Me Want Cookie.

I started thinking about Halloween pretty early this year. Our school puts on a costume parade each fall and I always try to think of an outfit that will be a) recognizable to 5-year-olds, b) comfortable enough to work in throughout the day, and c) kind of cute.

This year, I dressed up as everyone's favorite, cookie obsessed, Sesame Street monster and I convinced my co-teacher and our assistant to join in on the neighborhood fun by being Elmo and Oscar the Grouch! The kids were really excited to see us this morning and we got lots of compliments on our little costume trio. Not too shabby for a $10 DIY!

I bought a blue t-shirt for $3, two blue feather boas, two styrofoam balls to create the eyes, and some felt to cut out the cookies. I safety pinned the cookies and boa to a skirt I already have and love to wear to work, and hot glued part of the boa and the eyes to a cheap headband. 

Glad to retire my go-to Minnie Mouse outfit this year for something fresh and new. 

Plus, I got to eat as many cookies as I wanted during our class party. ;)

The cookie nails were a hit too. I didn't even think the kids would notice but they pointed them out right when I walked in! So funny what they notice! 

Here's the rest of the crew. ;)

What are you dressing up as this weekend?

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

DIY Save the Dates.

For years, Weston and I said that when we were ready to get married we'd just elope. Between my pain being so unpredictable, the cost of a wedding, and the stress typically involved… a big event has never been a priority for us. But now that the time is here, out of consideration for our parents, we've decided to have a very intimate, elopement-style ceremony with just our immediate families in attendance and a week later, we are throwing a small, backyard reception so we can celebrate with our extended family and a few close friends.

Having two smaller, simpler events is a much more realistic option for me, health-wise, as opposed to cramming everything into one long, exhausting day. (Although I hope to be feeling much better by then, we just can't plan on it yet.) And as the plans come along, Weston and I are having a lot of fun with the details - trying to make sure everything will be reflective of us and true to our individual styles.

So far, this seems like the perfect compromise for us and our families.

After finalizing those decisions fairly quickly, since we were already at the 6 month mark to our reception, one of our first projects was to send out Save the Dates, which we decided to make ourselves! Although having a professional make them would have been quicker and easier... we saved a bit of money, we had a lot of fun, and I know I will always fondly remember those late night DIY sessions, slaving over the hot glue gun together! ;)

Here's how they turned out:

Our save the dates were a free printable that we found on Pinterest, filled in, and backed with gray card stock. The font and wreath graphic for the 'A' were also free downloads that we found online. We took the photo strip pictures using self-timer and after Weston and I agreed on our favorites, I pieced them together using this tutorial.

So there they are! Nice and simple. :)
On to the next little project...

30 Years.

It is a very difficult thing to keep a secret in this family. Especially a secret as big as this was - but by some miracle (and a lot of white lies), my brother and I were able to pull off a pretty big surprise for my parents in honor of their 30th wedding anniversary.

The planning process was not without it's close calls. Time to work on decorations and logistics was limited to late night hours and very early mornings. My car was practically a Party City storage space on wheels, and I held my breath every time my parents would talk on the phone to one of their siblings, praying that nobody would slip up!

Thankfully, the secret stayed safe, and last Saturday, in Weston's parents' gorgeous backyard, my mom and dad renewed their vows in front of family and friends and spent the rest of the evening celebrating their love and the life they've built together.

Guests started arriving about a half hour before my mom and dad were expected to "meet Weston's parents for dinner". We set up a small table towards the entrance to the party where guests could write a memory or something they admire about my parent's marriage. We personalized these note cards to say "30 years, Dave & Bonnie" and they turned out beautifully!

My mom and dad have been together since they were 16, so it was really fun to look through boxes of old pictures and choose ones to display at the party. We also customized little program/thank-you-notes using this template and left them fanned out on different tables for people to grab as a memento from the occasion.

I'll be honest, I was a nervous wreck in the moments leading up to my parents arrival. But everything went without a hitch. My mom was completely stunned for about 20 minutes - especially when she saw that one of her best friends had made a trip out here from Arizona just for the party! As they walked in, we played their first dance song, True Love Ways, by Buddy Holly... 

moonrise kingdom birthday party.

i turned twenty-two yesterday.

it's been funny because i keep thinking i'm turning 23, so i've kind of been freaking myself out about how quickly life is moving and then i realize i'm a year ahead of myself somehow. hahaha although, weston did pull a gray hair out of the top of my head the other day. :( just call me grams.

i've been wanting to throw a little party for a while and my birthday gave me a good excuse to plan something cute and have friends over. i decided to go with a moonrise kingdom theme because 1) it's one of my favorite movies, 2) it came out on dvd last week, and 3) it's fun and childlike and will remind me that twenty-two is still stinkin' young and i need to stop complaining about my one gray hair.

all of the decorations were either things i had at home, things i borrowed, things i made, or things i bought from the dollar store. my dad constructed an awesome 'camp ivanhoe' sign out of tree branches that had coincidentally been placed in our yard after a neighbor trimmed one of their trees last week. my dad also made a really cute little tent that toby thought belonged to him, but that actually turned into more of a photo prop.

and thus, the night before my birthday was spent like this.

weston concocted a really delicious sangria that is a mix of a few different recipes he'd read. i was in and out of the kitchen as he was mixing but i'll ask him what the recipe was and share it here because i think it was that delicious. 

 my mom is amazing. every year she asks what i want my cake to be like, i tell her my vision and she makes it a sweet and tasty reality. i think this is my favorite cake yet - so simple and pretty.

my birthday is only a week away from halloween and i've never once utilized that - so after getting positive feedback about possibly having a dress-up party, i decided to finally go for it. everyone dressed in clothing inspired by the movie. there were knee socks, peter-pan collars, and plaid galore. plus a couple 'khaki scouts' and my brother dressed up like bruce willis who plays a cop in the movie. everyone looked so great!

after it got dark enough, we sat around the firepit and roasted marshmallows while the movie played on our outdoor screen. i had been worried that it would either rain (ominous clouds all morning!) or it would be too cold, but with blankets and the fire, everyone was nice and warm. my mom also made one of my favorite meals - her potato cheese soup, adding to the coziness.

after the movie, bryan showed up with a bottle of champagne, made an inappropriate toast (as expected) and we sat around the fire until after midnight, when the group had dwindled down to just my family and weston and it was officially my birthday.

here's to another year.

thanks for celebrating with me, friends.

going-away cupcakes.

my friend, (and weston's brother's girlfriend) diane, is leaving in a few weeks to work for the peace corps in botswana. so on saturday night, lots of her family and friends got together to celebrate together and send her off to africa with love.

my small contribution to the party were some cupcakes that i brought for dessert.

i cut hearts out of some card-stock maps, taped them to the tops of wooden skewers and popped the skewers into the tops of the cupcakes.

they ended up being pretty cute and surprisingly lots of people ate them and had nice things to say!

which doesn't happen often when i bake/cook/etc. so i was pleased. :)

weston's mom and sister had decorated the backyard beautifully too, with lots of globes, map garlands, and african themed art. i wish i had taken more pictures!

it was a lovely way to spend an evening and i can't wait to follow along with diane's upcoming adventure when she starts up her blog... (hint hint, diane!) ;)

A Gothic Halloween

Taryn, Shelley and I have joked about starting a business. A party planning business. Combining all of our creative abilities to form a powerhouse team of event designers. Last night we threw our first party together. It took weeks of thrifting, days of decorating, and lots of hours spent over hot glue guns and bottles of black spray paint to perfect our gothic halloween theme but when all was said and done, I think we all agree that it was a fun process and definitely worth all the effort. :)

I didn't have time to get many pictures throughout the day but here were a few that I snapped in between final touches on the decorations, and getting myself made-up for the party.

Once the party started, I guess I didn't find much time for pictures either... so here are three pictures from various iphones. Haha. You can kind of see my dress ($4 at the thrift store!) and some of the awesome outfits my friends were wearing! 

Spooky chic, wouldn't you say?

Shelley and Taryn are amazingly creative. (Taryn made all those desserts! So cute and delicious!) I had so much fun planning this little party with them. Can't wait for our next event!