it's stufest y'all!

It's the great Stu Flint's Birthday, you know what to do!

Grab a Frosty Beverage

Find a shady spot and 

Do  ab-so-lute-ly  Nothin'!

Hit it Pop!!

Happy Birthday! You're the best dad any girl could ask for, and I can't wait to celebrate Stufest in person soon!!

Love you!

the man turned 30

Andrew (aka The Man) (aka the Love of My Life!) turned the big 3-0 on Sunday. 

We spent Andrew's 30th with his mom, who flew in from Hawaii for the weekend, and saw Book of Mormon and ate a lovely dinner at Volare.  It was a wonderful and very grown up day.

Happy Birthday to the most talented, hilarious and handsome man I've have ever and will ever meet in my life.  I'm so happy you're mine.

rebeccakah

Today is my wonderful beautiful Mom's birthday!
Rebeccakah is now upon us!

Happy Birthday Mom, I love you and miss you like crazy!

alypalooza nails

Happy Alypalooza!!!

My birthday was on Wednesday and it's been a great birthday so far!  We had some wonderful friends in town on Monday and Tuesday and tomorrow night The Man and I are going out on a birthday date. I can't wait!

Here are this years Alypalooza nails:

There was so much going on this week that I wasn't able to do my nails before the big day, but it's Alypalooza so I've got plenty of time to celebrate!!

I'm really happy with how these turned out.  The thumb is a slice of cake (funfetti to be precise) and on the rest of the nails is a pink cake with number candles and party bunting! 

Have a great weekend everybody!!
Eat a sweet treat, be a couch potato and celebrate Alypalooza!




p.s. Each "Alypalooza" has a link to a different year's post! Take a trip through birthday nails past by clicking on them all :)!

stufest mani

Happy Stufest Everyone!!
It's still going strong so go lay on your lawn!

To honor the man of the hour (or more like the man of the 2 weeks... that's the approximate length of Stufest) I've painted a lazy day on my nails...

A blue sky, a cold beer, a good book and a relaxing seat in the shady grass.

I love you tons pop!!

stufest 2014!

Happy Birthday Daddio!
and a Happy Stufest to all!

By now most of you should know what I'm referring to (just in case you don't you can look here, and here).  These are the days to celebrate the Stupendous Stu Flint! Grab a frosty beverage, find a sunny spot, lay back and do absolutely nothin'!  Doesn't that sound like a fantastic way to spend the day?

Most anyone who knows my dad, knows what a wonderful man he is.  No one could ever compare to the sweet, loving, hilarious and amazing talented man who raised me (sorry Morning Man).

I'll never be as good a lyricist as my dear ol' dad,
but here's a little ditty for the man who made me me:

A wiz in the kitchen
His baked goods are bitchin'
He has comforted me
Ever since I was wee
His stories are the best
To have him I am blessed
He's my dad, that's what I said
We're connected in the head

I love you so so much, and though nothing can beat last years surprise, I hope you know how much you mean to me.

bits of the weekend

Hello you!

It's been a busy week, and there are no signs of it slowing down!
Over the weekend we had a friend in town and it was The Man's birthday.  We had a party on Saturday and it was wonderful.  Sometimes I forget how many great friends we have here in Chicago.

I made Salted Caramel Blackberry Brownies in lieu of a birthday cake, and it was scarfed down so quickly when I went to take a photo this is what was left:

I used this recipe for the caramel and even though I halved it I made way too much.  So by the end of the night everyone was eating spoonfuls of caramel, straight from the bowl.

With all the hub-bub this weekend I wasn't able to do my nails the way I had planned. So here is the simple design i'm rockin' right now:

Suuuuuper simple

We fly to New York on Friday so I'll be doing my NYC nails later this week.  I'm really excited to show then to you, I have an awesome idea!

blogaversary

Happy 3 Years!

This past weekend was this blog's 3 year anniversary, so I just wanted to pop in and say… 

Thank you for continuing to come back, even though, more often than not, I leave you with nothing new to see.

I really appreciate your support.

Have a wonderful week y'all.

mani mondays {and alypalooza cont....}

Alypalooza has been fantastic!!!

I came home on Tuesday to a plethora of gifts:

The Man got me a fully stocked bar for my birthday and I am fully stoked!
Mom and Dad got me a rad outfit and some lamp money!!

We had a little shindig on Saturday for my birthday and went to Lincoln Karaoke where I rented a room (if you're looking for a karaoke place in Chicago, that one is pretty great).  I did end up making that Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake, and I even brought it to the karaoke bar, but without a knife to cut it with it was barely touched, so I now have an entire six layer cake to eat by myself!!

By the time Saturday rolled around my first set of birthday nails were all chipped, so I had to paint some new ones. This time I went with Cupcakes!! Yum!

This has been one of the best Alypalooza's ever.

Thank you to everyone who made it great!!

doodle day

Whenever I have a free moment I try to doodle, whether it's using a pen, pencil, paint or pixlr.  So I thought I'd start a new weekly post called "doodle day" where I post one of my drawings, cute, funny, strange or otherwise.

Today's doodle was drawn with colored pens:

I am planning on making myself a birthday cake this weekend and this Martha Stewart Recipe for a Salted-Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake has caught my eye.  What do you think? Is that too much decadence? Is there such thing as too much decadence??

mani mondays {alypalooza}

It's ALYPALOOZA Time!!!

Tomorrow is my official birthday but as soon as the 1st hit so did Alypalooza!

For this birthday I did party hats and number nails, I also realized that "Tart Deco" by Essie must be my favorite polish color, just look at last years nails.

I'm turning 26 this year, which means I'm that much closer to being in my late 20's . . . isn't that when you're supposed to feel like a grown up?

So, if you'd like to join in on the festivities of Alypalooza just buy yourself something pretty, grab a margarita, and spend an entire afternoon watching mindless television!

surprise!

Well, it went off without a hitch!

This weekend was my dad's 60th Birthday.  That's right, the great man of STUFEST turned the big 6-0!  Over the past few months I racked my brain trying to think of the best 60th birthday present, until I finally got it.... ME!

Since March my Mom, our friend Briana, and I have been scheming and keeping secrets about the big day, and Friday night the plan was finally set in motion.

Friday I left work a little early and ran to the airport, where my plane was of course an hour off schedule. Briana picked me up when I landed around 10:30 and we headed to her house to go over the details and try to get enough rest for the big surprise the next day.

Saturday we woke up and headed to my parents' house.  Briana went in with the excuse that my mom had to show her some luggage, which may sound strange to you, but it's so completely normal, that my dad didn't suspect a thing.  She "grabbed the mail" on her way in and, along with some random junk mail my mom put in the night before, there was a birthday card from me (we even ruffed it up a bit so it looked like it had been handled by the post office).  Dad opened the card and Briana went to go get something she'd left in her car.

She came outside and got me and this is what happened next:

Surprise! from Aly Flint on Vimeo.

When it was all said and done we were all a big blubbering laughing mess. Then, like always with the people you love, everything felt like I never left.  We took showers, ate breakfast and got on with the STUFEST Festivities.  It was such a wonderful weekend, and I really wish it wasn't over.

Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you so very much.

p.s.  I was hesitant to post the video at first because it is a personal moment for our family and my dad's reaction was so heartfelt and emotional (if you couldn't distinguish it those are the combined sounds of tears and belly laughs). But when I watch this video I'm filled with so much joy, and I wanted to share that feeling with all of you. 

Sorry for getting sappy and corny, and thanks for watching!

mani mondays

Hippo nails!!
I hope everyone had a great weekend, I know I did!!  It is officially STUFEST! That's right the festival of Stu Flint's existence is in full force, so grab a frosty beverage, find a sunny spot and do absolutely nothin'.

And speaking about the weekend, I have something special to share with you all tomorrow, so get excited!

When I was doing these nails I couldn't stop singing the Hip-Hop-Popotamus song from Flight of the  Conchords.

mani mondays

It's finally getting nice outside, so this past Saturday we fired up the grill for The Man's birthday.  We had a great time with great friends, and ate lots of burgers and hotdogs.  I also made The Man a birthday cake that I wanted to show you but we made it and ate it too fast to document.

What he requested was strange but delicious. It was a banana bread cake with mini peanut butter cups in it and cream cheese frosting on the top.  YUM!

 For this week's nails I used mint candy apple (by essie) with diamond shapes in chick flick cherry (by opi).

Happy Monday Everybody!!
How was your weekend?

quarter century talk

25!!

It doesn't feel any different than 24, but it sure does sound different!

Today is my half birthday, I've been 25 for six months. Back in April I talked about going through the oh so silly yet oh so real and common quarter life crisis, and it's only been heightened since the slew of weddings we've recently been to.

Do you ever think about where you thought you'd be at your age now, when you were younger?

When I was 14 I was sure that I'd be having kids when I was 26, and now that just seems like the most ridiculous timeline I've ever heard. It's funny to think about the expectations and deadlines you set up for yourself when you were younger and had no real life experience. With every t.v. show and movie you see, every "milestone" year seems like it should be a big life changing moment.  Like when I was 8 and watching Clueless over and over again , Cher is supposed to be 16! It made 16 seem so old and mature, like everyone was completely independent. Then I turned 16 and I was still a kid, nothing really changed. 

And now at 25, an age that always sounded so adult, I still feel like a kid, I mean I definitely don't feel like a grown-up yet (for example I still call adults "grown-ups"). I'm not ready for weddings and babies and buying houses, I'm still trying to balance what will make me happy and what will pay my loans off. Some people get there quicker but I feel like for most of us, those deadlines are unrealistic. I'm at the age now where many of my friends are getting married, everyone is telling me, "oh, just you wait a couple years when all your friends are having children, that's the real kicker." We can't even afford the time and money it takes to own a dog, let alone do all that marriage/house buying/baby stuff!!

I feel like everyone goes through these stressful "crisis" periods because we are given so many expectations to live up to. And I know that a lot of them we put on ourselves but it's hard to let go of what 14 year old Aly thought was reasonable and right.

I want to do all those things, but dagnabbit, I'll do them when I'm good and ready!

rebeccakah!

It's my momma's Birthday!

Just as my dad has Stufest and I have Alypalooza, 

it is now time for Rebeccakah!!!!!!!

It's only eight days,

so let's make it count!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you so much!!!

p.s. just incase you have no idea what I'm talking about . . .

alypalooza!! . . . continued

Don't think just because the day is over the celebration is over, cuz that's not how we do it in this family.
We draw the party out, over days and weeks,
so AlyPalooza is still in full effect!!!

I had such a blast this weekend, so I want to tell you all about it!

First off I painted my nails for the big day.

Then I spent most of Saturday baking this amazingly delicious cake.

 I've never made something chocolatey from scratch before (other than frosting)
I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, an amazingly great recipe blog, that you have to check out, I have a never-ending list of her recipes I want to try out!

There were tons of ingredients I had to get, but in the end it was %100 worth it.  This is hands down the best cake I've ever made. So moist, so flavorful, so good in fact . . .

that I couldn't even get a picture of it before it was attacked!

It's the Double Chocolate Layer cake, with Chocolate Ganache and a Raspberry/Strawberry filling.  I strayed from the filling recipe just a bit, I don't have a food processor or any sort of blending device so I chopped up the berries added some sugar and let them sit to macerate in their own juices, then cooked them down (so I could eat them without going to the hospital). I also added strawberries to the raspberries, because they're delicious, and it's my birthday so I can do whatever I want.

 We had a couple friends over Saturday night and it was wonderful 

(thank you for coming over, you made my day!).

After a night of alcohol and cake (don't worry mom and dad, we stayed classy), I thought Sunday was going to be a wash. Just a sleep in and watch t.v. day.

But then The Man surprised me!

We went to the Davis Movie Theater to see The Avengers!!!

It was so great!

We haven't been out to see a movie since Alice in Wonderland (yeah, like March 2010, that long). So it was quite a surprise when The Man told me what we were doing.

The Davis is a great theater, no bells and whistles, and just $5.75 to see a movie before 6pm (around $8 after). When the movie got out we took a stroll through Lincoln Square to check it out, becaaauuuse . . . 

We're moving!!!!

To Lincoln Square!!!

YAY!

(but I'll tell you more about that later)

alypalooza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy AlyPalooza Everybody!!!!

Guess How old I am?

      I'll give you a clue . . .

That's right, I'm a whole Quarter Century now!!

It's my Birthday and I can paint my nails all crazy if I want to!!

oliver jeffers

Back in March I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs Gems (formally Where the Lovely Things Are). It was about the collaboration between Oliver Jeffers and Digby & Iona. Together they created a new collection of jewelry based off various characters and objects from Oliver Jeffers' children's books.

All the charms looked so cute but I had never heard of this Oliver Jeffers fellow, so I decided to investigate. And soon I fell in love . . . with his books.  I love his illustrations and his stories are just so wonderfully bizarre.

My dad and I have always shared a love for children's books.  We were always on the hunt for a new book with eye catching illustrations, so when I saw Oliver Jeffers' illustrations I new I had my dads birthday present down pat. 

I wanted to get him "The Great Paper Caper" but the bookstores didn't have it in stock (and it somehow never entered my mind that the internet exists, with it's vast knowledge, endless supplies, and shopping cart function)

 So instead I got him "The Way Back Home." I don't have any kids (and I won't for sometime - don't worry) but I might have to start my children's book collection early.

In addition to a kids book I also got my dad a bottle of Red Eye Coffee Porter by Two Brothers, because he's a grown up.

And I made him this card, because he like's sittin'.

STUFEST Continues!!!