2 Years & 2 Sneak Peeks

Last weekend marked my two year blogging anniversary and I had the pleasure of spending it with these precious little faces!

Erin at her 18 month portrait session

Sophie at her 1st birthday party

Oddly enough, last October I said "Although I don't know where I'll be and what I'll be doing years from now, I know something good (aka creative) is in store for me." Little did I know that five months later, I was right! I was taken under the wing of Misha Media to photograph weddings on their associate team and I couldn't be more grateful to Rochelle {Happy 30th Birthday!} for introducing me to Michele and Andy four years ago.

On my blogiversary last year, I also quoted Pioneer Woman who said, "I'm nowhere near where I want to be. But I'm a lot closer than I'd be if I hadn't kept going." 

Another year has passed, and these two quotes still hold true. I am definitely not where I want to be yet and am having trouble finding my {business} identity. But if I keep chugging along trying to top what I did last...I'm one step closer to establishing that creative business of mine. I am extremely grateful for the life I'm able to live and to my friends and family who believe in me and provide the encouragement I need to push me in the right direction. Happy weekend everyone! ©

Fondant Cake Decorating Class

Recently, my girlfriends and I took a fondant cake decorating class at Give Me Some Sugar. This small storefront is a cake decorating school in Chicago's neighborhood of Roscoe Village. A blank canvas of a cake or cupcakes are provided and you'll learn how to decorate the goodies to take home.

Not only was Chef Alekka accommodating with our difficult schedules, but the class was BYOB - always a plus in our books! Give Me Some Sugar offers a variety of classes, private events (birthdays, bachelorette parties, etc), and special events (Cupcake & Cocktails - included in the class price are cupcakes/cakes to decorate and take home in addition to drinks and recipes from a mixologist!).

In our two hour private class of three students, Chef Alekka demonstrated how to level and frost our cakes and covered all the little tips and tricks to working with fondant from rolling, dying, covering, shaping, to storing the leftovers. As with everything, you could probably figure out the basics with an internet search. But Chef Alekka filled us in on little tid bits of information here and there that I wouldn't get from a generic online tutorial. After learning the basics from Alekka, I'd definitely try making fondant cupcake or cake toppers for my future parties.

I was surprisingly impressed with Agatha's {the least domestic of us 3} cake decorating skills from leveling, frosting, laying and sculpting the fondant!

Overall, it was a fun Tuesday evening with my girlfriends, polishing off two bottles of wine, learning the basics of working with fondant and taking home three personalized cakes to show for it.

Mia definitely liked the cake I brought her and posed as if she baked it in her little kitchen set :)

First Day

Since the end of our long staycation, it's been quieter around the house. We no longer hear the jingle jangle of Mia's feet that made our hearts smile with every move she makes. Our baby girl's {Traditional Thai} anklets came off. L

At 2½ years old, we sent our little Mia Josephine off for her first day of pre-school/daycare! Her ankles look so naked!

Free printable sign from Frog Prince Paperie.

I could not resist this adorable backpack from etsy shop Butterfly Road. The backpack is well made and I love the coordinating fabrics, the piping and the outer pocket. It seems enormous on her, but we needed one bigger than her other toddler backpack {which we still love and use}.

Every day is different with its ups and downs. The curl of her lip, quiver in her voice and tears in her eyes clearly shows how she misses Mommy. But I'm sure that our freak of nature genius baby (as my friends call her) will get the hang of it soon.

Have a great weekend! For once, we've got nothing going on!

Circus in the Parks

Last weekend, we took Mia to one of Chicago's Circus in the Parks. Circus in the Parks is exactly that. A {small} circus under a tent at a neighborhood park. Although the circus didn't have elephants and lions like Doug thought there would be, the two hour high energy show (with a 15 minute intermission) held kids' attentions with its variety of singing, dancing, flipping, juggling, swinging acrobats, tight rope walkers, theatrics and tricks.

The best part of Circus in the Parks is that proceeds go to rebuilding the park where the circus takes place. Tickets are only $15 each, with weekend shows in various neighborhoods throughout October. It's money well spent for an entertaining afternoon out with your family, especially when your money goes right back into your community. There's plenty of shows left, you can still check it out!

Last weekend also marked four years that we've been in our urban cozy condo. We'll sure miss all of Chicago's fun activities when we move on to quiet suburban life a few years from now!

DIY Good Night Chicago Book

It's been a fun summer around here and just recently we were able to finish our DIY Good Night Chicago book!  We turned Labor Day weekend into a long staycation by:

Taking Mia into the Loop on the El for her first train ride!

We saw Calder's Flamingo Statue in the Federal Plaza.

It's nice to see you, art.

Grabbed some Garrett's popcorn and hung out by Buckingham Fountain.

Hello, fantastic fountains.

Took Mia to her first Cubs game.

Good luck, Chicago sports teams. You can do it!

It was all smiles at first...

And she survived seven innings before the inevitable...

MELTDOWN!

Later that night, we kicked off Chicago's Jazz Festival with a free outdoor concert in Millennium Park. It was a gorgeous summer night and you should already know I love relaxing on a blankie with some wine and music. It was like Ravinia, but way better because you can.not. beat Chicago's skyline!

Just listen to those blues and jazz musicians.

And that's it for our recreation of the Good Night Chicago book! Well, except the Lighthouse. But realistically, I'm not sure when Mia would ever get out to see that. Now I just have to design and order the actual book, ha. Let's see how long that takes me!

Check out the rest of our pages/pictures here:
Good morning, Lake Michigan. (There's a lot: May 2010, May 2011, July 2011, and many more not blogged about!)
Good morning, Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. Are we ready for a wonderful day? (Not sure this will ever happen.)

Greetings, Navy Pier and Ferris Wheel.
Greetings, Chicago River and bridges.

Hello, great Chicago buildings, reaching up into the sky. or here

Hello, kids and kites in Lincoln Park.
Hello, fantastic fountains.

Good afternoon, gorillas. Isn't it fun to visit the zoo?

Good afternoon, sharks, fish, turtles and mammals at the aquarium.
Wow! Look at those dinosaur bones at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Choo! Choo! There go the model trains at the Museum of Science and Industry.
It's nice to see you, art.
Hello, historic Water Tower on the Magnificent Mile.
Good luck, Chicago Sports Teams, you can do it. 

Just listen to those blues and jazz musicians.
Good evening, star gazers at the planetarium. Have you ever wished upon a star?

Goodnight Chicago, sleep tight. Thank you for a wonderful day!

Pink & Orange Balloon Party - Decorations Under $5!

If you recall, my friend's daughter, Jenelle, turned one back in July. 

But this little lady didn't get a full out birthday party until August. When her mom thought it'd be a good idea to buy a new house, paint, move in, have a house warming party and go back to school (as teachers) all in the same week! Crazy lady! 

When Jenelle's older sister, Maya, turned one, I decorated her first birthday party on a budget of ONE dollar. The second child always gets jipped, so I couldn't let Jenelle's big party go by undecorated. This time I upped the budget to a whopping $5. Mom wanted a pink and orange balloon themed party, so that's what I pulled off with $5 and two weeks notice.

1. DIY Tissue paper wreath inspired by A Blissful Nest. Used a paper plate with the middle cut out as a "wreath form".
2. Big faux balloons to let guests know where the party's at. Pool noodle {from Grandpa's pool} secured with toothpicks and tape, adorned with ribbon and ric rac.
3. Pink & orange flowers in a Target pitcher to double as party decor and a simple housewarming gift.

Decorate the outside of your party venue to let guests know where the party's at and to continue your theme. To line the sidewalk with the birthday girl's named I used paper plates, dry cleaning hangers, streamers, ribbon and letters printed from picmonkey.com.

Table centerpieces were inspired by a project made from napkins seen on the House of Smiths. Buckets were originally from Target's $1 bin, borrowed from Erin's party. Orange Cheez-its added to the color scheme and provided a snack for guests. Coloring page image found via Google and added wording in MS Word.

What's a first birthday party without a monthly banner showcasing how baby's grown over the year? Pom Pom Yarn leftover from Reese's MonSTAR party and itty bitty clothespins from my scrapbooking stash.

Free balloon printables from Pizzazzerie atop toothpicks and lollipop sticks. 

Pink & orange chevron birthday printables from the TomKat Studio on pink & orange straws for pink lemonade. Hostess note: don't mix M&M's and Reese's pieces at kid's parties! You never know who has a peanut allergy! Or at the very least, clearly label your food items!

Pink watermelon and orange cantaloupe prepped with a melon baller.

Big sister Maya showing her lil sis how to eat her smash cake. Mia liked the cake pops. J

Thanks Andrea, for letting me take on another budget decorating challenge! I think baby girl had a good time at her party!

If you shop around your house and think outside of the box, you can creatively decorate a party on a budget!
Party Budget:
Pool noodle - $0 for big "faux" balloons
Tissue paper - $0 for wreath
Paper plates - $0 for sidewalk and wreath
Wire Hangers - $0 for sidewalk
Streamers - $0 for sidewalk
Pink Napkins - $0 for centerpieces
Pink Buckets - $0 for centerpieces
Sweets table printables - $0
Coloring Pages - $0
Pom Pom Yarn - $0 for monthly picture banner
Clothespins - $0 for monthly picture banner
Ribbon - $1 for two spools
Cardstock - $1 for six sheets
Pictures - $3 for banner
Total = $5!

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Travel Themed Wedding Invitations

Last weekend was my old college roommate's wedding shower. When I received her wedding invitation in the mail, I couldn't stop rubbing my fingertips over the thick cardstock and luxurious letterpress! So...naturally for my DIY wedding loving self, I just had to show you all the lovely details!

The bride found Wicker Park's Steracle Press from yelp, of all places for wedding planning! She worked with Stacey Stern at Steracle Press to combine these two ideas to jumpstart her vision of a travel themed wedding.

 

Mmmk not only was the invitation letterpressed, but so was the entire set! I was impressed by both the letterpressed directions and reception cards which were both backed on cardstock and old maps. The bride used maps from old atlases and National Geographic magazines purchased from ebay. The envelopes and pockets were purchased from cardsandpockets.com

 

In addition to all the letterpress, I loved the personalized stamps with the bride and groom's wedding date, names and city. The bride purchased the personalized stamp from A&E Rubber Stamp, located in Chicago's loop. Pretty good investment considering it was only $10, with next day service and the stamp will be used throughout the wedding.  It's all in the details people!

 

Save the dates set the tone for your wedding theme. Inspired by these, the soon to be newlyweds showed their love for travel with postcard save the dates (top left) from Vista Print. The couple received a discount for also ordering the RSVP postcards (bottom right) that came with the wedding invitation.

The (printable and editable) wedding shower invite from Paper and Pigtails (bottom right) also perfectly coordinated with the rest of the wedding's travel themed paper goods.

And since I love themed/coordinating gifts, I purchased tupperware off their registry and included money to purchase this Map of the World from Old Postcards print from etsy shop ArtPause.

Source: etsy.com via Mindy on Pinterest

 

I prettily wrapped up the shower gift in grocery bags (free!), green burlap, green raffia and a stamped envelope.

I can't wait to see all the details at the wedding in October! Hopefully the bride can fit in all the DIY with marathon training. Crazy girl!

{Beautiful and delicious bridal shower cake from Bittersweet.}

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