galentine's day 2k18

galentine's day has always been one of my favorite holidays, i'll even say it, my FAVORITE holiday. before parks & rec, valentine's day took top tier but i've got to say, i love the idea of LOVE and celebrating female friendships. two of my favorite things! leslie knope has given the world many a wonderful things but this has got to be my favorite, next to TREAT YO'SELF!*

anyways so this year i wanted to go big and not go home. i have been to two spas in my lifetime** and loved the experience so i thought it would be fun with my gals. the thing is, you really have to carve out some time. like a LOT of time. like 6-10 hours. i'm not kidding. spas are fantastic because the purpose of them is to be naked, wet, and relax- my three favorite things!! i love swimming, especially without kids. i love hot tubs. i love just laying around reading and eating. i love working out. if only they had better snacks...

i invited my best gals and a good mix were able to come. those near and far from me received their SWAG bags and love notes. thankfully target's dollar section this year was right on point. seriously, galentine's day has hit mainstream which is super cool! but then at the same time not so cool because then it looses it's specialness. just know that i'm the one who started it. or at least improved it. ok i just continued it's existence in an inferior way.

we picked the JW marriott because it's fairly close to us and it was off-strip [aka cheaper]. icing on the cake was there was a groupon for it. one of my yw is doing her senior year online so she was down for babysitting mine and a friend's kids. we were gone for 6 hours and it was not nearly long enough. after checking in, we got naked and hung out in our robes waiting for our treatments. the massage was great but the image of me in a thin white robe was not quite as wonderful. after changing into my swimsuit for the first time in 2018, we jumped headfirst into the amenities. i had just finished reading a book about the ancient roman culture*** so it was fun to somewhat to pretend i was at the roman baths, minus the prostitutes [well, at least a whole lot less of them]. we hung out at the pools until everyone was done with their services then hit the buffet for lunch. girl talk and a lot of calories later, we went back to the pools for some communal fluid sharing and gossip. before i knew it, it was time to shower and pick up the kids.

we had such a great time and thankfully, the groupon we got had two return vouchers with it. so i GUESS i'll have to return there again. poor me. whose coming with me?

*although that's technically tom & donna's contribution.
**the first time was for my company's christmas party because there was only 3 of us in the office. that boss is my FIL's girlfriend. it still remains the best spa i've ever been to. the second was with my BF kayla when she was engaged.
*** a voice in the wind, which i reviewed here.

the bride tribe

after kayla's bridal shower, i met my mom & the kids at mcdonalds. they were having so much fun with grandma, they didn't even miss me. i had missed them terribly and it had only been a few hours. i switched cars and headed to meet the girls at the dollhouse blowout bar [at tivoli village]. the owner set us up in the bar with free *cotton candy* champagne. it was here that i ordered my first drink! i didn't consume that drink but i sure ate some cotton candy off the top. most of the girls got blowouts. i got a pedicure. we ran over to downtown summerlin and met up with everyone for dinner at CRAVE. it was a sushi/steakhouse and was so delicious! downtown summerlin on a saturday night is a crazy time but luckily the restaurant wasn't too crowded and easily accommodated our giant group. we showered our bride with some sexy gifts and i ate the most delicious steak medallions i've ever had.

after that we walked to dave & busters [newly opened in vegas]. there was a boxing match that night so there was a cover charge. luckily we got in free because we were a bachelorette party! gotta love vegas! we played lots of games and tried to get kayla drunk [didn't happen]. i had never been but it is literally a grown up chuck e cheese. except more expensive. with better food. i prefer chuck e cheese. it still was a lot of fun!

after that we drove downtown to the cosmopolian. here we met even more saturday night traffic, especially on the strip. we had a lot of fun in the car. that was the most fun i had all night. just girls being girls! right when we walked into the restaurant [we had come for some delicious deserts] i saw a high school buddy. well, he was justin's football friend but i knew him from that circle. justin had mentioned he worked there but i, of course, forgot. he's the operations manager so he totally set us up! free appetizers, discounts, and i got my dessert on the house! i think it helped that i brought up the fact that he got smashed in my church parking lot at my wedding reception. by that time it was well after midnight and i was tuckered. i have to nap for my 10pm bedtime; after midnight was killing me! while we ate we went around talking about our favorite memories of kayla. luckily i had plenty to share! my friend also came by and offered us these dry ice/flavored mint thingys. basically you put it on your tongue and it makes your mouth smoke as it melts. well the first time i just couldn't handle it and spit it out everywhere. everyone laughed. then i thought i could handle it now that i knew what i was getting into but no, i spit that out too. i am weak sauce.

the night was far from over though. i was the DD for the night and had the privilege to drive all the girls back to their cars and houses. worth it to keep everyone safe! it was seriously so much fun but going to church the next morning was very, very painful. and a little embarrassing because i had a 'bride tribe' tattoo on my face i couldn't wash off.

oh, i forgot to mention the best parts! i made these adorable diamond themed invitations for the party. they took so much time and work and yet i still took almost no pictures of them. inside was the schedule, what to pack, and info on the party. all of us girls wore britney spears themed shirts. kayla's read 'i'm the bride b*tch'. mine said 'you want a piece of me?'. originally we were going to see britney in concert but that got too expensive but the shirts stayed. i also made survival kits for the girls who came. inside was a granola bar, water bottle, tylenol, hair tie ['to have and hold your hair back'], a thank you note from the bride herself, a bride tribe tattoo, party beads, chocolate, and make-up remover wipes. the bags were so cute and the details were amazing! yet again, i didn't take any pictures. oy vey.

i'm so happy it's all over! it was so stressful but worth it. i'm so excited for zack and kayla. can't wait for march!

brunch & bubbly [well, not for me]

whew! i am DONE with my parties for the year- DONE! i have put my sweat, blood and tears into this particular wedding weekend and it was worth it. everything went off without a hitch and it was just as much fun as i had hoped. i'm so happy for kayla and her wedding has been YEARS in the making. she is a gorgeous bride and i can't wait for march.

kayla's pinterest board was super helpful and i had some ideas of my own. thanks to pinterest of course. my main focus was these paper flowers. i really stressed about making these and put them off for a long time. eventually once i started, i couldn't stop. it was a lot easier then i thought and they were so cute. the pictures don't do them justice. i wish i could have gotten one solid background but i love them. here's the bride with her mother in law [who flew in from wisconsin] and kayla's mom.

 another decoration that i wanted to do was this hula hoop balloon thing. i have an amazing facebook friend who throws amazing parties. she thought this up [well, a better version of it] and i copied it the best i could. it was not easy to hang up, let me tell you. thankfully the man of the house figured it up. speaking of which, kayla's good friend from church hosted the party. games were minimal. we did bridal shower bingo, he said/she said, and i videotaped zack, kayla's fiance, answer some questions. it was hilarious and the hit of the party.

the party favor was a small succulent that said 'see you sedona' [where she's getting married]. we had a date jar and some jenga blocks that guests signed with advice for building a happy marriage.

kayla's sister was in charge of the menu which was a huge load off my back. it was delicious! chicken salad sandwiches, french toast and egg casserole, fruit bruschetta; to name a few. oh, and mimosas. which i didn't even know what those were. live and learn!

there was a good number of friends there, mostly from california, which is a huge compliment to kayla. it was a nice bridal shower and so much fun not taking care of my kids all day! next stop, the bachelorette party!

monthly date night: minute to win it

my friend meghan had this great idea to do a monthly group date night with a few couples. we've only done it two times and this was my time to host. i've been wanting to do a minute to win it style party since i saw it on pinterest [next time, i'm thinking murder mystery]. it was seriously a blast! a lot of prep time but it was worth it. it was hilarious! here's what we did.


some cute pin parties had people doing minute rice and other themed foods- i did steak, potato salad, broccoli and rolls. desert was cookies and ice cream. the games went pretty quickly so next time i might do it one by one like they do on the game show but we had a time limit with babysitters. still a great time. i put all the needed equipment per couple in a bag so they had easy access and i wasn't scrambling for things.

meet the contenders- there's team WORST, which is yours truly and my sailor. justin picked the name- because i typically am on the losing team so it makes sense really. team BABY MAKERS. i guess steven thought of this when they first got married and uses it for everything. what a weirdo. and lastly, team HEISENBERG. the greens love breaking bad, as you can tell from their outfits. it should be noted too that evan is extremely competitive. so is steven so i thought it would be interesting because steven is super competitive too. turns out i was wrong- steven could care less and the greens just creamed us all. well, creamed us. we really are the worst.

the first game was 'rapid fire'- you shoot rubber bands at a stack of soda cans. justin did this one for us- i thought he would do better then he did. evan got it right away while meghan and justin took forever. the second was 'how's it hanging?'. this was probably my favorite. a banana was tied to our belt then we

had to thrust to push an orange into a circle across the room. 'junk in the trunk' was done by tying a kleenex box filled with 4 ping pong balls. you had to shake your boody to get them out the fastest- ali took the cake on this one! i read somewhere that you need to make the slot bigger because it was so hard- not the case for us. 'a bit dicey' is when you stack dice on a popsicle stick in your mouth. i should have made it a rule that you couldn't use your teeth. 'hut hut hike' was not as easy as i thought it would be. you had to bend over then toss toilet paper rolls through a hula hoop. 'face the cookie' was incredibly hilarious as well- and really hard! you had to transfer a cookie from your forehead to your mouth.

team HEISENBERG was the winner! it was a great idea for a game night and totally fun! a nice change from just sitting around and talking.

my time with da' bears

 last weekend justin & i went on a couplecation with the kroegels to big bear lake. justin's neighbors growing up have a cabin there that they let us stay in. i had never been to big bear before and it was gorgeous! only a little more then 3 hours away but man was it windy going up the mountain. landon stayed with his mema and had a wonderful time! it was the first time i've left landon alone without landon and believe me, it was hard. i missed my little boy so much! but as you can see he had a great time.

 friday when we got up to big bear we had a very disappointing lunch at a pizza place then went to the cabin and unpacked. we caught an early flick ['the wolverine' is amazing] because it was raining. afterwards we walked around the village and peeked into a few shops, which is where i found that creepy manequin. we got some delicious ice cream and mcdonalds to wrap up the night, followed by many movies and downtime at the cabin.

 saturday we woke up and headed to the grizzly for some breakfast. the wait was intense but the food was delicious and giant. afterwards we rented bikes and rode along the lake. it was so pretty and the weather was perfect- overcast and slightly warm. justin and i are not professional bikers at all so by the end we were quite tired but it was a blast! except i did get bitten by some bugs in my leg knee crevice. afterwards. we went home and napped the afternoon away.

 we woke up and headed to the lake and rented kayaks. sadly, i didn't get any pictures of this because i didn't want to chance dropping my iphone... because those stakes were pretty high. but it was gorgeous and so fun. after that we hit the alpine slide center where they had mini-golf, a giant slide, a tubing hill for snow and a slide! i've always wanted to hit the one up in park city so this was the next best thing- except of course i couldn't go. but i enjoyed watching people. afterwards we went to a nice mexican place for some dinner. after that we went bowling [where i killed it. really, i did. which is quite unbelievable bc i hate bowling and didn't want to go. what can i say? lady has skills]. afterwards we tried to get some ice cream but nothing was open! literally, NOTHING. and it was like 9pm on a saturday night.

sunday morning we woke up, got ready and packed up. we went to the village to try to get some breakfast but the wait was about 20-30 min which would have put us at lunchtime. so we just waited for this nice restaurant to open up and enjoyed a delicious lunch before we left town. the drive back to vegas always reminds us how we never want to go back to california. when we pulled up to teryls i jumped out of the car and ran inside. landon saw me, put him arms straight up in the arm and started jumping. it was the sweetest thing in the world, it made me cry. i just missed my baby so so much. and i'm so proud of him because he was pooped in the potty for mema. thus he got a slurpee as a reward.

rob thomas & me

this past weekend my gf stoner mcb came to visit! we had so much fun but man am i beat! *more on that later* stone is my concert/music friend. she is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to music and loves to jam outrooney, train, and keane [i think that's all?]  this is when she came to visit last summer [i didn't go with them to bite of lv bc i had landon]. we always have so much fun!
. i honestly don't know anyone who has gone to more concerts then her. we've previously gone to visit smashmouth,

she flew in friday and we hung out at home for a while, took landon to the library and went on a quick slurpee run [when landon insisted that he needed his own. that's his new thing- he needs his OWN treat, his OWN applesauce, his OWN ice cream. oh bother]. after a quick dinner at cafe rio we headed down to mandalay bay. i had previously seen keith urban there with justin years ago. it's a great venue, big and best of all, had seats [man i am old]. this weekend has been a wet one for vegas and it was thunderstorming all night. i heard others got rain but i have not seen a lick of it. some chick named kate earl opened up and she was a disappointment. goo goo dolls were next - they had previously come to suu but i didn't see them bc i didn't really have friends yet. they were amazing! great energy - lots of sweat. played a ton of their hits [which there are many]. by this time i was kinda feeling the old lady creeping in. i get super sick and b

loated at night so sitting in tight, warm quarters where i can't let my.... excess vapors escape [don't be gross, i'm talking about my burps.... sorta] - it all just got to me. they played for about an hour and a half. pretty great [and loud]. matchbox twenty was next and they played over an hour and a half. they were great too! they played more new stuff but still did their hits. man rob is one sweaty guy. like covered- and he has more bug eyes then you'd expect but he was awesome. but being honest, i was so sick at the end i was just counting down til we could go home [which wouldn't be until 1:30. with a 5:30 wake up time the next day with no nap in sight- that was rough].

saturday we dropped landon off at his mema's so we could have some girl time. we hit target for some clothes then i got a mani and stone got a pedi. i kept enviously staring at her bc it looked so amazing to have her feet rubbed... still green over it. after that we had lunch at buffalo wild wings [where i took 1st place in trivia!], picked up some shoes at payless then got the baby. that afternoon we went swimming at teryls with landon then went home for some chill time. i introduced stone to the magic known as 'pitch perfect', made some steak fajitias then rounded out the night at yogurtland. i was feeling sick so i took a bath and by the time i came out [8pm!] stone was in bed- hahaha i guess i wore her out too. we both got an early bedtime in and fell asleep listening to the monsoon outside our house.

sunday i made some delicious puffy french toast & bacon [ummmm.....bacon] then took her to the airport. kind of a lackluster trip but honestly, i am beat! i'm coming to realize i am not as young as i used to be - and i really don't want to be. sometimes i enviously look back on my college days and wish for that freedom/fun but really, i love my life now. i am the happiest i've ever been and i have been blessed so abundantly. landon is my life and i just love spending every second with him and justin. so i might not have as many concerts in my future but i'm so glad i've kept my good old friend stoner mcb.

harrisons on holiday: sl,ut 2.0 & girlcation 2013

*warning: picture overload*

my new niece was sealed and blessed the weekend of the 4th in the salt lake area. bree has some  medical issues that flared up again a few days before her sealing but we were all optimistic that things would clear up in time. unfortunately she didn't get better in time for her original date on friday but the following day i was able to see my sister's little girl become a forever part of her family. it was so special to see. she is such a beautiful little girl; she already melts my heart!

he just LOVES his emmy!

sleeping on the ride up for maybe 30 min. my patriotic nails. handing with his cousins

bfast with the fam and flying with dad. using our cool new app for our thermostat at home

provo canyon. ben & nate hard at work on homework

we stayed with my brother in orem. landon adored his two cousins and especially adored the attention he got. the morning of the 4th we drove up provo canyon and went on a nice walk near some creek [vivian something?]. justin met his brofriend for some golf that afternoon and landon and i hung out with his cousins. we particularly loved playing with water on the porch. later we BBQed with nate's neighbors and landon thoroughly enjoyed their playset. after the baby was in bed we watched the cul-de-sac of fire aka my brother's very expensive fireworks display. it was so much fun to see him so excited.

the next day we went to visit thanksgiving point. i have been dreaming about visiting that place for YEARS and let me tell you, major disappointment. i guess i expected too much? we took landon to visit the farm there which makes complete sense. he loves animals and had talked about going all morning. once we got there he was incredibly cranky! granted, he had not been sleeping well in utah but still, come on! we forced him to look at the animals and see everything. it took his second trip around the farm [and a fun horse ride] to actually start to enjoy things. justin and his brofriend went golfing again that afternoon [i really am a great wife] so emily and i went to visit my sister's other child ayden. we had loads of fun but the fun ended too soon due to a thunderstorm [which my husband somehow played through].

finding anna's slurpee flavor. playing on the porch. aunt shannon sucking up to landon

4th of july BBQ and fireworks. landon falling asleep mid-cinnamon roll bite. 

landon hiding from the animals then being forced to face them.

our horse ride and the cool toys

saturday we met my college friends up in taylorsville for a mini-reunion. i just love seeing those girls! we had so much fun laughing and catching up. that night was the sealing. sunday we took a trip up to temple square to see the sights. this was particularly special for me. i know being pregnant makes you hormonal but holy moly. we walked around pointing out pictures of jesus and explaining them to landon in terms he could understand and i kept getting chocked up. i feel so privileged to be apart of his life and help him learn about the gospel. after a non-existent nap we went to devin's ward to be apart of bree's baby blessing. landon finally napped after a long drive home then we spent a great last night with our family.

sharing a popsicle - landon did not enjoy

landon and his cousin ayden [the small blonde one]

 

the kids playing hide and seek - baby and mommy quails. landon and abby playing hide and seek

peek a boo!

monday we drove down to st george. we dined in cedar and tried out a new fancy pizza place [oh so not good] then did some outlet shopping in st george [really? i know i'm spoiled in vegas but it was incredibly pathetic]. justin and landon dropped me off at our hotel and thus started our girls weekend! we started the tradition last summer. this year we stayed two days and saw "mary poppins" and "thoroughly modern millie". i am extremely tied these days and staying up past midnight was rough but so worth it. mary poppins is one of my least favorite disney films and the play was nothing sort of creepy. we had had olive garden for dinner which left me extremely bloated. that plus the heat which made me feet swell to watermelons was not fun.

landon not missing me at all. scoring nice parking at old navy.

oops! photo duplicate

the next day i slept a whole 8 uninterrupted hours [heaven!] then spent the day shopping/movie-ing/pedicuring/resting- it was so fabulous! we dined at red robin this time and somehow i was less bloated/puffy. that plus modern millie being an excellent play made for a great ending! the next morning we got up and enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes and bacon at ihop then hit the road! landon was awake when i got home. i opened the door, he stared at me, then said "shannon!" who was behind me. way to make a gal feel special. i know he missed me though. he was extra cuddly and lovey which was special. it was so hard to leave him for 48 hours - i don't know how i'm going to do it for big bear in two weeks [i think i'll manage]. i had such a fun week and it's been hard to get back into our routine and schedule. but i think there are worse problems in the world....