Black Friday Brunch

I told y'all... the diva has been busy :).

On the day after Thanksgiving, a few of the neighborhood gals gathered together for a little quality time together full of gossip, comparing events from crazy family sagas on Thanksgiving, best holiday sales and what all the littles will be getting for Christmas ... now eventfully named the "Black Friday Brunch".  This may just be an annual event.

Bloody Mary's and Mimosas started us off.  Complete with all the fixins' of course ... I'm serious about my cocktails! 

 

Our brunch consisted of fresh fruit, cinnamon muffins and a loaded grits station complete with plenty of cheese, bacon, sauted mushrooms and asparagus.  To make the grits more savory I used chicken broth instead of just plain water.  Grits were served up in martini glasses and the gals hit the grits station to top them as they pleased.   

 

 

 

Our table setting was cute and simple, just as I like it.  I used burlap placemapts that were topped with a cute chevron inspired paper place setting.  Monogrammed black napkins rounded out the Black Friday theme.  My centerpiece flowers from Thanksgiving were still fresh and beautiful, so they were repurposed as well.  Since they were all white, the monochrome simple theme was supported. 

 

 

 

Sweet A brought these amazing desserts from Dutch Monkey Donuts, a local gourmet bake shop.  I must follow up to get additional details but they were fab and she was a doll to bring them.  Too bad the snap I took of them didn't exactly turn out!

 

All the girls left with a mini bottle of champagne as a little party favor decked out with fun leopard print ribbon.  The giant bottle in the back is a glittery craft gone right that I'll share details on separately.

 

 

 

The event was such a great morning and put me perfectly in the holiday spirit.  Holiday decor followed just hours after brunch and was put up in no time flat - who knew that was possible after a few bloody marys! 

 

 

 

Best Wishes Sweet A

Some of my girls have been besties and sweet friends since way back yonder.  Many of us were sorority sisters and stayed close through the weddings, babies and life events of the past decade errr...few short youthful years.

You may recognize a few of these fresh faced college girls from my pics of besties today!

 

A few of us gathered together in Roswell, GA just a week ago to wish our sweet A the fairest of wishes for her wedding to M.  It was a lovely outdoor service at Primrose Cottage, where Dear Hubs and I said our "I do's" almost ten years ago, followed by a wonderful dinner reception.  I just love the location for it's ties to my family generations back, my hometown and also my own special wedding day.  It's a beautiful old antebellum home in a gorgeous little downtown area of this adorable city.  Here's a few snaps of our bride A.

 

After the ceremony, we claimed our seats in the ballroom.  Table 9 was the destination for most of our crew.  Sorry NYC girls C and K ... y'all had a VIP table all your own. 

 

 

We ate all sorts of yummy delights and then said our well wishes to the bride herself.  I just love these girls.

 

And once everyone's dancin shoes were tired (and my babysitter was ready to retire for the night) ... we grabbed our oh so perfect Krispy Kreme donut favors and headed home. 

 

Twas a night to be remembered.  Congrats and a lifetime of love sweet A and hubby M.  We love y'all!

 

~ xoxo, b

Back for S'more

Ah ... the fall is upon us.  Well, I can't be too excited - things don't technically cool off around these parts for a few more weeks.  But, on with it already!

I mentioned over here that Baby B started school.  Perhaps that is a grand statement given that he only attends one day a week, and it's for a few hours when he does ... but ... again ... on with it already!  Here he is all decked out in his Cali finest (Vanns and a bowling style shirt) before heading off to school.

 
This boy is a total flirt and a complete charmer when adults are around.  But, you put him in front of other littles and he, well ... clams right up.  He's used to being the only little and likes it just that way.  So, the first week or two of school caused a bit of a camotion around these parts.  Let's simplify the story by saying he did NOT want anything to do with school and cried his precious little eyes out in attempt to get his way and go home.  Ms. T, K and L were so patient and sweet as honey to give some extra care and make Baby B feel welcome.  They even suggested sending him a few times the first week or two just so he acclimated.

Well, their plan worked.  And just a short few visits later, Baby B is a hit on the preschool playground.  He laughs, giggles and comes home with a school report of "cheerful" and "happy" each time!  We will certainly take that!

To thank these sweet teachers for their extra help and to celebrate the fact we (finally) made it through a full school day without a meltdown, I packaged up these sweet treats and sent them along with Baby B back for another day.

 

 That's right ... just as the label suggests ... each little box was full of an individual s'more kit that was a sure hit!

 

I printed labels and punched them with an oversize round punch.  The round was affixed to a square of patterned paper.  Burlap ribbon wrapped the box (from Michaels).  Inside, paper shreds lined the bottom and kept the s'more supplies in place.  To ensure they stayed fresh - I wrapped the marshmellows and crackers in plastic favor bags that I had on hand (always!).

 

 

Dear Hubs and Nanny McD thought I'd lost my mind for doing this, but I was just so darn appreciative of the sweetness these ladies showed that I thought a s'more was in order!

  

Happy Friday, ya'll!

 

xoxo

A Sesame First

Our sweet friends, the R family have a little, W, that is the same age as Baby B.  Recently, we loaded up the golf cart and headed over to the R household for a fun afternoon on Sesame Street celebrating little W's first birthday.  Mama T did a fab job styling the party and she seriously thought of so many cute details my head was spinning. 

 

Cookie Monster was the guest star of all things cake, cupcake and yes, of course ... cookie!  T outsourced the most darling cake and she did the cupcakes herself.  This diva was uber impressed, especially after seeing pictures of the epic failed Cookie Monster cupcakes pinned all over pinterest (y'all know you know the ones I'm talking about!).  Everyone took home a little jar of ... what else but ... cookies! 

 

While the littles enjoyed the bounce house out back (Santa may just need to bring baby B one of those this year!), the bigs were able to relax in the shade and enjoy a splendid afternoon.  Here's a few cute snaps of the affair!  Happy Birthday little W, you are a favorite buddy!

 

 

VBS

I have such fond memories as a child of attending summer Vacation Bible School at the churchs' of my youth.  It was a fun time to learn stories of the Bible, participate in fun games, sing Christian songs and have a good ole' time.  Of course, Zsa Zsa was in the throws of it all coordinating carnival style games, themes and everything imaginable on a shoe string church budget. 

Well, have times changed.  The gals of my Sunday School class signed me up to help out at our recent VBS and boy was I in for a rude awakening!  Instead of popsicles ... these kids had a snow cone truck TWICE.  Instead of a sprinkler or water balloons ... these kids had a GIANT inflatable water slide.  Yep, my my how times change. 

Each night the sweet girls behind all this madness would give out treats to those of us doing hard time with the littles.  The theme this year was the camping and outdoors related and so this little treat was a great snack to tide over the hungry appetites that can only come from wrangling the wild ones after snow cones!

From the front ... a simple granola bar.... a fitting snack for our wilderness excursion....

On the flip side, a sweet note that fits with the theme.  Too cute! 

These girls made managing this many littles look like a breeze.  Loved every minute of our fantastic, service filled week!

Sweet A's Pink Affair

Dear sweet friend A is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the pinkest thing since Barbie herself!  This girl has a darling son but has been just giddy since she heard from the doc weeks back that she gets to stock up on all things pink.  To celebrate the exciting time, bestie P, sweet friend J and I combined our powers to throw her a pink affair fitting for the occassion. 

A lovely ladies lunch for some of sweet A's favorite ladies was followed by dessert, gifts and tons of fab small talk.  A wonderful day for all! 

Lovely tablescape for lunch

Meny card to match the invitations

Action shot of the party girl

Fruit and yogurt parfaits

Delish desserts

Won ton asian salads

The favor tag

Popcorn and pretzel M&M favor bags since A is about to "pop"

For a few, the day didn't end early ... after the shower, some of the faves stuck around and summoned their misters and littles to head over for a fun afternoon of lawn games, cocktails and fun together.  The night was capped off by a cookout on the Big Green Egg.  What a lovely spring day with friends!

A Note of Thanks

Just shy of Baby B celebrating his first nine months with us, I couldn't be more reminded that it truly takes a village to raise him.  Sure, I like to think I'm Wonder Woman and have this thing covered ... but let's face it ... between a crazy work schedule, travel, Dear Hubs work, our activities and so on; sometimes things get a little hairy when the plan needs to shift gears. 

On more than one occassion, my sweet friends and lucky enough to be neighbors; bestie P, D and K have come to the rescue (aka the desperate housewives).  I try my best to repay then whenever I can and I am forever grateful for the help in a pinch that they can sometimes provide. 

These days, I'm a big fan of cute notepads.  Let's face it - if I don't write it down these days ... it doesn't get done :).  So, when I saw these cuties, I snapped up enough for the girls too!  Embellished with a cute tag that said "Just a note to say thanks", these little dolls made their way to the mailboxes of the besties so they know how much we care. 

Thanks again, girls!  Ya'll are life savers (oh .... that might be the next sweet surprise!).

Wedding Cookies

For the impromptu fete for bestie A a week or so back, I was charged with creation of the perfect party favor for our lunch bunch.  Being that it was, afterall, an wedding engagement celebration and small shower of sorts; I knew exactly the favor these gals would love - traditional Italian wedding cookies!

 

Recently, neighbor friend R prepped some of these powdered sugary wonders for an informal wedding reception for friends C and S.  The cookies were just delish and I was convinced when I asked her for the recipe she would reply with the name of a local bakery.  Well, to my surprise, the local baker was none other than herself and she was sweet enough to share her secret recipe with me!  The best part ... as complicated as they look and the name may sound, traditional Italian wedding cookies only require just a few oh so simple steps to follow and voila ... the perfect party favor!

 

To make these sweets, simply follow this easy recipe.

 

Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped ground almonds
• 4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Cream butter in a bowl, gradually add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add almonds and vanilla. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.
3.  Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 tablespoon for each cookie. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-20 minutes (look for crack in top of one of the cookies). Do not brown. Cool slightly, and then roll in the extra confectioners' sugar.

 

Batch makes about 50-60 cookies.

 

Once my cookies were out of the oven, I made sure they were completely cooled before they took a roll in the confectioners sugar.  This is key!  If you roll too soon, these treats get real sticky!  After a quick roll in the sugar, they were packaged up in individual treat boxes.  Each box was filled with raffia shreads and 2 cupcake liners.  6 little sweets were added and then each box was tied with a bow. 

 

 

Cookies in the favor boxes

 

Tied with bright pink ribbon and ready to go!

 

Topped off with perfect monogram stickers from bestie M

 

Too Cute Tee's

A few weeks back, I posted a story about my dear bestie S and her upcoming mission trip to Cambodia.  Well, today marks the day she leaves on her adventure and as before, I ask you to remember her and her mission team in your prayers and thoughts over the coming two weeks.  In her bags, S has a treasure trove of gifts for the kids she will be working with over the next few weeks and one of these fun little gifts is a cute pink t-shirt for each of the girls. 
 

A month or so ago; S, friend K and I were at a convention for work together and were given these delightfully tacky bedazzled t-shirts.  S made a joke that we can give her our t-shirts and that the girls in Cambodia would love them.  Well, with a good heart, I knew she was joking and none of us wanted to fathom the thought that these poor dears on the other side of the globe would be wearing our tacky hand-me-downs.  And so, instead ... I felt obliged to make these sweet little girls their own too cute tees that they will look adorable wearing and be excited to receive!

In addition to having a fit for this type of a charmed event, these shirts make a great party favor or just the perfect way to embellish a t-shirt for your own little precious.

The Dish (what you need):

• solid t-shirts (craft stores sell these uber inexpensive)
• rhinestone applique
• iron

The Deal (what to do):
1.  Remove the backing from the applique and apply to the t-shirt.
2.  Simply iron into place
3. Tie with cute ribbon so that the bedazzled part shows

Stacks and stacks of butterflies from FashionEveryday.com

Close up of the pink and white sparkle  butterfly

T-shirts all rolled up with tulle for delivery

It was so quick and simple and I know it will bring a smile to these little cuties faces!

~charmed b

April Showers

Adorable leopard matted and framed invitation welcoming guests

Cute wreath, compliments of bestie M

Calling this past weekend a whirlwind doesn't even sum up the events of the past few days!  With good friends and family, we celebrated book clubs, royal weddings, guest visits, triathalons, baby showers, cookouts, celebrity chefs and all sorts of FUN!  With just a few short weeks remaining between me and my new professional title of "mommy", my dear friends bestie M and bestie S hosted a baby shower for me and baby B.

The Hostesses with the Mostess Stop for a Quick Pic with Me

To say I'm a control freak is an understatement, and to note that I'm somewhat persnickity about parties and entertaining is laughable as well; but besties M and S did their very best to keep me completely at bay for the past few weeks as the planned a beautiful fete in my honor.  I was humbled and ever so appreciative of the hard work and love that went into this shower and was so thrilled by all of the wonderful friends who joined in the celebration.  While I love hosting events for others, I must say it's a lovely blessing to have wonderful people in your life that are willing to host an event for you; and I am forever gracious for their hospitality, friendship and love.

Great Friends for Many, Many Wonderful Years

Family

On Saturday, besties M and S woke early (if they slept at all) to ready the party headquarters at Mathison Exchange for the event.  With a beautiful sunshine filled day, the skyline of Atlanta and scenic views from the roof top patio and clubhouse in Buckhead just couldn't be beat!  The decor was all so creative and tasteful.  Besties M and S incorporated a vintage wild animal toy theme and leopard accents with beautiful white and vibrant orange flowers.  The food was just delish and we all could have sworn it was catered by the finest chefs in Atlanta.  Well, it sort of was ... that is if these besties would just go into business!  The chicken salad was divine, the fruit crepes were so sweet and the desserts were creative and just delish too!

Words just don't do justice to the beautiful event these ladies put together, so here are some pics to point out the lovely details! 

Cute animal cracker favors

Story books for signing

Mimosa station

Drink station

Gorgeous fresh fruit skewers and homemade muffins

Divine Oreo truffles

Lovely food displays everywhere you look

Bright, cheery flowers

Delish cupcake display - love the orange accents from the candy!

To my dear friends, thank you for coming to the shower, your generosity of gifts and for celebrating this exciting time with me, my family and baby B!  And to bestie M and bestie S ... you are both a dream and just the greatest friends a diva can have! XOXO!

Wonderful Friends

Me and Hostess Bestie M

Bestie A came all the way from Charleston to help us celebrate!

Zsa Zsa and Mrs D

Great friends help celebrate the day!

Zsa Zsa, Me and La La

Me and Hostess Bestie S

Enjoying the lovely brunch

One more quick pic with friends!

~charmed b