18 August 2016
Surprise! Lisa (unintentionally) tricked many of you with her shower outfit post from last week. Though the dress she wore to her shower had stripes, it was also white, which meant it was a perfect fit for theme no. 2! Though I adored all of the options (especially that juicy fruit one!!), a classic, fresh, all-white soiree was just right for my oh-so-classic pal.
Because I flew solo as the host, planning for this shower was a little different than past parties. On the one hand, I loved having complete artistic freedom (ha!), but I did have to carefully navigate all of the prep work and the expenses. Here’s how it went down!
Lisa LOVES a good invitation suite (girl after my own heart), so I splurged on this silver foil beauty from Minted. She says she’s keeping it forever, so I count it as a win :)
The guests did a fabulous job of dressing for the occasion! I know how much it meant to me to have the chance to gather with family and dear friends before June arrived, so it was sweet to play a small role in Lisa coming together with her dear ones — including her mom, sisters, mother-in-law, and family-friends-who-are-almost-sisters pictured here.
Girl LOVES her some brunch, so I knew that’s the meal we’d be serving. I made a few of the items, supplemented with some favorite store-bought goodies, and relied on friends to pick up a few. This was our menu:
— cucumber sandwiches (homemade)
— cheese board with fruit and baguettes (put together by a friend)
— mini pancake stacks (Trader Joe’s)
— chicken minis (a friend picked up from Chick-fil-a)
— mini lemon scones (Whole Foods)
— deviled eggs (homemade)
— lemonade, coffee, tea, ice water
Let’s talk about those peonies for a minute. White peonies in July?! If you know your wedding flowers, you know this is highly unusual. Turns out a friend of mine had seen peonies at her Trader Joe’s the week before, so I called mine and asked about ordering some (they can custom order flowers for you if you call ahead, FYI!). The TJ’s gal said she couldn’t guarantee anything because peonies aren’t in season, but that she would call me if they came in. She did end up calling me, and the peonies did come in. However, because they had mold on them, she couldn’t sell them to me — BUT if I wanted them, I could have them for free! (!!!) After removing brown petals from a few stems and tossing a few others, I was left with about three dozen gorgeous white peonies. Thank you, mold!
I also set up a separate dessert table with lots of bite-size treats. Our sweets menu:
— mini vanilla cupcakes (Whole Foods)
— mini pecan pies (made by Lisa’s mama)
— gourmet donuts cut into quarters (brought by a friend)
— chocolate and vanilla macarons (Trader Joe’s)
— chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet cake pops from Sugar Euphoria
We didn’t play any games, just chatted and ate and opened presents. I also had each of the ladies go around in a circle and offer Lisa encouragement as to why she’s going to be a great mama, which is similar to something I loved at my bridal shower.
And, everyone filled out two cards before they left. One was for Lisa (above), and the other was for her little boy. I’m not sharing it here because it included his name, but it was pretty much pirated from my baby shower :)
Lisa, you are thoughtful, smart, sentimental, intuitive, and loving, and you are going to be a wonderful mama. I can’t wait to walk beside you as you grow into your new role and was so happy to celebrate you last month. Much love to you!!
P.S. Lisa recapped the shower on her blog, too — see it here!
12 August 2016
I have had the pleasure of knowing Lisa Kirk for three years. We are each other’s right hand at work, and through endless hours of back-and-forth chatter across our desks and extensive road trips around the South, I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. (Actually, let’s be real: I probably know her better than 90% of the people in my life.) We also happen to be very similar. So, it’s hard to think of an easier assignment than planning a perfectly fitting baby shower for this sweet, dear friend of mine!
I got a little overexcited and dreamed up three concepts, then left the final choice up to Lisa. Before I share the photos from the shower, I thought I’d share the three options I presented her with and y’all can guess which one she chose!
Credits clockwise from top left: unknown, unknown, Serena & Lily, photo by Megan Robinson via 100 Layer Cake
Up first: Stripes and Chambray! This theme celebrated a few of Lisa’s favorite things, with a little denim thrown in as a nod to her baby boy and a little gold to keep things girly. Guests would be encouraged to wear their best stripes :)
100 Layer Cakelet, 100 Layer Cake, unknown, photo by 822 Weddings via Snippet & Ink
Second option: Summer Whites! This shower would have a soft French flair. The color palette would be almost completely white, with small silver accents. Guests would, of course, be invited to wear white!
Oh Happy Day, Tell Love and Party, Cup of Jo, How Sweet It Is, Evelyn Henson
Third option: Fruit Punch! Inspired by Lisa’s main pregnancy craving (fresh fruit!), this shower would be anchored with a monochromatic fruit salad, watercolor details, and a few fruity puns.
I’d love to hear: Which is your favorite? Which one do you think Lisa picked?
Psst… see her actual shower here!
10 March 2016
I have so many posts that involve Miss June in the queue! Posts about her birth, her nursery, books I read while pregnant, the first six weeks, and her newborn photos are all in various stages of completion… but today, since I’m definitely not going in chronological order, I wanted to share the photos from my North Carolina baby shower!
Before I do, however, I have to mention that I also had a wonderful baby shower in Connecticut, hosted by my sisters-in-law, Natalie and Marget. This one was much larger – maybe 40 guests, including extended family, childhood friends, high school friends, college friends, and my Mom’s friends :) It was in a cozy room with a fireplace at the Norwich Inn & Spa, and the favors were the adorable sugar cookies below! Even though I don’t have too many photos from it, I treasured this day, and the chance to see so many New England loved ones, SO much. The thoughtful details by my two main Thomas squeezes were just the icing on the cake!
My second shower, in North Carolina, I DO have photos from – mainly because a talented photographer was the co-hostess. You may recall that I co-hosted a woodland-themed baby shower for sweet Nancy back in the spring, and I was tickled that she volunteered to team up with my sisters and return the favor a few months later!
My younger sister Kim and Nancy took the lead on organizing everything, and they did an amazing job. They decided on a “blueberry” theme, a nod to our nickname for June while I was pregnant. There were SO many sweet details – here’s a peek!
My older sister Kate unleashed all of her pent up miniature food recipes on this gathering, and it was glorious. Treats included mini Caesar salads in parmesan cups, mini pulled pork tacos, mini cups of mac and cheese, mini stuffed peppers, and cucumber tea sandwiches. Ashley Cakes contributed adorable sweets, including mini cupcakes and hand-painted cookies!
Finally, the gals thought up the cutest shower activity. Since June’s nursery has a light horse theme, they provided a little plastic horse for each guest to paint. I know she (or at the very least, I) will love playing with them in a few years!!
For more photos from the shower and for Nancy’s perspective, take a peek at our feature on The Little Umbrella! Big hugs again to these ladies for arranging this special day for me!
P.S. My little niece below – ha!!
Photography: Nancy Ray | Invitations: Minted | Bonjour Blueberry print: Maison Everett | Flowers: English Garden Raleigh | Sweets: Ashley Cakes
22 December 2015
I loved our five Christmas card finalists so much that I would have been thrilled to send out any of them, but in the end, we went with the design that y’all loved best, and that was so undeniably perfect for our upcoming year:
It’s the Wonder Filled design by Baumbirdy from the geniuses at Minted. Our photo was taken by the talented Perry Vaile!
Since our card design was simple and black and white, we didn’t add any color to the newsletter, either. It’s crazy to think of all the milestones we’ll have to squeeze onto the 2016 version!!
I love that many of our news items aren’t news to y’all, like our dativersary, Articles Club, pumpkin and soup night, and of course, our trip to France! It really is a joy to share with and learn from you all, and, in turn, to be invited into your lives! Which brings me to your very own handwritten note, because no Thomas Christmas card would be complete without one:
Thomas Christmas cards are also not complete without recognition of why we send cards at Christmas in the first place. Though sometimes it seems unavoidable, we don’t want our cards to be all about us. We send them out at Christmas to share our joy at the birth of our Savior with the people we love the most, and we want to remind people of that in a personal way. So, we’ve taken to including a few thoughts on what Christmas means to us, and a favorite piece of scripture. We went with a classic this year :)
I’m not sure if I’ll be back between now and my annual year in review, as we have lots of family arriving shortly for an extended visit (YAY!). But, I’m already so excited to share a look back and a look forward to what should be a very interesting year… I’ve been working on my goals with the PowerSheets, and I can’t wait to discuss!
P.S. Our cards from 2014, 2013, and 2012!