twenty-six thoughts and a giveaway

photo via

A few days ago I turned 26. I hopped over the hump of twenty-somethings, edged a whole lot closer to 30 than 19, and honestly I couldn't feel happier about it.

On my birthday's eve, Jeff whisked me away for dinner and a little shopping date. We didn't buy anything fancy, just drooled over iPads that we couldn't afford at the Apple store, and yet I returned home with an overwhelming sense of contentment and muchness. I love this season in my life.

Odd as it may sound, I'm finally feel like a legit grown-up. A grown-up who still knows how to have fun and who, ironically, feels more like a kid than ever when she lays on the floor with coloring crayons and sings about the wheels on the bus.

I'm beginning to feel just plain comfortable in my own skin. It's wonderful. I feel like I know more of my likes and dislikes than ever before, and find fewer things getting under my skin. I think I'm learning how to let things go. The more life experiences, the easier it is to see the big picture. You know, that extravagantly beautiful picture God paints in our lives as he calls us and loves us.

I'm learning to rejoice in the little things, which as it turns out, are really really big things. Like our health, having food on the table, the boy's constant messes, and the piles of laundry.

I love being married to Jeff more and more every day. Did I tell you he made me the most extraordinary flourless chocolate birthday cake? {Flourless cakes of all kinds are our absolute favorite desserts lately.} I've tried a few different recipes, but Jeff's absolutely swept me off my feet. He allegedly added 15 ounces of pure chocolate. Slightly snug jeans aside, it was absolutely heavenly and a super far cry from the horrible artificially flavored strawberry box cake he made for my 22nd birthday (although I was still charmed by his efforts).

So here's to number 26, a head full of dreams, and a heart full of joy.

*****

And even though the day + cake have come and gone, there's still a lil' birthday giveaway that I'd love to share:

Have you heard of the Shabby Apple? They are owned by two women entrepreneurs who are devoted to designing stylish and sensible women's dresses, little girl dresses, and cute accessories, and also committed to helping women worldwide. I'm super delighted to give away this simple North Shore dress to one lucky lady. (An $88 value). I love the rosey shoulder and am certain that the waistline would flatter any body type. You know you could use this in your spring wardrobe!

Giveaway ends Wednesday 2/23! And even if you don't win, the Shabby Apple is kindly offering readers 10% off their purchases through the month of March. Simply enter livingtheswelllife10off at the check out. Yay!

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You can enter in one (or 3!) ways:

1. Leave a comment telling how you would accessorize this dress, imagining you are the lucky winner. (C'mon, you know you have the perfect shoes or headband!)

2. Give the Shabby Apple girls your thumbs up on facebook (and leave a comment if you did).

3. Share a link to this giveaway on your social media site of choice to help spread the word (then leave a comment to let me know you did)!

*for US residents only, please.

luna's baby shower (part 2)

Two thoughts after throwing Luna's shower: 1. Watching your friends become mamas + sharing in their joy is one of the happiest things. 2. I've concluded that baby showers are 100 times better after the guest of honor has arrived...Not just for girly specific gifts, but mostly for passing that sweet little peapod around. I couldn't get enough.

Clearly the kiddos in attendance still had Christmas in their blood...They were SO excited to help Becca open her gifts. It was the sweetest thing!While it's true that great minds think alike, did you know that great crafters also think alike? Chelle made this pretty stack of applique onesies...And Courtney made an almost identical bunting pillow. No jokes, no kahoots...It was pure surprise!
Andi made the sweetest daily calendar journal of loose papers wrapped in a pretty box. So wish I'd snapped a pic, because it's tricky to describe, but it looks a whole lot like this. I think it's the perfect easy way to track your kiddo's growth over the years...Jotting down first steps to first marathons and all the happy mundane things in between. It would be so great as a graduation or wedding gift too!
I made some ruffly little onesies (below) and felt flower headbands (not shown).Holding this sweet miss makes me want another one just a little bit.

luna's baby shower (part 1)

During Christmas in Spokane, we squeezed in a pretty little shower at Chelle's super gorgeous house for my dear friend Becca and her darling baby girl, Luna. (Or Lunabelle as she's affectionately nicknamed.) Crafty girls deserve crafty parties and this was no exception. I always love to help throw a good shower and I double love it when it means having a chance to spend time with my sweet Spokane blog friends!

To gussy up the mantel, Chelle made one of her vintage book page garlands + a letter L for Luna, painted pale yellow. I added a cheery little yarn wreath with felt flowers. Using this fabric, I also sewed a fabric bunting with over-sized ric rac, and a whole bunch of mini fabric and felt flowers to hang from the window sill and light.
Chelle has the cutest collection of vintage dishes! I love how the drink tray brightened up the table (above). She also made the best.ever. flourless chocolate cake (below). Since then, I simply had to try it myself and made one for my mom's birthday last weekend. It's a delicious cinch of a cake. It may not look like much, but it will knock your socks off. Seriously, it's perfection.

Andi made an awesome Asian chicken + pasta salad with cilantro. Mmmm...

And Courtney brought an amazing green salad with tons of feta and pomegranate seeds. Yes, pomegranate. It was perfect with her raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
Best of all, I had a chance to get awfully friendly with Jeff's full-frame camera all week long. (I usually use a Nikon D80.) Holy smokes. It makes such a difference, especially when shooting in low-light. I am itching to upgrade someday...

how to host a craft party

I had such a fine + fabulous experience hosting my first craft party, or more creatively entitled Crafternoon, that I'd like to dedicate a post to sharing my thoughts and tips for anyone up to the challenge of hosting her own in the future! Although I could probably talk your ear off on this subject, I will try to simplify the matter into a brief, handy list. I apologize in advance that this post will be heavy on words and light on photos. {I shared a whole bunch of photos from the event last week, so in case you missed them, do check them out.}

1. If you build it, they will come. It's true. When I first posted an invitation for this party, I was a nervous wreck, thinking no one would show. But I learned that girls love a chance to get together, and they double love a chance to get creative when everything is spread out in front of them. So many of my friends say they wish they could be more crafty but don't have the time or inspiration. I shared a public invite both on facebook and this blog, hoping to meet some new crafty girls in the area and also share my love of crafting with some of my old in-real-life friends. In the end, I had such an overwhelming response that I had to turn some girls away. Stab me in the heart.

2. Plan, plan, plan. Even before sending out invites, plan what crafts you will to make. Not only will this step provide for a great teaser in the invite ("We'll be making X, Y, and Zs!!"), you'll also have more time to fine tune everything as the party approaches. Take inventory of the supplies you already have and make lists of the supplies you need to gather.

3. Time it. Be realistic about time frame. One project may take the entire duration of the party. Or teach your guests a smattering of techniques with 3-5 simple projects to fill the afternoon. Whatever you do, time yourself as you make each sample in order to guesstimate how long to schedule the party or when to quit coming up with more and more projects. (Ahem, super guilty here.)

4. Details. Don't forget about tools. This was an afterthought for me and I scrambled the day before asking people to bring extra scissors and paper punches. I was buying needles and tape and asking guests to sharpen pencils at the last minute. Tools are just as important as the craft supplies themselves and although we're all grown-ups, let's face it; in this case, the less sharing the better!

Do double duty with party favors and set out bags labeled with each guest's name so there is a space for her to put finished crafts throughout the party and a handy way to tote home her spoils.

5. Don't break the bank. Don't be afraid to ask your guests to bring a small amount of cash to share in the cost of supplies. I've never known a craft party without a supply fee (at least when the hostess is providing supplies). Another reason it's so important to determine the projects before sending out the invite is so that you can set a realistic budget and a realistic amount to pass on to each guest. I'll be completely honest here and say that my party did cost more than $10/person. But my intention was not to break even, it was only to avoid breaking the bank.

6. Be firm on numbers. I cannot, repeat, cannot stress this enough. Can I be frank with you? I had a lot of unnecessary anxiety over the guest list. Here's why: I specifically asked everyone to RSVP asap, but received a ton of maybes. When planning this sort of party, it's really difficult to work with all of the maybes in the crowd. {No offense to anyone in this boat!} I 100% understand that life is unpredictable, but I urge you to make it a clear expectation that your guests commit. Tell them you need to have a firm number in order to buy the proper amount of supplies. Next time I am seriously considering collecting everyone's supply fee in advance via Paypal, just so that they are less likely to flake.

Also in this vein,
7. Know your limits. Have a maximum number of guests your home/venue can hold and don't go over it. If the party is too crowded to craft the fun factor will go down. I set my magic number at 20 and had to start a waiting list at this point. After a bunch of last minute cancellations, I believe the final head count was 16. I think that was a perfect number for my house. Why did I invite so many people that I ended up saying no?? Because I didn't want to be exclusive. I wanted to open it up to anyone and everyone who was interested in this sort of thing. The best part about craft parties is that they can be big or small. For a close circle of friends or for everyone in your social network. Know what is manageable for you and your life!

8. Map out your house. This is also key. Each separate craft should have a designated station. What rooms/areas would make good work spaces? Plan which crafts can be done on laps and which crafts require tables and chairs. Keep messy projects near a sink. Put projects that may take the most time in a large room and smaller-scale projects in a smaller area. If there is a two-part project, keep both stations adjacent to one another. That is one huge mistake I made. We made yarn wreaths, decorated with felt flowers. Half of the girls finished the yarn ring all at once and were wanting to learn the felt flowers. I had put the flower project in the smallest room with the least amount of workspace. Somehow I hadn't anticipated that people would spend as much time as they did crafting these to beautifully decorate their wreaths. People were sitting on the floor, tracing on the walls, and bumping into each other left and right. {And what dearies, they weren't even complaining!}

9. Feed them! I know this is basic, but I just want to say keep it simple here. One great way to keep party costs down is to ask guests to bring treats to share. I turned my party into half craft making, half Christmas cookie swapping. The spread was amazing--way better than I ever could have done by myself. It was so fun to sample everyone's baking talent. All I had to worry about was drinks! It's also important to consider that you'll be spending tons of time the day before cleaning your house and setting up your crafts, and the last thing you need to fret over is food.

10. Enjoy yourself. Face it, you can't be all things to all people. You can't individually teach every guest every project, or hold lengthy personal conversations with everyone. That's why for large-scaled craft parties or for varied skill levels, make certain that you are not the only one who knows what the heck is going on. (i.e. delegate.) I asked a few of my craftiest friends to arrive early so that I give them a brief run-down of all the projects. My sil kept the coffee brewing and felt free to mix & mingle. It was wonderful. Like growing extra sets of hands and eyes. I was able to relax and chat a whole lot more because I knew there were plenty of friendly resources bouncing throughout the house. It's also helpful to create multiple samples (if you have time!) of each project to not only present the basic concept but inspire variations on a theme.

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Wow, so much for short. I really hope this is helpful!

I'd love to turn the comments into somewhat of a forum. I want to hear your feedback, questions, or advice on any area I missed! Also, please feel free to share links to your own craft parties past or present here!!

turkey tuesday.

The bird is the word here today. We celebrated an early bird Thanksgiving tonight with the resident aunt & uncle. Not sure if I've ever mentioned that Jeff's sis and her husband live in our basement? Allow me to introduce the cute couple at our dinner table: Luke + Jenny. Sometimes we call them Lenny for short. I like to call them the Nanny and the Manny, because they are such a huge help with Graham. Having them live with us makes for an easy impromptu family gathering. There is extra laughter, helping hands, and Glee watchers for which to be thankful.Anywhoo, we deemed this day Turkey Tuesday because we will all be working and/or going our separate ways on Thursday. Besides, a real T-day is when everyone gets together. And even though our dinner was not all-that-out-of the ordinary, the sights and smells as Jenny & I swirled around the kitchen all afternoon made it a bit extraordinary. How fun to set out some fancy vintage linens, light a few candles, and uncork a cabernet. Not one of us had made a turkey before, but Jenny tackled that winged thing head on and it turned out scrumptious, topped with a pomegranate glaze. She also made a manly helping of italian sausage + green apple stuffing. I chimed in with the green bean almondine, sour cream + chive mashed potatoes, and the traditional pumpkin pie. Everything about our little holiday was perfect, super simple, and not the least bit stressful.

Sign me up to host Thanksgiving next year. I'm not afraid of making le menu anymore.
Some last minute crafty Thanksgiving ideas you may want to test out for your dinner party this year or next:

These darling burlap bowtie+blossom favor boxes.

Print this pretty chain of thankfuls.

Super lovely centerpieces.

curious george first birthday

Curious Graham's Birthday Surprise was an absolute smash last weekend. When I heard a chance of rain in the forecast, I completely nixed the park picnic idea and prayed no one would mind cramming sardine-style in our little 2 bedroom apartment! We wound up having 16 guests + the man in the yellow hat and his sidekick George in attendance. Jeff will never forgive me for making him wear those ridiculous yellow pants and spray painted sombero, especially now that I've posted it on the internet. The good news is, we're still married!

My sil Jenny is the ultimate cake baker. She was so sweet and helpful to make a bright beautiful Curious George cake out of fancy fondant, plus the ultimate cookies+cream baby cake for this curious boy to destroy. Graham was a fan!
For the rest of the food, I made an assortment of gourmet sandwiches, my signature strawberry poppyseed salad, cucumber cups and fruit kabobs. The banana punch was surprisingly delish, despite it's peculiar color. I kept the favors super simple: baggies of M&M's tied with a little George tag. (Isn't that stamp perfect? Gotta love the Target $1 bins!)Oh and a little background: I'm not typically a fan of cartoon character or mythical creature themes, but Curious George was too perfect to pass up. During Graham's first year, I had taken monthly pictures to track his growth with his stuffed George from my friend Kayt. I used a few of my favorites to make this fun paper banner. I loved this little decoration...It's still hanging in our hall. Not sure if I'll ever take it down!

happy birthday baby boy!

I realize that it's been non-stop buzz about a certain birthday bash around here, but still, I cannot believe he is a whole year old today. Mr. G, Monkey Man, spring chicken baby. It's hard to believe you could wiggle your way even deeper into our hearts than the moment we first met you and held the cuddly newborn bundle of you exactly 1 year ago. A jillion diapers, feedings, and sleepless nights later, you are all the more the apple of our eyes.
We did a little first birthday photo shoot at the park for G's birthday invitations a few weeks ago. You can see the rest of the photos here. I really wanted the front of the invite to resemble a Curious George book, but struggled to find a font to match. Apparently George's was hand-illustrated during WWII and no longer exists in font world. Otherwise, I thought they turned out pretty stinkin' cute.

Can't wait to share party pics + an awesome meet the maker giveaway next week.

And now for my exciting announcement. The lucky free photo shoot winner is...

Laura said...My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years now and we don't have many pictures of the two of us. I take a lot of photos of my family members and I never get anyone to take pictures of us...

Congrats! We can't wait to meet you and your hubs, Laura. Can't wait to be in touch and work out the details.

our {bright sunny} easter entailed...

:sleeping in just a tad later than usual. waking up and
:dressing a young man in a seersucker suit with fancy clip-on tie
:who stole a few hearts at a church full of people where we had
:amazing worship filled with
:the beautiful message that Christ is living and freely pours out truth & life for all
:then coming home to pop the
:first annual Easter quiche into the oven
:and enjoying a warm brunch
:rounded out with a basket full of jelly beans
:and a play date at the park, all on an
:exceptionally sunshiny spring day.

the chicken's first halloween {diy style}

We're getting a little giddy about Halloween around here. Just finished stuffing G into his chicken suit for a trial run. (And yes, he eats the feathers!) It was easy to decide on a costume theme...After all, he's been our spring chicken/early morning rooster since day 1! I just couldn't find any cute chicken costume in stores. So, I set out to make his very own and discovered that there's something very magical about a homemade Halloween costume.

This is actually pretty simple to put together: For the body I sewed together 2 long-sleeved onesies (2 sizes too big) and stuffed stuffing in between to make him extra plump. Then I took two 6' white feather boas and tacked them all around. To make the legs + feet, I sewed yellow rubber cleaning gloves to a pair of yellow pants. And the hat--Just an old white t-shirt of Jeff's plus a few chunks of felt and black buttons. :)

jenny + luke tie the knot

So excited to share just a few of the shots from my sil Jenny's beautiful wedding 2 weeks ago in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Everything was so simple and gorgeous and perfectly their style...Sort of a mod-country. And they had the neatest color scheme: yellow + red!

First of all, I have to say that she and Luke were such good sports about the rain! It was chilly and drizzly pretty much all day, but that didn't stop them from having the happiest day of their lives! We took full advantage of the inclement weather and got some great outdoor shots anyway. Personally, the umbrella pics are my absolute favorite. Very unique and fun!{This is my 2nd favorite!} Luke is so crazy cool for wearing his sneakers with his tux. Kudos on the new, bright white laces.
The reception was held outdoors under a big, bright, white tent. The decorations were absolutely adorable. Dozens of these flower boxes packed with yellow + red zinnias lined the banquet tables. So bright and fun!
I had a blast helping Jenny out with the guest book {above} and programs {below}. For the guest book, we set out summery patterned 3.5x5" papers and asked guests to craft their own personalized notes to Jenny + Luke. We set out pens and colored pencils for them to write and decorate inside, then fold up the note cards and seal them with red & yellow seals, bakers' twine, or skinny red rick rack. Instead of a boring book of names, Jenny + Luke got to take home a big glass jar filled with personalized sentiments decorated in yellow and red. These 2 make the most adorable couple. We are so happy for them and so excited to have Luke in the fam. :) Jeff and I were so glad to contribute a little to help them remember their beautiful celebration of their love for God and for each other.
P.S. A few more photos on Flickr!

kimberly's shower

This weekend, we threw a basket-themed bridal shower for my soon-to-be sil Kimberly. Our friend Kathy's gorgeous house was the perfect setting for such a girly event. Everything came together so nicely and we had a great turn out! In the invitations, we asked each guest to bring a basket filled with goodies for Kimberly & Ben's new home...Everyone chose their own gift basket theme! The posibilities were limitless--picnic baskets, laundry baskets, kitchen baskets, home organizing baskets, gardening baskets, and well, you gather the idea. My mom and I put together a bedroom basket. We found a large rectangular basket with a lid and filled it with a mattress pad, sheets, candles, champagne, and of course a pretty nightie. So fun!
The invites read: "A tisket, A tasket...Let's shower her with baskets!" I crafted the die-cut heart by weaving two patterned purple papers together and sewing around the edges. Hard to tell in the picture, but the little diamond gem sticker in the center helped snazz them up and finish them off.
To carry on the basket theme, we served fruit pies with lattice crusts a la mode...and one key lime pie for some tasty, summer variety.These flowers came fresh from my mom's garden!
I made up little 4x6 cards for each guest to write a piece of advice for the bride. It could be anything from wedding, to happy marriage, to stain-fighting tips. Some were funny, some were profound, and all were highly entertaining. Am planning to tuck them into a mini photo album with snapshots of the shower and mail it off to Kimberly this week. What a fun day to remember!

kellie's shower

On Sunday 2 of my girlfriends and I threw a baby shower for our lifelong friend Kellie. {She's about to pop any day--so glad her babe waited for us to throw the shower before making its debut!} It's tricky to shop and throw showers when the gender is a surprise...but we were up for the creative challenge! We whipped up a diaper cake with paper coordinating with the invites, hung a clothesline of either/or baby layette and even found an awesome tissue paper flower banner to pull it all together.

We lined up small potted flowers in the kitchen window. They doubled as decorations and favors for everyone to take home when the shower was over! To drink--cute bottles of Izze soda. Sarah made some amazing artichoke dip, almond bars, and a heavenly trifle. So yummy!
The hostesses--Sarah, me, and Kayt with cute prego Kellie! She will make the best mama!

jenny's shower

Last Friday, I got to help throw a bridal shower luncheon for my sil Jenny. Keeping things simple, we stuck with a yellow + gold theme with an around the clock twist. Each guest was assigned a different time of day and brought gifts that Jenny might use at that time.Invites: were very basic, straight out of my printer and tucked into curry-colored A2 envelopes Paper Source, jazzed up with yellow+gold paper liners. I enclosed a time tag with gold satin ribbon {not shown}.
Decorations: A little hard to see in the picture, but I whipped up a fabric banner and added gold stickers that read "Happily Ever After." We wrapped potted yellow daisies with extra yellow+gold paper from envelope liners and yellow satin ribbon. To reiterate the around-the-clock theme, a pretty wooden clock served both as the centerpiece and a door prize.Entertainment: We pinned a mini daisy clothespin to each guest's shirt...And told them they weren't allowed to cross legs or ankles for the entire shower. If you spied someone with legs crossed, you could steal her clothespin! The lady with the most clothespins at the end of the shower won the clock centerpiece. It was highly entertaining...It's so easy to cross your legs without even realizing it! We also tucked a little card at each guest's place setting where they could offer up some advice for the bride-to-be. After everyone jotted down a few pearls of wisdom, some of Jenny's favorites were read aloud.
Food: Giant croissants stuffed with delicious chicken salad, fresh fruit, sweet lemon bars sprinkled with powdered sugar, and the most amazing lemon-layer ice cream dessert!Favors: We sent each lovely lady home with a square of yellow pineapple scented soap, wrapped in coordinating paper and satin ribbon.