Bachelorette Bash

The time was here. Time to celebrate my last days of being a singleton.

Time to bust out the tents, don the swimsuits, and revel in spiked lemonade, wild ladies who are oh-so dear to me and of course, incredible eats.

Let me tell you, my seesters and friends did not disapoint. They decorated, baked, shopped, whispered of their plans for weeks and arrived with their party hats on and ready to go...














Things I never want to forget:

Ryan/John Cena and his man parts
Rachel's party favors. One word: adorable
Emily's construction paper cutouts.
Tracey's linen pants that I tried to steal. No such luck.
Erika's swimsuit. Need it. Badly.
Trevor's outfit. 80's technicolor at it's best.
Christy's survival kits, complete with feminine products in case of a camping emergency.
Amanda's lasagna. Best ever and I got the receipe.
Lisa's lemonade. Dangerously delicious.
Circle time on the lawn.
Baby Logan who was the only male present and who hardly uttered a peep all day. Just smiles.
Trampoline time.
Hide and seek at midnight. Finding Trevor and Rach in a tree.
Trevor's crash and burn. Ouch!
Rachel delivering hot coffee and cream and sugar to the camp site at 11PM. Top that.
Rachel's homemade english muffins, cinnamon bread, cupcakes, anatomy cake, garlic bread, fruit salad. Seriously. This is not a joke. She ROCKS.
Hearing all my friends share their favorite moments and stories about me. Unbelievable.










It was perfect I declare.


*all photos courtesy of Brooke! Thank you sister for capturing this day so well. xoxo

Sunny Shower

Today I was showered with sun, amazing gifts and love at the Kelly bridal shower! It was a perfect day for a poolside garden brunch...and I felt special all day long.

Some things I would like to remember always:

The tables - oh my! So pretty
David's bloody mary's and mimosas- YUM
Laura's quiche and fritatta
The cheese table
Bride and Groom Shari's Berries - unforgettable
The sun, oh the sun
Quilt from Grandma Phyllis
Note cards from Dinha, with our MONOGRAM!
Logan's patience
Trevor's outfit-perfect
Ryan showing up with roses for his mom, lilies for me and a flower for my mom. He said he picked what each of us would like, lilies because they are my favorite, roses because who doesn't love roses and something that my mom can plant in her garden. Dreamy.
Unloading and unwrapping gifts afterwards with my seesters and Ryan and then piling on the couch for a movie.

Showery Shower!

It is the night before my first bridal shower and it is raining! Good thing I love the rain and consider it to be a sign of good fortune...

So tomorrow the morning will arive, I will drive to Napa with curlers in my hair, will put on my new Anthro dress and fuschia pumps and will head over to my grandma's to be showered with love and well wishes from so many amazing women. What more could a girl want? Maybe just a knight in shining armor named Ryan Kelly. Perfect. Done.

Birthday Boy

This little man turned two and we celebrated with a party in the park. Can you get over his outfit? I nearly died when I saw those boots. And how about that Mama? Hot Mama more like it!



This is how Ever felt about being sung to...or maybe it was the chocolate cupcake with a candle on top that really brought on the joyful smile.

What is a party without a pinata? My favorite part was that Erika stuffed with the pinata with health conscious, organic snacks - what a thinker.

And this picture is just because I love it.

Birthday Girl

My birthday has arrived! I would be lying if I said that I didn't look forward to this day all year long.

In superstar fiance fashion, Ryan remembered me telling him last year that it just didn't feel like my birthday without a bouquet of daffodils, so he got me five bunches! Aren't daffodils the best? They are $1.29 per bunch at Trader Joe's and they don't look like much at first - just plain old brown tight little buds with bright green stems. But you simply chop off the ends, put them in a pretty antique vase with some water, wash your pretty lil' face and go to bed and voila! You wake up in the morning to sunshine-y blossoms! So cheery and SO March birthday-ish.

In addition to daffodils, Ryan thought I also could use some sophisticated oriental lillies. Fancy! He is just rad like that. The smell soooo wonderful.

So today we are off to do a morning walk, cake tasting at ABC (lucky us), head to Casa de Awesome for a hike up the hill and dinner with the family. And I get the ENTIRE day with my man. Perfection.

Gift tracker:

Pretty antique tablecloth in lavendar.
HOBO wallet in Mustard!
White salad bowl.
White cake stand with RUFFLES!
NEW PHONE!
Clementine shopping bag and new book.
Night out on the town.
A metal "K" from anthro, because I will be a Kelly soon.
Tickets to see Chicago.

What a lucky, lucky girl and what a perfect birthday.

He is here and he is perfect.

Logan Van Caldwell has finally arrived and he could not be any cuter if he tried. I finally got to meet the babe this morning and I was in heaven. Firstly, nothing beats a baby and secondly, seeing my dear Dee as a Mother was intoxicating. I will never forget the smile that crept over her face and the giggle that emerged when Logan began crying. Even his cry was music to her ears. It was music to mine too.

A mother now...

Check out all those diapers drying in the morning sun! As my grandmother says, laundry gets whiter and smells cleaner when hung to dry in the sun...

Nine pounds! Holy baby!



P.S. Check out Logan's digs - crisp new Peter Rabbit sheets and a warm hue on the walls...I almost climbed in that crib for a little nap myself! Alas, babies only.

Baby Lo {gan} ve

Today we wait.

Wait on baby.

A baby that belongs to Mitchell and Amanda.

Who have waited long and hard to welcome him.

I can't wait to see my dear cousin, for the first time, as a "Mother".

I also can't wait to get my hands on that sweet, sweet baby.

P.S. I think Amanda makes the "with child" look very fashionable and just plain adorable.

Weeknight Delights

Last night we had soup, salad and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and welcomed the return of 24.

Tonight, I try on my wedding dress for the first time.

Feed the poor

Last night Ryan gave a beggar man $2. I questioned his generosity. But today I am proud. Proud that his heart is bigger than mine and grateful that his heart belongs to me.

This is how we roll

A "let there be love" gathering.

A quiet January day.

A walk across town.

A sunset photo shoot on the Highway 29 overpass.

Yah, we're classy like that.

Members:

Trevorkian

Ever Bear

Rosie

Lorraine

Every day with these three is a little adventure. Never fails. How I love them....

The peak of Everest

I got to spend the day with these two kids yesterday...

We took a long, scenic drive, accompanied by "piggy" , whose tail Everest likes to carefully twirl between his fingers...

Everest is such a joyful companion. Whatever we do, he is typically happy and content, except when restrained by high chairs - so barbaric!

Our drive took us to Casa de Awesome where we scampered about with the chickens. Again, Everest was happy to join in on the fun.

Our mid-day hunger led us to Genova's Deli where Everest sat in a big boy chair and ate tuna (his mother's favorite) like a champ. We thought about an impromptu drive to the beach, but ultimately decided a nap for all sounded better. Later, Everest showed me his new trick....

Meet Amby and Lefty.

Katie and I spent part of New Years Day discovering that we are really quite good at racquet ball, even though we are not exactly familiar with the rules. We took the match very seriously and I learned that Katie has a mean back hand.




In fact, Katie can play ambidextrously and I am strictly left-handed. Thus, our official racquet ball nicknames...

Lefty and Amby! Watch out!

P.S. We built up quite an appetite and headed to Tower Cafe to re-fuel. Because we were having a "same-sy" kind of day, we both ordered coffee with cream and the tostada salad. We spent nearly the entire meal complimenting the salad. It was one of best salads of my life!