Happy birthday, Harley Davidson!

In case you didn't know, I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - home of Harley Davidson motorcycles. This weekend is the 110th anniversary of Harley Davidson, and there have been absolutely thousands upon thousands of motorcycles in town all weekend. Every five years, they have a giant anniversary party, and this year has been no exception. They put together a huge festival on our Summerfest grounds, and it has just been awesome to hear the potato rumble and see license plates from seriously everywhere around town.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to any specific Harleyfest events, but I did go to a motorcycle firefighter brotherhood bash on Friday, and I decided that would be enough. As a driver in the city, it can be a bit of a pain, but honestly, in comparison to having all of these awesome events going on, it doesn't even matter.

If you want to check out some photos, check the #hd110 tag on Instagram! Happy birthday, Harley-Davidson, and I hope we get to have 110 more!

The return of Sunday Social! #65

The Sunday Social blog posts have been something I've always loved to do - and I am really excited to bring them back! So, enjoy!

1. What was your favorite trip/vacation/activity this summer?

I would say, without a doubt, my Dayton trip. I need to be a lot better at getting out and going on adventures (even if it's by myself), and it was exhilarating to be able to get out of town for even a few days. I got to see my best friend, eat great food, and go do something fun that was out of my comfort zone. It was a great adventure, and being able to pay respects at the Air Force Museum and see some great fireworks. And, like I said earlier, being able to try a Red Velvet shake at Steak N Shake for the first time ever (we don't have them here), almost made the whole dang trip worth it! 

2. What was your favorite outfit look/clothing item of the summer?

Honestly, I don't think I even bought new clothes this summer, besides a few pairs of jeans that were a smaller size than my previous pairs! :)

3. What is one thing you wish you’d gotten to do this summer?
It has really been a perfect summer full of ups and downs, and I can't say that I would ever change anything that happened. I wish I would have gotten to adventure more!

4. What was your favorite song of the summer?
This is a bad question, since I don't listen to music via the radio, really. Most of the music I listen to is contained in about four Pandora stations, those being about 3 90's stations and one that mixes Tool, the Deftones, and other artists like that. I like listening to a song in my office at work and having one of my guys walk in and just shake their heads. That's my favorite.

5. What was your favorite movie/tv show of the summer?
That new True Blood season wasn't horrible. I'd say that was the 'newest' show I watched over the summer. And as for movies, does Star Trek: Into Darkness count?!

Check back next Sunday for another great set of questions!

It's giveaway time again!

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a company called Diamond Candles who had checked out my blog and asked if I felt like doing a giveaway. Of course I did! I got one to check out, too, and though I haven't gotten to the ring yet, it smells really good! 

Diamond Candles are 100% soy candles that smell great, but there's a surprise! Each one has a ring inside worth $10, $100, $1,000 or $5,000 inside! Not only do they smell great, but they use environmentally friendly materials that make for a wonderful, long burning candle. And they aren't skimpy on size, either! Each candle is approximately 21 ounces. Unfortunately, though, I haven't reached the ring in my own Black Raspberry Vanilla candle, but can assure you it smells great!

(Do you love that photo, by the way? I built a lightbox!)


All you have to do to enter the giveaway is follow the directions below, in the Rafflecopter widget, and the winner will be announced in about two weeks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Update! I got my ring:

Well, August is over.

I felt like doing something like a currently post, but decided against it. I can't believe it's the last day of August already! This summer has gone by fast, but also had its' ups and downs. I lost a good friend, went on my first vacation in years, and been on countless work trips that have eaten up all of my time it seems like. Time I could have spent blogging! But of course, sometimes things don't go as you think they will.

So here's a quick little recap of some of the more fun stuff I've been doing in the last couple of months.

July Trip to Dayton, OH

best friends forever!

I finally went somewhere that isn't in the state of Wisconsin for a long trip! I went to Dayton, Ohio to visit one of my best friends on this planet, Tiffany, since her and her husband Brian have been here to Milwaukee a couple of times and I just really needed to get out. I had four days of great times, including a July 4th trip to the Air Force Museum, fireworks, bike rides, good food, and allaround great times. I also got my bike updated, which is something I've wanted to do for a great long while. Now, I finally have the handlebars of my dreams, and it's all thanks to them. It was absolutely great to go somewhere new, and go on a little adventure - even if it meant six hours in the car by myself either way. I also got to eat at a Steak N Shake for the first time ever, and I must say that their red velvet shakes are the best. Just theeeee best. Oh, and I also finally got to try some of the new lip balm from her DIY cosmetics line, and it's prettymuch the best lip balm ever. She has a lot of cool stuff that you can check out at her Etsy shop, here! I talked about her nail polish in an old post, too, which you can find here!

Work trips have basically been my main focus of this whole summer. Inspecting fire trucks is a big job, but someone has to do it! For the last month or two, I've probably been gone at least once a week out of each week. I'm finally allowed to be home without trips for about the next two weeks.

As for the friend I lost, it hasn't been easy. There have been a lot of questions, a lot of wondering why. All I can say, though, a couple of months later, is that I hope that he's in a better place and not in pain anymore. That's really the best I can say.

Back in the positive, I have a lot of great stuff coming up as far as blogging goes. I'm going to be putting together a lot of neat stuff. I'm going to bring back the Tattoo Stories series, have some new Book Club Mondays, and am really shooting to have at least one post a day. This evening, however, check back, as I am going to be putting up a giveaway for Diamond Candles!

It's been a good summer. It's been long, difficult at times, and at other times great, but for the most part, it has been a great one.

OKStupid Chronicles #3: Get the hint!

Every now and again, I will get a message from someone that I'm not really interested in ever talking to. So, to be respectful, I don't respond, and go on with my day. Some guys, however, do not understand that concept. That is when we get fun ones like this.

I wouldn't say 'afraid' so much as 'I don't even want to look at your profile because your photo makes you look like such a douchebag'. I thought Myspace angles died with Myspace. 

How about the fact that you started out overconfident and I didn't respond so you tried again for the same result? I think I may have gotten one other message from the same guy, but it probably would have been similar to this one.

I'm really more of an OKC creeper than anything else - if you go into online dating, especially free online dating, thinking that you'll get anything meaningful out of it, you should really rethink your life. Especially your life on the Internet.

And guys, if you decide to message some random girl, BE SMART ABOUT IT. Complement her, use a complete sentence! Punctuation is your friend! Talk to her like you'd want her to talk to you. It doesn't have to be a horrible experience if you don't want it to be.

Unless you're me. Then, your OKCupid inbox is always a horrible experience.