Molly's Baby Shower

This weekend I hosted my first baby shower--which also happened to be my first attended baby shower. The shower was for our great friends Molly & Nate who are expecting a daughter this March. The shower also coincides with Molly & Nate's last weekend here in Orange County before they move back to Minnesota. Needless to say there is a lot to celebrate!

The theme for the decor came from the Martha Stewart invitations--seen in a previous post. I had a few "art" projects for the decor including the book garland, the wrapped book menu, the upside down hanging balloons (found on pinterest) and a mod podged canvas of children's book pages.

The shower was super fun, we had delicious quiche and grilled veggies from Rolled Sconzes, and was a great way to get all of Molly's friends together before she leaves us for the midwest. The book theme came through in the request for children's books for the baby's library and some of the book brought back some great memories! My favorite gift of the day was the silver sparkle baby Toms.

Overall the shower was very fun and successful! Can't wait for the next one in December for Sarah & Justin!

Happy Holidays & Red Stamp

This is a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving! I have had a few issues with the layout of this blog and a nice green background was covering up all of the riveting commentary I have been posting--I know you are all on the edge of your seats!

I wanted to share this GREAT app that a co-worker discovered last week called: Red Stamp

Red Stamp provides e-greeting card, invitation, notes & stationary templates with photo friendly, modern designs you send and design right on your phone. You can take a picture with your iPhone or iPad and pop the pictures directly into these super cute cards. You click send and can text or email the beautiful card right to your recipient for free! Above is Westin + my adorable Thanksgiving card. Its so easy! I love to send them for no reason at all!

Now I am debating whether or not to do e-holiday cards instead of spending the money to print cards :) I am in LOVE with this app and wanted to share! Hope someone out there sends me a card soon :)

Also in the category of exciting news, we got our wedding pictures in the mail this week and I am looking forward to sharing them with you!!!! Enjoy the long weekend!

Running

I have been struggling to figure out my running schedule since the time change and post Chicago marathon-and finally have the answer!

I have to get up and run before work- its the only way! Here are a few pics from my run this morning in the canyon. Hopefully after Christmas I will have a four legged running buddy!!!

Does anyone else have a solution for the winter running blues??

Fall in New York City

So, I have been a bit MIA the last few days—sorry, sorry, sorry! Westin and I traveled to NYC for the weekend for our pal Kelly’s wedding. Kelly looked amazing and she was glowing all night. The dance floor was definitely hopping and there was even a surprise appearance by the NYPD Irish bagpipes and drummers—so cool!

The rest of the weekend we spent with our great friends Piper and Sean who live in the city. We meandered through Central Park, visited the greenest building in the city—Bank of America (also Sean’s workplace and we got to see what the BofA trading floor looked like), stopped by Rock Center to see the Christmas Tree being put up, checked out the Bryant Park Christmas Shops, watched the sunset from the top of their apartment building, had cocktails at the Pegu Club, and dinner at Butter. We had a BLAST. I LOVE the city and it does not help that my 3 favorite shows right now are Sex and the City, Seinfeld, and any version of Law and Order. I have a secret desire to live in the city—just for a little while  Do not get me wrong—California is amazing and nothing to complain about—but there is something about that city that draws you in!

On tap for this week—baby shower projects (so excited to share these!), Thanksgiving preparations (also excited to share), Black Friday shopping, a few Stella & Dot shows, and Molly and Nate move in for their last two weeks in California. More to come on all of these happenings!

Happy Tuesday!

X-acto Knife Art

Yes!! One of my favorite artists, Nikki McClure, just released her 2012 Calendar and it is to die for as is all her work. I first discovered Nikki's work while visiting my college roommate/bff, Sarah, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Amongst the organic-only restaurants, and literally picking our own produce on the visit, we stopped by this cute-cute shop--The Claw Foot Tub. All the sparkley and neat treasures grabbed my attention, but Nikki's art was framed all over the shop and really caught my eye.

Nikki uses everyday life as her inspiration, black paper as her medium, and an X-acto knife as her tool--she literally carves the images out with a knife! The end result is so raw and beautiful. I am inspired by the simplicity of her art and it seems like I take a deep, meaningful breath each time I gaze at Nikki's work--seen here in our living room.

I am definetly planning to buy the 2012 calendar and found a 3-pack for $40 on the buyolympia website--can anyone say Christmas Presents?? Many other gift-worthy treasures can be found here too--my next fav being Ryan Berkley--yum, yum, yum!

Exploring Beach Cities

On the weekends, I can find myself getting lost in cleaning and organizing and before I know it I have not left the house. So yesterday, I made a point to get out and hit up some antique shops on the way down the Carlsbad Outlets. Westin was in NYC for the NYC Marathon and when he is gone for 5-7 days I usually go turbo on cleaning and rearranging.

Here are a few shots from a San Clemente shop. This shop had so many to die for finds but they were a little out of reach in the prices. My eyes were loving those vintage boots and gardening tools and of course I loved that gold letter "M". No purchases made yesterday--but browsing the shops on Del Mar Ave is quite entertaining. I really want to start antiquing more to find vintage furniture for our humble abode :)

Wedding Music

I cannot explain to you how this song makes me feel. I am not a huge music buff, but there is something about this song that takes over my whole body, mind, and soul and puts me in a trance. I first heard this song when my sister and her husband Brandon were married in Charleston, SC this past February. It was the song that was played as she walked down the aisle and the church doors swung open beautifully and dramatically at the bridge of the song to welcome the Bride. Brandon's reaction was the most raw and beautiful thing I have ever seen. I knew I had one bada$$ brother in law in that moment.

So, when Westin and I were planning our ceremony this September it was only fitting to not only have the same music but to have Brandon sing and play the guitar for us. He is an amazing artist and I cannot thank him enough for the amazing music he produced. His voice is like butter and as I walked toward Westin with this song playing his voice was like home. Everything felt right.



As I sit here writing and listening to the song, I honestly have tears flowing and am so happy. Somehow that day I managed to keep it together--miracle. So, with all that said, I wanted to share this song and reflect on how special Brandon playing this song was for Westin and I. I am also really pumped to get a copy of the ceremony video so I can replay the songs over and over. I am not sure if Brandon thought through agreeing to play the music, but I will definetly ask him to play the song at Christmas a minimum of 4 to 5 times. Thanks Brandon--you seriously rock!

Baby Shower Invitations

This month I will be hosting my very first baby shower for a very close friend Molly Severson. Molly and her husband Nate are Westin and my best friends in California. They have been the best of friends, travel buddies, sit-on-the-couch-do-nothing pals, and both stood up with us on the Galloway School steps for our wedding ceremony. Molly and Nate will be welcoming a little girl to the world this coming March and I am really pumped to give Molly a little shower before they make the big move back to Minnesota the following week.

I have been really obsessed with stamps lately--using them both for some of our wedding DIY projects as well as here for the baby shower invitations. These invitations were a free download found on Martha Stewart's website. The baby shower is a "Go Green Shower"--guests are encouraged to bring a book for the baby's library instead of cards and to use the book plate that was included in the invitation. Guests are also encouraged to bring their gifts unwrapped and to use the tags and hangers I will provide at the shower to display the gifts--less paper-less waste!

I still have a few projects ahead of me--making the miniature book garland, cover books for display, and work on the games and menu. I really hope that the shower is fun and Molly and Nate are able to take some great gifts with them back to Minnesota!

Any other recommendations for baby shower decor, gifts, menu, etc.?