Hello Cupcake

Mmmmm . . . Cupcakes . . .

This year I put together a gift for the Favorite Things Exchange that combined my love for baking (and for eating baked goods), with my love of party planning, my love of paper crafts, and my love of spending time with friends. It was a Party in a Box--a kit for throwing your very own Cupcake Exchange.

It included invitations, paper goods, a garland, party favor boxes and tags, a cookbook, a cakestand, and of course . . . cupcakes! I had so much fun putting it together, and I think I might have to go ahead and throw a similar party myself.

Classics

I just found ModCloth, and I admit, I would like to buy soooo many things from them! These dresses are so cute and feminine.

You've also got to check out the swimsuits . . .

and the shoes!

Oh, I love it all. I must be in a black and white mood today judging by the things I picked out, but they have lots of lovely colored items as well.

The 3rd Annual Favorite Things Exchange

It's that time of year again! Time for a bunch of girls to get together to share some food, conversation, and a whole bunch of their "favorite things."

Here's the deal . . . two years ago, one of my friends suggested we have a get together where everyone comes and brings a gift full of their favorite things to exchange with someone else. She and I and another friend planned the event, and it turned out beautifully. The next year, we made it even better, and now we just finished the event for the third year. We have so much fun planning all the little details and it's so fun to share my love of parties with these two talented women.

Here we are in all our glory. Every year, we ask our guests to join us in dressing to match the color scheme. As you can see . . . it was red and white this year. We love the excuse to get all prettied up. We also try to have something that's unique to just us. It was supposed to be scarves this year, but I was a party pooper and took mine off pretty early on.

The invites -- these were huge (8 in. squares), and I loved the look and feel of them as we handed them out.

Food is always the most difficult part for us--we like to do it, but it's always so last minute and can be stressful. So this year we opted for pre-boxed lunches. They were easy, cute, and very filling.

The lunch boxes were personalized, and we used them as "place cards" on each chair. We love to make assigned seating so that we can mix up the group and help people get to know one another better.


Each chair also had a little nosegay of daisies. They were just one of those little "extras" that made the whole affair so special.

This was the cheerful scene that greeted guests as they entered.

Definitely not the first, or the last, time you'll see this chair in one of my pictures. I wonder what color it will be next?

Then there was a table where each guest wrote her name and address on an envelope and slipped it into the gift she was giving away. After the party, each person has a pre-addressed thank you note to send to the person whose gift she received.

The thank you's were also handmade and coordinated with our invites.

The dessert table was beautiful and easy. With a chocolate fountain as a centerpiece, and tons of dippers, it was the perfect end to our lunch.

Then on to the gifts.

Here's the whole lot of them before we started drawing numbers. The gifts were wonderful this year, and you could tell that everyone had put a lot of time and attention into them. There wasn't one that I wouldn't have been happy to receive!

And here's the whole group that was there. Thank you everyone for coming and helping to make our "3rd Annual" event a success!

The Taste of Summer

This is what summer tastes like.

Tonight as I dug into this short stack of goodness, I really felt like summer had arrived. Now, if only I could have had a long cool drink from this beauty:


I love this beverage dispenser from Z Gallerie. It would be the perfect compliment to a summer garden party.

On My List

This project is definitely on my list. I love how it feels homspun and sophisticated all at the same time. Also, I love that I could complete the entire thing in an evening. Check out this amazing blog for some more free patterns and a peek at the author's Etsy shop.

Love Birds Shower

My beautiful little sister (on the left) is getting married . . . .

So I begged and begged her to let me (on the right) plan her bridal shower. And she's so nice, that she agreed.

It was a love bird theme. The invitation read: The love birds are getting married, and they need help feathering their nest.

We had little edible birds nest favors (chocolate covered chow mein noodles), a beautiful cake (which I did not make), little birdies everywhere, and a blue chair for the bride to sit in.

Little touches all over the room really brought out our color scheme (blue and brown), and made it feel special. There was an "advice tree" for everyone to write a message to the bride, a paper birdie garland (made from the same birds that are hanging on the tree), and lots of birdhouses.

And finally, a special keepsake gift to help her remember the day:

I'm not a quilter, so this was quite a feat for me. My good friend, Carrie, was invaluable in helping and encouraging me through this project.

This shower was held the day before Easter, and I thought it really captured the feeling of spring.

Congratulations sis, and thanks for letting me be a part of this special time!

UPDATE: ANOTHER BIRDY SHOWER

I recently decided to reuse some of this decor when I had to put on a last minute baby shower for a friend of mine. It turned out just as lovely as the first one, so I had to share a few pictures:

The beverage bar, and beautiful buntings (made out of fabric left over from my quilt).

Setting the mood--this theme fit perfectly with my existing decor, so it was simple and tasteful.

This was the backdrop for the food table. Unfortunately, no pics were taken once all the food was arranged.

A few little details. I think it's these type of small touches that really help to carry a theme and make things special.

I had so much fun reusing this party theme, and I plan to tuck these things away for the future.

My Outlet

I've been blogging for a couple years now (sporadically), but it's mostly just been mommy-blogging. It's been great in many ways, and it serves an important purpose in my life, but I'm starting to want more. I want a place where I can call my own. A place that I can junk up with all my projects, and ideas, and blog-stalking finds, and party planning, and anything and everything else that I feel like putting in my place.

This is that place--my outlet.

I'm an accountant by trade. It's not a glamorous job, but it suites me in many ways--and it pays the bills (or at least, some of them). However, it doesn't give me the outlet that I need for the creative. Accounting just isn't creative. It's about rules, and order, and putting numbers in the right little boxes. And believe it or not, I actually find all that stuff fun. But there's more to me than just the mousy accountant (that is, more than meets the eye). And I like to dream too, and I can dream big dreams I tell ya.

And this is my place to write about those dreams, and show pictures of those dreams, and maybe even occasionally to record when I make one of those dreams come true.

Like I said, this place is for me--me, me, me, me--but if you find anything here that interests you, or that helps you to dream just a bit, then you're welcome to join me here. After all, us blog-lurkers have to stick together.