When it Rains it Pours

Shower No. 2 (in two weeks) was for my dear friend, Julie Jane...and since her and her husband aren't finding out if they're having a son or daughter we decided to embrace a rainbow theme with some of her and Noah's favorite colors.

I'm kind of into ceiling installations for my parties...I think our high ceilings and box beams lend well to hanging things up, and thank goodness for my tall and willing husband who's always such a sport about my ideas! (thanks Jeff)

The gorgeous pregnant lady...absolutely glowing!

The party theme quickly turned "ombré" once I spotted THIS cake and THIS fruit kabob idea (I think I might like our version of the kabobs slightly more than the rainbow ones.)  Pinterest was quite an inspiration board for this party...so, so fun!

Yep, we went for the cake (!) And I think it was a success...you may be seeing this again.  Certainly I'll let you in on our yummy little secret, cause did I mention it was gluten free?  We used Pamela's vanilla cake mix and did the coconut version.  I'm honestly not a cake person, but the coconut milk made it so...I'm going to say it...moist and delicious. I HIGHLY recommend it.

TA DA!

Julie was thoroughly showered by some amazing friends who are all lucky to have her...we just can't wait to snuggle her little one!

We love you Julie Jane! Jen and I had such a great time throwing your shower. Blessings to you!

Forecast :: Chance of Showers

These past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of showers and celebration for little ones that will enter our world soon! Two weekends ago my Mom and I hosted a shower for my brother's first little smurf...I mean, son. If you remember, my brother was reunited with his long lost smurf collection last Christmas and so I decided to take the theme and run with it when I discovered they would be having a little boy.

We think his name will be Maxton (but you can totally change your mind Chris & Lenzi...I know we embraced it for the shower, but there's no pressure...except that Wes is already calling him baby Max ;))

Oddly enough Smurfs are making a comeback and that made little stuffed animals available for the decorations.  And of course I had to make a quilt using a thrifted smurf sheet I got on etsy.

I also got to meet this little sweetie, just 2 days old.  Welcome Dewey!  We think your parents Brooke & Daryn are pretty lucky to have you.

And here is Lenzi with a couple of her friends...one of which is expecting in December, a little girl, perhaps Max's future girlfriend? ;)

Each person had their very own smurf character drink label...I was hefty smurf, because I'm so strong, not fat.

It was a lovely affair and now we are just anxiously awaiting Max's arrival and praying for a safe and pain-free delivery (I mean if you're going to pray you might as well go big!)

k + t = ♥

In June I co-hosted a shower with my friend Katie (we've done this before) and I hate to pat myself on the back but I think there are definitely 2 things we party planners do well...collaborative quilts AND delicious food.

We went bold with the Kaffe Fasset prints...they are Keri's favorite!

The weather (surprisingly) cooperated for this outdoor affair and I think the guests of honor felt loved by their friends who popped by to wish them congratulations on their union (wed April 17, 2011).  I love Keri, her loyalty, her sincerity, how easy it is to be her friend. This gal is up for anything...diving in (with Katie) to put together my bridesmaids bouquets for our wedding, living in a forest cottage, showering OUTSIDE (yep, that's what she signed up for when she tied the knot).  I could not be more thrilled for her...she deserves all the happiness in the world and I pray for a life of blessing for her and Tracy.

When Katie and I plan a party the first priority is the menu...we seriously don't mess around and tend to have leftovers for days (weeks in my case but I have a feeling Katie throws it out since she's not too keen on things past their expiration date.) ;)  We feasted on gluten-free fair, flank steak, sausage, grilled veggies, a green salad with beets and goat cheese, a greek salad, a sun-dried tomato pasta salad, 2 different kinds of crisps with two different kinds of ice cream...it was delicious (but I seriously warn against doing a gluten-free pasta salad...that stuff is way better while it's warm.)

Thanks for an amazing time in Cannon Beach last weekend too, I love being able to picture exactly where you live and how you spend your days.


Love you Sund Family!

Vintage Floral Scholastic :: A 30th Birthday

Saturday I spent the day celebrating Miss Joanna...a lovely woman who blesses others with her loving friendship, inspiring creativity, and general goodness.  I felt very honored to share my home with her and her guests as we dined and laughed on her monumental 30th birthday!  Joey, you are a treasure.

Alisha and I enjoyed ourselves immensley in the collaborative process...from the "Vintage Floral Scholastic" theme to the Oxford Comma (Alisha's brainchild, our signature cocktail), and many other fun details...including a love tent/photo booth that was inspired by this one.

Matt, Joey's husband, provided the spread...a surf & turf dinner of crab and flank steak (prepared by Jeff) and the most delicious sides...green salad with goat cheese, oranges, and pomegranate seeds, veggie kabobs, and Manuchet bread (I think that's how it's spelled) from Pasta & Co.- my new favorite!

We ended the food fest with cupcakes from Trophy, of course!

And then took to the photo booth!

Silliness ensued.

Thank you Joey for turning 30 and letting us spoil you so!

Won't YOU Be My Neighbor?

We've been attempting to cultivate a genuine community in our neighborhood of 3 years...and by golly, I think we've done it.

Last summer we hosted a neighborhood BBQ at the tail end of the summer and chatted our way into the evening over steak, sun-dried tomato pasta salad, and accouterments provided by our our 4 sets of guests...which included 9 adults and 3 kids! People who had lived next to each other for over 10 years hardly knew each other and many commented, "This feels like a real neighborhood!" And that was exactly what I was hoping for.

Well, all this cold weather hasn't hindered our neighborly spirit, despite spending nearly all of our time indoors. We delivered cookies this Christmas and just last night invited our sweet neighbor, Lise, over for dinner. This was not the first time we've dined with her and I know it won't be the last...but I had to share how thankful I am to have her as our neighbor...to talk chickens, gardens, life...to have her adore Wes, just as we do! Do you know your neighbors? I know your life will be richer if you do!

And if you happen to have them over for dinner, might I suggest a menu?

Chicken Marbella with Israeli Couscous
Herb salad with bell peppers, pumpkin seeds, parmesan and simple olive oil & balsamic

For dessert?  Why I'm glad you asked...this recipe couldn't be easier or more delicious and quite possibly you might have the ingredients already on hand.  A perfect addition to any meal, but especially decadent with Valentine's right around the corner.

Individual Molten Chocolate Cake

I know these are popular, I just didn't realize how simple they are and I want to thank Alisha for lending me Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard...and thank you too, Elizabeth, for introducing me to this, soon to be staple, recipe!

1 stick unsalted butter (8 tbs)
5 oz 70% dark chocolate
Pinch of coarse sea salt
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs flour

Preheat oven to 450.  Melt butter and chocolate in microwave or double boiler.  Beat together eggs, yolks and sugar with wisk or electric beater until light and slightly foamy.  Add to butter and chocolate and combine.  Add flour and stir just to combine.  The batter will be thick, shockingly thick. Pour into 4 individual ramekins (I used my adorable Le Creuset ones with lids).  At this point you can place it in the fridge and bake later, but be sure to bring it back to room temp before baking.  Bake for 8.5 min, serve immediately.  Center should be gooey and delicious!  We ate ours with vanilla ice cream!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and maybe even work up the courage to invite your neighbor over for a home-cooked meal.

Swap Party:: a recap

I'm not certain if I "officially" announced my personal promise to NOT buy anything for myself (excluding food, services or extinguishable products such as deodorant) for the month of September in this space.  But, that's exactly what I did and it felt so natural and good to enforce that limitation on my spending that I continued it on through December (I am in fact still maintaining it).  I guess it didn't hurt that my birthday was in October (I did allow myself a certain bit of leeway, not wanting to be entirely legalistic, by giving myself permission to go above my Anthropologie gift card to purchase a birthday outfit or to use Christmas money towards the Tom's I was so hoping to get) or that Christmas was rapidly approaching.  I knew I'd be getting some goods, and frankly, I was looking forward to it!

After watching The Story of Stuff, which Mandy had posted on her Seeking Out Simplicity blog I felt that "depriving" myself was a necessary challenge...and although I didn't identify with all of the viewpoints expressed in the video I had to agree with the fact that...I have too much stuff, I buy too much stuff.  I'm a firm believer in "voting with your dollars" and felt like it was time for me to walk the talk. And so...I didn't "vote."

And then January rolled around and although I had received some very wonderful gifts in October and December...I was still itching for some "retail therapy."  I had also been brainstorming some ideas about how to practically simplify but continue to provide for our needs and the needs of others.  The idea seemed obvious- a swap!

So, a few days into January I sent an evite out inviting some ladies from my community to participate in a "New Year Swap."  I had promised to gather everyone's goods and sort them by category and then provide an evening of relaxation, drinks and snacks and some good old fashioned stuff swaping! FREE stuff! (I only wish I had documented it better...I literally had something set up in every part of the house.)

And I hate to pat myself on the back (who am I kidding? I'm a fan of self-encouragement) but I think the night was a raging success! Twenty-four ladies participated and I don't think a single person left empty handed.  I also think people really were able to purge in their own homes and evaluate what sorts of things they want to make a priority when it comes to collecting "stuff."

The night was a gift that keeps on giving as my good friend, Alisha, is so generously delivering all of our left over goods (and we're talking about 3 car loads full) to World Relief and I hope that these items will truly help those refugees living here in the Seattle area.  I couldn't have asked for a better process...purge, reuse, donate to a worthy cause where the recipients get to have the items for free.  I'm also super pleased to know that World Relief and Goodwill have a relationship where any unused items can be donated and Goodwill will provide vouchers for the value, so the refugees can truly get what they need.  What a huge blessing to all and it was such an encouragement to me to see how many women were willing to participate.

Thank you to everyone who participated and especially to Alisha who was such an amazing assistant on the day of the event and an even bigger servant for loading up her trunk and getting all of this stuff out of my living room!

I was originally dreaming BIG with this project and envisioned doing a swap every quarter...but honestly the event was so massive that I think I could only pull it off at most twice a year...and if anyone is interested in hosting next time...just let me know!

If you're thinking about doing one in your hometown, I highly recommend it and would be happy to give you any pointers I learned along the way.

Party People

Just a few of the lovely faces that gathered to celebrate the upcoming arrival of sweet baby Josie...

Party Details

Last weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower for my dear friend and sister-in-law, Rebekah! She's having her first girl, and after two busy boys I really thought she deserved a very girly shower...even if that meant my house was covered floor to ceiling with floral thrifted sheets (my summer obsession). I could NOT have pulled it off on my own and thankfully I didn't have to...my co-hosts provided amazing dishes, beverages, a gorgeous cake, a beautiful and thoughtful party favor...and some really amazing visitors and one delightful neighbor helped me pull off the finishing touches with their diligent sewing projects and calligraphy skills- thanks ya'll!

And thank you Rebekah for being so easy to love, to pamper, and especially for bringing another girl into our family...the dynamic is bound to change around here!

Bunting invites

The yummy spread.

Mason jar glasses, which I soon realized would get very confusing so impromptu tags were created by Alisha and I. I think it made them look so so cute.

You can catch a glimpse of the favors which were IKEA frames with gorgeous photos of flowers and Rebekah...a thoughtful prayer reminder created by Kristen.

Cloth napkins made from thrifted sheets, a labor of love with the help of Jane and Callie. I also ran into a woman at the farmers market who had some vintage melamine plates that I couldn't resist...in fact, I'm still on the look out for more since I think they're a nice alternative to paper plates and we've got a BIG family.

A beautiful handmade chocolate cake by Claire...it tasted just as good as it looked!

And of course...more thrifted sheets, but this time as bunting!