Baby Shower: Where I got my inspiration!

Hello Friends!  We survived Irene with no damage to our house, no trees down, and we still have power!  How Blessed are we?!

I literally found all of the baby shower inspiration online and I really wanted to give credit to the lovely ladies who helped me out by sharing their own ideas.

First up is Sarah at Life Sweet Life she had a tutorial on my banner that I made!

Next is Sandi at Oh Baby Shower Decor she's got some great inspiration and lots of ideas. That's where I got the idea for the little mini Bath and Body Works hand sanitizers as favors.  I also got the idea for the guests to sign a baby book from that website as well.

The labels I made came from Darby at Fly Through Our Window I just tweeked the template to fit what I needed.  And I think it turned out perfectly!  I also used the same template to make little food name tags.

I found this book at Target, it's call On the Night you Were Born, so cute and a great sentimental book if you're looking to do something like this at a baby shower!

I found this next idea through Be Different...Act Normal and it took me to this blog the poem is so adorable and great!  I'm not a mom yet, but even I get choked up reading it!  I thought it was such a cute idea that I had to give it to my SIL as a gift.  I got a set of 4 tiny vases at Target for $2.99.  You can click on the poem below and read it. 

This type of wreath I've seen all over blog land and I really wanted to try and make one.  I used this tutorial and it worked out great!

I got the idea to serve fruit in these little waffle bowls from Kelly at Kelly's Korner.  I absolutely LOVE this idea!

I made these POMS and I think they turned out really cute, I watched a Youtube video for these, because I had never made them before.

I got the punch recipe from Erin at Blue Eyed bride.  It was a hit!

Okay I think that's about it.  I hope if anyone is planning a shower in the future they can get some ideas here! : )
p.s. I went and got a 4 pack of receiving blankets from Target and used two of them on the table above to add to the color scheme I was going for and then gave them to my SIL at the end of the shower (along with all of the decorations, I hope she'll be able to use some of them in the baby's room)
Have a great week!

Baby Shower!!

 Hi Everyone!  Last weekend I threw a baby shower for my SIL.  She and my baby brother are expecting their first little bundle of joy in October (I think she'll have it in September though!)

I had a lot of fun planning this little baby shower and I wanted to share some pictures with you and then I'll go into more detail about where I got my ideas from!  Literally I got all of the ideas from blogs online!  There are so many creative and talented ladies out there!  So I can't wait to share all of the great resources with you! 

 Picture of me and my SIL.  I'm on the phone with the daddy to be :)  he was traveling for business and couldn't be there.

The mommy to be with her mom and my Granny and her girlfriend was able to make it (she just had her own little boy two weeks ago and he was born 5 weeks early I think so he's still in the hospital.  It was nice that she was able to come and have a little break :)

Details coming soon!

The Last Weekend in My 20's

Like the post title says, this is the last weekend of my 20's.  I really don't know how I feel about it, but I knew I was going to have some fun!! : )

First I had Friday off of work (I do flex time so I get every other Friday off, love it!!)  And I got some errands run and had lunch with one of my very best friends Kristen.  It was really great to catch up with her and just talk about life!  That's what girlfriends are for!

Today hubby and I watched our nephew Gabriel for a few hours while my SIL threw a little luncheon / shower for my other SIL because a) she's preggers and b) she works for my SIL so she wanted to do something nice like that for her.  BTW - I'm throwing Amy my SIL who's preggers with her and my brother's first baby a shower in August and I've been doing all kinds of fun planning thanks to blogland for some awesome ideas I'll be sharing with you soon!!  Watching Gabriel was a lot of fun but, OH MY GOODNESS, it was exhausting and I had hubby helping me, and I only had him for two hours, and I only took him to the mall, and he happens to be an angel baby!!  I don't know how you mama's do it, but ya'll are all awesome in my book!!!

Then I fixed hubby and I some yummy pasta primavera with crab meat and had a little of my favorite red wine to go with it! 

So my last weekend of my 20's has been pretty great so far, I have to admit. : )

Be back soon with more updates on my life and my last days in my 20's before I am thrown into my 30's, oh man!!!

Perfect Summer Read: The Beach Trees

Hi Friends!  So sorry for my absence these past couple of months I hope everyone has been doing well and enjoying the warm weather!

With Summer right around the corner I like to get my summer reading list together.  You know the kind of books you like to take to the beach, pool, lake, mountains, etc. that you can just get lost in.  Well I have the perfect book for you!  It's called The Beach Trees by Karen White.

Set in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina comes a heart warming story about moving on after great tragedies.  The main character Julie Holt is like a fish out of water in New Orleans in the beginning, she's a native of New England and has dealt with her own tragedy, the disappearance of her younger sister Chelsea when she was only twelve and then the death of her best friend Monica who leaves her only son Beau in Julie's guardianship.  Her life changing journey leads her to New Orleans where Monica grew up and has left a beach house named River Song to her son Beau.  Only after she arrives in New Orleans does she realize that Katrina has taken it's wrath out on River Song and there's almost nothing left.  So she must connect with the family that Monica ran away from and try to piece together the mystery of why she ran away from a family that seemed to love her so much while rebuilding River Song.

Here you meet Monica's brother Trey who is a very complex character and her grandmother Miss Aimee who is one of my favorite characters of the book.  One of the things that I love about Karen White's books is you get two stories in one.  The present day with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which is Julie's story and then you get to see Aimee's story and what tragedies she dealth with and how she overcame them. 

My favorite quote of the book is, "Great tragedy give us opportunities for great kindness."  It get's me a little choked up thinking about all of the disasters that part of our country is facing right now in Missouri and other states in the wake of the tornados.  But this book shows us just what the human spirit is made of and how we overcome and move on, help one another when the weight is too much to bear.

There's romance, mystery, and drama all rolled into one and I promise it won't dissapoint.  I guarantee The Beach Trees will leave you inspired.  Follow this link to see what others had to say about the book.

Happy summer reading!!!

Happy Valentines, Blessing Ring, and a Tutu

Happy Valentines Day Friends! Really quick post as I'm walking out the door to work.

I have a surprise baby shower to go to today for a co-worker and I made her a blessing ring.  Seriously the easiest thing ever to make!!  All you need is a necklace ring from a craft store and ribbons.  Then you can add any embelishment you like.

And I also made her a tutu in her school colors.  She went to Virginia Tech and so did her husband and they are die hard fans.  So I think she'll really love this!!

Hope you all have a wonderful V Day!!!

My Week in Pictures

Hello Friends!  I've been enjoying my new Nikon and thought I'd share my week in pictures.  Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Pioneer Woman's Carrot and Squash Curry Soup! YUM!

I joined a Book Club!!  This is what we're currently reading!

This was a belated Christmas present for Hubby.  The poor guy came in a million pieces and Hubby glued him back together agent!

Playing with my new camera!

This is MY NOOK!  Doesn't it look cozy and in desperate need of a makeover, this is on my 2011 Goals!

The surprise snow we got on Friday night!

The last of the Christmas decorations that came down this weekend!

I just love the glitter that's on this poinsettia!

Our cozy breakfast nook, although I have to admit that Christmas lights make anything look cozy! : )

Have a FABULOUS week friends!

My 29 Goals in 2010 - Continued

Happy 2011 Friends!  I hope everyone had a great New Year's and is excited about 2011, it's gonna be a great year!

So I shared my first two goals here and now I'm going to share the rest with you now because I need to get started on my 30 Goals in 2011!

Goal 3 - Take 365 photos (photo a day).  Didn't happen, I think I made it to the end of February and then I just kind of stopped.  I will be trying this one again and I'm hoping that my new Nikon will motivate me to follow through with it this year!

Goal 4 - Open up an Etsy store.  Nope didn't do this one either, probably won't be adding this to the 2011 list because instead of opening up an Etsy store I became a Thirty-One Consultant!! I love it! 

Goal 5 - Learn how to sew.  No, this is turning into a list of things I didn't do in 2010, haha!  I would love to learn to sew, my mom used to sew and she made me the most beautiful easter dresses. 

Goal 6 - Attend 2 weddings.  YES!  I did this, attended two good friends weddings one in March and the other in July. 

Goal 7 - Read 12 books.  The idea was to read a book a month.  I read The Host, On Folly Beach, The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner, Dead in the Family, Chasing Harry Winston, The Last Song, Firefly Lane (started but didn't finish), Eat Pray Love (started but didn't finish, The Hunger Games, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (still reading), and one that I can't remember the name of??  So I didn't quite get there, but I was close!

Goal 8 - Learn 24 new recipes.  Okay so I got 23 new recipes.  I'll share them with you in another post.  But a lot of them were the Pioneer Woman.

Goal 9 - Make everything in the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  Didn't happen but I made at least 5 or 6 things.

Goal 10 - Swim in the ocean.  YES!  Did this over the summer in Virginia Beach.

Goal 11 - Go to Scotland.  Yes, we went to Scotland in February to surprise Hubby's dad for his 60th birthday, it was a great trip!

Goal 12 - Plant herbs in the garden. I planted Basil, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm. : )  I plan on planting a lot more this spring.  I want to do Parsley, Chives, Thyme, and a few others.

Goal 13 - Go to Key West.  Hubby and I got invited to a good friends wedding in Key West and we were planning on going but with this still being the first year in our new house we really wanted to spend the time and money on that so we didn't do Key West and while I'm sad we didn't get to see our friends getting married I'm really glad that we saved the money and were able to spend time at the house.

Goal 14 - Host a Party at the house.  Halloween Party and Hubby's Birthday Party and a Thirty One party!  I was all about the parties! : )

Goal 15 - Go to the movies at midnight.  Yes, hubby and I went to see It's Complicated at a 10:30 showing so technically we were at the movies at midnight and it was fun!

Goal 16 - Hang our Wedding Pictures up - Haven't done this yet, but we have started printing and framing them!

Goal 17 - Refurbish an old piece of furniture - I'm not really sure where this one came from but no I haven't done this.  I'll work on it in 2011

Goal 18 - Decorate and paint my nook.  Long story that I will share with you in another post.

Goal 19 - Give away 20 pieces of clothing I don't wear anymore.  Yes I have given away a lot more than that and have a big bag that's still accumulating as we speak.

Goal 20 - Buy new shoes for work.  Yes, I bought a cute pair of tan pumps from Aldo that I love!

Goal 21 - Have a Harry Potter weekend where I watch all the Harry Potter movies back to back.  No I didn't do this, but does watching Harry Potter whenever it was on TV count?

Goal 22 - Take my nieces and nephews to the movies.  Didn't do this one, this will be on my list for 2011, maybe not the movies in particular but take them somewhere fun, maybe a museum....

Goal 23 - Commission an artist to paint my wedding dress.  Haven't done this yet, but I've found a lady on Etsy that I'm going to get to do this!

Goal 24 - Write a handwritten Thank You note to someone.  Yes, I did this more than a few times, I think it's such a nice gesture that people have gotten out of the habit of doing.

Goal 25 - Send out picture Christmas cards.  No we didn't do this, I was hoping to but in the end just ended up buying some regular ones.

Goal 26 - Go somewhere I've never been before - Yes, did this went to Dallas (for work)

Goal 27 - Have a mother / daughter day.  Yes, took my mom to the Outer Banks for her birthday and had a whole weekend together!

Goal 28 - Get all of my Christmas shopping done before December.  No way did that happen, I wish.  I always end up doing most of my shopping in December. 

Goal 29 - Get Pregnant.  Unfortunately not, but still trying and praying that 2011 is the year!

So there you have it.  My 2010 goals and the few I actually acheived, haha.  I'll share my 2011 list once I get it all compiled. 

Does anyone else have goals for 2011? : )