i love me some home

After a weekend away with my dear girlfriends, I came home to this beautiful chalk art by my amazing husband! We’ve been loving listening to JohnnySwim (check them out here), which was the inspiration for his design.

Vacations are great and time with girlfriends is like gold- but oh my, I love me some home.

mom’s bunco birthday

My sister and I had a ball throwing my mom a surprise party for her very special BIG birthday! Her friends did a great job keeping it a secret and we found out later that it was her very first surprise party- yes!

We decided to do a bunco party in bright and cheery blues and greens. Everyone brought $5 toward our big {sarcasm here} cash prize for the winners. We wanted to keep it simple with finger foods and, of course a cake! I have had my eye on an this gorgeous purple ombre cake from Pinterest, so we decided to try it out in the blues and greens. Click here to see my Pinterest board with inspiration for the party.

I think the best party planning tip I could give you is to consider what you already own when deciding on a theme for your party. We had the party at my parent’s house and because mom already loves decorating with blues and greens, it made it easy for us to coordinate with her style. I gathered all my blue Ball jars, white/green/blue servingware, and used spare fabric for the banners. We cut circles out of cardstock to add a pop of color to the tables without the expense normally attached to party centerpieces.

Alright, on to the pictures. This is a long post, you have been warned… :)

Who needs helium when you can just hang balloons upside down from the ceiling? I call it “The Balloon Chandelier”.

All of the ladies got a goodie bag at the start of the game and then traded each time they got a “Baby Bunco”. Whatever bag they had at the end of the game is the bag they took home.
another tip here: Did you know that in the paper plate, foil, baggie section of Target they sell the brown lunch bags in different colors? Yes! Red, blue, white, and ol’ trusty brown. They are under $2 for a big stack. I cut the tops with a Martha Stewart cutter I already owned and added a cute tape to finish it off.

My sister collected photos from different eras of my mom’s life and turned them into this great photo banner. It was so fun to see her throughout the years- wasn’t she a cutie?

And then there’s the food! My sister made these three yummy dips to go with homemade bread and dippers.

We also served calzone cupcakes with a marina sauce, coconut shrimp with an apricot sauce, stuffed mushrooms, and white wine sangria.

These chocolate dipped peanut butter pretzels are dangerously delicious!

Here’s the ombre cake! We really didn’t know how the gradient would turn out until we cut into it, so I think my sister and I were the most excited when my mom cut it and we saw all the colors just as we envisioned it!

Dad did a great job sneaking her out of the house for a few hours, and I love how surprised she was when she opened the door!

The happy birthday girl! (Where’s Waldo! Can you spot my rad senior picture?)

Happy birthday mom, you are such a joy to celebrate,

coming home…

After being out of town for 2 weeks (don’t hate me), we were so blessed to come home to this!!

We have such AMAZING friends!

Here’s a sneak peek of our fun-filled trip to Captiva Island and a roadtrip through the south!

Rain or shine, it is good to be home in Portland!

organic produce delivered to your door!

Jordan and I both strive to eat the bulk of our meals as whole and natural as possible, but it can be hard! After watching a few food documentaries we were overwhelmed. Do we really know what’s in our food? Where to start? Can we even afford a better way to eat?

It’s all overwhelming. So we decided to start slooooow. First on dairy. Now we’ve started to tackle produce. I LOVE Winco- great prices, lots of bulk, and cheap cheap cheap! But Winco does not offer the best produce or very many organic products.

My dear friend Brittany over at Bebe A La Mode shared with me about an organic produce delivery she uses called Organics to You. This company is based in Portland and delivers a box right to your door of delicious and nutritious fruits and veggies. Let me say that again: delivered to your door. Amazing, right? She had nothing but wonderful things to say, so we decided to give it a try.

We love it!

Every other week, Thursdays to be exact, we get a box of produce delivered to our door. We chose the small box that costs $33 each time and is more than enough produce to last until the next one. We go through a lot of spinach, apples, and bananas so we buy extra of those items at Trader Joes when grocery shopping. You can request more of the things you love or ask to not get things you dislike and they will adjust your box accordingly.

It’s fun getting new foods we have never tried before and trying to figure out:
1) what it is
2) and what to do with it!

We have now enjoyed kiwi berries, delicata squash, beets, and a variety of greens!

Here’s a look inside our box from this past week:

Here’s a cute homemade video we saw on YouTube about why to eat organic produce.

Makes you wonder, right?

Easter Hosting

I can hardly believe that Easter is less than a month away! I thought I’d share a few pictures from the past few Easters that we’ve hosted at our house. I haven’t decided what’s in store this year, but I’ve been having fun adding some ideas to my springtime board on Pinterest.

Easter 2010

In 2010 we did an afternoon Mediterranean dinner with lamb, hummus & flat bread, and a couscous salad. I gathered blooms from trees right outside for the centerpiece and place settings.

Easter 2011

In 2011 we did a family brunch with baked spinach & egg souffles, hashbrowns, strawberries, and my dad’s favorite thing to eat on Easter- ham. :) We wanted things bright and cheery on this beautiful, sunny Easter morning. I made little “nests” out of patterned paper and then put dyed eggs with each person’s initial at each place setting.
note to self: Buy the flowers earlier in the week so they are bloomed by Easter. Last year, my daffodils were still buds because I only bought them a few days before.

What do you have planned for Easter 2012? I’d love to hear your ideas!