Thursday, December 24, 2015

Date 159 - Ho Ho Holiday Hop!

Date: Thursday, December 17, 2015
Type: Out On The Town
Cost: $$
Planned By: Both

Adam and I attended the Legacy Village Holiday Bar Hop for the second year.

The hop started at Granite City where we got a beer mug, drink tickets and a passport. Granite City was packed so we made our way over to Bar Louie for our first drink. I got a martini and Adam got Sam Adams Winter Lager.
Next, we went over to The Melting Pot. They had chocolate covered strawberries which were delicious. Adam got a rum in coke and the bar tender surprised me with a fruity cocktail of some sort that was very good.
The third stop was California Pizza Kitchen. We just had a bite of the complimentary appetizer and got our passport stamped.

The fourth bar was Stir Crazy. I got an Angry Orchard and Adam got Dortmunder. Some lady left her purse on the bar stool so we sat near it for awhile to make sure it didn't get taken. The bar tender couldn't take it probably for company reasons.
Next, we stopped in at Brio Tuscan Grille to just to stamp our passport because it as very busy.

Our last stop was back at Granite City. We each got a beer since it is a brewery after all. I got the Ole Bessie and Adam got the Batch 1000. We were sitting at a large table in the Holiday Hop area and let people sit with us. One of the ladies who sat down was the lady who forgot her purse. She found it and I was very relieved! Then another lady in Granite City gave us two drink tickets that she didn't want. So we got another drink and sat and talked with people for a little while.
After the hop we went over to Chipotle for a very late dinner. Most of the bars were supposed to have food stations for the hoppers, but not many actually did so we were pretty hungry by the end and the Chipotle was delicious and we didn't get Ecoli!

The hop was fun. It was slightly more organized then last year's, and we will probably attend again next year and maybe eat more before going just in case the bars don't provide food again.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Date 158 - Let's Go To The Beach!

Date: November 27th - November 30th
Type: Travel
Cost: $$$$$$$$
Planned By: Adam's Parents

Adam's parents frequently travel to Myrtle Beach and this time we joined them for the long Thanksgiving weekend. They arrived on Wednesday. We left around 4AM on Friday morning and got there around 2:45PM. The drive was long but the weather was nice so it wasn't too bad.

Friday after we settled in we went over to Broadway at the Beach. First stop was Margaritaville for a margarita! Then we checked out some of the shops. We had dinner at Liberty Brewery and Grill. Adam and I like to try local breweries while in other cities and it was so convenient. I got the Raspberry Wheat and Adam and his dad got Santa's Little Helper. Mine was very good - lots of raspberry flavor. After dinner we walked over to the hard rock to get our shot glass - we collect them and this was our third new one for the year! Then we were exhausted and went back and watched Trainwreck which we both thought was hilarious.
Saturday we started off at a beach in North Myrtle Beach called Cherry Grove. It was a beautiful beach. Adam and I had fun walking in the water and collecting shells. The water was a little cold. Debbie & Richard took us on a ride down Ocean Blvd and we made a stop at Molly Darcy's to see the public beach over there. We went back to the condo and took a walk around the old golf course. It was very peaceful and hot - and we saw a frog!
For dinner we went to Boardwalk Billy's a casual restaurant on the Intracoastal Waterway dock area. I found it interesting that most restaurants in Myrtle Beach have regular American food and also sushi. Convenient if you like both I guess! We got burgers and beer and they were very good.
After dinner we walked down to get a better view of the Intracoastal Waterway where there was going to be a Christmas Regatta! We had to wait a bit longer than we expected but it was really fun to see the boats all lit up for Christmas. I took some fun long exposure shots, too. Then we went back relaxed, had some drinks and watched more movies. 
On Sunday we went over to the Myrtle Beach boardwalk. We did not ride the Ferris Wheel which by the way is $20 per person - that's outrageous. We did take a picture with it though. We walked along the boardwalk and checked out some shops. There is a lot to do and eat and drink there! We had lunch at Art, a nice burger and (again) sushi establishment. The burger was huge - I would recommended sharing in the future. Then we went back over to Broadway at the Beach to get an alcoholic slushie at Fat Tuesday. Adam kept getting brain freezes and it was funny. We went back to the beach for a little while. Adam had fun wave jumping as I watched from the shore. We took a nice long walk on the beach together. The closest we got to golf on this trip was going to the golf store and playing in the putting station - which was lots of fun. We had homemade stromboli for dinner thanks to Debbie and went to bed early.
On Monday we got up around 5 and were on the road by 5:30AM. We got home around 4PM. The drive is a little over 10 hours. If you are in the mindset and have sour patch kids and left over stromboli the 10 hours goes by fairly quickly. We had a great time in Myrtle Beach and spending the weekend with Debbie & Richard. It was so nice to relax on vacation as opposed to our last few where we walked for miles and miles (still fun just more tiring). I can't wait for our next trip down there!

Wanna see our other trips from this year? Check them out here:
Disney
Boston
DC

Friday, November 6, 2015

Date 157 - A Night of Boos!

Date: Saturday, October 31, 2015 - Halloweeeeen!
Type: At Home, Group
Cost: $$$
Planned By: Dani

I loooooove Halloween. It is definitely one of my favorite holidays. This year I was determined to throw a party. Adam nicely said we could host one and then I was off making lists and plans for about 4 months. I made one rule and it was that costumes were mandatory. I was amazed that everyone got in to it and came in really creative costumes. 

First off - Adam and I dressed as Lilo & Stitch! Here's the rundown of how I made the costumes..
Stitch - The main costume is a blue forever lazy. I cut out the eyes, nose and ears with felt and used hot glue to attach them. I used a wire hanger to make the ears more stable. Lastly, I added in a green lei to connect us better.
Lilo - I found a cheap red dress on amazon, cut out the flowers on felt and hot glued them on to the dress. I accessorized with a green lei, green lei-type headband and sandals. Side note - I attempted to use sticker paper instead of felt and glue so I could use the dress again but they didn't stick very well so I resorted to felt and glue.
On to the party! We had glow in the black light jello shots (just use tonic water in place of the hot water). Michelle made beautiful and delicious spiderweb cupcakes. We also had pizza, harvest trail mix, a variety of chips and dips, veggies, pasta salad, wine in a cool pumpkin wine cooler (just carve it out and add ice), orange punch (vodka, orange hawaiian punch and sprite), mummy dogs, and a lot more that we ate for the next 5 days. 
I made a photo booth out of four Dollar Tree table cloths. I wish it had been a little bigger, but it was a decent size for 2 people. I made little signs for people to hold up and found every old piece of costume for people to put on if they so desired.  I didn't take enough pictures so I stole some from people - I'm sure they don't care too much. 
We played a few games. Including, everyone playing guess the villain. I made stickers with pictures and names of movie villains. Each guest got one stuck to their back and had to figure out who their villain was. It was also a drinking game and got everyone mingling and drinking! The rest of the time everyone just had fun doing whatever they wanted. 

One of the major events of the night was the super competitive costume contest! There were four categories and each party-goer got to write in their vote. Winners got a cute trophy made by me (dollar tree skeletons, wood base, hot glue and gold spray paint) and some little prizes. Here are the winners:
Scariest Costume: Cooper as the Clown Mime
Best Couple: Michelle & Jim as The Doctor and the Tardis
Funniest: Bryan as Quailman
Best Overall: Jim as The Doctor
I had so much fun and I'm so happy so many of our friends and family could make it! I hope to make this an annual event so check back next year!

Special thanks to those who came - Dani & Thackery Binx from Hocus Pocus, The Doctor & the Tardis, Jack & Coke, Quailman and Patty Mayonnaise, The Candy Burgler, The Scuba Diver, The Mimes, Clark Kent & Superman, The Monkey, The Unicorn, Budweiser Beercules Man and of course Stitch for letting me throw the party. I'm so sad we didn't get a full group photo, but the memories will be cherished.