I dip, you dip, we dip

I couldn't help but bust out with a little Freak Nasty lyrics when Mrs. Georgia proposed having a "dip" party.

"I put my hand upon your hip
When I dip, you dip, we dip
You put your hand upon my hip
When you dip, I dip, we dip"

She throws all sorts of fun parties for those of us who aren't slaving away at a 9-5 job. Some parties hosted have included a baby shower, a cookie exchange, a Pinterest inspired potluck, a brunch and now, "da dip" part-ay.

It's a lot of fun, and it is one of the "pros" of living here. Living in our apartment complex is like living in the college dorms. There are many stay at home wives and moms around during the day..and one might think we get bored but the truth is anything but. I actually feel bad for the guys and girls who do work the 9-5's and often miss out on the fun. There is ALwAYS something going on, and its not unusual for our husbands to come home to stories of what fun we had that day.

Rubbing it in..does it get any crueler?

Anyways, here's an example of what NZ will be hearing about tonight. If he's lucky his loves will bring home leftovers.

"Bun in the Oven" Baby Shower

Wow, the past week has been a whirlwind. Between coming down with the World's worst cold, and having out of town visitors here, I haven't had time to sit down and do a little bragging about the talents of my sister, Stephanie, and sister-in-law, Charlee who co-hosted ( along with my mom, the "silent partner") a baby shower for the boy.

The theme was "Bun in The Oven". I fell in love with it when my sister-in-law sent me a link to this party. I love the mod-ness ( is that a word?) that the party had--not too babyish at all. My sister then re-created the invites and decor off the inspiration party, using the navy, gray and orange color scheme that I adore.

The tables were borrowed from my husband's work, and beautiful floral arrangements that were put together by my sister-in-law sat on top of gray table runners. Inside the house, I hung some "subliminal messages" that I ran across on pinterest and recreated for our temporary nursery. The colors coordinated well with the onesies & bibs made by Coral Tree, that were hung on an opposite wall. Aren't they cute?

And the food....how could I forget the food?

The girls did a fantastic job incorporating all of my favorites into the shower grub. The sweet spot table, was full of lemon cut out cookies with the letter "Z", my absolutely favorite butterscotch oatmeal cookies, cinnamon "bun" cupcakes, chocolate dipped pretzel rods ( my granny loved them & took some for the road!), and rice krispie treats.

The main course had menus listed, "Between the Buns", and "Beside the Buns", to tell guests which kind of sandwiches were available, as well as what they could choose for the side dishes. Pretty clever play on the theme!

And of course, because of my lemonade infatuation, we had lemonade and water available as refreshments.

These girls know me too well!

My sister in law made a really cute backdrop for photos, from which she hung from a cafe curtain rod. With the leftover cardstock from the invites, my sister used her silhouette to cut out circles of differing sizes. My sister-in-law then hung them from string, making the neatest "photo booth" backdrop.

We played a couple non-traditional games, this one being my favorite.. The object of the game is to hold the baby, hold the phone, and use only ONE hand to remove as many clothespins from the line as possible..and you can't readjust them against your body..it was a handful! It was no surprise that the winner was a mother of 3 kids. Let's just say I need some practice.

The other game was played while I opened presents. In keeping with the shower theme of "BUN in the oven", the guests played "BUNGO", instead of BINGO. Each card had empty squares which each guest filled in typical items received at a shower. As I opened gifts, they could mark off a square if I had received an item they put on their card. I liked it because it sort of took the attention off of me and all those gifts!

And speaking of gifts?!

Holy mackarel!

The boy got a lot of gifts.

The best gift of all, though, I have to say...was being surrounded by the friends and family who have supported us on this journey. I got a little emotional while thanking everyone for their love and support, because it hasn't been easy. I truly appreciate the many lended ears, shoulders to cry on and shared experiences that so many of these women have offered me.

And check this out--Not only am I lucky enough to still have both of my grandmothers very much a part of my life, but they both made the trip south to celebrate their great-grandson.

[great-grandma Dot, Me, great-grandma Pat, and Grandma Sandy]

It was so very, very special.

For more information on the sweets, visit my sister's blog over at

www.sweetcreationsbystephanie.com this week.

She's providing tutorials on all the goodies she made for the shower.

If you like the appliqued onesies, check out my sister-in-law's etsy shop, Coral Tree.

Okay, I'm done plugging, but seriously, aren't those two awesome?

Happy 3rd Birthday, MRZ!

Over the past weekend, my sister and brother-in-law hosted a "camping themed" Birthday party for their oldest son.

It was too adorable not to share!

Her attention to detail is impeccable, and I really think she should be a professional party planner. She made really cute goodie bags with iron on camp themed icons ( which I forgot to get a photo of), filled with flashlights, glow sticks, stickers and S'mores trail mix made of golden grahams, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Throughout the yard were camping signs, like you would find in the great outdoors. I helped out with these by using my silhouette cutting machine to cut out each of the icons, and she modge-podged them to her wooden stakes to create signs.

Special thanks to my sister, Stephanie for creating the cupcake tower and cupcakes which were all adorned with camping themed fondant pieces. There were campfires, camp signs, tents, axes and logs and fishing poles.

Here are a couple of photos from the day:

[S'more pops, Cupcakes & the Sweets Table]

[Camping sign to lead guests into the backyard, Tent Campground setup]

It was a wonderful party, on yet another beautiful Southern California day.