Breakfast at Tiffany's Bridal Shower.

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

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Can I just say how awesome I think it is that I've passed along the 

"take on too much and still rock the house" genes onto another generation?

Now that's something to be proud of.

This little bean (oldest daughter) orchestrated a fantabulous bridal shower yesterday for her little sis.

She accomplished this while tackling college finals.

And work.

And Christmas.  

Maddie does nothing without tackling it.

(the spread with slideshow featuring famous Audrey Hepburn quotes and pics of the couple-to-be)

Here's the Guest of Honor herself, daughter Kristen 

(wearing Maddie's wedding veil....awwwww):

Thankfully, most of the decor was recycled from Maddie's own wedding.

(see pics here and here).

But not the cupcakes.  

That would be gross.

The flower arrangements were, as I mentioned, from Maddie's wedding,

 and were all designed by my talented mama.

I made the cupcake serving platters with Dollar Store candlesticks, plates/bowls and epoxy glue.

(fairly lights with mini-muffin papers)

(keepsake printouts Maddie designed)

(Who knew salt and sugar dispensers could round out a centerpiece?)

Maddie had a partner in crime (besides myself), her other lil' sis Gracie:

(notice iPhone in death grip.)

I mostly contributed moral support and some decor from home, 

but I did manage to make a big pennant banner, 

which of course no one snapped a picture of.

But you can see a blurry bit of  it in the background here, in this goofy pic of Kristen:

(it said "he put a ring on it")

Almost every gal wore black as requested....

We played a super hilarious game where Maddie had asked Kristen's fiance questions, 

and we had to guess how many Kristen would answer correctly.

The sweetest one was:

"What's your favorite quality about Kristen?"

He said: "She's the most unitentionally funny person I know."

Sah-weet!

(this is who she gets it from....sporting a new curly-do,

 'cause evidently that's what I do when my kids get married, get permed.

Which is better, I suppose, than to get sloshed.)

Then there were the presents.

The two wee helpers are cousins, the one on the right will be in the wedding.

She informs me she will be 'soooo beee-oooo-ti-ful' that day.

Then everyone divided up into two teams to design wedding gowns for Kristen and Maddie.

Outta toilet paper.

I'm tellin' ya, set a group of women to work with ANYTHING,

and they'll create magic.

Here's Maddie's gown, which the judges deemed the winner (mostly because Kristen went all Bridezilla on us and ripped her bow out of her hair!)
Doesn't she look right out of the roarin' 20's?

My favorite pic of the day:

Kristen with my mama.

Kudos to my awesome daughter Maddie for throwing the perfectly elegant and totally fun par-tay!

You owned it Schmodie!

Edited to add this to Donna's Saturday Nite Special Party Themed link-up.

The Garden Party and a plethora of pics.

So I'm only a few days late posting pictures from the super awesome dinner party to celebrate my bff Clara and her hubs Herb's 40th anniversary.  

(I posted about the burlap wine sleeve previously, with links to all things Clara HERE) 

So without further ado, may I present the goods...er, the cutie-patooties themselves and the divine digs and decadent deliciousness of last Saturday...

Here's them in 1971-ish

Yes, they are extremely cute.

The table....which was decorated superbly by Clara's sister Deb.

Deb sewed up all the runners herself.  

 My cute hubs...now how did that slip in here?

 Chatting it up with Clara next to her out-of-control-amazing garden....

Speaking of which, here's some more shots of garden candy for those who don't kill stuff off within 3 days.  

Not that I'd be in that group, you understand *ahem*

I maybe ate one or twelve of these bitty 'maters.  Clara, you didn't just read that.

Looking back toward the house...

Where was I?  Oh yeah, the food.....which was prepared by her two daughters-in-law, Holly and Jennifer.  

bread and buttah...

UNBELIEVEABLE spinach and berry salad with poppy and sesame seeds.  OMGah.

Fettucini Alfredo with snow peas. Again, seriously yum.

 Clara's nieces (Deb's daughters) who served us at table, mostly keeping the wine flowing.

Yes, they're of age.

Herb listens, teary-eyed to another "how you guys' 40 year marriage has impacted me" speeches after we chowed. 

(I may or may not have continued to chow....)  

The dinner party consisted of her family, and 4 other couples considered dear friends.

....obviously I strutted around like a peacock knowing that. 

Except I wore yellow.

Here's what I wore, by the way. 

In all it's over-exposed glory.  Please notice and comment on my cute hair flower. 

 Thanks.

So after the big outdoor meal, Clara (in pure Clara style) recruited us to quickly switch everything up for the big Open House to follow.  

One of her DIL's got busy with the next table of goodies....

More goodies.  Cream puffs and mini cheese cakes. 

Again, I may have eaten one or 12 of these.  

Ok, maybe just 10.

 Here's the spread all set up in her house.....

Fruit kabobs.

Stuff I can't pronounce.  

This was hanging behind the food spread, and what a great idea! Click it to make it bigger...

Outside, the guys set up the bar area.  Seriously, how cute is this?

Of course I stayed saved and only drank the no-alcohol.  

Ok, that's a lie.

I love how she decorates every corner of her house.  Look how she painted just the panels on that antique cabinet?!  GOR-Jus.

Here's some more shots of the grounds around the house (the earlier dinner party was held further behind the house in "their field".)  Fairy lights.....

This is her side yard.

Waiting for other guests to start arriving....

Looking toward the back of the house from the garden....

(that may or may not be my hubs again....)

The tables in the yard were for chatting and gambling for those not interested in staying saved. 

 If you were REALLY not interested in staying saved, they set up a Black Jack table and a Roulette Wheel.

No Christians were harmed in the playing of these games.  

(Oh, and no real money was used.  The one with the most chips by the end of the night got themselves a dandy bottle of wine...to be drunk only if you didn't want to stay saved.)

Clara mingles with aliens......and tries to make her arms do the same magic as her alien guest's mouth.  

I'd say she was successful.

DIL Jennifer is the House Dealer for Black Jack, her daughter Hannah looks on.

Her hubs Jonathan mans the Roulette Wheel.  That's Clara's sis Deb in the foreground, responsible for the lovely table set up in the beginning.  

And Tom, who is, well....you just gotta know Tom.

A marvelous time was had by all. Picture-perfect weather, great crowd, fabulous food, awesome hosts.

 Most of us stayed saved.  

Not sure about Tom.  

Here's to another 40 years of blessed wedded bliss, 

with many more evenings spent with really decent folks and excellent wine.  

Herb and Clara, you two are totally inspiring, fiercely humble, terrifically fun, and much loved. 

Thanks for letting us celebrate with you.