Something Blue: A Bridal Shower

My dear friend Ellen is getting married in just a few weeks! We have been friends since our days in the church nursery! The past few weeks have been full of celebrating her and her fiance, Joel! It has been such an exciting and fun time.  Ellen asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, and what an honor it is! 

My favorite bridesmaid duty is absolutely throwing bridal showers. I love to throw a good party, especially for someone I love. The other fun part is being a bridesmaid with another one of your closest friends! I was lucky enough to get to co-host this shower with Ellen's Maid-of-Honor, and her sister, Cindy!

Together, we tag-teamed the planning and executing of a dreamy blue & yellow vision. 

Speaking of vision, the bride herself was glowing all day. 

She makes one beautiful, blushing bride! 

If she looks this gorgeous on her shower day, I can't even imagine how beautiful she will look on her wedding day! Joel, you are one lucky dude. Remember that.

We also had a mimosa bar. 

I firmly believe every shower should have a mimosa bar. 

There is no shortage of cooks and bakers among Ellen's friends and family. 

Each guest was sent a recipe card in their invitation, and were asked to bring it to the shower.

They were all put in this awesome recipe box Cindy gifted to Ellen.

She will be starting off her marriage with quite the collection. 

Ellen is so loved among her friends and family. It was the joy of these ladies to gather round and celebrate her! She also is very loved by some furry friends as well. 

Cindy made the most beautiful ombre layer cake. 

Girl had SKILLS. 

And, even better, it tasted as good as it looked!

All the lovely guests were sent home with something a little sweet, a little sour, 

to remember Ellen's bridal shower!

(Also handmade by Cindy!)

Tassel Garland: Here

Custom Cake Topper & LOVE Banner: Here

Invitations & Recipe Cards: Here
Paper Straws: Here

Paper Fans: Here

Lemon Scrub Recipe: Here

Ombre Cake Recipe: Here, Here & Here

10 on 10: Sunday Funday Edition

The weekends lately have been full. So full. All good things, all good things.

Sunday naps are a thing of the past, mostly because there is so much good stuff to do right now.

Soon, several friends will move, and there will be more time.

But for now, Sundays are really, really good.


As usual, procrastinating and waking up early to print church bulletins. And munch on a macaron.

And then printing bulletins. My tiny apartment has unusual storage. No linen closets, or hall closets, no pantry or any other small storage. Just two giant walk ins. One is converted into an office, and with no enclosed garage or anything else, I use it as my storage area for everything else. Saturday was spent cleaning and purging all the clutter that has collected there. 14 bags of junk - who knew I even had space for 14 bags of junk in 777 square feet, but I did. And this is the final, organized product. It should be noted, I have an entire container dedicated to theme parties.

Running powerpoint. This is my favorite song right now. Reminds me of Sunday school as a kid. 

A little shopping and who do we find but Ashley doing her #mugswap14 shopping :)
Her creepy husband in the back was excited to be there too.

Tea time. It's exciting, I tell ya.

My sister insisted on a sweet treat in our future.  Not a problem.

And then I went chair shopping, and got the steal of the century. $179 marked as $89, rang up as $39. I think that is over 75% off or something.

I guess one of us got a Sunday nap.

Move over caprese, this is my current obsession. Trader Joe's brioche toasts, brie, & jam (this one is Strawberry/Ollalieberry)

Another Sunday Funday in the books.

Linking up with Rebekah.
 

10 on 10: April 2014

So, I missed March. I'm a little bummed that I did, but it was a boring day and I forgot to take pics after 10 am.

So here we are in April. A regular day, full of happy moments. 

What? You don't have a disco ball next to your bibles? 

Actually made my bed for the third day in a row. It needed to be documented. 

Getting ready.

Happy.

Lucky lady.

Cheesy puffs are his love language.Pretty sure he's using me as his dealer.

Afternoon fuel. 

Dinner of feelings, with friends, who also have feelings. 

This girl chooses her PJ's for me, whether she wants to antagonize me with cat jammies or impress me with dog jammies. Tonight she compromised, dog top, cat bottoms. She's a clever little critter.

Watercolor skies. 

Linking up with my sweet friend Rebekah!!!

Be Crafty AZ: An Adventure to Remember

If you pull the letters from Be Crafty AZ, you can also make the words Be Crazy.
Which, if you think about the fact that I spent 25 out of 72 hours on the road for this adventure, I absolutely signed up for Be Crazy.

And you know what, it was totally worth it.

I left work a little early on Friday afternoon, and sadly not early enough, as I hit awful Friday traffic while I headed south to Katy's house.

I consoled myself with Dark Chocolate Cadbury Mini Eggs and a Diet Cherry Coke from Sonic (happy hour, praises!)

Thankfully, as I sat in traffic along the Pacheco Pass, I got to admire California showing off her gorgeous spring landscape.

I mean, right?

Katy and I sat together on her couch for about an hour after I got there, before we were the grown ups we are, and put ourselves to bed. We had an early morning and long day ahead.

Up before the sun, we started making our way out of California.

We were greeted by some gorgeous skies, which my iPhone could do no justice.
And before we knew it, we were almost halfway to Arizona, driving through the great windmills of Palm Springs.

Everytime I have driven through these towering structures, it has been for something really awesome.
(Resolved Conferences and a Bachelorette Party).

This trip was no exception.

Before we knew it, we were in the vast California desert quickly approaching the Arizona border.

Rest stops that promised restrooms and services, were nothing more than dusty boarded up buildings, and abandoned gas stations. Right out of Cars.

Thankfully, Katy and I had bladders of steel, and managed to keep composed for the next 40 miles.
Which looked a lot like this.

For 8 hours to Arizona (and another 8 hours back). Katy and I didn't listen to one song, sermon, or radio show. We just talked. For a total of 16 hours. Ha! I guess we really have the gift of gab.

Finally, we crossed in to Arizona. Crossing something off my bucket list, posing by a "you're now entering such and such state" sign.

Me, Katy, and the Grand Canyon State had a full on photoshoot on the side of the road.
We shortly stopped for lunch at the funniest little town, Quartzsite, AZ, where the people watching and roadside stands were divine. I seriously regret not taking any pictures.

A couple short hours later, we had arrived at our hotel, where we kicked off our shoes, closed our eyes, and caught a couple of much needed zzzz's.

After that, Katy and I headed over to the Lovliest of Homes, belonging to Heather, who was a gracious and incredible hostess with the mostess. 

Where we enjoyed a warm spring Arizona evening with blog and instagram friends, new and old.

 I also spent the evening plotting how I could stash Heather's pup in my purse without her knowing.

And we had a blast taking Instax Pics with each other, and now I totally want one.

Here's Katy and I with Amanda and Lesley. 

Next thing we knew, it was time to get up and get going off to the Be Crafty Workshop.

 

But first, coffee.

We arrived on site, at the Old Main at the ASU Campus, and while I ran a quick errand, these ladies transformed the place into something magical.
It literally looked like this when I walked in.

The grand entrance, was exactly that, GRAND.

How cute is my felt flower nametag made by Cole!
It's one of my most favorite things, she makes incredible felt flowers!

And the Be Crafty AZ Team
Cole, Heather, Katy, Amanda, Lesley, and Kate!

With three adorable new friends, Ruth, Rebekah, and Annalea.

And with Katygirl, of course. 

I tried to hijack Lesley's chalk art lesson with a lesson on how to draw Cat Emojis.

Thankfully, Lesley didn't allow that to happen, and I ended up with something pretty awesome. (At least I feel like it's pretty awesome. It needs a little touching up though.

I also met some wonderful ladies, who were crafting at the table with us. It was so fun to laugh and craft together.

And the sweet Be Crafty girls, knowing we had an 8 hour drive ahead of ourselves, squeezed us and hugged us, and sent us on our way, with mason jars full of lemonade.

We headed west, chasing the sunset as we went.

And stopping for a photo op...

Or two.

The next morning, I woke up at Katygirl's, enjoyed coffee with her and her kids. Played some I Spy, read a few books, watched some Tinkerbell, had lunch with everybody, including Scottyboy, and then hit the road for the final leg of my trip home.

Where, I promptly placed myself on my couch for the rest of the night, with a margarita in my Mason Bar Jar, both exhausted and refreshed from a time of being social, and creative, and enjoying friends. It was a whirlwind of an adventure, and one for the record books.