Moonshine & Wanderlust

... a cosmopolitan view from a southern perspective

A Delicate Affair

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If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? – Unknown

One of my best friends, C, got married two weekends ago. C isn’t the first of my girlfriends I’ve seen off into this new chapter of life, but she is one in my little trio. I’m the only one left – it’s not as tragic as it sounds, I’m quite happy with my life as it stands. Of course, before the special day there are parties to be had and memories to be made. I love parties. I love having parties more than I like attending parties. I like having people over at my house and decorating and everything that comes along with being a hostess, right down to the paper invitations. Yes, some of us still send real invitations.

A few days before the wedding, I threw C a lingerie shower. Now, you know I can’t divulge all of the naughty tidbits, but I do want to share some great ideas not only for a lingerie shower, but any get together you may find yourself organizing. Throwing a party to remember isn’t something that has to be grandiose – it’s the details that make it worth remembering.

The Decorations

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Crown

I’ve seen the expensive, yet still plastic tiaras they sell at places like Party City and Hobby Lobby, but come on… who doesn’t love a great $0.99 tiara? I happened to have some toile in my craft box from a previous party, so I snipped long streamers of the toile and tied it around each crest of the crown. This was able to function as a decorating welcoming piece to the party as well as something functional for the bride-to-be during our night. C loved the tiara so much we carried it along with us to her bachelorette party and she was a great sport and wore it all night, until some overzealous cowboy took it off her perfectly styled head and put it on his own while he did some sort of distorted country jig. He ended up breaking the crown in his activities which prompted my bridesmaidzilla to scream at him, “You broke my friend’s crown!!!” and shake the broken pieces in his face. I digress.

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Pennant Banner

I think pennant banners are the cutest – you can use them for so many things! They’re nice because they can be incorporated into any party – whether it’s a children’s party or something more grown up, such as our lingerie shower. I found a template and used cardstock grade scrapbook paper I had in my crafting supplies. By hole punching the corners of each pennant, I strung each one together with a texturized string in an in and out fashion. The texturized string gives the paper something to grip to so you can separate them if you need and they don’t all slide together. I put some tape on the ends and taped them behind paintings I had on my wall for a clean look. The letters were freehanded, but there are several free templates for print and cursive letters you can find on the internet.


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Delicate Decorations

It’s a lingerie shower, so there has to be lingerie, right? Well, this was lingerie for decorative purposes only. There are several things you could do with this idea – a couple are:

1) Get each guest to bring one of their unmentionable items to hang up – the bride-to-be must guess which item belongs to which guest.

2) Have the bride-to-be open each of her gifts and hang them up as she goes – afterwards, take a picture for her to remember the evening by.

I chose to use some lingerie to use as part of the theme of the shower. All you need are clothespins. I decided to pin these from the blinds – it made for a good backdrop during gift opening time. Although, two males ended up coming by my house before the party (they didn’t come inside, but they both asked the question – “Are those bras hanging in the window?” Yes. Yes, they are.

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I can’t have a party post without my fellow hostess, Grace Kelly. As you can see, she was very busy resting for the night’s activities.

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A Memento

This was really the only purchase I bought, aside from the gift itself, that was a part of the party I didn’t do myself. I found this “adult sippy cup” at Hobby Lobby. The mustache is an inside joke and my friend, C, loves her bling and her adult beverages – this cup screamed her name. I think it’s important to have a couple of items that are very personal and that show you spent more than just a few trips to the Dollar Tree. It’s small gifts such as this one that tie together a memory with the fact that there will always be a part of your friendship that has grown and lasted through several phases of life.

Unfortunately, I was trying to snap pictures of everything in between baking/cooking and getting dressed/doing my hair/makeup, so I missed a couple of decorations. But, I have lots of links for these ideas, so hopefully that will suffice this time. I had a standard 4×4 folding table I bought one year at Rite Aid (of all places) that I used for the drink bar and gift drop off. I bought a standard white tablecloth ($1!) To pull the space together, I made several Pom Poms in various sizes and in the colors black and white – to match the invitations, of course. Pom Poms are suuuuper easy to make and not only that, they’re fun. Most of all have some tissue paper lying around. I suspended the poms from the ceiling using dental floss and white thumbtacks so they seamlessly suspend. Like I mentioned, I didn’t get a picture of my whole setup just because I was already trying to get everything together, but I was aiming for a look like this picture I pinned on Pinterest. And, I do think I succeeded. Perfection.

The Menu

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♥ Chocolate covered strawberries are a no brainer – they’re sexy, they’re easy to make, everyone loves them.

♥ A Taco Mix Up

          I didn’t want to make anything too complicated, but I wanted to have a substantial snack. I put several chicken tenders in water in the crockpot the morning of the shower and put them on Low for 9-10 hours. Once I drained the tenders, I shredded them using a hand mixer. In several bowls, I put out the shredded chicken, refried beans, shredded Mexican cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes. Instead of using taco shells, I bought tortilla chips. Simple, less messy and there is no wrong way to put these toppings together.

♥ A Cheese Ball!

          I love cheeseballs, guys. They’re so easy to make, people love them, you can throw all kinds of stuff together and it works great. Can’t go wrong. I looked through several recipes and just couldn’t find one that I liked, so I made my own. It’s extremely simple. Like 3 ingredients simple.

1 package of 8oz cream cheese (softened)

1 cup of shredded cheese (your choice, but I used Mexican)

2 tbsp. of garlic salt

1 cup of chopped pecans

In a bowl, use a hand mixer to mix the cream cheese and shredded cheese together until well blended. Add garlic salt and mix with hands. Shape into ball and roll in chopped pecans. Let chill for 30 minutes before serving.

♥ Grapes… with love

          If you have cheese (and wine), you have to have some grapes. But, classy grapes in a heart shaped glass bowl.

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♥ Chocolate cupcakes with Buttercream icing

          I used the same recipe for my chocolate cupcakes that I used to make the Mochaccino Cupcakes – except, I left out the coffee. These cupcakes are so dreamy and I loved the recipe so much I wanted to use it again without the extra kick of coffee. For the frosting, I used this simple but delicious Vanilla Buttercream frosting recipe – the chocolate cupcake recipe looks pretty amazing, too. That might be next on my to-try list.

 The Drinks

Most showers will consist of whatever adult beverages your bride-to-be enjoys, but I also wanted to include a menu of drinks for those that wanted other options. I had been dying to try Sugar Rimmed Mason Jars for sweet tea and this was the perfect opportunity. Instead of corn syrup, I mixed together sugar, a few drops of lime juice, and fresh strawberry juice (squeezed from the strawberries that didn’t make the dipping cut) onto a rimming plate.

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 Isn’t it pretty? Love!

I also made water bottle labels with C’s initials on them. The template can be downloaded a PDF or Word document and they were very easy to work with. I printed them out, cut them, and taped them on the water bottles with packing tape. I also imposed peacock feathers on the labels since C’s theme was peacocks. Super easy.

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After everyone had gotten some snacks and we opened gifts, the bride-to-be was put in the hot seat to play a few games. There are several games you can find online to play at showers, but I settled on three.

♥ The Question Game

          So. Much. Fun. For this game you have to do a little preparation ahead of time. Send several questions to your bachelorette’s fiancée and have him send his answers back to you. For example: “What is one piece of clothing (the bachelorette’s name) wants you to throw away?” On the night of the shower, ask the bride-to-be these questions… now, this is the fun part – for each one she gets wrong, she must take a shot (or put a piece of gum in her mouth.) Depending on the number of questions this game could escalate quickly. So, be prepared.

♥ Two Truths and a Lie

         Most women have played this game at least once in their life. It’s a fun game to get all the guests involved and swap some crazy stories. The guest with the most points (to guess which story is the lie) at the end of the game is the winner. This is a good time to incorporate a gift, if you so choose. I decided to have a gift wrapped and ready for the winner. It doesn’t have to be expensive – votive candles, body wash, nail polish, a gift card… use your imagination.

♥ Memory Lane

        Have each guest write down one or two memories she has shared with the bride-to-be and put them in a jar. The hostess will read each memory out loud and the other guests should guess which bridesmaid/guest shared this memory with the bride-to-be. Or, you can just read the memories out loud. This game opens the door for all kinds of story telling.

Throwing a party or shower is a lot of hard work – especially if you are like me and want everything to be perfect. No matter if you are on a budget or the sky’s the limit, remember that the memories are in the details and the more personal touches you put into your decorating and design, the more special it is.

The End.

she put on her shoes and ran

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Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. – Christopher McDougall

Most days, I feel like the gazelle – running from the ferocity of my thoughts and fears.

I started running at the end of the summer in 2013. I always wanted to run – I had the desire, but I was scared. I would see people running on the sidewalk on my daily drive back home from work, I would see people run on the weekends… Old people, young people. One thing they all had in common? They were free. To me, they looked like the most powerful creature I had seen with my own eyes. I doubted my own body and my own endurance. I ached to be free.

One of my best friends, C, was into running and made it seem doable – she gave me some good tips and we would run together sometimes. At the beginning, it was as hard as I thought it was going to be – I thought I was going to die. I knew I wouldn’t die, but it sure felt like it sometimes. When I first started, I was lucky if I could run for two minutes at a time. I started to run every day. I bought running shoes, running pants, running tops. I’m not going to buy stuff to wear if I’m not going to use it – so, obviously this was a serious endeavor if it was going to affect my wardrobe.

As the days grew shorter and my endurance grew longer, my friend, Z, had just come back from Colorado after being honorably discharged from the Military. He said he would run with me every day. And, that’s what we did. We ran in the rain, we ran in the freezing cold as the fall nights set in, we ran with our dogs, we ran alone… we just ran. He pushed me – when I needed to stop, he let me stop, but he encouraged me to push through it. I found that even if I was just “baby jogging” (going the pace slower than turtles through peanut butter – that’s a quote from somewhere) I kept moving. Z and I eventually ended our daily runs when I started running through the freezing temperatures in December and the pouring rain – apparently I’m a little more crazy than a military veteran.

While I love the times I get to run with my friends, the times I run alone are my favorite. The times I run alone are when my thoughts perfectly align – they stop being jumbled and confusing. Somehow, for thirty minutes or an hour, they make perfect sense. The times I run alone, I am strong, I am happy…  I am free. I have proven to myself that I have accomplished something I never thought I could do. Running has changed me. I started running during a period of my life that was incredibly painful – a period that still lingers – running has made me stronger not only physically, but mentally. Running has taught me discipline and determination. Running has freed me.

Today, I ran my first 5K. Next month, I’ll run another 5K and am in the process of training for a half marathon in April.

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{me & my friend C}

Unintentional Mudding Pt. 2

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If you need to play catch up, check out Part 1 of this story – it’s important to the whole effect I am going for, which is… utter disbelief, I think. Yeah. I’ll go with that.

D, K, and I had gotten some cute pictures in the snow and were headed back toward home. I saw some ponies in a field not far from where we were and wanted to drive a little further to see what was down the road. Why, why, WHY do I never leave well enough alone and just say “Hey we had fun, let’s go home”? No… I always have to do one more thing. It’s been that way since I was a kid – “Just one more time!” I ended up with a busted eye once because I wanted to jump on the bed “one more time.”

Once I realized there was nothing else to see down the road I decided to turn around – not in a driveway, not at the end of the road – no, I had to back up in a PASTURE. Jokes and jabs were exchanged: “Let’s not have a reenactment of earlier {insert lots of laughter}”

I put the car in drive and pushed the gas. There was that familiar humming/sputtering/skidding sound that comes when rubber gets encased in mud. The following conversation between D and I went a little like this:

“You did not just do that.”

“Um… Ha. Ha. This can’t be happening”

“PATTY!”

“This isn’t real life.”

The three of us got out of the car and surveyed the damage. Yep, it was way worse than getting stuck on a gravel driveway. Pure muddy snow slush.

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“I need a cigarette.”

While D puffed on a cigarette on the side of the road, K started to brainstorm some ideas while I stood around in general disbelief and wanted to disappear. How does this happen twice in one day? K and D looked over in the pasture to see two rolled hay bales. I could see the lightbulbs flickering over their heads. Not only was I stuck in the middle of the road, but now we were stealing hay. Sorry, Mr. Farmer Man.

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And, the experimenting began again – D & K stuffed the hay around the tires and I would try to gas the car and get some traction to get out of the muck. Try, try again. Finally – a car! It was coming. And, it tried to go around us. He crept beside my car and I guess felt the need to crack his window about three inches. Did he think we looked like the kind who would stage a big mud accident in hopes of jumping him for his crappy car and mullet? Apparently.

“Ya’ll okay?”

D: “Yeah, we just need someone to help us push the car out…”

“Well… that ain’t gonna help.”

K: “We’re all right – you can go on. Thanks anyway!”

“Well… ya got a phone?”

He scooted on by my car and stopped, watching us push and me get in and gas the car. Finally, he revved on and there may have been some inappropriate hand gestures but I’ll never confirm. I put the car in Neutral and hopped out of the car… The three of us stood behind it and pushed. Nothing.

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Bad.

At this point, I decided to call Triple AAA. Can you already tell I’m one of those people who probably has them on speed dial? I’ve got the keychain to prove it. That was the shortest conversation I’ve ever had with them: “We’re sorry, ma’am, your membership wasn’t renewed.” What! WHAT? I couldn’t do anything about it then but I’m going to have to talk to my people. Who is in charge of renewing my Triple AAA? Seriously.

About that time, here comes another vehicle… a truck! The truck immediately pulled over to the side of the road and an older gentleman got out. He was nicely dressed, but walked over to us – keeping a good distance, of course. D would later say, “He had moccasins on.” Moccasin man surveyed the situation and told me to do a couple of setups with the car before yelling “GAS IT!” The car come out alive… K, on the other hand…

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The pictures don’t really do the situation justice – she was covered head to toe in mud. But, no worries… that’s what hand washing is for.

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I’m not sure if I learned a lesson out of this… My car is a delicate tank? Always knew that. My friends are bad ass? Knew that, too. Sometimes it’s okay to rely on the kindness of strangers? Always nice to be reminded. Maybe I’ll never learn the lesson of not doing something “one more time” because as we pulled away from the mess I passed the ponies in the pasture… “Look at the ponies! And, now the moon is out…” I looked around at my friends in hopes they would see the logic in my words. D’s response? “Screw the ponies! Keep driving.”

One of the best days, ever.

Showing Love

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Love languages… What’s yours? Do you enjoy giving gifts? Do you think a hug is better than a written note? Or, maybe doing something well planned and thoughtful is more your style. Whatever your language, love is more than a word. Love is action. If you’ve ever taken the Love Languages test, it’s a good gauge to find out more about yourself and also to learn not to put pressure on those around you just because they don’t share the same type of love showing skills you possess.

You know a great way to show your love? Baking! And, you thought all this blog was gonna be about was… What did you think this blog was going to be about? 🙂 Food and cooking and baking are all big parts of my life and seem to make for good stories… If nothing else, maybe a good recipe to be tucked away for later.

The menu for Valentine’s Day? Mochaccino cupcakes! Cupcakes are seriously the easiest dessert to make and I love it because they make great gifts.

I’m kind of a baking snob and like to make all my goodies from scratch, but hey… Sometimes you just need a night of boxed brownie mix. No judgments. This recipe is simple and calls for ingredients most people have in their kitchen.

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The recipe calls for this amazing buttercream coffee frosting. The cupcake mix also has coffee in it – the great thing is you can choose a unique coffee flavor to give the taste a little pizazz. I chose a S’mores flavored blend for this recipe.

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The toothpick hearts were my own idea. All you need is some paper folded in half, a pair of scissors, toothpicks and a little tape.

Love doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant. It just has to be present… in however you choose to show it.

Unintentional Mudding Pt. 1

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There is this thing called “mudding” in the South – I’m not exactly sure what it is, honestly. I think it’s when people who have “bad ass” 4 wheel drives get out and drive around in the mud. Maybe? Someone enlighten me if I am missing it. What happens when you get a girl in a car that is not made for the winter elements and stick her in some mud? Some crazy things happen. I’m not sure where to start, but the beginning is never a bad idea.

I set out yesterday morning to visit my friend who lives out in what I like to call the “boonies.” The roads were clear so I wasn’t particularly worried. I’m a “I can do it myself” stubborn fool to the core, so even if they weren’t clear I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me any different. I shot my car straight up her snow covered gravel driveway with ease. Okay, maybe some determined and chugging ease, but I got up there. I convince my friend to go with me to take some pictures. As I backed my car up into a cutout in her driveway so I can go back down the “proper way”, I incurred a slight problem. My car will not drive forward – my back wheels had suctioned to the mud tighter than two fifteen year olds making out in the back of a van.

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In typical white girl fashion, our minds start cataloging through all of our very helpful Pinterest pins that are supposed to help us in times like these.

“Kitty litter! But, I don’t have a cat.”

“So, the kitty litter thing isn’t gonna work.”

“Maybe the neighbors have kitty litter…”

We scrapped the litter idea. You must understand my friend, D, is a real go getter. So, she runs back up to her house and brings out four wooden shelves she was going to hang up in her house. I felt awful, but she insisted they were free and getting my car out of the mud was more important.

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Anytime I tried to advance the car, I just slid further down the hill (sideways, mind you – all I could envision was my car landing on its top at the bottom of her driveway.) We pushed and pushed but the car was not budging. In a last ditch effort, we sheepishly walked over to the neighbor’s house. Okay, I sheepishly walked – D stomped with the fervor of a one woman army. She banged on the door and what followed was the piercing bark of several dogs.

“Hush!” came a woman’s voice from inside. More barking. “I said shut up!”

I dug my foot around in the stack of snow covering the porch. “Have you ever talked to these people before?”

“Nope.”

“Great.”

The woman’s voice came from around the corner, “Yeah! What do you need?”

We walked back down the porch around the side of the house. Why do some women not believe in wearing undergarments? I’ll never know.

We explained our situation and the woman muttered something and disappeared back inside of the house. D and I walked back to my car. I sat inside, staring… I was contemplating calling my AAA service or walking to the store to buy that damn kitty litter. More minutes passed and finally an older man walked over to us and gave my car a once over. He was a man of little words. Getting behind my car, he and D gave it a shove and I gassed that sucker, er I mean my precious baby, until her wheels popped right up out of the mud and sent me effortlessly sliding down the hill to a stop.

This is what you call a look of triumph:

Okay, I was going to post a picture of our thumbs up but honestly, we looked scary as hell after that whole ordeal so I will just say we were extremely excited to be free and on our way.

After the mud situation, we met our friend, K, for coffee. Of course, I still wanted to go take some snow pictures so we set out to find unmolested snow as the sun began to set. We had a good snowball fight and I made them be my models for the afternoon. Check out that adventure here.

After our impromptu snow pictures, we were on our way… except, we didn’t anticipate what would happen next. I’m surprised my car is still in one piece after the events of yesterday. Pt. 2 coming soon!