A Santa Bachelorette

One of my favorite traditions post-engagement and pre-wedding is the bachelorette party. It's our chance to celebrate the bride without competing with 100 or 200 other people at the wedding. It's our chance to meet all of the important women in her life that we may not know, so we can dance the night away at the wedding. And it's our chance of getting "Santaed" by a random stranger. (This man was hoping the hat would get him an invite to the party. Sorry, buddy.) Merith's bachelorette party covered it all. We ventured to Ballard for cocktails, a nice Italian dinner and a smidggen of dancing. A kick-back bachelorette party, but super fun nonetheless.

Now only a week and a half until Miss Merith Kallshian will become Mrs. Merith Hall. So excited!

P.S. We played the "how well do you know each other?" game, so I emailed Andy several questions beforehand and he sent his answers. We then quizzed Merith to see how many she'd get right - considering how tough the questions were, she did well :) But my absolute favorite Q&A was:

Q: What excites you most about marrying Merith? A: Knowing that the rest of my life is going be with her and that we are going to have so many fun adventures ahead of us!

Queue: Awwwww.... 

Toasts and Singing for the Bride-to-Be

 

In a nutshell, the bachelorette party was filled with a spa visit, photo booth, lingerie cookies, "We Love Lizzie" signs, an amazing Italian dinner, the best dance moves you've ever set eyes on, singing at the top of our lungs, hugs, dancing in the streets, late night hotel treats, late morning brunch, beautiful ladies and most importantly, a glowing bride-to-be!

Yep, we know how to have a good time. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

 

Celebrating Sizzler!

Bring on the high heels and fake eyelashes, because the girls are hittin' the town to celebrate the one and only Sizzler! (Lizzie loves her nickname :)) Tomorrow morning we'll be heading down to Portland for a fun, action-packed bachelorette weekend. I anticipate many tasty cocktails, scrumptious meals, funny decorations, brilliant dance moves and Lizzie hugs. (What can I say? The lady loves to hug after a couple drinks!) 

Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

P.S. So many fun bachelorette parties.

Blast from the Past

Last Friday, I got a text message from an old friend, Adriana. Turns out, she was in Seattle for her Bachelorette Party and wanted me to come - how could I turn this invite down?! Even though we already had a going-away party that night, I was up to the party-hopping challenge.

Adri has been on the East Coast for school since we graduated high school, and now works as a veterinarian in Alaska. Needless to say, we haven't seen each other since GRADUATION. (I know, a little embarrassing.) Despite this, Adriana is exactly the person I remember - smiles, giggles and all.

Adri, wishing you a happily ever after! Let's not go another 10 years without seeing each other again, kapish?

Lianna's Shindig

I'm late to report the festivities of Whidbey Island a few weekends ago. So my brief rundown:

You know it's a party when...

• You're celebrating someone who is getting married. (Yay Lianna!)
• Your party involves wine tasting at a barn on Whidbey Island.
• There are photo opps' a plenty.
• You make Christmas ornaments.
• Your evening involves limbo with a boa and other rather girlish games.
• There are 20+ ladies filled into one cabin - dancing (or watching the incredible dancers) the night away.
  

Lianna, only 31 days until you marry the love of your life. Can't wait!

(Mads and Steph recap the bachelorette weekend too!)

How do weekends fly by?

This weekend zoomed by, but it was a blast - the Nutcracker and a fun bachelorette party in the boonies. Greenbank, WA to be exact. (Though, I admit, not any more boonie-like than my own childhood home) The party may have involved some wine tasting in this very barn. Fun, huh?

Once I'm caught up with everything I left behind for the weekend, I'll share the whole scoop on the weekend. Happy Monday!

The Future Mrs. Olita Terry

All the brides on stage, waiting to be embarrassed by "Mama"

A few weekends ago, I had the lucky opportunity to celebrate the future Mrs. Olita Terry for her bachelorette party. The night involved a scrumptious dinner at Tavolata, a drag show at Julia's on Broadway (yes, my second drag show of the year), dancing at R Place and then a slumber party at the Sheraton. In the morning, we all went to Macrina Bakery for coffee and baked goods, but most importantly to rehash the evening's festivities. Because isn't that often times the most entertaining part of the bachelorette party?

It was such a fun night and perhaps a preview of the fun to come in 11 short days! (Eek, Olita!) I can't wait to watch you marry the man you love. You're going to be such a stunning bride!

(P.S. I failed to take a lot of photos during the evening, but did capture a few!)

She loves RyRy

This weekend we hit the streets of Portland for Autumn's bachy party! After over five years of dating, Autumn and Ryan are finally taking the plunge and I couldn't be happier for them. They truly are a perfect match - from their mutual love of fly fishing and sailing to their easygoing personalities, they were lucky to find one another.

But back to the party at hand. The weekend was filled with:

• Nine gorgeous women


• Lunch at Rogue Brewery


• Lingerie shower at the hotel. (Did I mention we had giant photos of Ryan up around the room? It was a nice touch. Great idea, Mads.)


• Amazing dinner at Urban Fondue


• Delicious cocktails and amazing feather fascinators, the latter handmade by Karen!


• Some incredible drag queens at Darcelles


• A night FULL of dancing


• Fleets of sailors coming to port for Portland's Rose Festival, who wanted nothing more than to dance with bachelorettes


• Late night cupcakes and cheese


• Very, very tired feetsies at the end of the night


• Delicious brunch in the morning!


• Strolling the Sunday market before skipping town

And now, the photographic evidence of a fantastic weekend!

This bachelorette has cashed out.
I can't wait for the wedding in two weeks!

Bachy Party

Last Saturday, we took on Seattle for Laura's bachelorette party. Laura has left us in Seattle and now lives all the way over in Philly. She'll be there awhile since she just got into PENN STATE to get her Masters in Public Health (congrats!!).

The evening was filled with many twists and turns, but here's a sampling...

A stop at Cowgirls so the bride could ride the bull.

Laura's sister, Sara, planned a fabulous prix fixe meal at Barolo. (Advice: Order the gnocchi. Fantastic. I closed my eyes and found myself in Italy for each bite.)

Some ladies of the evening.

More ladies of the evening.

Overall, good times!