{Written while a passenger on the way to meet my cousin's 3 day old baby girl!} Is there anything better than that twilight hour? The day is not yet over, the night has not yet begun... It is my favorite part of every day (especially summer days!) Now put me outside in that golden light, with my beautiful friend Vanessa at my side and this gorgeous flowy dress and I call that a perfect night! You can shop this pretty (non maternity) dress here! Hope your week is off to the very best start and thank you so much for stopping by. Sweetly, Michelle
Baby Berger Bash Part 2
I was in blue sparkly tulle heaven! I just loved how this sweet table turned out!
Isn't this sign so cute? I wish I would have held it up for a few photos (hindsight...) :)
I always buy color coordinated candy and it helped that Rolos fit our color scheme!! Yum!
Little soap shower favors (I had the tag say " From my shower to yours" :)
Everyone thought the blue wine was bubble bath (which would have also been a cute favor, come to think of it!)
I loved this cake so much! It was the yummiest flavor ever! How can you go wrong with a confetti cake? You simply can't!
I may have said this before but I live on a most magical street- kids galore and an amazing group of women as my neighbors...there are 3 right here and I love them so...
My husband loves this photo, because he loves any picture of me with what he calls a "real" smile or laugh. I do NOT like my huge, sharky smile at all but I posted it because it is genuine and I really am laughing through most of my days... and isn't that a blessing?π
If my beautiful mama is happy, all is right in my world.
Friendship-- real, lasting, heartfelt, true friendship-- is one of life's greatest treasures. I treasure this girl beyond words...
Its a Boy! Could the name of the color be more appropriate? :)
These women are my heart. I say this all the time, but its true. We spend an afternoon or an evening together every 2 months or so, come rain or shine, and have done this for maybe 10 years. They make my world go round and enrich my life .
Favor table!!!
So here they are....(most) of the people (the girls, anyway) who matter the most in my life, gathered together to celebrate and embrace my little guy. I am astounded at my good fortune, I do not take it for granted, and I love them back so hard...
Four generations all together....
I LOVED this dress! I cant wait to wear it post baby with some sneaks and a bomber jacket- how cute would that be?
{Written over Big Brother-- is anyone else watching this? } Alright, so I wanted to share a few more details with you of my baby shower... I literally could do 10 posts because everything turned out so cute! Alright, picking up where we last left off...After we got the basics down-- the place, the colors, the flowers-- we started to drill down into the details. One of the things we wanted to do was create a favor table for our guests where they could take a variety of things home that went beyond the candy buffet (I am a sugar-a-holic though, so the candy was still there) to a few more items. I started to think about things that were blue/gold or that popped (like my preggo belly!) and I came up with blue sparkling wine, blue gumballs, blue and gold soap that said Oh Baby (this phrase was a sub-theme- the invitations said "Oh baby" and we had this on the photo booth and the dessert table and the soap too!), OPI nail polish (the color is called Its a Boy!) and a small bag of custom cookies. I feel so much gratitude inside for the love I am constantly surrounded with and part of my goal was to let my guests know and to just create an afternoon where they felt spoiled and loved in return.
Then, we were off to the dessert table. People, this is an area that I consider my specialty. I am not really a foodie and I don't drink alcohol but I sure know my way around a cupcake!! Here again, I wanted things I Iove (s'mores, macaroons, rice kripsy treats), only in blue and gold and fancy. Let me just tell you that the pastry chef did not disappoint. I requested a funfetti cake (Come on. They are the best!) and it was the cutest (and tastiest!) bit of yum ever!
And my dress! I really struggled with what to wear because I haven't done a lot of maternity outfits (aside from work clothes, I've just been buying normal things a size bigger) but my bump is getting unmanageable. It is literally STRAIGHT OUT and like a basketball. Thankfully, I have had a fairly easy breezy pregnancy--nothing has swelled, nothing much else has changed but this tummy is just....out there. And I kind of wanted to be a little fancy. I found this Asos White dress and fell in immediate love. I just bought it in a regular size and had it taken in because it was made to be loose and I wore gold sandals and accessories. I felt so beautiful (something I don't really feel like when I am pregnant) Its sold out in blue but I linked the soft blush color -- maybe you can get on the waiting list because it is amazing in real life-heavy, and flowy and stunning. I am going to have it taken in after I have this baby so I can wear it still. I LOVE it.
We also did a Snapchat Geotfilter for my shower too (you essentially create and submit a custom snapchat filter for your special day!) If you have the time, its the cutest touch for a special event in your life- email me and I would be happy to walk you through the process. It was so cute and everyone loved it!
All in all, it was the most magical day. I am so grateful for the women in my life- from those I am related to, to those that through their friendship have become a part of my family. My letter that day sort of said to everyone that when you become a mother, you realize more than ever that it takes a village to raise a child. I am beyond blessed for those I have around me who love me, who support me, who take time out of exceptionally busy lives and travel long distances and who are there for me. I am going to turn to each and every one of them after my little boy is born so they can help me to raise a good, honest, loyal man. This baby boy is already so blessed!! Thank you so much for stopping by...Sweetly, Michelle
Its That Time of Year Again at Nordstrom
{Written with the Nordstrom catalog in front of me, trying to map out my plan of attack!} So, I know you have all been seeing and hearing the same thing I have-- its the Anniversary sale! I figured I would take a few moments here and sort of give you all the important who, what, when, where details....so here we go:
WHAT: The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.. and why is this a big deal? Because this is not a sale on things we've seen all season long ...this is a sale on brand new items for fall. These sale prices are for a limited time and then they will go up to regular prices. I am not the greatest sale shopper becasue (usually) by the time it goes on sale, its been hanging around the store for a while and I am pretty much over it. Not the Anniversary sale- these are hot new items that we don't even know we are supposed to covet yet! How fabulous is that?
WHEN: There are a few different dates to keep in mind--July 14th- This starts the pre-sale and it is maybe the best time to shop. Once the public sale starts, so much of the good stuff has already been gobbled up. To gain access to the pre-sale, you need to be a Nordstrom card holder. While I know they have a credit card, I only use the debit card. I am kind of leary of credit cards (I tend to look at the available balance as a goal!) but the debit card is linked right to my checking account (it works like PayPal). It keeps me accountable (on second thought, who wants to be financially responsible when we are looking at cute leather and fur for the fall?) and I don't have to worry about open balances and all of that for store credit cards. If you don't have one, check out both of options and see what one works best for you, but you will need one for the pre sale! July 22nd- This is the first day that the sale opens to the public. If you don't have a card, this is your time to shop! August 7th- This is the very last day of the sale and after this, the prices jump right on up to their normal everyday prices.
WHERE: The sale is both in store and on-line. I love the ease of on-line shopping (who doesnt?) but its kind of fun to go in person to this pre sale becasue they have all of the new stuff sort of hidden under tarps and behind curtains...it feels very spy/secret agent like!!
So those are the details, my beauties. I am going to do a few posts on my shopping lists and things I will definitely invest in and things I think I will take a pass on. What are you excited to buy? Would love to hear from you...and happy day, gorgeous ones! Sweetly, Michelle
Baby Berger Bash, Part One
Look at this view!!
I just fell in love with these sweet umbrellas and we hung them around the entrance (get it? Shower?) π
I wanted the sweet table to be the focus of the room.... And was it ever!
I love a pretty gold chair (or gold anything, to be honest!)
These flowers!! I was in love!
The large arrangements running through the center were so pretty!
I wrote a little note to each guest, thanking them for being so special to me!
My mama and fellow party planner and one of my favorite people in the world!!β€οΈ
One of my dearest friends ever, my Alsβ€οΈ
Everyone wants their hands on this round ball!!
The photo booth background!!
Addison and my besties little girl Brooklyn
I love seeing my grandmother smile!
{Written while sorting through pictures from this beautiful shower and weeping copiously. Did everyone but me know that pregnancy = tears over pretty much EVERYTHING?} Do you know that I am roughly 3 weeks away from having this baby boy? I cannot believe how fast time has flown by and it feels like its accelerated here at the end! I was all excited about doing a little post on decorating the nursery, choosing baby essentials, my feelings and reflections as I made my way through this journey...and here we are, down to the wire and we will see how many of these grand plans come to fruition!
What many do not know about me is that I am a party planner at heart- I just love to throw a party! I love choosing a theme and then creating all of the little details that pull everything together. For this shower, I wanted a simple and elegant lunch for just my closest friends and family. Something intimate and pretty where I could shower those I love and thank them for being a part of my life. My mom and I toured a few of our favorite spots and we ultimately chose Pelican Hill to hold our luncheon and we could not have been happier. It has exquisite service, a location to die for (hello, views!) and the yummiest menus! And they introduced me to Christie at Christie Rose Events who was our event coordinator and she was the absolute best! So easy to work with, and so understanding of people like my mom and I, who are hands on and full of ideas. She is wonderful and I cannot recommend her more!
Once we had our location, it was time for a theme. I did want to stay with traditional blue but not really any sort of themey theme- like cars or trucks. We decided on light blue, white and gold, with just a ton of white flowers. I wanted long tables (we wound up with 2) with gold chairs-- for the last few parties I have thrown, I've used this set up and its nice to have everyone sitting all together instead of at multiple round tables. For linens, I went to WildFlower Linens and oh my goodness! I went gaga over this place- it made me want to get married like, 5 more times so that I could use all of the fabulous designs they have! We used light blue silk with tulle and I know, this sounds fluffy and girly and not boy like but I didn't mind a bit! The more tulle and silk, the better I say! :)
As we got going, we stumbled on these cute little umbrellas and we decided to incorporate those into the theme as well. We wanted to hang them from the entrance way and maybe have them in a few of the floral arrangements...and while we are talking flowers, let me just tell you about my friend Shawna at Bleu Dog Floral. She is, in a word, perfect. The perfect person and when flowers are involved, your expectations will always be exceeded. We talked to her about the feel we wanted-- long lush white flowers down the center of the tables--and she went with it. My mom and I were awe-struck with her talent.
When I first walked up to the room on Saturday and saw everything laid out like we planned it, I completely teared up (um, this was a common theme the whole day. Wait until you see all of the pictures of my crying face!) with happiness and gratitude and joy for this baby boy! I am going to post part 2 of my shower with the favors and the dessert buffet and my fabulous guests! Happy Wednesday everyone and thank you so much for stopping by!! Sweetly, Michelle