Paris

September 28, 20176 Comments

Bonjour!

I’m recapping the second part of our trip today and what we did in Paris. We enjoyed so much about this city and while we did a lot of “tourist” stuff – it was such a blast!

Day 3:

We arrived in Paris around 4:00 and immediately set up an Uber (best advice from my cousins!) to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel. We stayed at XO Hotel and absolutely would stay there again! It was a great location and our room was perfect. I loved that you could open the windows and the view was like a movie!

Any way… we checked into the hotel and hit the town for dinner!

And dessert because #wereinparisWe picked a little cafe/restaurant (everything is known as a cafe there!) and tried our best with their menu and recommendations.

Also – wine.

After dinner, we stopped by another cafe for a quick drink before heading back to the hotel for bed!

Day 4:

Another busy day and it was full of tourist things! We started our day with a walk to the Arc de Tromphe (and climbed the stairs to the top).

We then headed to the Eiffel Tower!

We decided to walk up that as well – i mean, we hadn’t walked enough yet, right?!

Then after a lot of “no, no, no’s” we headed up the elevator to the very top of the Tower..

I wouldn’t consider myself afraid of heights but the thought of that elevator and seeing it all get so small – gives me the shivers!

After the Eiffel Tower, we headed to find the subway station to head to Notre Dame. A creepy clown stopped us and much to my hesitation, grabbed me for a picture.. and then grabbed Logan. He was legit, the clown from IT and was so creepy!

He insisted he take pictures of us (for money, of course) and thought these were perfect in front of the port-a-potties.. umm no thanks!

We figured out the subway station like pros and headed to Notre Dame next.

Then walked over to the Louvre.

We stopped for a Nutella Crepe quick on our way back to the hotel for a little bit of wine.

Did I mention, they had the best wine in Paris?! Well they did…

We met friends for dinner (the same friends from London!) and enjoyed a cheese and bread board! Oh yeah, and wine 🙂

We headed back to the hotel for the night and some football.

Day 5:

Today was Logan’s birthday and guess what we did bright and early…? We had our pictures taken at the Eiffel Tower 🙂 Not the best birthday present, but it was the only day our photographer was available!

Unfortunately, it rained the whole time for the pictures – I swear, we have the WORST luck with professional pictures – so I’m so interested to see how they all turned out!

We headed back to the hotel to change out of our wet clothes and to take a warm shower – so cold!! After, we headed to our favorite bakery for some chocolate eclairs and croissants.

It was his birthday, after all 🙂

We hit a few stores at this point and I brought home just a few souvenirs (two scarves to be exact!) and headed back to check out of our hotel. We took the subway to the Musee d’orsay but after arriving, we decided we didn’t want to wait in line for the museum since we were headed to Portugal that night. We walked our little butts to the Montemarte and Sacre Coeur – which we realized VERY quickly that even though it was supposedly 3 miles – it took about an hour and definitely felt like 20 miles!

On our way back towards the train station, we stopped and checked out Moulin Rouge – so cool!

We headed back to the hotel area (as our stuff was hanging there still) and stopped by a few cafes to enjoy a ~~few~~ glass of wine and beers while sightseeing.

I told Logan I could totally move to Paris. The architecture and just way of living is so fascinating and beautiful to me – sign me up!

After drinks, we stopped by the hotel, grabbed our stuff and headed to the airport for our flight to Madeira!

Paris was truly our favorite city – we liked London but Paris… has my heart! We’re already planning our next visit there!

I’ll be recapping the final installment of our trip (to Portugal) next week and can’t wait to share with you all the fun we had there!

Have you been to Paris?! What was your favorite part?

Have a fabulous day!

Kristi

London!

September 27, 20177 Comments

Happy Wednesday!

I am still trying to get back into the swing of things after our long trip and my exciting news I received when I got in on Monday (see bottom of post for the news!). I thought I’d share our trip in sections so it’s not too overloaded with pictures!

So without further adieu… the first part of our trip started with London!

Day 1:

We arrived in London around 11:30 am (5:30 am our time in the US) and were ready to get rolling! Our flight left at 7:30 pm the night before so we were able to get a few hours of sleep in on the plane, thankfully.

We took the subway/train to our hotel from the airport, checked into our incredibly small room and hit the streets for Kensington Palace!

The Palace was beautiful with so many different “apartments” with the original decor of the previous King/Queens.

After the tour, we headed to get some dinner and hit up a sweet little pub. I had the Roasted Chicken (yum) and Logan ordered a steak pot-pie (not the actual name but basically the same thing!). Funny story… When Logan got his meal, it looked a little different… I mean, it had a huge bone in it! When I asked him about it, he said “Kristi… this is ‘their’ type of steak.. duh!” Well, after the server coming over and asking what he ordered and then coming back over to let him know he actually had the Lamb Shank instead in front of him.. I knew I was right after all 😉

After dinner, we stopped by a bar near the hotel for a quick drink.

I thought it was funny the “his and her” drinks! Yes, the pink drink is Logan’s 🙂

Day 2:

This was our busiest day in London! We were a little worried because of the train bombing that was the day before (we got an abundance of “are you safe?” texts when we finally got WIFI the previous day – so scary!) but headed out for our original itinerary.

Our first stop was Tower of London!

This was the coolest tour we did!

After the tour, we headed to lunch with some friends before going on the boat cruise tour!

Next, we saw Big Ben and headed to the London Eye.

After, we walked to Westminster Abbey and then onto Buckingham Palace.

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before the Tottenham Spurs soccer game!

I wasn’t kidding when I said we had a busy day 😉

We finished our night with a cute pub by the hotel with some friends!

Day 3:

This was the day we headed to Paris! We got up early and packed up our stuff, changed and checked out of the hotel. Logan is a huge fan of the movie Love Actually and when I first met him, it was his favorite “Christmas” movie. The hotel we stayed at was about a 10 minute walk from the infamous scene “to me, you’re perfect” and the pink house so we headed over there but not before stopping by Starbucks for a PSL!

I loved all of the streets and buildings in both London and Paris. It’s amazing how beautiful all of it is!

We stopped for breakfast quick before heading to the Eurostar train and it was delicious!

We headed to the train station after retrieving our bags and set off for Paris! Two hours later and we had arrived!

I’ll share about the second part of our trip in Paris tomorrow so be ready for a ton more pictures!

This has nothing to do with our trip BUT my sweet little niece Nora Grace waited for me to come home from our long trip before gracing us with her presence! She’s incredibly sweet and honestly so beautiful! I’ll share more about her on Friday but had to share a picture because she’s gorgeous!

I now have 3 amazing nieces and I can’t wait to see them all together!

Do you have any plans for this hump day?! Is the weather fall by you or is summer still sticking around?

Have a fabulous day!

Kristi

Happy Tuesday!

September 26, 20171 Comment

Hello and happy Tuesday!

I had every intention of recapping some of our trip today but then laundry, jet lag, work and a new special little one happened! So basically I’m here to say, there won’t be a blog post today but I’m hoping to share part of our trip tomorrow – if I’m not too busy snuggling said little one 😉

Hope everyone has had a great few weeks and a fabulous day!

Kristi

Happy Hour – Favorite Fall Recipe

September 14, 20177 Comments

Happy Thursday!!

I am linking up today Holly over at Osborn Extravaganza to share what our favorite fall recipe is – so grab a cocktail or your pumpkin spice latte and let’s chat!

Crockpot recipes are my jam! I’m not a big meal planner and I don’t cook as often as I should BUT I love a good crock pot meal! I linked a few here and here .

Today’s favorite? Chili.

Logan found this recipe a few years ago and it’s been our go-to (aside from our favorite White Chicken Chili)! There’s quite a few ingredients but it’s oh so good!

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef chuck

1 pound bulk Italian sausage

3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce

2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon bacon bits

4 cubes beef bouillon

1/2 cup beer

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®

1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Recipe:

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chili peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

The prep time for this is about 30 minutes and it takes about 2 hours to cook and you’re ready to go!

Perfect for game day or the cooler fall days we’re starting to get!

We’re headed on our vacation, oh so soon so I might be a little MIA over here for a bit (shocker, right?!) but i’ll be sharing pictures from our trip over on my FB page so if you’re not following along – hop over there 🙂

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Kristi

Weekend Whereabouts!

September 12, 201710 Comments

This weekend went so fast and now we’re into Tuesday and our trip is just days away! I have to say, I’m getting a little nervous traveling abroad.. mainly because I don’t know what to expect! But I’m so so excited to see everything and just take it all in…

Back to the weekend.. 😉 we had a wedding in Eau Claire and it was the perfect day! Friday night, I shopped with Jess a bit for a dress for the wedding in Portugal and y’all.. it’s something I’d never imagine I could wear.. it’s a little risqué in one area but gorgeous too! I can’t wait to share it with you .. after the wedding!

Saturday morning, logan and I headed for Eau Claire – first stop: Starbucks! I need to get my PSL fix while they offer it 🙂

I look a little serial killer in this picture, right?! 😂

Next, I dropped Logan at his golf tournament (you didn’t think the weekend was golf free did you?! 😉) and I headed to my Moms! My Mom, Grandma and myself spent the day at the Weaver’s Country Store picking out my favorite Mums!

This is hands down the best place for mums and we come every year!

See my Grandma poking in the background 🙂

They’re only $9 for those huge things and I’m always obsessed!

You just put the ones you are purchasing by your car before going inside the cute shop to pay!

We ended up with 14 of them total this trip! Isn’t that crazy?! Needless to say – we pushed and shoved until we got them all to fit in the van! 😂

You’d think we were crazy but everyone always goes to town on these when they have them! If you need a new place and are in the area – Weavers in Fall Creek is your place!

Next, we got ready and headed to the wedding!

I didn’t realize it but I only took 2 photos all night! The ceremony was beautiful and while we had been to another reception at the Masonic Temple, we hadn’t been to a ceremony! Beautiful room and loved the stage!

After the ceremony, we had about an hour and a half before the cocktail hour so we headed to the Livery downtown for some Chorizo Mussels and a drink!

Delaney met up with us down there since it’s minutes from her place! She had her last first football game to cheer at that night! I can’t believe she’s a senior already… my how time flies!

We headed back to the wedding for some good food, drinks and people! The wedding was for one of Logans coworkers and it’s always so good to get together with everyone (since we’re not in EC anymore).

Sunday we headed home and started to get ready for our big trip!

What did you do this weekend?! Was it filled with fall stuff or every day stuff?!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Kristi

Five on Friday!

September 8, 2017September 8, 201711 Comments

Hello!! Happy Friday!

Currently, I have a Pumpkin Apple candle from BBW burning and a Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand just before logging into work! Isn’t that glorious?! I’ll keep this one short and sweet 🙂

Today, I’m linking up with a few of my favorite bloggers to share 5 thoughts I had on this Friday!

{One}

We finally got our siding finished on the house and it’s a complete 180 from what we had previously! I’ll let the pictures do the talking 🙂

We still have a few things that need to be done like gutters, A/C and screens but I’m happy the bigger things are done!

{Two}

All things fall… I can’t believe how fall-like the weather has been around here!! We usually get a few more weeks of warmer weather (or so I thought) before it really set in but this year… it’s been in the 60’s and low 70’s (if we’re lucky!).

I love all things fall like boots, fashion, candles, PSLs, etc but I’m not sure I’m ready for flip flops to be gone!

{Three}

London, Paris and Portugal… our trip is almost upon us and I’m getting nervous! Did I even mention on here that we’re going to all those places?! If you’ve been, I need recommendations – mainly about my HAIR stuff! Logan seems to think I don’t need a curling iron, straightener OR blow dryer but seriously.. I need at least one!

Ladies, who traveled to those places, did you purchase an adapter AND converter? Did you just purchase a cheap curling iron or straightener once you were there? I need your thoughts! Also, the weather in both Paris and London will be in the low 60’s but high 80’s in Portugal so I really need to figure out how to pack efficiently! And I also need to know a good pair of walking shoes… I can use my tennis shoes but if there’s something better – let me know!

{Four}

Did I mention previously that I went to my Brother’s first football game last week?! I feel like I missed that one! They finally played up by us (which has never happened) so Logan and I headed up there for a night of football!

I feel like I’m back in school when I go to his HS games. They make me feel young again 😉 Speaking of my brother – he and his wife are due around the time I get back from Portugal – I’m hoping Baby B stays in there a little longer to wait for me!

{Five}

This past weekend, we were finally able to spend time with my Dad’s side of the family and it was so incredibly nice! The weekends go by too fast as usual but it was great to be able to catch up and celebrate my cousin getting married!

We have a pretty small family on his side (think 8 cousins, total including me and my siblings?!) so it’s always nice when we can get together! You can read more about it here if you missed it!

{Six}

One more for this Friday because it’s fall around here and I thought I’d share a story from yesterday…. I stopped by Starbucks to grab my yummy PSL before I headed into the office. I was so happy because I could FINALLY use the Order Ahead app because PSLs are in there (I’m still trying to figure out how to order a Skinny Vanilla latte on those things – I know someone mentioned the caffe latte but I don’t know what to put in it to be the skinny vanilla?! Is it just me?!) so I was ahead of schedule! I got into the office and guess what… when I went to grab my purse and work bag on the passenger seat, my PSL spilled ALL OVER. I mean, it fell upside down and went all over my seat and my pants and under my pants… it was terrible.

Not only was it wasteful of my drink but I was soaking wet! At work, we don’t have the dryers either so in the bathroom I went with lots of paper towels… It wasn’t the best start to my day, that’s for sure! Here’s hoping today’s better 🙂

Please oh please, let me know any tips for traveling as we’ve never been out of the country so far! And also… have a great Friday!!

What are your weekend plans?! Mine include another wedding and more fall things 🙂

Kristi

Weekend Whereabouts!

September 5, 201716 Comments

Happy Tuesday!

It’s funny how many things I just realized and can’t believe… like the fact that we’re into September and Labor Day weekend has passed! The fact that it’s officially Pumpkin Spice season 🙂 And the fact that weekends fly by too quickly! I swear, this month is already over with all the plans we have…

But onto my fun weekend spent with family and such special people! Friday night, we headed to the Wisconsin Badger game with my Mama, Sister, BIL, Step-Dad (close enough since they’ve been together forever :)) and Dennis’ son!

We didn’t really get to tailgate much since we didn’t get down there until late but we tried to make up for it with the little time we had before the game! This was Logan and my first Badger game and we were so excited! The first quarter started off a little rocky but they pulled through quickly after the second quarter began. Besides being SUPER cold (it’s barely September I thought?!) it was a lot of fun and we’re already looking forward to our next game! Saturday was spent lounging a little bit and enjoying a coffee run for my first PSL of the season! Y’all… I’m obsessed as usual and forgot how much I love those little things! Definitely a treat 🙂

After our coffee run, we headed back to my Sister’s to relax a little bit before heading to the Taste of Madison. My niece and I enjoyed a snow cone (although, it was a bit disappointing because it was NOT good… I didn’t know that could be possible!). Always fun being around the capital 🙂 While we were at the Taste of Madison, Logan was at Erin Hills (where the US Open was just held in June) playing his little heart out with an old college buddy! He was pretty stoked to be able to play there and has been counting down the days since before we attended the US Open. After we were both done, we met up and ended up meeting Delaney and Marcus for dinner. We ate at Point Burger Bar on our way into Milwaukee and their way out of Milwaukee! It’s always so fun to see these ones!

After we got to Milwaukee, we headed straight to the hotel to check in and unload our car before walking down to Rock Bottom Brewery to meet up with my family! I love any time I get with this side since I don’t get to see them very often!

We hit up another bar after the Welcome Dinner was officially done and then walked back to the hotel for some rest!

Sunday was wedding day for my Cousin and his now-wife! Logan and I slept in just a little bit for once (until 7:30 at least!) and took our time getting ready. We stayed at the Courtyard Downtown Milwaukee and it’s the perfect location because we were able to walk basically anywhere! Once we were ready, we walked down to Build a Breakfast, Build a Burger for some breakfast. I had to stop for a PSL on our way back of course!! Clearly, the hubs wasn’t pleased on that one! Ha!

After we got back to the hotel, I headed on up to my Aunt’s room to help them all get ready with some hair and makeup! I hung there until my Sister got into town (the hubs was doing homework in our room) so I could help her get ready for the night! Random note; I just started using Senegence (the umbrella company over Lipsense) for my make up recently and I’m in love! I used it on my sister and it definitely gave her a glowing factor as well! The best part about it (besides the great coverage and versatility of the products) is there are skin and anti-aging components in the make up products! Also, it has a shield to protect your skin from the sun – double win for me!

Moving on… 🙂 After we were basically ready, we had a little conundrum.. Logan asked where his black dress shoes were since he was in a suit and I replied with “aren’t they in your bag?” and his response… “Why would they be in my bag? I left them at your sister’s house by the front door.. didn’t you grab them?!” Umm nope, I didn’t grab them! Thankfully he had a pair of black GOLF shoes in the car.. yep, that’s what he had to wear all night – golf cleats on the dance floor and to the wedding! Never a dull moment.. The ceremony at the church was so beautiful (as if I expected any less) and their vows were the sweetest things. My cousin is a bit older and we never expected him to get married truthfully – but after he met Joanna, we were all SOOO glad they chose each other. She’s seriously AMAZING and you might remember her from our bridal lunch I shared a few weeks ago!

After the ceremony, we headed to the Milwaukee Brat house for a few drinks while the wedding party did pictures. The reception was at the Women’s Center downtown Milwaukee and seriously…. it’s ridiculously gorgeous and elegant! I’ll let the pictures do the talking 🙂 The handsome guy in the middle is my cousin, the groom! 🙂Love my other cousin’s wife – wish they lived closer (they’re in NY) so we could see them more! The food was great, the drinks were great, the cake… and best of all, the couple is GREAT!My aunt and mother of the groom 🙂 She’s so special to me for so many reasons! My other not-so-little cousin above 🙂 We realized that night that there’s only 4 of us girl cousins (not counting the girls married in!) on my dads side! They had a live band so we all danced our little hearts out (when the right songs came on ;)) Thanks to Jason and Joanna for being such great hosts and including all of us in your wedding day! It truly was so beautiful and I just can’t wait to see what the future holds for them – and their wedding pictures, of course!