April 2018 – awkward vodka

Bachelorette party in Temecula

If you’re planning a trip to Temecula, for a bachelorette party or anything else, here are a couple must-stop places I would recommend visiting.

Last week, I was lucky enough to travel to southern California wine country for my future sister-in-law’s bachelorette party. If you’ve never been to Temecula, I recommend planning a trip! Old Temecula was adorable, the vineyards were beautiful and the weather was amaaaazing.

If you’re planning a trip, here are are a couple must-stop places we visited during our long weekend:

Gershon Bachus Vintners

This vineyard had the most beautiful view. I liked the wine, but it wasn’t my favorite. However, their wine crackers for in between tasting were super yummy. #Important

Robert Renzoni Vineyards & Winery

Robert Renzoni was the vineyard with my favorite wine and food. Their red wines were all delicious – loved their port. Their moscato d’asti was also really good! I would have bought a bottle if I wasn’t worried about packing for the flight back. My mom, sister and I ordered artichokes and a meat and cheese plate to share, and the bachelorette ordered a cheese pizza that was arguably one of the best cheese pizzas I’ve ever tried. This is a must-stop vineyard in Temecula!

Leoness Cellars

Our favorite part of this vineyard was hot Greg who did our tasting. The wine was also super good, but, I’ll be honest, we were distracted by Greg and had drank a lot at the last two vineyards…

Hart Winery

Honestly, by this time I was pretty full of wine so it’s hard to know exactly how good this vineyard was… 🙂 It was a really unique location. It seemed a bit like a barn or garage in a wooded area, which I didn’t love because the other views in Temecula are so beautiful. However, you wouldn’t have found me complaining as I was slurring my speech, FaceTiming my husband and baby B back at home, and chugging rosé outside on the porch area.

The Goat and Vine

We hung out in Old Temecula on our last night, which is an adorable area with little shops, bars and restaurants. For dinner, we went to The Goat and Vine. They had sandwiches, salads and pizzas that all sounded so good it felt impossible to pick something to order. My mom and I shared a pizza and salad, and they were delicious! The salad had spinach, bacon, spicy almonds, feta cheese, grape tomatoes, green onion and champagne vinaigrette. I would try making it at home, but I feel like salads never taste as good when you make them yourself… I don’t think anyone in our group had a bad thing to say about their meal – so good!

Because of all the snow in the Midwest over the weekend, our flight was cancelled and we were stranded in San Diego for an extra two days. After getting our flight rebooked, we spent a couple hours walking around downtown San Diego looking for a hotel to stay in for two nights. We finally found one, and the guy at the front desk was the best – shout out to the Westin San Diego! He recommended we try a restaurant down the street for brunch: Queenstown Public House. The little restaurant screamed “take my photo and put it on instagram!” …So I did.

The drinks bright, fun colors, and the food was so good. I would definitely recommend making a stop there if you’re ever stranded in San Diego.

Overall, the trip was awesome! Can’t wait to go back again someday.

-SM

Whole30 Advice from a Sugar Addict

When I decided to go on Whole30, all of my friends thought I was crazy. No sugar. No alcohol. No dairy. The main three food groups for a girl from Wisconsin. On top of that – no carbs, no grains, NO POP, no gum…you name it, most likely you have to give it up for 30 straight days. Seems impossible, right? Well I can proudly say that I’ve done it, without cheating, not once but TWICE (!) in the past year and a half. So if I can do it, trust me – anyone can do it.

Even though it may sound crazy, I would highly recommend everyone complete Whole30 at some point in their life. The benefits alone are worth giving up a social life for 30 days. I lost 10 lbs (with barely exercising), finally started sleeping through the night and my skin is the clearest it’s been since 2nd grade. If any of these sound appealing to you and you’re ready to jump off the deep end, I’ve compiled some advice to help you get through the 30 days and stay sane.

You must meal prep. The only way to not give into daily temptation to go out for lunch or stop by Starbucks for breakfast is by being prepared and having your meals packed for the day. Easy options: egg cups for the breakfast all week and carnita bowls with cauliflower rice for lunch, topped with fresh pico and guac.

Host a brunch. About 2 weeks in, you’ll start to go stir crazy. So have your friends over for a brunch! Breakfast is the one meal you can host while on Whole30 and not be completely obnoxious about it. Bacon, hashbrowns, eggs, fresh tomatoes and basil, coffee – all delicious Whole30 approved foods, and generally enjoyed by any normal person.

Do it with a buddy. Someone to meal prep with, someone to commiserate with, someone to play board games and do puzzles with instead of going out for happy hour. This second time around I did it with my husband. We saw so many new movies and had lots of quality time in the kitchen. Plus, I had someone to complain to but at the same time keep me accountable and away from cookies.

Have an emergency back-up plan. There will be so many times when you want to give up. To stay on track, keep RX kids bars on hand. And know where the closest Chipotle is for a Carnita Salad when you’ve met your limit on cooking. For me, Starbucks was a lifesaver. A Blonde Americano felt like a delicious treat halfway through the day when all I wanted was a brownie.

Have you done Whole30 before? What are your tips? Thinking about trying it? Let me know! I could be a really good accountability coach, and have tons of recipes and more advice to share 🙂

-RC

Surviving a party bus in your 30s

If you’re thinking about planning a party bus in your 30s, here are some survival tips.

In my 20s, party buses were probably one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday night. We planned them for birthdays, Halloween, New Year’s Eve – you give us an occasion, we’ll book a party bus.

This past weekend, I went on my first party bus in my 30s, and I loved it! But it was different than my party bus experiences in the past…

We stopped at a llama farm because why not?
It started at 2pm in the afternoon and ended by 7pm, which is earlier than our buses have even started in the past.
There was food on the bus that people actually ate.
We stayed at bars that were at least 10-30 minutes outside of the cities – townie bars FTW!

If you’re thinking about planning a party bus in your 30s, here are some survival tips:

Snacks are a must.

Our party bus hosts were super smart and brought sandwiches for everyone – just a pack of that yummy Hawaiian bread with some cheese and deli meat. They tasted delicious after a couple cocktails and kept us from getting super sloppy (we were still a little sloppy…).

Day drinking is your friend.

The party bus picked us up at 2pm and had us dropped off by 7pm. I was in bed by 8:30, and it was amazing. I felt pretty great on Sunday morning (besides my damn cold).

Don’t forget water.

I forgot water. Huge mistake. Bring a pack of water bottles, and I guarantee everyone will be thanking you for helping them stay hydrated.

Plan your pace.

I decided that the peak of my drunk had to be around 5/5:30 in order to feel OK when I went to bed and wake up hangover free. So I slammed shots before that time, and it ended up working out for me. However, I could see this type of plan backfiring pretty easily.

Non-bar stops can be a blast.

We stopped at a llama farm. Yup, a llama farm was our first stop on a 30th birthday party bus. It was hilarious and super fun! Consider adding a stop that doesn’t have anything to do with drinking to help you pace yourself.

Anyone else love party buses? What are your tips for survival on the moving party bar?

How to hide it when you are exhausted!

Whether you had too many cocktails at a happy hour, your child won’t sleep for more than two hours at a time or you stayed up too late binge watching your latest Netflix obsession, waking up and looking exhausted is the worst.

Here are some ways to try and hide the tired-eyes look:

Coffee. Obviously.
Water, too. Try drinking a huge glass of water right when you get up. I’ve gotten this advice in the past, and always thought it was bullshit. Well, it’s not. I try to have a big glass of water every morning before doing anything else, and it actually helps.
Shop for a great eye cream: Origins Eye Cream is my favorite. Origins products show up multiple times on this list because they are the best! I use this eye cream every day and love it.
Find a good moisturizer that works for your skin type: Like Origins Ginzing Energy-Boosting Gel Moisturizer. I’m obsessed. My face can get greasy, and I love this because it moisturizes without causing the oily look.
MASCARA! Buxom mascara is my new favorite mascara. It’s really light so it doesn’t weigh down your eyelids when you’re already exhausted.
Color correctors are your friend. I’ve developed some pretty nasty under-eye circle after having a baby. I love the coverfx yellow color corrector for under my eyes.
Find time to pamper yourself with a clay mask. Origins Original Skin™ Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay is my favorite. I try to use this at least once a week. It keeps skin looking smooth and youthful looking! Side note: My skin isn’t looking so smooth and youthful lately since I’ve been using it more like once a month instead of once a week…
Only have a couple minutes for makeup because you snoozed a few too many times? Try a colorful lipstick to distract from your trouble spots caused by a lack of zzzs.

What are your tips and tricks for looking alive when you’d rather be snuggled up in bed?

April Book Club: Must-read YA novels for the no-so-young adult

Get ready – your April book club reading recommendations are here!

In a teaser post two weeks ago, I mentioned that I’d be starting to give you recommendations for book club books, based on a different theme each month. This theme is my absolute favorite. Basically I think of myself as a teen in an adult body. Just ask anyone who attended my 13-year-old-girl themed 30th birthday party.

I think it’s because unlike a good majority of people, I loved high school (and I wasn’t popular, lol). Being a teenager growing up in small-town Wisconsin was a much less stressful time in my life. Friday night football games, crushing on all the cute boys, eating ice cream everyday at lunch and not gaining weight, driving around with friends listening to music and best of all, never having to do my own laundry.

If you’re anything like me and love an easy read that transports you back to easier times, or really liked reading the hunger games, I highly recommend reading some of these YA novels for your April book club:

Turtles All the Way Down Such a good book. Even though the plethora of Star Wars references were lost on me, the awkward teenage romance hits close to home.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda The book that inspired the new movie Love, Simon is a must-read. I cried, in a good way. A classic coming of age story with a twist that hasn’t been given the necessary spotlight before.
The Spectacular Now This book gave the teen girl inside of me hope that the most popular boy in school would one day ask me out.
Looking for Alaska By far John Green’s best book. That’s all I can say because I’m nervous I’ll spoil the ending for you. Read it. Trust me.