Alice and Wonderland Tea Party

This past weekend I hosted a ladies tea party with a  little Alice and Wonderland Theme.  I have met so many great women friends here that I thought it was time to have them all over to my house for a Sunday afternoon.  It was a great excuse to wear a summer dress and eat delicious food.  The party set up was so easy thanks to Target's Dollar Spot and The Dollar Store, and given I had so many baking ladies, I didn't even have to do that much baking for 16! 

I made little yogurt parfairs with granola and fruit in these tiny cups I found at the Dollar Store. I used ribbon and tiny tiny plastic spoons (also found at Dollar Store) to tie them together for a cute little cup. 

Thank you again Target for the cute tags that I was able to write on and attach to all the drinks.  The fun party straws behind are also found in the Target Dollar Spot. 

I had a little drink bar area with tea, sweet tea, lemonade and water for the guests.  We ate off of a mix of our fine china and my Pottery Barn Bunny Plates.  People were a bit nervous to eat off our china but the point of having nice things is to get use out of them! 

 

If this photo could only say how much of a pain it was to blow that Cheers balloon up!  It was one of my favorite decorations in the house (and it still is up today!)  !

 This was the spread at the end of the party.  So much delicious food!

 

 

 

 

It was such a great afternoon with wonderful friends we've found here.  I am already scheming my next shin-dig when I get the approval from Rich that I can have more people over ;)

Five on Friday

 Bringing another Five on Friday this week with a few things on my mind as we roll into the weekend.  The biggest thing I am excited about is my mom coming for a few days! 

One:  Girls Tea Party

This weekend I am hosting a ladies tea party at my house.   I am thrilled to have so many ladies who can make it.  It is a little daunting having so many NEW friends in my house for the first time but it's my goal to be extra social so this is a huge step for me.  I've had the best time planning a colorful tea party for the girls.  Knowing pastel loving me, this is a huge step!


Two: Fruit Infused Water

I've been majorly thirsty of late, and have fallen in love with fruit infused water.  I recently got a great new water bottle that has a space for fruit to fit right in the middle.  If you are like me, it is so hard to get my 64 ounces of water in a day.  Here are some great recipes for fruit in your water:
 

Three:White Everywhere

I love all the spring and summer styles of white dresses. I've already snagged two for the summer and can't wait to wear them.   I am envious of all the brides who are buying wedding shower dresses because there are so many great options out there now!

Four: Our New Curtains

 I can't believe how wonderful our cozy kitchen space is now thanks to the new handmade curtains from my mother-in-law.  The space is really starting to blossom with the light and the curtains and I have big plans for that blank wall space you see there.  Stay tuned!

Five:  Excitement for Charleston!

With an approaching vacation in South Carolina   I cannot wait to have a week back in our "first home" and then back with our family for so many days.  It has my dreaming about our visit last year and scheming for all we want to get done this trip.   Charleston is the BEST city in the world.  I can't wait to be there for a week and see all we've missed in these 6 Virginia months away from "home."

Weekend Recap: Mothers Day

At work on Friday we celebrated the 6th of May, also known as the day after Cinco De Mayo with a Dip Party.  My co worker brought my favorite dip recipe and an old faithful for ANY gathering with the Peanut Butter Ball. You can snag the recipe here and make it for your next social gathering.  I promise you will get hounded for the recipe because it is THAT good.  

Rich's family came for the weekend to celebrate Mothers Day and to see our new place for the first time.  I got a little creative and ambitious and whipped up lemon buttercream icing for my homemade cupcakes from one of my favorite bloggers.  Want to try for yourself?  You can grab the details here on how to make this. 

We had our first grill out evening of the year.  So glad I have such a great grill master for the rest of my life!

A few months ago I taught Sophie to shake and high five. It is her favorite party trick.

I love setting a fun table.  For Mothers Day Rich made a great breakfast spread and we ate off our wedding china. 

I came home from ushering at church to find my father in law and husband sanding down some of our interior doors that wouldn't close.  Our house is almost a 100 years ago with glass door knobs so we have a few stubborn doors that cause us issues.  I am so excited to have working doors again. 

We were able to venture out to walk the beach for the afternoon.  It was a warm but breezy day and there were only a few people on the beach.  I am so grateful we still live near water. 

Sunday evening we cooked out again and enjoyed dinner outside on our deck.  I LOVE our deck and love the chance to share it with family and friends.  I hope we have so many more great memories on this deck.

One of my favorite pieces of the weekend are our new curtains!  My mother in law made them from some fabric we picked up at Joanns. 

Pendant Lighting Installation

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Since becoming a homeowner, my new favorite store is Lowes. Whenever we get a free weekend afternoon, I feel like I am always in the mood for a Lowes trip, whether necessary or unnecessary. Lucky for me, a few weekends ago we found ourselves in this wondrous place and I found myself walking down my favorite aisle: lighting. I've had major light envy since we bought our house in December. We scored this amazing Roth and Allen pendant light on clearance at Lowes for about $40 to replace the nasty light we have in the kitchen.  I've recently begun scheming how I envision our kitchen to look: simple, farm house-esque, and cozy.  It's one of the few rooms in the house we've sort of left untouched and have made no major changes to, besides painting it all white (it was originally orange and green...yes)

You can see the ugly light we had previously in the space.  

  

Rich spent a good portion of the day taking down the old light, repainting the space underneath, back at Lowes to buy mold for around the light, and re-hanging the new one.  Ellie was a faithful observer to make sure dad didn't fall off the step ladder.  

 

Once it was complete, we were so happy with the impact this little light had on our space.  I love how simple upgrades can really add character to a room! I have so many more plans for this little space this summer and I can't wait to watch the space transform.

Sources: 

Wall Paint: Benjamin Moore White Dove

Light: Lowes Roth and Allen: sold out.  See Similar

Place Mats: Pottery Barn: no longer in stock.  See Similar

Table: An old find by the hubby many years ago

Cushions: Ikea

May Goals

Anyone else over the moon that we turned the calendar over to May?  May is going to be jam packed with fun, friends, and family for us.  Can I tell you a secret?  I am half part scared, half part so excited!  I feel like we've been readying our house for summer entertaining month by month.  Now that the weather is here, I just want people over in our house. All.The.Time.  

But, that terrifies me, because being a hostess does not come naturally to me.  It's my marriage goal honestly.  (Well, one of many.) 

Rich grew up with folks at his house all the time and his mom knocks it out of the park in terms of loving having people over and cooking for them.  She feels lonely when people are NOT there.  Me?  We grew up with very little in terms of house guests.  I want our home to be one filled with friends, food, and laughter but it exhausts me sometimes and I find myself having to take a few extra days to get my energy back.  I need to plan it, every ounce of it. 

But I'm getting better. And Better.  And Better.

So here's to May!  May you be the month that I get exceedingly better at entertaining and that I am writing all summer long about the laughter and footsteps that shape our home's best memories.   

April Goals Review: 

 1. Plant our vegetable garden:  Mostly a fail this month due to some scheduling issues and other yard priorities.  But I did plant our herb garden and so far, (knock on wood), it is thriving off our porch.  We even ate out of our herb garden this weekend.

2. Cut back my caffeine: Working on this and I've come a long way (with a long way to go!)  The ratio of caffeine free to caffeine in our house has inversed itself.  Anyone have any good tricks here on getting rid of it forever?

3. Read 3 books:  Fail, unless you can count finish up Judges and Wild and Free.  I did not make this a real priority and if I am being honest I am not sure how committed to this goal I was from the start.

May Goals:

1.  Drink 64 oz of water at work each day:  I did this with ease in my last job as we prepared for our wedding.  I felt so much better, fuller, and my skin was glowing.  The way my current job was, it actually made it hard these last few months to have easy access to water, but with our office location changing, I feel like I can really prioritize water drinking and remember all the benefits of doing so. 

2. Host a Girls Party: Truth be told, this is already on the books and I am so excited.  I've made some great friends here and we haven't really carved outside of Bible Study girls time. 

3.  Learn to Coupon:   We recently paid off all our debt (what what!) but that means we are back in the great habit of putting more money aside.  I'd love to utilize the many ways you can save money through Krazy Coupon Lady, Ibotta, and Ebates.