sweet little cakes and a simple little 'scape

Happy Easter!

I spent Saturday baking Easter cupcakes for the first Easter dinner Mark and I hosted in our home. I found the cutest liners, crackers and napkins for my tablescape, and used the arrangement from my first floral design class for the centerpiece. {The candles and burlap runner were from my wedding tablescapes.}

~butter and eggs captured with my new lens~

~pretty liners found on sale: pink & yellow petals for vanilla and chocolate cakes~

~the first time I EVER over-portioned~

~completely unsalvageable~

~cupcake toppers~

~napkins from ikea and crackers from sur la table~

~simple tablescape with plenty of room for the food~

life lately

A few snapshots of what I've been up to during my hibernation.

Handmade banner and Christmas cards from friends and family.

Setting the stage for our New Year's Eve eve family dinner {mark and I hosted 14 people!}

Festive fingers - gold and glittery for the new year.

Canadian water has made its way on to grocery store shelves. {p.s. it's delicious}

happy halloween!

This weekend, I spent time with Superman and Bumblebee. How lucky am I?

~my nephews in their costumes at their school's fall carnival~

This year, I didn't dress up myself - or my house, really, since we're still unpacking - but I'm loving this festive look. And with Halloween decorations on sale now, I can stock up on items at a discount. Who doesn't love that?

~via~

Happy Halloween!

weekend recap

This weekend was hectic, but we're {nearly} all moved in to our new home.  And in between the madness, we still managed to have some fun {Friday night, I went to a little dive bar with my friend, Diana, to see her boyfriend's band play while Mark had hockey games two nights in a row}.

~officially changed my last name at the social security building in downtown phoenix~

~painting the inside of the pantry a dark grey~

~my handy dad {along with mark} painting one of our guest rooms a lovely lavender~

~good morning! the view from my bedroom~

speaking of weddings...

A few wonderful things came in the mail yesterday {i love getting packages...} but the most wonderful was a wedding gift from two of Mark's friends in Canada. The surprise was carefully packed in paper and sealed with a Papyrus hummingbird sticker {i'm obsessed with their cards, so this detail really got me excited for what could be inside}. And what was inside?

Our wedding invitation.

Mounted in a matching blue-gray frame and mat.

What a perfect wedding gift! It's so personal and romantic. I cannot wait to hang it alongside our engagement and wedding photos in our new home. It's going to look amazing - just wait.

a surprise proposal

Who doesn't love an amazing proposal? Girls dream of how, when and where the man of their dreams will ask them to be his forever. But can you imagine being this girl?

The amazing two-part proposal below was created, choreographed and coordinated by Mark's cousin, Markwell. I wish I could have been there to see it first-hand, but I'm so glad he and his friends captured it.

Congratulations!

the perfect long weekend

We spent our Labor Day weekend relaxing in the pines of Northern Arizona with my folks. They have a cozy cottage 30 minutes outside of Payson and it's just perfect. We checked out an arts and craft fair, ate tons of good food, watched movies and made s'mores.

~in downtown Pine~

~he wanted so badly to win~

~the pepper jelly lady~

~i got a freshly squeezed lemonade and tossed some of Mark's strawberry flavored shave ice - instant strawberry lemonade!~

~the creek near my parents place~

A long weekend worth of happy hearts and happy tummies.

le shower

Saturday, my bridesmaids threw me the most amazing shower. It took exactly three minutes before I was overwhelmed with emotion and got a little misty. Thankfully, I quickly recovered and had an amazing time.

  my very own parisian cafe, complete with french tunes 



each table had an eiffle tower candle and a french phrase related to love and marriage

some of my favorite photos on display

no shower would be complete without bonbons {there was even an amazing selection of macarons!}

pink lemonade, champagne and mimosas

three generations

a big, beautiful bouquet with love notes from my fiance

"french kiss" favors {sorry, no puppies in pink berets}

Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family for making my shower so amazingly special! And a special thanks to the Mills' {especially Chris} for letting a bunch of women take over the house. And to the photographer for the day - Mrs. Stephanie Gillingham - thank you for capturing the moments I'll treasure forever.

Love you all!

easter...italian-style

As I mentioned here, this Easter Sunday was a special treat. Since Mark and my dad were in Virginia, my sister-in-law invited my mom and I over to celebrate with homemade raviolis, chicken, pork, pasta, salad, bread and lots of dessert.

And there was only five adults and two kids.

But that's the way our holiday meals are. Lots of food, lots of fun and even more love {if you can imagine it}.

~ Nonna and L finishing up the pork ~

~ homemade raviolis from scratch...you can't beat it ~

~ M being goofy with his salad in his teeth ~

~ J checking out the dessert ~

~ tuckered out ~

~ doesn't he look like the cutest zombie ever? S just up from a nap ~