the horribles

so every fourth of july there is a tradition in marblehead called the horribles parade.  

this tradition is pretty much a form of child abuse.

 it is always the hottest day of the year and it's a costume contest. 

but anyone who knows me, knows i wor-ship dressing up.  

halloween?  bring it on.  theme parties?  yes, please!  

so when i heard about this "tradition" on july 4th eve after a "few" cocktails 2 years ago, i had to work very fast to not only come up with an idea but also recruit some peeps to take part in the abuse with me.

  {btw, this is also torture for the parents.  ever pulled your kids in a parade hungover?  totes not fun}  

anyhoot, year one was sort of a bust.  

but we did it! 

 for some reason i decided this was the year for animal cruelty as well and made george and looloo participate.  and my theme was 'george & kate plus 8'.  this was pre-gosselin break-up and a super-hot topic.  current events is one of the categories they vote on.  

i'm ready to admit this was a really lame choice and the guetto computer paper signs i whipped up 15 minutes before go-time were not cutting it.

year 2. 

a lil more age appropopes - crayons!  

when my friend ag suggested this idea the first year i mocked her.  but look how cute they are AND {drumroll please}  we won the coveted toushy dodge award this year!  that's right 50 big ones.  woo-hoo!

this year we realized the odds were against us.  

95 degree weather. check. 

 hundreds of people yelling and throwing candy at us.  check.

14 kids under 6.  check.

  so we kept it simple. 

a birthday party for america.  genius.  ha.  okay, so not that exciting but it made sense.  lil hoot and sugar on top's wee ones were part of team happy birthday america.

   sugar on top made the delish cake pops to keep the kiddos "content" and jayme marie designs designed the adorbs banners and party hats.  

add a ton of balloons and presents and voila!

we clinched the helen st. pierre award.  

cross it off the list folks.  we nailed it.

by the way, we were up against some stiff competition.  check out this beiber float in which the participants belted out justin beiber songs the entire parade.

and there was more than one "royal" wedding to contend with.

and look how happy team happy birthday america is!  we do it for the joy it brings our children.

that's right, we do it for the kids.  they just love it.  really.

happy birthday, america.  

any of you have any clever ideas how we can torture ourselves. . . i mean celebrate. . . next year?

"i like pink" . . . "i like yellow"

this is the ongoing debate in our house right now.  heavy stuff.  p likes pink and c likes yellow and they feel the need to discuss this at length . . . all.  day.  long.

i think they've subliminally been effecting my purchases lately.

here are a few pink AND yellow additions to 14 bowden street.

first up, ferarri lemon wall art for the dining room from wisteria.  love-love!

our dining room is painted ben moore's palladian blue which i think might be the same color as the wall in the catalog.   the pink and yellow really pop against it.  wor-ship.

i also used palladian blue at 50% on the play room ceiling against a yellow and white stripe.

oh look, more pink and yellow!

i love how c& p's custom magnetic boards from lake house designs turned out.

just added these these yellow coral kaarskoker candle sleeves to our chandelier for a touch more yellow in the dining room.  candle sleeves are one of my fave ways of adding some fun to a room.  so many adorbs colors and patterns. 

i also have the pink dot sleeve in the play room which are on sale now.  {see playroom pic #1}

another yellow addition to the dining room are these awesome DVF napkin holders.  love-love!

sooooo, the pillow project is still not done {the best things come to those who wait, right?}

here's an oversized custom lumbar pillow for the center of the couch.  it's totes my new baby and if anyone tries to actually use it as a pillow, i will freak out on them. {ha}

  i'll share more when the final two arrive.  soon. . . yay!

so i'm going to put off putting c& p in beds for as long as humanly possible. . . seriously.  i can't even fathom letting those lil munkies have free reign.  in the meantime, i have lots of time to plan the "big girl" room.

just came across this idea in a real simple article about re-purposing. . .

a tutu nightstand!

perf for my girly girl, p.

will have to balance it out with something not so frilly for miss c.  but she'd be thrilled if the walls were yellow! {totes not happening}

perhaps i should just copy horchow's use of serena & lily's bedding . . .  of course i'll have to stop spending money on pillows if that's the case.

glorious.

enjoy the sunshine, everyone!

and feel free to bring me some flowers that look like this for my dining room table . . . 

swoooooooon.

i have to go split up an argument now. . .i think they are both right.  what do you think?  pink or yellow?

georgie the birthday boy! and more. . .

one week ago today we celebrated george's 6th birthday.  george was born on our wedding day which is how i first knew we were meant to be. {yup, i'm a weirdo like that}

the birthday boy started the day with a romp on the beach.  6 years and one spinal surgery later, he can still keep up with the best of 'em.

we also celebrated our anniversary last friday with royal treatment from straight wharf {thanks, ty!}

effing phenom.

 followed by way too many celebratory cocktails with bridesmaid/cousin/bff ashy and her beau.

{today happens to be said bm/cuz/bff's birthday- hey, girl, hey!  love and miss you so.}

we had a chance to read our messages from table #6.  yes, this is amazing that every year we wait to read these.  if anyone knew my patience level, this is truly a miracle, but it's nice to know we still have a lil surprise to look forward to, not that GEORGE, loo, c & p, and CBC don't provide enough of those. . .

we used these booklets as table numbers for people to write messages.

this was my fave message in this year's. { has nothing to do with it being the only one.  mah. } mr. and mrs. b are dear friends and wonderful role models when it comes to marriage.  they really nailed it with their advice to "stay close, keep talking and laughing."

what an amazebalz day.

photo by corinna raznikov

it would take me for-evah to blog about 6/24/05 but if anyone wants to check out some of our wedding deets, head to style me pretty.

to wrap things up:

gorgeous george, happy birthday to my first baby.

CBC, happy anni, munky.  i really like you a lot. {inside joke.  obvs}

ashy- i'm so happy you were born.  HBD, sissy! xoxo