sean's bday celebration

In our little family (me, Sean + Cami) we like to stretch out celebrating birthdays since we are both so busy with work and Cami is always busy being cute and lazy. Sean's bday was on May 7th and I thought it would be fun to make a Sean + Caroline's Chicago themed celebration for him.

I visited my favorite place in the world, Paper Source, and found some manly looking materials to make this banner and present. I then printed out pics of our little family and hung everything up in Sean's mini man cave area in our dinning room. He was working late that night so when he came home I was already asleep and he was so surprised! It was cute when he woke me up and was all excited. :)

As little side gifts I got him this frame because he is always saying "I love you more" to me (he's amazing right!?) and then of course got him his favorite treats from Trader Joe's. He LOVES pesto so I made him a pesto dinner for his bday, which is one of the hearts on the banner. Then our two week celebration included going to our fave restaurants, shopping, going to the dog park, watching basketball (go Bulls!) and baseball (go Sox!) games, and seeing STAR TREK (best ever)!

Cams and I love this guy so much and he works so hard, he definitely deserves it!

baby shower & cupcakes

Happy weekend! I have been dying to post pictures from the baby shower I co-hosted for my sister back in February for her and Emery. We wanted something super girly and simple and I researched the web and found this cute place in OKC called Cuppies & Joe. I never set foot in the place until the day of the shower but from the website, pics and talking with the staff it seemed like the perfect place for the baby shower...and it was PERFECT!

Once we had the location booked I wanted the invitations to have a little bit of a cupcake theme but not too much. I went to Etsy and found these super cute ones from A FINE TIME INVITATIONS where the designer customized them for me and they turned out so adorable. Everyone just loved them! You can see from the pictures below we incorporated the invitations into labels for the food, drinks and diaper raffle prizes...SO CUTE!

Everything went smoothly, our hostess at Cuppies & Joe was so amazing and I can't wait to visit again when I am back in OKC. The cupcakes and coffee were so DELISH! My sister raked in the gifts and diapers for the diaper raffle. I even made her some cute "cupcakes" made out of onesies, baby socks and cups...it was so fun! She is definitely set through the spring with cute outfits and diapers for sweet baby Emery. :)

I love my beautiful sister so much! xoxo

happy love day!

Our new neighbor is this old man named John and he likes to decorate his door for EVERY holiday. I'm going to try and snap pics of every season and post here for you. So we will begin with Valentine's Day! Cute right?

And here is what I got my sweetie. We don't do a big Valentine's Day so we always do something small but cute. Sean got a promotion at work, he is Pub Manager now, which means he is basically in charge of all aspects of the bar and alcohol inventory. I think it's perfect for him and fun too! Well he has now been working even longer hours and I thought he could use some of his favorite granola bars from Trader Joe's. He LOVES these and I do too, but this box is only for him. I am not allowed to touch it! Ha ha...

And one of our favorite movies is I Love You, Man and if you have seen it you know why I bought this card! Plus the city looks like Chicago!

cold | to | wedding

I have had the worst cold for the past week! It has totally put me behind on everything from working to blogging to exercising! Luckily I didn't have that big of an appetite but still! Grrrrr... But I guess it is kind of nice to hunker down on the couch for a week with some hot tea and watch lots of TV. I discovered Downton Abbey and The United States of Tara. Two very addicting new shows that I love, love, love!

Now I have to shop and pack like mad the next two days for my best friend's wedding this weekend! This happy couple is getting hitched on Saturday! Can't wait to see my wonderful friends on their happy day of love!

James + Mallory

I met Mallory my first day at the OU Theta house. I had just transferred and was so nervous about making new friends. I remember she had the coolest pixie haircut and pair of glasses. I thought, "this girl is totally going to be my friend." A year later we were neighbors and partied like rock stars together! Over the years she has become one of my closest friends, Mallory gives great advice and has the best sense of humor, and she is totally one of those girls that would do anything for her friends. She is the best and will be a beautiful bride on Saturday!

Mallory + me New Orleans!

off the grid

Off the grid, on the lam, major disconnect...that is how I feel every time I move to a new place. You don't have Internet or cable for a while, all your stuff is still in boxes and learning a brand new morning routine is not fun. Plus we moved the day before Thanksgiving! But now things have settled down, the holidays are over and I feel like everything is getting back to normal. Happenings from the past month:

• My baking skills have far exceeded any one's expectations. Things I have made from scratch in our new kitchen: biscuits, oatmeal raisin cookies, sugar cookies (and the icing), chocolate chip cookies and apple pie. Nothing came from a box! I rolled out all the dough myself. 

• I've gotten to the point where all I want to do is wear sweatpants to work, I have been celebrating my birthday right into the holidays...need to stop drinking and go to gym more.I joined a new gym that opened up in my favorite hood, Lincoln Square. I love it, they have a sauna the size of our kitchen and NO KIDS ALLOWED. Perfecto. 

• I have been shopping way to much but you can't beat all these holiday sales...it can really get addicting once you jump into it.

• Speaking of addicting, I discovered the Hunger Games and I am completely obsessed with everything about it. I cried and made faces and noises on trains and airplanes. It's that good and I love Peeta. I am waiting for my friend Erin to read book one so we can read book two together...I don't know how much longer I can wait Erin...

• "There was a clown in the stormdrain." Stephen King's IT is what I'm reading now. I thought it was appropriate for the holidays especially since I really don't like Christmas anymore. I am a Grinch now. 

• One thing that I know to be true and I was reminded about this past month is that my sister, Elizabeth, is the best, most amazing person. She is beautiful, strong, funny, kind, generous, the best mom and the best sister in the entire universe. And that is only half describing how awesome she is. Love her. 

 

i'm gleeked!

I thought I would never say this, EVER, but I LOVE GLEE!!!  

I have officially crossed over to being a Gleek. It happen one day when I was cleaning the house and wanted some kind of TV show on in the background. So I thought I would give the first episode of Glee a try (gotta love instant Netflix!). As I start sweeping the floors I caught myself dancing around to the music then I couldn't take my eyes off the TV! Before I knew it I had just watched the first episode and I was SOBBING! Yes, pathetic...I know, but it was all about chasing your dreams and doing what you love, then they sang Journey....enough said.

ladies' man

For all of my friends out there having/had girl babies (there must be something in the water) here is a potential future son-in-law you should keep your eye on! My handsome nephew Mason, so cute and preppy! 

Happy Tuesday!

       

wedding #1

FYI: I am by NO means getting engaged, married or anything anytime soon!

But I am a girl who likes weddings. I am also a girl who has been in a LOT of weddings. This January will be my 10th turn as a bridesmaid for another one of my closest friends.

So I have decided that I will start dedicating my Wednesday posts to random stuff about weddings that I love and also my history of the weddings I have been in.

Let's start this post with the very first wedding I was ever in! I believe I was only 7 and it was for my dad's wedding to my step mom, Christine. I don't have pictures of the wedding now but will post some once I get my hands on them! Christine looked beautiful and I want everyone to see!

Christine's mom, our Grandma Joe, made the bridesmaids dresses. And I remember getting little pink ballet slippers to wear with the dress that we had to dye blue! We also had to wear bustles under the dresses so they would be nice and poofy! I just remember feeling so pretty, like a little princess!

This is my sister's dress below. I have mine locked away somewhere in storage! You like? :)

I love my man

Sean started his new job this week! He is just so super happy and I am so super happy for him. He is the most hard-working, kind, and selfless boss anyone could ever have! Everyone at his work is lucky to have him! We went out celebrating at our local watering hole and this is us waiting for the train home...after a few beers. We just couldn't stop laughing for some reason! :)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND!

          

stock the bar!

It has been a crazy past two months getting ready for Sean's sister's wedding in Oklahoma. We got back last week and are completely exhausted! The wedding week was absolutely the BEST TIME. Sean and I threw a couple's shower for Stacy and Charlie and the theme was Stock the Bar! I think it was my most successful shower I have thrown to date! I made all of the decorations myself (Sean helped too, you should have seen him helping me shop at Michael's...crazy!) and I also got to design my first party invitation. I don't know what I would do without Paper Source, they basically know me by name now!

We collected wine bottles over the past few months and wrote with chalk paint Stacy and Charlie's wedding date, initials, etc. Then we used the rest of the bottles for vases! I made the banner from the extra invitation paper and used the cutest paper cutter (from Paper Source) to make a design on the corners. Sean helped me make the coasters which was so fun to do and I highly recommend for any kind of couple's shower. I printed off a fun pic of Stacy and Charlie and used waterproof Mod Podge to glue it to squares of cork! So cute! Sean and his dad worked the grill for us and Nikki made the rest of the yummy food, the lemon cream cheese cupcakes were to die for! I, of course, was in charge of the alcohol. We brought some Chicago beers with us (Old Styles and Goose Island 312) and  I made the best white wine sangria from a Martha Stewart recipe. I'll post the recipe later this week for all my OK friends because it is the perfect summer sangria to serve in that crazy heat!

We had a great turn out of family and friends! I appreciate my friends and sister making their way out to Norman to attend the party and I hope everyone had a lot of fun! I have the prettiest girlfriends and sister! :)

mom day!

Paper Source is my go to place to buy little gifts for the ones I love. Here are some perfect gift ideas to give to your mom, grandma, aunt, sister or favorite mom friend! The My Mom: Style Icon book is a must have for any woman and the reusable roll up bags and girly garden tools are great to have around in the summertime. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

i heart earth

To celebrate Earth Week I thought I would share with you my favorite recycled products that I love. These are all from Uncommon Goods - a great website that has everything from home & kitchen decor to jewelry & accessories, and the best part is that they offer a variety of recycled, one of a kind products!

{reclaimed slate cheese board}   {reclaimed textile spool wine rack}   {recycled newspaper market bag}   {recycled yoga bag}

big song cover

I was a huge fan of Big Love on HBO and now it is over. : ( My favorite wife was Barb because she was passionate and wanted to be her own person towards the end of the show. I love how the story ended and cried and cried through the final scenes of the show due to this wonderful cover of God Only Knows by Natalie Maines. Check it out!

suds-day treat!

For all of my country music lovers out there! I rediscovered this song by Sara Evans while cleaning out my closet. I was in the mood for some country music and started listening to some old stuff. It's so cute and fun! I use to listen to it all of the time when I made the big move to Norman. A little Sunday treat!

our christmas day

On Christmas morning Sean and I woke up to lots and lots of snow! We took Cami to the dog park by our house and she loved galloping in the deep snow.You can see us running in it together!

Cami also had a fun time opening up all of those presents under our tiny little tree in her Christmas PJs!

We missed our families this year but there is something about Chicago during the holidays that we just love. There are Christmas lights on everything - trees, street lamps, bars, apartment windows, cars and of course houses.

We have also started our own tradition of having Christmas morning mimosas together while we open presents, then we make a big breakfast of hash and eggs with cinnamon streusel coffee cake! It was all so yummy!

It was fun to go play in the snow and then cuddle up to watch season two of Parks and Recreation that Santa brought Sean and I. Santa also brought us two new board games to add to our collection - Life and Yahtzee!

power ballad of 2010!

My power ballad of 2010 has to be Strip Me by Natasha Bedingfield. This year I think I finally became an adult. Sean and I lived on our own in a big city and actually survived. We had a few struggles in the beginning that made us a very humbled couple but in the end we made it work. We were able to enjoy the city for the first year without going under. Sean and I are happier than we ever thought we would be and we are very much looking forward to our future together in Chicago! Happy New Year 2011!

And if you strip me,
Strip it all away
If you strip me,
What would you find
If you strip me,
Strip it all away 

Ill be alright...

- Natasha Bedingfield "Strip Me"

lucky to have this out-law

I am probably the luckiest girl in the world to have found Sean, and his younger sister Stacy has become not only one of my best friends but I also see her as my little sis too. When I first met Stacy we all met at the Mont for dinner and drinks. I was so nervous! She looked so cute in her pearls and signature leopard cardigan, and I just wanted to hang out with her all of the time after that! Sean and I love going on double date outings with Stacy and Charlie and I CANNOT wait until they make the best decision and move to Chicago! Check out their super sweet engagement pics on her blog The Beginning!

Since Sean and I are not yet betrothed and I can't really refer to Stacy has my sister-in-law so for now she is my sister-out-law and I love her to pieces! These are my top 5 favorite things about Stacy:

1. Her laugh - Stacy loves to laugh and have fun. She really does bring a silly part of Sean and I out whenever she is around us.

2. Her fashion sense - Stacy always knows where to find the best clothes and she always finds them ON SALE! This is a very powerful gift to have...

3. She is afraid of bugs just like me - some of my favorite times with Stacy are when we are trying to layout and we always end up battling all kinds of bugs! Our defense is just running away and we ususally just end up watching TV inside instead.

4. She's the best aunt to Cami - Stacy bought Cams her first dog snuggie, tutu, and pajammas. I can't imagine what she will buy our kids...

5. She is a great friend - Stacy has always been there for me no matter what the situation is and I love her for that. When Stacy asked me to be her maid of honor I was so surprised and I believe I started crying at the Mont. I love you little Rogers!

music to love...

If you do anything this month, you need to obtain the (500) Days of Summer Soundtrack to ring in the changing seasons. You will hear an array of artist: Regina Spektor, Hall & Oates, The Temper Trap, Fiest, The Smiths, and many more...even the delicious stars of the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel offer their voices to the mix.

They made a statue of us
And it put it on a mountain top
Now tourists come and stare at us
Blow bubbles with their gum
Take photographs for fun...

-Regina Spektor, Us, (500) Days of Summer