birthday belatedness

seems that i took a week off unannounced.  whoopsy!

it's been a pretty big week, too.

some highlights--

1. B3 was born 3 weeks early. {sugar on top's third bebe} and he's perfect. 

congratulations, B fam!

2. got to escape into the big city to celebrate fellow gemini, the bob, with some hilare peeps.  drank. ate. drank. and laughed. a lot.

3. commodore's ball 2013.  not the best ball ever but the primping i.e. pretending i'm famous was fun.  and the pretty cake from pickwick was delish.  obvs.

{obligatory annual photo of myself on the blog! so awk.}

and bonus, that flame didn't burn the club down.

4. dad's day BBQ at my father in law's.  

5. I turned 107  37 and was graced with multiple birthday cakes and sing-a-longs to commemorate {more awkiness but true}.

6. so many glorious and generous gifties from my fave people, including the golden piggy!

7. major progress on the new venture with the help of chocolate creative design.

8. most redonk rainbow evah.

lowlights--

1. last day of school, which = limited childcare = limited blogging.

2. lots of rain.

3. commodore's ball 2013. {ha totes kidding, by totes i mean sort of}

4. oh, and the bruins are ruining my life.

check out some of my loot!

how lucky am i?!

totes adorbs pillow

loren hope earrings

jewelry tray

dress via my gals at milly & grace

beaded pouch

and back to my golden piggy. he's sold out!  that's how fabulous he is.  i'm so grateful for my friends that picked up on my "hints" {in the form of multiple blog posts} and i'm using him along with the jewelry dish and a lovely monogrammed tree stand {another uber thoughtful gift from anthro that i can't locate an image of} to actually get organized.  i know you don't believe me but it's happening.  stay tuned . . .

hmmm. . . i'm noticing a lot of booze?  that's not at all a coincidence. the grey goose was accompanied by a jar of local pickles from maitland mountain farm so we can make the blue ox's hot n dirty pickles in the comfort of our own home! 

{apparently, this particular friend wants me to live until my next birthday so she substituted vodka for the gin}

my mom spoiled me so rotten i can't even post it all.  she also drove all the way up here on a sunday night just so she could see me on my special day, which meant i was able to start the day off right with a dunks date for an iced with george and loo {no, you freaks, they don't drink coffee, they do enjoy munchkins however}. 

thanks, mom.  

she's also giving us the best gift of all by taking care of c & p this weekend so horseface and I can go get in a huge fight about the bruins enjoy a trip to my happy place for our anni.

so gifts are grand as well as FB wall posts, phone calls/ birthday texts and cards - all much appreciated- big thanks to all who made me feel so blessed yesterday- but it was the sight of a full double rainbow that made this one to remember.  

this is how it went down - we ventured out for an unremarkable but pleasant enough meal in foul weather, cranky girls in tow, and then were headed home to watch the Bs . . .  {it wasn't exactly my "best. birthday. evah."}

and then it happened.

a real life reminder that the best things in life cannot be bought or planned, they just happen.  and that after thirty-seven years i can still be completely astounded on an ordinary monday by the sheer beauty of life and the unexpected.

we pretty much ripped the girls out of the car to get a closer look at it.  it wasn't until later when i was looking back at the pics that i noticed what C had in her hand. {totes cheesy but sort of amaze}

                                           

even horseface knew this was ridiculously awesome.  we risked the prompt start of the big game to drive over for a different view.  one that happened to feature elihu smack dab in the middle! {more cheesy amazingness}

happy birthday to moi!

sprinkle for sugar on top!

was thrilled to have lil hoot's sprinkle for sugar on top on the tomkat studio this week.  the extraordinary kim of tomkat and meredith went to ASU together and it was so sweet of them to join forces so the gorge images of the sprinkle could be shared with the tomkat audience.  big thanks to you, sweet and uber-talented ladies!

meredith makes my heart sing with each and every image she takes but

this next one is my FAVE.  

{i simply cannot gush more about meredith because CBC is going to legit worry.  for those who want to know how i feel about her click here}

j'adore.

"let's toast the bun in the oven!" banner. get it?

i must admit i got a little too excited about my next brainchild.  i heart puns!

the booze menu.  love me some champers cocktails!  puntastic belly-inis and mommy-mosas were offered in sugar-rimmed aqua champagne flutes.  

as well as preggers punch. { non-alcoholic.  womp.}

always looking for creative ways to add dimension to a dessert table. for this one i tied ribbon from brightly colored whisks and spatulas and then hung from the ceiling.

and how fun is this baking cup garland?  i was inspired by the tutorial on hey look. a DIY even i could handle. {they are few and far between}

lined the shelves of both kitchens with aqua quatrafoil contact paper from macbeth collection.

thanks aunnie lauren for the rando washi tape!

 this was stacey's fave.  everyone wrote nice messages for the bun. {tip: champers helps with writer's block}

favors doubled as place setting holders.  guests took home these adorbs polka-dotted jessie steele oven mitts with favor tags tied with baker's twine. {and hopefully not the silver}

okay so here's that special cake i was referring to in my post yesterday.

do you die?  ali of pickwick baking co. knocked it out of the park. . . again.  this red velvet cake {inspired by sprinklebakes} tasted every bit as delightful as it looked.  

aaaannd, let's not forget the out of this world macs she whipped up in five different glorious flavors to match our color scheme.  did i mention the riot that ensued when i gave the green light on eating these babies?  let's just say the cute take home bags were not put to good use, as these beauties were devoured in a matter of minutes.

 {and some with sugar on top.  obvs.}

she made some fresh brioche cinnamon buns, too.  they were hot when i picked them up and i gained 15 pounds just smelling them.  Yum-O!

ali and pickwick baking co. are always so enthusiastic about my requests - and the love and attention to detail she puts into everything that comes out of her kitchen is truly appreciated - a real live vendor with heart.

oh, and wait, you didn't think i'd let the 9 months preggers guest of honor off the hook did you?  nope, stacey baked up these gorge heart cookies and delish cake pops. . . and delivered me an iced coffee.  obvs.

i. die.

other fab friends contributed with some yummy brunch dishes {we have the best friends evah.} - look closely for some hints at the sex of the baby. . . 

and then there's the paper goods . . . i mean, miss jayme of jayme marie designs outdid herself with this one.  she continues to amaze me with her fresh and lovely designs.  

she originally designed everything last summer for my darling design star meg caswell.  while meg was busy filming her new show for HGTV she was also running around throwing a baby shower for her friend and enlisted my help.  i was happy to do it and LOVED how everything turned out from jayme - so much so that i couldn't wait to put it to use personally. 

 And I had the just the perfect guest of honor in mind . . . 

lucky for the general public- jayme is now offering all of these paper goodies {invite, the banner, the menus, straw flags, food labels, and favor tags} in her etsy shoppe.  run don't walk!

wor-ship this austin gal and everything she designs!

{here's a shot of the menu that jayme took}  

so about that guest of honor.  i can't say enough good things about stacey. . . like i literally can't start or this will be the longest blog post ever.  but let's just say i feel so honored to have her as a friend.  she's just as sweet, pretty, and perfect as her cookies . . and funny, kind, oh no, i started . . .

okay, so huge potential for babble {per uzhe} so here's a couple glorious pics that meredith thought to take- stacey and her buns.

cutest. preggers. EVAH.

best part of the shower. . . 

the little bun himself.  

obvs.

welcome, nicholas robert butler!

Born february 28th at 12:55 in the morning
8.7 lbs 

21 inches

of pure adorbs-ness

target tuesday

welcome to my new feature - target tuesday!  

i think the target website leaves much to be desired {ahum, infamous missoni crash of '11} but if you are anything like me, you pilgrimage to this mecca multiple times a week.

i don't always hit up the jewelry department but this morning i was looking for some fun accessories for mee-ah-mee.

so many fab goodies!

including but not limited to the following:

all under 29.99.  obvs.

adorbs!

fitting that target tuesday was born on the same day as my dear sweet sugar on top's son, nicholas robert. congrats, B fam!  what a lucky little dude. 

this precious bundle is sure to be a target regular.  just remember to keep him away from kray kray.

stay tuned for a feature on sugar on top's sprinkle - coming soon to a blog near you.

pre-wedding wednesday

this will be the last post on a wednesday you see that's not titled WEDDING wednesday, as i plan to write a bit about the upcoming weddings I am currently obsessing over.  it's been 7 years since I was in the thick of it with my own nuptials, so i am having such. big. fun. anticipating the joyous occasions on the horizon for two of my fave ladies EVAH.

okay so, that being said, not much time for a proper post today. . .

recap of v-day, CBC had no clue what "the 24" meant.  {obvs.}

poor horseface was forced to read the blog to find out. 

so i went ahead and bought myself this glorious sweater from calypso {already sold out today}

i've been eyeing this beauty for months and it finally went on sale.  hope it's fab in "real life"

also ran to ikea this am with one ms. very preggers sugar on top!  she was trying to induce labor while i ran around filling my cart {and hers} with a gazillion things i don't need but plan on thoroughly enjoying, like these canopies for C & P's beds.

this is great in theory but i'm pretty confident it won't end well after the garland fiasco.

womp.

happy hump day!

HBD, Hoot!

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear mr. hooooooo-ooot.  happy birthday to YOU {and me}!

image via

trying not to be emo over here- i mean, it's just a blog, for george's sake.  let's not get too carried away.   that being said, bear with me as i thank some muy importante peeps . . . like YOU.

a year ago i launched lil hoot.  it's still pretty small potatoes {maybe always will be} but what isn't small at all is the overwhelming amount of encouragement i feel from my readers, friends, family, and colleagues {such a foncy word}.  

i am forever grateful for my cheerleaders {you know who you are} 

and also the relationships i've made because of my lil biz.  it's been such big fun to conspire with such serious talent - wor-ship all of these ladies who are so. darn. good. at what they do.

paiges of style

jayme marie designs

chocolate creative design

sugar on top

pickwick baking co.

no. 8 photography

white loft studio

life in graz

meg caswell

in a {party/blog} world where competition and pettiness can prevail- you gals have managed to support and inspire in ways i don't even think you realize and it is truly appreciated.

you rock.

and now please excuse my open love letter to ms. meredith nelson.

dear meredith, 

you have given me and mr. hoot a gift like no other : your bananas documentation of my parties with heart . . . and for that, my gratitude measures beyond words.

but i have to say our friendship is really the wind beneath lil hoot's wings.

thank you for always showing up with a smile - even when i ask you to pick up ginormous balloons on your way to shoot a party, or walk in to find a very "unfinished" party scene {ahum, sprinkle. . .}

you are the real deal, sister.  and that, my friend, is worth celebrating every day.

love,

me

totes creepster, right?  hey CBC, i promise i'm not leaving you for meredith . . . yet. ha.  seriously tho, she's legit. {but no one compares to CBC.  i really like you, a lot, hunny.}

okay, i'm babbling so i'll leave you all with this.

ahhhh-maze-balz.

i'm off to walk my dogs.

happy weekend!

and P.S. i love you. {okay, i'll try to refrain from overly corny blog posts for another year, but that's highly unlikely}

ooxx

C & P's 3rd Birthday

terribly sorry for being so MIA on the blog.  sickness got the best of me over the holidays but I simply cannot enter 2012 without acknowledging my fave event of 2011.  C & P's birthday bash {which was featured on amy atlas last week-- yay!}

The party was for my twin daughters and meant to reflect their individual personalities but celebrate who they are together.  Since they learned to talk this past year, a frequent conversation has been ' i like pink!' and 'i like yellow!' {I even did a post about it last summer}

So it seemed fitting to have a pink & yellow party!  

Charlotte, Phoebe and I discussed every aspect of this party at length and it was so. much. fun. to have them be part of the process and make their vision come to life.  And obvs the amazebalz meredith caught their reaction on camera.

Phoebe likes polka dots and Charlotte likes stripes so we carried that throughout, as well.
The invite was two-sided - one inviting you to phoebe's pink party and the other side to charlotte's yellow party.
The party was held at You & Me studio where mama hoot also plans other parties.  Owner Sarah Junk is awesome to loan out her fab space for soirees.  It's a blank cheerful canvas that kiddos love-love to enjoy!

I did two dessert tables with all of their favorite things.  Charlotte loves baseball hats so I made a baseball hat garland with all the guests monogrammed hats to take home. {i even painted those teeny clothespins to coordinate - very unlike this non DIYer} 

All of the food was what they really like in their favorite colors.  Charlotte likes fruit so we did pineapple in yellow cups. P loves everything sweet. . .

Phoebe loves hearts and Charlotte likes stars so we served wand cookies in hearts and stars.  Sugar on top made these as a gift- worship her!

  

C drinks apple juice and P guzzles chocolate milk.

And so on and so forth. . . you get the idea. . .
Basically Jayme Marie Designs created a blurb for the invite and all the paper goods, meant to voice their likes and favorites.  Love-love working with Jayme!  She's wonderfully pleasant and talented.

For activities, they both like play-doh so each child got pink and yellow play-doh to play with.

They also both like coloring so I ordered a custom box of Crayola crayons in pinks and yellows and each child had a bundle at their personalized place mat with a custom coloring book, featuring all pictures of pink & yellow things to color! {ducks, hearts, poodles, etc.} Both girls love stickers so I had a big bucket of stickers of their fave characters.

The custom pinata was a giant 3 in pink & yellow with custom sign.

The cakes were a "baby" yellow cake and "BIG" pink cake, per their requests.  A custom banner by nice exclaimed 'we like cake!'  Pickwick Baking co. was phenomenal at accomodating my three year olds ever-evolving requests.  Phoebe's eyes lit up when she saw her 'biiiiggggggg' flower painstakingly crafted by Ali herself.  And C was all too pleased by her baby flowers.

{case and point}

and ummmm - delish!  these were truly the yummiest cakes and cucpakes evah.

Personalized CDs were given as additional take home treats with all of their favorite songs.  Oh yeahhh, we totes jammed out to 'party in the USA'.  {hoping C & p refine their taste in music in 2012} 

and it ain't a party until baby june in the hizzy!

The girls wore custom mongrammed jumpers in their designated colors and mom couldn't help join in the fun! {yup, totes dork.} 

oh and my FAVE part if the party was the adult beverages 'mommy likes champagne!' and 'daddy likes beer!'

Endless gratitude to Meredith Nelson who not only captured the details of the party but took the pic that we used as a backdrop for the entire event! {and our Christmas card . . . would be lost without this woman in my life}

me and my birthday girls.  happiness.

Paper goods: Jayme Marie Designs

Photography : Meredith Nelson Photography
Venue: You & Me Studio

Cookies: Sugar on Top

Cakes: Pickwick Baking Co.

Pinata: AbitaAchie

custom cake banner: nice