These Are a Few of Their Favorite Things...

Last weekend Carissa hosted the cutest couples shower for Kelly & Joe. As you all know, I have a love for themed parties - and this was was ADORABLE. Carissa centered everything about the shower around Kelly and Joe's favorite things. Such a great idea - almost jealous I haven't thought of it before! (But that doesn't mean I won't use it one day and claim it as my own...JK!).



Hot sauce for the boys party favor - Joe's fav



Tea for the ladies' party favors - Kelly's fav



Such a cute couple!

 

with Tracey

 

I was in charge of cupcakes. Lemon - Kelly's favorite and Oreo - Joe's favorite!



It was fun to celebrate Kelly and Joe and watch them get such fun gifts! Carissa had the wedding party all chip in money and she got them "A Year of Dates" - another idea I want to claim as my own one day! What a great gift idea - 12 prepaid dates to their favorite places.

Brian's SMU Quilt

My mother makes phenomenal quilts! The more she makes, the more requests she gets. Matt has a Packer's quilt; Mark, Nathan and Shelby have LSU quilts; Amy has a quilt with all of her favorite shades of purple; she is making me a Fleur de Lis quilt; Randy has gotten a Saint's quilt (just to name a few) - and most recently Brian got an SMU quilt. 

It was hard to not steal this from him!

17 Years of Gift Giving

Tonight Matt and I had our belated Christmas dinner with Jamie and her boyfriend, Mark. In addition to dinner, we exchanged our Christmas gifts to each other for the 17th time. Better than what I am giving, or what I am getting, is the fact that every year I shop for my three brothers (add Brian) and my sister. When you go through braces, boyfriends, college exams, first jobs, new jobs, a wedding, buying a house, etc with the same person - they are more than just a friend, they are family.

Merry Christmas Jamie!

Charles & Christine's White Elephant

Matt's cousins, Charles & Christine (brother/sister) have taken White Elephant gift giving to a whole, new level and I just LOVE it! I don't know how long their tradition has been going on, but for at least the past several years. There are two rules: 1) It has to be used, and 2) It has to fit in the trunk of a car. I have only been a part of two exchanges. The first year I joined Matt's family for Christmas Christine gave Charles a coffee maker for your car. Yes, that's right, a full-blown coffee maker that plugs into your car and will brew an entire pot of coffee while you drive. That does NOT sound safe.  Charles found an old school sewing machine. This year got even better! Charles found an original car phone (that came in a huge case with an antenna that you pull up before you make the call) for Christine, and Christine found a Starter jacket (which apparently Charles always wanted as a kid) and one of the first answering machines (with the original receipt for $134). The best part is that there are two messages on the machine - so if they find the missing cord that could make for some interesting listening. 

They took it a step further this year by putting on special, handmade, Christmas sweaters for the gift opening. The best news is that they invited Matt and I to participate the next time we are with them for Christmas. I. AM. IN. 

Tis the Season for Holiday Treats

Almost every year I make hundreds of chocolate covered pretzels for friends and colleagues at work. I think it is such a fun time to share a little holiday cheer - and everyone just seems to LOVE these pretzels (mom's recipe). Typically I put 6-7 in a holiday baggie tied with a ribbon and a tag. Well I am ALL about mason jars this year. So I bought 2 cases of them and had Tracey help me design the labels (which unfortunately I mis-sized). I think they turned out super cute! I probably made over 350 this year - so that Matt could take a few containers to work as well! Would you believe I only ate 2!

Surprising Sam

Our favorite little guy, Sam is turning three Labor Day weekend...I can hardly believe how time flies! I already had his present picked out - until that is - Matt and I were running errands and found the greatest gift of all time for a three year old that has movie night with his family every Friday! I still can't believe we found/bought this....but he loved it and looked soooo cute sitting in his very own recliner with his sippy cup in his cup holder! And yes, we bought the present, called Steph and got approval to give it to him 4 hours later - a month early!!!! Who can wait with a gift like this!?!?! lol!

And we can't forget about Blake. Such a sweetie!!!!!

Happy Early Birthday Sam!!!