Via: Sweater, Dress, Necklace, Jeans, Table Setting, Domino Book, Kate Spade Clutch, Skirt, Chair, Y Painting, Lemonade Drinks
Crave Lemon and Mint
Happy V-Day
In a strong effort to instill a love of art and design in my daughter we do many art projects and, of course, I can’t throw any away. So I decided to collect them and make them into Valentine’s for all our friend and family. Who knew a little finger paint could spread so much love.
Olive and Thyme
On our way to the taping of the Ellen Show we decided to stop for lunch in Burbank, California and ended up in this adorable gourmet café and marketplace. We actually had plans on going next door but after seeing the food and the perfectly designed décor, we were all instantly drawn into Olive and Thyme. We shared the very spicy and delicious Braised Shortrib Sandwhich with horseradish créme fraiche and carmelized onion on country sourdough, as well as the Chinese Chicken Salad. And we couldn’t resist trying some of their pretty desserts. From the embossed logo on the oval plates to the industrial lighting this yummy café is filled with lots of eye candy. We were all thrilled that we found such a great lunch spot to compliment our girls-day-out in LA.
Hawaiian Themed Bridal Shower
Stacy and I threw our sister, Sharon, a Hawaiian Bridal Shower to get her excited for her Honeymoon on the Big Island in Hawaii. The simple but elegant decor included votive candles sitting in a layer of sand, orchids submerged in tall skinny vases, and shells placed randomly upon the tables.
As the guests arrived we placed an orchid hair piece in their hair to get everyone in the true Hawaiian spirit. We also gave the Bride-to-be a white lei to wear around her neck.
A mixture of love songs & hawaiian music played in the background.
Guests were invited to sip upon fruity tropical drinks adorned with fruit and, of course, an umbrella while they mingled around Sharon’s Sunset Bar.
Lunch Menu:
Coconut Shrimp
Salad with Citrus Dressing and Chicken strips on top
Fruit/Cheese Platter
Dessert:
Blackberry Truffles
Summer Bouquet Mini Cupcakes each adorned with an edible pansy flower
You Are My Sunshine 1st Birthday Party
In celebration of our perfectly lovely Sienna, we decided to throw her a first birthday bash with all the bells and whistles. Stacy and I had such a blast organizing, planning, baking, and creating every little detail for Sienna’s “You are my Sunshine” themed party. It was such a special day, especially as a first time mom, to celebrate her one year in such a special way.
For: Sienna’s 1st Birthday
Theme: You are my Sunshine
Colors: Bright Yellow & Pink
Location: Our House
Number of Guests: 40
Party Miracle: It had been raining ALL week, actually storming, and it cleared up for our little Sunshine Sienna’s first birthday party.
Decor Details
Table Cloth: Ikea carried this perfectly bright and sunny fabric that was used for all the rectanglular tables and photobooth backdop.
Flower Arrangements: After raiding the refridgerator of the Wholesale Fowers and Supplies store in San Diego of their gorgeous yellow Roses, joyful pink Ranunculus, and playfully round Billy Balls I had the perfect flowers for our party.
To create Stephanie’s Square Rose Arrangement:
1. Soak green floral aqua foam squares in water for a few hours in the white square ceramic boxes from Michael’s Crafts Store.
2. Clean up each rose by removing all the leaves and blemished petals.
3. Cut stems and insert roses into the soaked aqua foam squares, filling the entire box.
4. Randomly place yellow Billy Balls in-between roses.
5. Enjoy your clean, contempary floral arrangment.
Party Hat: The materials used for this charming party hat are 1 sheet of glittered pink scrapebook paper, 1 yellow pom pom, and some elastic lace.
Highchair: For the our Little Sunshine’s place at the table we spray painted an Ikea highchair white.
Framed #1: This Ikea frame was perfect for displaying the big #1 in our window.
Banners, Lanterns, and Hanging Paper Flowers
Banner: Materials for this festive do-it-yourself banner are scrapbookpaper (it’s a good weight and large enough to create the right size of triangles), twine, Martha Stewart Glitter from Michael’s Crafts, and the AMAZING how-did-I-ever-live-without-this, Silhouette SD, for cutting out letters and shapes.
Lanterns: Lanterns in a bunch of colors and sizes can be purchased from Beau Coup.
Hanging Paper Flowers: Martha Stewart explains how to easily make these adorable Hanging Paper Flowers. The main materials for this project can be found at Stamp on This which has a nice variety of sizes and colors of paper bags.
We filled these personalized buckets for all our sunny little guests with a bunch of treats: sunglasses, bubbles, a carton of goldfish, a packet of flower seeds, and a colorful pinwheel most of which was found in the $1 bins at Target.
Sienna’s 1st Year Photo Gallery
To show off printed photos of Sienna’s life from the past year we printed photos through CVS’s online photo store, decorated clothes pins with Martha Stewart Glitter from Michael’s Crafts, and hung everthing on twine.
Desserts
All the desserts were prepared by Stacy and her chocolate thumb for baking and making everything she touches scrumptous. My other extremely talented sister Sharon baked up Sienna’s Delicious Chocolate Layered Cake.
Layered Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Spiked Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Rice Krispie Treat Heart Sticks
Lemon Drop Candies
Food and Drinks
The first things that comes to mind when I think of sunshine is a weekend brunch, so we decided to have a delicious build your own mini banana pancake bar with an array of toppings and a savory mini taco stand from Sweet and Savory Catering located in Pacific Beach/Clairmont, San Diego. And to quench everyone’s thirst, mason cars filled with fresh lemonade and juice boxes for the kids.
Kid’s Station
Furniture: Sienna’s adorable Gingham Personalized Chair from Pottery Barn Kids was gifted to her from our dear friend Julie Wrighton.
A great table for coloring and eating is the Ikea kids white table and spray painted yellow wicker chairs.
Alphatbet Kids Play matt from Toys “r” Us is perfect for creating an area for toys and is soft on baby’s/kid’s knees.
Music
For the perfect playlist for the day we found music relating to the sun.
Photobooth
With help from our favorite photographers and friends Wey and Ryan, from Wey and Ryan Photography, we were able to create our Sunshine Photobooth. This was a huge hit with all our guests. We created loveable and silly props to put each participant in that perfectly silly mood which created memorable photos everyone will love.
Thanks to Wey & Ryan Photography for all the photos you see on this post.
You Are My Sunshine Party Coming Together!
So we are getting closer to Sienna’s big day. Ok, who are we kidding. It’s really for me. So this party is a lot of work…..feels like a full time job…but it’s a lot of fun and I can’t wait for party day. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope it doesn’t rain!
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