Ashley's Baby Shower

Our good friends, Ashley and Peter, are having their first baby, a BOY! She is actually due today, and we can't wait!  I have never thrown a baby shower before, so I was pretty excited to put it all together. I had a great friend Karen help me out, and with her help and the help of several others, it came together fabulously!

My favorite part, of course, is the decorations.  While Adam was traveling I decided to get busy and make all of them.  I don't think I even noticed he was gone because I stayed up so late making things and during the day I ran errands all day long to get it all done a head of time. It was really fun, and I got addicted to Pinterest again as I searched for all my DIY crafts (Pinterest is my new Google). Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the decorations now.

Ashley is a teacher, so I tried to incorporate a alphabet theme without it being too cheezy.  But I liked how subtle it turned out. Thanks to free printables, I got this great alphabet banner ! 

Ashley loves chocolate chip cookies (and so does Adam) so I decided I would try a couple of really great recipes to see which one was best.  Adam was thrilled with this decision, and he was happy everyday that there were more chocolate chip cookies to "sample" and "critique" and I was so excited to have found a new favorite recipe!

I don't think I will ever pay for pom pom decorations again, because they are SO EASY to make. I love how they turned out. Now I'm making 18 for my sisters shower next month in Utah (guess I shouldn't have bragged how easy they were, lol)

We had 15 friends attend, and took a picture at the end of those who stuck it out for the entire party.  We had the party on a Thursday evening and it was so fun! I had never been to a night shower until I moved here and I have been to several, and they are always so much more fun than day showers.  It feels more party like and since the kids are in bed, it's fun to just hang out and linger.

  We love our great friends here, and I'm so happy Ashley had such a great party turnout.  Now we just wait for the baby :) and the name is a surprise too which makes it that much more exciting.

Designing a carnival

I'm glad that everyone (especially Solana) had so much fun, because this party was so fun to design!!! I was in creative heaven and had a blast putting it all together. The best part is it was done practically free. 

This is how it went down: So I have had these unfinished fabric banners hiding out in the closet for a while now, and I was debating on what to do for her party, then I was talking to my mom when I said, "What could I do that I could use my banners?" "A carnival has banners," said the best Mom ever!  From there the party just came together almost perfectly. I finished the banners (someone from my church GAVE me her un-used sewing machine!) and then I made the bean bags, finished a mini banner, made her cake from scratch, printed off some free carnival printables, and ta-da! Most of you know I am NOT crafty, so I was pretty proud of myself for putting this all together, and on a student budget, which usually equals zero. Buy hey, it was meant to be and it was one the funnest days! And the decorations can be used for any party for a very long time. I officially love being crafty....well for now.

Oh how we love parties. Adam said if he decides to drop out of law school we can go into an event planning business together. Not that it wouldn't work, but I'm hoping he sticks to law. 

Open for business!

I am elated to finally have my interior design blog public! Please welcome the newest member of our family:

But before you click the link above, I want to thank everyone who has helped me get to this point. I feel so grateful to finally be able to own my very own business! (Warning.....this may sound like I just won an Oscar.) This has been a long process, and I still can't believe we got it finished. And now it's time to get some clients and publish all my design secrets to the world..... :)

My friend Sarah did an incredible job designing my logo, and I had another great graphic designer, Jackie,  that designed my website. They knew my style and we worked so well together. Thanks ladies!

And of course, Adam had been my biggest support! Whenever I thought it was a waste of time, he was there giving me a pep talk about my dreams. And he was a big part if the designing process. I really couldn't have done it without him. (Now the music has started, that's my cue to end my speech)

I hope you all enjoy following my design blog, and please know that I'm always happy to help my friends and family. So email me design questions and I would love to assist you. Also if you have any topics you would like me to post about, please let me know.  I'm always happy to post some great information that will help with all your design needs.

I guess you could say I just cut the ribbon and opened my doors. Welcome!

Thanks for all your love and support. Happy reading!

Design Studio

I recently had to put together my final project for my portfolio class. It was a branding assignment. I actually had a lot of fun putting my style together. We had to do two different looks, and that was the hardest for me. But I was pretty happy with the results. Here they are.

My favorite advertisement.

Adam's favorite advertisement.