A Surprise Celebration

I have the sweetest husband in the world! :)

He knows me so well. Just take a look at these pictures, and it's amazing to see how much he knows me!

This is what I came home to!

Friday night to celebrate me getting a promotion and us paying off our student loans to be DEBT FREE, he completely surprised me with a dinner party... outside.... decorated to perfection! It looked like it came straight out of a magazine, and I don't think I could have decorated better myself!

Beautiful Table set-up. He's brilliant! :)

Every detail - down to flowers around the patio (compliments of my parents), glass mason jars filled with pretty candles, glass servers for water, buckets filled with fresh flowers, and the most perfect shade of blue accented throughout the table.

Perfect Summer Picnic

The setting was complete with a large outdoor canopy with party lights as well as an outdoor fireplace for the chilly California evening! (My husband knows how much I LOVE a fire)

Complete with garden accents, umbrella, and party lights!

It was perfect! He invited some good friends to help us celebrate and have dinner together. We had the best time, and laughed the night away!

An amazing night celebrated with friends and great food.

This is the kind of party I see in magazines all the time and dream about having! He made it all come together! :) He's pretty darn awesome....

After dinner, the fire pit kept the party going!

Enjoying the cool California evening!

My amazing husband! Thanks babe!

Read more...

Slowing Down

I know I've been a bit absent... I plan to take some needed time out for the holidays.

I'll add a few Christmas recipes here and there, but I want to be able to focus on family, friends, and the real meaning of the season: The Birth of Christ.

I'll be baking lots of cookies, decorating the house, trying out some new ideas, attending lots of Christmas parties, and indulging in lots of cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies!

Here's my start! We did a little bit of this for the weekend:

We got the perfect one for the new house!

He looks pretty scary with that saw....

What do you all have planned for the Christmas season?

Read more...

Baby Shower

This past weekend, my friend Laura and I hosted a baby shower for another of our friends, Mandy. She's expecting her third baby, but first boy! We were very excited, and the chance to do anything crafty was a bonus! Laura and I had a lot of fun planning, and even more fun prepping, even though we don't have any kids of our own. Mandy decided on green and brown with monkeys as the theme for the nursery, so we decided to incorporate that and make the shower a jungle theme.

A few months ago, my friend from Charleston, Carissa made these sweet decorations for her best friend's baby shower. They were adorable, and it gave us some inspiration to make these.

We made a cute little banner to welcome the little one to the world.

Then we made some cupcake toppers to brighten up the table a bit

An adorable diaper cake made a perfect center piece, and went perfectly with the jungle theme. You can find some great instructions for diaper cakes here

Here's a picture of the whole table, ready and waiting for the fun.

Now we just need this sweet little boy to make his appearance! Can't wait to find out his name! :)

Read more...