Em's Baby Shower Invitations

When I was planning Emily's baby shower, I searched high and low for cute invitations, but ended up not finding anything I really liked that was easily available in Germany. I also wanted to send them out in two languages, depending on the recipient, which ruled out most of the pretty printable ones I found.

So, I did what any crafty lady would do and decided to channel my inner artist and create my own invitations that would set the tone for the party. And I couldn't have been happier with the result!

I really liked the look of this woodgrain stationery I saw on Etsy, so decided to do something similar with watercolors.

First, I picked up pretty card stock at this adorable little paper shop, R.S.V.P., in Mitte. Then I wrote up and designed the text (I chose this font for the cursive) and printed the cards at home. And let me tell you, it was way trickier than I thought it would be to figure out how to align the paper in the printer so that it would print on the right sides in the right direction. I'm so glad I had the brains to do a few test runs on scrap paper first...

Then I got to work watercoloring all eighteen invitations, making sure to put a magazine page under the cover while painting so the paint wouldn't bleed onto the inside (another last-minute stroke of genius).

The final touch was to stamp a few leaves and the cute little baby birdie (all from the DaWanda shop Klein Aber Fein) on the front, and tada!

Well, almost...

I packaged them up in craft paper envelopes (also from a DaWanda seller, La Papeterie) that I printed at home too, added a little note on the inside telling everyone to bring a baby picture of themselves to the party, and off to the post office I went!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I only do crazy things like this for Emily (well, obviously for sister, too). And in the future, most certainly for Em's little man as well!

A Nature-inspired Baby Shower

This past weekend was one I've been looking forward to for quite a while now. On Friday, I hopped on a plane to Munich and on Saturday, I threw my bestest friend and her husband a co-ed baby shower for her soon-to-come baby boy!

 How cute is Emily's bump?

I went with a nature-inspired theme with simple decorations based on the color scheme I came up with for the hand-painted invitations (top picture).After all, most of the attention should be focused on the glowing mom- and dad-to-be!

Emily has a great group of American girlfriends in Munich and they each brought some food for us all to nibble on throughout the afternoon. We sipped on blood-orange and pomegranate mimosas - both alcoholic and virgin versions - as well as beer for the men-folk.

Our main activity of the afternoon was to create an ABC baby book for the little man. I left the tools to do so on the coffee table for people to create at their leisure. People came up with some awesome drawings for their letter of choice (P is for papa - with beer in hand - was my favorite). Now baby will have a bilingual book to learn the alphabet from filled with illustrations from people who already can't wait to meet and snuggle him.

As mentioned, I got a lot of help with the food, but still decided to whip up a few goodies myself. I opted for cake batter truffles and s'mores cookies, each of which I prepared ahead of time, froze, and then packed in my check-in luggage. (For the cookies, I froze the dough and baked on the day of). I was super stoked with how easy they were to transport and by how little mess I had to make the day of the party.

The other game was "Guess the belly size" by measuring out a piece of string. Emily loves games, so I knew she wouldn't take any offense to this silly, traditional shower game. It turned out to be a blast and absolutely hilarious how wrong some people (me included....) were in the estimations! And we had a photo finish between three boys for the winning piece of string. The winner's strategy, we found out, had been to simply measure his own belly!

I had each guest bring a baby picture of themself (can you spot Natalie and me?) to hang up, so we could have Emily try to guess who's who. Not an easy task!

That little munchkin, top left, was by far the cutest guest at the party.

We also surprised the mom-to-be by setting up a videochat date with her mom to join us for a bit of the shower, since she couldn't be there in person. She got to watch us figure out the winner of the "Guess the belly size" game (which makes for great entertainment) and be with us as Emily and Artur opened their presents. I couldn't help but squealing at all the teeny tiny clothes they got.

In baby's room, I also set up a photobooth with some fun props for everyone to commemorate the day with. Some pictures from that, plus a DIY on the coffee-filter flowers and watercolored invitations, to come later this week.

Happy last week of work before maternity leave, Emily!

A Look at Thanksgivings Past: Slovenia

As Nicole and I have each been planning what to do for our respective Thanksgiving celebrations (that are way-too-rapidly approaching, I might add), we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the Thanksgivings we've hosted in the past.

The first time we ever had Thanksgiving on our own--and by that I mean without any parents to do the cooking or to celebrate with--was in 2006, when we were living together in Milan. As luck would have it, one of our best friends in the world was living at the time in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a short enough train ride from Milan, and as it was her first Thanksgiving away from home as well, we decided to head to Slovenia and celebrate all together, American-style.

The one thing we weren't sure of, but just (in typical us fashion) winged it and hoped for, was that we could find Thanksgiving supplies. Not just decorations--we had a ridiculous paper turkey sent to us from a friend back in America (thanks Liz bionda!), so we were good in that department--but small things like, oh, a turkey. Pumpkin pie supplies. Casserole dishes. That kind of stuff.

Ljubljana has an awesome outdoor market along the river in the center of town, with vendors selling a wide variety of food and other goodies, so of course that's where we headed. And miracle of miracles, we found a turkey--or rather, the only turkey, at a small almost-closed indoor stall, and a huge turkey at that. I think he was close to 17 pounds. (Thankfully, it wasn't just the three of us at Thanksgiving--Liz's American, Canadian, and Slovenian co-workers at her English teaching school joined us, making a 17 lb. turkey purchase almost logical.)

We woke up at 7 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, if I recall, to stuff, brine, and prepare the turkey--we were determined not to mess this guy up! We also somehow managed to find enough supplies to make two kinds of stuffing (one version being meat-less since I was a vegetarian at that time), our Gramma's broccoli casserole (that's a staple at any and all of our holidays), mashed and sweet potatoes, a vegetable side dish, and pumpkin pie from scratch. Besides the turkey, I think we were most proud of that. We actually bought a pumpkin, scraped out his inner goodness, cooked it, and turned it into a pie that surprised even us with its delicioiusness!

Rolling out our pumpkin pie dough with a wine bottle because hey, we can improvise.

What I remember most of that Thanksgiving was 1. being terrified of having either no food or awful food for our first solo Thanksgiving venture (we were on the phone with Liz's mom at least 15 times that day); 2. being determined to make each dish work in the face of absent ingredients (or, in the case of the mashed potatoes, absent containers--we settled for an empty cookie tin as a serving piece!); and 3. feeling so frickin proud when everything worked out and everyone stuffed themselves and enjoyed the dinner! It was nothing fancy, and certainly nothing gorgeous, but it was what Thanksgiving is all about: stuffing yourself with homemade food and local wine, being thankful for what you have no matter where in the world you are, and sitting around chatting with old and new friends. 

Our feast (complete with stellar decor and Christmas cookie tin o' potatoes).

The final verdict: YUM!

Feeling Like Fall

There's something about fall, about the falling leaves in sombre shades of red and yellow, the buttoned up jackets and tightly wound scarves, the gray skies and the bite in the air--something that puts me in the mood for lazy days, sad songs, and rustic food. You know? Right now I can't stop listening to Sometime Around Midnight and The Scientist, even though they're two of the saddest songs I know (and even though it's 10 in the morning). I also can't stop dreaming of a get together with late evening light, holiday spice cocktails, hearty recipes filled with squash, figs, or apples, and simple rustic decor. Any of these would be happily welcome in my imaginary fall party.

 

Images credits: Roasted fall vegetable pizza by Martha Stewart pinned by Tiffany | Apple ginger cranberry cocktails by Katie Quinn Davies pinned by Melissa | Fall table source unknown* via liberty deco pinned by Estelle | Fig brie & honey dessert by Sweet Paul | Car full of apples by Onward and Forward pinned by Carina

*please let me know if you find the source!

Inspired By...

I've had the most miserable day today and am in dire need of a little cheering up. And since none of my best friends can join me for a night of spritz-drinking, Mamma Mia-watching, and pity-partying, I gathered this batch of happy, sparkly goodies together instead. It's no substitute for girlfriends, but sparkles have a way of always making me smile.

...festive notecards that could liven up any care package.

Available at Jess LC

...old-fashioned champagne glasses with proper party pizzazz.

Photo by Katja Hall; Styled by Fräulein K. Sagt Ja

...a room I could gladly pen my memoirs from were I to become Queen of the World. (I only have realistic goals.)

Design by Linda Chase Associates

...a dress that accurately embodies my holiday spirit (and that I wish they made in grown-up sizes).

Available at Gap

...the perfect starry string lights to cozy up this dark time of year.

Available at Restoration Hardware

...simple placecard holders glammed up enough to grace my Thanksgiving table.

Photo and DIY by Centsational Girl

Image credits: Notecards from Jess LC via A Cup of Jo ⎮Champagne by Katja Hall for Fräulein K. Sagt Ja ⎮ Regal room by Linda Chase Associates via Rue Magazine ⎮ Dress by Gap via Say Yes to Hoboken ⎮ Lights by Restoration Hardware, pinned by Jennifer ⎮ Gold clothespin by Centsational Girl

Puppies!

I don't know about you, but few things bring a smile so easily to my face as puppies. (And if they do for you too, this app is brilliant.) Smushy, fluffy, cuddly puppies. Luckily for me, I'm apartment-sitting in Williamsburg this week for a friend who not only has the cutest apartment ever (she made her own map wall!), but also has the two cutest puppies I've ever seen (or gotten to cuddle and squeeze, at least)! These two little nuggets are all mine all week.

(Her adorable apartment--I could never pull off a framed picture of a matador in my living room.)

So far, we've cuddled, we've played, we've walked and chased squirrels in the park (I use the term "we" loosely, of course). And the beauty is, I get my fill of cuteness and at the end of the week, don't have to worry about vet bills. Or being woken up at 7:30a.m. on my days off by little yaps and toe-biting. I hope their little faces bring a smile to your face as they did to mine!

Puppy app via A Cup of Jo | Photos by me & my trusty iphone

Ombre Fall Garland

I whipped up this little leaf garland this weekend to add some fall flair to the apartment. It had been previously all decked out for Halloween, with spider webs, bats, and everything, but my fall sickness had other plans for me and our Halloween mini dinner party had to be canceled. Sniffle sniffle. There's always next year. (I did manage to watch a few horror movies though, as you know I love, so not all was lost!)

Berlin lacks maple trees, so I was originally going for just a yellow-and-orange garland, but was pleasantly surprised to find some reddish leaves on the ground near the Cuban embassy (it's right near our place. I didn't go spying on Cuba to search for leaves or anything...). So I decided to add some red in there after all and grabbed a couple fresh green leaves to finish it off.

All it took were a bunch leaves that weren't wet but weren't yet too dry, a bit of natural colored twine, and a hot glue gun. I considered using a needle and thread, but didn't want to rip the leaves.

Just put a stripe of glue across the back of a leaf, press on the the twine, and repeat until all your leaves are attached. Leave as little or as much space as you want between leaves. Et voilà!

A TV area that's a little bit more festive!