100!

100! My Papaw celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this month! We are so lucky that we got to celebrate with him at his big party in southern Indiana.  We even took Wyatt's parents with us for the big occasion! Papaw had made a request for 100 red roses, so 100 red roses he got and lots and lots of friends and family to share their love for him and celebrate his milestone!  My mom put together a great display board full of pictures from over the years and she made a sheet for guests to pick up with some of Papaw's life accomplishments and items from his memoir (a project she worked on with him a couple years ago). My cousin has this amazing baking business and once again outdid herself with the prettiest and tastiest desserts! We had so much of our family in one place and it was lovely.  It's rare to get so many of us together anymore!

On our way down to southern Indiana, we made a quick stop on campus at IU hoping the leave would be pretty.  We were just a little early but we still snapped a few quick pictures and took a quick walk.

Happy 98th Birthday Papaw!

We celebrated my Papaw's birthday with another one of his favorite birthday bashes.  Uncle Jr once again hosted at his house this year.  Papaw so enjoys these parties and getting to see everyone, eat some good food, and listen to the band! Today is his actual birthday! I can't believe he's 98! Love you Papaw!

Belated Birthday Celebration

Over the weekend Allison, Wyatt and I went home to visit my parents.  We got together to celebrate my dad's birthday that was on the 14th.  On our way down to my parents', we stopped and visited with my Papaw first. We visited for a bit upon arriving in Washington and then we all went to dinner at Mi Pueblo.  After dinner, we celebrated dad's 65th at home with a little National Parks/Mountain themed party.

I enlisted my mom to make her yummy German Chocolate cupcakes since that is my dad's favorite cake and I had my sister make my favorite trail mix (peanuts, raisins, M&M's, and butterscotch chips) to go with the theme and I made mountain shaped sugar cookies and smores on a stick.  I found some buffalo plaid napkins at Hobby Lobby with their lumberjack party supplies and a buffalo plaid plate with the Christmas stuff.  I had some red cups on hand leftover from something else and some red and white paper straws.  I also finally got to use the evergreen tree cake picks that I picked up a few years ago.  Allison brought the wood slice chalkboard to help round out the theme and decor.  I was so pleased with the way that it turned out.  It really matched the vision I had in my head the weeks leading up to our visit.

I made a plaid fabric garland and a felt mountain garland to match the theme.  I also designed some WPA poster inspired graphics using some of our personal photographs from national parks as well as a print that lists the national parks with dates for when our family originally visited (because we visited a few multiple times).  I also made his birthday card and the front was another WPA poster inspired image that I made using a picture I took in 2008 at Arches NP of my dad walking in front of me.

Find pins that inspired this party and more on my Mountain/National Parks Themed Party Pinterest board.

Home Sweet Home: IU Homecoming 2015

Wyatt and I were itching to get back to IU for a quick visit so we decided to get tickets to the Homecoming game against Rutgers.  We were already going to be headed to Southern Indiana for my Papaw's 96th birthday party that evening so we decided to make a day of it!  We got to town just in time to have lunch at my favorite spot, Kilroys!  A long island and stuffed breadsticks always takes me back to my college days in Bloomington.  After lunch we took the opportunity to walk around campus a little bit before we walked to the stadium for the game.

Fall in Bloomington is one of my absolute favorites!  The weather was perfect for us!  We walked over to the game.  It was my first football game since I was a senior (and okay, maybe only my 3rd or 4th actual game).  We were doing great and were up when we needed to leave to head to the birthday bash but by the time we turned the radio on we were tied 52 all.  Much to our dismay, we ended up losing by 3 in the final seconds of the game.

We managed to make it Papaw's party in time for the champagne toast and the music from the band, as well as a performance by my Papaw himself.

Birthday Recap

I am sad to say that my birthday celebrations have come to an end today.  Yes, I had a whole week to celebrate my birthday.  I guess that makes turning another year older a little better.

On my birthday, my boss brought me the best chocolate cake and we had a little get together with everyone on my floor at work that afternoon.  Wyatt took my to a nice dinner at Bistro 501 that evening and then we came back and he gave me my gift.  He gave me this really cute little notebook with a note from him that I should keep a journal of the concerts we go to together in it.  He jotted down a band we will see next month in Bloomington together on the first page.  When I read the inscription, he told me to turn the page.  He had written down a second band in the book.  He then told me to check my email where I found an email with the latest Death Cab for Cutie song and a note that explained we would be seeing them in April.  On Thursday night we went to his parents' house for dinner and they had me a gift too!

Today we met my family in Indianapolis for the afternoon.  We ate lunch at Upland's Carmel Tap House and then we went to Allison's apartment to celebrate my birthday!  Mom had brought decorations and homemade cupcakes!  It was a Lilly Pulitzer inspired birthday and I loved it all!

I am so grateful to have such amazing friends and family that spoiled me all week long!

Party Spotlight: Carter's IU Themed First Birthday

Last weekend my best friend hosted the most darling little birthday party for her son's first birthday.  She is clearly a super momma because she thought of so many great details and executed them flawlessly.  So much love for this IU themed party!  When Devin first told me she was having Carter an IU themed first birthday party I was thrilled.  She had so many great ideas envisioned for the party.  She enlisted me to design a few prints she used throughout her house and wish cards for guests to fill out.  I absolutely love the way the future Hoosier print.

Devin did so many DIY projects to add special touches to the decor.  She made all kinds of banners, poms, ribbon topiary and a ribbon wreath (sad I didn't get a picture of the wreath), cupcake toppers, straw flags, etc.  Carter's party was complete with a huge spread of yummy sweets and a popcorn bar!  Devin even made his smash cake with an IU logo on top.  

Wyatt and I had a great time seeing Devin, Jake, and Carter along with several of our friends.  And Carter was just too cute for words.

Since Devin had mentioned Carter's party months before, I had plenty of time to create my favorite project to date.  I'm really happy and proud with the outcome of Carter's present.  When Devin first told me about the theme, I thought it would be cool for a kid's birthday party to incorporate an IU themed ABC's into the party somehow.  Ultimately, that idea never made it past me picking out my own ABC's of IU.  They were too good to let go to waste, so I decided to make Carter a book for his birthday!  I designed it and had it printed through Picaboo.  I highly recommend Picabook.  It was easy to use and the product was excellent.

My heart melted when Devin posted this picture in celebration of the first game of the season for our beloved Hoosiers.