the muscarellas take on lake tahoe!

when my mom married my stepdad back in 1998, i went from having 2 cousins to approximately one million. my step dad is a true italian and comes with the massive family to prove it. so about a year ago, some of the cousins started talking about a family reunion. and then somehow or another, we actually pulled it off!

so grandma and grandpa muscarella had 3 kids - mark, joe, and gigi. mark had 6 kids, joe had 10 kids, and gigi had 4 kids. my step dad belongs to mark and he grew up in new jersey. joe's 10 kids grew up in california and all still live there today. my mom and stepdad have been married since i was 9 years old - and until this trip - my mom, nor my sister and i, had ever met any of the california muscarellas!

after a  super long day of travel, i got into lake tahoe around midnight california time. momma picked me up in reno and when we finally got to the resort (lakeland village), my heart was so full to find my first cousins drinking around a bonfire. i hadn't seen a lot of them in a few years and i absolutely loved getting to spend a whole 5 days with them.

over the next 4 days we beached, drank (a lot), paddle boarded, cooked out, rented out a restaurant for our big party, gambled, swam in emerald bay, parasailed, and got to know the "westies." it was an amazing vacation and lake tahoe is easily one of the most beautiful places i've ever been. 

{my parents and i went out on a boat with a few of brian's cousins and drove over to emerald bay. it was so beautiful and brian said he couldn't pass up a chance to swim there. so before we knew it he had thrown himself into the water and scared my mom and i half to death. but getting to swim with him in one of the most beautiful bays in the world was truly special. there are a lot of things his stroke took away from him and from us, but his determination and spirit have never wavered. i am thankful.}

this was one of my all time favorite trips and i am so glad i was able to make it. hoping to make it out to california for easter next year for the annual muscarella easter bash! 

#kattsbach {asheville, nc}

back when katt's moh/sister-in-law, sutton, & i started planning her bachelorette party, sutton decided it would be fun to make her bach a surprise. so until thursday evening when she hopped in the car, she had no idea what any of the plans were for her special weekend!

sutton & i headed up to asheville around 3pm on thursday to get checked into our house & get things ready for katt's arrival. i made katt the booklet below to let her know where we were going. britt gave it to her when they left charlotte around 6pm and turns out she actually had no idea where we were going! i thought for sure someone had spilled the beans at some point over the past few months.

the cabin i rented was AWESOME. there were 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a total of 16 places to sleep including the futon. there were also 3 couches and plenty of room for air mattresses - i'm convinced at least another 10 people could have comfortably fit in that house. there was a triple decker porch that had the most beautiful views of the mountains. it was perfect. i rented through vacation in asheville, and they were also extremely helpful and nice!

{sunset on thursday night}

the rest of the thursday night gang got in around 8:30pm and sutton made us cheese, meat & crackers for an app. we ordered pizza, played cards of humanity, drank beer, and hung out around the cabin for the rest of the evening!

{party favors: more on these awesome but simple gifts soon}

friday morning we slept in and hung around the house before heading into town for lunch. we ended up at wicked weed brewery after hearing some awesome things about it. it did not dissapoint! the beer was creative and delicious and so were all the menu items. my favorite beer was the v saison - it was dark in color, but not in flavor, and had a raspberry taste. i ordered the black bean burger that was served with pimento cheese and crunchy okra on top - it was amazing. the weather was beautiful - we could have stayed there all day!

we headed back to the cabin to meet the rest of the girls & get ready for friday night. i made a taco bar for dinner at the house, and once everyone else arrived, we headed back into town for the pub cycle! it is seriously worth the trip to asheville just to do this. the company we used was asheville amazing pubcycle and they are true to their name. our guide, chase, who played "becky" all night, was absolutely hysterical. i think he was born to do that job. we cycled up and down the streets of asheville, stopped at a few bars, and drank along the way. it was SO FUN. apologies to anyone who heared us screaming kilo ali lyrics around 10pm...

saturday morning we woke up and got ready for katt's shower. sutton made us delicious quiches & we had plenty of bottles of the yummiest champagne, asti, from trader joe's. we love you, andre, but there is a newer (and cheaper) champagne in town.

after the shower, we all did our own thing for the afternoon. some of my college pals & i headed back downtown to walk around and do some shopping. we ended up back at wicked weed for a snack and a brew. saturday night we drove to west asheville for dinner at isis. sutton's friend owns this new restaurant/music hall and they set up a special dinner just for us! we had a lovely 3 course meal and loved all the unique things on their menu.

after dinner, we hopped around to a few bars downtown. after we forced katt to chug way too many beers, we ended the night in our pajamas eating katt's famous nachos - just like old times!

i hope it was a perfect weekend, katt! we had a great time celebrating you and i hope you know that you are so loved. 52 days until you are mrs. smits!

sunshine, best friends, and a limo ride: labor day 2013 {cherry grove, sc}

after ammie & i so kindly bought everyone biscuits for breakfast on friday, i jumped in the car with her & dalton back to charleston, sc. they have recently moved into the same townhouse complex, and you can throw a rock between their front doors - i died laughing upon discovering how close they are. i love both of their places! we scooped up dalton's roomie, packed ammie's bags, and headed up the coast to cherry grove, sc. cam's grandma owns a house  across the street from the beach & kindly let us borrow the house for the weekend!

 

{felt like a family road trip from hell}

 

we got to the house around 8pm, ordered pizza, and waited for everyone else to arrive. we decided to forgo the beach bars and stay put on the amazing front porch. i finally hit the hay around 1am and was so confused to wake up at 5:45am and find everyone still sitting in the living room. clearly, i can't hang!

 

we woke up and watched gameday for a few hours before heading to the beach. there was barely a cloud in the sky - it was a beautiful last beach day of the year.

around 6pm we headed to overtime to start watching football. chelsea & jason met us there & it was so fun to see them! something about seeing your best friend out of your normal setting when you're not planning on it is really fun. a million hours later once the football game finally ended, and georgia choked, we spent the rest of the night on a rooftop beach bar listening to weird music.

sunday was a totally lazy day besides ams & i sneaking off to enjoy the first real meal of the weekend. and then around 5pm, we jumped into a giant limo and headed to wilmington, nc. cam has a family that he is so close with that he refers to their daughter, jordan, as his sister. well Jordan's best friend was throwing her a low-country boil engagement party in wilmington, and since we were so close, they invited us to come!

the limo ride there was a total blast & we killed 4 bottles of champagne. the engagement party was hosted at a gorgeous house across from the water. the food was amazing - we had oysters & shrimp boil. we met the nicest man in the world who lectured us all about what we deserve in a man, and all 3 of us were crying. i got to meet jordan's extremely kind parents, and a handful of other important people in cam's life. it was the perfect night!

 

 

{cam, ams, rach, me, dalton}

the limo ride home looked a little something like this....

after we got home, we enjoyed another porch night with music & our pals. monday came too quick and after a TERRIBLE lunch at a local restaurant, we all headed our separate ways. i am forever thankful for the university of south carolina & chi omega for bringing these people into my life. i am a lucky girl & i have some pretty great friends.

 

hope your weekend was as amazing as mine!

{rewind} happy new year!

last week i shared a post about our awesome vegas vacation, but this night was so special that it deserved it's own post. when we decided to go to vegas, my stepmom & dad started doing some research into what we wanted to do for NYE. we ended up buying tickets to an all you can drink/eat party at the wynn. oh. my. gosh. the party started at 9pm and upon arrival, we saw this....

yes, that is a woman hanging from a chandelier, pouring dom perignon. it was insane! every time she needed a new bottle, she flipped right side up and floated back up to the chandelier. probably one of the coolest things i have ever seen. seeing as how this was in the pre function space, i couldn't wait to see what was inside!

{derrick getting his glass}

{awesome seating chart - room was set for 1, 300 guests}

this was the giant dance floor that had four bars in the center - one on each side. there were also two other sets of double bars totaling eight bars!  the DJ was on top of the platform over the bars! there was also servers pouring free flowing dom perignon all night. i drank my weight in dom that night, because i will probably never have it again. i now understand why it is so expensive - it is delicious!

the tables were decorated beautifully! most people probably don't pay attention to things like this, but you know i do! they went all out - silver beaded chargers, linens, overlays, specialty napkins, florals, the works! the color scheme was orange, brown, and green, and it looked great!

onto the food - there were two sets of three different food stations. they picked some of the favorite restuarants from the wynn and each restaurant had it's own station.

{mizumi - sushi}

{mizumi - sushi}

{meat & pasta station}

{meat and pasta station}

ok so, i didn't do the seafood station justice with my pictures. there were raw oysters, platters of king crab legs, lobster tails, HUGE shrimp, and this amazing combo. when i imagine meals in heaven, this is what i see.

{HOLY PASTRIES}

{this was an ice sculpture made with holes for shooter glasses filled with ice cream - genius!}

{macaroon tree}

{bananas foster bar}

around 11pm, the servers came out with bags for each table that had been packed with NYE favors. this was an awesome touch - and we had a great time playing with all the props!

{party people}

{of course we started taking weird pictures}

{party}

{midnight!}

{my family post midnight}

it was an  AMAZING party - probably my all time favorite NYE. we are blessed.