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Thursday, May 23, 2013

It's a Wine Lover's Giveaway Extravaganza!






Calling all winos! Calling all winos
Your wine-away is here!

This is the one you've been waiting for. Everything you could need (besides the vineyard) to have a party! In celebration of National Wine Day on May 25th, (people, we officially have a holiday!) some spectacular wino friends of mine have banded together to bring you a wino's dream come true.

The goods:
 1// Corkicle to chill your wine in the bottle 2// Houdini wine preservation kit 3// Ozeri electronic wine opener, foil cutter and pourer 4// Wine by Wives Sunflower wine glass 5// leopard Woozie
6// cork barrel 7// set of four Govino flexible shatterproof stemless glasses 8// Vino2Go (8oz)
9// Vino2Go XL (12oz)

The winos:

// Lisette // Beth // Amanda // Nadine // Beth

Pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine and enter below!

Good luck! (Open worldwide!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's In My Bag?

After I saw Lauren at Letters & Lipstick do a "what's in my purse" blog, I knew I was hooked on the idea!

So since I just flew across the country, I thought I'd take some photos of what I keep in my bag when I'm traveling.  The results are pretty surprising and a little atypical from my usual flight routine.

Here is a general overview:





 1.  First things first, my bag!  I almost always take my Michael Kors tote on flights with me.  It's the perfect size for me to have the iPad, a book, and whatever else I cram in without it getting too heavy on my shoulder!

2.  The horrifying, but somewhat organized mess of the inside.

3.  The bottom of the bag--where my change goes to die, I keep spare contacts, and sunglasses go to break in half.


4.  My wallet, picked up from a boutique in Florida in Feb.  A whole lot of hair ties, which I actually bought in Chicago at like 1 am.  Extra contacts-you never know!  And my silver cross necklace from Forever 21.  Also have the gold which I wore on the plane.

5.  iPad in it's keyboard case (has a wireless keyboard for easy typing when I don't bring the laptop!), the book Micro by Michael Crichton that I bought at the airport (so far it's great), and a Wisconsin mug my friend JP bought me at a Dunkin' Donuts in BRIDGEPORT.  If you're from Chicago you know how insane this sounds.  Basically Bridgeport is the area best known for housing the Chicago White Sox--why was this mug there? Kismet, people.  I had to keep this in my purse so it didn't break this time around.

6.  GUM! I always want gum when I travel, yet rarely chew it otherwise.  Sunglasses, a given.  Headphones for music and generally blocking out life on planes.  Two books of matches from Pappacito's here in Houston...I always grab them when we leave and I guess they were in the bottom!  Turns out matches are a-ok by TSA guidelines.

7.  Phone charger, bording pass holder..boring.  Then there's my Urban Decay NAKED eye palette.  This I never pack.  I am terrified that the pressure of my clothes or shoes and the plane would somehow crack all of these colors, and that would be a true shambles moment for me.  I don't use any other shadows now-not even for my brows.  This palette (at least for me) was 100% worth the investment, especially since I've had it for almost a year now!  Also in this pic--Phenylephrine, a/k/a sniffles meds because I get the sniffles all the time on flights and hate being "that" person.


8.  1 lip balm + 2 lip colors.  The far left is a mint lemonade lip gloss/balm that I've had for a while and I honestly don't remember where it came from!  Center is my L'Oreal Colour Riche gloss in Baby Blossom, which I absolutely love, and this is usually what I'm wearing in photos that are on here.  The far right in silver is my Clinique Almost Lipstick in Flirty Honey . This is a gorg raspberry lipcolor that adds color like a lipstick but moisturizing and not too overbearing.  This Almost Lipstick line started with one color-Black Honey, and I wore that way back when I was like 14.  Now they have multiple colors and I highly reccommend testing one out!  Each color looks a little different person to person too, so it's great.

9.  Vera Wang's Lovestruck.  Favorite perfume.  Bought it for our wedding so it's got a special place in my heart.

10.  Cash baby.  I basically never have cash, unless we are traveling.  In this case, lots of singles and fives from my change in my cab!

There you have it, my travel essentials! Typically, I also have my makeup bag and Fixit mineral spray from MAC, but because the mug took up a decent amount of room, I left that in my suitcase.  It totally worked because my flight left at 10:45 pm and landed at about 1:30 am on Wednesday "morning"....so I definitely wasn't trying to fix myself up at that hour before meeting Bryan in the airport!

What do you keep in your purse when you travel?

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

I Promise, I'm Alive! & #piclove365

More to come tomorrow (hopefully), but in the meantime, have you started PicLove365 on Instagram?!

I joined the dream team imagination-makers of this challenge including my favorite bloggers out there Adriana at Dog Hair is an Accessory, Sarah at Limited Space Organizing, Candice at Just Stay Lovely, Kate at Another Clean Slate, and LB at LB in Wonderland!  They came up with this awesome idea to just post a pic to instagram every day!  It's literally that. simple.


Dog Hair Is An Accessory


It's a fun way to try and track your day!  And I promise, the pics do not have to be super thrilling or deep.  I sent one out there the other day that was just the wino puzzle I was working on on my iPad on the train from Chicago to Milwaukee!  Have fun with it ladies!

And while you're at it, follow me on Instagram @Grendella!

Monday, May 20, 2013

A Q&A with the Mr.

Since I'm out of town, Bryan agreed to do a Q&A that will give you a little more insight to who I am, who we are, and what the hell we do and would like to do in the future! 

Introduce yourself!
What’s up ya’ll. I’m Bryan, Sara’s less than better half, her husband. You may know me as “B” or “him” or “the one from whom all headaches stem” from her posts, I think. 

Hugging his prized buck from hunting season '08 (i think)
What are some things everyone should know about what it’s like to live with me?
HAHA. Um. Well, besides the normal guy/girl differences, the ABSOLUTE WORST part is when she leaves her used Kleenex in bed, or leaving them in the couch cushions for me to find later :)

What is the most fun thing we’ve ever done together?
This one time in San Antonio we got really drunk at a bar called Brass Monkey. It sounds lame, but I think we’d both agree that it was epically fun.

Another fun night, Halloween 2010
What was the first meal that I ever cooked for you? Was it any good?
I think this question is set up for me to stress Sara’s awesomeness... It was bacon wrapped chicken with red pepper flake cheese sauce. It was and still is noms city all stars.  (Note from Sara:  This was not a set-up, but here's a link to the exact recipe he's talking about, now I can call it the man-keeper or something :: Bacon-Wrapped Goodness)

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love watching TV with me?  If you had to pick one show that is “our show”, what would it be?
I love watching TV with Sara. We never fight over the remote at all. She’s the best because not only will she let me watch golf on a sunday, but she will actually watch it with me and “ask for pointers” while air golf swinging. It doesn't get any better than that. But seriously, our favorite show we watch together is Mad Men. It’s the best show in the history of shows... (if you don’t agree I’ll have Sara post spam on your blogs)


What hobby would you like to see us try sometime in the future?
Dream scenario: Running 5 miles together with Furbaby Metzger between us
I’d settle for: Golfing 18 holes together every Sat and Sun

How competitively awful am I when it comes to board games/game nights/anything at all related to sports/bets/games?
One time we played monopoly and I won. Now we can’t play monopoly anymore. :l

If we could go anywhere together, where would we go? Your pick!
Europe. Fa sho. Oktoberfest? Italy? Greece? Spain? I want it all.

under the sea?
Has the blog taken over our life yet?
No, it hasn’t. It’s fun for her, and fun for me to read in the background. I’ve been telling Sara for years to start a blog because she is so funny and people really love what she has to say. I’m glad she finally started.

What would you throw out and burn from my side of the closet?
Once the Chicago Cubs T shirt was gone, I had no complaints... but sometimes she wears things that are “girl cute.” That’s all I can say without getting in trouble..
probs one of my girl cute hats
Parting words?
I love my wife, and so should you. I encouraged her to start her blog because I know everyone would think she is as friggin’ cool as I do. So let her know how cool she and her blog is by leaving her comments about it! Also, if you don’t mind, keep reminding her how lucky she is to have such a sweet husband!

smooches

Sincerely hers,

B




Saturday, May 18, 2013

Saturday in Chicago


When I'm in Chicago today,

prancing around town with my pals!
sipping a cocktail, hands up!


Most importantly, I'm back in town celebrating THIS girl's graduation from law school (pictured above at our wedding)!!   

It's been a wild ride since we first met in August of 2008 at the law firm we both worked at then.  We bonded pretty much immediately, over our love of bars in Chicago, and her disgust at me never having had Popeye's chicken.  We have matching tattoos that say "what friends are for", aka our tagline.  It also shows up as #wfaf


You will probably not hear from me for a few days since I will also be visiting my familia in Wisconsin through late Tuesday night, but I'll be back on Thursday with original material!

Enjoy posts from my guest bloggers in the meantime :)