The Beginning

Welcome 2012! I have a feeling you will be a great year. Unpredictable and a little scary (no, not because I think the world will end), but great.

I had a lot of fun ringing in the new year with family and friends. Before heading to any parties, my sister and I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants- Blue Lemon. Their butternut squash soup is AMAZING!


We were originally planning on spending New Years Eve at home since my sister was in a car accident the other day and is still healing. But she decided she felt well enough, so we headed to a party! Friends, dancing, and speed dating...

Yes, you read that right- SPEED DATING! What?! I was forced into it... twice. My wrist had the hand print to prove it. I met some... interesting guys... One said my lipstick was "risky" (I hope he didn't mean risque because that would be even worse), one was a professional clown (I HATE clowns), and one had a chin- puff goatee (need to know what that is?? Click HERE. Just not my style. Totally cool if that's your style though). There were some ok guys as well. We'll see on Wednesday if any of them said "yes" to me! hahaha! Pretty sure I will not be heartbroken if I don't hear from anyone.


There's also this tiny tradition that my family has of setting off a cannon that my dad built YEARS ago. It's little, but LOUD! Wanna hear?! :D


Obviously it's much louder in person, but I did what I could for you. :) I had to shoot it off by myself for the video, I didn't think I'd get another chance. Turns out we set it off again tonight and I'm sure a video filled with other people cheering would have been much more fun. Oh well, at least you hear half a giggle from me...


I hope you all had a wonderful and safe new years (eve)! Did anything crazy happen? I'd love to hear about it! Or I'd love to hear your not so crazy stories too. :)

Have a great Monday everyone!

P.S. My January sponsors are up and running! I know they'd LOVE it if you paid them a visit. :) (if you're supposed to be one of my sponsors and do not see your button on my sidebar- please contact me!)

The Party!

Hey guys! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! I am so excited to show you scenes from our Utah Blogger Meet Up today! I seriously had SUCH a fun night. It was so great to meet all of these wonderful ladies. I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity.

We had the party at THE cutest boutique in town. They provided us with sweet little treats and drinks as well as a beautiful atmosphere.


We all had so much fun just hanging out and talking, the time flew right on by. Before we knew it, it was time to leave. Well, some of us just weren't through. So we headed out for some dinner. We spent another few hours there and when they closed we stood out in the rain and talked for another half an hour or so. Can you tell we were having fun? (pretty sure we scared some of the other guests during dinner with our vibrant conversations... whoops.)


Here are the brains behind the operation. Minus Miss Ashley W. who came down with the flu the day before our party!! I was so sad. Her and I will be going to dinner next week to try and make up for it.
(me, ashley, kelsey)


I really hope that I am able to meet these ladies again in the future. They're so amazing and I had so much fun getting to know them even better. :)

Now, I suggest you all go out and meet the lovely bloggers in your area! We're obviously all meant to be friends.

Thank you Kelsey and Autumn for letting me steal your photos! Haha! And thank you to all the bloggers who were in attendance! You really made the night what it was- awesome. :)
Ally; Alycia; Ashley; Autumn; Hayley; Holly; Jen; Katie; Katrina; Kaycie; Kelsey A.; Kelsey C.; Kelsey S.; Kylee; Lauren; Megan; Meredith; Rachel; Sarah; Savannah;

P.S. So many "K" names! I didn't even realize!

Time To Party!! Utah Bloggers and Package Pals

Hey Utah Bloggers!

Are you coming to the blogger meet up? Yes?? Well then I need an official RSVP!! If you've already emailed me well guess what, I need you to do it again. Want to know why? Because we have made the decision on location and will be charging a small entrance fee instead of providing anything ourselves. Honestly, I am so much happier with this decision, and I know you will be too! So if you are planning on coming PUHLEASE email me an official RSVP and I will be sending you an invoice via paypal so we can pay the venue. :) That way there's no worries and we all just show up and have fun! And trust me, we are going to have SO MUCH FUN!!

OH!!! Important! We've changed the time!! It will now be held from 5-7! So make sure you clear your schedules!! Because this is the most important thing you could possibly be doing at that time. ;)

We've also had some AWESOME businesses contribute to our party with coupons, giveaway prizes, etc! So go ahead, check em out, and give em some loooove!

        

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Package Pal Partiers!

If you have yet to check out Kaitlyn's (our Package Consultant) post on how to send your package, you might just want to check that out. because it's INCREEEEEEDIBLE! Seriously. And if that doesn't give you ideas, I don't know what will. :)
See...

So ya, You better get over there now! CLICK HERE!

I also edited the Package Pal Button Code. So now it links to all posts labeled "Package Pals". You don't have to, but if you want to switch your button out for the new code, that'd be great. :)

Hmmmm... I think that's everything for today... :) If you didn't get a looong enough post from this you can check out my guest post that was published yesterday at Vintch or the one that was posted on Friday at And Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Package Pals Party- You're Invited!

So, yesterday's post was just to show you all something I was excited about. I had no idea about the response I would get. Turns out a lot of people would love to have an oversea's friend to send goodies to!

So, if you are one of those people that would love to have your own package pal, just email me at gentrileeblog(@)gmail.com and I will get you all set up! We'll have a link up post once everyone (most of everyone at least) has received their packages. It'll be like one big snail mail party! I'm super excited! And yes, I know it's a cheesy name. But I'm a sucker for a good alliteration. :)

The lovely Ellie from The Usual Mischief created this awesome button just for this! Isn't she the greatest?! I was so grateful to her for this!

So thank you to all of you who commented yesterday and sparked this super fun idea!

Speaking of fun packages, I just received this one from Kaitlyn at Isavirtue!! Thank you Kaitlyn!! Kaitlyn is incredibly talented and I wish she lived closer so we could be real life friends.

So if you wish to participate in the Package Pal Party remember to email me at gentrileeblog(@)gmail.com, snag the button (code on my left sidebar) and display it proudly! :)

Party Time!

GUYS!!!

If you live in Utah or the surrounding areas (or far away and want to travel) then you are cordially invited to a Blogger Meet Up!!

AAAHH!!

It's going to be so exciting! I've collaberated with a few other bloggers (ashley and Kelsey) to plan this, and it's been a long time coming. But it's almost here! It's set for October 7th at 6pm. The place however, is not being announced publicly (creepers).

So if you would like to come and/or want more information- please RSVP to gentrileeblog(@)gmail.com! Whoop whoop! You can also grab the button (from my left sidebar) and display it on your blog. It'll direct people to this post and help spread the word to other Utah bloggers who might like to attend. :)

I really hope all of you who are close enough to make it- do make it! How fun to become real life friends?!

So set your calendars for October 7th, 2011 and spread the word! Hooray! :D

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In other news, the lovely Noelani just awarded me this award:

Thank you so much Noelani!! :D

And I also received this award from the gorgeous Kelli!

Thank you a bunch Kelli!!

I am now supposed to share 3 random facts about myself... hmmm

1. I can do a mean eagle impression

2. I could probably beat anyone in an "ugly" face contest (meaning who can make the weirdest face...as if there were such a contest... maybe we should have one!!)

3. I could probably beat anyone in a "dream-off" (meaning-my dreams are ca-razy)

Now I need to pass them on to 10 other bloggers... oh boy, that's hard...

For the "I Dig Your Blog" Award- I pass it on to:

1. Ann from- An Eye of Inspiration

2. Melissa from- Simply, Melissa Ashley

3. Jenna from- SewSavoirFaire

4. Kylie from- Love Always

5. Emma from- Race & Emma

And for the "Versatile Blog Award" I pass it on to:

1. Madison from- Yours Truly, Madison

2. JRudd from- Live Laugh Love

3. Lauren from- My Happy Thought

4. Saffie from- Footprints for the Future

5. Jordan from- Trailer Gypsy 

Congrats lovelies!

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One more thing, I was asked to give my opinion on the Ombre hair trend. You can check it out HERE. :)

Birthday Happenings

I had a wonderful birthday this year! I seriously feel so blessed by all of the birthday wishes I got from everyone. So thank you lovely readers! :)

I spent last weekend with one of my BFF's shopping and spoiling ourselves (her bday was Saturday mine was Monday), you can see that post HERE. Then Sunday night was spent with my grandma, uncle, sister and friends eating, playing games, and of course- eating birthday cake!

Sunday night I didn't blow out any candles so Monday morning I had cake for breakfast (my birthday- remember?) and my own candle ceremony. haha! Then my sister, friend Sierra, and I went to lunch and walked around the nicest, fanciest hotel in town and I was finally able to try macaroons (something that's been on my goal list. haha!). The fancy kind.

Later we went to an activity for young single adults in my church which was super fun! I met new people and got lots of birthday love. :)

My mom was kind enough to order the Fox necklace I had been wanting (made by our lovely Blogger of the Week- Sarah!! Check out her Guest Post HERE or her Blog HERE)! And yesterday- it came!!! I was so excited! First, look at the adorable wrapping job. Love it and saving it. haha! THEN Sarah was even kind enough to make me a sketch of one of my favorite animals- a Lion! The last picture is my necklace with my other favorite animal on it- a Fox, also drawn by Sarah.

It was a better birthday than I could ask for. :)

OH! and if you havn't entered the birthday giveaway yet- DO IT NOW! An extra entry opportunity was added yesterday, so even if you did enter- you can enter one extra time! :D

CLICK HERE FOR THE BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY

A Winter Picnic

It was Ammon's Bday on Sunday, so we celebrated today! He is a wonderful person and I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

To celebrate we bundled up and got Zupas to go (I'm addicted to that place... YUM) then took it to this interesting park I discovered the other day. We sat inside the little pavilion (picture down lower) to eat, then took some family pictures!

Here's Sierra and I.

Best Friends Today, Tomorrow, and Always!

hahahaha!

Here are the girls!

Kate, Kenna, Me, Sierra
Bridge Photos
Oh Ammon...
And Tay! I'm so proud of you for smiling with your teeth!

I love this picture. Even if it is only half of my face. haha! Notice the hat?? Ya, I love it. :)

Three Best Friends in the pavilion.

Next we WERE going to go to a Roller Rink!! Ya! Don't ask me why, I just thought it'd be fun. But no. Instead we drove around for a half an hour trying to get Ammon to decide where he wanted to go. He finally settled on... Bowling. It really wasn't too bad. I did better than I have in a long time. haha! Woot.

Ringing in the New Year

I do not like new years... There's something about it. I think it's because I feel like all the good fun things that happened the past year are officially over. Anyways, this year I decided better to have a great party to keep me distracted instead of dwelling on my dislike for it. So I did.

It was an Ugly Sweater/ Fondue party (thanks to the new fondue pot Chib got me for Christmas!). It was a lot of fun and I had a pretty good turn out! The house was full, so I'm thinking that's pretty good.

We had all kinds of fondue! There was a white chocolate and a milk chocolate fountain...

A yummy cheese fondue, and an oil fondue to cook your meats and vegetables in!
Plus I had everything you could ever want or need to dip in the fondue. Fruit and snacks for the chocolate, vegetables, bread and little smokies for the cheese and steak and vegetables for the oil.

Yummy

I was so distracted last night (I guess my plan worked), that I forgot to take pictures of anything else really. :P

But I can tell you, we had fun decorations, noise makers, THE CANNON and sparkling cider to celebrate the countdown, a dance party in my family room and we pulled an all nighter to start the year off right... or... er... just because we're dumb like that. haha!

Thank you to everyone who came and made it a success! I had a blast!

Arg Matey! This Be A Pirate Party!!

Oh look! An invitation! I wonder what it says...

A wax seal! How official!

Basically, if you can't read it, it's an invitation to my pirate party.

The Table!! We served a hearty vegetable soup with loaves of bread to tear at. Then mashed potatos and gravy(thank you matt!!!!), pineapple (keeps away the scurvy) and herbed chicken. With Martinellis Sparkling Cider (Drink up me hearty's YOHO!) and apple pie for dessert!

Lots Of Booty!!

That leather folder holds a map inside!!

Me crown!

Last man who tried to mutany me!

Steve decided he was sick the day of the party, well, Captain Peg Leg Peggy (me) won't stand for that... He's now wall decoration. JUST KIDDING!

AYE! Beware of Pirates!

Here be part of me crew!

After dinner we had a legit treasure hunt....that didn't start or end so well. One car hit Mindy's mailbox, and my car (I wasn't driving) got pulled over. Luckily the cop was very nice and found it funny that we were dressed up like pirates on a treasure hunt...hahahahaha!! Ya... So he let us go. The treasure hunt involved a cave, messages in bottles, cemetaries etc. Unfortunately we completely messed up when we were setting it up and it didn't work out as well as it could have. haha! Oh well. It was a crazy adventure.

We ended the night by watching Pirates of the Carribean (the first one, it's the best) in Mindy's theatre room. I didn't get home until 3:30... But it was a really fun night!!

I'll possibly be posting more pictures from other people that I havn't received yet.

YOHO!