Happy Hair

Hooray for last Thursday. I started my morning off with a workout at Pure Barre. Then it was off to Cameron Village to shop it out before my appointment at Parlor Blow Dry Bar.

I've had some fun with Parlor before, but this was my first time at their location right in the heart of it all. We're talking Flywheel on one side, Tupelo across the street, boutiques galore right behind. 

I picked a cupcake (from favorite The Cupcake Shoppe - where we got our wedding cupcakes from) ... And a blowout. I'm always down for long beach curls so that's the style I went with. 

I kicked back on my silver pouf, in their bright open space, and watched some Legally Blonde while sipping away. Seriously, the epitome of relaxation. They washed my hair, decked it out in all the Bumble and bumble products a girl could dream of and then dried and curled it out.

Here I am! My stylist kept my curls tight so they would look loose and beachy for the evening festivities - May's rehearsal and dinner.

Cheers to happy hair by Parlor Blow Dry Bar in Raleigh.

Bachelorette Beach Bash

Recap time. We celebrated May's Bachelorette Beach Bash with nine ladies, and it was a super fun weekend. First things first, I don't travel without an itinerary. Two thumbs down to being on VACATION somewhere BEAUTIFUL and wasting time asking yourself, what should we do now? I wonder what's good around here for dinner? I'm all for over planning and not needing than wasting time, because we only have so much of it. So without further adoi, here was our weekend itinerary (copy and pasted directly from Gmail with commentary) for those of you planning beach bachelorettes or just a fun weekend at Carolina Beach (Recap when Hank & I went here).

Friday

• Lunch at Surfhouse around 12. Such a fresh spot. Really great farm-to-table eats.



• Beach / Pool / Hot Tub
• Check into the hotel at 4 p.m. Courtyard Carolina Beach is pretty much the best option. All rooms are oceanfront, and we had a conjoining room + suite which worked out great. Oh, and most importantly, everything is within walking distance.
• Decorate; get settled in and ready to celebrate
• Dinner at 8 p.m. at Seawitch (Super casual and pretty cheap dinner spot; band; dancing)
• Hotel action: pregame / gift / game
• Night out at The Dive Bar

Saturday

• Brunch at Kate's Pancake House (home of the fabulous pink brick wall for photos)



• Beach / Pool / Hot Tub
• Explore shops on the Boardwalk + CB Surf Shop + Artful Living (There's a pretty good group photo opp on the Boardwalk too).



• We were so full from brunch we skipped lunch but did have room for ice cream at Squigley's and / or must-have donuts from Britt's
• Get ready for the evening
• Happy Hour at dive bar, Fat Pelican (I love that place so much; pack a Sharpie to sign your name)



• Dinner at 7:30 p.m. at Havana's (Nicer dinner spot; we all wore hot pink dresses)
• Hotel action: pregame / gift / game
• Sparklers on the beach
• Night out at some karaoke spots on the Boardwalk + The Dive Bar (again!)

Sunday

• Beach
• Brunch at the Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar (featured in Our State magazine; awesome bar at the end of the pier right over the water)



Highlights and game ideas...

Beach signage! Everything from the invitations to the beach signage to the room decor matched. As did a blast from the past photo of each lady with the bride that we strung together and hung on the wall. Oh, the memories.



Pyramids on the beach... A must do.

I'm always down for a Photo Booth. I use a cheap portable coat rack from Wal-Mart and put streamers and sparkly garland over it. Etsy is a great spot for props or make them yourself. 

We even brought along an old-school Polaroid with new school film from Urban Outfitters (in gold and silver) so everyone could take a souvenir photo with the bride-to-be back home with them. 

Everyone signed up to bring snacks galore. We had homemade salsa, pimiento cheese, a popcorn bar, drunken gummy bears, rice krispy treats, etc. This assured no one ever got hangry. That's clutch.

The first night we gifted 'Pineapple Panties'. I hand painted matching paper bags and everyone brought a pair of panties that described their relationship with the bride. Anything from Carolina blue to represent times at UNC to patriotic to represent a stellar July 4th party. The bride had to guess who brought what, of course. 

As for the game, we played the classic 20 questions where we asked the groom questions in advance, and we had to see how the bride and groom matched up. This bride and groom got an A+. There was a tiny prize for that game - a #LillyForTarget nail file (because really, that's all that was left at Target at that point). But really everyone got a prize as the bride and I went in on the most sparkly cups that we had monogrammed for all the ladies. They're even making a reappearance on the wedding day.

That was our Friday night gift + game. On Saturday, the bride opened a beach bag filled with all things monogrammed (as you'll see below). Each person signed up what they were stuffing the bag with on a Google Doc to assure minimal duplicates. As for the game, this one is pretty much my favorite. You write one of the bride's favorite things... Mexican, calligraphy, kate spade, etc. on sheets of paper - enough for each person. Then each person draws a card, and you have to draw a man part (blog PC!?) to the theme of that card. So for kate spade, a bow, stripes, you get the idea. Then the bride has to guess what in the world the theme of that man part is. Then once she's guessed all, she picks her favorite one. This game seriously cracks me up. The creativity and artistic renderings never cease to amaze. The chosen one also got a #LillyForTarget nail file.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was definitely decking out in glow sticks on Saturday night and playing on the beach with sparklers before going out. The wind was intense so we were thankful a group was starting a beach bonfire so we could light those sparklers up. 

While I loved all of the weekend, one of my favorites was definitely this: On Sunday morning, myself and two of the girls ventured out to bring coffee back to our group. Our conversation in line was all about church and small groups and our favorite church songs. When we went to pay for our coffee, the man behind us said, "I've got this. I've been listening to your conversation in line, and followers of Jesus are friends of mine. Christianity is a place in your heart that you go all week, and Sundays are just the celebration." Even typing this causes me to tear up just as it did that morning. His generosity was just a glimpse of a whole lot of goodness in the world. I'm so ready to pay it forward.

Cheers to a great weekend and a bride whose energy and laughter really made it one to remember. Email me at mrsloveslife@gmail.com if you need any bachelorette party ideas - I love them.

Bentley Brew

A couple years ago Hank and I were sound asleep, but at 2 a.m., we awoke to glass shattering. I was scared. We snuck downstairs only to find our first batch of Bentley Brew burst everywhere shooting shards of glass into the walls. The carbonation was too much for all of the bottles. It was a mess, and a memory, and we thought that was the end of Bentley Brew... Until yesterday.

After two email forwards from Hank and May last year, I gathered photos and a story and entered Bentley into the Foothills IPA of the Month contest. This year's theme was dogs, and they were only selecting 11 (the twelfth dog being their own). A couple months had past and it was earlier this year that we were notified Bentley was a finalist. Out of over 1,400 submissions, I was jumping out of my seat. We signed a confidentiality agreement in April once Foothills knew he would be Mr. May (which was perfect as that's Bentley and my birthday month). We saw the label art a couple days before it was released, and the artist could not have captured Bentley's spirit more perfectly.

The bottle label reads: "An owner-described "chill dude," Bentley loves kicking back and cruising around the lake  - the perfect canine metaphor for our breezy May IPA, full of Citra and Sorachi Ace hops, complemented by grapefruit and clementine orange essence. An ideal beer for Bentley and his boat."

These 22 oz. bombers hit shelves in N.C. yesterday (on Bentley's birthday!), and Hank and I both ran out to buy some during lunch. You can find them at any craft brew store, and it's only $5.99 a bottle. Snap a pic if you see it or snag one and email it to mrsloveslife@gmail.com as I want to add all of the photos above. We're cracking open ours tonight. Cheers!

Bentley Turns Four

Hank and I were married in April and got Bentley in July. Bentley flew to us all the way from the great state of Texas. After a delayed flight and what seemed like the longest wait, a worker finally headed towards us carrying a crate. ... And this was well after midnight! Time is a funny thing though, and it surely dissipated as soon as we met Bentley. He couldn't have been more full of wrinkles or any cuter. Today we celebrate Bentley's fourth birthday on the fifth as he's a Cinco de Mayo puppy. HBD to the Bent-ley. We're ringing in today with Mexican (of course), puppy ice cream and cookies and the release of Bentley's very own beer - on shelves in N.C. TODAY. More details on that tomorrow.

Poolside Dip

My sisters-in-law have dip talents, and on Friday night, Amy made an awesome "poolside dip" - so awesome that I made it for friends last night.

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese

1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded, finely diced
1 small can black olives, finely diced
15 ounce can corn, drained
1 packet ranch seasoning

Directions 

Dump everything into a bowl and stir. As the vegetables start to release a little of their water, the mixture will come together perfectly. Store in the fridge for a bit then serve with scoops. 

Our pool opens on my birthday, May 11, and I'm so excited. Poolside dip, poolside, here I come. Pictured is my favorite Lilly Pulitzer for Target score, the pineapple chip and dip.