You don't want to be THAT guy

Friends, it's here. What's here? The most wonderful time of the summer: Bachelorette Time!

Now we all know The Bachelorette is second to The Bachelor, but in the steamy summer when your favorite tv shows are on hiatus and there's nothing to watch but crappy shows that are surely not going to be picked up for a second season, I choose to watch the least crappy thing on television. What's better than watching dudes fight over a lady on national television and make complete fools of themselves?

ABC released the cast bios last week and oh man, they are sure to please! I could run through each guy, but instead, I think I'll give you the top 5 guys you don't want to be (as if you'd really want to be any of them, but maybe you secretly do):

Mikey T

. 

Mikey T. hails from Glen Ellyn, IL--just up the road--and likes to rock the "deep V" t-shirt. I think Mikey T. is kind of a tool. Maybe he tries too hard to be the life of the party. When answering the question, "If you could live in any other time period, what would it be?" Mikey T. answered, "the disco era." The disco era?! Methinks Mikey T. likes to party a bit too much. Also, "hasn't read a book in many years." Des, you can do better.

Will

Cute, yes, but Will seems a little freaky. He likes to take his dates to the gym "because it tells me a lot about their work ethic and daily habits." A little creeptastic. Also answers that he wouldn't do meth for love. I mean, solid answer, but not what I'd put on an application for the Bachelorette. You don't want to be THIS guy.

Juan Pablo

Occupation: Former pro-soccer player.....so what do you do now? This guy is not so interesting really. When answering the question "What is your favorite book?" he answered, "Don't read." Is Des into non-intellectual dudes? Perhaps. He also thinks Hawaii is a city. 

Mike R.

Male model? Eek. Also, likes to take women to dive bars and have sex in public. Is this guy for real?  He's kind of scary like his picture. Guys, you don't want to be this guy. 

James

His favorite author is Dr. Seuss--which is either adorable or means he hasn't read a book since first grade. 

Maybe it's just me, but I like a man who is more than a meat-head. Perhaps Des and I have different tastes. Perhaps there's a reason why she's on a dating show and I'm in a serious relationship. Perhaps none of this matters at all.

There you have it folks, the five guys you DON"T want to be. Or date. Or marry. But only time, Desiree, and the ABC producers will tell who will win this fairytale journey.

Gettin' Crafty: Baby Shower Invites

So, I'm not the crafty type. I don't hoard buttons or save bottlecaps for the ever-elusive craft project--I'm just lazy and don't throw them out.

But, lately, I"ve gotten the crafty bug. I want to hot glue EVERYTHING! Think Paris Gellar's craft corner: 

It started with making hand-made Christmas ornaments out of scrabble tiles for my friends and family, then bachelorette party invitations. Now: baby shower invites! 

My friend Becca just found out she and her husband are expecting a baby girl in September. Having no siblings and therefore no potential nieces/nephews, I am claiming "aunt" to all of my friends' kiddos. That starts with helping throw a baby shower in June for the beautiful mama!

So, I as in the process of creating some invite on Vistaprint. Easy, cheap, cute, right? But then I got to pinning. Oh boy, Pinterest can be the devil. It can make you think you are crafty when really, you're not that crafty (I've since created a board called "Crafts I'd like to make, but let's be honest"). I saw the CUTEST baby shower invites. So stinking cute. And then I thought, I bet I could make those! So one morning, I had a few minutes to spare before work and some leftover card stock from the bachelorette invites and voila! A prototype was born.

So, I went to Archiver's to collect more scrapbook paper. Again, surprisingly, not a whole lot to choose from. But I made do and got lots of supplies. Did I tell you there were 75 ish folks invited? Yep, I got LOTS of paper.

After I made the prototype, I pulled it apart and traced the top on all of the colored paper I had. You can fit four per page whether letter size paper or 12" x 12". I bought 12" x 12" because they had more color/pattern options.

But then I was looking at the patterned paper I bought and thought: hey, I bet these would look cute if I made onesies. So again, I made a prototype and traced away.

I also designed the "invite" portion to glue on the back and a business card size insert that had registry info on it. 

All parts have been cut and are ready for assembly:

I use a plain old Elmer's Glue Stick. It works pretty great!

I had some scraps from the scrapbook paper, so to give the registry inserts a polished look, I glued them onto a larger piece of scrap.

The finished product:

You thought I was finished, right? Nope. Remember the whole 75 ish invites thing? It's still a work in progress. But I loved these too much to scrap the idea and go buy pre-made invites.

I've had tons of fun making these and I've been showing them to anyone who halfway cares. Because they are pretty cute. And relatively easy to make. I'll let you know how I feel when I've finished them all!

UP NEXT....ABC has released the cast of this season's Bachelorette! Stay tuned for an in-depth analysis of these "winners" the producers picked out for our girl Des. AND, listen to this podcast to prepare.

An Almost Finale Party

So my lady co-workers and I love Grey's Anatomy. Unfortunately, because we have a rotational on-call schedule, very rarely are we able to be free for the evening and enjoy the show together. Tonight, however, we lucked out and were all free to hang, enjoy some beverages, and watch the season finale of Grey's (or so we thought) while we're all still working together.

We divvied up the responsibilities: Lauren's bringing the Crazy Bread, Bridget's bringing the pasta salad, and I'm making a spinach salad and hosting ( a favorite past-time of mine). We also planned out the drinks. I was making a delicious, summery drink I found on Pinterest. Here's the recipe:

3 oz. Moscato (I used PINK because we like pink)
1 oz. Sparkling strawberry-flavored water (it calls for strawberry soda, but I prefer the water)
1 oz. Vanilla vodka

I should have taken it as a sign that when I got to the store, I realized one of my co-workers doesn't drink vodka (smacks hand on head) and that when I got home from the store, I realized I didn't have very much vanilla vodka (another hand to the head). Clearly, this evening was not going as planned.

But never fear, we found a drink solution, everybody brought a little something, and beverages were not an issue.

We had quite the spread!

And see that small white bowl on the bottom left corner? That's amazingly delicious yummy dip that I made from a Real Simple recipe. And guess what! It's REAL SIMPLE:

1 c. nonfat Greek yogurt

1 c. feta cheese

1/2 c. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

2 tbs. olive oil

Mix in a small bowl and serve with pretzel crisps OR FlipSides. YUM and really not that unhealthy. Unless you devour the whole bowl.

But anyways, onto Grey's. We settle in our seats and tune in, all a-twitter with excitement and speculation as to what the cliff-hanger will be. It's a pretty good episode. Someone gets beat up, someone gets engaged, they do an awesome brain surgery. And with 9 minutes left, we are wondering: what is going to happen?!

These people have been in hospital shootings, plane crashes, near-explosive situations--so really, WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW? Is Meredith going to have her baby? Is Arizona going to cheat? Will Alex go to jail?

OY! The room was buzzing with suggestions and speculations.

And then, it ended. (SPOILER ALERT) And we're like, okay, Meredith is going into labor and Arizona cheated. That's a  decent cliffhanger, but nothing compared to previous seasons.

And THEN, "Next week on the season finale of Grey's Anatomy..." WHAT?! This wasn't the finale?!

Nope. Sure wasn't. But it was fun. And we ate yummy food. And we enjoyed a night of non-work-related socializing. It was fun.

Next week, we'll tune in. Probably without the fanfare. But maybe with the dip.

Problem Being: Ready for Love

I have a problem. It's called "Ready for Love." Heard f it? You may have seen Eva Longoria promoting it on the Today Show or you may heave heard of it in the twitterverse. This show was pimped out like you wouldn't believe.

So who are our bachelors? You can watch their personal bios here. You've got Tim from the Plain White T's--a semi-cool band that is kind of a two-hit wonder, but nevertheless ladies love a musician! And then Ben, a hospital CEO who's ready to find the love of his life. And Ernesto, an "entrepreneur with a social vision"; who the heck knows what that means.

Then there are three matchmakers, Amber, Tracy, and Matthew, who have teams of ladies that are vying for one of these dudes' heart (read: celebrity--but more like DWTS celebrity). It's part Love Connection, part Bachelor, and part Survivor. Basically, it's craziness hosted by celebrity couple Bill and Giuliana Rancic.

Alas, the show with more cast members than Game of Thrones has been cancelled and moved online for the rest of the season.

But dare I say, it is still terribly fantastic?! If you find yourself with two hour and nothing to do each week, tune in to nbc.com/ready-for-love. Then I won't feel so alone.