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March 27, 2013

she's five -- what?



Lyla turned five yesterday on March 26th!  She had her party on Sunday at the Storybook Cottage, which is a very sweet girly party place.  She had 10 of her friends come and join her for a dress up and tea party.  It was complete with elegant gowns, a fashion show, nail painting, fairy dusting, cupcake decorating, a tea party and princess games.  She loved every single minute of it!!
 
 
 
On Monday, I ate lunch with her at her preschool and then yesterday I made her this cake for our little family celebration at home.  I wanted to make a cake that reflected her happy, cheerful little personality.
 

 And I think this sweet daisy cake in a pretty sunny yellow did just that!

 

March 25, 2013

bringing spring indoors



 
Good morning!  Hope your weekend was great!  Ours was filled with both kids having a ball game and Lyla's 5th birthday party.  Lyla had her softball pictures and 3rd softball game Saturday morning and then Preston had opening weekend for his baseball team with a game later that afternoon.  Sunday afternoon we celebrated Lyla's birthday with a dress up and tea party at the Storybook Cottage.  More on those events to come :) 
 
We have several plants that are really starting to bloom including this one pictured below.  I'm not even sure what this plant/bush is called, but we have a couple of them around our home and they are full of these tiny white blooms right now.  I went out and clipped some bunches so that we could enjoy them inside.
 
 
I added some burlap and ribbon to a mason jar to use as my vase. 
 
 
They added a nice touch of Spring to our mantel last week!

March 21, 2013

yumminess




The kids and I made this yesterday and it was delish!  It was this kit from Chasing Fireflies that Preston and Lyla received as an early Easter gift. 
 
 
It came with all the dry ingredients to make the cookie pizza.  We added the butter, egg, and cream cheese (for the icing.) It also came with the jelly beans and we topped it off with the little flag I had on hand.
 
 You could easily create your own using:
  • chocolate chip cookie batter mix and bake as directed
  • jelly beans for topping
  • icing - 4 ounces cream cheese, 2 ounces of butter & powdered sugar (add until you get your desired taste)
 

 
And it was just as yummy as it was cute!
 
 

March 20, 2013

office progress




I haven't shared any pictures of our home office/study on here yet because this is how it was looking about a month ago:
 
 
Oh my goodness...it makes me cringe...it was a major eye soar.  And this room is literally right when you walk in our front door, YIKES it looks bad!  It also has glass french doors, so there was no closing the door and hiding it.  I could no longer stand to look at or be in this room, so one weekend we finally pulled out one of the bookshelves and got to work.  It has taken us about 6 weeks to get to to this point.  We sprayed it outside (more on that process to come), so it had to be done not only when we had time, but also when the weather was nice.
 
 
 
 
There is still lots to do in here.  It's hard to tell in this picture, but I wanted all the furniture pieces along the back wall to be white and the front table to be a soft gray.  But I think the gray I picked (and I knew it at the paint store) is too light.  I need more contrast, so it will probably go back out to get a quick coat of paint.  There is also some styling that needs to happen on the bookshelves and a large open wall above the back desk and in between the bookshelves that needs something.  I have an good idea of what I want to do, just need time to get it done.  We also need a desk chair.  This is one of my dining room chairs that we are using in here for now.  Even if we don't do anything else for awhile, just painting these pieces has made such a huge transformation that I can now live with ;)
 
It is definitely one of those projects that I've said a million times now, "why didn't we do this soon???"
 
Update:  I created this inspiration board to hang above the back desk.  You can go here for the full post.
 
 
 Update:  You can go here to see how we painted the office.
 

March 18, 2013

My Easter Table








Good morning!  How was your weekend?  Ours was pretty low-key.  The kids were on the mend from the flu and so we just took it easy and enjoyed the gorgeous weather! 
 
A couple of weeks ago I was shopping at World Market and came across these little nests with the robin's eggs and thus began my Easter Table.  It seems like this has been my color lately.  I've recently bought new tennis shoes, workout clothes, a tee shirt and some home decor pieces all in this color :)
 
Here are some deets on this table:
mossy robin's eggs nest -World Market
white plates - Target
rattan charger (similiar) - World Market
turquoise and silver mesh - Hobby Lobby
ribbon - Michael's
dinner napkins - Target
flatware - Target
 

March 13, 2013

vs spring fling



 
 
 
 
Good morning friends!  I received my Victoria's Secret magazine in the mail a couple of weeks ago and was loving several pieces in their spring collection!  Casual, comfortable clothing that gets me dreaming about warm weather and relaxed days on the beach.  I've got my eye on a couple of pieces that I hope to add to my closet for this summer.


March 12, 2013

rainbow cake




 
 
Good Morning!  With St. Patrick's Day soon approaching, I thought it would be fun to share this rainbow cake I made for Lyla's 4th birthday.  She will be 5 on March 26th, so these photos are almost a year old and pre-blog time.
 
I followed this recipe and these instructions to make the cake.  We did a pancake and pajama party for her with rainbow decor.  I thought it turned out cute and Lyla had the best time making and eating it!
 
 
 

March 11, 2013

Easter Tablescape Sneak Peek



 
Happy Spring Break Week!  Do you have any plans for the week?  We actually had a pretty big trip planned for this week, but had to reschedule it for the summer due to a sick little one.  We were supposed to go to Disney World, but the last thing we wanted to do was take a sick kiddo.  There were tears, but I think it was the best choice.  Our kids have never been, and we want it to be a great trip!  So, we are staying home, resting and getting well.  Our park tickets won't expire and we were able to re-book our hotel.  So instead of heading to Florida, we are going to work on a couple of projects around the house and maybe a quick trip to the coast at the end of the week if everyone is well.
 
Anyways, back to my post. 
 
While I was working on my diy spring vases, I got inspired to think about my Easter tablescape.  I had the remaining tulips from the vase project sitting on my dining table and I started pulling things together.  My color palette, inspired from the random diy vase project, is this beautiful shade of blue.  I love how it's coming together and can't wait to enjoy it!  I'll of course need a new bouquet of tulips, and a few finishing touches to make it complete.  Excited to share it with you!  Hope you'll come back next week to see!