Simple Parties for Sweet Babies

This season of life is filled with babies. Not only do I work with babies as a nurse, but so many of my friends have babies and are having babies. The Mister and I are not at that point just yet, so I love being able to babysit, cuddle, celebrate, and then give back the little ones.

I co-hosted a baby shower for a friend who is having a little boy. We tried to keep it simple, with the décor and with the food.

 

 

We had an assortment of cheeses, crackers, breads, and meats. To display them, we pulled out lots of platters and cutting boards. We kept to a simple, clean display by using white platters, slate cheese platters, and wooden platters and cutting boards with wood slices thrown in the mix. Mixed nuts in simple white bowls and cupcakes scattered around also helped lend to a casual, pretty feel.

 

For décor, we used simple potted flowers and lavender with burlap around their base on the table and assorted paper bunting in the color scheme (red, blues, and whites) around the table and above a present and the inspiration for the shower - a radio flyer wagon!

 

 

As an introvert, I tend to shy away from the typical, intense shower games. So, we made a trivia game with various facts about the Mom-to-Be as a baby and about her mom's pregnancy, such as what was her favorite baby food and how much did she weigh at birth.



 

 

It was so much fun. Now, for the little ones arrival!

Mahalo

For our 3 year anniversary, The Mister and I took a trip to Kauai, Hawaii. It was beautiful and fun and relaxing. We took it after a hard few months of manual labor on something we will share about soon. It was beautiful and such a blessing.

We have friends who make a trip to the island pretty frequently, so I had a solid list of things to see, do, and eat to look through. We took a catamaran tour of the Na'pali Coast, hiked to a beautiful beach, flew a kite, ate delicious food, visited a farmers market, and ultimately embraced down time.

 

 

If you are planning a trip to the Garden Isle, here are a few things we want to be sure you do not miss!

• Tour the Na'Pali Coast. We took a Catamaran tour at sunset. It was gorgeous and the best way to take in the sights of the coast.
• Take a Zodiac raft scuba diving trip anywhere. Zodiac's are what Navy Seals use for special ops. They are fast and awesome. Getting to glide along the water next to dolphins and among sea turtles, hopping between a couple places to scuba and see the beautiful array of fish and volcanic caves was definitely memorable.
• Hike something! There are so many hiking spots. Be sure to bring good shoes, as it can get muddy.
• Visit a farmers market- they pop up just about every day of the week in various areas. You have to take the opportunity to taste the local fruits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our favorite places that we ate during our time were:

• Postcards in Hanalei
• Delicious seafood and such fresh ingredients!
• Kalaheo Coffee Co. and Café
• Great stop for lunch!
• Bubba's Burgers
• A Hawaiian chain restaurant with a fun atmosphere and yummy burgers
• Wishing Well Shaved Ice in Hanalei
• Cold, refreshing, inspired treats served out of an RV!

We can't wait to go back.

 

Finally Finished!

Finally... We have completed the hutch. You know the one.

 

A few issues continued to crop up as we neared the finish line... and it all comes back to my giant mess with the stain. Our new paint (the lovely Marshmallow by Glidden) seemed to be covering it beautifully. But then, after it had cured up nicely, we noticed pink streaks. The stain was still coming through! Silly us. So back to Home Depot we went to get the same paint color, but in a paint and primer in one mixture.

And voilà! A very pretty, finished hutch.

 

 

 

 

Remember the original to-do list for the hutch? Well, many of the things fell away. We decided that we didn't want to install lights. Also, we wanted to make the butcher block darker to make the contrast between the paint color pop more.

 

 

And instead of adding new tracks, I just used candle wax (from some old tea lights) and waxed up the tracks of the drawers. It is like a whole new set of drawers! No squeaking. No sticking. Just effortless gliding to open a drawer. And I was going to line the drawers with paper. But I couldn't figure out a design that I loved enough to install permanently. 

 

 

Well, we have no room in our current place for this piece. I love it. But we are trying to sell it. I don't want this to sit in our garage and waste away. If we sell it, the money will go towards our efforts for a house. If we don't, I hope it doesn't get too banged up in the garage because it will be going in our home. Anyone else have a piece of furniture that transformed and transformed and transformed some more??