thirty five today

today i turned thirty five. as a kid i can remember saying to myself, " i can't wait until i am 12, 16, or 21." i always wanted to be older than i was. however, thirty five never even entered my mind as a kid. but, here i am today at thirty five and it's good. thirty five feels good. i've been thinking of how i want this year to be different for me. i want a little more meaning for this year. maybe because i have always heard that with age comes wisdom and it is possible that i might just be getting a little wiser because i certainly know i am getting older. so here's what i've come up with

for my 35th year...

1. be confident in myself as a woman, wife and mother.

2. finish the quilt i started when i was like 18.

3. spend more time with the mister

4. read more books

5. watch less tv

6. plant a garden

7. take a trip to palm springs

8. give gifts that have been homemade

9. cook more homemade meals

10. learn to knit/crochet a hat

11. be more adventurous

12. stop comparing myself to other people

13. do more yoga

14. go roller skating

15. eat more fresh fruit + veggies

16. fit into to my pre-pregnancy jeans

17. send "thinking of you" notes to my friends

18. scrapbook the first year of life for each of my kiddo's

19. find a good babysitter

20. go to the snow

21. make a succulent wall

22. laugh more

23. be optimistic

24. be thankful

25. enjoy every minute with my kiddo's who soon enough will be 35 too

26. hug and kiss my mom more

27. spend more time at the beach

28. take more pictures of me with the kiddo's

i am sure i will think of more things i want for this year as it goes on,

but this is a pretty good start for the big 35. happy birthday me!

october + little miss = party time

as you know, the little miss turned 6 this past week.

for her party this year she chose to have a gnome party.

inspired by our favorite gnome movie, the gnome mobile

we went to planning. my friend over at piccadilly studios designed

all of the graphics, and with her designs i was able to create some

really fun decorations for the party...

the little miss has a major sweet tooth, so a candy table was appropriate

for this occasion i added some red + white polka dot ribbon to some vases,

along with our special designs and some sweet treats this turned

out to be a big hit.

i made this garland by punching out different size circles

and attaching them to yarn with double stick tape.

going green, i have been saving tin cans for this purpose

not only for the party, but these make cheap, easy vases

if you want to take a bouquet of flowers to a neighbor

or friend too. (daisies our the little misses favorite too)

i made necklaces for our little party guest.

i order the wood pieces of off etsy and then used

double stick foam tape to attach the decorative piece and

completed it with a piece of yarn as the chain.

i made the birthday girl her very own giant mushroom cake,

and little mushroom cupcakes for our guest.

for the party favors each guest got a nature journal,

a cute bookmark, and a natural twig pencil.

my birthday girl.

it turned out to be a great party and

i think all of the kiddo's had a great time.

to see more of what went on throughtout the day go here.

snail mail

snail mail, it's the good old fashion way of receiving mail.

yes, i know email is quicker and greener, but sometimes it's

nice to take a walk out to your mailbox and receive a piece

of mail that has actually been touched by the person who

has sent it to you. since the little miss is getting ready to

celebrate her 6th birthday we decided to do it the ol' fashion

way. so friends, get ready to make that trip to your mailbox

we just sent you something through snail mail.

first birthday

our sweet little boy turned one this month! i am not sure how the year went by so fast, but it did. with that being said, i must confess i was not my usual self and did not have this party planned six months in advance. however, i ended up throwing this one together almost last minute and i think it turned out really cute for a first birthday. this little mister loves music, so i went for a retro music/paul frank theme and not being sure about the weather, i went ahead and booked a local bounce warehouse for the occasion. in efforts of trying to be "green" i sent out an evite for the invitation. for those not up to the times like my mom, i mailed a paul frank invite purchased from target. i like to be hands on when i throw a party, so i created some paul frank (julius) goody bags containing a microphone, harmonica, hand clapper and some m&m peanut candies. yes, i cut and pasted the monkey's face together for all the bags, but it's fun, it's what i like to do. i also created a little candy bar with lots of sweet treats for the guest. the cakes were made by a friend who is just getting her cake business on it's way. the cakes were not only cute, but super yummy too! just look at my little guys face - it says enough! happy first birthday little monkey!