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Monday, February 23, 2015

Everything is Awesome!

Kali here! Sorry I have been a little MIA this past week. I was working a ton, and then took my mini vacation to Florida this weekend! I am still here, hanging out with my brother, and my parents, and flying out at the crack of dawn tomorrow. As I mentioned in my last post, I headed south for Bekah's big day, and also to escape the icy hell scape that is my home. I actually was not sure I was going to be able to make it out of Boston, because it had been snowing all week! Thankfully, Friday was the only day it didn't snow, and even with a layover in Cleveland (which was somehow COLDER than Boston), I was able to make it to Orlando without any delays.

The first leg of my trip, from Boston to Cleveland, I was on the tiniest plane I've ever seen! I stand at a towering 4'10", and I almost had to duck walking on board! There was only one row of seats on one side, and two rows on the other. I guess it makes sense that no one would want to fly to Ohio this time of year, so we got the baby plane. Of course, the flight from Cleveland to Orlando was jam packed, and a full sized aircraft! Everyone was practically running on board, as if they could already feel the sunshine on their skin. The second we landed in Florida, I heard the guy next to me say to his wife, "Why do we live in Cleveland again?". I feel ya bro, I feel ya.

I got to spend my first night in town with my family, which was lovely as always. The biggest thing that bums me out about not living in Florida anymore is being away from them, so I soak up all the time I can get! I got to have a nice little Saturday morning with my dad, before I headed out to see Bekah get hitched! I don't want to make this entire post about her wedding (I'll let her do that), but I will give you the highlights from the amazing time I had there. I got to spend my day with the loveliest date, Miss Jen Denhart; once of my best friends, and blogging buddy from over at Amity Island!

Rebekah and (her now husband) Jerry got married outside, in front of a beautiful lake at the Hickory Point Recreation Facility, in Tavares, FL. Their wedding party and parents joined them down on the walkway, while the rest of us guests got to experience their ceremony from the wraparound deck of reception building behind them. Jen and I had a hard time keeping it together during their hand written vows, those love birds were pulling on our heart strings! All in all, it was a beautiful
ceremony, and we felt so lucky to be able to share this day with our long-time friend.
I wish I would have taken a video of this band! They were a Rockabilly cover band, playing on the second floor deck of the reception building, and they rocked all of our socks off! Seriously, they were amazing, and adorable, and Jen and I wanted this lady bass player to be our new best friend.
Here is a picture of me and Jen at the beginning of the wedding! Don't worry, there will be an 'after' picture.
This was probably my favorite thing about the entire night, the dessert table! First of all, can we all take a look at the custom cake topper our super talented friend, Brandon (B-Rex) Smith made for the newlyweds?! I can't even. It was the cutest. Second of all, DONUTS. I know I work in the cake business, but I was absolutely thrilled with these delicious treats! I can't tell you all of the details of where they came from, but I am sure Bekah will fill us in with all of those details when she gets back from her honeymoon. I'm not gonna lie, I definitely snagged a donut off of the table, while dancing in a conga line, and kept right on dancing with said donut in hand!
This is when we got the first up close look of the happy new couple, and during their first dance. The song was "I Wanna Grow Old with You", by Adam Sandler (from The Wedding Singer, duh!). Talk about another scene to turn on the waterworks, it was almost too cute to handle!

The most beautiful bride we have ever seen! The dress! That hair! We could not stop gushing about how fantastic Bekah looked, and how happy we were for her. Everything was perfect, and we all got a good workout, shakin' it on the dance floor the rest of the night! 
 Remember when I said I was grabbing for donuts whilst dancing? It happened a second time, and then I refused to eat the donut until I was absolutely ready for it, turning me into Kali Donut-Beerhands. This went on for far too long.
Here it is, the promised 'after' photo. About 6 beers, and countless dance songs later, I still had not taken a bite of this donut, and we made poor Brandon take stupid pictures of us in the elevator (which had surprisingly amazing lighting). I would say this is a sure sign of a solid night!

It was finally time to say goodbye to the newlyweds, and gave them an adorable send-off with sparklers. We had a fantastic time, and I am so glad that I decided to make the trip down, and be a part of this special day! A huge thanks to Bekah and Jerry for showing us such a good time, and I hope you two are having a blast on your trip!

After our fun filled Saturday night, Jen and I decided to spend our Sunday at the Rennigers Mount Dora Flea Market and Antique Show. Joining us was her roommate Ashley, and her sweet as pie daughter, Zoe. I had never been out there, and I don't think anything could have prepared me for what was to come! Here was the best shot I could get of how huge this antique extravaganza was:
Seriously, there was no way we could have seen everything there! It was almost overwhelming, there was so much stuff to look at, I did not even know where to begin. Lucky for my wallet, I only had limited cash, and couldn't possibly take anything substantial back with me on the plane! All I wanted to do on my weekend here was spend some time in the sun, and boy did I get what I asked for. It was a high of 80 degrees on Sunday, and the sun did not spare us one bit! I know the girls were hating it, but I was trying to soak up all I could get. 

Even though I could have spent hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in this antique heaven, I managed to escape with only spending $10! I did a good job of remembering how small my suitcase was, and how much stuff I had left at my parent's house before, which was going to have to come back with me this time. These are the few little treasures I scooped up:
 Some cutie vintage hair scarves, that I am just now realizing are very patriotic, and were 3 for $5.
A couple of Florida coasters, so Eddy and I can have a little piece of home with us back in the tundra. 

I spent Sunday night with my family, and forced them to watch the Oscars with me. I have a strange obsession with all of the award shows, and get weirdly excited to watch them, as if I actually know any of the famous people who are winning? I will say that I was disappointed in NPH, although his opening musical number with Anna Kendrick and Jack Black, was amazing. My favorite winner was Eddie Redmayne, and my favorite performance was Lady Gaga (um, who knew she could sing like that?!), although the Tegan and Sara/The Lonely Island "Everything is Awesome" performance was a close second. I watched The Lego Movie for the first time with my mom and brother today, and now we all can't stop singing 'everything is awesommmeee!' over and over again. I can not believe that movie got snubbed for best animated film, it was fantastic! Anyway, my weekend was a success, and I think I may have kicked the winter madness, at least for a little while. Did you guys do anything awesome this weekend? Oh crap, EVERYTHING IS AWESOOOOME! 






Sunday, February 15, 2015

Dress for the job you want

Hello! Kali here, with my first fashion based post. I would love to make this a completely fashion oriented blog, but that would require me to be on my game 100% of the time, and that is just not the case! (Especially right now, when it is a crisp 12 degrees outside, it is hard to look cute.) I would not call myself a fashionista, or even a very fashion forward person, but I do care a lot about how I look, and the people around me seem to respond to it. I actually relate my style a lot to Ms. Frizzle, from the Magic School Bus books. She is all about a theme, and really knows how to work it! In true Frizzle fashion, I embraced the past week before Valentine's Day, and decided I would suffer through the brutal temperatures, and stick with a theme all week long.
Here is Day 1:
Outfit Details: Dress- H&M/Cardigan- Cotton On/Scarf- Gap/Hair bow- American Apparel/Brooch- Made by me!

Day 2:
Outfit Details: Sweater- Modcloth

Day 3: 

Outfit Details: Top- Forever 21/Skirt- American Apparel/Mug- Paper Source

Day 4: Which was actually a mash up of Friday the 13th, and Valentine's Day!
Outfit Details: Dress- Modcloth/Cardigan- Forever 21/Superstitious Eye Pin- Explorer's Press

There would have been a day 5, but when I woke up on the morning of Valentine's Day, it was -8 degrees outside, and I couldn't manage wearing a dress. Even the 3 days I did wear a dress/skirt, I had on thermal tights, thigh high socks, and another pair of socks. Man, it's tough trying to look cute in a New England winter! Thankfully, I only have to walk outside from my house to my car, and then from my car to work, so I only had to suffer in the cold for a few minutes total. Anyway, all of these outfits are just pieces from my every day wardrobe, paired with pink & red accessories! I love how an outfit can be transformed, just by wearing different accessories with it. I have definitely been in a fashion rut lately, and this week sparked some creativity inside me that has been missing these past couple of weeks. They say you should dress for the job you want, and I would like to have the most interesting outfit in the room, so I'm shooting for just that! 

Monday, February 9, 2015

'XO' or 'F U'?

Hello, and happy February! Kali here, writing from the couch, on my third snow day in 3 weeks. Crazy, huh? I think New England has gotten some 60+ inches of snow in the past 17 days, or something insane like that. Thankfully, I've been getting scheduled for 6 days at work anyway, so I'm not too upset to work a normal 40 hour week, by getting this extra day off. Also, I am heading south (again), in about ten days, to go to our very own Bekah's wedding! Even though it will only be for a few days, I can't wait to see her tie the knot, and to feel the sun on my skin again. Maybe if I am lucky, I will squeeze in another trip to Disney World, because I am already having withdrawals.

I have been keeping very busy, cooking a ton, and crafting myself to death. I love Valentine's Day, and take it as yet another opportunity to send something cute in the mail, to all of my loved ones. I thought about making this post about the valentines I was sending to all of my love's that live in other states, but I realized that would ruin the surprise! Instead, I have a fun little conversation hearts nail tutorial, for your viewing pleasure. Now I know that it isn't cool to like Valentine's Day, so if you are being a hater, you could always change the 'XO' to 'F U', and still have adorable nails!



I started off by choosing a base color, and giving my nails a solid two coats (don't forget your base coat!!). The color I chose here is Essie- Mod Square
Next, I painted one coat of Essie- Set in Stones, to give the effect of confetti over the pink base. You could also use a multi-color glitter polish, which I actually think would look better than just silver glitter.

Then I chose the colors for the conversation hearts, and went ahead and painted the hearts on my nails. I did not use the striper polishes for this part. It was actually easier to make a heart with just two brush strokes, with the thicker brush. Your heart doesn't have to be perfect, because you are going to be outlining it with black, which can fix any mistakes. The colors I chose for the hearts are Essie- Play DateEssie- Strut Your Stuff, Ulta- Peach Parfait, and Ulta- Sun-Sational. 

 I took my black striper, and outlined all of the hearts. If you are really feeling creative, you can use a white striper, and create a highlight on all of the hearts too!
Finally, I created my messages in the hearts using the black striper again. I had high hopes that I would be able to actually write some phrases, but alas, all I could manage was 'XO'. I need to invest in some nail writing pens, so I can do more lettering! Like I said before, you could write whatever you like in your hearts, love or anti-love related. Either way, finish it off with a top coat, and you're all set. Now you've got the cutest hands in the room!

I'll let you guys in on a little secret... I could only do my left hand with this one! I tried about 3 times to have hearts on both hands, and after a lot of swearing, and nail polish remover, I settled with one good hand. The nice thing is, who cares? I'm not a huge fan of symmetry anyway. I am apparently, a huge fan of conversation hearts though! I spent the other half of my day today making a little batch of conversation heart brooches.



I had made some of these a few weeks ago, all with anti-love phrases on them (Go Away, Yeah Right, stuff like that). My boss saw me wearing one the other day, and asked me if I wanted to sell them at my job! Of course we only have 5 more days until Valentine's Day, so I am cutting it close, but I can always save them for next year if they don't sell. Not to mention, I think these can be worn at any time of year! Last year, I went to Aldo the day after Valentine's Day, and bought their Conversation Heart Bag (on sale!), and proceeded to wear it all year long. Of course, now that Valentine's Day is this week, I don't have access to said purse because I left it at my mom's house in Florida! Oh, the irony. 

Stay tuned later this week for a Valentine's Day outfit post! It has been super frigid here, but I am going to suck it up and freeze for the sake of looking cute. Fashion over function, right? Right. See y'all later!