Beach Bag Must-Haves

In the midst of a crazy work week  month  three-months, I've hardly had time to think about all the fun coming up this month. We have a super-fun weekend ahead as my sweet brother-in-law is getting married in Tulsa. We're so pumped for all the wedding fun and of course, we're excited to gain a new sister!

And in exactly one week, Greg and I will be on vacay in Key West, which we've been thinking about/planning/waiting for since December! In preparation for our upcoming beach vacay, I thought I'd share some of my favorite items I keep in my beach/pool bag.



1.  Obsessed with this beach bag
2. Extra-long beach towel
3. Coppertone Faces Sunscreen
4. Sunglasses (these seem to give minimal tan lines on the face)
5. Beach Towel Clips (they keep your towel attached to your lounge chair without slipping)
6. Fresh Sugar Lipcare (Mine was a Birchbox treat!)
7. Cute Coverup
8. Mindless Reading Material

Any other beach bag must-haves? Has anyone ever used these chair clips? Ah-mazing!

Happy Summer!

Day Drinking Edition

The hubby and I had been looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend for weeks. Our spring has been so crazy busy that this was the first weekend that we had literally no plans. So, with the kick off of my summer Fridays and Greg having a 4-day weekend, we decided to start the weekend in style beginning on Friday at about 1:30 with a little day drinking. Throw in a pool and you've got me interested.

So the weekend before, my pal Whit introduced me to a delicious mixed drink that I want to share with all of you. Here's what you need:

• Lime Cucumber Gatorade/Sports Drink
• Vodka
• Club Soda (optional)
• Party Panties (required)

 

Mix 1 part vodka, 2 parts lime cucumber sports drink and a splash of club soda if you like. Or if you're making in bulk, two 32 oz bottles of Gatorade, nearly one full bottle of vodka (we used about 5/6 of a 750 ml bottle) and about 1 cup of club soda. It's not super-sweet, it's refreshing and it does a good job masking the vodka kick.

So, the hubby and I made a pitcher of this and brought it down to the pool, where we proceeded to drink the entire thing. The rest of the evening/night is still pretty fuzzy. Let's be honest, I can hardly remember taking this:

But I distinctly remember us spending a good 30 minutes trying to think of a name for this glorious drink. After about 1/2 the pitcher, we thought Li-Cu Dranky-Drank was perfect - and totally hilarious, right? (Let's face it, everything was  pretty hilarious at that exact point in time.) The next day, we decided it was a bit ghetto. Like calling grape soda "Purple Stuff." So, for now we're sticking with Vodka Lime Cucumber. Original, right?

But the best part of this drink (besides the fact that the hubby likes it as much as I do, which has pretty much never happened) is that the hangover isn't so bad. Maybe it's because you're getting electrolytes from the sports drink, maybe it's because it has a refreshing cucumber after-taste or maybe it's because I was really down to party on my first Summer Friday, but regardless - this is totally worth a try. It will likely make a triumphant return on our Key West trip.

Cheers and Happy Summer!

The Big 2 {Gulp} 7

So, remember when you turned 22 and you felt, ugh, so OLD?! Being in college, 22 was ancient. But then you enter the workforce and you're suddenly the youngest one. You're hip, you're stylish, you're cool, you're young (but in a good way). Then, five years past (*tear) and you're suddenly in this weird place where you're not super-young, but not super-old. You still enthusiastically sing along to songs like "So Call Me Maybe" but the idea of going out to the bars is absolutely exhausting. Well that's where I am right now. Twenty-freakin-seven.

So nothing crazy or new to report that I didn't address in last year's birthday post. For my birthday weekend, the hubby was out of town for his brother's bachelor party. I'm still waiting on my "Wife of the Year" award to be delivered. ;-) So, it was a rather quiet weekend. Friday, I picked up some sushi and stayed in to catch up on my DVR. I also finally put my house back together after the baby shower (I mean, as cute as those tissue poufs were, it seemed a bit extreme for everyday dining)

Saturday, I got my hair-did (it was time to go "summer blonde"), laid out by the pool with a few of my besties and later took myself shopping. I got myself some new items (well, actually it was really a group effort thanks to money and gift cards from my parents/in-laws/grandma) - new shoes and some beach stuff to prepare for our upcoming Key West trip (or Summer Fridays at the pool - either way).

Once the hubby got back in town on Sunday, we went and picked out my birthday present and took me to dinner. He treated me (I mean, how much do you really treat someone if you have a joint checking account, but still!) to a new pair of sunglasses and some new make-up.

Oh, I also FINALLY finished the Harry Potter series *sob* so was looking for *sob* a new book and, ummmmm, *bow-chicka-wow-wow* I picked up this little guy:

Oh get off your high horse and stop judging. Or judge me. Whatever. I'm kind of judging myself.

So overall, nothing too wild to report for the birthday. Although, I did discover the most fantastically wonderful mixed drink over the weekend. Will share soon.

Have a wonderful week!

Pool Time

My favorite season is upon us. No, not that season. Pool season. While I don't think of myself as too much of a "sun whore," I do think almost everyone looks better with a little shade of tan on them. Lucky for me, my office does Summer Fridays so I get off around lunchtime every Friday during the summer (it's pretty fantastic) so I've made it a point to hit the pool every Friday. (The hubby's skin burns after about 20 minutes in the sun so he's not really a pool guy.)

During my pool Friday time, it occurred to me how much things have changed. A year ago, I would have been laying out by my pool in my old apartment. Back then, my biggest pool time trouble was running into the floating beer pong table or dodging the guy with the hairy back who always wanted to chit-chat. Uh, dude, I'm obviously WAY into this Real Simple magazine and you need to put on a shirt. Keep it movin'.

But it was a glorious view:

Fast-forward one year, I'm enjoying the neighborhood amenity center (read: pool) and I've learned quite a bit in my pool time. Turns out, the "color game" is still very popular (remember, one person holds the other and they guess a color, you miss it, you're dunked?). Also, children of a certain age (probably below the age of 6) LOVE to run and yell "CAAAAANONNNNBAAAAALLLL" but don't actually understand what that means. One of the top concerns of Moms at the pool is the iPhones being splashed. Lucky for me, mine is well protected. I heard a lot of comments like, "Don't splash that nice lady!" while their children proceeded to "Canonball" about four feet away. But, I think it's super-cute.

But my-oh-my, how the times have changed...