friends – All Kinds of Happy

4th of July Weekend

Published on July 17, 2017July 13, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

We jammed a lot into the holiday weekend! Having an extra day off was really great and put me in a summer mindset that was really hard to leave, aka I did NOT want to go back to work on Wednesday! Fortunately the rainy weather since then has made it not so bad! But here’s how we spent our 4th of July weekend!

We had our friends over Friday night and it turned into a really late night, keeping the kids out waaay past bedtime, but us grownups were having too much fun to say goodnight, our excuse “Its summer”! While we chatted on the deck we planned a super fun Saturday for everyone! We went to lunch at 12 Gates Brewery, which (despite it being a brewery) was a perfect place for kids, they had picnic tables outsides and lots of room to run around, and even some yard games! We got there right at noon when they opened so we were the only ones there for about the first hour. The absolute BEST part about this place is that its located right near the airport and the planes fly right overhead, which was awesome! It was a little scary for the kids at first, but they got used to it. We downloaded a flight tracker app so that we could see when planes were coming and give everyone a heads up.

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After lunch we headed back to our friends house to go swimming for the afternoon! Ada did awesome swimming in the big pool all by herself with just her water wings!

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On Sunday, we decided last minute to go up to Conesus Lake, where Dan’s family has a cottage, we go every year. I’m not a big fan of sleeping in a tent which is what has to happen when we go because there are so many people, but we decided to go up around dinner time, after Dan got out of work, and just stay for the fireworks then drive home.

Ada got to go on a boat ride, which she has been asking to do since our Florida trip. she played with cousins and watched the fireworks. Again, it was a VERY late bedtime!

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Oh yeah, and our house officially went up for sale on Monday July 3rd!

On the fourth our friends invited us to their house so the kids got to play all afternoon and then we walked to where the fireworks were and let them run around some more!

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It was a super fun weekend that we didn’t want to end! 4th of July is always my favorite holiday (better then Christmas) Its just feels like summer to me, we stay so busy but its always fun, relaxing things like swimming and campfires!

How did you spend Fourth of July?

The Wedding from a Magazine!

Published on October 18, 2016August 2, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Our good friends got married at the end of September and it was literally a wedding straight out of Brides Magazine! They had the best DIY wedding I’ve ever seen and I was honored to stand by their side as they said “I do”! There aren’t really many words for this wedding, it was such a perfect day. The entire wedding party was our group of high school friends, making it the absolute best wedding party in the history of wedding parties! We all stayed in three townhouses side by side so the whole weekend we were able to spend together! I love these two so much and it warms my heart to know they have everything they ever wanted in each other and I can’t wait to watch their family and their love grow in the future! Much love to Cody and Danielle on a beautiful wedding!!

The happiest engagement ever!

Published on July 27, 2015March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

This was the 12th year we have been going to my friends lake house up in Batavia, NY. I wrote about our trip last year when we took Ada. This year Dan and I decided to send her to Grandmas house for one night and we went up and spent 2 days and 1 night with our friends and I’m so glad we did!

Cody is one of my best friends, we’ve been friends since we were freshman in high school and have been through a lot together and Danielle and is one of my oldest friends, we’ve known each other since we were 4 years old and took dance together! I’ve never been so happy for a couple knowing I am so close to both of them!

This weekend trip has been part of our lives for so long, and this place has so many memories and stories it made perfect sense that Cody would pop the question to Danielle here. He let all our friends in on the little secret and had everyone play a part. The picture below I think is probably one of the most adorable and special engagement pictures I’ve ever seen. She was so surprised and we all felt so happy to be part of this memorable day for them!!

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Her twin sister did an amazing job distracting her while everyone got in the water and into position. (We made sure to do this right away before anyone had a little too much drink in them and misspelled something important!)

I think out of all the great times and amazing memories we have from this place, this weekend will go down into history as one of the best ones!

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4th of July

Published on July 6, 2015March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Another fun summer weekend on the books! This is my absolute favorite of the year! I just love the 4th of July, it just makes me feel like summer. This one was a bit different, but still packed full of activities!

We started out by going to the baseball game Friday night, which was partially a bad idea since a 19 month old and a 2 ½ year old can hardly be expected to sit still for a game. I can hardly sit through one! We ended up spending a lot of time walking around! At 10pm they shot off fireworks and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra played music to the show! It was great and they did a phenomenal tribute to our soldiers and American history, by far the most patriotic thing I’ve ever done for independance day!

Saturday the 4th, we took the kids to the beach, and they loved it! Ada has gotten over her fear of sand and she was all about it!

That night, my sister and her husband Dan came over and we drove downtown to go watch the fireworks at canalside with like 15,000 people. It was a bit crazy but we made some good parking decisions and walked which was a life savor! It was another really great weekend!

Also Happy Birthday to my Sister-in-law Becky!!

Summer fun!

Published on June 30, 2015March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

We have really been enjoying our summer lately. This is my favorite time of year leading right up to 4th of July! There is just so much going on and so much outside fun and sun time! This past week we’ve been taking full advantage of all the fun activities going on. There was a food truck rodeo happening last Thursday and everyone from my office decided to meet out and bring our families.

Last night we went downtown where the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra was playing in the park, It was packed with people, food trucks, ice cream and more!

We spent most of the weekend just eating popsicles and playing with the hose in the back yard! We also brought out the kiddie pool and sat poolside for awhile. Just a super fun summer livin’ kinda weekend. I wish everyday could be like this!

A shower and a 30th birthday

Published on June 18, 2015March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

This weekend we celebrated a lot! My best friend is getting married in 4 short months. She lives in Colorado and I don’t get to see her nearly enough. But her mother hosted the most beautiful outdoor shower along the Niagara River Saturday morning. The weather was perfect and there is really no better thing at a shower then to see the most magnificent mimosa and bloody mary bar.

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We also celebrated the first one of our friends to turn 30 with a surprise party! SoHo Burger Bar is a great little joint with a rooftop bar overlooking downtown Buffalo, it was open bar, great food and great company. Afterwards we went down to Skybar which is known for being the late night party spot with ridiculous cover charges and sleezy girls and guys. I’m not sure how or why we got in but we did and we stayed out way too late and I paid for it the next day. It was a lot of fun to be out acting 21 again although it does not appear that I can recover like I am 21 still!

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Girlfriend Getaway – Our Bahama Cruise

Published on December 9, 2014March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

So many of my closest friends are not yet doing the kid thing so I try really hard to make sure I take time to still be in my twenties (for another year) with them. Two of my best friends Jill and Katie who are a bit travel obsessed take a trip every December so I decided to tag along this year. We booked a cruise a couple months ago and we flew out to Miami for a long weekend. We left Friday morning, jumped ship (literally) by around 2:30 in the afternoon and by Saturday morning we were in the Bahamas. It was just a three day cruise, but I seriously felt like we were gone much longer. Not sure if It was because I missed my baby so much or just being in the Caribbean makes time slow down!

Our first stop was Atlantis, which was a bit of a cluster trying to figure out what we wanted to do on the island, but we eventually made it to the resort. I’m not usually a fan of water parks, or even pools for that matter. I prefer to sit near the pool. But since everyone else was doing the water park I didn’t want to sit out by myself all day. I am so happy that I did it, we had such a blast and it was just so much fun to play in the water like a kid! We even did the iconic Leap of Faith slide that Atlantis is known for!

The other island we hit was a private Island that Norwegian Cruise Lines owns and we had an awesome day just relaxing and getting some sun before going back to cold winter in Buffalo.

It was so nice to get away with my girlfriends for a weekend and as much as I missed my hubby and baby girl, I think its really important to take time for yourself and recharge your batteries. Making sure I still feel like me helps me to be a better mom and spending time with my girlfriends is so important. Now I just need to convince Dan that we need to take a trip with just us since kids tend to suck the life out of you as a couple too!

A day with friends

Published on August 24, 2014March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Every year since I was 16 my friends from high school and I have gone to our friends dad’s place out on a small lake in Batavia, NY. This year was the 11th year (I think) that we have been going, and I was so excited to introduce Ada to a place where my friends and I have made sooo many memories! Since this particular camping trip is a bit reckless and rowdy, we didn’t feel it was appropriate to spend the night, but we thought we would drive up and spend the day at the lake with everyone. I was sad to not get to spend the night, since it’s always a good time, but I’m also not really good at late nights or drinking anymore, and since there are few things worse then having to be a parent and being hungover, I tend to limit myself. Despite not spending the night, we had a great day. Ada even took a nice long nap for me in the stroller so I could enjoy the afternoon with my friends.

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I think she enjoyed herself, she was the first of our second generation to make an appearance at this annual party, which was kinda cool. Next year Dan and I will be sure to get a sitter though!

Two beautiful weddings

Published on August 1, 2014March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Two of the 11 weddings we have this year were for 2 of Dan’s cousins of which who are two of our best friends. 4th of July weekend we had Dan’s cousin Chuck’s wedding who married the beautiful MaryAnn. Dan was a groomsman in that wedding so I took Ada to church with me and she was wonderful and fell asleep on me like 2 minutes in, so I didn’t have to worry about her making a peep.

I dropped her off at my parents house afterwards and met up with Dan at the reception. Such perfect weather for a beautiful couple! Here are a few pictures I took from that day!

Just last weekend we had another wedding for Dan’s Cousin Amy who also happens to be one of my best friends. She had an adorable DIY wedding, she made almost everything herself from her bouquets to her sash on her dress, the centerpieces and more. It was another beautiful summer day to watch them tie the knot! Again we brought Ada to the church for her 3rd wedding and took her to my parents for a sleepover. Here are some more wedding pictures from their happy day!

My Favorite Holiday

Published on July 6, 2014March 31, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Every year on the 4th of July we go to my friend Jill’s house for a pool party. For now, we’re the only ones with a kid, Ada is still pretty young so it wasn’t too much of an issue, but next year we’re going to have to do something different. I look forward to this pool party so much every year because it just screams summertime! It’s always beautiful weather, hot and sunny and ALL our friends come over to play. We play games in the park across the street from her and then walk over to her house and grill burgers, snack and drink beer until it’s time to walk to the fireworks. This is just the 4th of July for us!

Having Ada was different this year but still fun since she is at that age where everyone just loves to play with her and hold her. She isn’t mobile on her own yet so we just played in the grass, walked around the park and then let her splash around in the pool.
We decided to forego the walk down to watch the fireworks and instead met up with Ada’s friend Abby and did something a bit more child friendly. We still went to watch the fireworks, but we drove somewhere else, and just parked off the side of a parking lot so we could make a quick escape. Both the girls fell asleep before the fireworks ended anyway!

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