Look and see

The Mantle...all about the Birthday Girl and her sidekick (dollie!)

Last post on this party...are you tired of it yet? 

Charlotte, one day, when you read this blog "book" you'll know how much love we have for you...how we live to make all your dreams come true, your brothers dreams' too!  You'll know there is nothing we would not do for you.  You will know how deeply you are loved - I am so proud and honored to be your Mommy, what a sweet girl you are - beautiful inside and out, kind, thoughtful, appreciative and easy-going!  Thank you for blessing our family beyond measure...we love you sweet girl - Happy Birthday!

Manis...

Monogrammed towels as favors!

Decorate Flip-Flops to take home...

Because pretty toes need pretty shoes!

 Pedis were done on the loveseat with a pink furry pillow to relax with... and party hats; girls and dolls - cupcakes and brunch bites were enjoyed inside this year with small tables set for the girls and their pampered doll "friends"

 Doll styling - hair and facials

 HUGE pink flowers hung in front of the kitchen window

(visible from the front door)

 Custom Birthday banner from Etsy (sucky picture though)

American Girl bags and boxes went a long way in decorating and bringing the theme full circle - it never hurts to hang onto things that might work for your party...think "outside the box" - more is more if you ask me!

The banner on the mantle is from Michaels'...did you know they have their own line of AG crafts - they are darling...I had fun using all the goodies!  The banner says "Charlotte is 5!"

You can see some of the items here:

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/search?type=0&searchWords=american+girl&pageNumber=4

Spa Fun...the Food!

Individual water bottles and a pitcher of water with fresh raspberries...

these were enjoyed as the girls were being pampered!

Pink Punch for the girlie's

and

Mimosas (with fresh raspberries) for the Mamas!

""Felicity's Fruit Kabobs

and

"Rebecca's Red, White & Blue Yogurt Parfaits"

Yummy!

More Yummies...

Sweets for my sweet...

a candy bar, cupcakes (with custom AG doll picks)

 and an AG dollie cake for Charlotte

"Lanie's Lemonade",  "Kit's Krunch"  (cereal snack mix w/ Craisins, yogurt covered raisins and pastel  marshmallows)

and "Bitty Baby Bites" (donut holes)

Up next...decorations... but here is a sneak peak!

(the banner on the front door was purchased at The Christmas Tree Shoppe)

I added lots of ribbons, tulle and a silver glittery star.  I also added a "5" that I painted a pale pink - I dated it in silver metallic pen)

You can't tell in the picture but the banner is battery operated - there are little colored lights on the cake that light-up and blink..

-it was a steal at $3.99, I think!

What She Wore...

After the invitation I get so excited to find just the right outfit for Charlotte!  I was excited when I found a cute tee/skirt set from TJMaxx.  The petticoat type skirt was full and the fabric has little cupcakes all over it with the waist being all pink and white polka dots.  The white tank was trimmed in pink ric-rac and had 3 gathered ruffles long the neckline made from the same fabric as the skirt.  I usually splurge on something from Etsy that is made to order but I was so happy with the set I found and thought it looked just as good as an Etsy piece and it was only $14.99!  This will also get additional wear for other birthday parties she'll attend this Summer! 

I did feel like the tee could definitely use some bling though so a "fabric cupcake" was added - hand sewn by a friend.  The "frosting" was pulled and gathered using an adorable already ruffled fabric from Hobby Lobby.  The cupcake "base" was just cut to look like the wrapper and sewn onto the shirt.  The "candle" is sequins that were individually sewn on with a jewel as the flame!  It turned out so precious!  Jen (my friend) went above and beyond by creating a matching dollie outfit too!  I purchased the white tee from a doll clothing set and she added the same cupcake on it.  She found an almost identical cupcake fabric that she sewed into a skirt that Velcro-ed at the waist.  It was just perfect and I love that it was made with so much love!  Thank you Jen!

Spa Day Invite

My little girl has been dreaming of an American Girl Spa Party for months now...ever since I stumbled upon the idea/party set that is listed on AG's website.  What I did not know at he time was it had been discontinued!  Well, she was set on the theme so I set out to re-create the party kit but do it even better and personalize it just for Charlotte Rose.  So for the last few months we have planned and shopped and glittered and glued and created and decorated and just had a wonderful time together...she would help in small "spurts" and it was so much fun to have her be a part of the whole process - and just like her Mama she has/had grand ideas and a very clear vision, ha!  I might add she had some high expectations! But I think I rose to the challenge - take a look and see!

I'll probably be breaking down all the party pics into a few posts!

I'll start with the invite...

I wish I had gotten a pic of the invite by itself but for now this is what I have...you can see it hanging on the upper left.

I prefer to make my own invites or in this case I found the "perfect" one in a paper store in NC while travelling.  It was a little girl holding her doll and they looked and were dressed alike - I knew I had found it!  But I still wanted to add our own touches and personalize it to the birthday girl!  I like to try and include a picture whenever I can too, it just adds another layer I think!

I added some sparkles and glitter across the top of the card as well as onto the little girl's shirt.  She is holding a red balloon and I added a glitter "5" or a glitter "C" on the balloon.  Where the text was supposed to go I added a pic Charlotte holding her AG doll - they were dressed alike too!

We then typed-up the party info on vellum (so you could still see the pic underneath), used the Martha Stewart butterfly punch and tied it with fun, color coordinated ribbon...

The invitation said:

Grab your Dollie and come play with me

Lets celebrate my 5th birthday with an American Girl Spa Party!

You and your Dollie will be pampered!

Mommies can stay for Mimosas or drop-off

Then I listed Charlotte's "spa info"

I think you most definitely set the tone for the party with your invitation and the color scheme too...I always pull my colors from the invite it is a great starting point!  And while we are on the subject of invites...I do not understand why so many people do not RSVP anymore - I try and always reply to an invitation the day I get it because otherwise we forget and no one wants to call or be called regarding their replies!

Be back later with pictures of the decorations!

Spa-Tacular Fun!

This little girl celebrated her birthday yesterday!It was an awesome day - filled with lots of "spa" fun...Charlotte loved and appreciated every detail that when into this party...thats what I love about her - she loves the details and effort and the over-the-top fun as much as her Mama!  The expression on her face was priceless as she saw her spa for the first time....be back soon with all the scoop!

NYC Day #2

Day 2 in NYC was another awesome day!  We enjoyed a full 12 hours of rest and sleeping in!  After coffee and a shower we were off to Midtown to meet a friend for lunch at Bobby Flay's new restaurant - Cafe American!  It was fabulous btw!  I had the Lobster Roll and KK had a wonderful shrimp salad - the atmosphere was fun and cool, it was slammed be the time we left ...we also missed "Giada" by a mere matter of minutes too - I tried to get back in and stalk her but the Hostess staff was not real keen on that...I believe their words were "Um...we cant let you do that!"...I LOVE Giada and cannot believe I missed the chance to meet her. Do you not love her show and food and her smile?!  I digress -...the real star of lunch was my sweet friend KK...she and I have been blog friends for almost 2 years now...we hit it off immediately, leaving comments back and forth, sharing info, etc...she is always so kind to leave comments and I knew she was close to NYC.  She offered to come in and meet me one day while we were in the city - so we made plans and had a ball!  She is just as sweet and lovely as I knew she would be...we had lots to talk about and her dress was to die for! - I want it KK!  After about 2 hours of lunching and chatting she headed back to the burbs to pick-up her 2 precious daughters!  Thanks KK for a wonderful lunch and for taking time in your very busy life to come and meet me!  Can't wait to see you again-  Check out her blog here friends.... 
http://pinkgreenandsouthern.blogspot.com/2010/06/church-fair.html

After our ladies lunch, Bryan picked-me up and we headed to Times Square to walk around and work on our theater ticket debacle - to no avail I might add!  We did some shopping  and walked over to Rockefeller Center - we picked up some famous Magnolia Cupcakes - they did not disappoint!  Yummy!  Their shop is darling too, lots of white marble and soft cupcake colors, white subway tile and beautiful cake stands filled with little cakes of heaven! 

We enjoyed all the people watching outside and all the work that was being done to prepare the Today Show for Justin Beiber's appearance the next day...oh my the little girls were swooning! ( Why, I ask? )

 We then headed back to the our hotel ...we sat out back on the "party street" and enjoyed some drinks before showering and getting ready for the big party!

The house and the party will be another post...I managed to get quite a few pics of the house before I was told I was not to be taking pictures - oops!...Can't wait to share all the inspiration-...

VBS and NYC

So, as usual life gets busy and haven't had time to document my trip as I'd hoped...we are deep in the throws of party prep around here - Charlotte's 5th...we are hosting an American Girl Spa party next weekend!  We have also been in VBS this week and I've helped almost everyday, its been a blast!  Our church is building a Habitat for Humanity House for one of our one and it has been awesome to see the progress this week and get to see the kids experience this ministry through the eyes of their VBS..."God at Work" was the theme!  I'll be painting next week at the house with a group of girls from my Bible Study, I am so excited!

http://sunnysidechurch.org/HabitatforHumanity.htm





Hope to be back later with some more NYC pics...one of the highlights for sure was meeting a blog friend "live" ...she was fabulous and we had a great lunch!  Other highlights (besides all the food and fun with my hottie hubs) was the Country Living Magazine preview party for the Green House of the Year, the details were wonderful and it was so cool to meet the editors and designers from the magazine.  We also had dinner with a fun group after the party, one of which was the Style Editor for the New York Times she had worked for House and Garden and several other publications prior to and it was great to chat with her - very exciting to meet so many art and design people, I was in Heaven!  And came away from the experience wanting to build and design a whole new house, I can't wait to share the house details with you!

Just a couple teaser pics!

NYC - Day 1

We arrived in the city about 4 hours later than planned...flight delays, of course!  And were pretty bummed we lost 1/2 a day but we still arrived with lots of daylight and time to enjoy an early, outstanding dinner at Joseph's...we feasted on lots of yummy seafood and Italian fare, we lingered and laughed alot over some good wine!  We even sat on the same side of the booth -ha!  After dinner a little stroll around the Financial district we turned in early to our hotel - The Wall Street Inn.  It is a quaint "Inn" that is just as historical as the district it is located in.  The streets surrounding are all brick and cobblestone and the street behind our room houses some great little restaurants, bars and a French bakery/bistro that was so charming.  The street was nothing but tables and chairs and umbrellas and was slammed full of  young professionals from lunchtime into the wee hours...we enjoyed  a few cocktails there, lunch and a breakfast another day too!

Back tomorrow with day #2 recap!

We all Scream for Ice Cream

before I recount our trip to NYC...which was fabulous, I wanted to share some pics from Campbell's last day of school...we celebrated with friends and neighbors at our house where everyone gathered right after the last bus ride home with an ice cream party!  It was so fun to have everyone together and to see such excitement and anticipation from all the kids!  It was hot and sunny and the best way to kick-off a summer of fun!  And in an effort to be more available to my kids and to keep myself on track my blogging will be less frequent probably...I want to keep tracking our fun with words and pics so we'll see...anyway, hope you all are having a great Summer so far!  Be back soon with NYC scoop-