Wednesday, July 13, 2011

1000 Pictures from June

Event #1: Erica's Bachelorette Party
First of all, if you don't know Erica, please allow me to introduce her to you.
This is Erica. Isn't she pretty?! :)
Erica lived in our garage apartment for a year when we were in Brenham. During that time, she and I became very close...like sisters...and we have been ever since. I love this girl so much, and would just about anything for her.
Now you'll know who I'm talking about as several of these events involve her.

So, Erica's Bachelorette Party.
Being Erica's Matron of Honor, it was my joy and privilege to plan her bachelorette party. Here's what we did:
A little pre-bachelorette lingerie shower. Bra and panty cupcakes. Cute, huh?

Our next stop was Painting with a Twist. I was a little worried about this to be honest. If it was a dud of an idea I would have felt super old and lame and mom-ish in a group of young college girls, but thankfully it turned out to be pretty darn fun. You bring your own wine, your girlfriends and learn how to paint a masterpiece while chattin' it up.

I made the girls an apron with a rhinestone monogram. Erica's personal motto is, "If it doesn't have sparkles, I'd rather be naked," so the rhinestones were quite necessary.

The bride-to-be and budding artist.

I'm taller than her because she's sitting and I have on big shoes.

We had our doubts that we could really paint, but...Ta Da! Not bad, huh?

After that, we headed to San Antonio's Riverwalk for a late night dinner.
By the time dinner was over it was quite late, (and secretly, I was feeling my age) so we headed back to New Braunfels for...wait for it...a sleep over. Yes, it was my first sleep over in probably, oh, 10, 11 years. But, I had a ball. It was such a great group of girls, and like I said, I'd do just about anything for my Erica. ;)

Event #2: I started Tweeting!
Yeah...no kidding. I'm on Twitter. Is this my gateway onto Facebook? Heavens, no! I've made vows about such things. But I do like to shout a bit of nonsense out into the world now and again, so if you're so inclined...give me a follow. @stephcease.

Okay. Do we have it in us for one more June Event?
Oh sure we do!

Event #3: Braelyn's 5th Birthday
Instead of doing lots of little gifts for Braelyn this year, I decided to pack up all remnants of her baby room and give her a new "big girl" room. And...I wanted to do it surprise make-over style. So, On Friday night before her party, she stayed with my mom and dad, which gave Casey and I the entire day to get her room ready. We didn't paint 'cause hopefully we'll be out of that apartment soon, otherwise I totally would have painted.

Before:

She likes to tape things to the wall.


And After:
Black-out curtains. 3 words about that...I'm A GENIUS!
And we put up a couple of bulletin boards to display artwork (and hopefully reign in the tape habit a bit.)

Here we have a flower canopy that she's had her eye on for quite some time, a new quilted bedspread, and a few fabric butterflies flying magically around her bed. (I know what you're asking. Did I make the fabric butterflies? 3 more words...No. Pottery Barn!)

And here's my favorite part, although the picture just does not do it justice, but we hung some wall shelves to display art, nick-nacks and special pictures.
I was a little nervous that she might not think a new room qualifies as a birthday gift. There was some serious potential for a birthday backfire, but I think she really loved it. Especially when she snuggled in her new bed and had the pink canopy draping all around her. She fancied herself quite the princess. ;)

About 20 minutes after the big bedroom reveal...it was party time!

This year, it was a Hello Kitty Gymnastics Party.
4 Words...I'M A GENIUS AGAIN! This was the best party ever! I brought the cake, the birthday girl and some party favors. Then, I sat back and let the kids run and jump and swing and roll around to their hearts' content. They LOVED it!


My little girl is FIVE! How can that be?

Oh my...my heart just melts at that smile.

Alright. That will do for tonight, I think.
Told ya...1000 pictures!
Oh, and for my sweet friends who shared the books they love with me...thank you SO much! They are on the list!
G' night, y'all!

4 comments:

Erica Dirba said...

Favorite. Post. EVER! Love love loveeeeeeeeee it! :) Thank you for everything. You're the best! And Braelyn's room turned out sooo cute. I'm a little jealous of her princess canopy! I wonder if I could talk John into one of those... ;)

mandi said...

Sweet girl! Her room looks great. Levi is five today. So weird.

I was wondering why you were taller than Erica in that picture- so FUNNY!

Carole-Marie Wiser said...

The painting with a twist looks like so much fun! I'm going to ask my mom to go with me for a mother/daughter date when I go back to Houston for Christmas break.

I'm also in Thailand right now and while Braelyn may someday outgrow Hello Kitty, girls here do not! There is Hello Kitty stuff for ALL ages EVERYWHERE!!!

Carole-Marie Wiser said...

Oh! Also, I feel like you may really enjoy a site called Pinterest. It has some really cool DIY ideas as well as cute stuff that can be customized depending on what boards you follow. My roommate introduced me to it and now all my friends are on it as well. www.pinterest.com