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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Easter Basket Goodies + Giveaway

Is it too early to start talking and thinking about Easter? I know that it was just St. Patricks Day, but I am onto the next holiday. It is ONLY one month away after all and I am a total type A personality.

In years past, I wouldn't be thinking about Easter at this point. Things just change when you become a parent. You want to mark every occasion and make them special. So, while Emery wont remember one little minute of it this year...I will.

Here are the things that I have for her so far....

ONE: Easter Basket

When thinking about the Easter basket that I wanted for Emery, I knew that it had to be personalized with her name or monogram and that it needed to be able to be used for more than just Easter (think Halloween, storage of crafts i.e. paper and crayons, etc).

Then, I found the cutest shop, Vinyl-E Yours, that had just what I was looking for. The bucket color (5 choices) and the monogram color (ton of choices) could be (almost) any combination that you could dream of. Since I am very visual (and I liked the combo Heather, the shop owner, had pictured), I chose the white 10 quart bucket with pink and green monogram and dots. To say that I am OBSESSED is an understatement. I was literally giddy for hours after I opened it.

Just for scale: It's large. 







TWO: Bunny Headband

Seriously, just stop. I can't even handle the cuteness of this headband on Emery. I mean...LOOK! Does it get any cuter (biased mom alert)? The headband is from the Etsy shop, Kendall Cole Couture. They have multiple options for Easter (baby chick, bunny, Easter egg), other holidays (4th of July, Halloween, Christmas) and over 500 varieties of headbands. Adrienne, the shop owner, even customized the headband size because I thought Emery was in between the sizes listed. And, guess what? It fits perfectly and must be comfortable because she didn't even notice it was there.





THREE: Baby Leg Warmers

Ever since Emery started crawling, I have been wanting to pick up a pair of baby leg warmers for her. Filling an Easter basket provided the perfect opportunity. This pair came from the Etsy shop, Blush Bowtique, I just love the colorful polka dots and ankle ruffles are ridiculously adorable. These may make an appearance again around Emery's first birthday. Stay tuned....



Checking out the ruffles
FOUR: Peter Rabbit Stuffed Animal

When Emery was born, we received a Peter Rabbit stuffed animal from Pottery Barn that is about the size of the medium one pictured below. I chose to save it for her first Easter since she received so many other stuffed animals, dolls and lovies.

Pottery Barn must not carry it anymore because these are the ones they have now. 

FIVE: Bible

I haven't made this purchase yet, but I need to get on it ASAP. I want to get Emery her first Bible for Easter. I can't think of a better time for her to receive it. I still have my childhood bible and I cherish it.


SIX: Books

Books are something that Emery gets for every holiday or special occasion and don't be surprised if I talk about them often.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit: My mother in law recently gave us The Tale of Peter Rabbit that belonged to John as a child. I love that we are now passing it on to Emery.



If I could keep you little: I received the opportunity to create a personalized book from Put Me In The Story for Emery Kate. I knew that this would be a special gift for her and that one day she will love seeing her name in a storybook. For a child, this seems magical. They have so many options to chose from, including many of the most recognizable children's books (On the Night You Were Born,  I Love You More, etc).

I chose the book, "If I could keep you little, Emery Kate" because of the message in the book.

ABOUT THE BOOK (taken from Put Me In The Story)
If I Could Keep You Little… illuminates the tender balance between letting your child grow up and savoring the beauty of right now.  Every page includes a mother or father remembering the special moments they wish they could hold onto in order to keep their child little forever.  The moments that parents cherish, such as kissing cuts and scrapes and singing lullabies, are placed into one remarkable book.

Now, let's talk about creating the book. It was so easy. It literally took me under 5 minutes to create. Once I clicked to personalize, it took me to a screen where I could add in her name, who the book is from, upload a picture of her and write a dedication You can see pictures of actual parts of the book below. I ordered the book on a Thursday and it shipped out the following Wednesday. I can't wait to read it to Emery and for her to enjoy it for years to come.


I wrote a little dedication to Emery, but wanted to keep it personal. 


Be sure to check out Put Me In The Story to personalize a book for your little one, for a niece or nephew, sibling or your best friends child.

Put Me In The Story has generously offered to give one lucky Everyday Loveliness reader their very own personalized "If I could keep you little" book. Enter the rafflecopter below for your chance to win. Giveaway ends at midnight on March 30th and the winner will be announced on March 31st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be sent a code from Put Me In The Story to create their personalized book. US residents only. 
Disclosure: This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Monograms and Mimosas: A Bridal Shower

This past Saturday (3.8.14), I co-hosted a Monograms and Mimosas bridal shower for my little sister, Kristin, who is getting married in April.


For the colors, Ginny (co-hostess and Kristin's best friend from high school) and I chose to go with the wedding colors - Aqua and Coral. Next, I checked Etsy (because I am obsessed with it) and found the most perfect invitation from OH SUZY-Q DESIGNS.

Bride-to-be arriving for her bridal shower
Bride-to-be and co-hostesses
The menu for the shower consisted of chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches on croissants, mini quiches, potato salad, fruit salad, veggies with hummus and monogrammed cookies. Ginny made the cookies, monograms and all! I seriously couldn't get over how pretty they looked and even more, how good they tasted. My hubby can vouch for this too since he ate ones that weren't saved for him. For the mimosa bar, we had three different juices - pear, orange and peach (my personal fave) - and two very large bottles of champagne.

Here are some snapshots of the food table and mimosa bar:




Aqua and white twine from Talking Twine and Trim



The aqua straws from Talking Twine and Trim

I always think the extras can really make the party. For the extras, I used aqua and white twine and aqua and white paper straws from the Etsy shop, Talking Twine and Trim. Jodi (shop owner) has so many options in a variety of colors for great prices. We used the twine to tie the napkin around the silverware and the paper straws in the mason jars. They added a little pretty to the setup.


As the guests started arriving, we mingled, ate some tasty treats and enjoyed the mimosas. Then, we headed into the living room (aka gift central) for some gift opening.


Some of the bridal shower guests:







The littlest guests - Callie, Emery Kate and Hank.


Kristin received a ton of really amazing gifts - monogrammed wooden letters for the door, ceramic tumblers, a cutting board, cloth napkins, "b" napkin rings, her entire crystal beverage set, platters and so much more. (Major fail on my part for not getting pictures of them.)

A few tears with her first card....






Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Kristin and Josh. April 12th cannot come soon enough. I'm so excited and honored to stand by my sister as she marries the most perfect man for her!

Upcoming Posts: Seneca Shower and Bachelorette Weekend