how to play: bar golf in dc

Have you ever played bar golf? When I did it the first time years ago in Texas, they made me feel like I was so late to such a popular game. When I planned it for my birthday party last weekend, no one really understood it. They kept asking if it was mini golf, a bar with a golf course, and more shockingly: If they needed to bring their own clubs.

Fun fact about me: I'm terrible at ball sports. I'll never celebrate my birthday with balls. Well, the kinds that you have to be skilled to play with, anyway. Assuming I would do golf on my birthday is like believing I'm pregnant. 

Bar golf is a bar crawl in which you go to nine bars, and earn points based on what you drink. The simplest way to play it is saying no matter which bar it is, a birdie = beer + shot. Par = shot. Bogey = beer.... or whatever variation you'd like.

I don't believe in the easy or typical way of doing things, so I personalized it based on the bars we went to. I figured out who had happy hour and what was a good deal. I figured out what the bars were known for, what was strong, what had a lot of sugar, etc... and most importantly: which bars had beautiful rooftops. From there, I came up with other ways to earn points and made this here score card.

[you can click on that, make it bigger, and print it out for yourself! You're welcome.]

Everyone's immediate reaction: "This looks easy, I'll do all birdies AND a ton of extra drinks! 

SPOILER ALERT: No one finished. We didn't even make it to El Centro. So, if you play this version, and you wanna win, don't do the extras. Trust me.

If you wanna really up the ante, get some trophies. [Told ya they're my new thing!] You can even add a Snapchat filter to the bars you're going to for $5/hour. Worth it. 

Who's gonna get the trophy? I haven't decided yet. I remember a couple people going balls to the wall from the beginning, but we need to make sure no vomiting happened! [I'm also gonna need to get the trophies back because... well.... I left them and my entire backpack at bar #5. because of course I did.]

All in all, it's a damn fun game, and it doesn't have to be so aggressive. You could do teams of four, that might make it easier, or take away the points for extra beers. I tried to make it not worth it for half a point, but that excited people.

Some snaps from my frands since my story failed to save *insert extremely frustrated face here.*

[I changed up the font after bar 5 to look a little more drunk, teehee]

And that's a wrap on another birthday celebration! My 30th is already in the works and if it doesn't go as planned, know that I will blow the world up if Trump hasn't already.

love,
elizabethany

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2015 wanderlust: a round-up of my 12 trips

This past weekend was the first time I've had multiple days off in a row without anything to do, and I panicked. Everyone told me to just relax and enjoy not having any plans, but after 2015, that's not something I believe in. 

My 2015 resolution was to travel once a month. I knew it'd be tough, that my bank account would suffer a bit, but knew it was the perfect year to do it. Fresh off a break-up, and having far too many never-have-I-evers when it comes to traveling, it was the perfect mission. I can't believe I genuinely completed it. 

Turns out, I can be somewhat focused when I wanna be. In January, I went through my calendar and each month put options for ideal places. I had specific events for some, others coulda been anywhere, but that quick task helped BIG TIME with the planning and making sure I got to most of the places I really wanted to. I also marked down when I should start looking for flights around 6 weeks before I wanted to go. Considering I only get one weekend off a month, I had to have an idea which ones they would be. Plus, ADD is tough. 

Why pay for school when you can learn these things while spending money on traveling?

• Don't rely on other people. It's way too hard to coordinate going away with someone, making sure you do everything you both wanna do, and agreeing on a budget. If you wanna do something, you do it. Be selfish. No excuses. 
• Pinterest is your travel BFF. Search the city for what to wear, where to go, what to eat.. and star your must-sees on Google Maps.
• Washington, DC has no culture compared to most places. We're pretty and clean and political and historical I guess, but with such a hodgepodge of people, we're pretty bleeping boring as an overall city from the outside.
• When packing, take the extra time to plan outfits for each day/night, then a couple staple pieces just in case. [Or, just be drunk with zero time to overthink it.] If you don't have several options to choose from while on vacation, you'll spend less time deciding what to wear and more time vacationing.
• Also, don't overthink trips. They're not all bank-breakers, and you don't need a week to get on a plane. You have 36 hours and a cheap flight option, book it, damnit! 
• Don't be afraid to ask people if you can crash with them, but don't make them feel like they need to entertain you at all times. You're a big kid now. Show up with transportation and no pressure [and probably a bottle of alcohol for them].
• Typical selfies get redundant. Get your feet off the ground. 
• Try the local food, but also the local beers. Collect the bottle tops. Some call it trash, I call it hoarding cheap souvenirs. 
• Bring bumper stickers for your business if you have them. SO many bars let you stick them somewhere. 
• Keep a hashtag of your travels so everyone can see your travels without stalking the rest of your boring profile. #EBbetravelin HOLLA. 

Now, as for my adventures...

JANUARY: Tampa, FL for Gasparilla

For years I've been hearing/seeing how awesome this Mardi Gras-like day is. The Kane Show [morning show at my home station] has a huge float and my soon to be new boss was still down there. It was everything I'd hoped! I rode on top of the float with Kane, had a beautiful dinner at sunset, and caught the Super Bowl at Rose's friend's house, with an outdoor projector and ALL the food. 

What I learned: Lots of cities have major events that you may not know of. Ask your friends that live elsewhere what they look forward to every year and visit them for that. It may be a little selfish, but you're still visiting THEM! [And you'll get a free stay and have a pro who knows the ropes, duh]

FEBRUARY: A cabin retreat weekend near Liberty Mountain

It had been about a decade since I last ski'd, so I knew it was on my bucket list for the year. I found this cute little cabin that slept 8 people on Airbnb and had a girls party night on Friday, hiking day/party night with other friends Saturday, then went skiing on Sunday. It snowed for some of the weekend which made it even cooler, and it's only a little over an hour away so most people only came up for one night. I felt like I had so many different experiences in one tiny little cabin weekend! As for the skiing, you can see in the bottom picture how that went. That was me the whole way down my first black diamond.

What I learned: My body is too old for skiing these days. It was so painful in my knees to be even a little enjoyable. Also, there is no better pizza than crab pizza from Ventura's. 

MARCH: Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada

I knew I had to get out of the country at some point in 2015. I hoped it would be a cruise or something, but I had also never been to Canada. I flew to Rochester [had to see my beloved Nugget] and road tripped the rest of the way with Corey. It was cold, but absolutely beautiful. With a quick Internet search, we found an awesome Ice Bar that was EMPTY when we went, so we got to talk to the owner for a while, which may have been one of my favorite parts.

What I learned: Seeing the Falls when they're frozen is a must. I've never seen them not frozen, but it was crazy awesome. Plus, Canadians are really as friendly as you hear.

APRIL: Morgantown, WV

Maybe some will think this was cheating, but it was a weekend away for my former roommate's bachelorette party, and we did Morgantown unlike I ever have before: in a hotel. We also got a fancy dinner.... and, well, everything else was just as it should be in Motown: Full of shots, beer bongs, and dirty feet. 

What I learned: No matter how long you live in a place, there are always places you haven't been and can explore. Plus, the world is always changing and it's never going to be exactly as you remember.

MAY: Nashville, TN

I'd been promising my friend for years that I'd visit him in the city I knew I'd love, and finally booked a flight two weeks before I went [which was the very next weekend after Morgantown]. It was perfect, as I've shared in my previous post. We spent a day as tourists, and the rest living like a singer/songwriter- bumping into Chris Young, drinking on rooftops, and listening as they came up lyrics on the spot.

What I learned: Don't always be a tourist. Don't feel like you need to hit all the tourist hot spots in order to "complete your trip." If you wanna get a real feel for a city- do as locals do. My most important lesson this trip: It is 100% possible to fall madly in love with a city, and to feel real heartbreak when you leave.

JUNE: Dover, DE for Big Barrel

When I first heard about this country music festival, I thought there was no chance I'd be able to afford tickets. Turned out- they weren't that bad! And when you camp out, it turns into one hell of an experience. We only got to go for two nights, but even in the torrential downpours, I immediately knew I'd have to go back this year for the whole time. Country music all day, thousands of people who wanna have a good time, making new friends, and sleepovers- it's kinda my Heaven.

What I learned: I need to go to more music festivals. When it comes to festivals- bring wipes. Showers are not an option.

JULY: Key West, FL for my BFF's 30th birthday

We stayed on a freaking house boat! And it was WAYYY less than a hotel for five people. We had kayaks attached to it, and less than a mile walk to downtown Key West. Turns out, 4th of July is "off season" for them, so it was relatively tame. A bartender told us all about the SEVERAL other events they have throughout the year and I think we'll have to go back to the boat for one of those. 

What I learned: Airbnb is the freaking bomb, and they have a section [or several] for unusual housing. House boats > hotels.

AUGUST: Virginia Beach

When I missed Sam Hunt in DC because of a wedding, I immediately planned on catching him in my former home, and my God if that picture isn't worth it, I don't know what is! Also got to see inside Lady A's bus, and do flips on the beach, of course. 

What I learned: With enough motivation and hustle, you can hit every bar along the boardwalk in a few hours. 

SEPTEMBER: Columbia, SC

When I realized I had LESS THAN A WEEK to plan my monthly trip, I stalked Hipmunk for all the cities my friends live in, and my BFF's home was under $150 round trip. Since I had just been to Florida with them, I knew I could be 5th wheel again and have a great time on their boat. I suffered through a migraine on day two which sucked, but I rallied to party through the VMA's. 

What I learned: If you have nothing to do on a nice weekend, check flights. What's it gonna hurt? Just pack a bag and go. Especially if it's NOT a nice forecast where you live, but is elsewhere.

OCTOBER: College Station/Austin, TX

Okay, so this was actually the end of September, but it was the only weekend I had to make it down there so it counts! I had to do my annual trip to visit my people, but really wanted to explore Austin more, since I didn't get to do much of that when I lived down there. The city is so much like Nashville, and has SO MUCH CULTURE. Every bar had a theme. My favorite is pictured a the bottom... it had sand volleyball courts, cornhole, washers, and plenty of TVs. Moontower Saloon- A perfect Sunday Funday spot.

What I learned: Always make an impression so people don't forget you. I was amazed at how many people at the random bars, in my old office, etc that not only remembered who I was, but boosted my ego with how much they missed me AND made time to meet me for a big dinner. It's been 4.5 years since I left Texas.... they could have forgotten all about me and I'd understand it. 

NOVEMBER: California

By far the most important trip of my year. I'm so upset I never got around to making one big post about it, but I did post an album if you want to go through it. After some dramatic happenings, I just needed to get away and be independent. I traveled from Sacramento to San Diego by myself [with the exception of staying with people in some cities]. I drove the PCH in a sports car, drank wine in Napa Valley, walked across the Bay Bridge in San Fran, met with legendary radio people in LA, saw a taping of Jimmy Kimmel, stayed at the coolest hotel EVER- The Madonna Inn, and took selfies with seals in San Diego. I truly took advantage of every minute I had out there, and found myself again. I didn't even know I hadn't been myself until I went, but the feeling I had when I got back was one I'll never forget. 

What I learned: Traveling alone while you're young is absolutely necessary. Not just visiting someone alone, but getting a hotel for yourself, eating dinner alone and trying to make friends before going out that night, hiking trails and setting up selfie sticks without any care of what people think... that's how you become comfortable with who you are in a very special way.

DECEMBER: Atlantic City for New Year's Eve

It only made sense to finish the year traveling, and after years of avoiding gambling, I decided to stop being a little bitch about it. I've always been afraid of getting addicted to gambling, but that definitely didn't happen because I'm also hella stingy with my money. When your best girl Ellen takes all your money on her slot machine, you realize nothing is going to help you out. For the big night, we found a party on Playground Pier with open bar, SO many bars with different themes, and the opportunity to break another World Record- most people popping bottles at the same time. We did it!

What I learned: Gambling sucks unless you know how to play one of the card games without pissing other players off. Also, make friends with someone who does know that so you can watch and drink for free while they throw all their money away.

That was way too many words. This is supposed to be a picture book type of blog.... but, I'm gonna be honest- I inspired myself this year, and I'm just hoping I can help even ONE person decide that things don't have to be as difficult or impossible as you may think they are. Say yes. Get off the couch. Do what you daydream about doing. YOLO.

Okay now I'm really getting out of hand. I'm done here.

Thanks for being my best year, 2015. Bank account, I'll get you an IV ASAP.

love,
elizabethany

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halloween 2015: diy my little pony costume

Halloween.... one of the holidays where I feel ALLLLLL the pressure to live up to the year before. I always put so much effort into my costumes, so I need to outdo, or at least live up to, the year before.

This year I decided to be Rarity, from My Little Pony. When I was searching for things with purple hair, there weren't many options, but I knew this one could be fun to play with when it came to my make-up and hair. It was.

*once again, be patient with me with my pics. I'm never prepared with a charged camera these days.*

-the bodysuit is from Amazon. I ordered it white so I could dye it the really pale periwinkle color. It's a lycra so it was tough, but with a heavy mix of purple AND blue, it worked out! Decided to go with shoes under the footies instead of worrying about hooves

-the ears are from a simple sheet of foam that I folded over a headband and hot glued at the tip for some shape

-the light up unicorn horn, or "light up dildohead," as it became, was a random lucky find from Target. I had to super glue it to a headband so it didn't always fall over. 

-a tail made of cheap purple yarn, hot glued onto the bodysuit finished the outfit!

I was probably MOST excited to do the hair. I bought some good blonde extensions and had Ruby dye them to match my hair, then found this tutorial for a "pull through braid" and somehow pulled it off. It's a little sloppier than I'd like but all the layers in my cut will do that. I also did it without a mirror, so, there's that. 

Also fun: The make-up

-purple eyebrows thanks to some Halloween make-up from the Spirit store
-NYX lip butter purple lipstick stayed on all night, even with the drinking
-Urban Decay was all over my eyes. I used a white pencil underneath to try and make them look bigger, and a bright blue and white on my eyelids.

Also, my parents are pretty great at Halloween. I mean, JUST LOOK AT THEM RIGHT NOW.

So beautiful.

So here's to another successful year of being something else for a night! Send me your costumes, I'll throw up a post of them later!

love,

elizabethany

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from the show: april fools 2015

Some people in radio think doing anything on April Fools Day is lame now, but I'm a sucker for any holiday [duh] so I have to do something.

This time I went different than anything I've done in the past, and just made a couple of fake commercials that I played at the beginning of the breaks. In my head, they're so outrageous that no one would believe them, but they'd be entertained... and if I got lucky, someone might call the number that I linked to my Google number/office.

Turns out, quite a few people believed some of them, especially the nudist neighborhood and Calorie Eliminator. Would you fall for these?


I got emails, texts, all the things wondering how they could get in touch with any of those services. There really are people more gullible than me... or maybe we just live in a world where literally anything can happen.

They're making a live action Winnie the Pooh for godsake.

love,
elizabethany

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watch etv: i was a terribly mean cupid to coworkers and shaggy

What do you do to celebrate the holidays at work? Hand out some cards? Bring in some goodies?
I choose to get mostly naked and shoot a Nerf bow and arrow gun thing at my coworkers.... and Shaggy. Like Mr Boombastic Shaggy. Who randomly walked in when I was dressed like a frickin weirdo. He loved it.

This is the real way to show love in 2015, duh.



I wish you coulda seen the whole run-in with Shaggy. Homeboy came through the door and I had no idea he was early. "Oh... heyyy Shaggyyyy....."

Side note: Do you see that huge dent in my thigh?! That's not cottage cheese, that's an actual dent I got when I fell down the stairs during Santacon a year and a half ago. Sexy.

Sorry I'm not sorry to my coworkers. There will be more of this coming.

love,
elizabethany


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what ya wearin new years eve 2015

I know, I know... I'm hella late getting these posts up nowadays... which is probably why a lot of you forget to even tag your pictures. You've lost faith in me and OH MY GOD I'M SORRY. 

Here are all your beautiful faces. 

@lorismellyz and her side boob looked supah hott!

I love the perfection of @mrskaiyamessenger's makeup and hair

@nicoletheginge looks stunning in red.. who says gingers can't rock red?!

@foreverket was also a beautiful lady in red! 

@toribabyy14 decided to go with my favorite NYE color: purple!

@cadyeimer, @kristendraper and her friend went with blue sparkles.. for the win!

Let's talk about how great @EGNolan's hat is. 

You can't tell, but @alizook's dress is a fabulous purple velvet with some mesh, and @jennay_z is all metallic. 

LOVING @KatieRadio1's sparkly blazer!

It was a beautiful transformation after a workday for @kkaipirinha77

@monie_ WERKIN that leg!

I love all the different styles on @megshughrue and her friends!

Obsessed with Andrea's dress, that she got from the resale app Vinted!

And then some people I spent my New Year with! 

Mike Jones from DC101 was something special.

Seems like America was the theme for some guys. These randos were rocking the shorts. 

My girls were full of sparkles! I also loved the velvet skirt on Keona on the right.

And after I asked you to help me choose my outfit and I *kinda* listened, I decided to go with the option that I thought I'd never find appropriate for any other occasion than me hosting a huge NYE party. 

It happened on accident. I randomly saw the vest on my messy ass floor and put it on.. and magic happened. Once again, it's pretty much all from Charlotte Russe which I hate having to say, but at least it looks good! The only exception: Guess shoes from DSW and earrings from H&M. 

NYE outfits are the absolute best. I wish I could have taken pictures of every person in the building. That would have prevented me from drinking, though. It also would have sucked since I clearly only had my phone camera with me.

Also, I could give you a ton of excuses why I take so long these days but.. you don't want to hear them. SO.. I'll just say one: Life in the office be cray lately. Here's to hoping for a slow-down soon... so I can focus on other work.

love,
elizabethany

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what ya wearin for the holidays

I miss seeing your outfits every week! And it makes me sad every time someone brings up how much they loved doing it... but sometimes a girl has to move on from the things she loves, y'know?!

That doesn't mean I can't bring it back for all the holidays, so a few of you jumped in on Christmas Day. 

@jennay_z went with the sparkles and animal prints while @alizook went with the cozy winter look.

I love the red hat, scarf, and make-up on @its_just_lay

@siarrahhh also rocked some animal print and sparkles on the shoes

I can't even handle the awesome matching of @iceiceandrew and his family.

Pretty white lace and a simple necklace for @hlucas87

And @kelsey_hillery0207 went pretty lace and chiffon on top.

As for me, my Christmas Day outfit was lacy too, with this green top from Forever21, Express jeans, and Old Navy booties.

Some other outfits I wore for station events: 

I wore this for my VA Beach station's "Not So Silent Night" event, which I still need to post about. 

-dress from my clothing swap

-DSW/Guess booties

-amazing blue necklace from Charming Charlie

And you've already seen the pictures from Jingle Ball, but here are some outfit details. 

It was hard to see in any pictures I posted, but my skirt had a little print to it. When I first got it, I actually hated it. It reminded me of a sports jersey material or something. In the end, it worked.

I also promised myself to not wear anything from the "typical" stores this year, but after ordering a couple hundred dollars worth of things from online stores and none of them working, I scrambled the morning of. The top is from Forever21 and the skirt/necklace from Charlotte Russe.

I fully enjoyed my accessories, though. The first ring is from Express, and the bow ring from BlueLans. I also had a few other stackables and a pretty manicure that I forgot to take a picture of before ripping them all off. 

 Thanks to everyone who tagged their pics! We'll obviously do it for #WYWNYE, so plan on it!

love,
elizabethany

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