Lilly Love!

I knew I raising Babygirl right when she picked Lilly Pulitzer's pink elephant Taboo collection invitations for her birthday party. She then picked out the plates, napkins, cups, etc. and declared that she was having a "pink elephant themed birthday". Yup, that's right. She said "theme"! I'm so proud.

Not so proud was I when I discovered I'd be HAND PRINTING the invitations because they were fill ins. Ro well. One lime green sharpie and about two Oprah episodes later the invitations were in the mail.

Babygirl's party was held at our local YMCA. We had an hour in the community room and another hour in the pool. For the beginning of the party I simply covered two tables in hot pink paper and let the kids color in their "Little Lilly" activity books. These were super easy to make. Babygirl has the adorable Lilly activity book from the new stationery collection. I simply scanned some of the pages and printed them out on the computer. This kept the kids occupied for a bit while everyone arrived and put their pink, green, or white leis on.
We ate lunch...Chick fil A nuggets, chips and strawberries. Chicken salad sandwiches for the grown ups. Next, of course, was the cake. Lemme tell ya. I spend for freaking ever on this cake. It was supposed to look like a Little Lilly dress (with the ties on the side). ONE person guessed correctly. Everyone else thought it looked like a swimsuit. Whatever. It was super cute!
We also had a pinata. Of course, Babygirl was shocked and horrified to discover they don't make a pink elephant pinata. I mean, really people. What are they thinking??? Luckily, we did find a green palm tree that she deemed acceptable.

I made a cute little Happy Birthday Banner out of Lilly patterns scanned from stationery and reprinted on 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper. These were really the only decorations we did.

After the sugar driven partygoers scrambled mercilessly on the floor for pinata candy we all headed down to the pool. Babygirl proved that she had been totally messing with us all year and that she's actually quite capable of swimming. (thank you to the lifeguards who insisted on a swim test for all those who wanted to swim in the deep end). Swim team, here we come!!!

Overall, a great party. My cake pride bubble, however, was a bit burst when I discovered this gorgeous cake when googling "Lilly inspired cakes". WOW!

Accessorizing for Spring

I'm thrilled to announce that Claiborne over at Fandangle Beads is offering all of my readers and exclusive discount! Pick out some of her adorable new styles and be sure to enter the code "FANFUN" during checkout for a 10% discount on your order. This code will only last until April 30th so be sure you shop soon!

I'll be placing my order today. A few of my favorite styles...

PBK plus a little umph!

If you're like me, you LOVE Pottery Barn Kids but don't want your kids' rooms to look just like everyone else's. Let's face it, though, sometimes you just can't beat the prices (especially when there's a sale!) I'd love to have every room in my house be completely custom made, from bedding to drapes to table covers. Unfortunately, it's just not realistic.
That's why I'm always thrilled to find unique little things that are so adorable and allow me to use my Pottery Barn Kids staples while making the room uniquely my own.
I found Sweet Petites Boutique on Ebay and I'm in love! Her drawer pulls and switchplates are all hand painted to match Pottery Barn Kids Designs. They are so sweet! Check it out!

The "Penelope" collection...





The "Brooke" collection...





And last but not least, the "Amelia" collection...




Enjoy!

Great news for all of us whose kids really want "character" parties! I usually don't care for the character invitations you find at party stores, etc., so I was thrilled to see that you can now get Tiny Prints Personalized Birthday Party Invitations with an Nickelodeon theme. I know what you're thinking...cheezy! These are really cute, though. I especially love the Backyardigans and Wonder Pets themed invites. Check 'em out!

kat in the hat

While reading my Celebrate Spring magazine I stumbled upon this awesome website. Of course, I then started reading the owner's blog and now I'm a little obsessed. Kat in the Hat Designs has tons of great personalized products. I absolutely LOVE her graphic designs. SO, SO cute!!! I will definitely be getting the zip top insulated lunch saks and the aluminum water bottles for the kiddos. You can even design your own puppy graphic or a graphic specific to your child's face. Her blog is adorable. I loved reading all about her house renovations. She works for HGTV and has a bunch of her home's rooms on the Rate My Space website. I don't know how she does it all...full time job, kids, house renovations, small business owner. I'm so glad she does, though!

Check out some of her adorable items:

Celebrate Spring, Indeed!

I went to Lowe's today to pick up some nails and ended up walking out with three new roses, two japanese holly's and this great magazine. Celebrate Spring is the most adorable magazine with tons of great ideas and recipes. It's published by the same people who do Paula Deen's magazine as well as Southern Lady Magazine and others. It's a little pricey at $7.99, but well worth it for all the recipes, etc. Plus, there are no advertisements. There's even a party planning guide in the back. It made me so excited for spring! There will be a Celebrate Summer issue coming out in May. Can't wait!

Designer Spotlight

I could literally spend hours and hours looking at design blogs and websites. Unfortunately, it always makes me want to change my house up!

I recently stumbled upon a new designer whom I absolutely LOVE. Tobi Wells Fairley of Tobi Fairley Interior Design recently caught my eye when she was featured as one of Traditional Home magazine's top 20 young designers. I checked out her website and I'm in love! She also has a blog with great product features and lots of awesome links.

I love her use of fun color combinations like green and black or turquoise and red. Her work reminds me a of a young, fresh Betty Lou Phillips. Lots of great patterns and trims and a mix of tradition and whimsy that is absolute perfection. So Tobi, when can you come to my house and help me figure out what to do with my living room?

Some of Tobi's work...











Tobi is based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Anyone from Little Rock seen her work personally? I'm jealous!

Disney Recap Part One

Congratulations Carolina Prep! You were my first commenter on the Disney post and funny enough...had all the right answers! Send me a comment with your email so I can get your gift to you!!!

I thought I'd do some Disney posts to first, let you know how our trip went, but second, help others NOT make the same mistakes I have!!!

We left for Disney on Friday at around 1pm. We drove to Savannah and spent the night at a Marriot Suites off I-95. Easy drive. The kids actually behaved and we even got a great deal on the room. So far, I'm not regretting driving instead of flying.

Saturday morning we got up, enjoyed our complimentary breakfast and headed to FL! My Dad decided to join us in FL so we picked him up at the airport on the way. As a retired military officer he was eligible for a free five day Disney pass for himself and was able to purchase five day park hopper passes for my family for $125 each. You read correctly...we saved over $450!!! Awesome Dad.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and check in was without a problem. I was expecting a room with a parking lot view because we had reserved a Disney Vacation Club "value" villa. This allowed us to get a two bedroom but is slightly smaller than a regular villa because it's a lock off. We were thrilled to learn, as we walked to our room, that we actually had a savannah view! The kids were absolutely over the moon. Giraffes, zebras, ostrich, etc.

The room was nice and big. Master bedroom small and the door had to remain completely open to allow passage through to the bed. Kind of a pain in the arse. The bathroom was huge and really nice. Family room/kitchen were lovely with the exception of the fridge. It was kind of el cheapo and moved every time the door closed. Eventually, it shimmied over close enough to the granite counter that the door wouldn't completely shut. Not good. The kids kept thinking it was closed but it really wasn't!

The second bedroom had a queen sized bed and a fold out couch. Plus, dad has his own kitchenette with a coffee maker, toaster, fridge, microwave, etc. He also had a good sized bathroom.

The family room had a fold out couch as well, so we had plenty of room. The view from the balcony was great...still some construction going on across the way with the Kidani Village villas that are almost complete, but there were enough trees on the savannah that we really didn't notice it.

The view from our room...





We ate in our room Saturday night and went to bed early! Sunday we went to the Animal Kingdom. Dad had never been and I think he had fun! He thought we were a little ridiculous wearing the ponchos on the Kilimanjaro water ride UNTIL everyone else got SOAKED and we didn't!
BabyGirl was slightly devastated that she wasn't quite tall enough to ride the Yeti rollercoaster. Wild child, that one! We ate at the Yak and Yeti restaurant and it was delicious. We made a very BAD choice and took BabyBoy on the Dinosaur ride. I had forgotten how scary and loud it is! He was terrified. That isn't even the right term. I actually thought he had passed out at one point. Paralyzed with fear. I felt SO BAD. BabyGirl, on the other hand, just buried her head in Daddy's arm and wasn't bothered a bit!

Saturday night we ate at Jiko and sent the kids to the Simba's Cubhouse childcare at the hotel. The restaurant was fantastic and the kids loved the cubhouse. They wanted to go back every night!

Monday we headed off to Epcot. I forgot to mention earlier that we did rent a double stroller each day. It was totally worth it to not have to listen to the kids whine about walking. Especially at Epcot, where there is a lot of walking.
I have to say that Epcot was a little disappointing this year. I think it was partly my fault...we didn't get there early enough (you really need to get there by 9am) and having a sit down lunch at noon sucked up a lot of time.

The kids loved Soarin' and Test Track but that was really about it. They also really liked the boat ride in the Land pavillion. Lunch at Restaurant Marakkesh was good, but we sat down at noon and the belly dancing wasn't until 1pm. We didn't realize this and just kept waiting and waiting. Finally, the show started but it was only one girl and the kids were UNDER impressed! A few pics from our day...






More to come!!!

Gah!

Holy Cow! 3 Peanuts...give me an invite!!! Please!

Disney Teaser

A few pics from our trip...and a contest! The first person to correctly identify where each of these pix were taken will win a super spring fling prize!!!