Weekend recap - party time for Kiki & Chris

We hosted a couples' shower for our dear friends, Kathryn & Chris, on Saturday night at our house.  They met at our wedding (bridesmaid & groomsman!) and almost 5 years later they are tying the knot.  We are so excited!  It was a blast and the snow caused a work trip to Miami to be cancelled, so I was able to take my time preparing the food and house - it was fun!

For the first time since the move we actually set up food around the dining room table and desserts on the buffet.  It was only partially successful at getting people to the front of the house...the kitchen is definitely the heart of our house.

I moved our kitchen table to the corner of the breakfast room and set up the liquor and wine bar.

I was so excited to find these little milk glass compotes for my drink garnishes for next to nothing at Davenport Florist.

I didn't do a good job of capturing pictures of people, but here's one shot of some of the girls.

Trader Joe's majorly hooked it up in the flower department for me last week.  I bought two bunches of forsythia and stuck them in these glass urns (from Homegoods last Christmas) that still had moss in them from Christmas when they housed poinsettias on my den mantle.  I put some oasis down in a pint glass and stuck them in - took about 2 minutes and I like the blooming twig look for a change.  Total cost = $15

I also got 4 cheap orchids from Trader Joe's for my dining room table.  These should last me a few months.  I just always add moss and the fake green flowering twigs (from Atlantic Avenue Garden Center) to make it look a little nicer.

The kitchen island was simple with roses from Josh for V Day.

A week or two ago I snagged these little hydrangeas for about $4 each (TJ's too) to put by the kitchen sink.  The green plants (blanking on the name) are leftover from Christmas and are dead, but they dried green so I've left them.  Probably time to ditch!

I also got 4 heart balloons from the Dollar Store to tie out front for guests to know our house was the party house.  I've been too lazy to take them down, so hopefully neighbors aren't thinking we had a baby girl. :)

Ignore the dead gardenia topiary

Speaking of baby...we are down to about 24 days!  I'm actually in Richmond today and tomorrow for work (against doctor's orders), but staying the night with one of my best friend's from college, Julia, in case the Otto Bean decides to make his debut a bit early.

More finds from the weekend coming soon...as well as nursery reveal.

XO,

Whit

Baby shower kind of weekend

After being in NYC all last week for work, I headed to Charlotte this weekend to help host a baby shower for one of my best friends from high school, Ellen, and then my mom's friends hosted a grandmothers' shower for her and another grandmother-to-be (her older daughter is pregnant and her younger daughter is one of my lifelong besties, Caroline).  Both were full of such fun details!

First up, Ellen's fun shower - she's due with a little girl, Miller Marie Wilson, about a month after me.  Invitations from Charlotte's in Raleigh.

Wilson ladies

Ellen & McRea

Almost 8 months and 7 months

Ellen and her sweet mama

My sweet mom and I

Sunday's "grandmothers' shower" for my mom and one of my "second mom's" was absolutely darling!

The grandmothers-to-be with the moms-to-be (Katie is expecting a girl in mid-April)

XO,

Whit

Merrimon-Wynne Grand Opening

We went to the Merrimon-Wynne grand opening event on Friday night.  After a 6 month renovation, this gorgeous historic home is Raleigh's latest event venue and it sure doesn't disappoint.  Jodi did an absolutely wonderful job and the house and grounds are stunning. I have a feeling this will be the go-to spot for weddings and other events this year and for many years to come.

My brother-in-law, Jason, and his future bride, Marie, are having their rehearsal dinner there in May and we have some other friends getting married there the very next night. 

I was blown away by the flower arrangements

Jason & Marie

Such a jokester

Some of our sweet friends SHOCKED us with a little couples baby party last night.  I don't have any pictures yet, but it was such a fun surprise - neither of us had any idea!

XO,

Whit

Snow day

It may only be a few inches, but it's still pretty and our first real snow since moving to St Mary's, so we are enjoying the little bit while it lasts!

XO,

Whit

Embossing love

As I mentioned in this post, my sister ordered a few stamps off Etsy and then embossed her own save-the-dates for her upcoming wedding.  I think the result is really quite impressive.  The raised gold writing is so elegant and you would never guess that she did these herself.

After buying a new stamp off Etsy (also in this post) and using a stamp pad to make my own Christmas gift tags, I decided to take it up a notch to Bailey's level and purchase the supplies needed to start embossing stationary with the same stamp.  Enter my new best friend, Paper Source.

Supplies needed: stationary (lots of colors and sizes available), envelopes, embossing powder (lots of colors, but I love picking colored paper and doing gold or another neutral), embossing heat tool, watermark stamp pad and of course whatever stamps you desire.

Step 1: Use the VersaMark watermark stamp pad and stamp your stationary card.

Step 2: With the tiniest spoon I scooped up the littlest bit of gold embossing powder and then sprinkled onto the card where I'd stamped the watermark ink.  The watermark ink almost acts as glue, but I made sue that the entire area I'd stamped was fully covered.  I shook the excess back into the container and then inspected the card to blow off any stray pieces of gold powder.  Occasionally, I'd have to carefully use my finger to scrape off a little bit that was stuck where it shouldn't have been.

This is what mine looked like at this stage.

Step 3: You then use the heat tool - unlike the picture (since I was trying to take a picture and demonstrate), I held up the card and held the heat tool a few inches away from the card, moving it back and forth.  You will see the color and texture of the powder change as it reaches the correct temperature.  This doesn't take long - maybe 10 or 15 seconds.  With the gold, it became a much shinier gold.

The finished products -- I used baby blue for my baby shower thank you notes and then ordered the hot pink for fun.  I still have a TON of the gold powder left after making about 150 cards, so the supplies do go a long way!  It will now be a very cost effective way to make stationary, gift tags, etc.

The pictures don't do the gorgeous gold color justice at all!

In other news, I started a new job last Monday (that's right, 7 months pregnant!) and was in Santa Monica, CA last week for training.  So far I'm loving it and very impressed with the company.  It will be a very busy month of travel from NY to FL before I hit 36 weeks.

This weekend we headed to Kinston for Myers and Kai's wedding - such a fabulous night and the bride was as beautiful as ever. (photo credit of the happy couple to Hunter Schenk)  

XO,

Whit