XV in savannah

our good friends celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary in savannah this weekend. we had a wonderful time celebrating with them & their friends & family.  the theme was XV, the roman numeral for fifteen (and their last name also happens to start with "x"). I made some desserts for the party on friday- vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting & "anniversary" sugar cookies (that I didn't have enough time to decorate how I had planned). cupcake flag template from martha found here, & then I just customized them in photoshop.

baby gifts

I guess I'm at "that age" where all of my friends are starting to have babies! I have been to four baby showers just in the last few weeks (two in one day!). and while I always like to give people some things off their registry, I also like to add my own personal touch. below are a few gifts I put together for friends and their little ones. I secretly wanted to keep them for myself.

{paul frank bag & wooden campfire play toys}

{"green eggs & ham" book & onesies}

{charlie harper flash cards, memory game, ikea bird tray & silver bird}

flowers in-use

robert used the rosemary in his anniversary flower arrangement to make these amazing rosemary potatoes for dinner, served with grilled steak, corn on the cob & arnold palmers. a perfect summer meal on the deck.

traditional anniversary gifts

every year on may 20th I give robert the traditional anniversary gift for our year (1=paper, 2=cotton, 3=leather, etc). well year 4 is flowers, so I decided to give my best shot at making a manly bouquet (if that's even possible?). it turned out nice; robert said this was the first time he'd ever been given flowers. 

in return, he sent me the most beautiful, fragrant flowers I have ever seen. pinkish-white peonies... our wedding flower (big props to a husband who can remember what flowers his bride was carrying on the wedding day!). and then mister smarty-pants also gave me flowered linen placemats (linen is the "modern" gift for year four) from this very cool artist. yea. he's good.

{rosemary, liatris & lysimachia}

{peonies}

{sets of flowered linen placemats from natsumi nishizumi}

4th anniversary

I can think of a heck of a lot of happy days in my 28 years... but none quite compare to this one. happy four year anniversary to the most loving, honest, funny, caring, handsome, talented, thoughtful husband. I am so blessed.

{all photos by the talented leah powell}

"many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away." 
~song of solomon 8:7

good-smelling soap

have you tried mrs. meyer's basil-scented natural cleaning products? they smell really good (although nothing like basil, actually) & are safe for the environment. give the scent a try... I think you'll like.

a lazy friday

I had a fabulous afternoon/evening with my family on friday. we laid by the river & fished, chatted, played 20 questions, grilled dinner (fish, which was purchased from the market due to my lack fishing skills) & just enjoyed each other's company. life is grand.

mrs. doubtfire party

my sister turned 25 years old a few weeks ago, which is reason enough for a special celebration. her favorite movie of all time just happens to be mrs. doubtfire, so I figured that would be the perfect theme for our dinner party. but be forewarned: my family & I are huge dorks (if you haven't noticed already). we dressed the part, ate the part, talked the part & of course sang along to the movie soundtrack that robert made. euphegenia doubtfire would have been awfully proud, dear.

{the invitation}

designed to look like the movie poster. 

{the guests}

dad dressed as mr. lundy, complete with a glass of scotch & a  fake beard. kara went as euphegenia doubtfire. and mom as miranda, with her design portfolio in hand.

{the decor}

lots of tea cups, framed pictures of the hillard family, balloons on the ceiling (like at chris' birthday party), & lemons & limes for the "run-by fruiting".

{the props}

I had movie props hidden all over the house. whoever could spot the prop & quote the corresponding movie line won a prize. humor me- do you know any of these movie lines?
 

{the food}

robert & I made the exact same meal from the movie that mrs. doubtifre serves her first night on the job: raspberry salad, shrimp on colored linguine with orange sauce & baby carrots (I have no idea HOW this goes together, but it does in the movie, so that's how we did it) . I also made the soccer cake from the movie, in a pink box, of course.

{the gifts}

mom gave kara 25 gifts for 25 years. she had been collecting all kinds of little vintage things for kara: pins, gloves, rings, pocketbooks, a hand mirror. you name it, she now has it in her collection.

blooming

everything in our yard is blooming & it makes me smile.

{african iris}

{hibiscus}

mother's day drink

happy mother's day! I am so very blessed to have an amazing mother & grandmother. to celebrate, we went down to the family lakehouse for the weekend. on sunday I made everyone breakfast: a ham, spinach & swiss quiche, home-fried potatoes, fruit salad & a sparkling white sangria, which was delicious. it's a perfect summer drink & would be great for entertaining. cheers to mom!

sangria de cava (sparkling white sangria):

1 375ml bottle of cava (or any sparkling wine)
1/4 oz torres 5 brandy (or any spanish brandy)
1/4 oz gran torres liqueur (or any orange liqueur; I used peach flavor instead!)
splash of lemon-lime soda
1 orange
1 lime
cherries for garnish (I used strawberries)
simple syrup (I used 1/2 cup)

preparation:
cut orange & lime in half. pill large pitcher with ice and combine the wine, brandy, liqueur, lemon-lime soda, the juice from half the orange & half the lime. stir. add simple syrup to obtain desired sweetness. slice remaining orange & lime into thin slices & add to pitcher.

*to make simple syrup, combine one part water to one part sugar in small saucepan. bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. chill before use.

I'd rather be thrifting

I love ashleyg; we have a couple of her prints hanging in our home. when I saw her most recent "I'd rather be thrifting" print, I knew it would be the perfect gift for my vintage-loving sister, who is the queen of thrift stores & estate sales. I bought a frame & then had a matte cut to fit. turned out pretty darn cute!

puerto rico photos

{so many beautiful blooming flowers on the island}

{robert's favorite meal of the trip- octopus, gazpacho & a mojito}

{my view most of the days}

{we were so surprised by all of the beautiful architecture}

{the first of many piña coladas}

{old san juan}

{lots of kite-flying in old san juan}

 

{outside of the el morro fort}

pardon the absence…

robert and I snuck away for a little romantic early-anniversary vacation to puerto rico. we had a lovely time; I will post some photos tomorrow.