50 Things (Not 50 Shades...) Gift Idea

As promised, I want to share with you more about the gift we got Zach's mom for her 50th birthday. But first, a little bit about our other weekend shenanigans.

Friday we celebrated our 4th anniversary(!) with dinner at Purple (yes, I most definitely devoured the lobster mac n' cheese) and then Les Mis at the 5th Avenue. A funny thing happened on the way to the show though... we forgot our tickets! Yeah. This almost never happens to me (Zach is a different story  though:) and I was pretty mad! Luckily, we had dinner reservations pretty early (5:30) since that's all that was available for us procrastinators and we had just enough time to drive home to Renton (from Seattle) and back again with about ten minutes before the show started! Phew. 

What did I think of Les Mis, you might ask? Well, I thought it was really good. Zach loved it and thought it was amazing. The music is amazing (some of the best voices I've ever heard!) and the set design was fantastic. The big turn off for me was that I knew nothing about the storyline before we saw it and I got a little lost/confused throughout the show. It jumps ahead a few years (a couple times) and there are so many complexities of the story, that is was hard for me to follow. I think if I would have read the book before hand (like Zach) or watched the movie it would have helped and I would have enjoyed it a lot more. But, that being said, I still thought is was really good! 

Saturday we headed over to Poulsbo to celebrate Renee's 50th birthday. We had a lot of fun with close friends and the whole Kane clan (first time all together since Christmas!). Lots and lots of laughs and food and good times were had.

And now on to the super sweet present we got her. I had this idea months ago with the original inspiration via Pinterest from Nothing But Bonfires. I loved the idea of 50 Things We Love About You on Your 50th Birthday. Originally I thought I could just put each thing on a piece of paper and then put the 50 pieces of paper in a mason jar, but my sister-in-law Katelyn suggested that I put it into a book. It turned out being even better than I thought because we got to put in photos of Renee and the family along with our "50 Things." I had a lot of fun gathering all the "things" from all the family members and putting it together. Such a fun way to honor someone on their birthday. 

Here's some shots of how the book turned out. I used Shutterfly and really liked how I was able to put it together more like traditional scrapbooking with embellishments, stickers, etc.

Renee loved the book - it was a big hit! Happy 50th Birthday Renee!

Have you made any photo books recently? Do you make one every year or are you a few years little behind like me? Do you use Shutterfly, iPhoto, MyPublisher? What's your favorite?

Have a Happy Happy Weekend!

First off, welcome to all of you that hopped on over from Better After yesterday! I'm really glad you stopped by and hope you enjoy reading! I have lots of fun sharing my projects and adventures with all of you!

OK, now on to another random Friday post. :) So did everyone see SYTYCD on Wednesday night?!? Can I just say that I. Love. This. Show. So. Much. It's amazing! These kids are so talented it blows my mind. I can't wait to see what else the season has in store. I'm especially glad they are going to have two winners this year (one boy and one girl). It seems more fair that way since women and men are so different in dance. You guys have any early predictions?

This weekend is a busy busy weekend for us (honestly, when have we not had a busy weekend lately?!). Tonight we are celebrating our anniversary with dinner at Purple Cafe & Wine Bar and then going to see Les Miserables! Ahhhh! I'm looking forward to the lobster mac & cheese at Purple (it's my favorite :) and I can barely contain my excitement to see Les Mis. Supposedly I heard that maybe it's pretty decent or something. :)

Let's see, what else? Saturday we are celebrating Zach's Mom's 50th 29th birthday! It's going to be awesome. I can't wait to give her her awesome present (and then I can share it with you guys too). She's pretty awesome as far as mother-in-laws go and I can't wait to celebrate her.

Then Sunday is my sister-in-law, Katelyn's birthday and we are celebrating some more! Lots of partying! 

What are ya'll up to this weekend (that's right, I said ya'll)? Any big plans? Any 29th birthdays to celebrate?

Twenty-Seven

Did everyone have a good weekend? Wasn't the weather fantastic! Good news, I didn't get burned. Better news, we had a great weekend celebrating Mother's Day with our mamas! We love them so much and are so thankful for them! 

And now I want to share a little bit about my birthday festivities (which last weekend). I always thought twenty-seven would be a great year. I mean, this should be the prime of my life, right?! Right! My birthday was last weekend and it was so much fun! The weather has been weirdly great the past few weeks (not complaining) and we took full advantage. I already told you guys about our sweet Cinco de Mayo Meg-o party with friends last Saturday. But since my actual birthday was Sunday, the hubby and I had a nice relaxing day in the sun. I woke up to some coffee in bed and a little present.

Husband did good :). He also got me some lovely flowers at work! I am spoiled!

After some crepes we ventured out into the sunshine to Alki Beach. I had never been there before and I'd wanted to go for a while. We took the BBoy and went on a walk with an amazing view of Seattle.

I love Alki! It was so beautiful and we even saw a little sea otter trying to eat some lunch.

Next up we saw The Avengers (which was SO GOOD. See it. Now.). We ended the night with a little Dairy Queen ice cream cake (my favorite!) and Game of Thrones (you should probably watch that too). Such a great day! Thank you to everyone for celebrating with me and making me feel special!

Cinco de Meg-o and Sombrero Cookies

That's right. I may have just made my own holiday. I'm clever like that. Maybe you saw a little of my inspiration here, maybe you didn't. In any case, we had a great party this weekend to celebrate our birthdays (Zach's was a couple weeks ago), the end of busy season, and Cinco de Mayo (ahem, Meg-o). 

I had fun going all out Cinco de Mayo... I cut up some brightly colored tissue paper and attached it to some yarn to make some pretty garland to put up around the house. We even caught the Derby on TV - way to go, I'll Have Another. It really is pretty exciting for those two minutes!

I've been waiting to use these empty cans for something for a while now. The perfect size to hold some silverware. I just added some scrapbook paper to the outside to make them a little more festive. A great (and cheap!) way to add a little color.  

I even added a little colorful paper around the little cacti pots too. I got them for about $3/each at Home Depot. I love how colorful and tiny they are!

Probably my favorite thing was the Sombrero Cookies! Aren't they cute? I used my trusty Sugar Cookie recipe - it never fails! After you let the cookies cool, just add a little vanilla frosting around the outside and then a small circle in the middle (I used store bought frosting and put it in a bag). Turn it upside down and dip in a plate full of sprinkles until its covered. Then I added a dot more of frosting in the middle and put on the gum drop for a little mini sombrero. Ay ay ay!

I bought a yard of colorful fabric to make a table runner. Anything to add color for the festivities!

We served Salsa Chicken Tacos and they were delicious! Super easy too - in the crock pot, just add chicken breast, salsa and some onions. Mmmmhmmm. Such a fun party and my favorite food too. Any excuse to be a little creative and get together with friends!

Did you have a good weekend? Do any celebrating for Cinco de Mayo or maybe the Derby? 

Happy Blog-Day!

I can't believe it's already been a whole year since I started this here blog. A whole year! Happy Blog-Day to us! It's been a great year - exploring Arizona, moving back home, baking lots of goodies, traveling to Europe, and doing lots of projects, just to name a few (see more of our year in review here). 

I've learned a lot this year, and a big part of that was through this blog. It makes me happy and I love that it pushes me to try new things and get inspired. I had gone so long without any creativeness in my life, so I'm glad this blog has brought part of that back.

I also want to give a HUGE shout out to all of YOU. Thanks for reading my little blog this past year. I love sharing my recipes, projects, travels, and inspiration with all of you and I hope you get a little inspired in return. 

Here's to many more years of enjoying the little things and getting inspired!

P.S. Don't forget to follow my blog to get the latest posts. I'm also on Pinterest and Twitter, so you can follow me there too!

Balloons, Happy

Fall + Mom

Happy First Day of Fall! And also, Happy Birthday to my lovely Mother!

We just spent a year's worth of summer down in Arizona so now I am ready for fall. So ready. Bring it on! Bring on the colored leaves, the crisp mornings, the pumpkin spice lattes, the boots and jackets and mittens, and most importantly, the football!

Speaking of football... my baby brother's German Football Team (the Unicorns) has their semi-final game on Saturday, and if they win - on to the German Super Bowl!!! How awesome would that be?! Supremely awesome.

Are you excited for fall? Wishing for more sun or excited to curl up with some hot cocoa on the couch?

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Minnie Mouse & Emersonmade

I thought I'd share a few pics of my birthday celebration. Can I just say that I have the best husband ever? I know I'm biased, but seriously. It's true. Not only did he get me a plane ticket back to Seattle to see my friends, he also got me this awesome present... A Minnie Mug!

A little back story. For our first wedding anniversary we went to Disneyland (happiest place on earth!). So. Much. Fun. One of the souvenirs we brought home was a Mickey Mug for Zach. I have no idea why we didn't get a Minnie Mug for me, but ever since then, Zach's Mickey Mug has become his favorite mug ever. It is pretty awesome. And every since then, I've wanted a Minnie Mug to match. Pretty much since we left the park for the last time. Anyways, I finally got my Minnie Mug to match the hubby's Mickey Mug! We are complete. :)

My wonderful husband also made me dinner - salmon, rice, zucchini and squash, zucchini bread, and my favorite Confetti Cake! Mom and Daddio got me some pretty flowers, and Schmevin and Renee (I'm guessing mostly Renee) got me my coveted Emersonmade clutch!

Isn't she purrrrrrrrty?!?! I fell in love with Emersonmade a while ago and have long since wanted something from her line. If it wasn't so expensive, I would have bought everything by now!

The cake was so yummy!

Overall, it was a great birthday! Thanks everybody!