she will escape. well turns out that belle made her 9th escape in the past 2 weeks. she fooled me and boy was she fast. victoria eventually captured her. tricky dog. after that, we headed out to maryland to take a beautiful sailing trip on the chesapeake bay. once again, check out vic's blog about the sailing trip - she has some great pictures that appear to be taken prior to my sunburn. Skip Jack!

saturday (evening) - we stopped for some fresh crab and shrimp in st. michaels - very small town in maryland. delicious. then ran through an outlet mall on the way home. i was surprised i had some self control since they had a Coach store there...i was just too tired to shop.

sunday (morning) - slept in, went to a movie and headed downtown.  i had been wanting to go to the smithsonian museum of american history and abbey wanted to go to an art museum close by so it worked out perfect. unfortunately i didn't take any pictures. they had the coolest display of the first ladies inaugural ball gowns. some of the women were so small and petite but not mrs. obama. that lady is tall and strong. her dress was gorgeous and so were her jimmy choo's neatly sitting next to her dress. we read at the museum that they build the figures to be the size of the actual first lady...and did not alter the dress to fit the figure. mrs. reagan was super tiny!

sunday (evening) - we decided to head over to the capitol building and watch the pbs memorial day concert. there were all sort of actors and performers. brad paisley was there and played a couple of tunes. it was very emotional and heartfelt. it was a great way to spend our sunday evening.

monday (last day) - we got up early and went downtown to see all of the major monuments. jefferson and lincoln were my favorites.  the vietnam memorial was very special. the boyfriend's uncle - james clarence strube - has his name engraved on the wall amongst all of the other heros. JC served our country until June 11, 1969.  I think the boyfriend looks a lot like JC. They have a beautiful memorial of him in powhattan, ks. so it was very special to see that he made his mark in DC as well.

we headed over to georgetown for a quick breakfast before catching our plane home. it was a quick weekend full of excitment and emotions. thanks vic, emily and rachel for a great weekend! you're quite the hostesses!!!

DC - Part 1 - Chocolate and PB.

this past weekend i visited a few of my friends that live in DC. and in order to start the vacation blog in the right direction, i'd like my readers to understand that although i visited one of the busiest and most historial cities in america. i had 3 of the very best cupcakes. victoria took me to 3 of her favorite cupcake bakeries. the cupcake below was my favorite. it was from a bakery in georgetown. oh by the way - the 3 cupcakes i ate...were chocolate cake with PB frosting. i had to stay consistent amongst all 3 locations. don't get me wrong...there will be tales of sailing in the chesapeake bay,  listening to brad paisley at the memorial day concert and of course walking the monuments. i just needed to start the week off in the right direction.

WiCHiTA

This past weekend, the boyfriend and the girls (hurl & harp) made a road trip to Wichita, KS to see some friends from college. Megan and Biff (aka Sean) live there. Friday night we ventured to over to WSU to see the Shockers play some baseball. They had young lawyers night at the game so we were able to meet a lot of their fun friends. Saturday we got up and decided to go car shopping. They are not in the market to buy a car...but I have been eyeing the Ford Edge and I really wanted to test drive. I loved it and was ready to trade in my fusion. However, it was out of my price range. Maybe I'll start looking for a used Edge. Anyways- that was interesting and everyone should buy a vehicle at some point in their life.  It is such a game...and is really annoying. I wish they could just be straight up with you on the price. If only it was as easy as going grocery shopping. Saturday evening we headed West to Cheney, KS to a local bar called, Hank is Wiser.  The owner is a homebrewer from Cheney. He and his famiy run the joint. They have a Cherry Beer...that was a hit. The boyfriend and I decided to have the sampler...which consisted of their 6 main beers. I preferred the Porter and Stout. The boyfriend enjoyed the IPA. Sunday we got up and went to breakfast then drove home. We had such a great time with Megan and Biff. They have a lovely home and 2 cute dogs! By the way - Harp and Hurl slept the entire way back to KC. They were so tired from playing with Rudy and Henry. 

We are hoping to make another visit later this year so we can attend the KS State Fair in Hutchinson. Just thinking about it makes me want a corn dog. LOL.

I wanted to share a recipe with all of you - Megan made it to have as a snack.

McGivern Cheese Dip
1 can of mushrooms, sliced (drained)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg of HOT pork sausage (roll) - cook in skillet then drain excess juice.
1 head of broccoli cut the florettes off and add to cheese (minimal stalks)
1 brick of Velveeta
1 can of rotel (don't drain).

Heat in crockpot and serve with tortilla chips