Mixer & Mingle Friday : favorites

I'm not feelin real 'thirsty' this morning, so I'm gonna post a little recap of my favorites for those of you who haven't been hanging around these parts too long.

Now that the weather is turning, it's time to start mixing some cocktails and enjoying them on the your patio of choice!

1) Hands down, the best pool and patio drink of summer. Bombpop Lemonade

2) Showing some love to you beer folks with a few Brewtails

3) The brand that I single-handedly keep in business thanks to my addiction,Whipped Jack Rum

4) The cocktail that tastes nothing like alcohol, rootbeer & rootbeer

5) When you wanna taste the *spiked* rainbow

6) When you need a cocktail that NO ONE will turn their nose up to, Alize

7) When you really just want to drink your dessert

8) My favorite shot these days, Breakfast of Champions

9) Sometimes you just need a caffeine kick

10) And for those days you're feeling vain and only care about the looks

Cheers!

"Is it fun?"

One of the most common questions I get in regards to resorts & vacation locations is "Is it fun??". I've always struggled with that one.

The truth: I've never been anywhere where I didn't have fun. Do I stay at 5 star resorts with luxury robes and room service? Heck. No. I usually average about a 3 star, my motto: if there's a beach and a bed, book it.

So, I'll share with you some tips on how to guarantee you have maximum fun on your next trip.
Ready? Got pencil and paper? Take notes. 

Step 1)
Make friends with the workers at the reception desk. They will be more than happy to hold onto your key while you go down the street to the 'discotheque' and will let you hang out and watch the walks of shame into the wee hours of the morning when you come back.


Step 2)
Make friends with the bartenders. They will do shots with you. And make you a priority in front of the 20 other people waiting to order. And have your drink ready and waiting before you even get to the bar.


Step 3)
Make friends with the entertainment crew. They will let you in on all the fun stuff going on around the resort, they won't make you do water aerobics or anything lame. They will come entertain you with dance parties while you're laying out. They will take you off the resort to all the fun, local places so you can get a real taste of the island.


Step 4)
If bingo is offered, play bingo. I promise you it will be hilarious. And you will win. And if you are doing this in sequential order, you will be buddy-buddy with the entertainment crew, so they will give you the best prize.


Step 5)
Hang out at the karaoke bar. You will make memories.



Step 6)
Chill out. Just seriously, chill out. That's what I want to tell half the snippity people I meet on vacation. Everything is laid back. It's ok. Embrace it. Don't freak out because you have to wait 10 minutes for a drink, just order 2 at a time next time. The more relaxed you are, the more enjoyable it will be.

So now I'm curious -- What tips would you add??

And thank you for tuning in to Chelsea's guide to fantastical vacationing. Adios! 
 

So What Wednesday

Link up with Life After I "Dew" if you wanna dish too!

So what if my last So What Wednesday post was like a month ago.


So what if I am totally rocking out to Lionel Richie right now. I am digging his new album, with all of the collaborations!

So what if I think the hottest thing a guy can wear is a white tshirt and jeans. And Pandora clearly knows my weak spot.

So what if I rediscovered these bad boys in my trunk and want to wear them all the time now.

So what if my coworkers and I have a serious problem. DQ is right down the road from the house of booze, and we make frequent trips.

So what if I STILL am not able to wear my new MK watch because no place will resize it since I didn't buy it there. LAME. 

So what if I sometimes decide I want cereal too after I fix a glass of milk.

So what if I spend many a night out back by my firepit with RussRuss The Ladies Man, now that the weather has warmed up.

So what if my boots have a closet all to themselves. My house has a lot of little closets, it works out perfectly.

So what if this makes me a spoiled brat. My mom drops off donuts for me when I am not home. LOVE IT!
 

Mullet.

Today I am rocking a mullet at work.

Not a real mullet. A fashion mullet.

 See, I sit behind a desk... so I'm all business up top

and party on the bottom!

 (white blazer from Charlotte Russe, striped tee from F21, red jeans from Carson Pirie Scott, blue heels are JessicaSimpson from a few years ago)

And the funnest* part is I'm all 'la ti da' professional  until I get up, then it's like KABAM.

Let's not even get into the party that's rockin on my wrist - whoa. Maximum capacity.

(love bracelet from F21, seashell bracelet from jamaica, lucky blue string, MK watch from cheating ex boyfriend, fake Yurman from F21, laramar bracelet from Punta Cana, leather bracelet from Punta Cana, Daughter bracelet from my mama)

Who's ready to rockNroll this Wednesday? We're halfway to the weekend pretty people!

(*Yes, I know "funnest" is not a word, but "most fun" sounds lame IMO)

Tip of the palm tree

That's what they tell me Punta Cana means. Supposedly. My one semester of Spanish isn't begging to differ, so we will go with it.

If you want my actual legit review, I always post them on TripAdvisor (a great source if you are planning a vacation and want honest opinions) however, I'll just post the fun version on here.

We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana. It was HUGE. and swanky, in a rock and roll kind of way.

Examples: 

Frosted glass doors on the bathroom stalls

HUGE walk-in shower

Do you think they were inspired by Pinterest?

Jacuzzi in the middle of the room

Rod Stewart watching you on the toilet

Eagles lyrics above your bed

Rockstar balcony

Madonna's blinged out limo

It was a pretty laid back trip all in all though, we did a lot of lounging by the pool or beach. But you won't hear any complaints from me! I was born to live that lifestyle ;)

I spent a little too much time in the casino, however after I turned $20 into a benjamin plus some at the roulette table the first night I couldn't quite help myself!

I wasn't the only winner either, my mama won BIG at the penny slots ;)

It was a great little girls getaway. Settling back into reality has been hard. I'm tellin you - I belong on a beach!
 

Color me eclectic.

My love of color has been raging in full force lately!

 

 

 

A lot of pinks, oranges & reds are consuming my wardrobe, which is funny because I always tended to gravitate towards cooler blue tones up until now!

Recharged.

Do you ever have those weekends that just recharge you and make you fall in love with your life all over again?

That's what this past weekend did to me! 

It's funny because it was nearly a year ago that I wrote about becoming a YES girl. As with all things, ambitions fade, the cold weather keeps you cooped up, you settle into a routine.

But everything got shook up this weekend! I was out bar crawling with coworkers and a soon-to-be-great girlfriend Thursday night, Friday brought a country concert and a whole new batch of acquaintances, Saturday left me lingering around a bonfire til the wee hours in the morning and come Sunday I was sending out invites for a tacky Easter bash and wrapped up the weekend enjoying dinner with one of the few good friends still left from the high school days.

I'm getting back to my "yes girl" roots, and am happier than ever with the outcome!
 

Would you expect any less from me

Like all good stories, this one started with a wiener.

Wait, what? Just kidding guys...
Although, really, it did.

Let me back up first though.... when we first started planning our little girls trip, we quickly learned there is no longer an easy way to get from Indy to Punta Cana. Almost all of the flights involved an overnight layover.  Being the vacation brats that we are, we started searching surrounding airports. Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville are all within 3 hours of Indy - we were determined to find SOMETHING better!

We ended up booking our flights out of Chicago O'Hare, saving a HUGE bundle of cash, and scoring a direct flight to Punta Cana (a direct flight at Spring Break, that's nearly unheard of these days?!)

So Saturday afternoon we piled into the car and roadtripped our way up I-65 North. After a pitstop in the heart of Chicago for pizza, we continued onto our hotel only to find the most iconic piece of Americana known to man, the Oscar Meyer Weiner-mobile was also sharing the hotel with us.

We did what any respectable group of women would do... giggled profusely as we made off-handed comments about touching the wiener, grappled at it's size, and posted pictures on Facebook.

Because really, when that happens the first night of your vacation, you know it's going to be a good week.
 

Then... and now.

I woke up bright and early on our first day in the Dominican, put on my bikini and plopped down in a lounge chair. I wasn't even 2 hours deep into my soak-up-the-sun session when I glanced across the pool and a familiar face caught my eye.

It couldn't possibly be. That was nearly 5 years ago, and the complete other side of the island. I couldn't help but watch him as he made his way around the pool. I pointed out the similarity to mom, and she laughed, commenting "wouldn't that be crazy if it was?!"

But as he got closer to our cabana I knew without a doubt it was. "Speedy? You worked at Riu in Puerta Plata didn't you?" He looked nervously at us, trying to place us, after a long pause he finally responded. "I don't go by that name anymore... when were you there?" Eventually a smile broke out on his face, "You said you were going to marry me last time I saw you!!"

In 2007, the same year we tormented those poor Switzerland boys, Speedy was part of the entertainment crew at the Riu resort we were staying at. We became fast friends with him, and spent a lot of our vacation

It was fun catching up with him, hearing what he has been up to for the past few years. He had fun announcing to everyone that I was his "fiance" and we had a "long history". We all got a few good laughs when another guy from the entertainment staff decided HE would be my future husband, and they duked it out.

It's always fun to run into a long lost friend, especially when you lease expect it!