recommendation: themed party ideas

Still completely obsessed with the royal wedding and Katherine & William (proof is in the $6 collectors stamp I just bought on USPS! Ha!), I came across this great theme party on HostessBlog.com and thought a lot of the ideas were useable for other parties so had to share it. I'm a HUGE fan of themes and matching everything that you can (thanks to my mom!). Not to mention I love the colors – maize & blue means… Goooooo Michigan! Using different signage or perhaps colors, some of these ideas would be great for a graduation party, bridal shower, or birthday party. Here are my recommendations:

- Flower balls in a teacup – I love it! These would be great décor for a bridal shower (My mom did floating flowers in antique teacups for mine!). There are a lot of luxe flowers in these arrangements but daisies and mums would work great as they are inexpensive. Spider Mums and gerber daises are larger flowers that would work well if you want to pop the heads off and float them instead.

- Ornate Picture Frames for Drink and Food Menus – these would work great for any party that has a complicated menu that needs to be displayed. Are even great for weddings. I think its a quick and easy way to step it up and show that you put some thought into decor and theme-ing your party. If its a shower, you can frame the invite, or a picture of the couple. I saw frames like this recently at Target – hurry over!
- Izzy soda’s – these have always been on my recommended list – they are great for kids and adults, have fun flavors (I’m a fan of apple) and are pretty for a tabletop

- Liquor Specific to the event – for the British Wedding they went with Pimm’s.
Pimms is actually a great summertime liquor - its refreshing, you can mix with sprite, ginger ale, soda water, lemonade or iced tea and you can add lemons, raspberries or cucumbers... We made it for a family BBQ and everyone went for one!
- Mini cupcakes - these are easier for people to eat. I've never made them, I would think they are pretty easy, but if you need a quick way out - Trader Joes has some cute vanilla ones. Mini ice cream sandwiches, brownie bites (try sweet moments!), or a small assortment of cookies would work well too. By giving small sizes, people don't feel as guilty trying one of everything!

recommendation: top five (x 3!) – social media/best of web edition

top5 sites I visit on a regular basis:
- Drugstore.com – reasons already stated, see previous post
- Celebritybabyscoop.com - to feed my celebrity obsession further, I am now obsessed with their babies
- Opentable.com – I heavily rely on this site to steer us in the right direction for our dining needs, what to try, what works best for groups, etc. Plus the app on my phone is so easy to use. They have it for Ann Arbor & Detroit too my Michigan peeps!
- Yelp.com – use site for feedback on local restaurants, companies, and stores
- Cookinglight.com – we *try* to eat healthy so I normally plan to make at least one recipe per week from Cooking Light magazine or online recipe box

top5 blogs:
- Vegonomics - my economical vegetarian sister full of helpful and healthful tips
- Peas in a Pod – my sister’s friend and her mom take turns posting, think this is such a cute idea
- Lauren Goes Shopping - my sister’s friend’s an expert at shopping and has great style
- Candice Kumai – Stiletto Chef- love this pretty site and just ordered her cookbook… reviews to come soon!
- Hostess Blog - I love to look at the pictures on this site to get ideas. Eye candy for event planners.

top5 email newsletters:
- Refinery 29 - this website has started fueling ideas for my blog posts – hip Chicago specific recommendations. Love the slideshows. A new favorite.
- Dailycandy– offers a ‘curated guide to Everywhere’ – has Chicago specific as well as other cities, sends daily deal with info, inside scoop, or special offer on restaurants, bars, fashion, shops, spas, events, etc.
- WhoWhatWear – celebrity style & fashion, love the ‘lookbook’ style pages
- Tastingtable– daily email for adventurous eaters
- Martha Stewart Crafts – daily email with a craft project. In true Martha style, the are normally overly involved but I like the ones aimed towards kids as they are easier, and there are some great basic ideas that come through on these

recommendation: shower a friend with a sprinkle

quite a few of my friends are on their second babies now and coincidentally, they all have girls and are all having girls! poking around on one of my favorite sites, I found this blog posting about a 'umbrella and rain' themed sprinkle (smaller shower for a 2nd baby). i fell in love with the colors, details, dishes, and especially signage. don't you just love it?

i'm a huge fan of themes, i credit my mom who proves that everything is more fun with a theme and it really does pull together all of the little details for a party that makes it a beautiful affair.

see more pictures and the full post by hostessblog.com here

i think the point of a sprinkle is to spoil the parents with gifts that are fun, since they already have a lot of necessities from the first baby.
here are some adorable finds:

- handmade mobile by Gifts Define: i LOVE the birds and clouds on these!

- anything from baby gap - love this 'spring lookbook' for baby girls

- threadless makes funky t's for those hipster parents out there

- aden + anais make muslin swaddle blankets that are breathable for summer babies. my friend anne told me about these and her mom handmade simliar blankets for her first baby. expensive but so practical!