Family Matters Pt. 1

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No, this post is not about Steve Urkel!  (Sorry to disappoint you!)  I realize that it may seem that I am leaving y'all hanging with the multiple "Part 1" blog posts recently, but I'm starting multiple blog series at a time - what can I say - I like to go big or go home.  One theme you may find throughout this blog is that I am the luckiest girl in the world.  In most cases and scenarios, that is absolutely true, and one region of my life that I feel the word "lucky" especially applies to is the family I was born into.

Now, I often say that friends are the family we choose because, let's face it, you have absolutely no control over the family you were born into.  Luckily for me, my family are also my friends, and that makes for one very happy Chicken Wing.

One thing that sets my family apart from most?  For the majority of my life, I grew up having two family reunions for each side of the family EVERY.SINGLE.YEAR.  Seriously, this is a big deal. So big, in fact, that I became the topic of discussion during a college sociology class when the question was raised, "Who even has family reunions anymore?" and I was the only one who raised my hand.  (Subsequently, I was also the only one who raised my hand when asked if anyone enjoyed going to family reunions).

A few weeks ago, we had a small small-for-us family gathering on my dad's side of the family, and it was awesome.  It went the way it always does, with everyone bringing a dish that they made to the get-together.  Per usual, my mom stopped and got KFC fried chicken because it's hard to find a main course dish that travels well for 3.5 hours and let's be honest - she hates to cook, and by hates to cook, I mean she doesn't do it.

What did Comanche and I contribute to this shindig?  My favorite course - dessert. 

There's nothing like a flirty chef, right?

Am I the only one who likes to eat batter?

Whew, I am a lucky girl!

The finished product!  Yummy brownies!

Stay tuned on the family fun time that went down in good ole' North Cackalacky (North Carolina for all of you Yankees out there) seen through the lens of my new and awesome camera!!!

Until next time,

My Little Boy Is FOUR!

Today is a very special day for the Chicken Wing household as it is my fur-son MuChi's FOURTH birthday!  My little man is growing up!  There will be special treats given today and lots of love and playtime.  And for those of you who don't believe in the truth that dogs are very intuitive, MuChi definitely knows it's his birthday - we've been talking it up for a week!  :)

So here is a mother's wish for the best snuggler and cuddlebug that's ever lived:  I hope you know how loved you are, little buddy!  I hope you know how much joy you have brought to my life.  I hope you know that I so look forward to coming home every day and having you "hold my hand" all the way up the stairs when I go to change into my lounge clothes.  (He literally puts my hand in his mouth and walks two steps ahead of me - he is my little helper).  I hope you know how grateful I am for your assistance with loading the dishwasher.  I love how you know how to sit, high-five, lay down, and roll over and how you get so excited to perform those tricks!  Thank you for being my lap dog - and for always stealing all of my blankets (Snuggie included).  I love you, my baby!  Happy Birthday!

Until next time,

Reverb 10 - Prompt #9

December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)

This one is an easy one!  My favorite party of 2010 (and I hope no one gets offended by this) happened to occur on my birthday!  

Before you think I am the most vain woman on the planet, let me clue you in to the fact that one of my best friends in the world got married on my birthday!  Her wedding was the social gathering that rocked my socks off in 2010!  

 

With the insanely gorgeous bride, Nay!



With the very handsome groom, DK!

As for the people, they were some of my close friends from college, plus new friends of either the bride or groom that I had the blessed opportunity to meet!  It was a great group, and everyone's hearts were filled with love for the newlyweds, so that made it even better!

The music was a special experience because the groom had a musical surprise for the bride!  He had one of his uber talented friends sing a song live for their first dance, and it was absolutely beautiful!  (To here it and to check out the uber talented friend's band, click here and choose "Love Make Me Free.")  There was also a live band that played the rest of the reception, and it was fun to watch couples cut a little rug! 

The food was also super fun because it was literally like an upscale cookout!  There were hot dogs and hamburgers and all the fixin's and it was an awesome plan for a hot summer day.  There was an ice cream sundae bar (sign me up any day of the week) and delicious cupcakes for dessert.  There was fresh honey for favors.  There were all different kinds of beer and wine, and everyone had a ball!

The attire, as evidenced by the photos above, was preppy chic and so comfortable!  Typically when you're in the bridal party of a wedding, you can expect taffeta and heels, and in this wedding, I got to wear a gorgeous printed summer dress and J. Crew woven flip flops!  That was refreshing!  I got to carry a gorgeous hydrangea bouquet and my fellow bridesmaids (and sorority sisters) did my hair, which I loved!  It was like an all-girls slumber party where we did each other's hair!  Haha!

The best part was that two of my best friends joined their lives and hearts in marriage.  The groomsmen were crazy, the bridesmaids were crazy beautiful, and insanely fun shenanigans were had by all - especially when we were trying to get the groomsmen to be serious during the photo-taking.  All in all, it was an amazing day, and my favorite party of 2010!

Until next time,

What My Weekend Has In Store For Me

So, I am excited about this weekend for numerous reasons, but I figure I'll let you in on a few of them.

1.  Tomorrow, I am co-hosting a baby shower with my friend AW!!!  One of my best girlfriends in the world, K, is having her first baby!!!  And, it's a boy!  So, we are throwing an epic baby shower for her to celebrate the impending bundle of joy!  I think it's going to be a blast and we've been busy planning this for months now!  I love it when an event comes to fruition!  During this time, I got to flex my crafting muscles as well, and I can't wait to share some of the easy and super fun projects that I got to work on!

Me and AW - we were just as hands-on with planning this baby shower...what can I say?  You definitely want to have us as your friends!

 K and me!  K will from this day on be known as Mama K!

2.  Not only do I get to participate in Baby Fest 2010, but I also get to reunite with another group of friends as we say "goodbye for now" to our good friend, D, who is leaving for basic training in the military soon.  It will be sad to see him depart for awhile, but it will be awesome getting to see everyone again and having some hang-out time!

Here's a little FaceinHole action featuring from L-R, Front:  D, his wife S, me, and Mama K.  L-R, Back:  Mr. CW and Mama K's husband L. 

3.  I get to see this guy for the first time in 5 weeks:

So, obviously, I am very excited about that!  I know our three furbabies are going to be so excited that their Daddy is home!  We're still getting used to this semi-long distance stuff, and I am really happy to have our fella return, even if it's just for a weekend!

So, I hope you all have a fantastic couple of days, and I can't wait for the Baby Shower Recap!  Happy Friday, everyone!

Until next time,

Miss Chicken Wing