MN Bloggers Favorite Things 2015

Happy Monday!  I'm just off of a very full, but very fun weekend.  I had the chance to spend time with a bunch of my favorite Minnesota bloggers (a couple of them I was lucky enough to even see twice!) and my heart is always so full and my spirit is always so refreshed after spending time with these lovely people.  Saturday I had the chance to participate in the Minnesota Bloggers Favorite Things Party and it was so much fun!  

We gathered together at J. Arthur's Coffee in Roseville, MN and very appropriately they gave us the Minnesota Room!

The awesome Lauren from Our Crazy Ever After was kind enough to organize and set this whole shindig up with the help of Megan from Mr. C and Me and they did a great job.  The idea at a favorite things party is everyone brings three of their favorite things (we kept the price limit to $5-$7) and then we draw names and everyone gets to choose someone else's favorite thing to go home with!  I totally forgot to take a picture of the favorite thing I brought, but it's on the table below here - I found the cutest mint polka dot coffee mugs at World Market and I stuck an individual pack of one of my favorite coffees that they have, Vanilla Bean.  

It was so fun to get to meet a bunch of new bloggers - before we drew names, we went around and everyone got up and introduced themselves and their blog and then explained what their favorite thing was.  Lauren said this was one of the biggest turnouts that they've had and I believe this was the third favorite things party.  I am so excited about the goodies I brought home with me.  I chose lipstick that one of the gals makes herself - it's awesome, it was a "surprise" color and I think is supposed to be like a mood ring, changes color with your mood.  It's been mostly peachy on me so far, but I really like it!  I also chose some awesome truffles from Trader Joes, they sound absolutely amazing.  And finally, one of the gals has a daughter named Bailey and she said that she's her favorite thing, so she brought little bottles of Baileys liquor along with a pen and a Reeses Egg.  I can relate to that since Ollie is definitely one of my favorite things, not to mention, I love Baileys!  Yum!

And naturally, we're bloggers, you put us alone in a room together and of course the cameras are going to come out.  Some selfies, some large group shots.  First I grabbed a selfie with Sara from Writing With Bangles and Jen from Wonderfully Unkempt.  These two ladies are two of the sweetest people and I just can't put into words how much I've really come to appreciate their friendship this last year. (#youjustgetme).

These next two pictures were stolen.  I took this next one from Megan Bird.  We were definitely missing Nora (but California does seem to agree with her so far!).  It's a shame we're not photogenic at all.  Or pretty.  

And this last one is a group shot of everyone.  I wish I had had more time to get around and talk to more people, but it was a really big group!  We were smart enough to pass around a sheet to have everyone write down all their social media info, so I'm just going to have to try to get to know some more of these lovely ladies online and hope that we all meet up in person again soon!

Overall it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!  I can't say it enough how much I love blogging and the community that comes from it!  The internet can be used for good!

Oliver's Birthday Party

As promised, here is a post all about Oliver's 1st birthday party from this past Sunday!  The picture quality isn't great, the indoor lighting and my old as the dinosaurs iPhone didn't play together super well, but you'll get the general idea.  We sort of had a Dr. Seuss theme to match his nursery, but beyond that it was just a nice afternoon spent with family and friends.

I got him a "One" shirt from Old Navy and I figure, hey, he'll be one all year long so he can wear it until he outgrows it!  I was a little worried about how he was going to do as he was fighting naps all day on Sunday, but he managed to get a good afternoon nap in before everyone showed up, so he was in pretty good spirits.

He wasn't too sure about being the center of attention with all these people surrounding him, this is the most people we've had in our house since Oktoberfest and for Oktoberfest we could be downstairs and outside, for his birthday party we all kind of crammed into the living room and dining room, but it worked out ok.

I made two different kinds of cupcakes - chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and an Oreo which I called my "Cat in the Hat" cupcakes.  We also made spice cake with cream cheese frosting because Ollie hasn't had many sweets and we thought the spice cake would be gentler on his tummy.

We made a roast beef baguette type appetizer to represent "Roast Beast" from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Nate seasoned some cream cheese and spread it on the baguette with a piece of roast beef on top - SO yummy.

And here we have "Hop on Popcorn" and "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Goldfish" crackers.  Yep, I'm a giant nerd.  We also had a roasted red pepper artichoke dip and barbecue meatballs, but I couldn't figure out how to tie those into the theme, but I will say they were yummy as well.

Of course we had to have balloons.  Oliver's sweet auntie Ali bought a ton of red, white and blue balloons and a giant silver "1".  Ollie LOVES balloons, we'll be enjoying them for awhile!

He loved his cake.  He wasn't too sure at first but then we smashed it up for him a bit and he was all over it.  He ate the whole cupcake!  After a while though he started whining for other food, we realized he needed some protein to balance all that sugar!

He got tons of fun presents, many new toys that we've been enjoying already, puzzles, clothes and lots and lots of new books.  I think mom might be more excited about the new books than Ollie - we have been needing some new material in our rotation, I have the Going to Bed Book memorized, so yeah, new books are good!

It was so sweet to see him play with his little friends who are just a little bit older than him.  I've mentioned our friend Benny on the blog before.  Benny is 15 months old so not too much older than Ollie.  They shared Ollie's Tupperware together, it was pretty cute.

And of course Ollie's little girlfriend Eloise came too, she even dressed up with a necklace for the occasion.  For a time Ollie was more interested in Eloise's big sister Gertie, but you know, she's blond and Ollie has a thing for blondes!  He still played nice with Miss Eloise too though!  
Overall it was a great day and everything I hoped for in his first birthday party.  I know he will never remember it, but it was still special for Nate and I and someday we'll tell him all about the family and friends who love him so much and wanted to celebrate his special day with him!
I'm relieved the party is over now, I need to step up Christmas prep in high gear!  Lots of online shopping to come and possibly some shopping in stores this weekend.  It will all get done, it is much easier this year than last year anyway!

TIGF - Celebrating Friendship

Hosted by Ashley, Laura and Nay

For this week's TIGF post I'm choosing to celebrate the amazing women I am blessed to call friends in my life.  I have had quite the year stumbling through motherhood and these ladies have been there for me time and again, celebrating my triumphs and helping pick me up when I fall.  I am so grateful to have friends from every season of my life still in my life - from kindergarten and elementary school days to high school to college and beyond.  I thought I'd share some friendship quotes and some pictures of my closest friends in celebration of what they mean to me.

I have had friends come in and out of my life.  I have been burned in the past by friendships - and I think that losing a friend can hurt just as much as breaking up with a romantic partner. I don't dwell on those people that have walked away from me though.  I'm better off without them. The ladies in the photos above are my stars - they have always been there for me and I am just so unbelievably thankful for them.  I have never been more grateful to them than I have in the last year since Oliver was born - they've all done things for me and helped me in ways they might not even realize.  And they're all fun and as crazy as me - and I have to say we're all pretty damn cute too.  If any of them are reading I just want to say thank you girls, thank you for being my peeps, thank you for loving and accepting me for me, thank you for all you've done for me, thank you for being part of my life. Here's to the next and best years of our lives!

Thrift Style Thursday/Throwback Thursday - Hats

I don't actually have any awesome hats that I've thrifted - but I decided to do this post in Throwback Thursday style instead - I was on a girls weekend many years ago now and we stopped at an antique store and tried on some really awesome hats - so I thought I'd share those pictures today.

My sister-in-law and I 

(yes back when I had glasses - not even my cool hipster ones either!)

 

My friend Gina and her sister Deborah and I

(I don't think I'd wear that hat I'm rocking here - maybe Gina's though, love peach!)

Sometimes it's fun to play pretend and dress up even when you're an adult!   

Be sure to check out these other Thrift Style Thursday posts at these fine blogs below!

Spoolish//Sandpaper Kisses//Sincerely Miss J//Confessions of a Refashonista//

Alligator Toe//Buttons&Birdcage//Snippets With Alex//Eclecticity//Being Zhenya//

Erika's Style Diary//Sistas from Cali//Rachel's Lookbook//

The Two Cent Chick//Lipstick And Yarn//Nuttier Than Nutella