Sheila's Shower: Round 2

For those of you who aren't Facebook friends with me, here is another round of pictures from Sheila's amazing bridal shower! 

~ Desserts again ~

~ Chalkboard menu ~

~ Favors ~

~ Me w/ the beautiful bride ~

~ Strawberry ice cream with the itty bittiest spoons ever ~

~ Hanging lanterns ~

~ Sheila's gorgeous cake pops ~

~ Couldn't leave out the cutie little flower girl ~

The cookie favors got more fuss and attention than I anticipated haha... they were so easy to make, anyone could make them I'm convinced! So I'm going to put together a little tutorial for you in case you're interested in making some custom cookies for your next shower or party! Check back later if you have any interest :)

Sheila's Bridal Shower

I can't get over the amazingess of Sheila's bridal shower yesterday afternoon! It was co-hosted by her sister Sher, her friend and bridesmaid Lauren, and moi. Sheila's sister has the most perfect home for entertaining, and an uncanny ability to take inspiration pictures and ideas from around the internet and recreate them (but better)!

The color scheme was inspired by Sheila's wedding colors - blush and gold. The food theme was a modified tea party, with lots of miniature menu items. I'll let the pictures do the talking... but in a word, the whole day was simply beautiful!

~ Dessert table... Cake. Lemon Curd Scones. Cake Pops. ~

~ Drink station. Lemonade, Water and Hot Tea. ~

~ Beautiful dessert tables and back drop! ~

~ More sweets! Mini Cupcakes, Cookie Dough Dip, and Tea Bag cookies. ~

 ~ THE most AMAZING cake! So simple and girly :) ~

~ Sweet, simple hydrangeas. ~

~ Gorgeous guest of honor with her giant balloon ~

~ Wedding dress cookies for favors. ~

~ The so-so-soon-to-be Mr. & Mrs. ~

~ Mini salad cups w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette. ~

~ Mini Quiche, Mini Chicken Salad Pitas, Deviled Eggs. ~

Girly and feminine and chic. A lovely little afternoon spent celebrating the most lovely bride-to-be! If y'all have any interest in recipes or specific details of the day, let me know :)

Friday Favorites

Fridays are usually the best... this one, unfortunately, is no fun. I came down with a weird head cold yesterday. The left side (and only the left side... somehow...) of my face has a cold. My left nostril is runny/stuffy/feels like I need to sneeze 24/7. And my left eye won't stop watering. The watering is making it look like my left eye is also 1/3 of the size of my right eye... so unattractive. I'll spare you pics of this lopsidedness, but just believe me when I say it ain't pretty!

To make matters worse, our cable and internet haven't been working since MONDAY! Seriously, what's a sick day without TV?! Its 2012 and I'm living like I'm Amish (plus electricity, thank God for that) and I'm currently waiting on my couch for a NEW cable and internet provider to show up. Because when things stop working around here, I don't fix them... I fire them. Oh really, Comcast? You can't come fix our broken stuff for 4 days? Ok thats too bad I'll just have to switch to AT&T because you annoy the heck out of me! Bonus: We'll get DVR in every room and save $33/month. Soooo there. Fired.

Sorry for the rant. I think its the sinus cold meds talking......... Enjoy these Friday faves, because they took approx. 20 min to upload thanks to the 2 measly bars of internet I'm currently enjoying courtesy of our apartment business center across the pool :)

Great way to save Christmas cards to look at year after year! And great for people like me who hoard the cards rather than toss them when a new one arrives the following December.....

Prettiest little Blueberry Cheesecake... I love the rich color!

These have been re-pinned a zillion times so they must be amazing... Peanut Butter Cup Brownies!

I should toss in one favorite unrelated to food, right?? Hinged canvas to hide ugly wall stuff! Smart!

Tres Leches Caketini......... need this. Now!

On my agenda for the weekend: regain normalcy in the left half of my face (and hopefully stop dripping weird fluids out of my nose/eye!), take down the decorations from last weekend's engagement party, and become bffs with the DVR that should be arriving annny moment now! I've never had DVR so I'm giddy over the thought of getting to watch shows when I want to rather than when they air! Any good ones I should start recording?! Leave me a comment and let me know!

Engagement Partay

When a couple of our good friends got engaged over the long holiday break, we decided we'd get all of the Atlanta friends together for a little celebration once everyone got back into town. After comparing calendars, the only Saturday in the foreseeable future that would work was just 5 short days away! Never mind that it was short notice... we shot out a quick e-vite and every single guest on the list was able to come!

Also never mind that we invited 14 people to our itty bitty apartment. That ended up sort of working out ok too! People squeezed on the couch, we brought in some extra chairs, and no one seemed to mind being a tad bit crowded :) Good friends, good food, good drinks, good times!

Little blurry :( But we had a fun appetizer spread!

Kept the decorations simple. Red, purple, and "Love."

Easiest update for every occasion - new chalkboard art!

Lucky for me, the Valentine's Day decor is out in full force!

Boys watched football, girls thumbed through Us Weekly haha..

The future Mr. & Mrs.!

And what's a party without a sleeping little babe on my lap?!

Despite the fact that I drank much too much wine and got practically no sleep at all {people were over until 3 a.m.!} we had a really great time and it was sooo good to catch up with friends after parting ways for a few weeks... and of course, it was so great to toast the newly engaged couple and to celebrate their happiness with them!

The details:

Red party poms - $3 each from Party City

LOVE blocks - $10 at Home Goods
Plastic champagne flutes - $1.20/4 at Kroger

Ham & Cheese Sliders - Click for Recipe

Baked Brie (sans jam) - Click for Recipe

Butter Pecan mini cupcakes w/ vanilla frosting - Click for Box ;)

Crock Pot Meatballs - Click for Recipe

Stuffed Strawberries - Click for Recipe

Also on the menu ~ buffalo chicken dip, stuffed mushrooms, & a champagne toast!

Last minute party planning stresses me out just a little... but by keeping it simple (both the decorations and the food) we were able to pull off a fun, low-key celebration ~ and I'm always reminded that its not the decor or the fluff or the price tag that makes a night special! Less was definitely more on Saturday night! 

Friday Favorites

Let's call this one Friday Favorites: iPhone Pics from Ohio Edition

(Aka Friday Favorites: Pressed for Time Edition)

Getting into the swing of our new school/work routine each semester usually takes a week or so... but we're adjusting! I have to get the house cleaned up and some food/drinks/decorations prepared for tomorrow's Engagement fiesta soo I'm sort of skimping out on the Friday Faves post!

Pretty kitty loved her Grandma's Christmas decorations

My favorite street in every season

Back of the dress my sister chose for her BMs to wear! (diff color)... Obsessed!

Gingerbread House display @ Cleveland Botanical Gardens w/ my mama

Picture of our sweet, beautiful Champ taken years and years ago :(

My parents' house after a fresh snow fall 

World's cutest downtown on the planet

Husb checking out the view of Lake Erie on our neighborhood hunting adventure

These pictures make me miss Ohio already! However... the freezing cold and snow flurries we are currently experiencing in Atlanta makes me feel like I'm already back! Brrr!

Have a fantastic weekend -- stay warm!!!

Related // How did I ever survive before Instagram?! Feel free to follow me there (and on Twitter) @MrsEmilyB!

Catching Up

I'm almost caught up y'all!

The laundry is clean and almost all put away.
There are groceries in the fridge. Butter-free, sugar-free groceries! Hallelujah.
I started my last semester and my internship yesterday (still sans 1 text book...).
The Christmas decorations came down this morning. Until next year, Griswolds of Buckhead.
And I penciled in a few yoga classes this week that I will try *so hard* to get to!

It feels good to get back into our little routine. We're still figuring out who is home to make dinner on which nights, and what time we need to set our alarms for each morning. With any luck, I hope to show up at the right place on the right days without referring to my planner (hourly) after next week! My weeks look a lot like this: class, externship, class, work, class, externship, externship, class, work, externship..... work? No more than 2 of the 3 on any given day, but on Thursdays I will have to yo-yo back and forth between class-externship-class all in the same day. Confused yet???? Me too.

Enough of that. Onto some more fun things! There are some exciting things happening 'round here in the next couple of months! We're planning a little engagement get-together to celebrate two of our dear friends...

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Sheila's bridal shower and bachelorette festivities are quickly approaching (eeek!!)... there is LOTS still to be planned and to do, but its all coming together and her *big day* will be here before we know it!

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And we are desperately trying to get a 25th birthday weekend getaway for Andrew and my bff on the calendar so that we can (obviously) celebrate their BIG 25th birthdays!! This would be a dream ~ I could 1) hang with my 2 favorite people on the planet all weekend long and 2) meet her fiance!!!!! Ya, I said it... she's marrying someone I've never even met. In-sane, right? Hope I like him. Otherwise the wedding is totally off (kidding of course). I sorta kinda know him already anyway. We text... that counts. SK has great taste in everything - I'm sure her choice of a man to spend the next 70ish years with is no different ;)

Any guesses where we're going? ;)

I also have a few fun DIY nursery projects in the works for my SIL's nursery - will try to get a tutorial put together on the stuff I think is worth re-creating - and an update or 2 for you as to what we got accomplished in there while I was home for break! Lots of excitement. Lots of ADD on my part... but I'm trying to cut myself some slack and just get things done in order of importance (aka: imminence), one thing at a time!

Glad to be back... back to life - blogging, too! - as usual after a holiday hiatus! Hope your 2012 is off to a great start ~ looking forward to following along with you all this year!

On the Road Again

We are heading back to the peach state this morning! I'm feeling ready to get back. Not because I'm sick of our families, of course... but I miss our stuff, our friends, our life, and mostly our routine. I am definitely feeling the holiday bulge, as 99% of our vacation and visiting with people revolved around food. Food, food and more food was the theme of this trip! No complaints here, but I did do myself the favor of buying my go-to favorite skinny jeans in a size UP.

In the not-so-distant past this would have been a tragedy of epic proportions in my life. I would have ordinarily squeezed and squatted and high kicked my way into my itty bittiest skinnies (don't act like you don't do the high kicks.....), but I'm embracing my curves. Curves, dimples, whatever. I'm resolving to focus less on size and more on what matters more than size. If some weeks I fit into last year's skinnies, that's great. But if other weeks I want to pull out their 2" roomier twins, then that's fine too!

Health > weight.
Good times (and usually simultaneously good food) > jean size.
Quality time > gym time.

Don't worry, I'm not gonna go and turn into a total fat aaa. After all, I do have to be in 3 weddings this year and I intend not to ruin their pictures with jiggly arms. I'm just realizing that there are more important things in life than my waistline.

And I'm not ashamed of (discreetly) undoing my top button after a great meal and a few glasses of wine with friends ;) But I'm also admittedly SO ready to get back into our usual healthy eating and regular exercise routine back home!! Things will work themselves out... and I'll be armed with my fave jeans in varying sizes to accommodate my expanding or shrinking bum size.

From Ohio to Atlanta we go! Have a great weekend, friends!

Christmas 2011

Family.

Babies.

Presents.

Laughing. 

Eating. 

That about sums up our Christmas this year! I'll let these pictures speak for themselves...

Growing family! Sisters + Husband + Fiance :)

Sweet little Goddaughter Rylie

Cat calendar from my sister to Andrew hahaha...

Husb's wrapping job........ bless his heart.

My little family

Christmas day!

Cuties 

Merry merry! We have a few days left to spend in Ohio relaxing with family, then we head back to Atlanta, and school, and all the busyness that goes with it! We've been enjoying every moment of sleeping in (way late...) and spending time with our fam. I've been pretty lazy about documenting with pictures, but I'm sure I'll have a few more posts worth of pics by the time we head back down south!

As much as I have loved reading all of your New Year's resolutions in the past few days -- I'm skipping those in 2012. In my case, they almost never stick. And let's be honest, every year for the past handful of years #1 on the list has always involved weight loss or exercise of some sort haha. I want to keep working toward being a better wife, living a simpler and more joyful life, and all that good stuff........ but I'm not calling them "resolutions." Just life goals... a work in progress!

Hope you rang in the new year with some good friends and a whole lotta fun! Happy 2012!