Bestie's Bridal Shower

You'd think not having a job and staying at my parents house would give me much more free time... hah! I been busy visiting friends, hiking with the family, attending art festivals, etc. Not that I really mind, being away from the hubby and only getting an occasional 5min phone call from him would be quite boring if I were on my own, pet-free, & un-employed!

If you remember "the miracle" we received from the Marine Corps, I'm here in perfect timing for my best friends wedding which I so happen to be the Matron of Honor (that makes me sound so OLD!).

Last weekend I hosted her bridal shower & bachelorette party... She and I are very alike in the fact that we are not fans of pink, purple is fine, just not pink. I quickly gave up on finding any paper ware made for a bridal shower that didn't have a base color of pink or cost upwards of $5 for a set of 8 plates! I decided to go with a cute striped set I found on sale and make it personal with flower accents that I created.

Here are some of the detail photos from her shower:

I made a "photo booth" with one of my mom's old frames she had set out for the church garage sale. I added felt flowers I made to match the rest of the theme. The original plan was to take them near the fountain in the backyard but it was raining, so we used the next best thing- my mom's wall mural! She got a photo taken with each guest.

Flower lollipops- .33c each from Party City... so cute- favors for each guest.

I bought this rose the weekend before at one of the art festivals my family & I attended. It is an actual rose from Ecuador dipped in wax then painted however you'd like. I went for a pale blue because it is her favorite color & to match my shower theme!

The small vases, tealights, & frame came from DollarTree... I simply added the felt flower & scrapbook paper inside that says "pick a flower on your way home."

2nd table's centerpiece... marbles, felt flowers, & tealights in a silver serving dish that was handed down to my mom from her mom.

The main table... the little heart containers are from Oriental Trading Co. once again I added the felt flowers and put in some post-Valentine's day sale conversation hearts. The flowers were taken from my bouquet that hubs sent to me on Valentine's day... the colors were perfect!

So pretty, Peruvian Lilies are my absolute favorite.

A sampling of the food...

I love planning events, obviously or I wouldn't have gotten the degree I did, haha. It was so much fun to host this for my best friend! Her family absolutely loved the "photo booth" aspect, we managed to fit 4 people in a picture! Everyone had a blast and she thoroughly enjoyed herself and got some great gifts.

Rhema Marvanne

My dad sent me this video: **warning- I teared up!


So I clicked around on her youtube page and found out that at the age of 8 she is coming out with her 2nd album, not surprising with a voice like that... but she lost her mother to cancer, her inspiration, at the age of 5! Motherless at 5yrs old, yet she is so grounded in her faith. Beautiful.

Here is the interview video with her and her father:


To download the first song for free you can click here.

Coach?

My mom has an amazing client... one of those ladies that is fashionable, sweet, and wealthy but doesn't flaunt it AT ALL, seriously she's so kind and generous to everyone. Anyway, she has ALWAYS given my sister & I things from her many travels. Her favorite place to bring us items happens to be Peru.

Check out my most recent gift (click to view larger):The detail work is absolutely amazing.

Did I mention it was made out of a match book?!

Now you're all probably wondering why this post is titled "Coach?" well here's the reason: This woman fancies her Coach shoes & purses, which is fine. I have many friends who will gladly spend $200-400 on a purse or pair of shoes. I have never cared that much about brands (though I do love me some Banana Republic Factory Stores, haha), and I tend to spend my money on traveling rather than items. Anyway, she purchased a pair of shoes and they ended up being too wide for her, evidently she normally gets the narrow version. I have the tiniest/widest feet in my family, so she asked if I would like to try them on. I did, they fit, and she just gave them to me! I have never owned a piece of clothing/shoes this expensive before... well besides my wedding dress, obviously.

V-Day Weekend Giveaway - Winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my most recent giveaway, without further ado, the winner is...

April, from A Kitchen Table for Two!

Congratulations!!!!
I have received your gift card code & will be e-mailing you shortly.

My Valentine's Day

So last night (I know, it's not technically Valentines Day) I got to talk to my husband for 28min!! I was a happy girl. This morning I woke up to a card and bag of dove's dark chocolate squares from my daddy and a beautiful frog necklace from my mommy.


I got to lay outside in the sun because it was 80* and then I donned my "V-Day Gear:"

Ignore the date, I got a screaming deal for buying last years shirt... paid $1.50, original price was $15.99!

Oh, FYI- hydrogen peroxide bleaches the tan from your skin... I have a cut on my knee, so I poured it on and it ran down my leg... see the white stripe? Awesome, I'm white enough as it is...


Update...
At 5pm the pro-flowers guy showed up!!!
Even when he's training =)


No matter where you are, what kind of day you've had, your view/opinion on Valentine's Day... I hope you know that you are loved! Be sure to share love EVERYDAY not just on "specific" days... love is not something to be ashamed of or limited!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Romans 8:38-39

TOMS {re-visited}

Remember THIS post about TOMS vs. Airwalks?

Well... I've had good and bad comments, none of which I deleted... I feel as though people should be able to express their opinions.

Anyway, at the exchange 2 weeks ago, I ran into these:

"BOBS" by Skechers I won't lie, I rolled my eyes.
This shoe is far more alike TOMS than the Airwalks were...
The name, the flag on the back, the exact same design.

Let me express once again that I do not care that they are doing one-for-one, I am very pro helping out those in need! I don't care that they are far less expensive, what I DO care about is that they can't be original enough to brand & market their own style of shoe. Even the founder of TOMS Shoes, Blake Mycoskie is pro other companies giving to children. I love that companies like World Vision & Soles 4 Souls are involved with big companies like Airwalk and Skechers!

And YES, I do realize that TOMS used (copied as said by one commenter) the Espadrilles & Alpargata style {PAEZ Shoes}. It makes sense though, the children Blake befriended in Argentina would have seen their parents or those wealthy enough for shoes wearing them.

I am not the only one out there who is a bit confused by these brand shoes copying TOMS. I did some searching and found some articles that adequately express my opinion.

• Digital Mom Blog Review
• Fast Company.com Review
• Ecouterre Review
  
• Sweet Hopia Review

I guess in the end, there will be no "winner" not that there should be. Each company- TOMS, Airwalks, & Skechers are making the world a better place... which deserves kudos. =)

Valentine Weekend Giveaway!

Hey everyone,
With the PCS and seeing our entire house packed up into boxes (including the furniture) I started thinking how glad I am that all of our furniture is cheap and pretty lightweight... aka: came from Wal*Mart & Ikea. I really like modern furniture and after seeing and inventorying everything in our house there are only a couple more things I'd like. Mainly for the patio/backyard since I am going to a place where things will actually grow & not freeze!

I think this milk stand would look cute with a pot of flowers on top:

This would be a nice place to cozy up with a great book:

I absolutely love the look of these bamboo oil lamps:

So ladies (and gentlemen?) guess what I have to offer you?
$45.00 to CSN Stores.com...

I'm not making this complicated, simply leave a comment letting me know what you'd like from CSN (If you don't have an e-mail address on your blog, please leave that as well).

Make sure you comment ASAP though... this is a Valentine Weekend Giveaway, the winner will be chosen randomly and announced Tuesday the 15th.

Location #2

The movers came, they took 8hrs, then they left.
Everything we own is on a boat.

Husband and I lived with some amazing friends for 5 days.
We took his truck to the port, it's on a boat too.


5.5hr flight later, I am in AZ with my family and he's off in some other state training.

I snapped a few backyard photos from our last days in the house...

This is going to be a long PCS/training adventure!

Now it's time to start planning my best friend's bridal shower, bachelorette party, and MOH speech. Life doesn't wait for you to be ready, haha.

"PCS Instructions"

So true, right?


It has begun...
While you're reading this TMO should be packing away!