.Bridal Shower Brunch.

As I shared with you earlier, over Easter weekend I was honored to host a Bridal Shower for my friend Mandy. 20 invitations were sent out and I was expecting 10 ladies to attend. I was pleased with the number of guests because it made seating a lot easier. I enjoy having my guests comfortable at my home and feel happy when everyone can have a nice place to sit. 

When it came to the menu I knew hosting a brunch would be perfect and it just so happens to be my favorite meal of the day. The time of the shower was set for 11am-1pm. I kept the food very simple and did not go overboard. I wanted to have an assortment of finger foods as well as a main dish. I chose to make my mom's egg bake which I shared the recipe and photos here. As the side dishes, I had fresh carrots and celery served in clear cups with ranch dip on the bottom (idea found on pinterest), spinach and cheese bite sized quiches, as well as my favorite part--the parfait station. I had vanilla yogurt, granola, whipped cream, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries served in bowls with clear cups to assemble the parfaits in. This was the hit of the shower and I am so happy everyone loved it as much as I did, especially the bride-to-be!

Enjoy these photos of my complete table set up, simple and sweet:

For dessert, I made my very first cupcakes. I'll be focusing more on them later on.

I always forget to snap a group shot before everyone leaves..I'll work on that for our next party. I did take a few pictures of the beautiful bride-to-be Mandy with her family and friends who still remained at the shower.

Here is Mandy with her mother Janet, left, and her future mother-in-law Heather on the right.

Above, Mandy is with Kevin's grandmother Priscilla and mother Heather. Below, Mandy is with her main man Kevin and best friend Ashley.

And here is Mandy with me--the host and bridesmaid.
 (I just had to include our out takes--our hands crack me up!)

Thank you for reading!

I'd love to hear about any showers or parties you have hosted recently and your favorite go-to snacks and treats to share :)

Happy Living--Happy Hosting

and remember

--Little Things Bring Smiles--

.Bridal Shower Decor.

This past Saturday I had the honor of hosting a bridal shower for my dear friend Mandy. I was first introduced to Mandy through Adam's best bud in town, Kevin. The four of us clicked instantly and our friendship has grown tremendously in the past 3 years. Adam and I are truly blessed to have two great friends in town and we are excited to experience life together..

..have babies at the same time?! :)

Adam and I were able to witness Kevin and Mandy on their very first date and yes, we felt like total creepers. The four of us attended the same slam poetry night at a local college. We did not sit together but gave the hi sign to Kevin and sat a few rows behind them. We may have snooped occasionally on the 'almost couple' and every time we did, Mandy had the biggest sweetest smile towards Kevin. Kevin kept leaning in to talk and Mandy simply shook her head while smiling and repeated, "really..oh really," over and over again. Oh I how miss the nervous, excited energy from a first date.

The rest is history for the two love birds and on Saturday we celebrated their promise to God and each other. As one of her bridesmaids, I was eager to throw Mandy a shower and to make her feel loved. In this post I will be focusing on the "making it pretty" portion of the shower, the decor. I wanted the decor to reflect Mandy:

  Bright, Feminine, Fun with a side of Sophistication :)

Here is my Making It Pretty:

The details..

I shopped my house, my mother-in-law's house, and the Dollar Tree to complete the shower setup. From the Dollar Tree I purchased the table cloths (in Mandy's wedding colors), square paper plates, clear cups, doilies, styrofoam cups, and tissue paper. Total spent: $15.00. From my own home, I found my leftover wedding center pieces, twine, wooden chest, scrapbook paper, baskets, serving three tier dish, clear utensils, and an extra sterno serving tray leftover from our Christmas party. From my mother-in-law's house I borrowed a lot and ended up using her matching pitcher, creamer, and sugar bowl set as well as two of her silver serving trays and platters.

Setting up was trial and error and simply came down to practicality and what looked best! I used the doilies and twine to create the easiest bunting ever using only tape to hold it together. I hung the bunting in my large doorways as well as our hallway to create a nice backdrop for photos. Any extra doilies were used on the drink station, advice table, and under flowers on the main table. I usually tend to stay away from "girly" decor but I embraced it for this shower and surprised myself by how much I enjoyed it!

The lavender tissue paper was used to fill up my large clear vase topped with twigs from my yard and extra wedding flowers (another perk of using artificial flowers). It was also used to line the wooden chest and the utensil basket. I liked the lighter shade and how it popped against the deep purple table cloths. Scapbook paper was used to label the different foods. I copied the same technique I used here for my wedding. Adam printed photos of Kevin and Mandy (found on facebook) at his office in simple black and white and I arranged them in a heart shape for the photo wall. I am so pleased with how this simple project came out and the best part is it was free, just used double sided tape to stick them up! The "M" and "K" were created using one manilla folder, a pen, scissors, two large pieces of tissue paper, and hot glue. I wrote out the letters, cut them out, ripped tissue paper, glued the tissue paper onto the folder and voila!

I still consider myself young and a bit of a newlywed (when it comes to owning beautiful serving trays, platters, etc.) so I am thankful for affordable stores like the Dollar Tree and more for gracious people in my life like my mother-in-law. I mixed inexpensive with a flare of fancy and in the end, I feel like I successfully fulfilled my goal of creating decor like Mandy:

Bright, Feminine, Fun with a side of Sophistication :)

Tomorrow I will be sharing photos of the food, people, and the special bride-to-be!

.Easter Thoughts.

It is just shy of 9pm on Easter Sunday. I am listening to my Chris Tomlin station on pandora as I sit on my big green couch with Colden sleeping next to me. I hear the distant sound of drilling and hammering and am comforted knowing Adam is content working in the garage. I am eating a bowl of rice pudding while perusing facebook and numerous blog posts. You know what I am noticing?--In every photo from Easter Sunday, everyone looks happy.

Happy.

It is a beautiful thing to see and fills not only my heart, but more importantly the heart of Jesus.

Adam and I attended church service this morning with his parents and younger brother Alex. The choir led us in beautiful songs depicting the courageous act Jesus did for us on the cross. The choir members sang with their heads held high and were grinning ear to ear while singing to our Heavenly Father. I felt a warmth come over my body and found myself teary eyed at the lyrics. I was smiling; I was happy. We then all sat in on my father-in-law's Sunday school class. You know what I saw?--Happiness. My father-in-law seemed cheery and upbeat while everyone greeted each other with smiles and proudly proclaimed, "He is Risen; He is Risen Indeed!" There was joy in the air and love spread amongst believers.

Adam and I brought appetizers over to his parents house where we all enjoyed a delicious ham dinner together with friends and family. Everyone was happy to be there and happy to be spending quality time. There was laughter, sharing time, and there was music.

When we came home in the afternoon, Adam and I jumped into bed to enjoy a Sunday nap. When I woke Adam was gone but Colden was in his place in our bed, it made me smile. I fixed myself a little something to eat and plopped here on my couch. Adam is working on house projects in the garage so I will not disturb :)

I am happy.

I am feeling such a peace inside and feel loved. Loved by my dog, my friends, my family, my husband, and my Heavenly Father. I felt God's love pour out of me today onto my family members and Adam. It is easy for me to love others but when I think of how much God loves me, it stops me in my tracks. I do not understand or know that kind of love. God loves me so much that He sent his only Son to die on the cross for ME. For MY sins.

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Do you know what this verse means?--It means God loves YOU. He sent His Son to die for YOUR sins so that YOU may have everlasting life. YOU are loved, YOU are loved by a Heavenly Father who wants nothing more than for you to believe in Him and to know Him.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He knew who we were before we were born and knew our sins before we committed them. Jesus forgives us of our sins. God displayed the greatest act of love by sending Jesus, His Son, to die for us so that we may know Him..know His love..know His promises..know of eternal life in Heaven. All we have to do is believe in Him. We have to ask Jesus to live in our hearts. We have to use faith to believe the courageous acts of God and His Son Jesus at calvary. We have to use faith to believe Jesus rose from the grave and is alive in Heaven and will come again.

I am loved.

I am a child of God.

I am reminded of God's mercies daily.

I have felt the power of answered prayer.

I know the Lord forgives me of my sins.

I understand God loves me so much, He sent Jesus to die on the cross for me.

I have asked Jesus to live in my heart.

I pray to my Heavenly Father constantly.

I praise Him daily.

I am filled with God's love.

I am happy.

Last year I shared the song 'In Christ Alone' and tonight I have this singing in my heart:

I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all

All to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find

Thy power and thine alone

Can change the lepers spots

And melt the heart of stone

Jesus paid it all

All to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

It's washed away! All my sin! And all my shame!

And when before the throne

I stand in him complete

Jesus died my soul to save

My lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all

All to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead

Jesus paid it all

All to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

Happy Easter friends, know that you are loved.

.Weekending: Williamsburg Edition.

Back in February I contacted two of my best girlfriends from college about planning a girls weekend...I did not have to convince very long, both ladies were in! 

We decided to explore Williamsburg this year after our Washington DC trip two years ago. It was wonderful being around these ladies again and remembering all of the fun we had in college. We have remained very close since graduation, almost three years ago, and will continue to do so.

Williamsburg was great and we only saw a little bit of what it has to offer! Hillary, Cynthia, and I decided to do historic Williamsburg and some shopping. I am not a shopper but it's amazing how quickly you turn into one when away with girlfriends while husband is home..anyone else know this feeling? We walked the streets of Williamsburg enjoying the Colonial lifestyle. You can even say we got a little into it:

As you can see in the above photo, my girlfriends could easily pass as high school students and we get such a kick out of it every time we buy drinks..the waitress/check out guy examines their ID's for a long time thinking they have to be fake. The one in the middle, Cynthia, is actually the oldest followed by myself on the left and the shortie, Hillary, on the right.

Thank you to Hillary who took the photos for the weekend. After taking way too many pictures in Iceland, I boycotted my camera for a while. Lucky for me, Hillary did a fabulous job documenting our day in historic Williamsburg. Check out these beautiful shots:

The weather called for thunderstorms but we were blessed with a great day. The sun popped out every time we felt chilled and hid behind clouds when our skin started to feel hot, it was perfect. We took our time walking around and even stopped to pose for a few pictures:

Some more silly than others...
*I should take this time to mention I was very sick and a bit high on cold medicine. My actions may not have been thought out but the good news is I provided the girls with entertainment for the afternoon--even got Cynthia to cry from making her laugh so hard!* :)

Looking at these photos make me laugh and I know the same goes for the other two ladies. It was fun acting silly and just laughing together--I think everyone needs more laughter in their lives, it feels so good! You kinda had to be there to experience the jokes, so I apologize for you not being in the loop. Hopefully you can see by our faces how much fun we had and thats all that matters. We did visit these lovely sites and shops:

All three of us were missing our pups as we walked all over Williamsburg. I feel like we were the only ones who did not bring our dogs with us. We could not help but smile over our furry friends we made. Next to Colden, our Shiba Inu, Siberian Huskies are my favorite breed: (she was so friendly!)

On Sunday, we spent the day shopping in the outlet mall. The outlets had every big name brand you can think of and we all ended up buying things from Charlotte Russe, go figure. We all had a wonderful time together catching up on whats going on in life. I am blessed to have left college with friends who will always be there for me. Cannot wait to grow old together and wear matching scarves with broaches..right ladies?! :)

Coming home was exciting, I missed Adam. He planned himself a guys weekend and he and 3 buddies went camping. 

He missed me too.

.Little Things Bring Smiles Part 17.

The name of my blog is

Little Things Bring Smiles.

I chose this title because it is important to remember the little things in life and to rejoice in them. My reason for blogging is to share my life, all parts of it {including the good, the bad, and the ugly} along with my home, crafts, and DIY projects I complete. Each month I want to focus on the little things that brought smiles to my days. 

I would love for you to share your little things and see if they bring a smile to me, or another reader :)

 Here are my little things from March:

- Returning home to a clean house after our Icelandic vacation

- Settling back into our normal routine

- Keeping the girls I nanny for a weekend

- Enjoying the warm weather

- Watching as the tree buds begin to bloom

- The vibrant colors of green, pink, and white in my yard

- Listening to the birds sing in the morning..even if it's early

- Taking Colden on walks in the beautiful weather

- Beginning a new show on Netflix: Breakout Kings

- Having Adam take care of me when I was sick (now we have switched places, I may 

  have spread my germs over to him..whoops!)

- Working on the yard and seeing improvement

- Preparing the yard for a very big project coming in April, stay tuned!

- Weekend family visits

- Downtown adventures

- Completing a DIY house project

- Girls Weekend with my college besties to Williamsburg!

- Returning home and hearing Adam say, "I missed you"

..and one rather big thing:

- Feeling strong, healthy, and 30 pounds lighter!

Now it's your turn. Always remember,

Little Things Bring Smiles!