The shiny tight yoga pant.

Who else was a little scared of the now trending Pleather Pants?

(From Forever 21)

 For me it was kinda of like the whole color mint debacle. Like the first time I saw the color mint on Pintrest and I thought "Ehh what's the big deal... and a year later after seeing it for the 134th time I was like "Must have everything mint colored right now!!!" And then I was over it before I even painted my pinky with my $8 bottle of Essie. Why did I think Mint colored nails were a good idea?

I sometimes get side tracked... that was one of the times.

Back to pleather!

So this weekend I decided to go out on a limb. The occasion was the opening of a bar in the suburbs owned by a friend, well attended by more of the city crowd in support. The motivation was: why not? Oh, and the fact that they were $12.  That's right! For $12 I thought the risk was worth it, and what better time to do it? My friends were isolated on a party bus, perfect test audience. So I paired them with some Sam Edelman spiked heels and neutral long BCBG low cut tee and after I got over feeling like Peggie Bundy I headed out. I thought the girls will love it, the boys will be like pump the brakes, where is you standard cocktail dress?

Oh, but was I wrong.

(From Forever 21)

I am pretty sure I got a compliment from every guy I knew. I don't think my legs have ever been rubbed so much ever, which was kinda awkward... but you'll have that. Moral of the story is every girl needs a pair of "tight shiny yoga pants" better known to the female population as pleather jeggings!

Don't be scared! If I can do, anyone can!

Cheer! XOXO

Elle

Rum Punch, Champagne Punch, We all Love Party Punch!

Okay so that was a really cheesy title, no? 

Well, I don’t know about you but drinking Party Punch makes me feel almost as 50's House Wife-esk as wearing a vintage apron. (I have a collection of these. Some monogramed, not necessarily with my monogram, but I think ads to the charm.)  I think it’s because it involves a recipe and a crystal.

My party Punch is always a hit. I need to start printing the recipe beforehand and giving them out as party favors, but this would make me feel old. And besides they can read it on my blog right? I have kind of developed variations over the years of the basic recipe. There are 3 main types of punches: Rum, Champagne, and Non-Alcoholic.

Champagne Punch

1/2 to 3/4 of  a gallon of Tricolored Sorbet

3 bottles of champagne (chilled)

1 litter of ginger ale

1 can of frozen orange juice from concentrate

In the bottom of the bowl scoop the Tricolored Sorbet and Orange Juice from Concentrate in FIRST. That is very important. Then pour the champagne & ginger ale directly on top of the ice cream or concentrate. This causes it to fizz and creates the foamy part of the punch.

Let sit for 10- 15 to allow all of the flavors to mix. Stir a little, but leave it chunky.

Non-Alcholic

1/2 to 3/4 of  a gallon of Tricolored Sorbet

2 litters of ginger ale

1 can of frozen orange juice from concentrate

In the bottom of the bowl scoop the Tricolored Sorbet and Orange Juice from Concentrate in FIRST. That is very important. Then pour the ginger ale directly on top of the ice cream or concentrate. This causes it to fizz and creates the foamy part of the punch.

Let sit for 10- 15 to allow all of the flavors to mix. Stir a little, but leave it chunky.

Enjoy!

The Rum Punch

Follow the directions to the Non- Alcoholic Punch. Add 1/2 bottle of Peach Schnapps and 1/4 to 1/2 a bottle of flavored rum at the end. Doing it at the end is important so you don’t effect the foam and mixing of the ice cream and carbonation.

I have also substituted Peach  for the tri color sorbet, to make it a Peach rum punch. (My personal fav but not everyone likes peach.) I like Malibu brand for this, especially the Mango flavor. You will barely be able to taste the alcohol with this recipe but you could you less if you wanted less of a alcohol content. As another option you could allow guests to add the Rum themselves to their individual cup of non-alcoholic punch.

Hope you enjoy!

XOXO Elle

 

Baby Showers: How to do them right!

Happy Monday! By happy I mean I am currently pouting that what may have been the best weekend ever and now it’s over so I am not happy at all.  I am mildly enjoying (I wouldn’t go so far as to say happy about) rehashing all of the deets while between a research project and a marathon of meetings.

 

This weekend was a "baby shower weekend." These are happening pretty regularly in my life lately. I hear I’m at "that age." What does that mean exactly? Is that inferring that I need to pull a Kim K. and get my eggs frozen upon turning 30? Or that since I don’t have kids yet I have plenty of free time to host showers? Or possibly that I am at the age where flip cup with pink baby cups is an appropriate co-ed baby shower game? Because the third is totally true... with a water substitute for the mom to be of course.

The first step to throwing the best baby shower ever is a “prepping party.” This is what single 20 something girls without babies do in preparation for a weekend full reminders of what their lives are not. In case you need to add this to your future event calendar allow me to give you some helpful suggestions. WINE.  Pizza. Followed by more wine. The I strongly suggest watching What to Expect When Your Expecting… in fact stop what you are doing. Pump the gas. Drive to a Red Box. Now.  I mean it was no Magic Mike but I am pretty sure my friend Britt is going to wear out her TV remote’s pause button. They just don’t make boys like that in Cincinnati! Not only is there humor and eye candy there are also some gift ideas. The boys were inspired to gift a urban camouflage kangaroo belly baby back pack. Now I am sure there is a proper name for this, but sometimes I like to make up my own names for things. 

Now that we are all in the right mind set I suggest a "Pre-Shower" party for the daddy to be. This is what 20 something boys without children do to celebrate what their live is not. This portion of a baby shower weekend is often the priciest. You will need a bar or club, bottle service, 80's music and all of the Daddy's friends. It should rival the bachelor party, except it needs to stay close to home. If the daddy to be decides that you need to turn the Escalade around and drive to CVG to hop a plane to Vegas someone needs to remind him that he has plans the next day. Happy wife, happy life.  On a side note, I suggest wearing some 6 inch heels that you can dance in or a couch you can dance on. 

Moving on to the traditional portion of the baby shower. There is only one way to start the celebration: with a toast. It brings the guest together as a group especially if its a large party with guests who have never met, sets the mood for a celebration, reminds everyone why were are there, and gets a drink in everyone hand. I made champagne punch, rum punch, and non-alcoholic punch, fancy huh? Then there are the party games... and yes pink flip cup was a huge hit! Obviously. (I will post a recipe and baby shower game blog post later, let's just say they both have twists!)  I suggest opening gifts somewhere between baby bingo, craps and flip cup.  Speaking of gifts... Bella maybe the only new born baby girl with a red Ferrari (walker) and a motorcycle (made of onesies and diapers.)

Cheers to the best baby shower ever!

XOXO Elle

 

Sideline Negotiators

It seems to be the thing to do in blog world to do a "Weekend Recap." Well my initial response was who in the hail would want to read about my weekend adventures... then I thought: I mean, who wouldn't? My second concern: the editing on this may or may not be comparable to "reality shows" such as the Real Housewives and not be very "real" at all.... then i thought: I just compared myself to the real housewives, who cares?!?! (I kid...) My final concern was that I would never be able to fit in all my weekly events into a single writing session, so I am going to limit this to one event. Sunday Funday: Who Dey Style.

Let me begin by introducing the term "Who Dey." I am sure it's not a secret Cincinnati language, however I am confident if I didn't live in Cincinnati I would be clueless to its meaning. In fact, I live here and I think it sounds a little crazy... No? Who Dey think gonna beat Dem Bengals! Like I said crazy... or under educated, what ev. "Who dey!" is the term of excitement used while watching a Cincinnati Bengals game. Take a minute to let that sink in. Once you have come to terms that the word "Dey" has been licensed, trademarked, and copy written by a city who once called Jerry Springer it's Mayor, then you’re ready for the rest of the story.

Let me set the stage here... I spent Sunday with my friend, Stacey. Stacey and I went to high school together a very short time ago. By "short" I mean we just had our 10 year reunion. (This maybe an example of how I may or may not slightly alter my post much like Keeping up with the Kardashian's alters camera angles making the Courtney and Kim look over 5 feet.) Stacey and I tend to no make plans which tend to lead us on fun unexpected adventures.

This weekend’s adventure included (but was not limited to) the Season opener of the Bengals.

Let's just say we didn't plan on attending the game, but scalping tickets cheap quickly became a sport for the financial planner in Stacey and then turned into a hilarious knock down drag out. To be fair, we were offering a firm but solid offer of $20 for $160 tickets. Let's just say this didn't go over well. Opsies! We were promptly informed that "This isn't high school, this is the Pros... and you can't even get a ticket to a high school game that cheap." Which escalated to: "You girls cheap! How you gonna catch a ball player being that cheap... all you ever gonna catch for $10 is some dude with a homeless sign."  I may have peed my pants a lil. So we ended up paying $24.50 for each ticket. (Actually $25 but i found $1 on the ground so we factored that into the savings.) We arrived at the entrance and SUPRISE the field level tickets were counterfeit! No they weren't but we were shocked that they weren't because they were so close it was almost like watching the game in High Def.

So is what I learned this weekend:

I might attract homeless men. (We already know this but it's going to need a post of its    own.)

If I am ever on Let's Make a Deal, Stacey will be on my team.

And last but not least... (Insert drum roll here.) If you were an off the shoulder shirt to a football game you are going to have an awkward tan line at work on Monday... Not worth it girls.

Here's to being professional Sideline Negotiators! Cheers!

XOXO, Elle

Countdown to Keenland!

Happy Wednesday! It's less than six weeks until hats and horsy time in Kentucky! The countdown has begun and the monogrammed derby hat has been ordered! (Along with the monogramed earrings, monogramed clutch, and monogramed koozie... I mean I had to spend $200 to get the Labor Day Special. Obviously.)

Here is a lil tastey poo of the Marley Lilly goodies I snagged. I highly suggest shopping when you are half asleep. It's like USPS turns into Santa and brings you a box of toys, except you like them all. I was clearly a good little girl this year and a great late night shopper. I may not have remembered a single thing i ordered but I LOVED it all!

This is going to be my first Fall Keenland experience and let’s just say excited might be an understatement. In case you who live under a rock (or perhaps in a state other than Kentucky) Keenland is a horse racing track with meets in spring and fall. It's basically an excuse to play dress up (as if I don't play dress up 'ery day anyway.)

As a newbie to the track I have been asking for some advice from the veterans.

1. Did you know that if a horse goes poo right before the race he will run faster? I doubt I will be taking advantage of this little tip, but never the less I am paying it forward.

2. Next tip is pay attention to the jockey and the horsies previous races. If they have dropped from a big money race to a small money race then they are prob the best of their new group... not sure how to find this out?

3. Now this one is from me: Always pick the horsie with a cute name or wearing Pink. If you don't win, you have at least lost with class and style. Am I right?

Cheers! XOXO

Elle