GENDER REVEAL PARTY

So, last Thursday night was Baby Owens' reveal party and it was an absolute blast. We had so many amazing friends join in on our excitement and it meant the world to us! The party couldn't have been any better! 

To our wonderful friends that attended, and especially the ones that drove just for the night -- thank you, thank you, thank you for being such a blessing to us! I can't even put into words how grateful we are, but please know how much we appreciate your support and kindness. 

On to the details! Here is the invitation I designed to email to our guests. I used the chalkboard background and elements throughout the rest of the party details. 

Here are some room shots before the party kicked off. I custom ordered the tassel banner and mini cake topper from Tuck & Bonte. I chose a gender neutral color palette of blush, cream gold, mint, and baby blue. I love the way it turned out and will definitely be saving it for future parties! We had the hot chocolate bar set up in the dining room, voting booth on the buffet, and chili bar in the kitchen. 

I designed ballots and stickers for the guests to participate in the reveal. Everyone loved submitting their vote and watching the Owens precinct develop. 

I left up some of my "wintery" Christmas decorations for the party and decided to clip baby pictures of Brandon and I on the garland. Brandon was one cute little boy!

We tallied the votes before cutting the cake and the leading candidate was BOY! Brandon sported a pink shirt in the beginning, although I think he was secretly hoping for a boy, and then changed to blue once the cake cutting was over. He is so silly!

How beautiful is the cake!? The talented Laura Burton from Uprising Cakes made it and I could not have been more impressed. The ombre with ruffles was gorgeous, not to mention mouth watering delicious!

Brandon and I are elated about having a precious baby boy! Now that we know the sex I can really get started on the nursery! But don't worry, I won't post only about baby stuff! Thanks for all the sweet wishes and congrats! 

SYLE ICON: blake lively

I've always been a huge fan of Gossip Girl - whether it was the trend setting high fashion, sexy scandals, exaggerating gossip, or beautiful cast - it will always hold a place in my heart. I'm so sad it is over, but like they say - all good things, must come to an end, right!? It was the most perfect, beautiful finale I could ever have imagined and am so glad it went out with a bang. These photos make me so jealous:

But my love of GG extends further into a fascination with Serena VanDerWoodsen ... also known as, Blake Lively. I think she is fabulous and I'm pretty sure we would be bff. I mean not only is she strikingly beautiful, confident, and bubbly, but she is married to Ryan Reynolds! Who to me, is the equivalent but in a male body ... plus absurdly funny. I love keeping an eye on Blake's style and pinning away any picture of her hoping some of her fashion sense will rub off on me! I've heard she is her own stylist = amazing! What do you think? Are you a fan of Blake?

TOO CUTE TEEPEES

Just for kicks, I was looking back at some of my "kid love" pinterest images and I noticed a common thread in a lot of the pictures - teepees. I guess the whimsical nature of these seem so fun to me. And their abstract shape is the perfect statement piece for a play room or nook. How fun would it be to escape from the real world and day dream, read, draw, lose yourself in one of these? It's the perfect hideaway for kids. 

Joanna Goddard from A Cup of Jo constructed her own fun teepee here. The open lace makes it so airy and dreamy! 

I'm sure there are dozens of DIY projects out there, but I also found these two lovely options from Amazon and Land of Nod. If you aren't the crafty type, then these two are too cute to pass up. 

BABY OWENS

oh man ... where do I begin? I can't believe that the holidays and 2012 have come and gone. We had a wonderful Christmas and New years celebrating with friends and family. I truly enjoyed my long holiday break and mostly blame my blogging hiatus on many days of doing nothing, but relaxing and soaking up the time off. Woking on a computer didn't even cross my mind, so I took advantage and had some "me" time. So, I apologize for the long absence, but hopefully it will do my creative mind some good. I felt like I was getting in a design/creativity rut ... 

Since I quietly announced on Instagram and hinted on the blog about our future nursery, that I am expecting, my mind has been racing all things baby! I knew from the get go that I wanted to do a fun "gender reveal" party with close friends. I can't wait 9 months not knowing, but waiting a few days to find out with friends and family really excites me! And, guess what!? That time is finally here! We are hosting a small get together this week and will be cutting a cake (dyed either pink or blue on inside) to reveal to ALL (yes, we won't know until we cut the cake) the gender of Baby Owens! We are both so excited and can't wait to find out! I have a lot of fun design details prepared for the party so I can't wait to show you pictures from the night. 

Brandon and I decided to try out the IntelliGender test at 14 weeks to see what it predicted. I've had a few friends that this has been accurate for, and a few that it has been completely wrong. I mean, it is a 50/50 chance!? So ... here is what it said for Baby Owens:

It without a doubt quickly turned to dark green, meaning BOY! Boy or girl, Brandon and I will be completely happy and ready to have Baby Owens in our lives. I'll keep you updated on the gender and I hope to post more inspiring and creative posts starting this week! Hope you all have had a wonderful start to your new year!

BIKER CHIC

I've been quite taken lately by the biker chic trend. Simply throw on some boots, a simple white tee, skinny jeans, add in a statement print or accessory and top it off with a leather jacket and you have yourself an effortlessly chic outfit. If you're not convinced, check out these gorgeous examples. 

Sold yet? A nice, leather jacket is a perfect staple item that never goes out of style. I know, I said that same line about Barbour jackets, and these couldn't be more opposite, but both are considered classic and timeless. I posted about one motorcycle jacket in my Christmas wish list, but now I have found a lot more that I would love to own. I am really lusting for #7 by Fossil. Hopefully Santa will see this before the 25th! Which is your favorite? 

ONE : TWO : THREE : FOUR : FIVE : SIX : SEVEN : EIGHT : NINE : TEN : ELEVEN