Howl at the Moon

So here is the bachelorette post.  It was thrown by my Maid of Honor Taylor and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I basically just showed up and was surrounded by my best friends. We started by catching the train to Chicago in Harvard, IL.  I had a pan of brownies in one hand and my bag in the other. When switching train cars a boy tried to hold the door open for me but he had no idea it would close automatically. This led to me falling backwards in order to save the brownies. Luckily I fell onto my friends suitcase so it was cause of a good laugh.  We enjoyed mimosas on the way down. Love this way to travel.

The group

Once we got settled in the hotel rooms we played games and enjoyed some appetizers including the brownies that made it through me falling, a train and cab ride.  I hadn't seen my friends Alisha and Kelsey in so long so we all had plenty to catch up on! We then ordered pizza and proceeded with some games. Overall it was a tasteful bachelorette party. I feel like some of these parties are a little too extreme with the penis shaped objects. Don't get me wrong there was the typical shot glass and straw (which was extremely hard to drink out of ... TWSS) but I thought it was a good balance. We then opened presents and I got many cute Victorias Secret inspired outfits and other amazing gifts.

This may have turned into a to-do list in our kitchen

 My party was a great way to kick off my upcoming wedding and I had the time of my life. We went to Howlin at the Moon piano bar downtown and it was perfect for our group. I don't think we ever stopped dancing on the stage. We visited a few other bars downtown and made it back to our hotel after searching for Qdoba for what seemed like 3 hours. We ended up settling for Subway where my friend Kate requested queso for her meatball sub. I love my friends.

Note the cheers bitches banner

Lately...

Yes, I am still alive. Let's start off with wedding planning. We are 4 weeks out and I feel like I should be frantically arranging things.  I have most of my bridal party and parents gifts picked up and wrapped.  Music is selected except for one song. We are ready to get this thing done! Yes, I will be a married lady in about a month! It is crazy to see that in writing ...wow.

Love this egg apron!

I have had three bridal showers and still have one in September!  Wow, I truly am one lucky bride. I also had a kick ass bachelorette party. Words cannot describe how much fun I had. It needs its own blog.

My MOH and I

In the mix of things I have decided to change jobs. I love my current job but was up for a new challenge. I will be starting at Esurance in 2 weeks! Yes, Esurance with John Krasinski's voice in the commercials. I feel as if I am one step closer to meeting him. I should have made sure that was written in my offer letter.  The only thing is Esurance requested I go to Dallas, TX for two weeks. I would be returning the day before my wedding. After they explained this offsite location to me I kindly explained that I am getting married.  They were very understanding and are getting back to me if I can either go for only one week or not at all. So thankful for that.

I Do's

Another wedding in the books!  It was now my friend Kate’s turn. Her and I have been friends since kindergarten and have tons of memories from Girl Scouts and Super Nintendo of course.  I actually stumbled across this photo of us from one of my birthday parties back in the day.  I thought it would be perfect to frame for Kate. In this picture we probably were secretly planning to get married in the same year ;)  I love Kate’s combed back hair.

Kate better have given me a malibu barbie

It was over Memorial Day so it turned into a celebration weekend for the bridal party. It was so nice to have our group of friends together three nights in a row.  Kate’s aunt Rita is actually a hair stylist so she and two of her assistants offered to do our hair.  Rita opened her home to us and it was so much more personable than going to a salon.  I also was persuaded to have my makeup done as well.  I was pretty apprehensive because I didn’t want to look like a freak but I loved the products she used.  I am considering doing it for my wedding now.



Me, my MOH, and KP all dolled up



The bride was stunning.  Isn’t her dress and hair perfect?  The venue was actually at Geneva National where dailycupofkate and I met and worked as servers for a few summers! It was nice to get waited on instead of having to serve rich golfers.  The reception was a blast.  A few guests were even reportedly kicked out for having a little too much fun! Open bar will do that to you.



Special request: bottle of ranch for the bride



This love will surely grow

My older sister Tricia got hitched this month. She was a flawless bride.  I still get goosebumps thinking about my sister walking down the aisle with my dad. The night was filled with laughs, dancing, and family!

 

 I will say I was a little apprehensive about them having a band perform at the event.  I have been to weddings in the past where the band hasn't been up to par.  Todd Hembrick and the Hemispheres out of Chicago were the exact opposite.  All of Tricia's guests were dancing and they are still commenting on how great they were!  I even sang "give me just a little more time" with them.  I had just learned the words five minutes prior but thought it was my duty as sister of the bride to make a fool of myself.  This may have been brought on a little bit by the open bar.  I couldn't be happier for the newlyweds. Tricia looked great in her couture gown due to crossfit.  She also loosely follows a paleo diet.  Her pumpkin paleo pancakes are the bomb.com. She just got back from their honeymoon in St. Lucia.  When describing her honeymoon Tricia told me to just picture Jurassic Park.

I warned everyone at the wedding to not expect anything this extravagant at my wedding. Which reminds me... I should probably start planning that sucker!  I am excited to have a few friends planning their weddings as well. My friend Katie lives in the same town and is getting married next year.  She blogs over here.  I had a wedding Memorial day weekend that I was featured in as well. Blog post to follow.

From Miss to Mrs

Bridesmaids minus one. Chicago shower penthouse.

I was proud to host a shower for the future Mrs. Higgins, my sister last weekend in Lake Geneva, WI. This was her second shower. The first was in a penthouse with an organized theme and chocolate fondue. I assured her to lower her expectations significantly for mine.

Entertainment attempt

There is something about Costco cake, bridal bingo, and pizza that was just our style. I hope to someday be half as motivation, successful, and fun loving as my sister Tricia. She has always pushed me towards my goals while making sure I take time for myself.  I couldn't ask for a better role model.  As for you future BIL, Sarah (our younger sister) and I have always wanted a brother so buckle up.

We're Engaged!

I said YES! Just 5 short months after my big sister gets hitched I will be doing the same. I am incredibly excited and terrified at the same time.  So much to do in so little time. Check out our website here for more pictures and the proposal story!

Haunted Hustle

In the week approaching my first marathon I refused to check the weather.  I overheard a few ramblings of a rainy weekend ahead but I didn't want to believe it.  I became worried that I would have another race cancelled due to thunderstorms when I finally did log on to weather.com.  I continued to be optimistic and began to plan for my friends and family coming into town for support.

After turning down invitations for dinner with friends on Friday night I stayed in with my younger sister Sarah and watched The Lucky One and What to Expect when You're Expecting.  I was nervous to eat out due because I didn't want to upset my stomach for the race the next day.  Sarah thought I was crazy to eat popcorn the night before the race but I assured her I always eat it before long runs.  I slept okay the night before the race waking up a few times due to the thunder and logging onto my laptop quick to make sure the race wasn't cancelled. At 5:30am I woke up to get some breakfast 2 hours before race time. Sarah and Ryan weren't too thrilled to be woken up and forced out the door by 6:30!  Due to the rain I left behind my ipod and garmin because I didn't want them to get soaked.   I knew I would really miss both of these but I wasn't about to purchase two new ones.  I was also nervous I would start out way too fast in the beginning without my watch.

As I lined up at the starting line I noticed a girl next to me wearing her garmin and asked her if she was worried it would get wet.  She said she was going to cover it with her sleeve and hope for the best. We introduced ourselves and Gina turned out to be really sweet.  I surprisingly stuck with her for the first 12 miles.  Once we started she admitted she had finished multiple marathons including a 50k!  She stated she wasn't going for a specific time in the Haunted Hustle.  After the first 12 miles I fell back due to the hills but then caught up to her again.  The hills in this race were overwhelming. I knew it would be a little hilly in the beginning but I noticed many runners walking up them.  After catching up with Gina again we ran through the trails and we both admitted we were nervous about slipping on the wooden bridges.  We chatted with a few other runners and it was really a great race despite the crummy weather.  I wore a baseball cap in hopes of keeping the rain from my face a little but I ended up throwing it away because it was getting too hot on my head. When I approached mile 20 Gina sped away but I was happy with my pace.

My family was amazing. I ended up seeing them 4 times though out the race. I was so happy to see them the first time and even teared up a little.  My mom made me a sign and everything. My dad decided to run a block with me which was hilarious!  Finally I made it to mile 23 and told myself I was going to start running faster and have a strong finish.  Well that was much easier said than done because I felt like I couldn't go any faster or lift my legs and higher.  I think I probably stayed about the same pace but was so happy to be almost done.

I saw the finish ahead and sped forward. I could see the finish clock at 3:58 and was ecstatic  I had no idea what my time would be. I knew I was in front of the 4:00 hour pacer but I figured they were right behind me.  I am hooked for life and can't wait to run my next marathon.

Place:
20th women
5th in my age group 20-24
116th overall