Happy Valentine’s Day!  

This past weekend Mini and I threw a impromptu Valentine’s Day Tea Party.  Why?  Because I am insane.  Normal people don’t plan tea parties in 24 hours.  Women that are 8 months pregnant surely should not.  What can I say?  I want to start traditions for Mini, so pregnant or not…I tea partied on…

I put in place a few rules before I let myself go nuts.

Rule #1: Keep it cheap

Rule #2: Keep it classy

Rule #3: Keep it pre-made

My 3 rules made throwing this party together super easy on me and on my wallet.

I decided to have the tea party poolside.  I set up the buffet on the patio table and we had our lunch on the couch area.  It was informal and adorable.  It’s tough to be formal with a couple of toddlers running around stealing powdered doughnuts.

I raided the “one spot” at Target and the dollar store.  I picked up a table cloth, pink plates, pink napkins, pink silverware, a bag of heart shaped table confetti (which I used in a craft project later on in the week.  Talk about stretching that buck..), and a little pail.

I used a few items I had from other parties to dress the table up.  The silver tall platters are an old score from Home Goods, the silver plates are really the chargers from my dining room table.  You may recognize the glitter candlestick holder from this DIY.  My table was all about re-purposing items around the house to create the look I was going for.  I think it was a success.

Once I had the decor set, I needed a menu.  I bought pre-made mini cupcakes, powdered doughnuts, quiche, mini muffins, and scones.

I made veggie tuna pinwheels, egg salad tea sandwiches, and nutella and strawberry heart shaped sammies for the girls.

I kept it really simple on myself.  I whipped up a container of lemonade and a pitcher of grapefruit mimosas (if you haven’t had one, you’re missing out). and Wah-La.

Tea Party Perfection.

Mini and her cousin Milania looked absolutely adorable.   Between the two of them there was not one cupcake leftover.   I declare Mini’s first annual Valentine’s Day Tea Party a total success.

Here’s a little cousin love for you to gush at.  How cute are they?

Check out the delicious food!

Miss Mini, I hope you had an absolute blast.  I do it all for you.  You are the best Valentine Daddy and I could have asked for.

And Mike….Like mother, like daughter…what can I say…you’re a lucky guy.  XO.

I confess: My belly has gotten so big it is almost impossible for me to bed over.  If I drop something?  Screw it.  Unless it’s a hundred dollar bill, it’s just not worth it.   When I shower I just pray that the soap runs down my legs and self cleans my calves and feet, cause god knows I can only reach down past my knees every few days.  That being said, I have learned that it doesn’t.  I recently crossed my legs and found some sand stuck to the back of my calf that I believe has been stuck there for more days then I care to admit.

I confess: I tell people that I understand 95% of what Mini says.  That is an extreme over-exaggeration.  Sure I understand more than you will because I spend 24/7 with her.  But when she asks me a question in what is clearly A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, you cannot possibly think I knew what the hell she just said!  So yes, I pretend I did, and answer her however I see fit.

I confess: I am a hoarder.  I think I need to go to a meeting.  The fact that I coupon means at any given time I have 150 rolls of toilet paper or 16 bottles of bbq sauce.   This isn’t even the problem, although my husband likes to think it is.  This issue is that I cannot part with old, broken things.  Things that I have no use for.  I realized this was a problem when I wanted to keep a box of old checks from a closed account and call them a “memory”.  Because you just don’t throw out memories.  Or old checkbooks.

I confess: Out of the 21 meals I served Mini last week, she ate breakfast for 15 of them.  What can I say..when the kid says pancakes she gets pancakes.

Got something to confess??? Leave a comment or LINK up!

Last week we made the trip home to celebrate and have a shower for Baby Joey.  Now most people don’t have a shower for their 2nd baby.  Some people think it’s tacky.  Some call it a “sprinkle”, which basically means, I know it’s tacky but I want a shower, so come and bring a present.  Honestly a shower and a sprinkle are the same thing.  Think of the weather.  Either way, your hair is going to get wet.  See?  The same.  Well, in my family, we like to party.  So not only does my 2nd born get a shower.  He gets the whole 9 yards.  White glove service and an ice cream bar.   He’s going to be so upset he wasn’t there.

My shower was hosted by my mother and my mother-in-law.  I am so lucky that they get along.  In some families that is just not possible.  Every time I spoke with them, they were running a quick errand for the shower, or going to a cake tasting.  Yes, a cake tasting.  You would have thought they were planning a wedding.  Guess what flavors they chose, after tasting every cake from Palm Beach Gardens to Miami.   Yep, you guessed it, vanilla and chocolate.  Good thing they got to try them though, maybe they didn’t know how delicious that vanilla and chocolate are…and we could have ended up with something boring like white chocolate ganache with raspberry preserves.  Luckily, I love vanilla and chocolate.  As do most.

My mother made me an AMAZING diaper cake that was bigger than most wedding cakes I have seen.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  Just when I thought I would never like the color blue, she makes this beauty with the most adorable baby boy accents and I fell in love.

She also spent a great deal of time creating something very special for Baby Joey.  Being the owner of Juliana’s Closet people always say, but what about Baby Joey?  What are you going to name after him?  And while I was busy trying to figure that out, my mom made this:

So now he has his own “closet”.  My mom is just too cute.

Here are some photos of the shower.  The venue, food and decor were all top notch and perfect.  Everyone got to sit, relax, eat and drink.  It was simply amazing.  Wait until you see the desserts.

Baby Joey got spoiled with a ton of presents.  My sister painted a beautiful monogram for his wall that will match his bedding perfectly.  My oldest friend suprised me with a hand painted rocking horse that will look perfect in his nursery.  Joey got larger than life stuffed animals, a ton of adorable baby clothes in his style “grandpa chic”, a handmade baby blanket from his GiGi, and adorable sweaters made by a special family friend.  To say spoiled is truly an understatement.  He is so lucky to have so many people that love him so much already.

All in all, the weekend was fantastic.  Exhausting but fantastic.  We got to spend time with family and friends that we just don’t get to see everyday.  Joey will be here in about 6 weeks and I still have so much to get done.   I guess this is when I start nesting.  Someone tell Mike to take a picture.  This nesting/organizing doesn’t happen often.   Actually I’ll take the photos.  From the bed.  Directing my poor husband where to put things.

XOXO.

Remember when you were young?  You would imagine your life…at 16, then 28, then 40.  Ohhh 40.  It was going to take forever for you to get that old.  Remember?  40 seemed light years away at the time.

16 was going to be great.  You were finally going to get to have a boyfriend to hang all over like the kids outside the movie theaters, or the high school campers on a trip to Disney holding hands and kissing for the entire 2 hour wait for Splash Mountain.  You would be captain of the cheerleading squad and naturally be dating the quarterback.  You would have wavy blonde hair.  Long, tan legs.  Absolute perfection.

Until 16 hit…and your hair stayed as dark, curly and frizzy as it was when you were 8.  Your legs were tan, but they were not long, they were average with a little chub on the inner thighs.  Just enough so that you would always feel them rubbing as you walked, making running track completely out of the question.   Cheerleader?  Not quite.  Concert band and colorguard were more your speed, and suddenly your quarterback was the 1st chair trumpet player.

That didn’t stop you did it?  Didn’t stop you from imagining how amazing 28 would be.  Full of babies and big houses.  College degrees and fancy cars.  A handsome husband who would simply adore you.  Big family dinners and a tight circle of girlfriends.  Perfectly dressed toddlers with big bows and clean, white sneakers.  Always smiling and polite.

Should have stopped daydreaming at clean, white toddler sneakers.  But I didn’t.  Did I?

Did you?

So where am I?

I’m 28.  My life is full of babies.  College degree?  Got it.  Handsome, adoring husband?  Handsome yes.  Adores me?  Depends on if I used the real hamper or the imaginary one.   I’ve got the tight circle of girlfriends, but the big family dinners are few and far between.   And the smiling, polite toddler?  Let me know if you see her.

No one warns you how hard it will be.  How a job can move you far from your family.  How the bills don’t stop coming just because you were sick.  How your marriage will strain when the stress of work and kids gets overwhelming.  How your girlfriends will actually move on and have lives of their own, just like you do.   But that’s ok.  It’s all ok.   If you allow it to be.

Here’s how I see it.

Life is not going to turn out as we planned.  It will never be the fairy tale we fantasized about as children.  It will twist and turn.  Surprise and disappoint us.   People we thought we could count on may let us down, and the unsuspecting will show up just when you need them to.  And that is ok.

There come’s a point when you have to accept that things may turn out a little different than you imagined.  Embrace the unknown and quite frankly, just roll with it.  What other choice do you have?   Know that your life is exactly the way it is supposed to be.  Whether that is how you pictured it or not.  Life is supposed to be a challenge, so we can learn and grow.  I may be 28, but I am far from being done with learning and growing.  Which only means more challenges lie ahead.

That’s not to say I’ve stopped dreaming.  I realize now, at 28, that 40 is far from old.  It will be here in just a blink of an eye.  I won’t tell you what it’s going to be like.  I no longer am so sure of that myself.  I am sure though, that I will be happy.  That I will embrace whatever it is life throws at me.  If you see me…I’ll just be enjoying my ride.

I hope you enjoy yours.