weekends

Weekend Recap – Dresses & Cake

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was a whirlwind, but boy was it fun.

Friday started with an early AM workout, even though I took the day off.  It was good to get the day kick started on the right track.  From there, made a quick Starbucks run and then home to take Moz for a walk with the neighbors.  It was 50’s and sunny, so it was perfect to get Moz out and tired before we hit the road! Just before one, we were on the road headed to Mom & Dad’s house for the weekend.  We arrived just in time for dinner!

Saturday, Mom and I got an early start to meet up with Kates to go dress shopping! We had three places lined up, so we had a full day ahead of us.  The first shop ended up being a dud. The second place, was a dud.  And finally the third place, I felt like we were getting somewhere, but still no real luck. But it was good to see what was out there and start figuring out what looked good as far as color and style.  My mom also got a feel for what style she might like. It wasn’t as successful as we had all hoped, but we definitely made progress! So after all the appointments were finished, we stopped for a drink and some snacks to detox from all the dresses.

That night, we had a little birthday party at my parents! Kates & Travis came over, along with my brother and sister-in-law.  We had pizza and salad, plenty of Moscato D’Asti and Champagne and of course homemade spice cake wit’s cream cheese frosting, YUM! We played some games and caught up with everyone, it was fun having my favorite people in one place.

I think it’s safe to say, that the birthday celebrating is officially over, but it was nice to do it with the family.  I can’t believe that was the last full weekend in March, this month has flown by. Here’s to another fun weekend full of friends and family!

XO –

5-Miler Race Recap

| The Bee Life

This weekend marked a mini milestone already this year; we finished our first race! And boy, is March the perfect month to get outside and run. *smiles*

I’d always wanted to run the St. Malachi race, because it’s always in March right around my birthday plus it’s Irish themed! Well this year we finally signed up, and although there was no finishers medal as a consolation prize, we thought it’d be the perfect jump-start to our 2017 running year.

The morning of, I was laying in bed checking the weather, while I knew it was going to be cold, I didn’t think it would “feel like 4” … my comforter seemed that much bigger and warmer than it already was. But we got out of bed and started bundling. When you run in a cold weather race it’s always that fine line of what’s too much and what’s not enough, clothing wise. And standing at the start waiting to go, it definitely felt like not enough especially with the big gusts of wind, but as we ran my outfit choice seemed to be alright and plenty warm with my layers.

B and I stuck together most of the race and for running 5-miles in “feels like 4” weather it went relatively quickly and before you knew it we were crossing the finish line together! We then, awkwardly posed for a photo and immediately wanted more clothes and shelter! We ended up brunching with B’s brother and some of their friends afterwards at a nearby spot, the food was excellent plus lots of hot coffee! We were home early enough and able to relax the rest of the afternoon.

It was nice to get a race in the books so early in the year! Our next race is the 10-miler in April, so we are looking forward to that and seeing how we can improve in our 3rd year running it!

Happy Running!

Weekend Recap – First of March

| The Bee Life

Happy March! For avid Bee readers, you know it’s my favorite month *smiles* and the first weekend of March was a busy but good one.

It started out Friday afternoon, volunteering with my company at a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. If you’ve never been or heard of one of these, see if you have one near by and check it out. As they explained it, it’s like a Home Depot meets Goodwill store. They offer way more than your typical thrift store; it’s a DIYers dream or perfect for furnishing your first apartment. Not to mention you help the greater cause shopping in these stores! It was a nice way to kick off the weekend.

Momma Bee came into town, so she was at the house by the time I got done volunteering! We were in the mood for meatless tacos for the first Friday of Lent, so we ended up at a nearby spot and ordered a tray full of tacos and a few mojitos. It hit the spot!

Tacos!
At our wedding venue
Saturday dinner & drinks!

Saturday morning we got a jump start on some wedding activities. First and foremost on our agenda was seeing our finished venue.  We first saw it in September, under construction, dusty with no walls or electric and we fell in love. Seeing it again brought back all the feels. It’s so stunning, I can’t imagine a place more perfect! From there we headed to see the hotel and met with a DJ! It was a very productive morning.  After church we headed to one of our favorite spots for all night happy hour, yup, all night. We enjoyed cosmos, dirty martinis, and more delicious food.

Sunday’s highlight was celebrating a dear friend’s baby shower! It was a beautiful afternoon celebrating with her family and friends, and seeing all the adorable little boy outfits and stuffed animals. I can’t wait to meet her little boy.

Celebrating Bekah!
Great friends<3

It’s always hard when these fantastic weekends come to an end, but it’s these fantastic weekends that get me through the work week for more!

Christmas 2016 – Recap

| The Bee Life

I must admit I’m still in a bit of a daze from yesterday, it was amazing!  These recent years have shaken up the norm a bit, but after six Christmas’ – B and I finally got to spend it together at my parents!  It’s quite different then what B is used to, so I was a little nervous that he would be bored out of his mind.

Christmas Eve was full of baking and frosting cookies, Christmas music, family, laughs, and lots of food and drinks!  The family went to the early mass, came back and took photos in front of the tree, as always. We watched Home Alone, Arthur’s Perfect Christmas, and the end of It’s A Wonderful Life (we turn it on at the same time almost every year!) We then had to head to bed so Santa could come – yes the presents aren’t put out until everyone is asleep.

My brother is ALWAYS the first to wake up on Christmas morning, even as we have gotten older and his normal wake up time wasn’t until noon. This year was no exception, we had group texts going off just before 7am with a handful of Christmas emoji’s from him. We dragged ourselves out of bed and grabbed some fresh coffee and a cutout cookie. From then on the rest of the day was a blur of goodies, waffles, more Christmas tunes, laughs, facetime, games and a HUGE Cavs win!!

It was so awesome finally having B home with me for Christmas that I so dearly love! I think B had a pretty good time. *winks*

Merry Christmas!

Winter Weekends – Christmas Tree

| The Bee Life

The first weekend in December means the Christmas decorations are out and the tree is cut down! Growing up in, essentially, farm land, and now living in a suburb of a city, it’s a little harder to find Christmas tree farms without having to go for a drive.

We had found the perfect spot last year, had our cash ready and went for a drive. Well, we started out walking and looking for the imperfectly-perfect tree.  And we kept looking… and looking… and looking… it got to the point where we were about to leave and just buy a pre-cut one from a larger department store (no fun!) but then, there she was! Literally at the very end (or beginning), right before we were heading back – tall and skinny just like we wanted.

She was a little goofy, but we went for it, and cut her down!  We also got a fresh wreath and a bundle of swag and then headed back to grab a few other items to finish trimming the tree and house.  Once we got the tree in the house and in the stand, it was seriously perfect. We spent the rest of the weekend listening to Christmas music, decorating inside and out, watched Home Alone and stayed cozy at home!

 

Weekend Recap – Thankful

| The Bee Life

I had full intentions of getting a few posts out last week with the long weekend and holiday break; but I was enjoying my time “off” far too much.  But, I hope you all had a blessed and happy thanksgiving this past week.  B and I were lucky enough to have three thanksgivings and spend some time with friends in between too.

Our Thanksgiving was a bit reshuffled this year, we normally have two on the actual day, but one was early so we only had an evening dinner.  We had the whole day to ourselves, it was kind of amazing!  Knowing this ahead of time, we had signed up for our local Turkey Trot, which offered a 5k race or a 5-miler, of course we picked the 5-miler. *smiles* The weather was mid-40’s and a misty drizzle, but in my opinion, perfect for a run. There were 9,000 participants in this year’s Turkey Trot! B stuck it out and ran with me the whole way, not to mention we both loved the race course.

We were home by 11AM, got cleaned up and then headed over to the neighbors for some snacks and beverages before everyone had to get to their various family dinners.  It was so fun spending a quick, impromptu few hours with the crew, we’ve gotten to know them well over the last year and a half and we’re grateful to have such awesome neighbors!

We spent our Thursday night dinner with B’s family, laughing, playing games and watching football!  Friday we headed to one of my aunt’s for my family’s Thanksgiving, there was plenty of food, whiskey sours, buckeyes, stuffing, laughs and dogs to go around. But by dinner number three, we were definitely  beyond stuffed, and thankful for our thanksgiving dinners to be over!

It was great catching up with everyone and being reminded how blessed we are with all the amazing people in our lives.  This past weekend was a busy one, but the long break was definitely needed.  Now it’s an official kickoff to the Christmas season!

 

Weekend Recap – Clam Bake

| The Bee Life

This past weekend, continued the theme of our jammed packed October (fall-filled) weekends! And because of that I needed an extra day to recover since it was such a whirlwind.

It was my aunt’s annual clam bake weekend, which meant our house was full of family and friends.  The clam bake was super special this year since we celebrated my Aunt’s 60th birthday, not to mention the Indians are headed to the World Series; WOOO! So more family than usual came into town and the normal guest list was skimmed down to VIP’s only.  Although it was about 80+ VIPs. When you throw together good food, family, friends, corn hole, pumpkin beers, football pools and some good games you can’t go wrong with an awesome night.

The rest of the weekend leading up to the clambake was full of rude contractors, cleaning the house (pre and post), friends, brunch, and a nap or two. This month has been a blast but is flying by, I can’t believe we’re a week away from November!

Weekend Recap – Cabin Fever 

| The Bee Life

This past weekend, we had the perfect getaway to one of our favorite spots, the cabin in the woods. This time we met up with Katie & Travis with our pooches for a fun little weekend away.

B and I went in Friday night with Moz and grabbed some take out from a local joint, Pine Junction. We hung out and watched a romantic comedy (a rare occasion) and enjoyed our eats! The best decision about dinner was getting the Moose Balls. Chocolate covered peanut butter, SO good.

Saturday, Kates, Travis and Luna arrived and we took the pups for a walk before heading out to one of our second favorite spots – Southern Tier Brewery.  We hung out and had some beverages and ordered some food… Well it was kind of a lot of food. And we finally got Pumking on draft, it’s so good, especially to kick off October. They also had some new Pumking flavors, a Cold Pressed Pumking and then Rum Barrel Aged Pumking. Woah. Not to mention Warlock and their other usual suspects. It was fun gossiping, talking wedding and sipping some beers with my bestie and our guys.

It was the perfect fall weekend away in the woods. It was rainy and cool so just asking for us to be lazy and staying in.

Happy October, everybody!

Weekend Getaway Must-Have’s

| The Bee Life

Planning any fall getaways?  October always seems to fly by, but one of our favorite to-do’s is getting out of town for a quick weekend trip, being in the middle of nowhere, no wi-fi, no traffic, no house work, just hanging out and escaping the world.  As much as I love a weekend away with B, it’s even more fun when you can plan it with some friends or family.  Here are a few must-have’s for your upcoming weekend away.

  1. Games:  This is a way to laugh, have some friendly competition and get away from the TV!  Having some good group games like Cranium, Wavelength, Cards Against Humanity or even just a deck of cards will kick your nights off right.
  2. Drinks:  Have a variety of alcoholic beverages, but if you can find a fun recipe that is season specific or a new recipe to try! Split the ingredients with your friends and join together in trying something new.
  3. Music: Whether an inpromptu Basketstreet Boys dance party breaks out or just some background music is needed during games and drinks be sure to bring some portable blue tooth speakers and have some tunes ready to go!
  4. Food: Be sure to have a variety of snacks to enjoy during games and drinks; you can’t go wrong with cheese, crackers, grapes and don’t forget some chocolate to snack on! For dinners and breakfasts, keep it easy, eggs, bagels, oven pizza’s or something you can throw on the grill. After all your away so enjoy the down time.
  5. Local Spot: If you go to the same weekend getaway spot, and you haven’t found your go-to local spot yet, get on it!  Whether it’s a place for breakfast, an ice cream spot, an antique store, or a local brewery (we opt for the local brewery part whenever possible).  It can be your spot away from all your normal local home spots.

What’re you favorite things to do or have on a weekend getaway? 

Cheers to the weekend!