Lollygaggin'

For the past 3 years I have been taking a trip every Labor Day Weekend with my best friends. It’s something that I look forward to and love planning because I know it will always be an unforgettable girl’s weekend year after year. The first year we did this trip we rented a house on Silver Lake in Michigan. The house was painted fire engine red and it was named “Lollygaggin’” – weird, right? Wrong. All of the red houses in our little area were named. We had Sheets-n-Giggles, Diddleysquat, Putzen, & even Persnickety. We found it fitting to deem our Labor Day Weekend girl’s getaway trip “Lollygaggin’”, so whenever we mention Lollygaggin’, we’re simply referring to Labor Day Weekend. I mean honestly, why call it Labor Day when you can call it Lollygaggin’?

I have some of the best mems from that first trip… including out piece of shit, spider covered, pontoon boat that we rented. While it got the job done in getting us from the house to the dune across the lake, it was straight up embarrassing. The combination of the loudly humming motor and the not-so-steady squeaky ‘roof’ of the boat let everyone know we would be there soon! Then there was the sprint down the dunes… we only had one participant in this event, but my oh my, was she eager to get down to the bottom first. Please note, this was literally the steepest and tallest dune I had ever climbed, so even just walking down it was a slow and careful process. Not for Jules. She took off like a bat out of hell down that dune and for a few seconds she was holding her own. Next thing I saw was hilarious and scary at the same time… head first into the dune and she just kept on rolling. There was no stopping her until she hit the bottom. It was actually the funniest and scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed. Once I knew she was ok, it was definitely the funniest. On our way down to see if she was ok we had to pick up her fedora, her sunglasses, her cup, and her sandals… all of which flew off as she tumbled down. Not a pretty site, but holy hell it sure was a funny one.

The second annual trip we decided to go balls to the wall. Why go to a tiny lake house in Michigan when you can go to Napa! By far and away the best trip of my life. I drank myself silly, learned how to sabre a champagne bottle, bought a lot of wine, and had the best time of my life with my best friends. Highly recommend getting a DD for a day – best idea we ever had! They took us to wineries that we would have never known existed, including a personal favorite Kelham. Never heard of it? Exactly. It’s VIP. Baller status. That’s what we do in Napa, go big or go home! Two other recommendations I have when visiting Napa. 1. Rent a house in Napa instead of staying at a resort. We were able to cook dinner, relax, be ourselves, be loud, and even save money by renting a house. 2. If you ever opt to do a bike tour around Napa, think twice! Don’t even do this when it’s 90 degrees out. You will end up having the guy at the bike shop come pick you up from exhaustion. Not that we did that (totally did that). It’s a great idea, and fun, but you are literally biking up mountains just to get some wine. Couldn’t even get tipsy because we were sweating so bad. TMI, but it’s true. Napa was worth every penny and then some… can’t wait to go back one day and not rent bikes!

This last Labor Day Weekend we headed up to Okee, WI where we rented on a house on Lake Wisconsin (they’re creative with the lake names up there). There was nothing unusual about this trip, aside from the weather. Prior to the trip we had rented a pontoon boat for 2 of the 3 days we were there. The only problem was the weather. It was literally 50 degrees and windy as hell. Not the ideal boating weather, but we bucked up and made the best of it. We kept warm with sweatshirts and a lot of alcohol. 2 full days of being on a pontoon boat with high winds, rain, and the occasion sunshine tease did not make for the best trip, however I suppose that’s what you get for choosing to go to Wisconsin in September. Note to self, from here on out we should only pick places south of Chicago. Better odds with warmer weather!

2012… Who’s to say where we’ll end up for the Lollygaggin’ trip! Although I have a feeling it might involve some cowboys, Broadway Ave., and country music. Bachelorette party in NashVegas… just sayin’!

take it or leave it: The Pinterest Affect – my term for the amazing things I have learned, tried, and purchased because of my obsession with Pinterest. I must say, The Pinterest Affect is a good thing to have. I decided to take a small risk and try a recipe that I found on Pinterest from the website www.skinnytaste.com. Such a great site with delectable recipes that I cannot wait to keep trying! So far I have made 3 things from this site and all have been lip-smacking good! Most recently I tried the chicken taco chili and not only was it to die for, it was also extremely easy. It’s a crock pot recipe, which I’m quickly finding out is the best thing since sliced bread. Throw a bunch of shit in a crock pot in the morning, come home from work and it’s ready to eat. #YesPlease