Weekend Bachelorette Bash

 

I went to my first bachelorette for the year over the weekend for my sister-in-law. She's around my age so thankfully she chose a daytime brewery tour which is more my speed than going out clubbing until the early morning.

On Saturday morning we made the drive over to Sarasota to meet up with my SIL, cousins and her friends. Around 2pm we left for an Oktoberfest brewery tour to 5 different craft beer breweries in Sarasota. Despite it being a million degrees outside, it was a really fun tour and we tried some amazing beers.

After the tour, K and I went to grab dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Siesta Key. We shared some appetizers while listening to live music on the outside patio. After daytime drinking in the hot sun, I was ready to have a quiet night relaxing at my in-laws house for the rest of the night.

On Sunday morning we had some coffee with the in-laws and then hit the road to head back home. It was a fun weekend although I wish we could have stayed longer to go to Siesta Key beach which is gorgeous but hopefully we'll make it there before "winter" in Florida arrives.

Joining the lovely Biana for some Weekend talk.

Weekend Festivities

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to tackle this week. My weekend was pretty busy although Friday was fairly uneventful. K and I just went out to a small Mexican restaurant close to home for some dinner and had a quiet night at home after that.

On Saturday we headed to Animal Kingdom to go on some rides and have lunch in "Africa". Our season passes were blacked out for summer so we're now able to make use of them again.

 We started off doing the Kilimanjaro Safari and got to see lots of animals and then had lunch in the Harambe Market. The food was so good!

After lunch we rode the Expedition Everest rollercoaster which left me shaking. I almost didn't go on it but sucked it up and the verdict is that I'm a big chicken. The older I get, the more I become terrified of rollercoasters.

  Last we saw the Festival of the Lion King show which was surprisingly really good and entertaining even though it's probably geared more towards children. K and I both agreed it was much better than the Cirque Du Soleil "O" Show that we saw in Las Vegas and paid a pretty penny to see.

After Disney, we headed to International Drive to meet up with some friends for a joint Bachelor/Bachelorette party. We started with dinner and drinks at Brick House Tavern across from the Orlando Eye and then ended the night at Tin Roof bar with some live music and dancing.

Sunday was all about relaxing and getting caught up with blogging and house cleaning before my parents arrive this week. 

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Gift Ideas for Weddings & Bridal Festivities

 

My best friend is getting married in four months but since we live in different countries, I'm unable to attend her pre-wedding festivities such as the bridal shower and bachelorette. I will, however, be there standing by her side on her wedding day. She was in town this past weekend to do some wedding shopping so I wanted to make the trip extra special and shower her with some gifts to make up for my absence.

I bought this "I Do" hanger from Etsy (here) for my wedding day which is also a really cute accessory for wedding photos so I handed it down to Crystal to use for her big day.

 

She doesn't have a wedding registry which would obviously be my first go-to for gifts so I had to think of some other keepsake items that could also be useful for her wedding day.  

I found an online company called Personal Creations that does customized engraving so I picked out some pretty champagne flutes and a silver plated dessert set and had their names and wedding date engraved on the sets. She was so blown away and surprised by these gifts.

 

I remember receiving a personalized wall plaque from one our wedding guests and being so blown away by the thought and effort they put into the gift. Turns out they found the plaque from the same website.

I also used Personal Creations to buy this Eat, Drink & Be Married personalized cutting board for my boss who just got married two weeks ago. I have several other weddings to attend in the upcoming months so I'll definitely be buying more "out-of-the-box" gifts. The prices are so reasonable and the gifts definitely look a lot more expensive than they really are which is always a win, win in my book!

Bridal shower & Bachelorette Gifts:

~ Gifts from their registry (for bridal shower)

~ Lingerie & cute underwear

~ Wedding guest book

~ Bride garter set

~ "Sexy" lotion and oil set from Victoria's Secret (for bachelorette)

Where do you find reasonable gifts for weddings/showers/bachelorette parties?

NOLA Bachelorette Recap

After a hectic 3 nights of binge drinking and shenanigans through the streets of New Orleans, I made it home on Sunday night with no voice and a lingering hangover but I'm in one piece nevertheless.

A group of us girls flew into NOLA on Thursday Night, checked in to the hotel in the Garden District and then headed out for some dinner and drinks. This gift basket full of goodies was waiting in the room for the bride-to-be.

On Friday, we toured Bourbon street in the matching tank tops we got customized for the bride. The streets were packed with people and lots of bachelor & bachelorette parties. Fireball shots were flowing along with my favorite Louisiana beer, Abita Strawberry and we even stopped at Pat O'Brien's for some Hurricanes.

On Saturday we went to the French Quarter Festival, which is the largest free music festival in the US. Lots of good food, music, drinks and people watching.

After the festival, we checked out some voodoo shops and then hit some more bars on Bourbon street ending at a gay bar where we made some fun new friends!

Sunday was our last day and we were all feeling a little rough but our flight wasn't until later in the night. We had lunch at Coop's Place and then a few drinks at Margaritaville and a few other places before heading to the airport.

So glad I got to finally experience New Orleans but I think I need to sleep for a full week to feel "normal" again. Is it the weekend yet?

My Bags Are Packed & Ready to Go

The bachelorette party we've been planning for months is finally here...I'm flying out in a few hours with 7 others girls to NOLA to paint the city red or just eat tons of good food & drink hurricanes!

We've planned one dressy night but the rest of the trip we're going to keep casual, which is just my style. With the amount of bar hopping & walking that will be taking place, I'm going to need some comfy shoes and outfits ~ shorts, skinnies, flats, maxi dresses and cute accessories.

Express Dresses · Express Day Dresses · Express Cropped Pants

Mostly everything above is from Express and even better Express.com has 30% off all dress now until 04/15. Don't know what I would do without Express in my life.

I also got a personal stash for the plane....catch you next week!