22nd birthday recap

Technically my birthday is August 9th, but the past couple years, it seems like it has been dragged out across a few days. This year my birthday was Saturday the 8th through Tuesday the 11th.

My birthday weekend started actually on Thursday the 6th with my dear friend Abi returning from a seven-week long mission trip! She and her mom came up and it was just so wonderful to see them.

Saturday was the big night though, with WiFEE and the HUZz Band at the Florian II Supper Club in Baileys Harbor, just like my 21st birthday party. I got off work a little bit early, and then I went home and had some dinner and got ready to go!

Of course I had to wear my tiara! I started the night with an Old Fashioned, which I didn't really care for, but I later got a vodka cranberry, which was really good.

I wore a dress from Rent the Runway again, and it's actually from the same designer as the dress that I wore last year. This is Allison Parris's Peek of Tulle dress. I wasn't really a fan of the way that the tulle peeking out was really ruffly, and I didn't like that it made me look so flat on top. The only reason these pictures look like I have some cleavage is due to my awkward tan (burn...) lines.

(That's a lipstick print on my forehead from Ruby.) The 8th was Greg's (the bass player) birthday, so close to midnight I bought us Jameson shots. This was the first time that I purchased alcohol at a bar! The song that they were playing was really long, so I didn't get to have us do our shots at midnight like I wanted to, but oh well. I went and toasted a few of the guys that I could reach after that song and I totally dripped Jameson all over. Somehow I was a little bit of a mess right then.

After the show, we hung out with the band a little bit and took some super cute pictures (and Ruby and I had some more Jameson), like a series of punk rock Zach with little Bruiser the chihuahua, and we went and sat on the bus with a few of the band members. I didn't get home until about four, so it was a long night.

Sunday was my actual birthday, and I could have gone to another WiFEE and the HUZz Band show that afternoon, but I opted to work instead because I didn't want to have to deal with a crowd of people. I ended up getting off early again though (because I work for some absolutely incredible people).

I wasn't wearing the lace tights or heels (I had flats) at work, but this is what I wore that night!

When I got off work, I met up with Lisa, Abi, and Pauli, and then Abi and I went and had birthday dessert at the Inn at Cedar Crossing. We had some apple cream cheese pie thing and chocolate raspberry cake, and then we went down to Poh's to hang out with our friends.

For the second day in a row, I kidnapped Bruiser. He is just so cute and I love him so much more than he loves me.

Some of my lovely friends were at the bar, so I ended up there allllll night. I did a couple shots of some minty rum with Jamey, one of my favorite drummers, and it was really cool to actually get to have a conversation with him, because I feel like I barely get to see or hang out with these people. Then I also saw the wonderful woman I teach Sunday school with, and we had cherry bombs.

I spent some more time with Ruby, Coopy, and Bruiser, pat, Zach, and Teflon, and then the last of us stragglers left at bar close and hung out outside for a little while.

I didn't get home until quarter to three, so it was another night where I didn't get a lot of sleep, but it's worth it to me because I don't go out a lot, and I was spending time with some of my favorite people.

On Monday, I did some work at the Y, and then I went and had lunch with Abi, Lisa, and Pauli at JJ's of Jacksonport, and then Abi and I hung out for a while before I had to go back to the Y. We had a birthday party there in my class, so that was fun.

After the Y, my mom and I went up north for dinner and dessert at Julie's in Fish Creek. The flourless chocolate cake was really good!

We also took some pictures of me with the Fjord horse at Little Sweden in Egg Harbor. I have been wanting a picture of/with this guy for a very long time.

I actually got about seven hours of sleep that night, which was so great. I had to work all day which was part of the reason I needed a lot of sleep though. We took the annual camp trip to the U.S. Coast Guard Canal Station, which we always do closest to my birthday. I wore my tiara, and my supervisor made sure to embarrass me by getting a picture of me with our Coasties.

All in all it was a really fun birthday weekend, and I can't wait to see what 22 is going to do for me!

xoxo.

21st Birthday Party with WIFEE and the HUZz Band!

We celebrated my 21st birthday (the 9th) this past Friday night, and it was so much fun! I had originally wanted to have WIFEE and the HUZz Band play at my party, but then after months of changing the dates, Ruby and I decided that it would just be easier to use one of their pre-existing Door County gigs for the party. This was actually smart, because I haven't really had any luck with having people show up for my birthday party, ever. The band had a gig scheduled for August 15th at the Florian II Supper Club in Baileys Harbor, and we decided to dinner beforehand.

The Wednesday before the party, I went down to Appleton and got a manicure and pedicure at Spa BenMarNicos. My toenails were painted OPI's My Signature is DC and my fingernails were OPI's I Sing in Color.

I was off from work on the day of the party, which was really weird because there have only been a few Fridays that I haven't been there since I started working at the motel nearly four and a half years ago. I walked around Target for a little bit before my hair appointment.

It ended up taking longer that I was expecting to get my hair done, because my hair stylist and I were having a hard time deciding what we wanted to do. I wanted it curly, and I was hoping to have it up at least partially, but I didn't want to look to Prom-y because of the dress I was wearing.

I left there a little bit later than I was hoping to, and then I went home to get changed. I rented the Allison Parris Grand Celebration dress from Rent the Runway, along with the Lauren Merkin Grey Eve Glitter Clutch.

I was already freaking out because I was running late, and then I was having some problems with the zipper on the dress because the teeth wouldn't stay together. I called two of my friends, but there really wasn't anything that they could do, so I just ended up wearing the larger size. (Rent the Runway will send you a second size at no additional charge. I am so thankful for that.)

I drove up to Baileys Harbor, and I already saw the cars of the people that I was supposed to be meeting there. Our dinner reservations were for seven, and I was a few minutes late. I don't really remember seeing anyone in the restaurant other than us, but they might have just been on the lower level by the water and I wasn't paying attention. I found Anna, and she helped me tape my dress up, and then she took a couple pictures of me. The one thing I wish I could change about that night was that I wish I took pictures with more people.

photos by Anna Sacks

The dress was just incredible. I felt like a cupcake, and melanie said that she wanted to bake a cake for me to stand on! ha.

We sat down for dinner a little bit later, and Ruby had gotten these giant happy birthday balloons to put on the table. Almost a week later, and they still look brand new.

Dinner was really nice because I got to spend some time with people that I feel like I rarely just get to hang out with. I ordered the smallest steak on the menu (I don't really eat seafood, and I didn't think that ribs were a good choice for what I was wearing...), but it still seemed huge!

A few more people showed up after dinner, and then I dragged Abi with me to go fix my dress again, and then her mom bought me my first drink. I had a grasshopper which was really good, but I didn't drink the whole thing because I was kind of paranoid about having to drive home.

photo by Abi Bethke

It matches my car, so that was cute. pat was joking about wanting to take a picture of me in my car with it. (:

The show started around nine, but I don't have a lot of pictures of that (or really anything that night) because it was so dark in there.

Just before the end of their first set, they played "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," which Ruby said that Vee picked out as my birthday song. {listen to the original here} I thought that that was all that they were going to be doing, but of course not. They made me get up on stage and they played a real birthday song and made me blow out candles on some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cupcakes.

photos by Ty Helbach

I was laughing so hard and had no idea what to do with my arms. I felt so awkward.

photos by Abi Bethke

Abi took a couple pictures on her phone, and then she saw that my camera was sitting there, so she took a couple pictures on there for me, which was really sweet.

After I sat back down at the bar with Abi, melanie came over and told me that I was supposed to pass out the cupcakes, but I didn't want to, so Abi's mom went and brought us some cupcakes, and later she passed them out to the people at the bar.

Abi also took this last picture here, which I love. We would alternate between standing/dancing and sitting at the bar. Anna and I danced together to My Girl, and that was pretty funny because neither of us had any idea what we were doing. Then, for the Get Down, I ended up lying on the floor with Vee, and it was a funny and awkward experience, which he made even funnier/more awkward by kneeling over me while he continued to play his guitar.

All in all, it was a wonderful night.

xoxo.

*this is not a sponsored post.

The Month by iPhone: June 2013

wow. June was crazy. check back tomorrow for a June recap with "real" pictures! (;

lobby flowers {thank you, Mrs. P}

setting up the camp room {Converse obsession}

cloud & Luna love

I wore a skirt! oh how I wish I made someone take my picture.

then I wore a dress! once again, lacking pictures. I just have one not-so-great full outfit picture.

Whitefish Dunes

homework

I love getting dressed up. I seriously need a tripod for full outfit photos.

Delaney Davidson!!

what everyone imagines Door County to look like...

peacock feather at work. no one knows where it came from.

fresh strawberries!

neglected Christmas lights

leaving work on Saturday evening

xoxo.