Oh, hi. I'm alive.

Oh hey girls!!!

Blaise and I last year at Karaoke.

I'm visiting my girl Blaise for the weekend in lovely Ferndale, MI.  Jealy! So, we're sitting here talking, I say Chenyways and that B calls me out for not posting lately.  I figured it'd been like a week....and then I realized, it's been over 2. Cue the "dude, I suck" music. I didn't realize!

I guess I can probably blame it on a recent explosion of etsy sales--listen, people are all over my Muggle Born onesie!   So I've been super busy making and sending out orders. And then there was some sickness, including J Chen getting the flu over Valentine's Day. It was cool, you know, hanging out in bed drinking wine from a coffee cup while he was passed out. Ah, romance.

Then there were the Grammy's. And 400 Facebook fans. And searching for a buffet--sideboard, whatev!--for the dining room (getting it tomorrow!). Um, and working my "real" job. And smiling, and talking loudly, laughing even louder, and being awesome. Girl, I've been busy!  ;)

The worst part? I totally missed my very own Blog-aversary on the 12th! WTF. I blame Whitney.  And Cheesecake--it was her 4th birthday. And J Chen--he made me go out to dinner....  Chenyways, hi! I'm back!  And better than ever in year 2. So, thank you ALL for caring enough to read all these crazy ramblings, and for everyone who left a nice comment--I freaking adore you!  :)

So, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive, and that I'm looking forward to a night of karaoke tonight!  Did I ever tell you I'm a karaoke whore? Cause I am.  Maybe we'll have a video to post tomorrow--ya neva know.


Big (Sing it, Bitch!) Smile,

Also, Blaise's creepy cat keeps staring at me. Ugh.

White. Trash. Bash. The 3rd Annual.

Hey there, hi there, ho there.  Let's finally talk WTB.  The Third Annual. It happened last Saturday, July 23rd--in case you weren't fawning over that kickass flier on your right.                                                    

I'm hoping by now you've gotten caught up:                                                      
Check out WTB The Series here!   
Check out The 1st Annual WTB here!
Check out The 2nd Annual WTB here!!!!                                

• it was amazing.  
• The bands were AWESOME!  
• Per usual, everyone was dressed to the nines.
• I understand you're jeal.  You can totally come next year!  

But chenyways ( J.Chen's word suggestion!).....Again, LOTS of prep time.  I started trashing the place on Wednesday night, starting with the living room and kitchen.  Thursday night I strung all the lights in the front yard, set up the santa and snowman inflatables, and nailed tarps to the walls of the garage so our bands would feel totally at home.  :-)  Friday, well, it rained.  Hardcore.  Thunder and lightening.  Baby Bacon was NOT happy.  It threaten to rain on Saturday as well--seriously, I've never been so obsessed with the weather!  Ever.  Like buying new apps for my iPhone just so I could be up to the second on any and all sprinkle embarking on MY DAY.  But guess what?  Like every other year we've hosted, it did not rain.  Nope.  It was muggy.  And steamy.  And 90 degrees.  And well, again, AWESOME.

I told you that we dubbed this the concert series, right?  Haha, look at this photo!  Chairs galore.  

Ok, before I get to the goods (read photos of us) I wanted to share with you my new  Signature WTB Jungle Juice Recipe. I decided to go this route this year due to the overwhelming time AND cost of jello shots.  Mostly time--We're talking like 10 hours start to finish.  This takes, oh, about 5 MINUTES.  

B. Chen's WTB Juice:

1 gallon Meijer (store-brand) orange drink
2 2 liters fruit punch (Hawaiian Punch)
1 liter sparkling tangerine-lime
1 2 liter ruby red squirt
1 2 liter sunkist
1 blue Hawaiian boones
1.75 L Bacardi
1.75 L cherry vodka
2 5ths peach schnapps  

2 lbs of Frozen Fruit 

1 5 gal Cooler--we used one of those big orange drink dispensers you see on football sidelines.

Add fruit to cooler.  Add all liquid to cooler.  Mix it all together.  Drink.

*note, the frozen fruit is to keep it cool--ice just waters it down.  Serve your ice on the side.  Oh, and the fruit it just a sneaky as the drink itself--you've been warned.

On to the photos!

Friday's set up

Saturday, a few hours before showtime!

Ah yes, The Chens take on People of Walmart....

OMG, I freaking LOVE these two!  PS, that's Leah!

Tramp Stamp and the Wife Beaters

They GAVE me the microphone.  Sooo much power!

It's never too early to get them ready for WTB.

Fred was in HEAVEN

Seriously, these guys were so awesome!

My two girls :-)

The ladies of the Rockford Highlands 

Bringing back the photo prop!

See the lights we added to WTB!?!?!  See see!

I did a little wardrobe change at some point....

Baby pools are soooo versatile!

The members of Rodentt

Who's the trashiest?

My King and Queen of TRASH!

An evening view.

Oh Pattie, no one can touch you and your costumes!

Rodentt, bringing the ROCK!

Until Next Year.....STAY TRASHY!!!!!

And there you have it, my little daw-lings, WTB 2011!  So exhausting, but sooo worth it!

B.Cheniful will return to it's regular scheduled blogcasts.

Big (STAY TRASHY) Smile,
B.Chen

White. Trash. Bash. the series....

Check out The 1st Annual WTB here!

Check out The 2nd Annual WTB here!

Check out The 3rd Annual WTB here!

Yep.  You read that right missy, White Trash Bash.  It's a party that we've thrown the past 2 summers, with our 3rd annual coming right up on July 23rd.  Dude, I just felt so sick to my stomach when I wrote that--I need to get my ass in gear.  Like, last month!  But let me tell you a little about this amazing party.....

• This party takes place at our home--in a SUBDIVISION.  With houses about 20 feet away from one another.  
• I'm usually the youngest person present, at 28 (and 26, 27....). Our kickass neighborhood makes up around 75% or so of white trash attendees, including the retirees at the end of the street.  
• Boones Farm (asst flavors) and jello shots flow freely.  There are always paper bags available to drink straight from the bottle, 40-style.
• Everyone is DRESSED TO TRASH!  Or your ass is not coming to play.  :)  We haven't had an issue with that yet.
• If you're hungry we always have an assortment of pork rinds, moon pies, twinkies, Cheetos, pickled bologna, spray cheese with saltines, and an extra special SPAM dish.  DIG IN YA'LL!
• Decor is a VERY important part of this party.  In fact I usually take the Friday before off from work to prepare.  This includes the inside AND outside of the house, as well as the Garage.  Our neighborhood parties in driveways....
• Upping the year before is required.  The first year we were just relishing in the fact that we pulled off our first WTB.  Then last year we tied it in with J Chen's 30th B-day, which included a band, a keg, and ME jumping out of a cake that I made out of a TRASH CAN.  Wearing a "Busch Light Bikini".  GO BIG OR GO HOME.
• There must be AT LEAST one truck parked half in our yard, half over the sidewalk.
• Last year we busted out the slip n' slide.  This year I'm planning on at least 2, accompanied with a TARP, set up in the backyard with a sign reading "mud bog this way". 
• This year we're calling it WTB 11, the Concert Series Edition.  That's right, cause we have TWO bands this year!  

How indulgent would it be for to do a series post on WTB?  I'd love to show you the last 2 years and then the upcoming in separate posts.  There was A LOT of DIY what went on, so this TOTALLY relates to B.Cheniful!  Dammit.  :)

Check out The 1st Annual WTB here!
Check out The 2nd Annual WTB here!

Big (Trashy) Smile,
B.Chen

(one of the) Best things about being an adult????

This.  

Eating the center of the watermelon.  Bet your mom never let you do that!?!?!

Yep, being an adult ROCKS!  Well, most of the time....there's that thing about bills/responsibilties/mortgage/career......even still, it's the little things, like eating the center of a watermelon, that really makes it all worth it!  :)

Big (adult) Smile,

B.Chen

what happens in royal oak......

Pin It

Lisa and I

Hey girl hey!  OR, hey boy hey!  I mean, just in case I'm lucky enough to get some manly readers (next to J Chen that is).

So girlfriend Lisa is getting married on July 1st and we all know what happens a couple weekends before the big plunge....  Total debauchery  Girl's night out!  Lisa's MOH Anglea--about to be a momma!--organized the best bachelorette party in history.  Seriously, down to the doritos in the limo for my fat ass, she did an amazing job with all the details.

The B.Cheniful part of this post?  Guess who was in charge of dressup?  Yeah Yeah!

First order of business--the bride.  Lisa is well, very particular.  She knows what she likes, she knows what she hates.  And she'll tell you flat out about either.  So yeah, I ended up making her 3 different hairpieces before I was sure she wouldn't hate me for it.

I intended to make her sash myself using transfer printer paper and well, that just sucked.  So I ended up having to run to Party City the day of in hopes of a not-so-cheap-looking sash.  I was able to find one, iron out the wrinkles and add a couple handmade flower pins to make myself feel better spruce it up.

That's one hot mama--and by and far the best dressed/accessorized bachelorette of the evening!

Damn GURL!

A close up of the hairpiece

Next?  Why the LADIES of course!  I've always admired bachelorette parties where the group actually looks like a group.  The same something for everyone....So, I decided to make super cute hairpieces for everyone going out on the cheap....

these would be the "round stone thingys"

the ingredient list:

1 black feather boa $5.99

1 hot pink feather boa $5.99

1 package of bobby pins $.88 (what up CLEARANCE!)

1 package of round stone thingys... $3.99

4 sheets of black felt $1

total:  $18 for 10 hairpieces, PLUS left over feathers and pins

step 1:  cut feathers into 4"pieces and set aside. cut felt into 2" circles, set aside.

step 2:  on felt round, glue down one black and one pink 4" boa piece, allowing much of the feathers to come off the top of the round (see below to figure out what the hell I'm really trying to say here!).

     step 3: glue down the round stone thingy to the non-crazy-feather-side of the hairpiece.  Lastly, glue down any feathers going willy-nilly and then a glue bobby pin to the back of the felt.

     Step 4:  ROCK IT GIRL!!!!!  MmmmmmmHmmmmmmmm, go with your bad self!  ;-) 

Lyndsay holdin it down with the side sweep!

My girl Kristen rockin the side pony.

It was an AWESOME night!  Clearly it was all thanks to the hairpieces ;-)  Honestly though, it's not like you get to rock a boa hairpiece every night--have FUN with your bachelorette party!  


***a tip if you decide to try these (and I hope you will!):  if the girls wear the boa on side of the head, you'll likely need to rat the hair and then either bobby pin or pony it up.  Other wise it might slip out when you're shaking your money maker.....
Thanks for stopping by!
Big (feather boa) Smile,
B.Chen

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