Beer AND liquor, never sicker!!

So last Saturday was the big bachelorette party for my sister in law Brandi. We had very loose plans which included a little pre-party at my mother in laws house and then down to Kansas City Power & Light for "Cinco de Drinko".  Being that is was Cinco De Mayo I thought we should have some margaritas before we left. I had previously found a margarita recipe on Pinterest that was labeled by a previous pinner "The BEST margarita recipe EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Seriously. Okay I love margaritas but am not a big fan of sweet and sour mix. This recipe had none. So I went for it. You mix tequila, limade mix, water, 7 up and a bottle of Corona together and do get some pretty tasty margaritas. (click here for actual recipe) I was able to get about 2 of these down before we left. I was feeling a bit tipsy but not too bad when we got to our destination. Now the premise of "Cinco de Drinko" was that for 3 hours you got free cover charges into all of the bars and ALL YOU CAN DRINK beer and wells. Well as I have noted before I am 'eh hem' frugal..... and had every intention of getting well more than my $20 worth. I decided to stick to beer. I have been known to get a little (ok a lot) crazy when I drink the hard stuff and since I had already consumed a sufficient amount of tequila I figured if I wanted to be standing at the end of the night I had better stick to beer. Let me add before I go on that back in the day, like waaaaaaay back in the day I was quite the drinker. Fast forward to present times and I should say that I get out to drink about once every month or two. However, in my mind I can still drink as much as I used to.

If you have been to P&L you know that is it usually filled with millions of 20 somethings dressed like prostitutes and douchebags. This night was no different. Wow! I always feel out of my element and a bit uncomfortable in places like this and it is definitely not my favorite place to hang out but I always have a good time when I do. And boy did I have a good time! We started at the Shark Bar which was somewhere new for me. It was fairly early so we were lucky enough to get a free table right in front of the dance floor. Score!! We drank, we danced, we had a good time. When it was time to move on we ended up in the PBR bar. I myself am not a country girl but like this place. We were working our way to the mechanical bull so that we could saddle up the bride when I suddenly didn't feel so good. It was hot in there and I needed some air! I found my way outside and even found a little raised slab of concrete to sit on and rest my feet. I sat there for awhile trying to get my bearings. Well I never found them. Instead I started barfing. Over and over again. I could see people jumping away from it and commenting about how gross it was. NOT MY PROUDEST MOMENT!!

So the long and short of the story is: I cannot drink like I used to, and don't want to ever drink like I used to again and DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT mix beer and liquor into one drink. I think it's a recipe for vomiting. Well that is what I am going to blame it on anyways.

So you know that the next day I was still sick and vomited several times throughout the day. It was the single worst hangover I have ever experienced in my life. Not to mention that I drunkenly dropped my camera while the lens was out and it is now broken, never to take another picture again! :(  BTW this is the 3rd camera I have broken in this same manner. Seriously. Good thing I buy cheap cameras!

She's crafty!

When my sister in law Brandi asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding this upcoming May I immediately started planning her bridal shower in my head even though it was going to be over a 

year away from that moment. I had recently discovered that I loved crafting and after doing some pretty cute stuff for Lilah's 1st birthday party had become slightly obsessed with it. The date of the shower finally arrived last weekend and I went a little crazy with the crafting but it all turned out beautifully. I handmade all of the invitations, made a tutu cake stand, made 20 mustaches and 20 tiaras on a stick for the Staches and Tiara's game, and made a food menu and little menu cards for the different desserts and drinks all in the same theme as the invitations. I wish that I had taken more and better pictures of everything. Karen and I (my co host and maid of honor) were so busy performing our hosting duties that I didn't have a lot of time to take pictures. I also wish that I had some photos of all of us together. It was really a very special day and am a bit sad that there are not more photos to remember it by. I did take a few which I will share here! 

Tutu cake stand and cake (cake by Pam Courtney)

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes (click here for recipe)

Cotton Candy Cosmos (click here for link to recipe)

The blushing bride

Better view of the fabulous cake

Cookies and Brownies

My Pinterest inspired Dollar Tree flowers

We made a red wine sangria too! Yum!

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Tales of a Defeated Mommy

Today has been quite a day! It has been one that highlights the glorious ups and the really low downs of the parental experience. It started off with a bang at of all places...Walmart! I am in the process of evicting the tons of junk that has accumulated in our basement over the last 9 years and needed a few of those big plastic totes to keep all of said junk we want to keep. Talk about a trip down memory lane! That is a story all on it's own that I might decide to write about later. Anyways we were not even in the door yet when the crazy started. She didn't want to sit in the cart. She is a big girl now you know and very independent and wants to walk, not ride in the cart. One thing I know is that letting a 2 year old loose in Walmart is just dumb unless you want to chase said 2 year old up and down every aisle. After unsuccessfully wrestling her into the seat and going against the advice on that handy chart on the seat of the cart, I put her in the back of the cart instead. It was a mutual compromise. I should also mention before going any further that Walmart is Lilah's favorite place to go. She loves her some Walmart and asks if we can go to Walmart several times a day. Don't ever mention in front of her that we need something because she will promptly tell you that you need to go to Walmart to get it. So I find the totes, pick the kind I want and realize that they must go in the cart where she is sitting. Shit. So we wrestle. I get her in, click the strap on over her and push the cart to the checkout with her screaming at the top of her lungs and writhing in the seat. Now it is about 8:45 am and usually a very slow time at Walmart but it just so happens to be race weekend at the Kansas Speedway which is 2 minutes from Walmart and it was full of Nascar Nation. People with their colorful jackets sporting their favorite driver's sponsor logos pushing their carts full of Busch beer and beef jerky. We were quite the specticle. I kept my poker face on and stood in line and tried not to look anyone in the eye. If I saw a disapproving eye there might have been bloodshed. She breaks loose of the strap and now I am holding her down with one hand and pushing the cart out of the door with another. We get to the car and then begins the wrestling match into her carseat. If I was not already shot of nerves and ready to have a breakdown I might have been smart enough to try to diffuse her before getting her in the seat. It can be done easily sometimes with talk of say getting a juice box when we get home or watching her favorite movie or something along those lines. 2 year olds are not complicated beings. But I am not smart in that moment and spend the next what felt like at least 10 minutes trying to strap her in the damn carseat. So many people walking by stopped. I like to think they were just trying to verify I wasn't trying to kidnap her. I think the look on my face was enough to keep walking. I finally lost my mind, let go of her and started sobbing in her lap. Yes, big bad momma was done, defeated. I couldn't do it another damn second. Then she stopped. She sat up straight, stopped screaming and crying and let me strap her in. She did cry all the way home as did I. When we got home I got her out and she clung to me and stroked my hair and said, "love momma". I didn't forget about all the crazy but I did get over it at that moment. You see there are moments of parenting that will suck the life right out of you but then there are those moments that melt you and give you the most glorious feelings of love you have ever known.

Miss Sassafrass