baby, baby, baby oooh

Last weekend my sister Erin and I (+ mom) hosted a baby shower for our little sister, Jill.

Newsflash: Jill and Alex are having a baby and I am finally getting a local niece or nephew!!! Thanks guys.

As you may know, I love planning a party so I got to it early on… so early, that I may of leaked the big news to some of her friends accidentally. Busted.

* * *

First up, the invite: And because I truly believe in mailing out invites – I am including a sample of the envelope too. The invitees has custom address labels. Tip: I like to purchase somewhat-related stamps when sending invites!
Decor: I made a few banners for the party room and the front window. I bought some flowers and pulled out that springy table clothes. Easy! We also had some balloons and raindrop banners outside but again, I forgot to take a pictures. Tip: Buy a cute crib sheet (last photo) and use as a table covering – then give it to the mom when the party is over!Favours: This is when Pinterest makes you do things you don’t need to do… like favours for a baby shower. Simple but cute although Mike’s comment was that the popcorn has already popped and I should of filled the bags with kernels. Um, no – not pretty. Tip: Avoid Pinterest and ignore your husband. Games: Erin planned a few games – one being Trivia because Jill is a trivia nut. It’s a fun addition to a party and no one in my house was forced to smell diapers with random brown stuff in them. Tip: Have paper and pens ready to go so your games look legit.

Erin’s Ten Trivia Questions

Q: How many children did Queen Victoria have? Bonus point if you can name one.
A: Nine – Victoria, Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, Beatrice

Q: Name one of the top three baby girls name in 1916?
A: Mary, Helen, Dorothy

Q: Originally Pampers diapers used pins. In what decade was the pin replaced with Tape?
A: 1970s

Q: What percentage of babies are born on their due date?
A: 5%

Q: In 1928 the Gerber company introduced its first line of strained foods. Name one the first varieties.
A: peas, prunes, carrots, spinach and beef vegetable soup

Q: How much did the heaviest baby born on record weigh?
A: 22 pounds, 8 ounces (Italy, 1955) (Somebody sure carb loaded!)

Q: In what year did Uncle Jessie and Aunt Becky (from Full House) give birth to twins. Bonus points if you can name them.
A: 1991 – Nicky and Alex

Q: What is a baby owl called?
A: Owlet of Fledging

Q: What Michael Jackson song topped the charts the month Jill was born (May 1983)?
A: Beat It!

Q: Jill’s baby is due in July. What is the birthstone of this month?
A: Ruby

Food: We had 32 guests from the age of 7 months to 91 years-young! All female, except the dog. We served mimosas, perrier, tea and juice packs for drinks and all of the food was utensil-free. The spread included chocolate and carrot cupcakes made by mom, lemon poppy seed loaf, homemade sprinkle fortune cookies, cheese and charcuterie boards, traditional devilled eggs, beet-pickled devilled eggs, a cheese ball with maple syrup, guacamole, artichoke dip, veggies, a baguette and skewers (feta + watermelon + mint) (bocconcini + tomato + basil) (an idea I got from another baby shower I attended). Tip: If you decided to make homemade sprinkle fortune cookies, be sure to let your guests know you put fortunes in them! So that’s it. Another party over. I said I’d host 12 parties in 2016 and this is party #3. I have to step it up!

My apologies – I got so caught up in serving mimosas and catching up with all the lovely ladies that I didn’t take any pictures at the event BUT as a dedicated blogger / designer / party planner – I got lots of detail shots! Hah.

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and on the seventh year we partied

Posted by meghanrushton

I feel like a bit of a party-pooper for saying this, but kids parties are not as fun as I always expect them to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love planning and hosting events but it’s exhausting and somewhat unrewarding to party with 5 six-to-eight year old boys.

A few months ago I started talking with my client (child) about what he wanted his seventh birthday party to be. Pool party, house party, bowling? He suggested a Citadel Hill party but the weather is way too iffy in April to pull that off.

I will do a lot for my son but I will not stand on the highest peak in Halifax freezing my bum off for two hours while a bunch of kids run around playing ‘war’ in an historic site that does not have central heating.

In the middle of our planning, right before I was about to book the local pool, the Halifax Hurricanes came to David’s school and although he doesn’t have a huge interest in basketball, he became an instafan of the Hurricane’s and had a slight brush with fame:And so we decided it’d be fun to take some friends to a game. Obviously I got planning and decided to add a pizza party to the occasion so I could: A. Spend time with the parents and B. Check another party off my must host 12 parties in 2016 list.

Take a look!Invites and VIP Guest Passes : the guest pass was my backup in case I lost one of them – they wore them around their neck the whole time. Treat bags – rather than having a heyday at the Dollar Store, I ordered team shirts for each of them from The Lost Cod Clothing Co, and I raided my pantry fro snacks to avoid expensive canteen popcorn. What’s a party without a giant balloon?
Non matching table ware. Don’t care. Cupcakes! Barefoot Contessa’s Chocolate Cake recipe + Martha Stewart’s Cream Cheese Frosting recipeThe boys. The energy was wild…David and I made a bb ball banner

Until next year… although, I think I’ll hire a babysitter to entertain them and just party with their parents. Ha.

See other birthday parties here here and here

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do it in the morning

Posted by meghanrushton

One of my Sweet Sixteen goals is to host 12 parties. Is that a lot? I think I need to stock up on candles.

I have a few ideas up my sleeve – and have heard some good ones from friends – making me excited to dive in to this adventure.

Right before we rang in the new year, we had a brunch at our house to celebrate a friend who was in town. Nothing big – just nine adults and four kids – and it was lovely. Everyone brought something and it was a carb-loading good time. After all was said and done, Mike commented that it’s fun to have a morning event, it means your whole day isn’t consumed with party planning and cleaning. I agree!

So a brunch in 2016 is on the list… perhaps another pizza night, maybe tacos? Here are some other ideas:

A wine and cheeser giphy (3)

On the seventh ~~day god rested~~ year we partied! (David’s birthday) giphy (1)

Pretty in Pink corsage (or some kind of flower) making party giphy (2)

Girl You Know It’s True. Lip Sync battle

These are a few of our favourite things gift exchange party giphy

A backyard-again (another backyard party) backyardigans-dance-o

Let me know if you have any other good ideas (but no tupperware please)!

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All gifs from giphy (backyardigans gifsouf)

when the moon hits your eye

Posted by meghanrushton

… like a big pizza pie that’s amore.

I’ve been talking about starting up Friday Night Pizza Night for a long time but here’s the thing, it’s complicated! In the fall, David had swimming at 6pm every Friday night so it couldn’t happen but now that it is a new year, his lessons are on Mondays, it’s too cold to go out and too dark to roam the streets, I think the timing is perfect to start this up:

Here’s the complicated part… I’d like to say every Friday is Friday Night Pizza Night but it won’t be… If Wentworth has snow, we’ll likely be booking it to my parent’s in Pugwash on Friday nights (like this week) so I need some kind of alert letting people know if it’s happening. At the same time, I am not about to spend my week organizing and inviting people because that’s effort and Friday Night Pizza Night is supposed to be spontaneous. And speaking of that, it’s easy to say ‘everyone, come on over for Friday Night Pizza Night (whoever, whenever, as long as it’s a Friday night) but that could get tricky too…

What if no one comes and I waisted 3 hours cleaning the house for no one?
What if 30 people plus their children come and I spend all Saturday cleaning up the aftermath?

See, complicated?

Also, I am a bit of an Emily Post junkie. I hate the thought of inviting people over and making them bring stuff but at the same time, I can’t buy eight bricks of cheese in anticipation. Plus, newsflash, I do not have a huge pizza over in my kitchen so I may need to test the waters in regards to interest and attendance.

So with all this being said, here’s the plan. I hope you like it. It may change.

Friday Night Pizza Night. If you are interested, let me know and send me your phone number (if I don’t already have it) and if it’s a go ahead, I will send a text out on the Wednesday. If you and your family can come, send me a private text back letting me know. Of course, no pressure to come every time, only when you want to. Simple, right?
Bring a ‘ready-to-pop-in-the-oven pizza. It can be homemade or a McCain Rising Crust 4 Cheese Pizza… I don’t care, we don’t judge. Or, if you want to show off your mad dough rolling skillz, bring all the ingredients with you and make it on site.*
We will keep the fridge stocked with juice boxes for the kids but if you want beer, wine or pop bring that too. No need to bring stuff for others and no need to share but I’ll have a few munchies to snack on in case the oven line up is long. With that being said, if you are dying to share a new recipe with others, by all means, we love a sharer. Especially if said sharer is a chef.
Friday Night Pizza Night will start at 6:00 pm. Kids are welcome but make sure they have something to eat too. Also, make sure they are house-trained. Just kidding… kind of. Seriously, I am locking the lego cabinet and putting the puzzles and games up high but will have a movie playing – they’re welcome.

Perhaps when winter is over, we can relocate to the Park Avenue Community Oven but I am not sure on their schedule (I will ask)(Jeff?)(Sarah?).

I hope this interests local friends. It’s hard seeing each other, especially when there are kids and busy schedules to juggle, but it is important to make an effort. So let me know and I will let you know. Hopefully we can make this happen once, or twice a month. That’d be awesome.

Feel free to offer any insight!

*Our kitchen is not nut-free, vegan or kosher. Please keep that in mind.

Photo of David and Libby taken well over a year ago at Dartmouth’s Park Avenue Community Oven

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meanwhile, elsewhere

Posted by meghanrushton

Friday’s online finds: Inspirational, educational or just silly. Here is what I found this week…

One last SERIAL link (unless there is new news… please let there be new news)
Okay… seriously, this is the last SERIAL link
This is for Mike and his beard
To-go
Is it that hard?
Well I would too
The value of creative talent
What other book clubs are reading
Did you go to your office party? Where is SANTA CLAUSSSSS

Have a lovely weekend! Today is my nephew’s birthday and I get to see him Sunday so that is awesome.

And finally, it is very rare we snap a family photo but I decided take one for our Christmas cards – a timer-selfie, can you tell I sprinted back just in time?

psst. If you like what you’re reading, please subscribe and share. xomeg

Hello Sunshine

LIFE • INSPIRATION • DESIGN

party

baby, baby, baby oooh

and on the seventh year we partied

do it in the morning

meanwhile, elsewhere