good thoughts: no.1

I think weekends are the perfect time to share good thoughts through quotes and photos.    Birthdays are always happy. Celebrate regular old days like that too. Good attitudes all around! :)   We are off to John's cousin's daughter's {whew!} first birthday party today. {is there an easier way to say that???!} Happy birthday to little Sami! And a happy Saturday to you all! xo!  

a fantastic {double} giveaway!

  There is a GREAT double giveaway going on over at one of my favorite blogs, The Hollie Rouge. I am giving away $10 shop credit to my Etsy store and The Mom Diggity is giving away a small ad space on her blog!!!  YAY!!!  Plus, you get to read a great blog, written by one of the nicest bloggers ever.  Andi is wonderful!  Go say hello! :)   And good luck winning this giveaway! ;) Happy Thursday, xo!  

halloween printables! :)

Halloween is fast approaching!  One week away!!! :)  Do you have your decorating done?  We are fairly set for the holiday already.  Our decorations are up, except for some cobwebs I'd like to add last minute. We need to buy some Halloween candy for the trick-or-treaters as well.  And of course, this sign will greet them as they walk up to our door.....      E.M. Papers is offering up this spooky printable for your trick-or-treaters to read on Halloween.  SO cute to put on the front door next week!!  I've already "purchased" mine and am printing it out ASAP. 
Get the free printable here. 
{And the text is editable as well!}   I adore eye charts- something about them has always intrigued me. {Even though I can't read them for the life of me without glasses/contacts haha!} So for Halloween, my 8-year old will get a kick out of this one with me. Find the printable here. :)   I need something to hang on my mantle to complete the room.  This might be the ticket... Printable garland can be found here.   Or maybe these.  These ghosties are seriously adorable. Mustaches, bows, eyeglasses?  Love love love.  Find the printables here.   And last, but certainly not least, here is a great printable if you want to add some pizazz to cupcake toppers and the goodie bag toppers for your party or even for your kids class.  I think I'll use these to top bags of candy corn for Andrew and his classmates next week! :) Loving the chevron stripe background, too.  Find them here!   What is your favorite part of Halloween?? And don't forget to pop back in tomorrow for a giveaway! You will not want to miss this! :) xo!  

mani monday + i love fall!

Fall has finally hit around Southern California.  Andrew's baseball game was cancelled yesterday because of rain.  He was so bummed, because he was going to pitch!  BUT, we enjoyed a cozy day at home watching movies and playing games.  And I was inspired by the autumn season and all of my fall decorating, so my nails this week are reflecting that!    Here's the scoop on the polish:   Forever 21 Love & Beauty Nail Polish in Light Orange + Forever 21 Love & Beauty Glitter Polish in Gold/Clear + Top Coat of Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails Strengthening TopCoat = Mani Monday!!   Go check out the other nails.  Seriously, you will be so inspired to paint away!  I am just loving doing my own nails lately, and it really is fun. Espeially going to pick out a bazillion new colors for fall here.  I love cheap nail polish with awesome topcoat- works like a charm!! :)  My nails don't chip for days!   PS.  Notice the sneak peek of my bedroom behind my nails?  I need to do a house tour soon, I am dying to share what John & I have done with our tiny little home.  I just love it. :) {H+J pillow on our bed is from my fab mom!  Her shop is here!}   Off to enjoy the cloudy weather and get some orders done before I pick up Andrew from school.  Then we are headed down to meet up with our fantastic friends for a long-overdue playdate for mommies and boys. :)   Happy Monday! xo!

third trimester! {yay!!}

Oh BOY! We have made it to the third trimester! Baby boy will be here in around 12 weeks! Seriously, these last three months are going to FLY. Baby has grown from the size of a poppyseed {what we affectionately called him after we found out we were expecting!} to the size of a head of iceberg lettuce.  Wow!   We are sooo thrilled to welcome this little bundle into our lives, and I cannot wait to be the mom to TWO adorable little boys.  I am blessed beyond belief!!!!!   OH yeah. And I'm turning 30 this week. That thought is scaring me, but I'll concentrate on something else until the day {thursday!} arrives.  Eek.  

wedding wednesday: setting up the bar.

At our wedding this past March, we had to think long and hard about how we were setting up the bar.  We knew we had to hire a bartender or two, as per our venue's rules.  So that meant setting up a specific place for our guests to get their drinks.  However, there are so many choices when it comes to alcohol at a wedding- do you need it?  Do you go wild and have an open bar?  Just beer and wine?  The options are limitless.    What we decided to go with was a specified menu for drinks.  We offered beer {from a keg behing the bar}, red and white wine, and three mixed drinks that we thought everyone would be happy with: margaritas, a vodka drink, and a whiskey drink.    I made up the menus {one on each side of the L-shaped bar} and the bartender stuck with our "rules" for the drinks.  It worked flawlessly! :)   We did add some cute cocktail napkins that I ordered from this website.  They were the perfect addition to grabbing a cocktail- cute, bright, and added a little color to the bar.  Plus, they were personalized, which is always fun. :)  Add votives and a jar of flowers {faux! I'll get to those in the coming weeks!} and it was the perfect bar.   But then, what about the non-drinkers?  What about the kids?  Do you want everyone having to run up to the bar, even to grab a water??  Nope.    We set up a separate table, next to the bar, where guests could "self serve" their water, lemonade, and iced tea. Cups were available and we used big glass jars to dispense the drinks. The jars without the spouts had big ladles in front of them, resting on fauz "grass" mats, made of plastic- to soak up the drips from the drink jars! It was perfect. Then we knew there were two places that our guests were able to quench their thirst. :)     Everything had labels on it, that I made from Martha Stewart stickers and label sheets from Michael's.  It couldn't have been easier! :)   I think our bar and drink station were the perfect set-up. :) {Except we had a looooot of extras.  Better to be safe than sorry.}  

yellow wedding dress? love!

I loved the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. Like, loved them. :) So imagine my happiness when I saw that Amber Tamblyn got married over the weekend in a beautiful & rustic outdoor setting.  And she hopped out of a red canoe to walk down the aisle barefoot with her dad in a..... YELLOW dress. Um, so darn cute. Could it be any more romantic????! I am a sucker for cute weddings and this one tops the charts. Plus, all her Sisterhood gals were there looking adorable as well! Love, love, love. Happy Tuesday! xo!

things that are exciting me lately + mani monday!

OK, I am seriously excited today. For quite a few reasons!   Number one?! I am officially in my THIRD TRIMESTER! Baby boy is the size of a cauliflower, weighing in at 2 pounds. He can blink, hiccup, and listen to me ramble on each day. yay! Only 13 more weeks until we get to meet our little man. Names have been the topic of discussion between my husband and me lately.  We've got a top two that we like, so let's keep our fingers crossed that we have something to call this baby soon. :)   Speaking of fingers... it's Mani Monday over at Just Lovely!   I usually have my fingernails done at a local salon, but got sick of having to go in there every couple of weeks.  SO, I decided to grab some fun new polish and give myself a manicure!  I am SO happy with the way it turned out, and am loving these greens. {The dark one is actually a slightly glittery black-green.}   Polishes I Used: Spoiled "The Parking Meteor Expired" + Sally Hansen Hard as Nails "Mint Sorbet" on my pinkies + a topping of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Topcoat = happy & cute fingers!   {PS.  I love the names of nail polishes.  So funny!}   Another exciting thing?? FALL television is back! New Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, Modern Family, Private Practice, Once Upon a Time, Gossip Girl, and my personal FAVE..... EEEEEEK!  I've been waiting all summer for this one!  Can't wait!!!! Only three more days!!! :) I'm a total TV junkie, by the way. :) What are you watching?? Any new shows caught your attention? My husband and I are liking Revolution and Last Resort so far. :)   And always an exciting thing... I was so happy to make these darling birthday party invitations for a new customer- her son is having a Hallowen themed party and the invites sure turned out amazingly cute.  Yay!  Need some custom invites?  Pop over to the shop and I would love to help out :)   So, what is exciting YOU lately?! Happy Monday, xo!