Over The Weekend, Sarah's Bridal Shower

This weekend was a lot of fun because I got to spend it throwing my best friend's bridal shower. It's not often in life that we get the opportunity to have a real best friend- a friend you talk to every day, who calls you just to say hi, who sends you cheer up packages when you are feeling defeated. I was soo excited with this opportunity to do something fun and special to give back to her. I'll have more detail photos of the DIY things I made for the shower later in the week, but for now I'm just going to share some highlights of the day. 

Tons and tons of yummy food. This was a mostly paleo and primal tea party, so we had lots of options and for drinks we served tea, coffee, and wine. 

When I sat down with my partner in crime Ada (another close friend of Sarah's who did almost all of the cooking ) we decided it was very important for everything to be colorful, and for everything to be very classy. We focused our color pallet on teal, pink, and yellow (three of Sarah's favorite colors) and we made sure to use real table cloths, real china tea cups and real serving dishes. 

There was soo much laughing, and talking, and socializing you wouldn't have believed that most of the guests didn't actually know each other which I think truly made the party the most fun shower I have been too. 

The beautiful tissue paper flowers were made by Sarah's soon to be sister-in-law, they really helped turn the drab class room into a fun party space. I wish I had gotten a photo of the beautiful photo bunting she made as well.  

I love the faces Sarah makes when she opens presents- you can really tell how excited and happy she is. 

The Bride to be and her mother. 

Bride to be, mother and future mother in law. 

The party was so much fun,  I had some really great people help throw it, and we had such great ladies attend it, I can't wait to see everyone again at the wedding. 

Over The Weekend, And A Word About My Mom

I must say, I'm kind of ashamed that I have two weekend posts in a row! It is kind of hard to keep up with the blog now that I'm working more, but I think this week will be better. We had a birthday filled weekend (which was wonderful, I love celebrating the birth of the people I love most). In addition, the weather was nice- if not a little too hot for my taste, and Cordelia was able to spend a good amount of time outside playing- we went through a lot of sidewalk chalk and bubbles. In the first photo Miss C is holding a non spill bubble container that our neighbor got for the kids to play with- it has three wands so they don't have to fight over them. Now only if I could get my kid to not run off with the whole container...when does sharing get easier?

 Saturday was our friend Sarah's birthday party and Sunday was my mother's. I forgot my camera Sunday so I have no photos of Mom's dinner. The photo above is Sarah's birthday cake- she made it, it is paleo, and it is delicious! 

We brought duplos in case Miss C needed something to keep her occupied- she always finds something to play with but, it isn't always something you want her to play with. We are also trying to break the ice between her and Sarah's husband to be. Cordelia is going to be the flower girl in their wedding, and we figured life might be easier if she is into the person she is walking towards. Do you guys have any tips about having a successful flower girl experience? Both the bride and myself understand, and accept, that Cordelia might not do it, she might cry, or dump the flowers on the guests heads, or she might run down the isle like a crazy girl, or walk the whole thing with her dress pulled up over her face. Anything we can do to prevent those outcomes we are willing to do. 

On another note, this party was much more successful, from a mommy point of view, than the last. I'm not sure if it was because there were fewer people? Or because we were in an apartment instead of outside (so I didn't have to worry about cars, or people stealing my baby or anything)? Maybe it was because everyone was happy to play with my kid? Or because we brought dupols? Whatever it was it felt soooo nice to sit and talk with people, and I found that I can, in fact have a conversation with adults that doesn't involve topics such as poop, or sharing. 

I love giving presents. I love searching for, or making the perfect thing, and then watching the recipient open said item while I wait to see if I got it right. I think I got it right this time! I gave Sarah a couple of miscellaneous things and made her a little pen sketch to hang in her kitchen. I'm proud of how the drawing turned out and I'm happy she likes it too. 

My mom and dad have been staying with my grandmother for the past couple of days so it was nice to drive up and see her there. I always miss her when I don't see her for a couple of days. Being a mom is tough for many reasons, and as a new mom (well, comparatively new) one of the things that I think is especially tough is that it's easy for your birthday to pass without a fuss. It took me years to remember what day my mother was born; and if you don't have a supper Na-na in your life like I do, or a super thoughtful Daddy (which we also have in this home), you might not get a cute card or a macaroni necklace. In fact, it's really easy for moms to go unappreciated in general. 

I wish I had appreciated my mother more when I was a kid, sure I loved my mom just like any kid loves their mom, but my mom created all of the rules and always made sure I did the things that were good for me but I didn't want to do (like eating my veggies, cleaning my room, or going to church) which didn't always rate her high on my list of awesome people. I am ashamed to admit, that I never appreciated how hard she worked. I remember being a pre-teen and talking about how when I grew up I wasn't going to have kids, I was going to be "important" and work.

Now, as a mom, I understand just how mistaken I was (and my stomach turns just thinking about how rotten I was). My mother is the hardest working person I have ever met, she had the worlds toughest job and she never let on just how hard it was. Mom was a stay at home mom with four challenging children. She fed us yummy home cooked meals, packed our lunches, made our Halloween costumes, and kept the house clean. She volunteered at our schools, held callings at church, and volunteered hundreds of hours with the County Fair. My mother is a truly kind person, she doesn't say bad things about people, she doesn't swear, she doesn't tease people because she thinks it's mean, she always smiles, and her goal in life is to be happy.

My mother taught me to always expect the best from myself, in both my work and my personal life. She taught me that it's important to surround yourself by good people, and to sympathize with difficult people because they are always fighting their own battles. She taught me that "wet leaves spell danger", and reminded me in middle and high school, when every kid needs to be reminded, to "remember who you are". She encouraged my creativity and let me express myself in my appearance even if she thought I looked crazy and she doesn't judge me or love me less, because of my colored hair, weird piercings, or tattoos. 

Most of all, my mother taught me how to be the best mom I can be, and I can never thank her enough for that. She showed me how to be calm, and loving. She reminds me that I am the parent and that I control the situation even when it feels uncontrollable. She taught me that your kid is your kid not your best friend, and that is ok. She is an amazing grandmother, she can always calm down Miss C when she is being crazy and when no one could get her to sleep when she was an infant- Mom could. Without the example of my mother I couldn't be the mom that I am now- and I especially could never be the type of mom that I want to be. 

So, Happy birthday to my mom. I love you.  

The First Day of Spring

Happy first day of spring. I hope it's warmer where you are. In the D.C area it was a tad on the chilly side and pretty windy- tomorrow we are even expecting snow flurries. Luckily, the sun came out and the sky was a beautiful bright blue instead of the called for rain. This meant that my best friend Sarah and I could  venture out for a picnic- even if we were bundled up in coats. 

 Every year on the first day of spring (well this is only the second year, but we are planning on this being an every year thing until we are little old ladies that live in a magical pink hotel) Sarah and I have an adventure. Last year we took Ms. C to see the cherry blossoms, you can see photos here and here if you are interested- this year we decided on a picnic, vintage shopping, and some good ol' time just sitting around and talking. 

Sarah and I never spend enough time together- we only live 30 minutes apart but we might as well live on opposite sides of the country with how little we see each other. I think that one of the only things I miss about college is how we always seemed to have time to sit and talk- we would talk for hours and hours, straight through classes sometime. I wish I had really understood that luxury then.  

As a mom I always feel guilty spending time away from Ms. C, especially when I do so voluntarily and for fun.  I know it's silly, there is nothing wrong with spending adult time with friends. In fact there would be something wrong with me if I spent ever waking moment hovering over Cordelia watching her every movement. Adult interaction, socialization, and alone time are healthy, much needed parts of life. Today I did better than normal, I didn't feel rushed to come back to my child's side, and I was able to relax and enjoy myself. . . Progress :)   

 Do any of you have a first day of spring tradition or did you do anything special this year?