custom party :: tea party for two

I just came across pictures from my Scarlett's third birthday party back in October, and realized I never shared them with you. I was going to take a year off from doing a party, but it was our turn to host her little playgroup and one of her friends has a birthday just a few days from Scarlett. So, my friend Erica and I decided to do a little joint tea party for the girls. We kept it very simple, but it all turned out so cute. I used my Cath Kidston table cloth as the main inspiration and planned everything around that. The girls, and Bennett, had a great time sipping tea, play dress up, and dancing their hearts out. We also did a little activity of making little tea cups out of ice cream cones and candy. It was a fun and crazy afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

5th birthday :: super bennett

My son wanted his 5th birthday party to be a superhero party. I on the other hand, did not want a party full of batman, superman, spiderman, etc. So we compromised! Instead we had a Super Bennett breakfast, and I love the way everything turned out. For the decor, I loved all the rainbow parties I had seen around so I decided to mix that into the theme. I made the mobiles that I had seen on Oh Happy Day, and then made a Super Bennett garland, as well as a little paper strip garland for the mantel. That was pretty much the extent of the decorations. The menu was very simple with super hero named cereals, donuts, fruit, and of course cupcakes too. We played a game of the pin the cape on Super Bennett, ran around, opened presents, etc. I decided to keep it fairly short since we had so many little boys over and I am so glad I did. I was exhausted! Check out the invitations I made for the Super Bennett party here.

 

 

 

baby shower :: baby ford

all images via MeOhMy

My friend Nicole of the blog MeOhMy, had a sweet baby boy just days before Christmas. So, a few months ago I helped throw her a baby shower to get ready for the arrival of her baby boy. She posted the pictures on her blog a few days ago, and I wanted to share them with you as well.

In this post on her blog, she shared her nursery inspiration board in which she showed the baby's bedding. I decided to base all the designs for the shower off of that. We kept it very simple, and I love the way everything turned out. The other girls throwing the shower were in charge of all the food, and the food was incredible. Especially these cheesecake bars. The party favors were these darling bags found on etsy, filled with some of Nicole's favorite candies. All in all, it was a fun night with great friends!

custom invitations ::super bennett

My son is turning 5 in a few weeks. How it is possible that I have a FIVE year old is beyond me, but five it is. He wanted a superhero party like every other 5 year old boy out there. Everywhere I looked I saw the same sort of pop art superhero party theme. Which is so super cute, but I wanted to do something a little different. I am so glad I did because I could not be more obsessed with these cute super boy invitations. We are doing a breakfast with cereal and donuts, so it shouldn't be too much stress. Check back in two weeks for pictures of the party.

Check out Bennett's 4th birthday camping party invites here.

Find pictures of his 4th birthday camping party here.

See his 3rd Birthday invitations and party here.

travel log :: AZ & TX

braving the roads on the 6 hour drive to AZ

welcomed to AZ with homemade french onion soup

is there anything better than a peaceful flight without kids?

dinner at stephan piles

a night out to dinner in Dallas with old friends from college

spending time with my husband

my stash of bottles, toys, and paci's for the drive along with my 44 oz soda of course

so happy to be back in CA

My husband Andrew is working in Dallas, TX for 3 weeks. SO LONG! I decided to go out and visit him last weekend. I loaded up my car on Wednesday, and braved the 6 hour drive with my 3 kids to AZ where my parents live. I dropped off my kids to stay with my mom and dad for a few days and then flew from Phoenix to Dallas on Friday, and back to Phoenix on Sunday, and drove back to CA on Tuesday. It was a fun little getaway, and I loved getting to spend a few days alone with Andrew. I also enjoyed hanging out with my parents and sister in AZ, and of course I loved getting my Mexican food fix too!

This was my second time to Dallas, and I loved it. So much yummy food, and great shopping. Friday night we ate at an amazing restaurant in downtown Dallas called Stephan Pyles. So many unique dishes, but my favorite was the "coffee and donuts" dessert which consisted of espresso creme brûlée with caramelized goats milk, topped with homemade donuts. Then Saturday night we met up with our old friends from college and went to a mexican dinner at Chuy's. If you go there, do yourself a favor and order the queso with a side of the hatch green chile sauce. Chips dipped in that is an amazing combination.

christmas card :: 2011

December was a very busy month, but I am sad that it is already over. This year's christmas card was very simple and served as a birth announcement as well. I never got around to sending one out, but I really wanted to use the beautiful newborn pictures that Ashlee Raubach took for us. I printed the card on a nice, thick, cotton paper that am in LOVE with. It was a little more expensive, but totally worth it. I also inserted a little card with our new address on it so people would know that we had moved. Finally, I made a custom address wrap label to coordinate with the card. It was a lot if work, but I was very pleased with the way everything turned out.

missing in action :: update

Sorry I have been MIA the last month or so. We had a rough month with some health scares. Our baby Cosette wasn't gaining weight or growing so they did some blood work on her. That blood work came back with a couple elevated liver enzymes which could mean all sorts of different liver diseases (hepatitis, biliary diseases, liver damage, etc). So I spent the next two weeks in and out of the lab getting test after test done. Poor baby girl had to get pricked so many times and she was such a champ about it too. After a lot of tears, prayers, and blessing from my dad, everything came back normal. We spent our Thanksgiving holiday in AZ with my entire family, and our doctor called to tell us the good news just a few days before Thanksgiving. We definitely had a LOT to be thankful for this year. It turns out that my milk is just full of protein and not calories so she was a little malnourished. Sadly, I had to stop nursing her and move on to formula. She is a new baby and so happy and content. Poor little thing was just hungry. So sad, but so glad we were able to figure everything out and that nothing serious was wrong with our baby girl.

baby shower :: cosette's

My amazing friends and family threw me a shower for Cosette about a month before I had her. I have been meaning to post these pictures, and am finally getting around to doing so. We had a fairly large group of ladies, so they got a private room at Lucille's BBQ. My friends made a darling BBQ invite that I will post tomorrow. They also decorated the tables with my favorite flower, peonies, and the cutest party favor. It was very low key, but such a fun time. I am so lucky to have such amazing friends and family surrounding me.

the darling and delicious cake in a jar party favor

the beautiful peonies in antique turquoise mason jars

the party people

eight months prego and feeling it

me (8 months pregnant), my sister Brooke (6 months pregnant), my SIL Shelly (9 months pregnant)

enjoying the gift opening

a special thanks to my talented friend Kristy for documenting the evening