A Baby Shower For Mary Mathews: The Food!

I had so much fun searching for fun shower food on Pinterest and planning what we were going to serve. The shower was at 2 pm on a Saturday afternoon, so we decided to serve light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. 

Our menu for the day was:

Mini Caprese Salad On a Stick

Fruit Skewers with Yogurt Dip

Cracked Pepper Ranch Cheese Ball* with Assorted Crackers

My Mema's Famous Cheese Straws

Assorted Mini Quiches

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip with Nilla Wafers

Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pink Lemonade

Iced Water with Lemon

Mimosas

Cracked Pepper Ranch Cheese Ball 

Ingredients:

2 packages of cream cheese (8 0z)

1 large packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning

Course ground black pepper

Directions:

Let both packs of cream cheese soften in a large bowl. When soft, mix in packet of ranch seasoning with a fork. Scoop the mixture onto a sheet of saran wrap. After all wrapped up, shape the mixture into a flat ball. Chill in the fridge for a few hours, then cover the ball in the black pepper before plating. Delicious with Wheat Thins, Triscuits, or any other sturdy crackers. 

This is my mom's "famous" cheese ball that is requested every time she attends a party! SO easy and delicious!

We used Barefoot Moscato Spumante because it seriously makes the BEST mimosas! It is just the right amount of sweet and tart and is so delicious in a mimosa. Here is what it looks like:

We served orange juice and cranberry juice with the champagne, and also fresh strawberries for a yummy garnish. I like my mimosas with a little mix of everything, and they were so delicious...especially when served in a mason jar with a fun straw!

A Baby Shower For Mary Mathews: Invitations

A few weeks ago, I posted some of the inspiration for the baby shower I was throwing for my best friend Elizabeth and her sweet baby on the way, Mary Mathews. I had the most fun working on this shower, but I would have to say that my most favorite aspect of it all was the invitations! I have always loved pretty paper, and I was thrilled that I got to pick out something gorgeous for my favorite girls! In keeping with the theme, I found a gorgeous invitation on Etsy that was designed by Allison of Allison Kizer Designs. The invitation was originally hot pink, but I had her change it to more of a peachy light pink. I also had her make the little insert that instructed guests to bring a book instead of a card, and round monogram stickers. She was so sweet to deal with all of my crazy requests and everything turned out perfect! If you need any invitations or party supplies, she's your girl!

I ordered the kraft paper envelopes from my favorite place, Paper Source, and used an opaque white marker to write all of the addresses. I seriously cannot get enough of kraft paper; I love how it turned out! I wrapped the invitation and the little insert in a doilie from Michael's, then used pink and white baker's twine (another Etsy purchase) to tie a bow around it to hold it together.

 Stationery I made for Mary Mathews using pink blank folded cards and envelopes from Michael's with the monogram stickers Allison designed! Easy peasy, and oh so cute!

*Sorry for the terrible blurring job I did on the envelopes!

Next up: The Food!

A Baby Shower for Mary Mathews: Inspiration

My best friend Elizabeth is due with a sweet baby girl named Mary Mathews at the end of April. She is the first one out of all of us to have a baby, so of course I am just so excited. I love Miss Mary Mathews already, and I of course adore her mama, so I wanted to show that by throwing them a baby shower! It is going to be at my parent's house in South Carolina on March 10, and I.cannot.wait. 

I started collecting baby shower ideas for both girls and boys on Pinterest when she first told me she was pregnant. Jumping the gun, I know, but hey, I was a tad bit excited! When they found out that little peanut in her belly was a GIRL, I kicked the shower planning into high gear and found a lot of inspiration pictures to set the tone for the shower. I went back and forth a million times after finding so many gorgeous pictures on the rabbit hole known as Pinterest, and after way too many wasted, I finally figured out what I wanted to do.

Here is an idea board I made with some of my favorite inspiration pictures. I decided on the theme "Girly Rustic Vintage with Lots of Pink and Lace" (Yes I know that makes no sense to anyone else but my crazy brain.) 

I am absolutely loving all things kraft paper and burlap right now, so I will definitely be using a lot of both things in all aspects of this shower. I also have always been and always will be obsessed with pink, so there won't be a shortage of that, either! :) There will also be tons of pink flowers in mason jars and my vintage milk glass vases, a million monograms, and some really yummy food! Speaking of food, I'm going to try making some delicious pink macarons...I hear they are difficult, so we shall see!

Source: thesweetestoccasion.com via Molly F. on Pinterest

Burlap tablecloth...gorgeous food...fun drink station

Source: savethedate4cupcakes.com via Molly F. on Pinterest

Tissue poms and lanterns!

Source: google.com via Molly F. on Pinterest

Doilies, Doilies, Doilies...and more Doilies

Source: lorajeansmagazine.blogspot.com via Molly F. on Pinterest

Lunch sack flowers...oh my!

I'm in my crazy, creative mode that Joe loves oh so much and I've been banging out projects left and right. I sure will be sad when it's all over! 

Next up: Invitations

Catching Up

Goodness, apparently I just can't get myself together enough to regularly post on this blog. Maybe it's because my life is super boring right now...just a whole lot of working, not enough sleeping, and a puppy who needs our constant attention. Nobody wants to read about that stuff.

 We had an amazing Christmas and New Years in Kansas City, MO with Joe's parents and brother. I was so lucky to marry into such a wonderful family! They treat us like royalty when we are there, and we had so much fun spending time with them and their sweet pup Sophie. We also got to meet Joe's brother Pat's girlfriend Kadie and we just loved her!

awkward couple picture

Our little Charlie has gone from a precious 11 pound puppy, to a feisty 30 pound dog! He has been quite the handful, but we love him anyway! He has been going through a chewing stage the past couple of weeks (which is odd because he never did this while he was teething.) Yesterday, he chewed up his brand new, expensive harness after wearing it only once, and chewed up my beloved Ray Ban sunglasses...I may or may not have lost my mind and sat in the floor and cried. He is currently (willingly) taking a nap in his crate with the door open, so I can finally get some stuff done! Hoping things start to get better with this silly boy! Isn't he so darn cute?!?

Joe started his Spring semester of his 2L year in law school...that means he's over halfway through! WOOP WOOP!! It has definitely been a rough ride with lots of stress and not seeing each other very often, but I know it's all going to be worth it in the end! Joe absolutely loves what he is doing, and that makes me so incredibly happy to know that he found his little niche in life! He is going to be a great environmental lawyer!

I flew home to South Carolina to pay tribute to one of the most amazing men I have ever known. My daddy's best friend, Mr. Paul, passed away after a hard battle with Esophageal Cancer. The amount of people at his visitation and funeral were a testament to how great he was and how much he was loved by everyone who knew him. My sweet daddy got to speak at the service and he did such a great job remembering his friend. I just wish I lived closer so that I could spend more time with his amazing wife, Susan, and their sweet daughter, Sullivan. 

Mr. Paul and Daddy in Jamaica last April

Mr. Paul and Mrs. Susan at our wedding in June 2010

 This winter in New York has seriously been amazing (which is definitely much needed after the horrible one we had last year!) I haven't had to scrape any ice or snow from my car when I go to work in the morning...you don't know how happy that makes me! We had some snow on Halloween weekend (weird) and a little bit when I went home for the funeral, and a few sprinkles this morning that melted as soon as they hit the ground. This southern girl loves this kind of winter! Here's to hoping it stays this way until Spring.

Taking a walk in the snow before it all melted...he LOVED it!

I've also been crafting/redecorating like crazy! I am hosting a baby shower for my friend Elizabeth in SC in March, so I have been super busy making and sending out the invitations, and crafting decorations. Also, nothing in our apartment stays put for long because I am constantly redecorating, so I have a few things I've done that I will blog about later this week!

Invitations for the baby shower

Gallery wall in the making

Lots of fun posts coming soon...promise!

Christmas Card 2011

Our Christmas card from Shutterfly

You can see who was the star of the show...what a precious little pup! :)

The pictures of us are at Rockefeller Center, on Ellis Island overlooking Manhattan, and at a Steelers game at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

The back: 

I thought I wanted to do a silly card this year of us all decked out in our Christmas finery, so I subjected my poor husband and puppy to a self timer photo shoot in our living room...HAHA! We ended up not using any of these for our card but I put one of these pictures on the return address labels

Here were the two cards we sent out last year. Yes, we sent out two...I couldn't make up my mind! :)

Too bad we can't use our pretty wedding pictures on our cards EVERY year!!!

Another Nursery

My best friend, Elizabeth, is having a baby in April and to say that I am excited would be the understatement of the year! We have been dreaming of having babies since we met in the 6th grade and I cannot wait to spoil her sweet little peanut! They are finding out the gender this Monday, but I was super impatient and went ahead and made a design board for the nursery just in case the baby is a girl! Elizabeth mentioned loving the aqua and coral color scheme and loving lots of ruffles, so that's where I got the idea for this precious nursery! She already has a beautiful cherry crib, so I love how the rest of the furniture in the board coordinates with that.

SO excited to find out what that sweet baby is!

Pink and Orange Nursery

I have some serious baby fever going on right now, and the only cure for that seems to be decorating imaginative nurseries for my nonexistent children! ;)

If I am lucky enough to ever have a baby girl, I would love for her to have a beautiful room that she will grow into. I love nurseries with beautiful furniture pieces, art that is fit for an adult space, and luxurious details...babies deserve some glamor, too! Lately, I have been obsessed with the pink and orange color scheme and I designed this inspiration board around it. I love everything about this room and wish I could have it in my home right now! Maybe in a few years!

I'm not going to add the sources here unless someone asks because this is most definitely a nursery on no budget. I used some of my favorite pieces that are quite expensive, and if I was doing this nursery for real, I would be on the hunt for the same look for less! 

Here are a few inspiration pictures I found:

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Isn't this color combo just so cheery??