My Latest Obsessions

Cate's First Communion

Happy Friday! I've heard a few folks lately say that May is the new December - and I have to agree. We have the frenzied four week onslaught of May Madness (end of the school year craziness, spring sports, year-end parties, First Communions/Graduations/Mother's Day, and then gearing up for the various summer activities).

We had CMC's First Communion this past Sunday. Miss Cate looked so beautiful. It made me think back to when I met her 4 years ago this spring (and wow, she has grown up so much). She wore my youngest sister Carrie's First Communion dress (made by my maternal grandmother). So meaningful. We had a family celebration back at our house for Miss Cate and her cousin. She and her cousin were First Communicants together during the same mass which made for a doubly enjoyable day!

And now we are approaching Mother's Day weekend!! Being a mom myself I have an entirely new level of respect for my own Mom. So, Happy Mother's Day, JuJu (and we are all in countdown mode to see her in a few weeks - hooray)!  The gals and Georgie have been working on their items to include in our Mother's Day packages for all 4 grandmothers. This year we used pics from Easter and made these adorable Accordion Brag Books from Pinhole Press. They turned out super cute! And this past Monday was the 6th year anniversary of the passing of C + M's angel Mom.  I think of her often and she is always with me.

Wishing all of the mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day! CHEERS to one of the toughest yet most rewarding jobs out there! I've posted this before, but I must do so again as it is really FAB = a P&G commercial re: Moms and the London 2012 Olympics. Hoping that all of you have fun plans for the weekend. As part of my Mother's Day weekend I'm hanging out w/ my sister Stephie tomorrow morning for some much needed sister time. We are getting mani/pedis and then hitting some of our faves = Anthro and Lululemon (excited as I have some gift cards to spend!).  And we'll end w/ some chats over lunch. And then on Mother's Day all of us are heading to Bleeding Heart Bakery and Cafe in West Town for brunch. YUMMY! And best of all PFC is taking the kiddos out of the house early Sunday morning so I can sleep in (= a pure luxury)!

Some of my latest faves:

• LOVING these adorable Stamped Party Cups = such a fun and easy way to brighten up some plain white cups. 
• Target launched The Shops earlier in the week. The items from The Candy Store are very cute and look YUMMY. I did buy some of the square lollipops - as I was totally sucked in by the pretty packaging. I mean, how can you turn down a lollipop w/ Necco Wafers in them?! Here's what you can buy in the original SF The Candy Store. Cute gummy butterflies!  And then how about these adorable Nautical Pink Toe Cap flats from The Webster (for Target)!? Very cute. 
• GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS = a friend of mine's wedding invitations - featured on the lovely Oh So Beautiful Paper. And since we are in bridal mode - check out this brilliant and thoughtful and clever Bride Kit DIY. Oh, and how fantastic (for all those paper lovers out there - myself included) are these paper wedding toppers?! LOVE them. And here are some great wedding etsy finds. 
• I stumbled upon this hedgehog wrapping paper = simply adorable. OMG, so love this paper! It reminds me of the hedgehog letterpress coasters and notes we put in our wedding goody bags for out of town guests. Oh, and I LOVE these letterpress owl coasters. These would make such a cute hostess gift. LOVE THEM! I may need to buy some to have on hand.
• We have a stash of quart sized ball mason jars (leftovers from our Cowboy Cookie Mixes) so we pulled them out to fill w/ flowers for CMC's First Communion party to scatter around the house. I love the look of small vases with uneven and loose floral arrangements. Trader Joe's always has such great flowers (and cheap too) - so we bought lots of bunches of various flowers and filled the jars. So pretty. And in doing so I discovered a new fave flower = Ranunculus (here are some ideas for arrangements using my new fave flower). And so timely was Goop's post on Flower Arranging by Vase. 
• A friend of mine recently made some really lovely terrariums. Here is a DIY Terrariums with Terrain for inspiration. Wouldn't it be fun to take a workshop at Terrain?! 
• YUMMY and fun looking rainbow cookies = MUST try. 
• Next week I'm taking this silhouette making class with a friend. I want to do one of each of our kiddos. How fun! 
• How cute are these stylish french made ballet flats (for kiddos)?! LOVE. 

Have a wonderful weekend! The sun is shining here in Chicago (thank goodness as it has been RAINY for quite some time). And Happy Mother's Day (again) for all the mothers out there.