The shinding of the year…or at least it was in my head…

Ah…the party blog. Oh, how I’ve looked forward to writing this blog. Mainly? Because writing it means that the party has already come and gone, and I don’t have a massive to-do list {or more ideas} running through my head. Thank you Jesus. I haven’t thrown a party like this in a really long time. Actually, I don’t know if I’ve ever thrown a party like this. Let’s make that a definite…I’ve never thrown a party like this. I mean, don’t get me wrong…I know how to throw a party. It’s just that I haven’t ever thrown together a completely handmade party {from scratch} before. I’ve been to them. I’ve admired them. But, I’ve never been the captain of that ship. And then I had a baby. And then I started writing a blog, which meant that I started reading blogs. And those blogs that I read are all pretty creative hands-on moms…or at least moms who love Etsy. {I haven’t discovered the wonders of Etsy yet} And then my baby turned one. And then, well, I’m pretty sure you already know where I’m going with this…so, let’s get this party started…shall we?

I knew that I wanted a summer garden party feel to the whole shindig. To be more specific, a shabby chic garden party. Full confession: I have no idea what “shabby chic” is, but I really love how it sounds, so that’s what I call it. I think, if I’m right, shabby chic is really light colors and a lot of paisley. That’s not how I roll…but I still love the name, so I’m stealing the name and adding my style. How’s that for being a rebel? My friend had these super cute table cloths that she let me borrow {score!}, and my color palette was set…light blue, aqua blue {my FAVORITE color}, tangerine, and some hot pink. I was in shabby chic heaven. Or so I thought…turns out, I couldn’t find anything to go with those tablecloths and so I had to make an executive decision and change the whole thing. I found these tablecloths at Marshall’s and suddenly had a new color scheme. Hello pink and purple. Can I just tell you, that in normal life I shy away from fuscia and purple as a color scheme…it’s too…I don’t know, 1999. Anyways, it was what I had to work with…so it was what I was going to make work.

The next major decision that we had was where to have it. We turned over a couple options, but, everything was just too hard logistically…so again, I made the executive decision and said that it was going to be at our house. The guest list was 60 people. Brad gets stressed out when 5 people are at our house. Needless to say, he was thrilled. Obviously. But, it was honestly the only solution to the problem…and it was a terrifying solution. Our house capacity was going to be tested to the max, the parking situation on our street is nonexistent, and sometimes our air conditioning doesn’t like to actually cool off the house. Thankfully, we have a pretty decent backyard. The only downside? Hemmingway has destroyed it. A little bit of elbow grease, some sweat, a few potted plants and mulch-filled holes, and this is what you get…

If 60 people were invited, I think overall we had about 40 show up…which was a great number. There was more than enough food, enough chairs, and enough tables for everybody. So, that means that the party was already a success in my book. But, more importantly, we were surrounded by our family and closest friends as we celebrated the first year of Zoe’s life. I can’t even tell you how different this year would’ve been without the help and support of these people. Every person there has blessed us in some way shape or form this year, whether with their generosity, their advice, their unwavering support, free babysitting, or just loving us through this new season in life…we have been blessed to the depths of our being by our support system here in town. We are immeasurably grateful for their presence in our lives. {I need to stop right here and say that this party wouldn’t have ever happened without help from both sides of our immediate family…Brad and I were both overwhelmed by their generosity, support, and physical presence pulling this party off}

{Left to Right: My sister Jess, my mom, me..melting in the heat, my sister Jamielynn}

I would be amiss if I talked about this party and didn’t tell ya’ll about the heat! My crazy daughter was born in Florida on the last day of July. Holy.Freakin.Cow…it was 97 degrees, felt like 102 {at 6 in the evening…} and the humidity was somewhere up there. We were melting! I felt genuinely sorry for the guests…and for my poor husband who worked his tail off all day long. Speaking of that, I had myself thoroughly convinced that I wasn’t going to have anything to do on Saturday. I was honestly planning on sunbathing at some point in the morning. What the heck was I thinking? Seriously? I think I went a little crazy in the head. I ended up working from 8am to 10pm, and then crashed. We still haven’t fully cleaned up the mess yet. But, I’m getting sidetracked…let’s get to the pictures!

{The water table…HUGE SUCCESS, and a total afterthought. A measly attempt for relief from the heat}

{Val, Lola…Zoe’s thursday playdate, and Kyle}

{Some of Brad’s best friends: Laura, Angie, and Ashley}

{Zoe’s Aunt Erin, my best friend since the 7th grade. She flew in from Virginia for the party.}

{GIFTS!!! Zoe totally made out like a bandit. A huge thanks for everybody’s generosity. Again, overwhelming}

{See that? That’s a smash cake. A smash cake. Zoe? Ate it one little bite at a time. I had to resist the urge to smear frosting on her face just for a picture. Who eats their cake one piece at a time???}

{Not this guy!}

{Fun with friends at the water table}

{Me and my sis}

{Zoe loves her rocking horse}

{Another one of my sisters. They’re kinda cool}

{My beautiful. Amazing. Holy cow I love them…centerpieces}

{Hangin’ out}

{The birthday banner}

{My world}

Dear Zoe,
I hope you had a great time. You will never get another party like this again. Well. Maybe when you turn 16. Maybe.

Love,
The person who had no idea what she was getting herself into

A list on steriods

Because I asked so nicely yesterday…we’re going to talk about Nate for just a second. I promise, only a second… I have other stuff I want to tell you about today.

Nate. First of all…how stinking cute is he? Second, he was in the Surprise Oprah thing that they did and this is what he said, “Your house should tell the story about who you are and where you’re going.” I almost laughed when he said that….but I don’t think he was joking. The story that my house tells is 1) not a story about who I am, and 2) the most random, hodge podge story you ever read. I have high aspirations for the next house that we live in. I’ve never had a legit house to decorate. I was the epitome of a college student before marry Brad and all my furniture was either given to me, or cost about $20 at Walmart. If it cost $20. See, here’s the deal…I’m ridiculously cheap. RIDICULOUSLY cheap. I don’t understand what normal things cost because more than likely I would NEVER spend that kind of money on it, or I’m just always looking at clearance racks. For instance, the other day I was reading a blog and the author did this room reveal of her little boy’s toddler room. Holy Crap. That room literally cost a couple thousand dollars easy. The shelves in the room are these beautiful cafe style shelves from this company called Ballard Designs. Having never heard of Ballard Designs, and being nosy, I looked up the shelves online. They cost MINIMUM $140 a piece FOR THE SMALL ONES {a couple feet long} and she had 3! THREE!!!!!! Don’t get me wrong. I’m more jealous than anything…the room is absolutely beautiful, it’s custom done. Custom bedding, custom artwork, custom cubicle shelving….it’s ridiculously great. It tells a story. A story which will never be told in my house because I cringe at spending $20 on shelves at Target. But, just so you have advance notice. One day, when Brad and I are out of this house, you’re going to be reading a lot of blogs about decorating….because I’m going to be decorating my little heart out…cheaply.

Up next, let’s talk about my family. I am the second oldest of 5 kids. I have 2 lovely parents. I grew up in the country. None of these details are really relevant at all to the story that I’m about to tell you. Yesterday I got a text from my sister that said, “Hey. What are you doing? Do you want to do anything? I said, “Sure. What do you have in mind?” The text I got back was, “Take the dogs to the dog park? Exercise? Plan Zoe’s first birhtday party? Go wedding dress shopping? Game night?” Um…sweetie, you’re going to have to narrow that one down. We decided that we would go to Sonny’s BBQ b/c we had a coupon. I told her we would be there in 30 minutes and she said that she would leave in a few. {I’m going to add that at the time of this text it’s 5:40pm…so, think hungry crying baby in the backseat}. We pull into Sonny’s 27 minutes after I sent that text. My sister? She had just left….she lives on the OTHER SIDE OF TOWN. And then she decided to stop at the bank. And then she got lost. Jessica lives by her own clock. We all just live around it. Seriously though, if we’ve planned something with my family I immediately make it 1 – 1 1/2 hours later in my head…and sometimes that’s not even enough.

{Trying to explain to Zoe where her aunt Jess is}

{This one needs no explanation}

{My sanity…Diet Coke}

{The lady of the hour}

{Zoe’s happy to see her aunt Jess}

So, that was fun.

We’ve picked the location of Zoe’s first birthday party. It’s this park pretty close to our house. We go for walks there in the evenings. The upside is that it’s beautiful. The downside is that there’s no table, chairs, or running water…so we’re going to have to bring everything in. Here’s some pictures from our latest walk. I’m standing in the same place and just looking in different directions.

It’s going to be awesome. Hopefully.

This morning Brad was taken out by 2 of our animals. The first time Mr. Darcy was running out of the nursery, Brad was in the hallway, he tried to get out of Mr. Darcy’s way and tripped over his feet. I couldn’t stop laughing. The we were in our room and Brad was backing up…except Hemmingway was standing directly behind him. He managed to not swear and I laughed hysterically. We escaped our personal zoo to go to Jacksonville’s. I’m planning on doing a whole post on this…but here’s a few pictures just for fun.

{Brad’s arch-enemy…the ostrich}

{Taking a little break from the heat}

{My favorite people on the planet}

{On the African loop there’s a few trees FULL of nesting birds! So cool}

And finally….I figured out how to sync my phone with my computer. It took me 1 1/2 hours. Are you KIDDING me? I am sooooooo not a techie kind of person, but neither is Brad…so I have to be. Bleh. AND…bonus, I took screen shots of the process. Well, only part of the process. About halfway through I figured out how to do it. That was a whole 10 minutes all on it’s own. But, wait! That’s not all…

{I figured out how to get the videos off my phone ONTO my computer and then UPLOADED to YouTube.}

{This screen was supposed to help…but didn’t}

{Somehow I ended up here. How? I have no idea. But I did.}

{This is where you see that I named my phone Beauregard. And apparently that my phone and computer have been synced. My pictures are on my computer. No clue where}

{Google. How to… Hitting buttons. searching, searching, searching. Do not see my pictures on my computer}

{I see them in my “collection” but not my computer}

{But, then…I see this folder that says “From Beauregard” in My Pictures. I click on it.}

{I rejoice}

Ta-da!!!! I’m one happy girl! One of these days I’m going to understand this stuff…

And that’s it folks. There’s my list on steroids. Have a fantastic weekend! By the way, what are you doing on this delightful holiday weekend?