A Baby Shower

My bestie is having a baby!!! Mrs. S is pregnant with a little boy but that's not the end of the story. Mrs. S has also had a really rough pregnancy and was on bed rest for 10 WEEKS. That's two and a half MONTHS flat on her back, not leaving the house except for doctor's appointments! Oh but wait, there's more. She also has a toddler to take care of, her hubby started a new job AND they moved, all while she was on bed rest. Are you kidding me? That is more that any woman should have to deal with in one summer. Well, thank the good Lord, she made it to 36 weeks and is off bed rest and the lil guy is staying put... for now :)

Mrs. B & Mrs. S 

I love Mrs. S, she was the Matron of Honor in my wedding and she is just an all around amazing woman! Since she doesn't have any family close, I wanted to throw her a shower. I had visions of grandeur for this thing, I mean it was going to be HGTV worthy! I also had my pinterest addiction to prod me along. I wanted it to be an epic event for Mr. & Mrs. S. And then I realized I am only Mrs. B, not Martha Stewart and trying to take on every detail I wanted to include might be the end of me. That being said, with the help of the Misters, Mrs. S' awesome parents and an amazing sister, we were able to put on a pretty respectable little shin-dig. We had BBQ'd mini hot dogs, potato salad, hummus, fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, whale shaped rice krispy treats, electric blue lemonade, regular lemonade, and seasonal brews. Along with the food, we set up Bocce Ball and Cornhole for the adults and had goodie bags for the kiddos stuffed with stickers, crayons, bubbles and custom coloring books. The weather was amazing and there was a great turnout. I hope it was a memorable day for Mrs. S and I feel so honored to have been a part of it!

Setting up for lunch.  

Homemade Hummus... really close up. I learned that Mr. B, who was on photog duty, LOVES to take pictures in macro mode. This is great for detail, unfortunately you may have to be told what it is you're looking at from time to time. LOL

Delish Electric Lemonade! And HOW CUTE is Mrs. S in the background???

The "milk" bottles.

Homemade rolls for the mini hot dogs... which somehow I managed NOT to get a picture of. SMH!

Nautical centerpieces

German chocolate cupcakes with coconut cream filling, purchased from a co-worker who should really quit her job and do cupcaking full time. To. Die. For.

The BELLY!!! Could there be a cuter prego belly? 

Somebody LOVES chocolate covered strawberries!

Enjoying the kiddie grab-bags! 

Mr. B in his second trimester...

The BEAUTIFUL Tiffany's coffee cup that was one of my Hostess gifts.

Mr. & Mrs. S and the gift I made for Baby Graham.

 And here's how I re-purposed some frames to create one of a kind art for Graham's nautical themed nursery.

I took out the glass and sanded down a couple of frames. 

Bought a couple of spray paints to experiment with...

Nah, too bright...

Just right!

 

The inspiration came from the shower invites.

I sketched the design on pattern paper.

Cut the designs out of felt. 

I cut cardboard out to fit the frame, used a hot glue gun to attach seersucker fabric to it for my background. For the felt designs, I used tacky glue .

    

I love how they turned out,  hope Baby Graham enjoys them!!!

Covering Up Cosmo

So this blog is a little different from the usual. I recently came upon THIS SITE and had to share. Nicole Weider, has decided to "take on" Cosmo maGAGzine and I like it! She has set up a website with a petition to have the publication placed in non-transparent wrapping and sold only to those 18 or older. I 100% COMPLETELY agree with this idea.

In my early twenties, I was a reader of Cosmo. I thought it was great. I loved the fashion, the gossip, the tips and I also thought that was how every woman over 16 acted. I can specifically remember reading articles about how to act around guys or what would make a man "fall" for you and actually thinking that there must be truth to it if it was in a well circulated magazine that had been around for decades. As I matured and as my relationship with Christ did as well, I became accutely aware of the smut that was actually being aimed towards teenage girls. Now when I see the covers, I cringe (I can't fathom what mother's with small children must feel). We wonder why we live in a society of STDs, one-night stands, un-wed mothers, adultery and divorce. Open your eyes and look at what you're reading! Women lament that they can't find a decent man as they're driving home from their latest hook-up with a "friend with benefits". Seriously? Cosmo will give you every "trick" in the book except how to respect yourself and your body. If you agree with me, please visit Nicole's link and sign the petition.

Thanks!!!

Mrs. B

"Nicole Weider, founder of Project Inspired, started the Anti-Cosmo Mission after seeing the damage that Cosmo causes to young girls. Her mission to get Cosmo bagged in a nontransparent wrapper and sold to adults only has made headlines on national television and the Washington Post!"

Garden Watch Update

Well, here we are in September. Wowza, can you believe it?? Where did the summer go? A few months back, I did a post on my new garden and vowed to keep you in the loop as things developed. This was my first attempt at an outdoor garden, aside from a tomato plant or herb pot here and there. So, what have I learned you ask? Well, I've learned that soil and consistent watering are KEY to growing edible things. The first few months of growth were pretty measly. Things were creeping along at a snail's pace. I blame this partially on being cheap and buying plain old topsoil instead of garden soil and the fact that we are sitting on a clay hill! Secondly, I was an inconsistent water-er, that's right, I admit it, I would sometimes miss a day or two only to realize everything was drooping, then drown it all to make up for it. It took a few months and a couple trips out of town to finally get a timer for the hose. Once that was in place, at least I could say the irrigation situation was under control. Unfortunately, the dirt was just dirt and my garden remained stifled. So, I found a great organic fertilizer and went to town with it. Sure enough, in about two weeks it was like the Garden of Eden back there! Ok, ok, let's not get carried away but it was a big improvement. Things started flourishing, doubling in size, flowering even. I thought to myself, this is it, you've done it! You've taken on a garden and succeeded. Only there wasn't any produce... a bean here, a puny tomato there but no real yield. What happened with my corn is probably the most frustrating thing in the garden. It jumped up and grew like crazy until one stalk was almost the same height as the fence and I even saw two ears growing! Then one day I realized that there were ants all over the ears. I did some googling and found out that ants mean aphids or other lil critters. Sure enough, the inside of my ears were destroyed :'( I found an organic bug spray to try and knock 'em out. Sure enough, it killed the bugs but unfortunately it also killed my corn. This makes Mrs. B very, very sad... I MURDERED my corn!!! 

A midst all the tragedy, there have been a few bright spots. My carrots are coming along nicely, the basil and other herbs are gigantic, and the tomatoes are finally getting big and ripe. I wouldn't call the garden a failure but I wouldn't say I'm ready to support myself after the Apocalypse, either. I was hoping to be canning my bountiful harvest all fall but looks like I'll be taking notes on what to do next year instead!  In a few weeks, I'm going to turn everything over and try out the cardboard composting that I've seen online. That will hopefully help with the soil for next year. I'm also going to get a much earlier start next spring. 

It may not have been a stunning success but hey, that's what this blog and LIFE is all about, taking on new challenges and learning from mistakes :)

Mid-way through the summer, things looked promising.

My beautiful corn before the ruin...

Radish!

The most bitter lettuce in North America

Finally success!