Under The Sea Sweet 16

Nothing matters more to me than family! 16 years ago my first niece was born. I was only 12 years old but meeting her overwhelmed me with tears. She turned 16, SIXTEEN!!! this December and I can’t believe it!

Something you have to know about her is her middle name is Ariel, and with that name she carries an utter obsession for anything Little Mermaid! I’ve never seen a 16 year old be more excited to purchase a Little Mermaid snow globe bubble bath. It’s so cute! I hope she never outgrows her obsession…and now I know I am embarrassing her like a true aunt should …gushing over her niece haha!

Anyway, I knew I wanted to help make her Sweet 16 dinner special.  I committed to make all the decorations, “Under the Sea” theme of course, and help my mom host her sweet 16 dinner… I can’t say it was easy to execute my “always realistic” and “easy”  hand made ideas alongside spending my days with an almost 2 year old and battling morning all day sickness. Sounds reasonable right?!  Again with my “realistic” ideas of hand twisting thousands of feet of streamer to resemble seaweed, hand dyeing over 1000 coffee filters to create a photo back drop, then using a circle cutter to handcut circles for dot garlands, folding tissue paper into perfect pom poms, converting paper lanterns into jellyfish, stringing glass spheres into strands of bubbles, covering mini fish in glitter, then designing centerpieces,  developing a menu with my mom and then making an appetizer…  “P I E C E  O F  C A K E”… I also enlisted the help of my ever so helpful and perfectionist husband who said that if I want to make a habit of party planning  I need a different assistant haha! Sure babe until the next party where you will help measure and install my creations hehe

But seriously all sarcasm aside, I really do enjoy this party planning thing. Everything came out great! Most importantly my niece loved it. The dinner of salad, breadsticks, lasagna and chicken fettuccine alfredo was satisfying! As were the many available desserts of mini upside down pineapple cakes, macaroons, chocolate dipped pretzel rods and marshmallows, and mini cup desserts like lemon and s’more flavored. Guests also enjoyed hot chocolate with whipped cream sprinkled with peppermint or toffee chips, got to take picture in front of a backdrop with mermaid props and  got to take home a little box of candies they filled from the candy bar.

Here are the photos that show the details I took care of for the Under the Sea Sweet 16 dinner…

View of the dinner space
Jelly fish and hand twisted streamers
Outdoor dinner space
Paper pom poms and dot garlands
Spinach dip appetizer
Table setting, teal table runner and clear dinner plates
At every table there were Little Mermaid characters in glass vases with stones or sand
Here is Ursula
Here is a close up of the details of the tables. At the center was a bigger rounded glass vase styled to resemble coral life.
Another close up
Ariel
Each table had two tall candles and some tea light candles
Another table view
Photo backdrop bubbles and tiny fishes are visible
photo backdrop made form hand dyeing coffee filters \[
Another view of the photo wall
A super talented friend from my Middle school days made this cake.

 

I also wanted to show you the other details of the party taken care of by my super talented sister in law, brother and niece. My brother and sister and law made the many mini desserts to fill up the cake table. My sister in law made everything for the cake table and the mini candy bar. My niece made the props for the photo booth and the frame for the coffee and hot chocolate bar.  The cake was made by my talented friend from my middle school days.

Cake table
Macaroons made by my older brother and sister in law
Mini desserts
Mini upside down pineapple cakes
Hot chocolate and coffee station
Candy bar favor table
Photo Booth props

 

Index Card Battles

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Ever since I was a young girl, my mom taught me anytime I was afraid, at that time probably of the dark, to recite a Bible verse that was applicable- such as, “I will lie down and sleep in peace. O Lord you alone keep me safe.” Psalm 4:8

As I got older and faced different challenges, my mom would write down Bible verses for me on index cards as a reminder to use the verses to calm anxiety, rid myself of fear or have the courage to conquer goals head on.

The challenges, goals and life stages continued to evolve from the scary A.P. U.S. History Exams to facing the anxiety that comes from every new uncertain stage of life such as my first heartbreak, going to college, starting a career, facing peer pressures, facing head on situations of “life is not always fair”, getting married, loosing loved ones, becoming a new parent, helping people I love deal with difficult situations and so on…As the stage changed, the inscribed index card strategy still worked.

I heard someone say, “We can put on the armor of God, but without knowing His word we simply become a weighed down target for the enemy.”…If we don’t know His word, what is suppose to be an extremely powerful  weapon is simply an object we drag through life. Just imagine if our army was made up of men and women simply dressing the part and never  trained on the weapons they hold?!

If I do not cling to a Bible verse and recite it over and over, I have nothing to combat the dark thoughts that come with the giants or difficult days we all face. I found, for example, if I have thoughts of anxiety and I do not respond by submitting the negative thoughts and repeating a scripture, I instead, feed into those same ugly thoughts and unravel more and more anxiety. If I cut those thoughts down with a precise swing with my “Sword” of the Word saying something like,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,  with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

…The thoughts begin to dissipate because what is there left to say to the indisputable word of God?

I continue to learn my “weapon” and write applicable verses on index cards- I read them over and over until the cards are no longer necessary  because all the different verses become inscribed on my mind and heart. So today, along with my armor I cling to a verse to take me through this stage of life.

Gender Neutral Nursery

In April 2014 we had our first baby. When the hubby and I found out we were pregnant we both had this “grand” idea of waiting to find out the gender till the baby was born. I say “grand” idea because I am very impatient and bad at being surprised. I practically helped my mom plan my 18th birthday surprise party, and anytime Jimmy (my hubby) has a surprise for me he ends up telling me.

So, I was pretty cooperative with this surprise enjoying the journey, but…You can imagine by week 40 of my pregnancy, and still no baby, I was begging Jimmy to let me call the doctor to find out the gender. Of course he didn’t let me! Come on!! 40 weeks is a long time to wait for a surprise and not to mention the little rascal didn’t come till 9 days after my due date!

But anyway, since the baby’s gender was a surprise, I wanted to create a cozy gender neutral nursery.

I was inspired by beautiful nurseries that I found on pinterest like these:

  • From this nursery from Things That Sparkle blog, I was inspired by the luxurious cozy feel with the cremes and grays and the different fabrics.
  • I loved all the natural elements of dark wood mixed with the softness and comfort of all the creamy neutrals from this nursery featured in Nursery Notations  by Estee Stanley
  • I was in love with this type of rocking chair that was used by Little Green Notebook
  • Along with all the other elements I’ve already mentioned that inspired me, I also really liked how this nursery, found on Decor Pad, incorporated animal prints.

I set out to create a nursery that contained all the elements I loved. Here is our gender neutral nursery, and once our little boy was born we added his name over his crib. Please click on the images for a full description.

We chose a pale green color that mimicked the color inside a cucumber to add a neutral but natural feel. The gray crib is from Babies R Us. The white cozy shaggy rug is from Homegoods.
The mobile was handmade by my sister in law and niece. We found the painting at Homegoods. The nicknacks on the shelf where gifts, The letters that spell out the baby’s name where from Hobby Lobby.
The rocking chair is the Alto Rocker by Monte Design we found it on craigslist, yay us!! The storage ottoman we found on Ebay.
This table was also a find at Homegoods
The changing table is also from Babies R Us. The diaper pale is Ubbi in Ivory
Here is a closer look at the baby changing station.
My sister in law also hand made the fabric books.
The book shelves are spice racks from Ikea
Here is a different view of the book wall.

This nursery was at our previous home- soon I will post our son’s current toddler room.

 

 

Thanksgiving Decor Details from 2014

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Here are the details from my Thanksgiving tablescape from last year. (You can read more about it here). Keep in mind our gathering was in the afternoon, so I wanted the mood to be casual.

The long table is actually my dinning room table, a banquet table and a card table all pushed together.

Tablecloths: Paper lined tablecloths from VanityFair (the company that makes napkins).

Table Runner: Wrapping paper roll cut in half, I purchased this wrapping paper at Homegoods. They always have a great selection of wrapping paper especially near the holidays.

Floral Vases-These glass bottles are actually recycled Tejava bottles. (The hubby and I went through a Tejava Ice Tea addiction. I save any glass container bottles or jars because I have all these ideas that I will be hosting tons of dinner parties-I can use the different bottles and jars for new tablescapes). Once the flowers where arranged in the glass bottles, I zigzagged the vases down the middle of the runner so when your eye went down the table you could see the alternating flowers.

Flowers: Yellow Roses, Red Carnations and a type of flower, whose name I do not know, that had shades of red and yellow and orange to tie everything together.

Pumpkins: I used a big pumpkin and a smaller pumpkin and spaced them in the middle of the table. These were from our little family outing to the pumpkin patch.

Table-settings: My everyday black dishes with my small square white dishes placed on top for dessert and clear drinking glasses

Place cards: Butcher paper cut into small rectangles hand written names with black marker

Chairs: I alternated my beige upholstered dinning room chairs with clear and chrome chairs from Ikea.

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Casual handwritten butcher paper place cards and a wrapping paper runner

The gallery wall was made from handwritten signs on butcher paper and alternating wrapping paper cut to fit the frames.

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The signs were hand written by my niece because I have the penmanship of a doctor, basically chicken- scratch.

The chalk wall: We had a wall painted in chalk paint. I wish I would have cleaned the wall a little better, but by this time I was probably worried about not burning something that I was cooking.

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A little message on our tiny chalk wall

Hosting Thanksgiving: First timers

The table setting: fresh flowers in glass bottles and pumpkins from our pumpkin patch outing.
Casual handwritten butcher paper place cards and a wrapping paper runner
A little message on our tiny chalk wall
Hand written signs over our gallery wall
The signs were hand written by my niece because I have the penmanship of a doctor, basically chicken- scratch.
Appetizers by my mom
Hubby and I made the two turkeys, cranberry sauce from scratch, sweet potato gratin, roasted green beans with walnuts and cranberries
Sparkling apple drink
No bake pumpkin cheesecakes, pumpkin roll, pecan pie cookies

Last year was our first thanksgiving as new parents. Nothing like having a baby to make you feel all kinds of “we need to make memorable moments” and  emotions of “let’s make our own family tradition.” What is more equivalent to traditions than holidays? …So the hubby and I decided to host the Thanksgiving celebrations at our home for the very first time.

With much excitement, and  no previous experience for Thanksgiving cooking, other than the eating of the food and the yearly making of a casserole to share, we set out to create a  midday feast. You know, something “simple” for the 15 family members we were hosting…

  • two herb roasted turkeys
  • three home made from scratch side dishes
  • three different desserts that were to be thanksgiviny with a twist
  •  a festive fall drink
  • planned out personally styled, casual, comfortable but stylish decor

All this while while nursing a 7month old teething baby!..And you know, with that Pinterest thing, I hardly felt any pressure at all to whip up a meal straight from Rachel Ray’s kitchen and style a tablescape ready for a 3 page spread in Martha Stewart magazine!  No pressure right? Can you hear the sarcasm?!

I may have been substantially stressed and definitely sleep deprived, considering I went to bed at 5am or some ridiculous time. Even though the results may not have been quite Town & Country ready, we most certainly had a very warm, memorable and tasty thanksgiving-the love and gratitude of our family abounded for each other, and especially for our tiny human.