woodland picnic for glitter guide

It's been a while since I have posted, I promised myself I would post more often but life gets busy and my blog ideas pile up.  So here I am posting about a fun shoot I did three months ago - last August - for Glitter Guide.  A sweet woodland picnic...inspired by my love for all things Selina Lake. 

I thought it would be fun to head into the woods, just a few minutes from our home and set up a picnic using vintage finds, beautiful flowers and delicious food.  Cioffi's Meat Market & Deli supplied the charcuterie platter (it was amazing), Vancouver Pie Hole made the mini cherry pies (tiny & delicious), the flowers were from the Flower Factory (perfect as always) & that incredible cake was made by Coco Cake Land !

The kids were so excited to be in the forest (really just a wooded area near a busy park)...it felt magical, especially when we set up a hammock!  Beckett is playing Dave's childhood guitar.

We had a lot of sweet touches like the deer (I have a bit of a collection happening) from Heather Ross & the "Be Happy" banner was custom by Confetti & Sparkle (now hanging in Zoë's room).  I'm in love with the chair from The Cross - it's perfect - the pillows, birds, dishes and gold forks were also from The Cross.  My good friend Nikki Renshaw brought a carload of treasures...like the baskets, vintage throws, books...her eye is incredible. 

This tiffin carrier is so good.  We filled it with berries, wouldn't it be fun to pack a lunch in? It's from The New Domestic.

It really was a lovely day...if only this was reality!  Ha!  Quite a lot of fun to put together...all made possible with help from my friends...Nikki, Linnea, Emily Jo & Olivia.  Kyrani Kanavaros photographed the entire afternoon....I could post a lot more photos!!

I'm a big fan of vintage wooden crates, we have them all over the house filled with toys - they are prefect for Beckett's HotWheels collection!  These ones are from Stepback. 

It's hard to believe we did this three months ago, feels like yesterday.  The great thing about picnics is they aren't just for summer...you could easily do this in fall...I better hurry before the rain really starts here in Vancouver!

I have decided that I need a hammock in my life...this one is from Target. The pillow is The Cross and the bedding (sigh) is St. Geneve and very dreamy.

Happy trails.  xx

zoë's 5th birthday party

While I'm on a roll of birthday party postings...here's Zoë's 5th birthday party - we went with a Fairy theme. The school year had just started and as much as Zoë wanted to invite everyone, I talked her into a small gathering at home.  I realize that hosting birthday parties at home is coming to an end...I really don't want it to - I love having them at home.

Auntie Denise made the cake...a masterpiece in all it's purple/lavender ombre glory. The cupcakes were from Sweet Bake Shop and the cookies were once again from Whisk. I bought the marshmallows at Butter Baked Goods, Denise made the squares and my mom made the tea sandwiches. It was a rainy day & surprisingly dark outside for late September. All of the photos are by Kyrani Kanavaros.

It was a great day and fun to look back on these photos. I'm already planning this year's birthday parties, just tossing the ideas around in my head...hoping I can squeeze in one more year at home! xx

poppy's 3rd birthday party

Aloha - it's about time I got around to posting Poppy's 3rd birthday party, it was only eight months ago! I'm not sure where the time goes but it sure goes fast. As you can probably gather from the above photos, we went with a Hawaiian theme - the party was in August so we felt pretty confident that we would have sunshine! As always, my good friend Denise made the cake - this time she did fondant (which non of the kids liked)...Denise always backs it up with cupcakes, so we were covered. My husband carved the watermelon (love it) and the cookies are from Whisk...the hula girls are too cute!

This was probably the easiest party to plan, it's colourful and fun. The food was pretty simple, we ordered sushi, prepared chicken skewers the night before and sprinkled the table with lots of sweet treats. All of the decorations, including the balloons are from The Party Bazaar. All of the Hawaiian birthday photos are by Joy Chen.

For Poppy's first birthday we invited the babies we knew that were born in her first year...we took a photo and have taken the same photo each year. They're getting tough to wrangle!

This is Poppy's first birthday....

Poppy's second birthday...

And Poppy's third birthday...

We had a great time, looking at these photos now reminds me how special the day was and how excited Poppy was to be turning three. They also make me long for summer again! Aloha.

beckett's 6th birthday party

This post is incredibly late....Beckett's party was in August, it's now December - time sure flies. Our boy loves HotWheels, so the theme this year was easy. It was a beautiful, sunny day & we shared it with friends and family. I loved that some of Beckett's friends from school were able to make it.

The photo in the middle is Beckett & his best friend Finn. Seriously, how cute is that? Finn is in the other grade one class at school, the boys find each other at lunch & they love spending time together. Finn also happens to have Down syndrome. My heart is full when I think of the boys going through their school years together.

My sweet friend Denise made the cake (again), she really is the queen of cakes. Sonia at Sugary Sweet Things made the cookies. We set up two major HotWheels tracks in the backyard & the kids raced cars all afternoon.

It really was a great day. Beckett had the best time, he loves a party & party he did. Our kids like to blow out candles, over and over and over again. So we light the cake, sing and relight it. Then we light a cupcake, sing and relight it. It's quite the process & there is pure happiness with every candle that gets blown out.

The only chance we have of getting a family shot is during the cake...we have til the end of Happy Birthday to sneak in a five-shot. There are lots of hugs, many kisses and too many smiles to count. It was nice to do this post five months after the party....such a great reminder of a fantastic day. xx

celebrating 70

I love surprise parties, especially when I get to throw them and it's for someone I love. My mom just turned 70, a milestone for sure. My brother Frank and I were trying to figure out what we could do for her birthday, he lives in Panama so our first idea was to take her on a trip - just the three of us. After weeks of thought I began to imagine a small party with her closest friends and family. It would be a surprise, in seventy years she had never experienced a surprise party. What fun we had.

There were fifteen of us for dinner, we hired someone to come in to make dinner - it was Italian and it was amazing. I had never done this before but a friend suggested it, they worked with our budget and we were able to visit and not worry about what was happening on the stove. I also asked my friend Kyrani Kanavaros to come to take photos, I knew she would capture the evening for us and we could have the memories forever.

The best part of the night was that our kids were there to experience it. They had no idea what a "surprise party" was but once explained they loved it. My mom was so happy to have her three treasures with her.  Of course the biggest surprise of the night was that my brother snuck into town, the look on my mom's face when she saw him was priceless. 

When I was little my mom would throw me the greatest birthday parties. Lots of friends, cake and family. I was so happy to do this for her, to give her a night with her most loved that she will always remember. The cake was from Butter Baked Goods and it was delicious.

I had to light the candles on the cake about five times, the kids love to blow out the candles and everyone needed a try. I love this picture, I know our kids will look at this decades from now and remember this time with great happiness. xx

zoë's 4th birthday party

I thought this was the perfect time for a "princess party" - Zoë's 4th birthday. I went with pink - and a surprise visit from Cinderella. With three birthdays in a row it's hard to make them totally different, it's a little intense scrambling to get it all done but once it is, I have a year to rest up!

This party had many things similar to Beckett & Poppy's parties...my friend Mika took the photos for me, Sonia from Sweet Sugary Things made the cookies & my friend Denise made the cake - how perfect are those roses?! I follow Sheila from Pink Ribbon Bakery on Instagram, she makes amazing cupcakes (and cakes) & delivered the most delicious, beautiful cupcakes for Zoë's party.

Months ago, as I was walking out of swim lessons with the kids I picked up a card from Princess Dreams Vancouver and tucked it away in my desk. That card came in handy when I decided to splurge & have Cinderella show up at the house for an hour to read the kids a story, sing & entertain them. Cinderella had 12 kids eating out of the palm of her white gloved hand. It was amazing to watch the magic.

Like her parents, Zoë loves a party so it was a thrill to throw this one for her. With three parties in a row our kids are becoming quite skilled at celebrating, not a bad skill to have.

Beckett was the only boy at the party, that was okay with him. He thought Cinderella was fun & he enjoyed getting a little sparkly eye shadow with everyone else. The girls love his dinosaurs & he loves their princesses. Perfect.

poppy's 2nd birthday party

A week after Beckett's dinosaur bash we went toadstool crazy & brought out the gnomes. Poppy loves gnomes and I love that she loves them. I mentioned in Beckett's birthday party post that I would lay in bed while recovering last January and dream on my kid's birthday party themes. Poppy's was easy, she loves gnomes...it then became a challenge for me to come up with different ways to decorate.

Once again the cookies were made by Sonia at Sweet Sugary Things. My incredibly creative mom made the toadstools on the table and gnome hats for everyone...the dahlias were picked from her garden that morning. Beckett enjoyed playing his birthday gift for everyone. I bought Poppy's sweet dress from The Cross months before her birthday, I saw it & knew it would be perfect on her. The little edible toadstools are cheese & cherry tomatoes with cream cheese dots. Dave painted eight brown stools & transformed them into little toadstools for the backyard.

I can't begin to express how much I love the cake. My friend Denise was the mastermind behind this sweet, little gnome cake. You can see Denise watching me pipe...she is so much fun to dream up a party with. I was given the gnome on the cake by a friend years ago and I ordered the toadstools on Etsy.

It was was so good...barely a crumb was left. With Beckett & Zoë nearby, Poppy didn't stand a chance blowing out her candles. Once again my friend Mika was there to take photos of the party.

This photo kind of says it all.....

As you can see, getting a family shot is a challenge. We eventually gave up.

It was a good time. A gnome garden party is a fun theme, the possibilities are endless. One more party to post...and then I'll start dreaming of next year's parties.

beckett's 5th birthday party

Okay, I'm a little behind in my posts...just a little. Beckett's 5th birthday party was in August & I'm just getting around to posting some photos now. Yikes. We had a great time, it was a beautiful August day - friends & family gathered around for a dinosaur party to celebrate sweet Beckett turning 5.

The cookies were made by Sonia at Sweet Sugary Things (she made our cookies last year too) they were so delicious....and sweet. The beautiful cake was made by my friend Denise, she is incredibly talented - a realtor who can bake & cook like nobody's business. My friend Mika Inokoshi took the party photos.

Just about everything "dinosaur" came from The Dinosaur Corporation - they had it all and the delivery was fast. The piñata was a big hit, although somewhat dangerous....we had to hold off the crowd of toddlers!

My mom made the dinosaur terrariums & the big balloons came from The Party Bazaar. The best part about the party was just watching it happen.

When I was in the hospital last January I would fall asleep while dreaming of my kid's birthday parties. I would go through every small detail...I truly believe it's what helped me heal. It made me so happy to dream of the parties & anticipate the look of joy on my little one's faces.

miss z's 3rd birthday

Miss Zoë turned 3 in September...I can't believe it's November and I'm just posting these now. Time is flying by, my babes are now four, three & one! The theme for the party was Hello Kitty - she was a favourite of mine when I was a little girl and now she's a hit again. Damn that cat stands the test of time.

Zoë's party followed in the footsteps of Beckett and Poppy's parties - hey when something works you do it again and again! My friend Denise rocked the cake and food - come on, that Hello Kitty cake is the best! Sonia from Sweet Sugary Things came through big time with the cookies and Mika captured it all on film.

At the last minute I decided to hire a face painter....amazing! Of course every kid at the party got their face painted - except for Zoë....when push came to shove, she wasn't into it. Kristal from Faceaballoonza is great - a true artist!

If I had the energy I'd have a party every month...I love gathering with family & friends. But the reality is that it's exhausting, on every level. The prep, the party and the (ugh) clean-up wipes me out.

My mom made everyone white "Hello Kitty" ears...so sweet. Even Stanley got into the spirit.

Why is it that we're always attracted to the icing? When I was a kid I prayed for the corner piece of the cake, or better yet - a piece with a flower. Remember flowers made of icing? Heaven. Happy to see my girl is right on track with her love of icing.

Zoë's not quite into sharing that cupcake quite yet though.....xx