I’m behind on the series and I can’t even tell you a summary of these months anymore. I’m just kidding. There’s so much that I want to say, but I can’t find the correct words to say it. There’s been so much ups and downs in the beginning of the year. I just want to thank my people for being with me and to thank myself for holding on.
January
February
March
Happy Galentine’s Day! ♡
I’m a big lover of Valentine’s Day, so it’s no different for Galentine’s Day. If you didn’t know, Galentine’s Day is a day to celebrate women’s friendships and lands on February 13 every year. I have been so lucky to have been able to celebrate Galentine’s with friends for the last few years now. It’s the one event that I look forward to every year! I think it’s so fun to decorate the house, get cute, and spend quality time with your girls.
Every year, my friends and I plan a girls only party. We have food, drinks, themed outfits, photoshoots, crafts, gift exchange, etc. We’re always going all out and it’s always a great time. I just had my Wisconsin’s Galentine’s 2025 last weekend! I love love, I love being a girl and I love my friends ♡
Now let me take you through the years of Galentine’s events. You know, just SALLYTHINGS♡
2020
The very first Galentine’s party and outing was in 2020 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I remember I had to rush after work to the party and even though most of the girls left, I was still able to get some photos and food in. It was the first time I’ve taken any lingerie photos and those came out so good. There’s something empowering about having little polaroids of yourself looking hot! Lingerie polaroids are now a must every year. They are my favorite photos and everyone else’s too. ♡
The outing was with two other friends and that’s a story of it’s own. We went to a rooftop bar in Grand Rapids called IDC Bar. Yes, a rooftop bar in the middle of February and we weren’t freezing! It’s still one of my favorite rooftop bars to go to in Grand Rapids. The IDC Bar is so cute on the inside and the vibes are so fun. The IDC Bar had just opened in 2019/2020 and they served hotdogs and chili bowls. My friends and I will never forget how we were eating chili dog with our drinks that were 3x more expensive. We loved it though! There was a big insurance convention that happened in the same hotel right before, so we met a lot of new friends during our outing. We went all out with our new friends and got the huge IDC disco ball punch. Someone also ended up paying for our whole tabs as well. Definitely a night to remember ♡
2021
Galentine’s 2021 had a black and white theme. Celebrated in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ♡ Sometimes you have to be wild in this life and we made sure of that. Not only was it Galentine’s, but we were celebrating a 21st birthday! This outing started out with a nice dinner that quickly turned to a drink fest. I remember taking the whole margarita pitcher in a to-go soup bowl container and us drinking from that bowl. Next, we stopped by The Woods for some more drinks. It was completely empty there, but we had such a fun time. That’s where most of our photos and videos came from. If you have the best people with you, you’ll never be bored! We also made friends with whoever came in randomly. Free shots after shots. We couldn’t end the night there, the night was still young. We went to the Gun Lake Casino since they would be open. Lost a little money, but at least we had our drinks and more girl time. I specifically remember sitting at the cafe at 2 am or 3 am and drunk eating before our rides came. I’m pretty sure we all went to work hungover the next day. Nothing like a Galentine’s! ♡
2022
2022 was the first year and start of Wisconsin Galentine’s ♡ I was living in Madison, Wisconsin this year. Wisconsin Galentine’s has been happening ever since and the event I always look forward to every year. It’s always a girls only party and we tend to throw our secret santa exchange with it. This year was also a birthday celebration as well. Like all the other Galentine’s we plan all the decor, snacks, drinks, photo backdrop, outfits, etc. It’s always a good time! Of course we need the spicy polaroids. These are probably still my favorite ones. ♡
2023
2023 Wisconsin Galentine’s was a two day event. First day was the all girls party with another birthday celebration. The second day was our friend group including the guys and we all went out to a club/bar. For photos this year, we had our dress up ones, then the topless flower photos. We tried our best to recreate it and they turned out super cute. The second day, after the bar outing we stayed up until 6-8 am still hanging out. I have the funniest videos of us all at 7 am still partying, some sleeping and some just so tired but staying alive. Like I said before when you have a good group, you’ll never be bored or in the case sleep! ♡
My second Galentine’s outing was back home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My best friend and I were on a mission to take some good photos for her Valentine’s and after that was completed, we had a nice lunch at Tupelo Honey. I wish I could post the photos we took because they turned out so good, but those are for certain eyes only! Being a girl and having girl best friends means no limits to what we do for each other and those friendships are so emotionally mature, deep and meaningful. It’s great to be girl ♡
2024
2024 was another Grand Rapids and Wisconsin Galentine’s celebration. For Grand Rapids, Michigan it was a little get together with my besties after work. Nothing like a comfy girls night in with some wine and pizza. Also, one of my friend’s mom made us these cute paint dripped wine glasses. It was super cute and so sweet! ♡
Wisconsin Galentine’s this year had a bigger group, but also was a potluck! We had really good food. We all dressed up for photos and then had our spicy polaroids. We had time to play card games and did gift exchanges. The floating flower backdrop this year is my favorite back drop of all! It’s so beautiful and simple. ♡
2025
I don’t know what happened this year, but Wisconsin Galentine’s 2025 stepped it up. The aesthetics were in the room with us. We did not come to play this year! Our outfit theme was cute pajamas and of course spicy outfits if you wanted those photos. We also had a cajun seafood boil. It was *chefs kiss* Although it took us longer to start and we didn’t to do any activities that we had planned, it was still a fun Galentine’s. Look I’m looking forward too and I’ll be back next year for Wisconsin Galentine’s 2026 ♡
A Grand Rapids Galentine’s is still in the works, but coming soon. We’re just waiting on the snow to stop doing what it does best, snow. So hopefully that will be very soon. A girls day is always needed! ♡
UPDATE (added 02.19.2025)
Grand Rapids Galentine’s! This Galentine’s was a packed one. My best friend Maddie made us some spicy vodka pasta and pickle pasta salad. We had a snack bar with fruits, charcuterie board, cookies, etc. A galentine’s is nothing without cute cocktails, so of course we had those. I’m not sure how we did it, but we were able to record a hot ones challenge with 5 different hot sauces, decorate the room and took our spicy polaroid photoshoot, shopped for charm bracelets, iron-on sweat outfits and our food, cooked, made custom matching charm bracelets and opened up our Galentine’s goodie bags. We finished our bestie iron-on sweat outfits another day. They came out so cute and perfect and it was a lot easier than we thought! It was an amazing Galentine’s filled with laughter. It’s always the best time with Maddie ♡
I am super lucky to have the girl friends that I have and I am very lucky to be able to travel to see them. I am very lucky to have all these women in my life. They are all strong, sweet, kind, beautiful, confident, funny, loving and so much more. They are the reason why Galentine’s was created. I hope every girl finds their girls, their gals! ♡
So will you be my Galentine’s? ♡
These summer months were filled with travels for me. Remember how I said I was going to live it up this summer? I definitely did! Having a life outside of work has been a long time coming and well deserved. I’ve been able to romanticize my life again and mentally I’ve been so much better. I turned 29, I ate good food, I danced, I added to my plushie collections when I literally have no space in my room, I loved and was loved back, celebrated my friend getting married, saw old friends and made ones. It was the best. I would love to thank the summer sun for all it provided, you’ll be very missed soon. Hopefully the winter blues will be kind this year.
Loving every little thing in the world ♡
July
August
September
I become a better person when the weather starts to heat up. I don’t know what to say, I just LOVE the sun. As you may have read or heard, I switched jobs and positions which has allowed me to have more time to have a personal life and more time to focus on my health and make improvements to it. I promised myself that I would live more this year in experiences and not live at work like how I have in the past. April to June has been a blessing and I have done just that ♡ I’ve done so many things in these few months, so I’m excited to see how this will continue for the rest of summer and after. I’m happy that I can feel like a normal person and be more with the people I love. Living my best life ♡
April
May
June
The last few months of 2023 in pictures look a lot better than how they actually were. One thing I do know is that even though I’m down, I’ll always be trying to live my best life cause that’s all that I can really control. I really just let certain things go and flow. End of 2023 didn’t want to let go without a bang though and honestly I’m not mad about it. What is meant for me will always find it’s way. ♡
October
November
December
Some of my favorite moments from April, May and June. This year is going by so quickly. We’re already have way through, insane. Slow down, so I can have more time this year please!
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
New blog post series? Yes, we LOVE those! Every few months, I’ll post my favorite photos or videos from each month. The point of living is to live and I’m trying my best to do just that. A little trail of memories you can say.
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
You read that right. It’s officially been a year since I moved from Michigan to Wisconsin. Time here flew by really fast, maybe a little too quick if you ask me. This past year has taught me a lot about myself, starting over, friendships and so much more. Moving states and changing environments has been good to me, it has humbled me and it has also brought out the worst of me. For the first time in my life, I felt like an outsider and I would be lying if I said it doesn’t still kind of feel that way. Adjusting to a brand new environment was a lot harder for me than what you would expect. Having to let go and move pass a life that you’ve always known is a lot harder than it seems. I guess I’m one of those people who prefer to be where I feel comfortable in, but I’m making it work.
I promised to be honest on my blog, so let’s talk about some of the downsides that came with moving. To start off, I miss my family and my friends so much even to this day and forever will. I’m so big on connections and being away from everyone really hit me hard. I’m missing out on seeing my nieces and nephew grow up and that probably hurts the most. I was so present in their lives and I absolutely adore and love them like my own kids. Hell, I missed my nephew’s birth and I cried after the call in the middle of a house party because I knew I wouldn’t be as present in his life like I was with the other babies. I’m also missing out on all the quality time with my parents, sibling and friends. They play such big roles in who I am as a person. My friends are literally my family, we celebrate everything together from big to small. It’s the connection, it’s the love and support.
Second, I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan which I would say is super diverse, my friend group is also diverse, even the school I went to was pretty diverse. So it’s all that I’ve ever been around. Once I moved to Wisconsin, it was like the opposite of culture shock for me. I was around a group that mainly consisted of one ethnicity with one or two people of different culture. Even then, those one or two people were very educated in the ethnicity group where they even knew some of the language, music, food etc. so I actually felt like an outsider. Never have I felt that way or experienced something like it.
Third, there’s that saying ‘you can’t heal in an environment that has hurt you’ and as much as I would like to say it’s not true, there is some truth to it. I willingly moved on my own knowing the problems that I would face, knowing that I would be on alert and always on my toes waiting for something to happen. I knew it would be kind of negative at first, which I will say definitely did not help me with adjusting. Sad, but it’s how it was. I saw the outcome of the move to worth more than the hurt and that I could get passed all of it eventually. There were tons of people who tried to get to know me, but really their intentions were to really get to know what had happened before and to instigate or start new problems. I had to and sometimes still have to pick those people out from who my real friends are. It also keeps me stuck in a place or brings me back to it that I’m trying so hard to move forward from. It was hard to make genuine friendships because for a while I couldn’t make out the differences. You wouldn’t believe how many times I was told that I was stupid to move here or all the new anonymous accounts that tried to make my time here hell. Maybe all that can be talked about in another blog LOL. But yes that did happen and yes it use to get to me and yes I use to cry about it.
Now I’m not an angel or perfect, sometimes it’ll come up in conversation and it’s me that’s bringing it up. I’ll 100% claim that. I’m not fully moved on and now I’m living so much closer to the environment where it happened and with people around that knew. I had to learn how to forgive everyone and how to accept things and see things from different perspectives. I’ll keep working on it because I owe that to myself. I’m much more than what people think and I came here for a reason and maybe for a little vengeance, juuuuust kiddinggggg on that last part. If it happens it happens, ya know?
Now time for the good part. Moving out of my hometown gave me a new start and even though that was hard to accept, I made my way and now I can literally do anything. I just needed this jump start. So if you plan on moving, do it. Just go ahead and do it. Do things for yourself. It may take time, but you’ll settle in eventually. I can say I’m more comfortable and I’m building my life here. I’ve also been learning new things about myself that I never knew. With having this space of being on my own, away from my friends and family, it has opened my eyes about who I am, my potential and who I can become. It’s exactly what I needed.
I met a lot of new people and made a lot of new friends and I even have some very close friends that I very much appreciate and love. My first year in Wisconsin also consisted of a lot of time spent in Minnesota or in different cities like Milwaukee and Sheboygan and even hotel living. If you know, you know. Long story short right after I moved to Wisconsin, I spent about a total of 3-5 months maybe in a hotel due to house cleaning, but because of that I can recommend some pretty nice hotels and restaurants in the Madison area if anyone plans to visit.
Overall it’s been a really good first year. I can honestly say I’m excited to see how the next few years will be because ya girl isn’t planning on moving anywhere else. It’s a lot of work and cost to move to a new state and I don’t have that in me again just yet. I didn’t think I had a lot of stuff to move until I filled up two cars. Plus I have so much in front of me that I wouldn’t want to miss out on. To my first year in Wisconsin and to another year coming, to all the life lessons, adventures and opportunities, CHEERS!
Now enjoy my little 1 year recap video below! ♡
Helloooooo, I’m back with another food blog from Chicago! You’ll probably see tons of Food Alerts blogs from Chicago because I only live a few hours away and I’m the type of person to drive for some good food. What I love about Chicago is the variety of food spots that exists and how there’s constantly new places popping up! This one has a special location because we also have one of these restaurants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yes, you read that right! You don’t have to travel as far to my Wisconsin readers. In today’s blog, I’ll be talking about all the spots that I visited in one day. Let’s get HUNGRY.
First stop of the day was Bearology. Boba teas are always a must when traveling! I don’t exactly enjoy tapioca pearls like that, but the teas or the drink part is where it’s at. This was a smaller location in Schaumburg, but they had this cute bear decor on the wall! If only they had it on sale, I would have bought it on the spot. The green drink on the left is their Shimmering Kiwi Lemonade with Tapioca Boba and the right drink is their Strawberry Mango Green Tea with Lychee Jelly. The cool thing about Bearology is that you can choose their jars or flask to have the drinks in and if you bring it back on your future visits, you get 10% off your drinks! We love reducing plastic waste ♡
Imagine this, you’re sitting down in a small convenient store eating a pizza puff, Pho Bo, an Ube Cookie and the Viet Dip while listening to Slow Down by Bobby Valentino. Yeah, you bet I felt like I was 10 years old back in 2005 eating a home cooked meal blasting the radio. Phodega is where it’s at if you want that nostalgic experience. The food is authentic Vietnamese food (yes, even the pizza puff. It’s the bread dough that they use.) Plus where can you get a pizza puff and pho at the same place? The place has limited seating, but it’s worth the wait!
The Viet Dip is an Italian dip, thinly sliced ribeye, cilantro, onions, and jalapeño on french bread with a side of pho jus to dip in.
Now let’s talk about some drinks! A foodie adventure is not an adventure if you don’t have some drinks and I’m not talking about our boba from earlier either.
A L C O H O L, but make it unique and innovative. Yes, you heard that right! Machine: Engineered Dining & Drink is the place to go for that. I’ve never seen a place like this before, they had a flower wall and fall trees indoors. Then you can request the florist and flower cart to come to your table and make a personalized bouquet for you right on the spot! Now that is service! I ordered the Caged And Infused cocktail drink and it came with a little hammer to smash the candy cage. I failed pretty badly, but it was fun. My boyfriend ordered the Dragon’s Breath.
Caged And Infused
Butterfly flower infused roku gin | Maraschino | Lemongrass | Lemon | Violet candy cage
Dragon’s Breath
Tenjaku Japanese whisky | Spice note cinnamon tequila | Lemon juice | Triple syrup | Orange peel | Served hot
Boba, lunch, drinks and now some sweets! You can’t forget the dessert treats, you always have to make room for dessert. I came across 2D Restaurant on Instagram and knew we had try their mochi doughnuts. The idea of the restaurant is super cool, the interior decor is painted to look as 2D as possible like you’re in a comic strip! 2D Restaurant has more than mochi doughnuts, so we had to try their Mild Rooster Sandwich and the Iced Organic Blueberry Tea. The chicken sandwich was very good and very mild, basically no spice at all. I think we could’ve handled the hot one. The Mochi Doughnuts that we ordered were The Pooh, Strawberry Sprinkle, Berry Easter, S’more, Matcha Dream and the Churro.
2D Restaurant is also very limited in seating, so you might have to wait a bit in order to get in! I believe you can make reservations though.
Last, but not least…. SEAFOOD BOIL!!!
Yes, we are obsessed. We’re always on a lookout for a new seafood place to try. Lowcountry is the name of the restaurant and good news for us Wisconsin readers, they have a location open in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So we’ll be able to have it again whenever we’re in town. The seafood boil here was good, not the best cause Orlando is still my #1, but I will definitely be eating here in Milwaukee. Lowcountry is doing something right cause when we ordered the heat level as hot, it was actually hot. A spicy hot, but a good spicy hot. It lived to its name.
We ordered a Combo A – Shrimp Combo (1 lb shrimp, 2 piece corn, 3 piece potato, 2 piece cornbread and drink) and did a fill your own bag with 1 piece Snow Crab Cluster, 1 piece 8 oz Lobster Tail, and 1 lb Crawfish. Both with the Everythang sauce and one in heat level hot (2 pepper) and very hot (3 pepper). The sauce was addicting even when our mouths were burning from being pretty spicy, we kept smothering our seafood in it. I’m actually ready to burn my mouth again for it, I can never get enough seafood boil!
You can visit a good amount of restaurants in one day, you just have to plan it accordingly. Food trips are one of my favorites. So many good foods and drinks out there that’s waiting to be consumed! I told my boyfriend once before “I don’t eat to live, I live to eat” and I will forever stick to that hahah. All I’m thinking about is the seafood boil now because I just relieved the experience through writing about it. I’m also about to heat up the last of our mochi doughnut for a quick morning snack. I hope you guys are enjoying these Food Alert blogs, many more on the way! STAY HUNGRY ♡
It’s the new year, so what are my goals or new year resolutions? Well this year I’m not going to make any. Not that I don’t have any, but don’t you guys ever get stuck with a list that never gets finished or your goals change? In my 26 years of life, I know whatever list I make now will not be what I accomplish later. I’m more of a do as you go type of person. So here is all that I wish for me and for you. Take what you need and leave what you don’t.
I wish for your happiness and peace. I wish you heal the things that you do not speak or know. I wish for the growth and lessons that will push you to be a better person. I wish for the love that will forever stay with you. I wish you will take the bad days and remember that it’s just a bad day and that you don’t take all the good days for granted. I hope that you love yourself more and you do more for yourself. Whatever you’ve been trying to chase to fill that empty feeling, I hope you catch it and it lights a light in your soul that never goes out again. For all the tears that you cried in 2021, you don’t meet them again. I hope you remember to take more photos or videos. I wish for good health and wellness. That every person you come across is as genuine as you. You’ll get the break you need this year to sit down and absorb all that you have done and to relax. I wish you the best in your business plans because I know you’re capable and I know you have it in you. All your creative thoughts get brought to life this year. I hope you do take some things from last year and you keep working on them. Those are not achieved in just a year, it’s something you have to constantly work on for the rest of your life. That you do not forget who you are as a person. All the built up anger, I don’t want you to just let go of it and forgive, I want it to fuel the passion of making yourself better. Use it in a good way and not as a flamethrower and use it to burn others in words.
You know what? Settle in already, push your pride aside and accept what has been waiting for you. You could’ve had more good and balance if you were more open to accepting help. It’s okay to get help, you need other people, we all need people. I wish something clicks in you and you stop living on survival mode, you made it, you can rest. Let someone else take care of you for once. I wish you get the nurture you give to others and you accept it without feeling weak and if you end up feeling that way then you allow yourself to be okay with that. All the battles you have within are put to an end. I wish you live life for what it is and that you continue to do that. Love every little thing in the world more including yourself. ♡
Make your words matter this year.
SALLY♡THINGS 