WIWW: Casino Style

What I Wore Wednesday -

If you've been to a casino, you know they tend to be a bit chilly. They've got to keep you awake! A few years ago, I didn't consider this when I wore a cute dress. This time, I knew better. I knew right away that I'd be incorporating a blazer or cardigan.

Birthday celebration, night out, casino fun....my hot pink blazer was practically begging me to wear it!

And the leopard print wedges were a must too. Yes, definite must.

Blazer: Zara (via eBay)

Tank top: Ann Taylor

Black Skinnies: Ann Taylor (old)

Sandals: Ettiene Aigner (via TJ Maxx)

I don't get to wear this blazer too often, it's a little bright for work. But man do I love it. Especially in this outfit. It adds the perfect amount of color in a less traditional way. Here's another way I've worn it.

What's your favorite, bold piece of clothing? The minute I saw this hot pink blazer, I just knew I had to have it. 

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Highrollers

I've been meaning to share these photos for far too long. How has a week already flown by. Whoops.

I may have mentioned this before, but one of my brother-in-laws turned 30 at the end of March. And what better way to celebrate than a night out at the casino? We happened to go on Good Friday which I happened to have off as a holiday. Thank you very much Wall Street (and Jesus).

J and I took our time getting ready, brought Tucker down to the burbs for a sleepover, had lunch with my wonderful in-laws, got my nails and toes did, and then headed on south to Foxwoods.

Even though we may not have had luck on the tables this time, we had sooo much fun! If you've never gone bowling at Highrollers at Foxwoods, I highly recommend it. Yes, its pretty pricey for bowling but its endless food and bottomless beer and wine.

The birthday boy and his lovely wife, the hostess!

Siblings.

More siblings. (in-law :) )

A view of the venue. Bowling alley with chandeliers, yes please.

Help yourself to drinks, yes please.

Celebrate with these fellas

Family.

Hubs showing off his stellar bowling skills

 Back off, he's mine. ;)

Once we left bowling, I turned my camera off. No pictures when gambling. I don't think J would have been happy with a distracting flash. The lack of clocks and cool air always get me at the casino. And the fact that there are so many people up it just never seems as late as it really is.

So we stayed up to the wee hours of the morning night and ended up staying up even later chatting and having an awesome life/our future conversation. And then we woke up way too early of course. I seriously felt like the walking dead the next day. No idea how my eyes stayed open! Very thankful for iced coffee, sunglasses, and a later nap. Much needed.

I hope you had a great birthday Dan! We had so much fun celebrating. And don't worry, 30 is the new 20, right? ;)

Birthday Gifts Galore

I don't know about you, but we had a fantastic weekend over here! No complaints about the sunshine and Spring weather whatsoever. It's about freakin time! Tucker had a permanent grin on all weekend while getting to play outside in the grass with the freedom to roam.

I'm currently recovering from my Easter food coma, but wanted to drop in and share some of the awesome birthday gifts I received.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9* | 10*

*not exact model

I'm feeling particularly spoiled these days. J and I broke into the Vitamix on the morning of my birthday and I've gotta say, it's just awesome. I can't wait to start using it for more than just smoothies. And the 36 Hours book is one I've been eyeing for a while but could never justify purchasing. It's everything you should do with only 36 hours in most US cities or Canada. So neat! And a very exciting surprise to find on my doorstep last week.

Yes, my in-laws got my a nail/staple gun. Yes, I asked for it. Gotta start building up my tool set now! And this would have been SO helpful when we re-caned our kitchen chairs. Hmm....what to do first.

Not pictured - My mom and I will be enjoying a night at the Boston Ballet next month. And I am really looking forward to it. They have such amazing talent. And I love dressing up for the ballet. See, I can be both handy and feminine. 

How was your weekend? Did you get to breakout the sunglasses and flip-flops?

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Fun Fact Thursday

Where to begin today.....well, let's start with this - It's my BIRTHDAY!! Whoo.

In anticipation of some birthday celebrations after work tonight, I'm leaving you with a fun fact Thursday.

1. As I mentioned here, it's also Vince Vaughn, Julia Stiles, and Lady Gaga's birthday. And you may not know them but it's also the following old friends birthdays: Caitlin, Christina, Pat. What an amazing birthday to have. Happy Birthday!

2. I don't really feel old this year. Turning 27 means I'm now in my "late" twenties, but my brother-in-law turned 30 this past Tuesday and knowing I have 3 more years til 30 feels good (sorry Dan!). I love the idea of 30 before 30 but where I have SO much time until then, I'm thinking maybe a 101 in 1001 days might be better. #gogetter

3. What color should I get for my birthday manicure tomorrow morning? We're heading to Foxwoods for the night for Dan's birthday celebration so I'm treating myself to some fresh nails. Though the bowling is probably going to ruin my nails....what can ya do!

Here's J & I bowling at Foxwoods for my 25th Birthday.

4. I actually watched both nights of Dancing With the Stars this week which was both weird and totally awesome. I don't know the last time I saw it but I think this season is going to be good. Andy Dick is hilarious! He better not get voted off anytime soon.

5. I'm starting to get real antsy/ready to get my crafting on. I need a project. Even though I don't want to do anything to our condo while looking for a new home, it just might need to happen. Think it will still be rentable or sellable if I add some stripes or chalkboard paint? I need to do SOMETHING! And soon.

6. I may have already opened my gift from J.... here's a sneak peak of the better part of it -

Eeek so excited! And omg surprised. 

7. 26 was a really good year for me. Most of its documented here on this blog so it's fun to look back:

• I started this blog!
• I had many, many, many wedding events (see Wedding label is the first and biggest = most posts)
• I ran my first half marathon
• I traveled to Africa

What will 27 bring??

Have a great weekend! Happy Easter!

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WIWW: Birthday Dinner

It's What I Wore Wednesday time!

Sunday night we had the privilege of enjoying a birthday dinner with our parents. Like I mentioned earlier, it's currently Boston Restaurant Week. Since it runs the last two weeks of March annually, I usually get to enjoy one or two birthday dinners out. Fine dining and good wine is totally up my alley.

Well, my father-in-law's birthday happens to be the day before mine! And the parents have been looking for a reason to get into the city and try out restaurant week. Lucky us! 

We headed to Morton's in the Seaport for an amazing meal. I tend to go for the nice, but casual look when I know the restaurant isn't overly dressy. I'd rather give the vibe that, oh I go here all the time, than wow this place is super-duper fancy and I'm over dressed. I'm crazy. What can I say? Once and a while, it is fun to dress up though.

So here's what I decided to wear:

Top: Ann Taylor (gift!)

Pants: Toothpick Jeans (J.Crew)

Shoes: Dana Buchman for Kohls

Can I just point that out once more. Those awesome loafers are from Kohls! We visited friends who recently purchased a beautiful home and Lauren and I decided to do a little shopping nearby. These flats are incredibly comfortable, actually have a little support in them, and were so reasonable. I'll be checking out Kohls more often.

Have you found any great deals lately? I also scored this blouse last weekend during a sale at Ann Taylor. It will be worn this weekend either at my brother-in-laws 30th birthday party at the casino, or Easter. (Yes, 3 family birthdays, 3 days in a row...wahoo!)

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Birthday Boy

The fun never stops over here! As I've mentioned before, Jackie & Adrian's wedding happened to land on J's birthday.

They were somewhat limited in dates due to work, season preference, and being sensitive to their friends' weddings which fell a few weeks before and another one a few weeks after. So when the idea of hosting their wedding on J's birthday came up, we told them to go for it. Who wouldn't want an open bar, mansion party with their family and friends? :) We are so lucky. J's parents and mine have become great friends over the years so there was never a question of whether or not to invite J's family. And since his brother Dan married Jackie's bridesmaid Meghan (here), we're literally all family anyway! So fun.

So, back to the birthday boy. This kid made out WELL! I took a risk and went for something J did not necessarily ask for but that I knew/hoped he'd love, a new snowboard. J has always had a used snowboard (which is how I started off with skis and I think is a great way to start out in this expensive hobby) but it was really starting to breakdown. And it was really starting to frustrate him. Even to the point of him voicing the option of us retiring from the sport. Uh ya, not happening babe. So I saved the day with this bad boy.


Hmm, I wonder what you've got there?...

 Surprise!!!!

How awesome is this board? (I'm talking looks here people...) I know nothing about snowboards. I have to thank one of J's brothers for all of their help with this! I would pick boards out solely based on design before checking the specs and sending them off to be approved. We did good!

So there will be no retiring from skiing/snowboarding over here. Ha! In all honesty, I realized how grateful I am that I grew up skiing. That I went on the church trips, the school trips, the day trips with friends. And I really, really want that for my kiddos someday. And, no, I'm not sticking with it JUST for my future, yet non-existent kids. I do enjoy the sport and am really looking forward to this winter. And who knows, maybe I'll pick up some new skis in the next few years. Hint, hint. :)

J also got some pretty sweet Guy Harvey shirts from some college friends. (If you don't know who that is, J's disappointed in you)

 A homemade, and delcious, funfetti cake!

And things I missed pictures of - a Patriots v. Jets ticket, a giftcard to the Golf Shop in town, a pair of shorts with fly fishing flies embroidered on them (these guys), a Casio G-shock watch, a home beer-brewing kit, and a new pair of snowboarding gloves. How lucky is he?!

He also got some ridiculous cards! Finding birthday cards is usually such a chore to me but it looks like Hallmark and Papyrus have stepped up their game lately! Some worth noting -

• A singing card where Happy Birthday is sung in burps (right??! haha)
• A card stating "We considered getting you clothes (on the front) but then remembered you were married to our daughter (inside, picture of an overstuffed closet). Oops! Ha. But hey, at least everyone knows how I feel about clothes. :)
• A card about gambling which stated something about having "the best birthday ever." This one was perfect because we've been coining Jackie & Adrian's wedding as "the best birthday EVER" for J for the last year. 
• Oh, and one about being a Godess. ha. Oh ya, that's J! 

It was so nice to take some time Friday after the family photo shoot to celebrate J's birthday with everyone. I just love our big Italian/Portuguese/English family. :)