A Week of Gratitude

This past week was one of emotions and laughs and tears... I am so grateful for my pal Steph's Link Up this week for "Gratitude" as it reminds me to post about my week but also get my thoughts written down about the amazingly good and tough things that crop up in life.

 

 

1. I love how Brady has now made Griffin a cuddle bug. It was Brady's goal and here at 6 months, I think it worked. I am so grateful for my husband and being a good "dog dad" as I know that will translate to an amazing dad in the future!

 

2. NKOTB! I was lucky enough to attend the "Package Tour" concert with some girlfriends and had my mind - blown! I have never been to a "boy band" show before... When my ears stopped bleeding from the deafening sound of middle-aged drunk women screaming, I was able to really enjoy myself with an AWESOME open by Boyz To Men, a boring "intermission" by 98 Degrees and a ROCK STAR - sex pot - dance fest from NKOTB. Great memories!

 

3. We took at Sunday day trip to WI to see Brady's parents, and I just love this capture of Griffy and "Granpa" - so sweet.

 

4. Hanging out with one of my best's Louise and she showed me her bouquet - which is mine that she caught at our wedding and my garter which her then boyfriend Matt caught too... now they are engaged! :) I guess maybe our wedding was good luck for these two love birds!!

 

 

5. This is a daily gratitude every week, but my Sis-in-Law got some amazing pro photos taken of my gorgeous nephews (source: Heather Hanson Photography) THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL! I love all of these boys so much and am so grateful to have them in my life.

 

 

 

 

 6. On Monday, it was an absolute perfect night and we took our pups to Minihaha Falls Dog Park, which is off-leash and many acres of FUN for the dogs. Griffin and Dash got to meet their cousin/new bestie Olivia, a little bulldog/cattle dog mix that my best friend Kinzie recently adopted. She got Olivia from the same rescue we got Griffy :) Second Hand Hounds is SO amazing! Check them out here: www.secondhandhounds.org

 

7. This is hard to write, but my god dad and uncle Mike is sadly not winning his battle with a rare form of Lukemia. A couple months ago, you may remember my post about the unbeliveable bag's set he hand made Brady and I for our wedding. (here). Well, over the 4th of July, we received some hard news that all of the options are not going to save his life.

When life give you lemons stomps on your heart, you have to think of the gratefulness in the fact in my case, I was lucky enough to have the chance to say goodbye. Many people in life do not get that opportunity.

On Saturday, my family went to my aunt and uncle's house and had a "Tree Party" - We planted a 20ft Maple in their front yard for my Uncle Mikey, played bags on all of the sets he made us cousins, had his favorite food, and got to see him one last time and hug him, kiss him and tell him everything we always or never said. I am blessed with an amazing God Dad and Uncle - and I have to be grateful always and forever for that.

 

8. Last night, I got to hang out with my little man, Jack. My nephew is literally one of my best friends. He is smart, and funny and sweet and beautiful and caring. He also happens to own a pretty rad scooter helmet and probably has better musical taste and knowledge than me... and he's 7.

 

9. Finally, this is me, trying to impress my husband with my mad practice with my camping skills. We are venturing out this weekend on a hike-to, no bathrooms, tent camping experience. This is his happy place... and I will attempt to not be a baby :) I am more of a "glamping" gal myself, but here goes nothin... I will report back after this weekend!

 

Speaking of family, mine is amazing. Here's a cool one of us Wilson cousins 20+ years later! Taken last Xmas.

 

 



Gratitude - Seattle and the PNW!!

I am so excited to share some amazing photos from what was an AMAZING trip out to Seattle last week. My husband calls this his "happy place" as two of his best friends, one of our ushers and our best man, live out there. We had perfect sunny 70's weather and quite the adventure!

Brady has been out there at least 5 times already but always in the winter to go snowboarding/avalanche training/splitboarding, etc in the mountains.

So, this was such a great time for us to enjoy the PNW ("Pacific Northwest") for the first time in the summer together!!

 

The trip started on a great note when the awesome Delta flight attendant gave us 4 vodkas and 2 cans of Bloody mix for free on our flight out.

Then we spend our first night downtown Seattle at the gorgeous Sheraton in a king suite!

Thursday we got our Seattle coffee and ventured through the incredible Pike Place Market finding treasures and seeing right away some great fish tossing... Seen here:

 

 

 

From the top left:
1. Us excited to get a vacation together on the plane!
2. Our amazing view flying through the Cascades - looking at Glacier Peak
3. Excited for the free booze!!!
4. In Pike Place Market - some stunning pottery from the nicest lady!
5. Amazing Seattle coffee to start the day
6. Brady stopping to smell the fresh lavender at the Market
7. fresh produce for miles there!
8. Just one of THOUSANDS of amazing flowers
9. Our gift to Kristina and Colin for letting us crash for 3 nights! Fresh market flowers! AND my bute hubby volunteering to carry the bouquet. :)

 

Time for a little bit on my two favories furry friends - Cody and Ella. Our friends, Colin and Kristina's dogs.

Cody is a loveable, silly German Shorthaired Pointer - he likes to crawl all over you, play with his toys and cuddle.

Ella is the adorable Weimeriner. She has a funniest attitude and literally sucks on her blankies.

 

1. Brady's Pike Place purchase - a custom belt and handmade buckle!
2. I loved the guys singing and throwing the fish!!!
3. So cool and busy in the market
4. the amazing Space Needle
5. drinks at Copacabano next to the Market on the patio
6. A cool and iconic shot of the PPM
7. view of Seattle from the Sky City Restaurant at the Space Needle where we ate lunch
8. Brady and I on the Observatory Deck of the Needle
9. Lunch at the spinning Sky City restaurant - WHAT A VIEW!

1. Our sweet boat, Black Fish One, for our Anacortes Whale Watching expedition!
2. Some of the orchas we saw!! So amazing
3. Hubz and I on the boat
4. At the Aiki Pier looking over the Sound at Seattle
5. MY FIRST ferry ride to Vashon Island!
6. Our AMAZING group!
7. Brady and Cody playing
8. Frey and his totum pole...
9. First glimpse of Mt Rainier from the Ferry! I was excited (obviously!)

 

1. The amazing difference between a steel city "tree" sculpture and the wilderness tree of the Olympic Mts!
2. Brady and I on the rooftop of Colin's building - Rainier in the back
3. Cody tuckered out on the couch.
4. Brade and I hiking to Marmot Pass in the Olympic National Forest
5-9. Hiking, hiking, hiking! AMAZING views! We did 10.6 miles and climbed 3,500 ft!

These photos don't even do this trip justice! It was an amazing experience and my love affair with the PNW will be present forever. My "wanderlust" was so prevelant on this trip.
So grateful for travel, friends, the beauty in the world, nature, sunshine and happiness!

 

 

 SO EXCITED TO PARTICIPATE IN STEPH'S AMAZING LINK UP!!!!

You Stay Classy, San Diego...

HI!

 

I have not been able to get on here to update in a while. I am determined today though as my weekend "shenanigans" were AMAZE balls!

 

 

I spent 4 days in Cali, San Diego, PB with 7 of my girl friends. Here is my epic vacation recap.

 

plane rides are always...interesting with us...

 

 

There are SO many photos to share as we had the BEST time.

 

my fav photo of me all weekend, louise captured. i was just SO happy!

 

 

1. Bikes - we rented beach cruisers for the weekend -- note we did not realize hills are hard... esp with bottles of "MERICA" vodka in your basket. Or, stuffed full of groceries.

 

 

see? #MERICA svedka.

 

 

2.  The BEACH! God, do I love the ocean. I loved this weekend too because all of us were in agreement - let's relax on the beach. Done and done.

 



the sunset photo of cathryn is so beautiful. she just ran and jumped in the ocean...fully clothed. that's my girl. 

know what else is amazing on the beach?
cookies n cream out of a waffle cone. yum!

 

 

3. Our VRBO vacation rental. This house was STUNNING! 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 decks, a fire pit, a grill, kitchen, and panaramic views of SD and the ocean and bay...

 

 

this house in north PB. our home for the weekend! LOVE LOVE LOVE

 

 

4. Laughing/Drinking with these crazies... SO much of this happened. We spent 2 out of our 3 nights at the house grilling our dinners, dancing, playing inappropriate games like "Dirty Catch Phrase" and "Cards Against Humanity".

 

1. first beer at our FAV place - Pacific Beach Ale House
2. Cab rides are silly
3. One of our grilled FEASTS
4. beautiful table set for "family dinner"
5. my BFF - love you cathryn leigh
6. Anastasia is a yoga instructor. exhibit A.
7. prom pics on the beach at sunset... normal.
8. shots out of coffee cups? also normal.
9. my roomie for the wknd and bestie kinz!

 

 

5. Our crazy bar night complete with weird dancing at clubs, being overdressed at dinner, the BEST mini-donuts in the world (and the NICEST man Rayal EVER who worked there), impromtu drunk belly button piercings, and our tough marine bestie, Nick, doing yoga in our kitchen at 2am with Stace...

 

i love that i found a john lennon mural on garnet st!

 

NICEST man, love you Rayal! Your mini-donuts were the SHIT!

 

There is SO much more to share I am sure. I just know that these girls made this trip SO amazing! I am in depression being back at work. BUT, I just am counting the days until my next adventure! :)

 

source

 

and since I missed Friday's "back that azz up" I leave you with our SOUNDTRACK of the trip.

 



 

 

Margaritas, Car Crashes, One-Bites, and other Birthday Fun...

It is pretty apparant that I have awesome friends. Yesterday was my birthday and since it was on a Monday, a non-important age (26 - meh!) and after a cray-cray wedding weekend that my liver is still pissed about, I thought a low-key dinner with friends would be a good option...

 

But, what I forgot to remind myself was that if you mix tequila and a bunch of hilarious people, it still turns out to be a shitshow.

 

 

 

Exhibit A. Me, with my free margarita. Yes, it was bigger than my face. Whoops.

 

Exhibit B: Me, spinning my "birthday prize wheel" - Yes, I look like Vannah White on crack. Yes, I did win a $10 gift card. Whoo hoo!

 

 

 Exhibit C: That damn sombraro. I wore it WAY too much. Notice how excited my husband looks..

 

Other favorite moments were when my "flaming shot" I was forced to drink made me literally flap my hands and almost regurgitate.

Also, when my birthday cake was used in a "One Bite" competition in which Justin ALMOST ate the entire slice in one bite. Priceless.

Oh and there was a car crash outside the restaurant... things got weird!

 

BUT - the moral of the story is that I LOVE my friends and all of them being there and also the texts, FB posts, voicemails, calls from friends and family meant the WORLD  TO ME!

I even got grandparent voicemails that melted my heart and a sweet greeting from my nephew Jack. :)

 

And for you special people and your presents! I LOVE THEM ALL

 

Brady started the day at lunch with a super sweet card and tickets to see Wicked when it comes to town!!

 

1. Fifty Shades of chicken from Anastasia - HAHA this is hilarious! I am a 50 Shades fan so this cookbook is priceless.

2. and 3. Kinzie had a hilarious card -the inside said something about "saggy old titties" and the Blast Blowdry Bar GC for a blowout! LOVE!

4 -6. Cathryn, my sweet BF, and her "lesbian lova" GC to H&M, her singing bday card with a Bella cousin on it, and gorgeous lillies! Mwah!

 

 

1-3. Steph and Justin - hilarious gifts from Patina! That magnet is SO true. And Steph knows how to stay classy. This Deer in the Headlight game looks hilarious (and also like my kindergarten photo). And the shower bombs because she knows "you dont like to take baths in your shower." HAHA

4. Louise and her furry HILARIOUS card about the Melrose taking a "Number 1"

5. Brian got me a gift online from the "Something Store" and literally my "two somethings" are getting shipped to me and we have no clue what it will be - a camo wallet, a Kindle, the mystery is out there.. More to come on this... haha.

6. Louise and Matt also got me Muscle Ice! She gives me massages and this stuff is AWESOME!

 

Basically this entire post is evidence of my AMAZING friends and family. My mom also knows me so well and I got a GC to Kohl's :)

I am blessed. Happy birthday to meeeee

 

 

 

 

 

It's MAH Birthday!!

Happy Monday to everyone! I am at work, which sucks, cuz it's my birthday today! I am still struggling from a FUN but crazy wedding weekend with a LOT of driving, but I am still excited for my birthday!

Here is a little gem of me at Perkins at 3am after the wedding.. Steph captured it well. I am weird.

 

 

 

Tonight we are hanging out with a few friends to go to my favorite Mexican joint, Pancho Villa. They have amazing food AND it just so happens two for one's on margs and beers! :) I am also quite positive that I get to drink for free on my birthday! This restaurant is right by our condo and is so much fun in the summer (whereever that is) to sit on the patio with the pups too!

 

Backing up to this past weekend, WHAT a blast! The Duluth wedding was a little chilly but SO beautiful and fun. I definitely can see why my husband loves Duluth and his HUGE "UMD" crew reminded me that nope, I am not in college anymore so Perkins at 3am WILL make you feel still like death in the morning... hehe.

 

Here are some of my favs from this weekend!

 

 

1. Silver Lake - my happy place at my cabin. We dropped the pups off with my parents and I woke up Saturday morning to some sunshine. So I enjoyed a cup of coffee on my dock. I love this mug too!

2. HELLO Duluth! - This is the view from our hotel room. I haven't been to Duluth in YEARS since I dated Brady the first time in high school. It was sunny out here but still only 50 degrees. Notice the (our guess) the Canadians at the pool... crazy...

3. Brady and I got into town and went to Little Angies in Canal Park for lunch and some yummy margaritas to set the base for the crazy evening.

4. My partner in crime, Steph, and I getting jacked up for the wedding.

5. Steph's photo cred. I loved this shot of the ceremony at the Glensheen Mansion (note: You cannot chew gum inside..haha.

6. My hottie husband and I at the wedding

7. Such a unique and beautiful layout for the ceremony. Congrats Mike and Jess!!!

8. LOVE these ladies! We had so much fun together!

9. This was the start of the madness at dinner when my husband may or may not have spilt candle wax all over his suit and his friends attempted to help him "clean up." Insert your own joke here...

PS - I had to add this little GEM of a video that Steph took of me prior to the wedding but not prior to a few beers in the hotel room... whoopsies! :)

 

 

 

 

It's WEDDING TIME

This will be short cuz I am LATE for a meeting but YAY! it's officially wedding season so I am super-duper excited for this celebration in Duluth this weekend! Congrats Mike and Jess!!!!

 

 

 

Ladies - Let's get our party pants on!!  

 

 

 

And in honor of Whitney's Back That Azz Up Fridays, I give you my hopeful for this weekend's festivities. Hopefully it'll make the 51 degrees at this outdoor wedding bearable. That and shots. Shots always help.

 

 



Dan Henig - You are GOOD!

Happy Friday! I was shown this guy's Youtube video last night and just cracked up! Now, I am obsessed and have watched all of his cover videos. This guy - so talented!! Dan Henig, you should be famous.

 

Here are a couple of my fav covers! (Beware - language is explicit (wear headphone at work ;))

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, THIS is FUN! Liebster Award

I am having one of those - holy crap holy crap - crazy ASS days! And then, a bright spot in my day. My good friend, Steph, nominated me for a funny blogger award. I don't really even pretend to understand what the heck I am supposed to do, but hey, I will answer these fun questions! :) I apologize if I am breaking the rules or somethin.. Here you go folksies. 

Ps - Here is a gem of my friend, Steph. She is fun. 

11 questions to answer:

1. What is your drink of choice? This is a toughie. I am known to suck down a few Strongbows or Honey Weiss beers like water. BUT in honor of my nominator and what I hope will be happening in less than an hour, I will go with 24 oz Strawbarita cans? (A photo follow up will happen my friends). 

2. What is your guilty pleasure? I would say vampires. I am obsessed with Twilight, Vampire Diaries and of course, True Blood. I am a junkie. I have read all of these series' books as well as anything else my "fang-lover/twi-hard/team dalena" self can find. That and trashy romance novels. Oh, and maybe half of my DVR right now. My husband would be embarassed. lol

3. What is your favorite time of day? Happy hour.

4. What blogger makes you laugh every single day? That would be 100% Miss Gregermeen aka Steph @ Insert Classy Here. Wanna know why? See Exhibit A above in the photo.

5. We are at a karaoke bar and I'm forcing you to sing a song, what would it be? This would be a toss up between my prior go-to favorite, Friends in Low Places (this has happened at a little college bar called Blarney's in Mpls with my brother while we were slightly horribly intoxicated...whoops) OR Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson. It has also been a recent fav to belt out in embarassing public places. 

I have also been known to rap Notorious Thugs by Biggie in the past (evidence here) 

6. What is your favorite thing about blogging? Probably distracting myself to do this while at work. I really enjoy procrastination. This aides in that :)

7. Name your go-to comfort food (or other comfort item.) Pizza. Or chocolate (says as she stuffs a Fudge Stripe cookie in mouth) 

8. You're stranded on Gilligan's Island, what 3 people would you want with you? My husband, and my dogs. (Dogs are people right?) Haha. My husband is pretty much MacGyver so I am sure it would be like a family vacation. (He slept in his tent last weekend at my cabin for fun in the yard... I was in a queen bed with the pups. This wasnt the first time either. HAHA)

9.  Star Wars, Star Trek or Star Magazine? Ooohh... Tough one. I love ALL of the Star Wars movies, but I just watched both of the new Star Trek movies and I have to say they are pretty amazing. Plus, my Dad growing up was a total trekie and totally "taped" any episode so he wouldn't miss one. So, I will go with that. 

10. What is your favorite thing about your hometown? Leinenkugel's Brewery. (here ya go)

11. What is your favorite color? GREEN - any darn shade at all. Why? "like the colors of Craig's eyes... and money." haha I hope someone gets that reference (movie hint!)

(#2) Top Gun Pedal Pub

 

 

Hey Justin! Thanks for being born and turning 30. Thanks for having an awesome wife who plans a surprise 30th Birthday party on a pedal pub. And for making it Top Gun-themed.

That rocked my socks!

 

 

AND!! I just completed #2 on my "30 before 30" list! Yahoo!

 

 

This was definitely in the "DANGER ZONE" for TOO much fun! So, I will just try and post some of my favorite photos from this hilarious 2-hour experience.

 

 

 

Top 5 Fav Moments:

1. Our driver, Destiny, was AWESOME ("D-Box" -- not "Chow-Box", J!!)

 

 

 

2. Justin, when you came into the apt and saw us... Priceless confusion. :)

 

 

3. The hilarity that was my husband, including his fast peddling when we all stopped and the fact that he told me later there was a "mystery shot" that happened. Loved when I saw this photo. Yes, yes there was.

 

 

 

4. Just this entire group in general.

 

 

The fact that our "outfits" were so random (Thank you Brian)

 

And that we had so FUNNY laughs!

 

 

5. The fact that it was noon on a Saturday and we were the CRAZIEST group of wackos in St Paul!

 

 

 

 

Steph... I think we mastered the "thumbs up" shot... (She was the best bartender EVER, and yes, I am wearing a helmet!)

 

 

 

 

 

 There are about 300 more photos of this whole wacka-doodle day! Loved it! Can't wait to hire D-Box and the Pedal Pub Twin Cities for my next party... Hmm... Now I just need a good theme!