It's Conniepalooza!

My best friend is getting married.  Tomorrow.  

This is epic news because Connie has said she never wanted to get married.  Then, in December, she and her boyfriend of 12 years, Joey, announced their engagement.  She asked me to be a bridesmaid, and of course I accepted.  After all, she was my maid of honor.

Two of the other bridesmaids, Erin and Jamie and I got started planning her bridal shower.  After much searching (and fighting with the owner), we got a fantastic deal at the Brick Hotel in Newtown, PA.

 (before I continue, I need to mention that I forgot my camera.  All of the bridal shower pictures are 100% stolen from Jamie's facebook page)

When it came time to plan the details, I knew I wanted to make things pretty:  soft peaches, pinks and yellows.  I figured if I could make this look like a Pinterest board, pin-happy Connie would be pleased.

Our dear friend, Erin, flew in from Atlanta and helped us with the plans

For favors, we went with cake pops.  Everyone loves an edible favor, and they looked like fun to make.  And believe me, after killing three bottles of moscato between the three of us, they were a lot of fun to make.

Beside the favors we had a scrap booking area.  Connie loves to scrap book, so we felt it was appropriate for everyone to write down a memory of Connie or Joe.  We provided stickers, markers and other crafty accessories

We played three games:  The first was a simple game of as the guest arrived, we had the write down their birthdays and wedding anniversaries.  The guests with the date closest to Connie's birthday, Joey's birthday and their impending wedding date one a prize.  The second game was a He Said/She Said that I blatantly stole from here.  The top two guest with the most correct answers got prizes.  The third game everyone was given a clothes pin, and if you said the word "wedding" "groom" or "bride", some was allowed to steal your clothes pin.  The final prize was awarded to Erin's mom, who was mighty cut throat with this game.

In an attempt to save money, I ransacked my mason jar collection and made two different prizes.  The jars marked "Love Yourself" included miniature hand lotions, body sprays, nail file, nail polish and cozy socks.  The "Grow Love" jars had gardening gloves, a packet of flower seeds and some top soil to start.

Our centerpieces were smaller mason jars wrapped in twine filled with fresh cut flowers.  A game card was set at each chair, along with pencils in a baby food jar wrapped in twine.

Joe's family celebrates with cocktails

the excited bride enters

 All in all the shower was a great success and Connie was  showered with lovely gifts and wonderful company

 ...and Jamie and I celebrated that we pulled the whole thing off.   

For the bachelorette party, I hosted a small cocktail party before we headed out to Woody's in Philadelphia.

damn the fuzzy picture!

 Went with a theme of fabulousity by pairing turquoise and gold.  I set out a light fare of roasted red pepper hummus, bake brie and chicken bites with a merlot ranch dipping sauce.

 I set up a martini bar with all the fixings and included the recipes for three popular martinis:  dirty, cosmo and apple martini.

 Among our group of friends, we don't really do all the bachelorette paraphernalia;  no lighted penis earrings, or shot glasses, or t shirts with check lists.  We do, however, require a penis cake.

 Everyone mingled and got to know each other for about an hour or so, and then Connie preformed the penis cake bris

Not gonna lie, that was damn good cake.  Funfetti for the win.

The rest of the night was filled with  drunken debauchery.  There are pictures floating around, but I don't need the world to see.  Just know that there was dancing, vodka and a very sexy shot guy I kept calling Clark Kent walking around in his skivvies.  It was a good night.


So here we are Ms. Chung, it's the night before you wedding.  A day that I never thought I would see, and I am still getting used to the fact it is happening.  I am so excited for tomorrow to see all your planning come to fruition.

Many happy years to you and Joey,

xoxo
  Amerbutt.

Hunter: 8 Months

I'm not even going to lie, May whizzed by so fast, I can't remember what happened this past month.

Bubbers, you have become so much fun.  Now that you are getting older, we are feeling more comfortable to play a little rough with you.    And you love it.

Anything that is in your reach automatically goes into your mouth.  You have become more and more curious about things and trying to keep you limited to just your toys is becoming difficult.  

Your favorite toys are your stacking cups and and your Little Einstein Roller Pillar Balls.  They are awesome because you can pick them up, bang them together and gnaw on them.  I won't leave the house without one or the other.

                         

You've become a champion sitter and able to occupy yourself.  I am feeling more comfortable sitting on the ground with a toy while I flip the laundry or run to the bathroom.  

While you aren't crawling yet, you kind of scoot yourself across the floor-- and by 'across the floor' I actually mean 'directly towards the electrical cables and TV stand'.  

This month you also learned how to clap.  It is probably the cutest thing ever, and you love it when Daddy says "babybabybabybabybaby" over and over again.  

We spent Memorial Day with your future wife, Jenna.  You took this opportunity to cop a feel.

Later, we plopped you love birds in the swimming pool where I captured the best picture ever:

 One of the things I love the most, is sitting and watching Hunter play.  Creepy, I know, but I am completely fascinated in watching him learn.  He'll pick up an object, turn it around to inspect it, give it a good shake and then shove it in his mouth.  I just can't get enough of it.

Bubskidubs, we love you so much.

Always & Forever,
  ME

Our Son Can Now Go to Heaven. He'll Thank Us Later.

Everytime I sat down to write this post, I kept thinking of the baptism scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  You know the scene where Gus is all "itsa your lucky day:  you get to be baptized in the Greek Church!"

We decided to have Hunter baptized this past spring.  JEGs and I are not super religious, but I figured that if the Mayans are right and the world ends in December, I wanted to give my kid a fighting chance.

JEGs was raised Ukrainian Orthodox and I was raised Methodist.  Since we were married by a Methodist priest, I really really really wanted to have Hunter baptized at my mother-in-law's church.  I knew it would be very special to her.  However, there were a couple stipulations that made it not possible, so we had him baptized at the church I went to as a child (and my parents are still very active members) Bensalem United Methodist in Bensalem, PA.

(There are two spelling errors on that invitation that I did fix before they went out.  Since my hard drive is dead, this was the only copy I could find in an e-mail.)

I know a lot of mothers use the train from their wedding dress to make a baptismal outfit for their children, but  loved that dress so much I don't want anyone going anywhere near it with a pair of scissors.  If you do, I will cut you. Not even joking.   I was kind of stumped as to what to get him,until my mother-in-law, Momma G, mentioned she still had JEGs' suit.  It was the cutest little button down shirt with overalls and a matching jacket.   The jacket was a teeny bit big, but otherwise, everything fit perfectly.

with jacket

sans jacket and serious face added.  

To honor his Uki background, Momma G purchased his baptismal cross.

The ceremony is pretty simple, and Hunter took the sprinkling of the holy water over his head like a champ.  

He held out for most of the service, but started to get a little fussy towards the end.

JEGs and I chose my eldest brother Russell to be Hunter's godfather and my cousin Tara came from Pittsburgh to be his godmother.  Although Tara is my cousin, I consider her one of my dearest friends as well (she was a bridesmaid in our wedding).  She stayed with us for the weekend, and it was awesome to spend time with her since I don't get to see her that often.  And I'll be honest, she was super helpful too, so it was kind of nice to have a personal assistant for a couple of days.  When I make it big, I'm hiring Tara.  We'll be like Britney and Fe.   But without the KFed.  

Anyway, since the church was a solid 40 minutes from our house, my parents were kind enough to host a luncheon at their house.  We did a picnic-style menu, complete with sandwiches, pasta salads and my sister-in-law Angie's famous deviled eggs.

I wasn't going to have a lot of time for decorating between the church service and the start of the luncheon, so I went simple with decor.  I strung a paper banner across the window, and added little monogram cupcake toppers.  Cause I can't NOT decorate.  

In the Ukrainian ceremony, the godparents are more involved and have candles that are lit during the service.  Since the godparents basically just nod their head and smile in our service, we  used the candles from JEGs' baptism as a centerpiece for the table

Get your grub on!

The weather was absolutely perfect, and many people took the opportunity to dine alfresco

You may remember Wyatt as the ring bearer at our wedding.  Here he is with JEGs' grandmother, "BaBa"

My niece Skylar is the cutest little thing.  Tara was on a mission to be her BFF by the end of the day.  Mission:  Accomplished.

The kids from both sides of the family got along so well together!

Huntface did so well the entire day, and finally passed out on JEGs' chest before we left.  You may now collectively go "awwwwwwww".

Always & Forever,
  ME

Gettin' Crafty

So like 30 years ago April 1st, I met up with a bunch of other craft-lovin' bloggers for the Always Crafty Event.  I was soooo super stoked about this, especially since I had to bail out of the Always Bloggy Event in October (you know... birthin' a baby nine days before made it a little difficult to attend).  

Image stole from Shannanigans.
L to R Adrienne, Michelle, Mary, Shannon and her adorable babe Gabe, Bethany, Lauren,  me and Kate

Oh yeah..be tee dubs, I chopped nine inches of hair off in February.  Forgot to tell you all.  Moving on...

Shannon from Shannigans hosted the shin dig at her house and as soon as I walked in, there was a welcome center, with a sweet vignette of flowers, rain boots and complete with swag bags.  Swag bag= free shit.  I love free shit.

For refreshments Shannon provided us with refreshing lemonade and iced tea to sip from mason jars with mint and vodka as garnish.

stolen via

stolen via

Of course as a breast feeding momma I didn't partake in the vodka.

That's a lie.  I had me some vodka.  I missed my old friend.

Can I give you my honest opinion about these paper straws that are oh-so Pinteresting right now?  I know they are great for photo shoots, but they are a little strange to drink out of.  I don't know why, but it weirded me out.  I did enjoy a personalized straw, though.  I am totally that girl that puts her drink down and walks away.  Then I don't even remember what I was drinking, so I'll start sipping on your Merlot-- even though I had chardonnay.  So yeah... if you have me over for a party, label my drink.

Shannon's cohort in this was Bethany from Rinse.  Repeat.  If you know anything about these two, you know they are not gonna half-ass it when it comes to charming decor, such as fresh lemon swag on the back of the chairs, doily chandeliers or flowers made from Trader Joe bags

stolen via

We were given lunch to help soak up the vodka as well, and it was delish and packaged in the cutest boxes that matched the color theme!

stolen via

Shannon had different craft stations scattered around her house complete with instructions and an example.  We were able to walk freely from station to station and craft and chat as we pleased.

My favorite craft was the monogram wreath.  I tried hanging mine from the front door but the foyer was littered with fake moss so it's new home is on the mantel.  And I lurve it.

When I first saw the mason jar sewing kit, I was all "this is kind of stupid", but lemmie tell you, I use this thing more then anything else from that day.  Shannon sent us home with vintage notions to fill it, and I added all my loose thread and needles from the junk drawer.  Now I have a place to corral all my sewing whatnot as well as an actual pin cushion for my needles so I won't leave them in the couch pillows.  It's cute enough to leave on the shelves in our office so I have easy access to it as well.  And it pairs nicely with the sweet bird painting Bethany gifted me years ago.  Winning!

..and for the record, I had to look up what a 'vintage notion' was, because these girls were tossing around the term like it was common vernacular.  Cue me feeling like a crafting dunce.   But I'm not gonna tell you what it is.  Because if I have to google, so do you.

The fabric flower garland looks way more difficult that it really is.  After not knowing what a notion was, I didn't want to really blow my craft-cover so I was hesitant to even attempt this.. Once I got started, I realized how easy it was.  This is the kind of thing I could see myself making while watching a Say Yes to the Dress marathon and suddenly I've lost track of time, it's three hours later and I have a twenty-five foot garland.  My (much shorter) version is currently housed in the guest room.

My chicken wire frame ended up in Hunter's room and is the perfect place to stick cards from grandparents, or recent pictures of his girlfriend, Jenna...

We also made knock-off of Terrain's $18-a-piece napkins.  Eighteen.  EACH.  Jeebus.  I like these napkins better because I got to personalize it with 'noms'.  Happiness is a hand-stamped napkin.

Afterwards we took a trip to Terrain so the non-local girls could experience the insane prices for in person.  I fell in love with a beautiful ring and thought about purchasing it for myself to celebrate my up coming birthday... until I found it was $3,700.  Yeah.  Not happening.

Yup.  Hot glue guns nestled among yummy food and drink with new friends.  That's a Sunday well spent to me.

Always & Forever,
  ME

Mother Father...'s Day

In an effort to catch up on the insanely busy 3 months I've just had, I am going to combine Mother's Day and Father's day into one post.

For my first Mother's Day I got the best gift ever:  a couple extra hours of sleep.  God bless America I needed that.   When I did finally roll out of bed, I was given a dozen red roses and a card from JEGs and Hunter

I was also treated to a breakfast of birds nest.. nooomssss

JEGs and I are not really gift-givers.  We do birthdays, and for Christmas we'll buy something for the two of us to share (i.e. a trip or furniture).  So color me shocked as hell when a couple days before Mother's Day, the hubs brought this home as an unofficial Mother's Day gift

..a  pretty new Nikon D3100.  VeryniceIlike.

I spent the rest of Mother's Day with my mother and grandmother.  We have a tradition of going to Olive Garden every year, but in recent years my grandmother hasn't been well enough to make the trip so we order take out and eat at my mother's house.  I try to appreciate every holiday I have with my grandmother, because I always fear it will be her last.

Father's Day was more of a bust.  It started off well:  Hunter woke up and I took him downstairs to play.  He went down for his morning nap and I cleaned up from the party we had the night before.  I planned on running over to Dunkin Donuts and waking JEGs up with breakfast in bed once Hunter woke up.

However, around 9 am Hunter woke up from his nap SCREAMING and it woke JEGs up.  I still ran to Dunkin Donuts, but breakfast was served downstairs.    We finished cleaning up from the party and made the decision to swing by his grandfather's house for a Father's Day/ PopPop's Birthday party.  Don't you know we weren't there five minutes when  I was called out because jackwagon decided it was a good day to shoot at cops.  So we had to leave, which caused JEGs to get frustrated, me to get defensive and resulted in a silent car ride home.

When I came back from work,  JEGs was trying to feed a fussy Hunter.  He told me a story that involved JEGs getting pooped on and Hunter spraying down the crib with pee.  I realized the day was not salvageable, so we watched a couple episodes of Mad Men and went to bed while I promised to make it up to him with a Father's Day do-over.

I was able to snap this adorable picture in the morning, however:

Hope your Mother's and Father's Days went well!

Always & Forever,
  ME