hot days.

Yesterday was hot, what can I say?!

Monday, Monday.

Today has just been one of those days.  Computer problems, phone problems, headaches and long commutes.  Gotta love Mondays!  Lucky for me, I came home to dinner on the grill and my laundry folded!

Anyway, here's a pic from my cousin's wedding this weekend - the traditional front step photo at my parent's house.  Today, I'm also blogging about my trip to Chicago on the Center for Girls' Leadership blog! Check it out!

Have a fabulous week!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Rock On.

Last night, K and I had the chance to see a sneak peak of Rock of Ages at the Mall of America.  AMAZING.  Seriously, I loved it.  Kurtis was a little nervous because it is a musical and pardon my blasphemy, he doesn't like Sound of Music (gasp!).  Sacrilege.  Anyway, we both agreed, that this movie is wonderful.  The music is so fun (think Journey, Def Leppard, Starship, Foreigner, etc.) and you can't help but sing along.  Well, I couldn't at least.  I sang along (quietly) the whole time!

[source]

Alec Baldwin and Russel Brand are HILARIOUS.  My favorite.  And the fashion.  Big hair, bedazzled jean skirts, fanny packs, jelly bracelets and the pantsuits.  I honestly could watch it again and again and see something new each time.

[source]

Check out the trailer and add this to your weekend plans!  Rock of Ages opens tomorrow!

hang on.

[habitually chic]

The Refreshing Drink.

Summer hits and the only thing I want to drink is the Refreshing Drink.  The drink was concocted by my former neighbors and passed on to my parents who kindly passed the recipe on to me.  And now, I'm sharing the pure deliciousness with you!  And once you make it, I'm telling you, your life will be changed.  Easiest and yummiest drink for a hot summer day!

Mo and I were so excited to be back together over Memorial Day that we decided to stage a photo shoot and share our summer drink with y'all.  Yes, I said y'all.  Get over it.

So here we go:  The Refreshing Drink aka Vodka Lemonades

What you need:  vodka, club soda, a frozen lemonade, ice and a pitcher.  Seriously.  That's it.  The picture below has ingredients for a double batch.  

We use regular lemonade.  You can use pink, but it just doesn't taste the same to us.

You'll need one full bottle of club soda (1 liter).

And your vodka of choice.  I use Svedka.

Here's the simple reminder to making the drink: 1, 1, and 1.

One frozen lemonade.

One lemonade can of vodka.

And then, I usually top it off with just a smidge more vodka.  Your call.

And here is where the recipe gets tricky so listen carefully.  Club soda can be sneaky.  It is carbonated and wants to explode.  Open with caution or else club soda will go flying across the kitchen.

Once the club soda is cleaned up, dump the entire bottle into the pitcher.

Mix it all up.

Add ice and taste test.

Perfect.  Pour a cup and enjoy!

Remember: 1 can of frozen lemonade, 1 lemonade can full of vodka, 1 liter of club soda.  1, 1, 1.  And you guessed it - it makes one pitcher!

Cheers!  Happy Summer!

Weekend Plans.

Happy Friday! This week flew by for me since I was in Chicago until Wednesday. I had such a great time and can't wait to fill you in!

K and I have a busy weekend ahead. Well, I have a busy weekend ahead.  Tonight, we're hosting Dinner Club with law school friends; tomorrow, I have BarBri in the morning followed by a high school graduation and an open house.  Maybe I'll be able to drag K away from his BarBri books to come with me...  Sunday, we have big cleaning and landscaping plans!  So exciting (insert sarcasm here).  But seriously, we have to get this house in order!

What are you up to this weekend?

[Chicago's Navy Pier]

Small Town Saturday Night.

Let me set the scene.  Hackensack.  Saturday night.  Memorial Day Weekend.  The Legion.  Horse races.

Yes, horse races.  Every once in a while, the Legion will host a derby.  They even keep a countdown in the bar - here we have 10 minutes to go! 

 The place was already pretty full of mostly locals, and our table of city folk.  Here's the kid table - Kurtis, me, and Lindsay on one side...

Spence and Mo on the other.

Here's how to play.  Pull tabs are $1 each.  You're looking for horses (the top two) or bingo numbers (the bottom five). A winning horse earns $150, a winning bingo number earns you $50.  This is our table's first round:

I opened horse #10 so I was obviously rooting for the Tenner!  And they're off!

And the winner is...

TEN!!!!  Holy Moly, you guys!  We won the first race!  The $150 paid for the rest of the night and yes, I got my picture taken with the fun-noodle roses.  We didn't have any luck until the last race when Mo won the bingo number!  

After the Legion, it was off to the Muni.  Literally my favorite bar on earth.  Super casual, everyone knows each other, and the jukebox rocks all night long!  Nine drinks for $24...Seriously.  Does it get any better than that?!  Here are our parents enjoying cheap drinks.

Wayne, bartender extraordinaire, entertaining us with a little Jimmy Buffett.

The whole crew singing a long.

My favorite people.

I seriously love this place!  Can't beat a small town Saturday night!

Memorial Day Weekend Recap.

Like I said earlier, Memorial Day Weekend was perfect.  Family, friends, food, fun...we had such a great time!  I even brought my camera to capture it all so sorry for the photo overload!

Thursday

K and I both took Friday off so we were able to beat traffic and get out of town early!  We saw a lovely sunset on our way up north.

Friday & Saturday

Spence and Mo arrived bright and early, just in time to get the boat in the water!  It was so fun having them at the cabin.  I'm glad they decided to make the long drive from Kansas!

Sunday

Sunday brought us brunch with the grandparents, more time on the water, a evening bbq, and a sunset cruise.  A lovely way to recap an awesome weekend!