See You Monday!

I know, I've been taking a lot of random breaks, but that's because my travel schedule has been cray cray! I'm currently at Wanderlust in Snowshoe (!!!) but I'll be back Monday with a post outlining kitchen gadget deals - I even paired them with recipes for y'all.

Namaste.

St. Pete's Blogger Girls Trip

I met a few of my favorite bloggers for a 48 hour trip to St. Petersburg, FL

One of the best parts about blogging has been the friends that I've made. It still sounds funny to me when I tell people that I meet a lot of my friends online, but it's 2017 so hopefully someday I'll get past it. Anyway, I met up with Tiffany and Supal (who flew all the way from London!) in St. Petersburg, FL for a whirlwind weekend of blogging fun, and it didn't disappoint.

We stayed at The Don Cesar on the house, thanks to Tiffany's husband's travel points. It was a historic hotel but the rooms and lobby were fully renovated. There were two pools plus a wide span of beach front to hang out at. While staying there, we learned that it was built as a R&R hospital during WW1 and was supposedly haunted. I didn't see any ghosts, but I was glad we learned that on our last day so that I didn't have to think about war veteran ghosts at night!

I got into town on Friday and Tiffany picked me up in our Hertz rental, a Nissan Rogue. For being a small SUV, that thing had tons of trunk space and the back seat was actually quite roomy - I was impressed! I flew into Tampa, and we headed straight to the hotel where we checked in, dropped off our luggage and immediately headed down to the hotel's beachfront bar where we quickly polished off two whole pitchers of sangria. Yup, three bloggers and two pitchers. But why stop there? Don't worry, we didn't.

After a refresh, we headed out to a rooftop bar and got a table overlooking the water. It was so beautiful watching the sunset with a bottle of prosecco! So romantic. There must have been romance in the air, because soon our table of three women was assaulted by a very drunk man named Gary. He was so drunk he had  to hold onto something to stand upright and literally wasn't make sense. Soon, his friends swarmed us too. Just three female bloggers who are in their late 20's to early 30's, surrounded by drunk married men in their late 40's and early 50's. Supal handled the situation with her cheeky British wit that was over their drunk heads, and fortunately, they left us for another bar.

They were, however, staying at the same hotel as us, and we repeatedly saw them throughout the whole weekend. They were always drunk. It was impressive their livers were still functioning.

The next day was spent hanging out by one of the pools. It was hot, but they had umbrellas set up so that we weren't in direct sunlight. After about two hours, a woman came up to us and told us that she had reserved the chairs we were in. See, she had placed Athleta catalogs on the chairs and thought she could walk away for four hours and have those still be "her" chairs. She literally stood in front of us and asked us to get out! Ha! After we wouldn't move, she went to find a manager, and was greatly disappointed when the manager told her that isn't how life works, and she'd have to find new chairs. We named her Debbie Downer, and watched her complain to staff for the next few hours about everything.

In the early evening, we headed off to a margarita festival in Tampa. While we got free tickets, they wanted you to upload your credit card to a chip on a wristband, and that's how you paid for your food and drinks. None of us liked that idea, so we bailed on the festival and headed to get tacos at a cantina in downtown Tampa. The carne asada taco was mediocre compared to the amazing beef we have in Texas, but my fish taco was on point! That night, we were all asleep by 10:30pm after a long day of pool time, Debbie Downer, failed festivals and tacos.

Margarita Festival attire. Appropriate, no?

The next morning we checked out of our room and headed to a bottomless mimosa brunch. The smoked salmon was fantastic! Note to self, always get the fish when you're near the ocean. We sat there for a good three hours, and wouldn't you know, along came Gary and his drunk crew again! He said something about staying hydrated, but his speech was so slurred I didn't understand him. Oh Gary.

After that, we headed back to the airport since Tiffany and I had flights to catch. Turns out, I ended up on the Flight From Hell. I had to connect in Houston and there were storms rolling through Texas. It should have been a 45 minute flight up to Dallas that turned into 6 hours of scream -inducing turbulence (literally, people were screaming and crying). Tiffany flew across the entire country faster than I flew a few hundred miles. I still have the shakes from that flight! 

Outside of the flight, it was a complete blast hanging with these blogging gals. We had so much fun talking shop, tatking children, talking to Debbie Downer and Drunk Gary and being by the water in a beautiful hotel. Girls weekends don't happen often, but when they do it's like a breath of fresh air. In this case, it was ocean air, which was even better!

DIY Ribbon Knot Wreath

This easy do-it-yourself wreath is fun and affordable, and the colors you chose can match any holiday

It's been a while since I've done a good ol', non essential oil, crafty DIY. I used to do something like this every single month. But then kids happened and it's {not} funny how little time they leave for pursuing your own/former interests and hobbies, ya know? I have lots of decorations for Halloween and Christmas, but have nothing (literally, nothing) for any of the other holidays throughout the year. In honor of Memorial Day and the upcoming 4th of July, I wanted something a little patriotic to put on the front door.

While I chose red, white and blue, you could literally chose any ribbon color combination to suit your fancy - red and green, gold and silver, orange and black, pastels, you get it. If you're not into holiday decorating, just pick a combo that fits your decor! The most labor intensive part is cutting the ribbon; then, honestly, tying the knots on the wreath frame was therapeutic in how repetitive it was. I left the edges of my ribbons raw to keep the project easy (that was the main reason, because duh) and I also like how the fray adds a shabby-chic effect. But if you don't like that look or have more time on your hands than I do, running a lighter over the cut ends of the ribbon would be a quick way to seal it so that there's no fringe.

Here's what you need for a DIY Ribbon Knot Wreath:

- Wire wreath frame. I used a 16" just like this one.
- Scissors
- 1.5in width ribbon. Lots of it. I used red, white and blue like these and then a wire edged burlap with a printed design on it like this one. For my 16" wreath, I used four containers of each the red, white and blue, and then eight of the burlap (more since it's on the outer edge of the wreath).

Cut your ribbon into four to five inch long strips. If sealing the edges, do so and then let cool before tying the knots on the wreath. I used a simple cross knot and only did it once, but tightened it securely on the wire frame. Keep tying until the wreath is full. Boom. That's it.

One thing that's important to note is paying attention to how many wires there are on your wreath and how many sections. My 16" wire wreath had four wires that were divided into nine sections. The nine sections threw off the pattern I originally wanted in the wreath because it's an odd number. So make sure to plan any alternating ribbon designs accordingly to make sure you don't get to the end and realize you can't complete your desired design!

Like it? Pin it!

I also added the burlap to give the wreath some dimension. You could do this with any neutral accent color, but the burlap added to the "Americana" theme I was going for. That's it! That's how simple this DIY ribbon wreath is. It was easy to make, as I could tie the knots as I watched TV after the kids went to bed. Enjoy!