The past couple of days were filled with some memorable experiences with my family. I traveled with my immediate family to South Haven, Michigan for the weekend. Then today, I helped my aunt get ready to host her first Stella & Dot jewelry party. Both of these events seem pretty ordinary, but leave it to my family to really prove me wrong.

South Haven is really a beautiful, little touristy place (not to be confused with the popular Nicholas Sparks book, “Safe Haven” which I kept saying, repeatedly.) It is definitely somewhere fun to visit for a weekend. Our first day, we visited the local boutiques. These were awesome (not only because I found my new favorite necklace for only $1.88) but everything was so unique. Our last day we decided to rent bikes and travel the trails. Before we took off, we were told there was a popular cafe a few miles down the trails and that we wouldn’t miss it. 10 miles down the trails, we almost missed it. My parents asked twice if we wanted to just turn around and head back to town, but in typical Sparkman fashion, we kept pushing and finally found the famous “Country Fare” cafe, twenty minutes before they closed, and yes we were those people who went in an continued to order.

On the way back, I was the last one to pull up to the bicycle shop and turn my bicycle back in. After 20 miles, I was still shocked to see my dad ride a bike because I couldn’t tell you the last time I had seen that. I was even more shocked that every single one of us managed to ride the entire 20 miles without stopping. That may not sound like too much, but I am impressed with our effort and the amount of stamina we all actually have. The whole ride back, we talked about the bike ride and how much fun we all had. Even though we were caught in the rain, South Haven was such an awesome and much needed getaway.

Today, was slightly different.

My aunt was ready to host her first Stella & Dot jewelry party. These are similar to the popular Mary Kay make-up parties, where you invite your closest friends and display some super fantastic pieces, that people may purchase. Even though you’re surrounded by some of your closest friends and family, you still want your party, especially your first, to run flawlessly. Everything was going as planned, my nephews were even napping. My aunt was dressed in an adorable maxi skirt and I was rocking my new blue romper. Then it was time to make the lemonade.

My aunt had purchased a new drink dispenser solely for this party so she was pretty excited to use it. I had mixed the lemonade and added the ice, and I passed it to my aunt for her to give the final stirs. Within seconds, the bottom of the dispenser burst and the lemonade splattered all over the floor, after hitting me and my aunt first. At this point, all we could do was laugh to avoid crying because the party was now 30 minutes away. But, we pulled together and cleaned up everything, made more delicious lemonade, and no one even noticed the sticky floor (and if they did, they never mentioned it.)

Spending time with my family never gets old. No matter what we’re doing, whether trekking 20 miles by bike, or helping solve problems at a jewelry party, we always come together and make the best memories from it. Life is about the little things and because of my family, I can truly enjoy them.

Steal my look today: Romper: TJ Maxx, AVA sweater: TJ Maxx