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I love planning surprise parties.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

As recent as when I was a junior in college, I thought I wanted to be a party planner. I liked planning small get togethers and minor surprise parties then. I liked using my planner. I thought it made perfect sense. 

Flash forward to July of this year at about three in the afternoon on Saturday. I'm sweating in my tank top and shorts. I'm anxious and can't blink because what if I miss some small detail. I'm so irritable and worried about the surprise party for my mom's 50th birthday not going off without a hitch that when Paul tried to hug me in the midst of putting up decorations and straightening the chip bowl for the tenth time, I said "DO NOT TOUCH ME." 

Yup, that's my life now. A few years after saying in my public speaking class at Stevenson that I wanted to be a party planner and there I was having a meltdown 30 minutes before my mom was going to come home from her hiking adventure with her friend, Jody, and worrying about ridiculous things like: What if she isn't surprised? What if she hates this? What if she's mad she's coming back from hiking all sweaty and she walks in to 15+ friends, family, and neighbors who want to eat food with her and drink sangria? What if there's not enough people here? 
Uh, yeah, nope. I wouldn't have worked in the party planning world. I'm too big of a worry wart and a perfectionist. 
The good news is -- despite all of my anxiousness and worrying, the party was even more awesome than I could have hoped for! I had a lot of help from my dad (who had the idea for a surprise 50th birthday party in the first place), my sisters, Shannon, Paul and everyone else that came from near and far to make it to the party. 

My mom was surprised and seemed (and I think she actually was - right, mom?) happy! She didn't hate it, wasn't mad about the hiking sweatiness she had in front of everyone, and was happy to drink and eat food with everyone. Not sure why I expected her not to want to eat and drink, however. 
Naturally, the cake pops I made the night before at Shannon's were a hit - which tends to be the case when cake pops are around and despite my worrying that we wouldn't have enough food -- almost all the food was gone by the end of the evening. And yeah, at the end of the evening, I realized that maybe I do like party planning. Maybe it is a rush for me, my worst, horrific, and most anxiety-filled nightmare, and then a really good pay off at the end. 
I'll still volunteer and want to plan parties in the future. I'll have fun buying the food and the decorations and inviting all of the people. And if anyone wants to see a girl melting down the day of that same party because what if the cupcakes don't look just right or what if the one person that couldn't make it to the party ruins the whole thing -- you can count on me. I'm your girl. 
Oh, and happiest belated 50th birthday to my mom! 

I love Mother's Day: Etsy Gift Guide Edition.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Obviously, the card is one of the most important parts of your Mother's Day gift. It's the first thing she opens so it's gotta be heartfelt and make her want to cry a little. Unless you're me. Then you want to buy her a card that makes her smile but isn't too cheesy. I think this card definitely does the trick and at least makes her feel like I'm implying that she can be considered awesome. 
Mugs are always, always, always a safe bet for moms. All moms drink coffee or at least...right? If not, hopefully this mug is cute enough to make your mom want to start drinking coffee/tea. You could fill this with candy (my signature gift for anyone - all gifts have to somehow include candy of some kind) or a gift card! 
If your mom is like mine, she likes (a lot of) rum and she pretends she doesn't like sweets and says they're "too much" for her. I highly doubt she would be able to say "no" to these. They're Captain Morgan whoopie pies
Moms love decorative pillows, right? I feel like that's what advertising has told me. This one is perfect and timeless and true! If I'm being completely honest, I'm hoping my future children somehow find my blog on the internet and buy me this pillow for Mother's Day.
I am 98% positive that the only people that truly, really care about whether or not people use coasters are moms. I'm also 98% positive that most moms actually are superheroes. So these cute, colorful, fun coasters are a 98% win and great for summer! 
And to use on those coasters (see above), moms who like the O's and the Ravens obviously need these stemless wine glasses to get their drink on this summer. I'd suggest buying a bottle or two of wine to go with these with some flowers and you're set! Again - pssssssst -future children who are reading this, I want these. 
Just like mugs, candles are always a good gift for moms, in my opinion. As long as they're cute and unique and smell good. Bears, honey, and hugs are also great gifts. I imagine this cute little Bear Hug candle smells amazing! Mmmm.
Another good treat (for anyone but specifically moms) -- chocolate peanut butter cupcakes in jars. Moms need chocolate at all times and this is 100x better than a box of chocolates from the grocery store. So Pinterest of you to make cupcakes in jars. These really look like you made them. But you didn't. Someone on Etsy did and charged you a little bit more than necessary but it's so worth it. 

I love the Color Run + weekends + my dad's birthday.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

HIIII. I feel like all of my blog posts in 2014 start off with me saying "LONG TIME NO SEE" or something along those lines. And if they don't, it's because I feel like I'm always saying it on here. But really - long time no see. 

To be real, I haven't been in the best of moods lately. I'm not in a bad mood, I'm just not feeling 100% Lindsay. And because of that, I've been neglecting this. But, here I am! I had a good weekend and am feeling pretty Lindsay-like so I'm back and hopefully back for good! Ayooooo. 
This weekend I ran (eh...mostly walked) the Color Run with Shannon, Catie, and Natosha. It was hard waking up 6:45am on a Saturday but do what you gotta do to make sure you can get some Starbucks and a crossiant before speeding to the Color Run because you're super anxious about parking and not making it there before 9am when the first waves start the run. Great news though: we got there at the perfect time and were one of the first waves! Like I said, we mostly walked -- and by that I mean, we only jogged a few times: through the color stations and then again at the end to make it seem like we jogged/ran the whole thing. We are maybe posers for running at the end like that. I like to think we got to enjoy the course more than anyone who ran because we walked! 
The finish line "party" was a great time and everything but the weather and being able to be near the stadiums (ugh, dreamy M&T -- heart eyes) and hanging with my BFF and sister and Natosha were the best parts. I miss it already! 
It won't be too long until the next little fun run, though. Shannon, her cousins (who I love - hi!) and I are running the Electric Run in July. Excited for that :)
Easter was also obviously this weekend BUT it was also my dad's birthday! 
We're not a super religious family so Easter doesn't mean going to church or doing anything tradition-wise at my house. It normally means I have to be punished by hearing we're having ham for dinner (ham is not one of my favorite meats -- ick!) and just hang out with my family for half of the day and Paul's family for the other half. 
However, today was a bit different with it being my dad's birthday. Lots of Easter candy, dessert, playing outside, present opening and pictures on the deck. As an almost-25 year old adult person, I still get pumped on Easter baskets. Living at home has its perks - thanks, Easter Bunny! Paul surprised me with Easter treats too (Mr. Nice Guy) and I got to try the Summer Honey Wheat Blue Moon (heart eyes again). Wound up being a pretty great day!

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this whole blogging thing again. I have plans to try a few new cookie and brownie recipes in the next few weeks so I'll post those on here! With my 25th birthday in a week and a half, I am trying to come up with a year-long fully-pre-planned Happiness Project especially for my 25th year of life which I will also be posting on here for all to read. Fingers crossed I can have enough brain power and energy this week to get something going with that!

I love these things: Etsy edition.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

I like to pretend that I have a few hobbies (if any). One of them being baking. Another one is finding-and-favoriting-and-possibly-buying-things on Etsy. I like to think I have an eye for favoriting great things on Etsy. I guess that's more of a talent than a hobby but I still want to call it a hobby so I feel like I have more than I actually do. 

Here are some of my recent fave favorites that I think are worth sharing (and buying!). 

Opening Day is tomorrow @ OPACY. Baseball is here! Hopefully baseball brought baseball weather with it because it's hard to wear t-shirts like this when it's snowing. The best thing about Etsy is that there are things on Etsy that are 100% unique that you can't find anywhere else. This shirt is an awesome example of that! You won't be seeing anything this great on in the O's shop online (and for only $12!).
I'm always looking for a new way to get wine into my life/mouth. I've been known to spill alcoholic beverages onto my Macbook Pro and almost completely ruin it and then pay $800 to get it repaired. So...I think it goes without saying that when I'm looking for a new way to drink my wine, I need that new way to have some sort of lid on it. Ideally, I'd like an adult sippy cup. These stemless wine glasses meet all of my qualifications - lid, cute, I can put wine in it. I'm all about them and want to buy some soon! 
"Who doesn't like getting cards/letters/packages in the mail?" - things I tell myself as I'm "building my greeting card collection" aka have 5 cards in hand @ Target. I've recently decided that it's fun and it makes me feel well-prepared for any birthday/get well soon emergency to have a greeting card collection. In my mind, I have to have as many as possible for any situation. You NEVER KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN and you want to have a card for every situation, haha. I'll probably be buying this one in a few days when I have an Etsy binge. It's so cute and simple.
Minnie Mouse life. Those days when I wake up @ 5:35am and I'm struggling to make myself get on the treadmill, I like to look at this swimsuit because I think, "I don't know. Maybe if I get on the treadmill and run a little bit, I'll be a little bit closer to being able to wear this in real life in front of other humans." It's perfect. It has polka dots. It's red. There's a bow. Ugh, need. Also, again, Minnie Mouse life. 
Etsy not only nails it at having the best human things but a lot of sellers sell things for cute little nice doggies. You can't really find adorable collars like this at a pet store or Target even (gasp)! I think Sasha wants this one. She likes to be fashionable and this is totally her color. Maybe for her half birthday in June! ;)

I love Nutella cookies.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

After a long time of not having the energy or desire to bake, be crafty, etc., I finally got my groove back  after buying some Nutella randomly at the grocery store one late Sunday night. I was craving Nutella. But didn't want to eat it straight out of the jar (why? I'm not sure. Something must've been wrong with me) so I went on the search for recipes to make with my newly purchased Nutella.

Let's go back in time, to late January...
I decided to make just regular old Nutella-filled sugar cookies. I made my sister, Catie, help me. I have made these cookies in the past and remembered it being kind of a pain in the butt to make them - so I thought maybe if I had someone to help me, it'd be less of a pain. Welp, even with Catie's help, it was still a pain. I think Catie could vouch for me on that too. The sugar cookie dough gets so sticky and doesn't 'wrap' (I could probably find a better word to describe it) around the Nutella as easily as the recipe says it should - which leads to me wanting to cry and throw dough across the room because I'm a toddler when I get frustrated while baking.
But no pain, no gain, I guess. These cookies taste amazing when they're done, haha. They don't always end up looking very pretty -- but they taste great! Here's a link to the original recipe. 


For 'World Nutella Day,' I decided to try to make some Nutella-related cookies again to bring in for my lovely coworkers. I was doing this to be nice and festive and for the sake of being Nutella-happy so I didn't want try baking anything that would make me want to roll around on the kitchen floor sobbing (this has almost happened when I've tried baking the previously mentioned Nutella-filled sugar cookies). Normally, I'll hit up Pinterest or Foodgawker for a good recipe when I need one, but for this one, I decided to go super simple in hopes that would get me a super simple recipe - I Googled "easy Nutella cookie recipe." Ding ding ding! I found a winner: Nutella-filled Funfetti cookies. What...a game changer. 
Not ONLY did I not need a partner-in-crime (or someone to hold my hand and comfort me as I sobbed over how sticky the dough was) but it was so easy that I actually thought I was doing something wrong so I had to look at the recipe at least 5x to double-check that all was well. These were a hit at the office and I had to eat 2 or 3 after they were done baking because YOLO. I highly recommend them!

P.S. Help me reach my goal of raising $500 for the Maryland SPCA! 

I love paper straws + Blue Moon cocktails.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Sometimes I buy things that are on clearance at Target simply because it's on clearance and it's at Target.

A few months ago, I bought a twelve pack of really cute, colorful paper straws because they were only $1.00. I couldn't help myself. As soon as I got home, I got them out of the plastic Target bag, and put them on my book shelf. And there they sat. For months. I didn't have an occasion for them so I figured I would save them for a special occasion and until that special occasion came, I'd just have to stare at them because there was no chance I was going to waste them.

So recently, when my BFF and I decided we wanted to plan and have a 'drunk sleepover' -- to stay in and drink all night at home and then have a sleepover -- I realized that this was my chance to come up with a way to make that night the special occasion that my paper straws and I had been waiting for. I wanted to make some kind of special drink for our drunk sleepover (meaning we had to step out of our comfort zones and not drink yellowtail) and I wanted it to be drinkable by a paper straw. 

We both love Blue Moon and we both are pretty cool with OJ so I found this drink after searching through the internet one day. 
I was nervous that maybe Blue Moon + vodka would = very gross -- but surprisingly, it didn't. I really liked it and if it didn't require me to pour multiple things (come on, with wine I just have to pour one thing), I'd probably make this more often. I really only tasted the orange juice, despite there not being much in it -- just a 'splash' to be exact, haha.  

I'm not a big drinker of anything other than Blue Moon when I go to restaurants (aka Chili's) or wine at my house so I don't have a lot of liquor or anything fun at home. Because of that, it's fun for me to have a reason to buy a new liquor to 'add to my collection.' My collection right now consists of the clementine Svedka vodka and Pinnacle whipped cream vodka so that's pretty pathetic and clearly I need to do stuff like this more often. I plan on trying to! 

I love these things lately.

Monday, February 10, 2014


Lately, I love:
March for the Animals! It's the time of year again. The time of year where I beg anyone and everyone to donate and help me reach my goal of raising $500.00 for the Maryland SPCA because Sasha and I will be walking in the annual March for the Animals in April! That being said -- here's the link to my page. Please, please, please, please consider helping me out with this. It is so worth it. Your money really, truly does make a difference: 
     $11 pays for one feline leukemia test
     $25 vaccinates 20 dogs for kennel cough
     $43 provides flea treatment + heartworm protection for a dog
     $300 pays for an animal's vaccinations, food, and care at their shelter until it's adopted
The Man by Aloe Blacc. I have a thing with associating certain songs to certain times in my life. Last year, I associated Clique and Hall of Fame with the Ravens SuperBowl run so whenever I hear those songs, I get extremely overwhelmingly happy. Even though I despise Colin Kaepernick, the Beats by Dre commercial with Kap in it came on so much during the end of the football season when I was feeling really sentimental about football and guess what song is in that commercial? The Man by Aloe Blacc. I bought the song and have played it basically nonstop on my way to-and-from places for the past month. I am so in love. It's so good. It makes me feel happy like it's still football season and momentarily makes me forget that it's only barely mid-February/still winter/going to snow every day for the rest of my life/I'm never going to be able to open my car windows ever again.
Greeting cards from Target. Yeah. Give me all of them.
Sharpie ultra-fine permanent markers. Yup. Only want to write in them.
HGTV. Really been into House Hunters and Love It or List It lately. I'm not sure how I didn't get addicted to these kinds of shows sooner. If the Bachelor or Pretty Little Liars aren't on TV, I immediately turn to HGTV. I've even got Paul into liking these shows. I really do feel like I have a keeper with him - he likes The Bachelor/Bachelorette annnnd HGTV? Really feel pretty lucky. He's also got a girlfriend who actually enjoys sports of all kinds (with the exception of golf #snoozefest) so I hope he considers himself lucky too, haha.
Dove chocolates that have peanut butter inside of them. Ya. Had them for breakfast Sunday.
ModCloth and their customer service. Not only has ModCloth.com been on point for me the past week or so, they also have amazing customer service. When I got home from work last week, I got a package from ModCloth -- it had my itemized list of things I bought and some stuff inside the box...that I didn't order. Some weirdo tights and some other strange clothes that I didn't even bother to bring out. I knew it wasn't mine the moment that I didn't spot the shirt with dogs on it that I bought. I was confused on how to return/exchange the things I didn't buy for the things I did buy (because what a strange thing to happen) so I decided to live-chat with someone at ModCloth to figure it out and it was the best experience ever, haha. The woman I talked with was so nice and so helpful and got it all sorted out in the matter of 5 minutes. I am forever impressed with great customer service. Now I love ModCloth even more. Even when they mess up, I love them.

I love life lately.

Monday, January 20, 2014

celebrating Nick's birthday with a surprise party thrown by Shannon that was really great and had Chick Fil A and good times and arguments about the Ravens. I'm sorry. I can't be tamed.
making cupcakes with Catie around and realizing that you can dip cupcakes in sprinkles if trying to sprinkle them on top of the cupcakes isn't working. Catie is a baking genius - WHO KNEW? 
looking at ModCloth 3x a day trying to find something to buy but I don't like anything enough to purchase anything #roughlife #feelbadforme
drinking hot lemon water every morning - it's refreshing and apparently great for you so just doing that to try to counteract the pizza and cookies I'm eating for lunch
listening to One Direction non-stop to-and-from anywhere I drive and humming them forever at work 
trying hard to memorize my expiration date for my new debit card so I can become a pro at online shopping once again without having to look at my card
wearing exclusively leggings or jeggings on the weekend because I'm sick of wearing jeans but I have to during the week for work and also I'm an adult I make my own decisions so yolo
obsessing over my new camera that I am in love with and want to cuddle with all day but when I'm not cuddling I want to be using it to take pictures of Sasha
wishing I could commit more to my Happiness Project. February is going to be my month, OKAY?