Beautiful Basic Invites

I’m a tad obsessed with stationery. My friend and I often write letters back and forth between Virginia and California. I really enjoy the formality of paper cards, letters and invites. There is something so special and exciting about receiving these goodies in the mail. I keep my favorite cards in a box at home – little mementos of friendship.

When Basic Invites approached me, I was amazed by their gorgeous stationery selection. Basic Invites is one of the few sites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you decide on a design, you can change the color of any tiny detail you want – 180 different color options! How cool is that? In the past, I’ve spent hours scouring the internet trying to find that perfect color invite to match the look feel of a party… especially for wedding invitations and showers. A common question I was asked when planning our wedding was, “What are your wedding colors?” Basic Invites makes matching your invitation colors very easy for you.

Basic Invites also lets you print a sample of your actual invitation so you can see exactly how it will look and feel before you commit to ordering a certain paper quality and multiple invitations. Having a real sample in your hands before you order will save you time and money (no mistakes)!

They have 40 Different Colors of Envelopes – Basic Invite is just as colorful with their envelopes as they are with invitations. Customers can choose from over 40 different colors. All of their envelopes are peel and seal so the envelopes can be quickly and securely closed without licking a single one.

Each of their wedding invitations is part of a set. You can find everything from affordable save the dates to wedding invitations, enclosure cards, wedding menus, wedding programs and even matching thank you cards!

Basic Invites is your one stop shop for all your wedding paper necessities as well as baby shower invitations, birth announcements, meal planners, holiday cards, recipe cards and much more.

Check them out on social media too!
Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter

Shannon’s Baby Shower

Wow! My best friend is having a baby boy! This is such a rad stage in life right now. Lots of friends are getting married and having babies. I love watching all of the puzzle pieces fall into place — this friend moves here and that friend moves there; he meets her and she meets him etc. Jobs, relationships, families…they’re all happening. It’s a fun/fast time of life.

Shan moved to VA with her Navy hub Justin a year ago. It’s been hard living without her down the street from me, but we’re learning to call each other more often. Facetime is fantastic! Last weekend, S and J flew out to visit, and My mom and I hosted a baby shower for Shan! I am so thankful that I got to spend the weekend with my best friend, feel tummy kicks and make her awkwardly sit there while I talked to the baby…
Me: “Who’s going to be the best Auntie? Yes…you’re right, I am.”
Shan: “Brittany, stop talking to my stomach you are so weird.”

Shan, it’s been such a beautiful/exciting/fascinating time watching you become a mommy. You and Justin are going to be wonderful parents and I can’t wait to meet the little bub when he arrives. Here are some pictures and a clip from the baby shower this past weekend. Love and miss you both.

^A woodland inspired baby shower for our Shan. We thought it would be a fun theme for an early fall shower.

^Shan and her mama Gene. Look at that cute little tummy!

Thanksgiving

I’m deeply thankful for this holiday that helps me pause and take notice of my blessings. To savor every moment and express gratitude for all the details in life – to all the pieces of this puzzle. I love that.

I’ve learned that one of the very best gifts I can give myself is finding gratitude and joy in what and who is around me. I’m thankful for my warm home, good health and my faith. For my freedom to write and create. But especially for my family, my loving husband and our friends. I look at these people every day, my people and I just wanna pinch myself. I’ve got the greatest crew. Life is all about relationships – being with them, listening, hugging, loving them.

I wish you the most wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones and a magical start of this holiday season!
PS. Today was that last day in our little home. Dan and I are moving into one of the houses he’s been building. I’m thankful for those 3 amazing years in that tiny house…the coziness of that kitchen (you could only fit one person in it). And for our squeaky washer and dryer and the heater you had to kick to get working. At least it worked Ha-ha. I’m thankful for all that time spent with you in that little house. It was small, but it was all that we needed. It was perfect. I’m a little sad that we’re leaving our first place, but I’m excited for the next chapter… looking forward to the new memories we’ll make in our new home. One that you built.
A few more photos and a short video from our day…

What a fun chapter of life this is. It’s a good one.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, FOLKS!

^^^My mom went all out with the table decorations. It’s fun watching her get so excited about throwing a party. She really enjoys making things special for everyone. I think she has a real talent for it, not to mention she’s the most hospitable and loving person I know. And my Dad is a whiz in the kitchen. He really loves cooking…together with their powers combined, my parents are the ultimate hosts. Mom even found these cute little plastic animals and transformed them into place cards/ thankful cards. She cut them in half and used a dremel tool to hollow out the inside of each figurine, then glued in a magnet on each side, painted them silver and mounted them on wood wafers. Whatttt!? Yes she is pretty amazing.

Love my fam! We have a huge family and it’s only getting bigger! I can’t wait for all my cousins to get married and start having babies too! Oh lordy then it’ll be about 50+ at the table…

What a beautiful day.

Frosted Rosemary Sprigs With Cranberries {Drink Garnish}

I made these for our Christmas party this year. They are so easy to make and they look really pretty. I paired mine with a Brut Champagne (but I’m sure they would work with a variety of drinks}. The rosemary is very aromatic — a lovely little surprise that lingers in your glass.

Here’s what you’ll need:

5 inch or longer rosemary sprigs {= to # of glasses you’ll be serving}

1 bag of fresh cranberries

1 bowl of water

1 cup of sugar {for dusting}

^^^ strip the rosemary so that just the top needles are left. Spear each cranberry in the middle and push it up towards the top.

^^^Dip the Rosemary needles into the water bowl and then into the sugar. Tap to get any excess sugar off.

^^^Then put them in the freezer and take them out just before your guests arrive.

Our Thanksgiving

^^^I know it’s a tad on the late side, but I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! We had Thanksgiving with my Parents and our HUGE extended family. So, I might have gone a bit overboard with all these pictures of the table, but I think my Mom did and amazing job — she should be a party planner…right?

^^^We reused the candle holders from our wedding. What a great investment…I think we’ve used them for every party since then!

^^^Mom…you are killing me with the bitty butterflies and acorns! Too cute!

^^^ My cousin Charlie and hubby Dan. Dan teases Charlie for being a frat boy and Charlie teases Dan for being a surfer…basically they love each other.

^^^My Dad is the turkey master. Our family loves to have potluck style dinners — everyone brings their favorite dish. We have a huge family, so having one person cook the entire meal would be insane. I was in charge of bringing pureed candied yams and rosemary potatoes and carrots. I really got into it and sprung for the fancy multi colored carrots at Traders. Is it weird that I was excited about carrots?

Because no Grams party is complete without a coffee station and butter cookies…^^^ Nice Mom

^^^Meet my Family. Mom is up front and Dad is at the other end. Everyone in between is an Uncle, Aunt or cousin + about 20 more not pictured! My mom was the youngest of 8 kids and Dad was the oldest of 3 kids…who all grew up and had 2-6 kids of their own. So family holiday parties are of epic proportions.

^^^One of my Aunts always brings a box of See’s Candy. It’s sort of a tradition for family gatherings…one that I take full advantage of {I secretly snuck the rest of the box home when everyone had left}. And on the right is my Danny. This is what his face permanently looks like. ^^^

^^^And then we had a Friendsgiving with all of our friends who were still in town. We originally were going to have it in our tiny house {in the backyard}, but it rained all day, so my parents offered their house. How nice 🙂 Well that made things super easy….everything was still set up from Thanksgiving, so we just cooked a new turkey and everyone pitched in with leftovers.

^^^The table looks so different at night! I love me some ambiance and candles!

And then we had hot cider and beers in the backyard^^^

It was a great Thanksgiving! We have SOOOOO much to be thankful for! I/we couldn’t be more blessed.

P.S. It is now officially CHRISTMAS TIME!

Woot Woot. Lets go get a Christmas tree!