Old School Slumber Party

Junior High wasn't a great time for me, but who didn't have an traumatic experience trying to survive the mandatory awkward stage that most people have to suffer through? There was, however, a bright spot in the otherwise awful time I spent in 6th grade and her name was Denise. (No, I won't be sharing any pictures from back then.)

She was my best friend through junior high and we spent every weekend in her basement, watching movies and eating a very specific variety of junk food; a family size bag of doritos, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and the 3 liter store brand lemon lime soda. That was enough sugar and cheese powder to keep us awake from the opening credits of the first movie to the first rays of morning light.

Now Denise has two girls of her own, and with the release of the last Harry Potter movie on DVD we decided it was time to bring them into our old weekend tradition and have an old school slumber party. She made sure we had our doritos, lemon lime soda, popcorn, and she upgraded our cookie dough ice cream to vanilla ice cream and a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough.

I brought to the party pizza, fries, mozzarella sticks, wine, and some knitted Harry Potter scarfs to add to the theme. We were totally set!

We started with Deathly Hallows part 1 where Eva fell asleep, and Denise and I warned Isabella we were not answering questions during part 2. We are not as young as we once were because all of the sugar just put us both to sleep before the end of part 2!

It was still a good night and I know Denise and I enjoyed the flashback to the best part of our childhood.

Lazy Post

Today I'm tired, so I'll speak in pictures.

My knitting has taken over the living room, but yesterday I got to flip on the fireplace for the first time this fall, making it a very cozy place to curl up and knit. (I think I was watching the Sing Off on hulu. Really awesome show if you're looking for something to watch with seriously talented people.)

They're multiplying!!!

A restock was in order, can't wait to try the Magic Hat beers from the seasonal Night of the Living Dead case we bought. Mmmmm octoberfest beer...

Some mini pumpkin pies left over from ladies knitting night yesterday.

Lastly, some pretty roses still persevering in my back yard. Everything in the yard is completely overgrown (I like to think of it as Halloween decorations) but the roses needed to be cut back. 

I couldn't just toss these guys in the bucket, so I'll enjoy them in the house for a bit.

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was filled with so many of my favorite things I felt compelled to share.

Friday we kicked off the weekend by having dinner at my parent's house with the whole family for the first time since Megan got married. We watched the wedding video Tyler's uncle had put together, and got to see the amazing photos Julie Linz took. You can see a preview video of them on her blog, (but if you do watch, ask me for an explanation why the last picture of Megan and me is so awkward looking, it's a funny story and doesn't involve drinking, I swear!).

If I don't move on, I'll start rambling and repeating the words 'amazing' and 'gorgeous' and I'm sure you can see for yourself. 

It was great seeing Lilly as well since she changes and grows so much between visits. I think she enjoys family gatherings too because she doesn't get put down once, she just gets passed from lap to lap. We are all completely smitten with the first Bartlett grandbaby/niece. My Mom watches her three days a week so I imagine we'll be getting a photo 'goodie bag' most of the days that we come by for family dinners.

These are just a couple that we came home with this weekend. 

Saturday, for me, began with meeting up with former small-group ladies for breakfast and we shared a wonderful time of catching up. Whenever we see each other I am both sad that our weekly meetings had to come to an end, and grateful that they were such an important part of my life for so many years. 

From breakfast Chris and I headed to the soccer field for our game. We play in a coed church league and thankfully we enjoy playing because this weekend we got steamrolled. I do not enjoy losing, but I love playing soccer and if you had told me 10 years ago that in my 30's I'd still be scrubbing mud out of my knees after slide-tackling some guy on the soccer field I'd be inclined not to believe you. Yet here I am, still unable to come home from a game not covered in mud and blood from the waist down.

This is me after one of our games last year.

Moral of this part of the weekend is soccer makes me happy even if we lose, and I'm thankful to still be playing the sport I love. The horrific lost also inspired a couple of us to hit the bar on the way home for a much needed beer, allowing us to sooth our weary bodies with a pint.

Finally Saturday night brought us to Sharon and Nate's house where we joined their annual Fall Harvest Party, bearing gifts of chips, guacamole, and of course knitted beer koozies. They had a fire blazing in the backyard, homebrew on ice, and tasty food filling every inch of the kitchen. What could be better? I must say, it was a perfect night for the koozies since there was a chill in the air and the koozies kept our hands from being cold while holding onto our frosty beers.

Sharon also used them to keep her fingers warm in between beers

Sunday was church at Crossbridge and a great message from Mark about teaching your kids to trust God and make wise decisions. I know someday we'll need all the help we can get. For now I'm headed to the basement to watch some football and get more knitting done. I've got a project I'm really excited to share with you that's almost ready for a photo shoot, so stay tuned!

I hope all my readers had as fabulous a weekend as I have had!