Happy 30th, Kevin & Renee!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we threw a quasi-surprise 30th anniversary party for Zach's parents, Kevin and Renee. Bethany, Zach's oldest sister (in red!) coordinated everything and the rest of us helped pull it all together. We had such a great time - the Kane's definitely know how to party!

My part in the process was putting together the invitations. It was a lot of fun creating the invites and sending them all out. I found a design I liked online and then made it my own for what we needed/wanted. I loved the invitations! I had 50 of them printed at a print shop for under 30 bones. They turned out great!

We had the party at the Raspberry Ridge Farm, a Bed & Breakfast in Poulsbo. The B&B is owned by some friends of the family and it is FABULOUS! We had the party in the barn, which was the perfect spot for a party/reception. The whole place (four bedrooms in the B&B, too) is decorated in vintage and antique finds and I loved it so much! I kept saying I wanted to get married again just to have the wedding there. Also, the rooms in the B&B were beautiful. The husband (he and his wife own the place) did almost all the woodwork in the B&B himself, including some amazing wood pieces. I should have taken pictures! If you ever need a sweet place to stay or party in Poulsbo, I would highly recommend the Raspberry Ridge Farm!

But back to the party. Bethany cooked all the food (and we helped), Jenn ordered the cake, we all helped decorate, my dad took pictures, and there may have been an incident with the ice... It turned out to be a great party!

Most importantly, we had a great time celebrating Kevin and Renee and their 30 years of marriage! We love them so much and they are such great role models for what it is to be in a loving marriage.

The whole Kane clan was there (minus one of Zach's uncles that was helping out with Hurricane Sandy...).

Even the whole Brown Clan stopped by!

We had such a great time, here's some of the party pics!

Can you spot the difference? PHOTO BOMB!

The food was ah-MAH-zing! Bethany did a fantastic job!

We printed out their old wedding photos and put them in mason jars with some ribbon and tinsel for the centerpieces.

This little guy and I were dancing! And then he peed on me... Haha!

This is probably my favorite picture of the night. Fits right in with the 80s wedding!

Happy Anniversary, Kevin & Renee! (Today is their actual 30th anniversary!)

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for so many things... here are just a few. 

My handsome, smart, funny, loving husband

Our awesome families

Our two crazy puppies

Our great friends

A steady job and a roof over our head

Funny comedies (The Mindy Project is my new fave)

Lots and lots of yummy food over the holidays

Rain boots

Warm and toasty fires 

Hot totties

The holiday season - my favorite time of year

What are you thankful for? I hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Photo found via

Getting Crafty at Anthropologie

Last week, Kim and I went over to Anthropologie for a little craft event hosted by Cassandra LaValle of Coco + Kelley (she's a fellow Zag, too!). Here's Kim's post all about it. Kim found out about this event and I'm so glad we got to go together and get our craft on. 

They had champagne, and cute little mini cupcakes. We both opted for the maple fall cupcake. So delicious!

The craft: color blocked coasters! We started out with four plain cork coasters, a foam brush, different widths of tape, and some paint. 

There she is! Our fearless leader. Like Kim said, we tried not to be super stalkers. :)

In process... this project was super easy!

The finished product. My favorite is the aqua and gold striped one!

The craftermath (craft+aftermath)... Yes, that big pile of junk by the tape is all mine. Haha.

Here's Kim's coasters!

Apparently she was really into the aqua + red color story (notice her matching outfit!). Everyone thought we were sisters (must be the glasses:)! Nope, just besties!

Love how mine turned out. Geometric goodness. It was fun to see what everyone came up with. Especially all the different colors they used!

So much fun - thanks to Anthropologie and Cassandra for hosting this event! 

Soft & Chewy Molasses Cookies

Molasses cookies have to be one of my favorite cookies. Of all time. My mom made them when I was growing up, usually around Christmas. Molasses cookies are one of those cookies that are like comfort food to me and are always delicious when you eat them warm with a hot cup of cider/coffee/tea. Yum. 

Seriously, you should make these this holiday season. They are so soft and chewy and have the best flavor. I made them last weekend and the whole batch was gone in a day. One day! Don't worry. We had friends over. It wasn't just us (although it very well could have been). Here's my mom's super good recipe for Molasses Cookies.

// 325 degrees // 8-10 minutes // 

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter 

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Melt butter, let cool.

2. In a bowl, mix together all ingredients with melted butter. I followed the order listed above and mixed as I went.

3. Chill dough overnight (I let it sit covered in the fridge for about and hour and they were perfect).

4. Make one inch dough balls (I use my trusty cookie scoop).

5. Roll dough balls in white sugar to lightly coat.

6. Place on cookie sheet, don't flatten. 

7. Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

8. Optional - Frost with white icing. We didn't, and they were amazing without!

Enjoy!

God Bless America

I don't like posting about politics at all. I really don't like politics - the slimy politicians, the campaigning, the nonstoptvads. So fear not, this is not about any of my opinions at all! But, and it's a big but, I do love the fact that I live in an awesome country the best country in the world where every person is allowed to vote and express their opinion. Even though I'm not that into politics, I do love having the ability to make a difference and have a voice (even with the electoral college - your vote still counts!). I just get excited around election time and no matter who you voted for or how involved in the election you were, I don't think you can deny the energy or the enthusiasm surrounding election night. Or the excitement of dropping off your ballot (or going to the polls if you are not a Washington resident). It's just awesome and I'm proud to be an American. Where at least I know I'm free (remember that song). 

Don't you love election day!? I stayed up late last night (glad I'm on the West Coast at least!) to watch the acceptance speech, which was pretty awesome. 

So that's it. Didn't want to say which party is better or worse, just how flipping awesome this country is. AMERICA!

Top Photo by Doug Mills of the New York Times
Bottom Photo from Twitter