My Sister Has a Blog!

OMG you guys, my favorite bear in the entire world started a blog. This is my favorite of her first few posts. She is a new mom, massage therapist, and basically the best ever.

After taking the last 9 months off work to be a full time mom to my brand new preemie, Gavin, I’m going back to work! By the way, it’s not like I “simply” had a baby and took 9 lovely months of planned maternity leave. It’s more like I was just living my life when […]

via It’s back to work I go! — Joyful Mama

Bachelorette Party Gift Boxes

Gift boxes
My baby sister got married! She is the best ever, and her husband is pretty awesome, too. I was her maid of honor, and I threw her bachelorette party. For some reason I got super excited about doing favors for the guests, and I got a little bit out of control with trying to make them perfect. I love my sister and I wanted her to feel like she had a cool party! I don’t know. I’m nuts. Someone should take away my Mastercard. 

I knew that I wanted more than just a favor, I wanted kind of a hangover kit (she and K made something like this for my bachelorette party). I started trying to think of ideas and doing Internet research. I still wish I had cuter containers, but I needed to reign the situation in a little and there was a good sale after Valentine’s Day. 

This is the result of this part of the bachelorette party planning:

  Unpacked gift boxes

What’s inside:

From the Dollar Store-

  1. Juicy Fruit gum (4 packs for $1)- our great grandmother always had it, I couldn’t resist 
  2. Smarties (one bag for $1, and I learned that they are gluten free!)
  3. The boxes (2 for $1)
  4. A few seashells (one bag for $1)- her wedding is on the beach, so I thought this would be a fun touch!
  5. A marker for the scavenger hunt, and maybe for phone numbers? (One package for $1)
  6. Glow bracelet (8 for $1. Not pictured because they were still in their packaging)

From Amazon-

  1. Advil packets
  2. Single use face towelettes (I got the kind for men. They were less than half the price. WHAT is up with that?!)
  3. Brightly colored bandaids (if you don’t understand why these are included, you obviously have a lot more coordination than me while drinking. And, hell, just while walking.)
  4. Mini red solo cup shot glasses
  5. Sugar free Monster energy drink

The hair ties I made myself, one in each of her wedding colors. I bought the elastic from this shop on Etsy. Check out my post here on how to make them! I did buy cute little bags for the hair ties, but I accidentally bought them from China and they took a month to arrive. Amazingly, everyone survived without having the hair ties in bags! 

Has anyone else made gift bags for a party? What did you put in them? I had so many ideas, but it’s way too easy to spend a ton of money when you’re making a lot of them. I got a lot of compliments on these, and the guests were using things from their boxes all night. 

Jillian 

    I Inherited a Child! Sort of. 

    brother bearI did something pretty crazy. My little brother just graduated high school, and I decided to let him come and live with me while he looks for a job and saves up enough money to move into a place with some roommates. 

    My apartment is a one bedroom. I do have a small dining room off of the kitchen, with no privacy whatsoever. That’s his new bedroom. It’s been quite the challenge getting used to living with someone again- especially a teenage boy! But it is so cool to get to hang out with my baby brother bear all the time. 

    Does anyone have any tips for living with a teenager? I know nothing. I’m trying to teach him about budgeting and how to be a good roommate. He still doesn’t have a job, but we are working on that. He is a little too enthralled with my Netflix. 

    In other news, here are some sweet pictures from my trip to the zoo yesterday! I love the black bears, they are so precious. 

    Jillian

    black bearcheetahgiraffes

    My Weekend in Pictures 

    Bought some delicious cake flavored vodka   
    My sister made a cake for my mom’s birthday and I insisted on putting a carrot on top made of carrot shreds and a cilantro leaf

     
    I was sooooo tired on the drive home from my sister’s house, so I stopped at the “view point” that I’ve always been curious about but never stopped. There’s a great view of the river, and cool dam!  
      

    Came home and hung out with the Shibas. Kuma came over for a while and all three dogs watched over the parking lot for me. YES, that is Amelia the plant. She is still alive, but I did have to move her out to the balcony.   
     
    What was your favorite part of the weekend?

    Jillian