What fun....Noah's One!

Noah getting sweet treats for the first time at his Birthday celebration. I think it is safe to say he is a fan!
We celebrated Noah's 1st Birthday Sunday. What a fun time we had with family and friends. My daughter did all the decorations and they turned out so cute! She wanted a simple look for the cake (idea from inchmark) yet something that would make you think boy. She found what she wanted on some brown wrapping paper with turquoise and green dots that I had and then we copied it for the cake. She made a little party hat for Noah with a 1 on it and put together the sweet candy decorations for the table.

This is my favorite thing my daughter made! We had one picked out on Etsy but she decided she could make one more like she wanted if she did it herself. After seeing how cute it came out I told her she should sell them herself on Etsy.

This was the best part of the party when Noah got to dive into his cake. He was not shy and loved it! The only hard part was when his mommy had to take it away. Let's just say he was not a happy camper.

I love this new red wagon he got and so does he! This is the best wagon for little toddlers. It is made of soft plastic and has two little seats so they can take their friends for a ride. The other cool feature is it comes with seat belts. Such a great design and you can get it at Target. After Noah and Briley got done riding they went and played with his new water table. Water is the best entertainment for kids and they were splashing and having tons of fun with it. All and all it was a perfect 1st Birthday Party and by the time all the guests left Noah was out like a light!

carnival wedding

Wow! The weddings this year are amazing. The designers seem to get more and more creative all the time. Heather from amorology designed this delightful carnival themed wedding. I love this color combination of turquoise and red, so young and playful. Gorgeous photography by Jamie Hammond via:Green Wedding Shoes.

nantucket home

This beautiful Nantucket home gets you in the mood to vacation at a beach house or better yet live in one. Love the watery colors and decor by Frank Roop. The grey color of the countertops in this kitchen is exactly what I want in our next house when we downsize. The granite I have right now is too busy and causes a lot of decorating issues. The soft grey with the white countertops is perfect and so soothing. You can find more details about this house via: Style Carrot.

noah's 1st birthday

My grandson Noah turned 1 today. My kids are in their 20's now so it has been awhile since I have had a little one around. I had forgotten how fun it is. One of my favorite things is how babies love you unconditionally. They love looking at you even if you are not young and hot! If you smile at them and play with them they love you. Such a simple, easy relationship. I also love the way everything is funny to them. We play a game when I change his diaper to keep him still. I give him a spatula and while I change him he touches my nose with it and it makes him belly laugh. I have no idea why it is so funny, but I love it and it makes me laugh too. I am so lucky that a year ago today he came into my life. Happy 1st Birthday Noah!

purple and black

I found out today that my niece's colors for her wedding are going to be purple and black. So unique and dramatic! I went pursing the web to find an inspiration board in those colors and found this beautiful one on Snippet and Ink. It doesn't take much to get me in the wedding mode and now that Laci is getting married I will have an excuse to be on the lookout for more wedding inspiration!

life's unpredictable joys

My niece got engaged this week to a wonderful boy. She is the most amazing and bravest person I have ever known. She fought back cancer twice. When she was 6 she became ill and we were devastated to find out she had leukemia. She bravely endured the treatment and went into remission. We were joyous beyond belief! Then last year at 18 she started getting headaches and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I will never forget being in the hospital and thinking how could this happen again. Laci once again was brave and with a smile on her face you could see she was confident she could beat it again. She sang us a beautiful song that day with half her body paralyzed. I will never forget that day. So fast forward a year and where are we now. No one could have predicted where she would be today. With everyones prayers and Laci's strong spirit a miracle happened and her brain tumor disappeared. Then she met someone wonderful and fell in love! She called me this week to tell me she was engaged and would be married in Jan. When I got off the phone I was overcome with happiness and thought who would ever imagined this last year. Then I remembered Laci's beautiful song that day in the hospital and it occured to me that Laci believed this could happen and then it did!
image: Lisa Hiatt

my dad

This is my favorite picture of me and my Dad. He owned a camera store at the time so he always was taking photos of us. Some of my favorite memories of him are how he loved taking my brothers and sister and I camping every summer in Lil Loafer our tiny trailer. Also how he taught us sailing in The Seven C's our little sabot (there was seven in our family and our last name was Chapman, hence the name). One of the most important lessons he taught me that I have passed down to my children is that life is tough sometimes and you have to hang in there and as he put it " Bite the Bullet". I'm so thankful to him for giving me these wonderful memories of time spent together as a family.

father's day book

I found this darling book for my son-in-law for his first Father's Day last week. It hope that every Dad would aspire to be like the Daddy in this sweet story.

inspiration for the home

Love these rules via thisbloghearsmyconfessions. This would be so perfect to hang in the house to be inspired by every day!

1st birthday

My grandson is turning one soon and he needs a hat and banner in the boy version just like this! Elizabeth from Just Us posted this picture of her daughter on her first birthday and it is one of the cutest things I have seen on a baby celebrating their first birthday.

country wedding

Saw this amazingly beautiful wedding via: Style Me Pretty. Tec Pataja shot the photography in this wedding for a feature in Nashville Lifestyles Magazine. Take a look at the rest of the photos here, they will seriously take your breath away!

outdoor spaces

How beautiful are these outdoor spaces! It puts you in the mood for summer with these great ideas for entertaining family and friends. My daughter who lives in Washington DC went to a lovely birthday party this last weekend. She described the setting to me and when I saw this last picture on the terrace it so reminded me of the party she attended. Modern, sleek and lovely!
photo 1: wide open spaces photo 2: apartment therapy
photo 3: apartment therapy photo 4: apartment therapy

san francisco home

What a charming 1887 home in San Francisco via: Design Sponge. You can see the rest of the lovely design of this home here.

bike tee

Its no secret how much I enjoy going for bike rides. I ride a cruiser just like the one on this tee-shirt so when I saw this via:frolic I was instantly in love! This would also make a great Father's Day gift for all the bike loving men out there.

nancy zhang

How adorable and talented is she! Nancy Zhang illustrates the outfits she wears and then posts them on LOOKBOOK.nu. I just love her style!
via: Where the Lovely Things Are

silver non-matching bridesmaid dresses

It seems lately every post has been about weddings. Since planning my youngest daughters wedding I have been crazy about them. I still have one daughter to go and lots of nieces and nephews that will be getting married before too long. A while ago I did a post on non-matching bridesmaid dresses and I have been on the lookout for more ever since. I love seeing them not matchy-matchy. I found this pretty silver grouping on Sugar Plum Invitations. The short length in the bridesmaids dresses is so cute and lends a playful look to them that I love.

janet hill paintings

I came across these lovely Janet Hill paintings via Oh Happy Day. You can find more of her beautiful work here.

desert fashion story

Loving the clothes and accessories in this Valley of the Doll fashion shoot from WhoWhatWear.
Photography: Justin Coit

aviation themed wedding

This is such an incredible wedding via Style Me Pretty. Their reception was held in a vintage airport hanger. What a perfect way for the Bride and Groom to express their love of flying! I know my daughter is going to absolutely swoon when she sees this as my son-in-law is a pilot and he is in love with all things flying! The photographs by Robert & Kathleen are just beautiful and really capture the mood of the day.

a moment captured

I love Alicia Bock's photography, especially the bike print. You can find more of her work here.