Guys, let me start off with a big sigh of relief that this week is coming to an end. I don't know if you all heard, but I put in my two weeks notice a week ago and this week has been really hard for me. I am preparing for a transition period. Lots of deep breathing!


Now I need to get through another week that doesn't feel so awkward. I think I was asked about 10 times this week what it is I actually do as my job. That tends to get awkward fast.


Also I am not sure what it was, but I did not sleep well this week. R was away on business but I don't really think that was the whole issue. I went to bed exhausted and woke up even more tired than I was the previous night. Must of been all of the soul searching and decisions I made. The coffee was my BFF.


I finally got out all of my makeup and did a Halloween look for the blog. I had so much fun creating Zoey, the glam zombie. I hope you check it out. It's really an easy process to make brains and lacerations on your face. And you get to play with makeup! Win/Win.


All in all I am looking forward to R coming home tonight and hanging out on my couch. But I won't actually hang out on my couch because its Halloween weekend and I am going to make the most of it. Did you hear Ithaca is turning an alley into Diagon Alley from Harry Potter? It got some major press this week! It has been respectively renamed to Wizardly Weekend but is still expecting thousands of people!

I will be attending because, why not?! After that I am hoping to attend a Monster Bash hosted by some of my friends from the radio station. Stay tuned next week for my report on this wizard and monster weekend! Stay safe out there boys and ghouls!

The proposal happened and you are now wearing a beautiful ring announcing to the world that you are engaged. You can't wait to show if off and go through the "look at my ring" stage to everyone you come in contact with. After all of the congratulations there come's that dreaded question; "When's the big day?"
It then becomes very real that you are not only engaged but you have a wedding to plan. Most brides get married within 12 to 18 months from the time their groom to be gets down on one knee.


Wedding planning can be pretty overwhelming if you don't stop and breathe and ask for help. One of the first things I did after R popped the question was look up bridal events in my area. I have been in a few weddings at this point but somehow how never attended a bridal expo with any of the brides I stood with. After only being engaged for 11 days, R and I braved our very first bridal expo.  So let me answer this question for you; "Is it worth it?"

Me and R headed to Heron Hill Winery in the Finger Lakes for a small bridal expo. Small meaning there were less than 20 vendors. I had no idea what to expect other than the expectations in my head. I pictured a very pink themed expo with lots of overly excited women prancing around in boas. (Yes kind of like a bacherlorette party). Obviously, I was wrong about that. R and I arrived at the event and I was given a fancy "Bride" sticker accented with purple grapes and a ticket for a complimentary glass of wine (Score!). They had run out of "Groom" stickers so R had to brave the tent without a tag.

What a gorgeous view!

The tent was lined with vendors for everything wedding related. We stopped and talked to photographers, DJ's, caterers, bakers, florists, and dress boutiques. We had the chance to sample cake and play around in a photo booth, which is pretty hot right now in the wedding world.  Even though at times I felt very overwhelmed, I found everyone very helpful. I was able to ask questions and get an idea of how quickly I needed to get things booked. Because R and I just got engaged we do not have a date set in stone yet, so they vendors could not help me get stuff set up, but that's okay.


I really enjoyed my experience and was glad this was a smaller event. It let me get my feet wet without diving right in. I also realized I enjoyed bringing R. I hear most brides to be bring their wedding party, best friends, or moms with them, but R was very helpful. I turned around at one point after feeling like my head was spinning (or was it the wine?) and he was happily taking notes. He is a good egg that one and never complained once about being there. He enjoyed talking to the vendors and sampling the cake.

After my first experience, here are a few tips from me on attending your first bridal expo:

• Start small if you can. The small venue was less crowded and gave it an intimate setting. I was able to speak with vendors without waiting in line or bumping into others trying to visit a booth.

•  Bring a pad of paper and a pen. Even though you can get business cards from each vendor, sometimes the info you are looking for is verbally given to you. If you do not write these things down it can be hard to remember what information went with what vendor. 

• Do consider bringing your fiance with you. You can also bring your girls but I found it really awesome to share this experience with R. We had fun and I felt like we were planning this wedding together. 

•  Ask lots of questions. If you don't see what you are looking for, chances are someone can answer it for you. They are all there to help you.

• Enter the giveaways. Most of the vendors were giving away something from their business. I saw photography sessions and free tux rentals as some of the giveaways. You never know if they are going to pull your name and that will be 1 less thing you need to worry about for your big day. (I haven't gotten any calls so I guess I didn't win :(

•  Have fun! This is supposed to be a time to gather information and celebrate your engagement. I left the expo with cards, appointments, and lots of info. This made me smile and ensured me I could do this.

All in all I really enjoyed my first bridal expo. I feel more informed and ready to start planning my big day. It can all be pretty overwhelming at first but with time it gets easier. I will be attending a larger expo next month with my mom and best friend back in my home state of Pennsylvania. Stay tuned to see how that one goes for me. In the meantime come back every Wednesday for a wedding themed blog post. If there is anything you want me to cover in these wedding posts, please leave me a comment below!

Welcome back to the work week! I am cruising in feeling a little more relaxed and a lot less tense. The tension that had become my whole body was really starting to take over my life. I felt stiff and had a headache pretty regularly. Between getting back to regular workouts, work overload, and the beginning stages of planning a wedding, I have been pretty beat. Enter Rasa Spa, a full service holistic Healthcare spa in Ithaca, NY.

2 weeks ago I won their first ever Instagram giveaway which was giving away a 30 minute massage. I was super excited go get the message that I had won! I booked my appointment adding on another half hour to make a full hour. It was one of the best decisions I could have made.

*Sorry for the grainy photos.. only had my cellphone and didn't want to distract anyone in this relaxation room!



The whole experience was amazing. The locker room was very inviting with a sauna room, showers and plenty of bathroom necessities like hair brushes and hair dryers. I got dressed into my soft robe and headed to the tranquility room; a quiet room with super comfy lounging chairs and soft blankets to wrap up in. With a quick glance I also noticed a tea and water bar. I barely had time to notice it before I was being lead into my treatment room by a lovely lady named Edith.


Edith got me set up and was back in quickly to get started. I appreciated that. Because of all of my sore, tense muscles I opted for a very light relaxation massage. It did not disappoint. I was putty and feeling great. At the conclusion of the massage Edith handed me a glass of water and offered me a heating pack for my back. This was music to my ears and some sweet loving to my back. Lounging in my chair with the heat made me never want to get up! (Good thing because at that moment it was raining cats and dogs outside!)

I spent a total of 2 hours with Rasa Spa but really felt like so much happened. I felt more relaxed and energized for the weekend ahead of me. It was a few hours for myself that I didn't know I needed. It was a treat to myself for all of the work I've put into other people and projects over the past year. Thank you Rasa Spa for bringing me back to center.

Cheers!

When's the last time you gave yourself a treat?

Happy Monday!

Thank you first full week of August for showing me what summer is really made of! July really brought me down, so I am really excited to report all of the great things August has shown me thus far. I figured I haven't done a fun Friday post in awhile so I am going to list some fun things that happened this week and continue this high right through the month.

1. I FINALLY crossed something off my bucket list that has been sitting there for awhile. I went on a self guided wine tour with R and some friends around Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes. We had a gorgeous day with good wine, good food, good laughs, and great friends. If you missed my post Monday about it, recap it here: Wine Tour: Seneca Lake

 
2. Guys I am officially happy with my scale. I stepped on it the first time in months and it actually told me I lost some weight! This was HUGE for me. It has been a long battle and to see 15 pounds gone really make me feel good. I talked a little about my struggle on Wednesday. If you are interested in my weight loss journey you can read about it here: My Weight Loss Journey

Guys I have a butt! Hard work is paying off!

3.  My House Party kit arrived! These boxes always make me so happy because the goodies inside are always so much fun. This is my 5th party in 2 years and the first one that was sponsored by an adult beverage and was geared not only towards women. This one is fantasy football themed and sponsored by a Whisky.


4. Having wine is always fun especially when it's free. My local wine store hosts weekly wine tastings on Thursdays and this week they were hosting wines that come from Italy and Greece. Its really cool because not only do you get to taste new wines, they educate you about how it was made and what region it comes from in each country.

5. I have finally laid out a plan for the blog for the Fall. So many new fresh ideas and making the blog more fresh and clean. I can't wait to share it all with you. One thing in particular that I'm excited for is the third Blog Staycation! So much learning to be had!

Have a great weekend folks!

Linking up today for H54F , That Friday Blog Hop, Oh Hey Friday!

Whew! What a week it was last week! I recapped all of my Blog Her 2015 experiences along with my conference essentials to help you survive your first or even 100th conference. Then I wrapped up my Summer Tea Swap. It was a pretty action packed week here on The Trish List.

Today I want to give you a sneak peak of my weekend. Me and R were finally able to get together with some friends to do a wine tour. I will be living in the Finger Lakes for 4 years in November and haven't made the time to do one. It was a last minute decision and we had a blast. The weather was absolutely gorgeous this weekend with blue skies and barely any humidity. We decided to do the Seneca Lake Wine Trail and I was super impressed.

I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Seneca Lake

Wine, Swine, and Stein

We asked and it was CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON :)

This place is GORGEOUS!

<3

The weekend before our move into the new house, I surprised R with a weekend getaway. It was also his Birthday so that was part of the inspiration to where we went. I knew the next few weeks would be crazy (and they are!), so getting away for a few days was just what the doctor ordered. I searched the internet high and low for cabin rentals that wouldn't break the bank. I never took into consideration that R's birthday fell over Father's Day weekend. That made it a bit more tricky.

I searched places like Groupon and Livingsocial hoping to find a deal. All I really knew about what I was looking for was, R wanted to go camping and I wanted to go glamping so we had to meet somewhere in the middle. This is when I came across a cute little property 2 hours north of us called Wellnes:ste (Pronounced wellness stay). It was located on a river with 4 cabins. It looked perfect for what I was envisioning for our weekend away.

I immediately inquired about the Leopold Cabin, which I received a response from Jessica that it was booked for the weekend already.. booo. She also suggested another cabin, Thoreau that was available. I accepted and we were booked for 2 nights! I was so excited I could barely keep it a secret from R. One thing I had to plan for was food. Shopping secretly here and there was fun. The cabin did not have running water, so I didn't want to make anything that was to messy.

2 days before check in, I received an email that Leopold Cabin was now available, and wondered if we wanted to move in that cabin. I decided to stick with Thoreau and I was glad I did. We arrived on the property just before 8pm on a Friday night. It was beautiful and really set back from the road. The cabin was super cute and Jessica and her family were really welcoming. We enjoyed some lounging outside by the river before we settled in for the night in our loft bed.

We explored the property and did some hiking. We also explored the neighboring towns and visited a fort in Rome. We had a really amazing time and I would go back again in a heartbeat. The property is pet friendly and has so much to offer. 2 of the 4 cabins do not have bathrooms. We stayed in one of those. The bathroom is a full bathroom with shower that is attached to the main house. You share it with the other cabin without the bathroom. We lucked out, as no one was in the other cabin, so we had it all to ourselves.

All in all it was a great trip, and I see myself going back in the future!

Our Cabin

Guard chicken?

I don't know about all of you, but I had a pretty amazing 4th of July weekend. We caught a bunch of sweet spots to watch fireworks and went to the most American place we could think of to celebrate Independence Day: A winery called Americana Vineyards! We have been to the winery in the past so we knew we would love the wine. The winery was hosting an all day bash complete with live music, BBQ, beer, fireworks, and of course wine. It was a win-win.

I couldn't wait to celebrate, and when we celebrate we have to play the part. I wanted to be patriotic so I was even more stoked to debut my beautiful custom dress from eShakti. With its bright red with navy accents and a white cardigan, I was all set to go. The dress fit like a glove, and I felt confident and comfortable my whole night out. Being a shorty, it can sometimes be hard to find the perfect clothing, especially when it comes to dresses.

Nothing can beat being patriotic like the good ol red, white, and blue, good friends, wine, and fireworks! I hope you all had a fantastic one too!

Gorgeous fireworks at Americana Vineyards

eShakti custom dress

My eyes are closed but this is my favorite photo from the shoot

No night is complete without that grainy cellphone picture!

So much thrifting happened over the weekend. It made my little heart happy.  I mentioned on Friday that we have a pretty amazing book sale here in Ithaca. It takes place the first 3 weekends of May and again for 3 weekends in October. The prices are amazing and you can stock up on some pretty great reads.



Last weekend I took my mom for mother's day because she is a bookworm to the max. She was looking for a specific series of books in which she had the first 3 books and there were a lot more out there. When we looked last weekend they had a few of the books but they were so scattered so she decided not to buy them. I had promised her I would go back this past weekend to buy them for her at the cheaper price.

Little to my surprise when I got in on Saturday, they had the WHOLE series! I was able to buy book 4-12 of this series for only $4.50. She was so excited! This is why I love local events. This is such a special event where people come form all over to search for books. I am already looking forward to October!

My next stop was the Thrifty Shopper. It's kind of like a higher end Salvation Army. They were having a store wide 50% off sale. I walked out of there with 6 items for under $20. My best find by far was a pair of NYDJ (Not Your Daughters Jeans) jeans that were in excellent condition for $4.99. These jeans retail brand new for $120!

Sorry for the crappy photo!

I also scored a brand new with tags Gap denim skirt, JCP brand lime green shorts (SO IN LOVE), Nike leggings, Lee Slimming jeans, and an Old Navy t-shirt with faux leather accents. I think I did pretty darn good. Getting myself all ready for summer!

What did you all do this weekend? Are you into thrifting? If so what are you favorite finds?!

Well folks this is a little late today, but better late than never right? As I was thinking about what I wanted to focus on for today's post, I really thought about my local area again. It has so much to offer and so much to do. A little something for everyone so to speak.

Today I wanted to tell you about a little something called the annual book sale. This is like Christmas for the bookworm. It is literally an enormous warehouse full of books. Full of books that are categorized and sorted by author. It's easy peasy to go in and find what it is you're looking for.. if they have it.


The book sale is brought to us by a group called Friends of the Library. It runs for 3 weekends every May. Prices start at $4.50 and decline in price everyday. This weekend is the final weekend and you can expect to find prices starting at $0.50 on Saturday and $0.10 on Monday. As you probably guessed, the selection gets a little slim as the weekends go on, but if you're lucky or just one of those people who can read anything, you will still walk out of there with something.

I took my mom last weekend for Mother's Day, as she is from out of state and never experienced this before. She is also a big bookworm. The vision of my dad running around behind my mom with a toppling pile of books was enough for me. She left the proud new owner of 8 books and only spent $16.00. She found books she was genuinely looking for which was even better!

I walked out of the book sale with 2 books. One being the ever so popular Husband's Secret in hardcover. It looked brand new. Score! For only $2.00 I couldn't resist. You all know how anything thrifty makes my little heart swell with joy.

So if you love books, love a good deal and will be in the Ithaca area this weekend, stop by and see what gems are left! They all must go, and who better then you? I hope you all have an amazing weekend with lots of joy and laughter!

Are you new to your area? Looking to meet new people? Tired of the same things day in and day out? Why not try attending local events? What better way to meet people in your community then to attend something local? I wish I would of taken my own advice 2 years ago when I was moping around with nothing to do weekend after weekend. Sure I had my co-workers but sometimes it's nice to spend time with people who don't know what you do day in and day out at work.

Over the past 4 days I have attended 3 fun events. Most of them were free and were a great opportunity to meet new people. I was able to find all of these events on the Facebook Events page. I clicked on "Events Near Me" and it listed everything going on in my city and in cities nearby. Once you find something that interests you, you can "join" so it will be added to your Facebook calendar and will be reminded the day of so you don't miss it.

To give you an idea of some of the fun things you can find, I want to share with you the 3 events I attended and how they are fueling me to attend even  more in the future!

Thursday
I attended a trunk show at a local beauty bar. Avanti Boutique teamed up with Miel Beauty Bar to offer some beautiful spring dresses, jewelry, beauty products, and wine! Who doesn't like a good night of fashion, beauty and wine? Speaking of wine, Redhead Wine was featured and it was created by a local women. It was a wonderful sweet red wine. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to purchase my own bottle! Make sure you check out their sites!

Friday
Red is my new favorite! The Red Event that is. This was a fundraising event put on by the Hangar Aces to raise money for the local arts and especially the Hangar Theater. The Hangar Aces are a group of young professionals (Ages 21-39) who put on events to help raise awareness of the arts as well as offer social and networking events for young professionals. The event was so much fun! Everyone comes dressed in red and there was music, wine, beer, raffles for fabulous gift baskets, and lots of networking! I wore my favorite red wedges (and paid for it later) and had a great time mingling and drinking wine.

Sunday
There's no party like a tea party! A local community center put on an afternoon tea fundraiser. It was fancy! So pretty and such a great time with friends. We may have been the youngest ones there but it was great. The tea sandwiches were great and each round of tea was a new tea to try. Totally going to this again next year cause who can pass up mini everything and tea?


So how was your weekend?