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parties and events

cute as a button baby shower

by Ruth on May 15, 2012

This past weekend I had the great privilege of hosting a baby shower for my precious new goddaughter Lydia, who was born on April 30th.  It was such a fun party to throw!

 

  Party details:

  • The adorable invitations were designed by the lovely Heather Moritz of Moritz Fine Designs, (who has also designed all 4 of my websites.)  She was inspired by a design I found on Etsy, and rather than having them printed, she just sent me the digital file and I printed them at home, which helped us get them out sooner and kept costs down.
  • As always, there were lots & lots of fun DiY projects for the decorations and favors.  Luckily for this party, which was planned in only 3 weeks, I had 3 amazing co-hostesses, Angie, Kasey, & Katherine, who were invaluable in helping to get everything done, bringing food, & making sure the party went smoothly.  I definitely could NOT have pulled it off without them!
  • As the theme would suggest, there were buttons everywhere!  I purchased several large variety value packs from JoAnn’s, using 50% off coupons for each one.  I also found some vintage spools on ebay for less than $10, so those were used as both decoration and to hold the food tags.
  • The flowers were very easy.  We picked up 2 bunches of roses at Publix (which were on sale because of Mother’s Day), then simply divided them among 5 mason jars.
  • The button monogram was inspired by a project I found on Pinterest, which came from Spearmint Baby.  I did mine a little differently, printing the background instead of hand-drawing it, so that I could include Baby Lydia’s birth statistics underneath.  It did double duty as decoration and as my gift.
  • The brunch was definitely a team effort, with each of the co-hostesses sharing the cooking duties.  It was all delicious!  The menu included an assortment of vegetarian quiche, baked french toast, a Tuscan breakfast casserole, spinach-strawberry salad, fruit salad, & lemon yogurt muffins.  Drinks included homemade lemonade (using the lemon juice from our own lemon tree), blackberry-mint iced tea, & coffee.
  • All of the desserts for the table were homemade.  I was most nervous about the ruffle cake, a Martha Stewart creation, but then I found this awesome You Tube tutorial that I watched about 6 times in a row, and it was surprisingly doable.  In fact, it was so much fun to do that I am planning a pink version for Trouble’s Cake Party coming up in a couple weeks.  The yellow cake had layers of lemon & lime cake with a lemon cream cheese buttercream frosting, while the ruffle cake was vanilla cake with raspberry cream cheese filling and Martha Stewart’s Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
And finally, since I took almost no pictures of actual people during the shower (but about a gazillion of that ruffle cake), and I know you’re just dying to see her, here is the beautiful guest of honor at just 24 hours old.
She really is cute as a button, isn’t she? ;-)
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sunday brunch at my dream house

by Ruth on May 10, 2012

If you follow along on Project Simplify 365, you may have picked up on the fact that I have a slight problem with baby stalking.  I just can’t help myself…..I love them SO much!  I have so far been unsuccessful in my attempts to convince husband that we need another one, so I fill that need by obsessing, er, doting on other people’s babies.

But I digress.  About a week and a half ago we were invited to a brunch after church to celebrate the baptism if this little cutie pie.  Isn’t she precious?  As we were driving out to the country home of the baby’s grandmother, Stacy, we took a wrong turn and wandered aimlessly for a few minutes.  This is the conversation that followed:

Me:  We should get a house out in the country.   I really like it out here.
Husband:  But you hate driving anywhere.  You think going to Publix is too far.  
Me:  Well I could get used to it. I don’t go that many places. (This is true.  I am practically a hermit.)  Just think of how nice it would be to have a big yard for the kids to play in.
Husband: That would be a lot of grass to mow.
Me: And we could get chickens!  And a goat!
Husband:  What are you talking about?  Since when do you want chickens?
Me:  I just think it would be nice for the girls to have chickens.  They could collect the eggs and sell them.  They were selling organic local eggs at the (Worden) farm for $5 a dozen!  Alysha’s daughter has chickens and she sells their eggs.  It’s so cute.
Husband:  You are crazy

A few minutes later we pull up to an adorable Craftsman-style bungalow surrounded by  a nice big yard and spanish-moss covered trees, which was pretty much the exact picture I had in my mind of the perfect country house.  I didn’t know Stacy well, but even from the outside you could tell that she had a great sense of style.

From the moment I walked in the door, I was in awe of it all!  The gorgeous 1927 arts & crafts detailing everywhere, the amazing brunch laid out on the table as we walked in the front door, the quirky-but-style-filled details everywhere, the homemade pickles and cream cheese and jam.  I literally spent hours wandering around, oohing and aahing over every last detail.  I couldn’t even explain why I was so smitten except that maybe in that moment I realized that Stacy was exactly what I want to be when I grow up!

 

And you just knew there were going to be chickens, right?

I hope that this post doesn’t give the impression that I am somehow dissatisfied with my own home, because that is definitely not the case.  I count my blessings every single day, and honestly couldn’t ask for more.  That said, I can still appreciate someone else’s talents and style without feeling like what I have is somehow inadequate.

The older I get, the stronger my urge to get back to basics and create a simpler, more wholesome life for my family.  In fact that was the main reason I started Project Simplify 365 back in January.  I’m not there yet, and while I’d like to be the mom that feeds my kids home grown vegetables out of my own garden with freshly gathered eggs and homemade cheese, I’m still the mom that resorts to the McDonald’s drive-through because sometimes that’s just easier.

Maybe someday we’ll find a 1927 Craftsman bungalow of our own and move to the country and grow vegetables and keep chickens and get a goat, and I’ll finally learn to can my own pickles and jam.  Or maybe we won’t, and that’s okay too.  But in the meantime I’m just happy I get to know a gal like Stacy.

So what about y’all?  Do you have a particular style of dream home?  What does it look like?

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let them eat cake! {birthday party inspiration}

April 27, 2012

It’s been a while since I’ve thrown a party and now suddenly I have TWO of them coming up next month!  Yay! This year Trouble picked her own theme for her 3rd birthday party: CAKE!  I found it only fitting since the girl is currently obsessed with all things baking-related & spends hours building cakes [...]

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5 Tips for Throwing a Fabulous Holiday Party {On a Tiny Budget}

November 28, 2011

First of all, if any of you are popping by for the first time after watching The Daily Buzz or reading The Charlotte Sun, I just want to say welcome to LWSL!  There is a lot to see so please take some time to explore some of my most popular posts!  If you like what [...]

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butterflies for two {annie & violet’s 1st birthday}

September 27, 2011

A few weeks ago my friend Rachel–an old pal from elementary school–posted a few pictures of her identical twin daughters’ 1st birthday party on Facebook, and I almost died they were so gorgeous. Among her many amazing and creative gifts (which I’m still trying to convince her to let me share!), Rachel is an extremely [...]

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party DiY: simple chair slipcover

September 13, 2011

I saw this chair cover  awhile back & absolutely loved the concept but didn’t really have a specific occasion in mind. Then, as I was wandering around Walmart one Sunday evening I came across some cute fabric on sale for $2 a yard & immediately thought of the chair cover.  At that point, I was [...]

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princess tea party {5th birthday party}

September 6, 2011

 Despite my initial reluctance, Princess’ birthday tea party was actually a lot of fun to put together.  And while it looked very luxe, the final cost came in well under $100 for everything, thanks to clearance deals, an abundant stockpile, & creative use of Groupons! The highlights: The cupcakes, from So Sweet Cupcake Bakery, were [...]

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006 spy party {a boy birthday party idea}

August 23, 2011

I am a mom of girls.  The older they get, the more I am beginning to realize that girly stuff is all I know. We live in a world of pink & purple, of princesses & tea parties, of Barbie & Dora & dress-up.  Every once in a while I will get an email from [...]

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party DiY: flower centerpieces

August 9, 2011

Have you ever felt like your creativity was just tapped out?  I am still having the hardest time mustering up any Princess Tea Party enthusiasm and frankly it is making me feel like a very bad mommy.  Princess’ birthday is less than 2 weeks away and I haven’t even sent out the invitations yet! Thankfully, [...]

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go check it out….

August 5, 2011

Happy Friday everyone!  Just wanted to let you know that today I am guest posting about how to pick a fabulous party theme (and why it will save your party budget) over at Saving with Shellie.  Be sure to stop by and say hi! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Tweet about [...]

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