First Communion

My sweet girl in church

This past weekend we celebrated my sweet little daughter's First Communion!  She was fortunate to be surrounded with family for her special day -- my mother-in-law (Grammy) and her sister (Cici) came up from Long Island, my dad (Grandpa) my step-mother (Gramby) and her mom (Mema) came up from Upstate NY, and my aunts, my cousin, and his girlfriend all came from here in NH - it was a wonderful group that represented all sides of our family!

The back of my girlie's dress AND the new kitchen wall color!  ;)

In preparation for the big day, we did what everyone does when they are getting ready for their child's First Communion -- we painted!!  (Right?  That's what people do, don't they?)  We worked on painting the downstairs bathroom which on a regular day is the girls' bathroom, or when we have guests, it's the guest bathroom -- we are in the process of turning a very dark green bathroom with a truly gross closet into a white and pink haven for girls!  Almost there -- just have to put up the shelves in the closet.  We also painted the kitchen - originally it was a light yellow color, but we painted it a reddish color -- kind of a Sante Fe-looking red. It's a paint from Lowe's, actually Sienna Red, I believe.  Red is my favorite color and I've painted the dining room in my last two houses red -- my dining room is part of my kitchen in this house...  I guess that means 3 red dining rooms now!  :)  Anyway, that's just what people do when they are having company come over, isn't it?  You make some food, clean the bathroom, paint the kitchen?  ;)  That's what we do at our house, anyway!  I love having company -- it always gives us a deadline for getting projects done!!

My eldest daughter with her dress & veil

After moving up to New Hampshire about 6 months ago, I've been finding my way around in our new town and the surrounding area -- learning where things are, finding new places to go to eat, to shop, etc.  I was having a hard time finding a place to go to get my daughter's First Communion dress, so I hit the internet and started searching.  I finally found a dress that my little girlie and I both liked on www.hayneedle.com, a site that had all sorts of things (like patio furniture...).  It looked beautiful online and it was a great price, but I made sure to order it early so that I could return it and keep looking if it was not quite what we expected.  But no worries -- it was a beautiful dress!  My eldest daughter even commented at church on Sunday that she liked her sister's dress better than the dress she had picked for herself when it was her First Communion day!  At the time (5 years ago), we finally found her dress at a store called Burlington -- they had an amazingly large selection of First Communion dresses but not a great selection of veils.  For that, I went to David's Bridal and bought a "blusher" which the bride actually would wear over her face, but it works perfectly for a little girl's communion veil.  I also bought a little ring/wreath type headpiece that had two ribbons trailing down the back -- I spent a small fortune on this at the time, but I have kept both pieces safely tucked away in a hatbox for 5 years so that my little one could wear it too!  My eldest wore both pieces together, and my little one decided she just wanted the wreath (I have no idea what that is really called...).  The nice part about that is they each had their own look and it didn't look like they were wearing the same thing!

After church we invited the family back to our house for a luncheon.  All of the New Yorkers' were over before church and Grammy & Gramby helped me pull together baked pasta with mozzarella, meatballs & sauce in the crockpot, Italian sausage with peppers & onions, and a tossed salad.  Everything was ready by the time we got back to the house - just had to heat up the pasta and the rolls!  While we were waiting, I put out cheese, crackers & grapes for people to munch on.  It was a nice, simple meal that I didn't have to prepare while everyone was there!  For dessert, I ordered a delicious ice cream cake from Ava Marie Handmade Chocolates & Ice Cream.  We found a Party City store nearby and went out the other night to pick up plates & napkins in a pretty pink (our girlie's signature color!) pattern with a cross on them.  Note to self for the future -- I had seen these online prior to driving to the store, and they were on sale on the website -- not so in the actual store!  If I had thought about it sooner, I could have placed an order and had the stuff shipped to me UPS Ground and saved myself some money!  Good to know for next time!

My husband and I went back and forth about finding just the right gift for our little one.  When her sister had her First Communion, I found a beautiful sterling silver beaded bracelet (she's wearing it in the picture above) from Things Remembered and I bought one for her -- I think I had the heart on it engraved with her name and the date of her First Communion.  I also bought the same bracelet for her cousin who is my Goddaughter -- they are 2 months apart in age, best friends, and celebrated their First Communions right around the same time, so it was perfect for both of them!  I would have loved to have gotten the same thing for my little one, but no such luck -- they didn't have that same bracelet.  From there we looked at gold crosses, but my little girlie has been asking for a locket for a couple of years and she absolutely loves the silver heart locket that my husband and girls gave me for Mother's Day (the first Mother's Day after my second daughter was born) and I wear just about every day.  That led my husband and I to the local jewelry store where we were able to order a silver heart locket (she's wearing it in her picture) - very similar to Mommy's! - and they sent it out to have a cross and her name engraved on the front and "Love, Mommy & Daddy" engraved on the back.  She just loved it when we gave it to her to wear on Sunday for her First Communion!

If you've spent any time reading this blog, you know that I LOVE to decorate -- the house in general, for holidays, special events, you name it!  This wasn't the 4th of July, so I kept it toned down a bit...  Aside from the paper goods, the only "decoration" that I bought was a bunch of pink tulips from the grocery store -- pink because it is my girlie's favorite color and tulips because they are such a sign of Spring!  After that, I just used my own favorite decorating tip -- I "shopped my house!"  I am always telling my friends to do this -- go through your house and see what you already own that you can use to decorate in a new way!  

I drew a cross on my little chalkboard, put out a little pink milk glass vase (pink - thinking of whose special day this was!), a white vase that reminded me of a First Communion, and a little angel that used to be my grandmother's.

I love this mirror that I use as a base for centerpieces on my dining room table!  In addition to the pink tulips, I added a picture from my little girl's baptism, as well as her baptismal candle, and a little angel bell that I have of my grandmother's (Gram loves angels!!)

This is actually something I made a couple of years ago, intending it to be an Easter decoration, but I like it so much that now I leave it in my front entry year round!  So easy to make -- 2 twigs tied together with a little bit of twine.

I am a detail person -- I tend to notice the little things and I like to focus on little touches when I am decorating my house whether it's for everyday living or if I am decorating for a special event or party like my daughter's First Communion.  I know not everyone will notice, but it always makes me happy to put a little extra effort in to show my family and friends that they are special to me.  Everyone seemed to have a lovely time (regardless of my decorating, I'm sure!) and I know my sweet girl had a special day that she will hopefully always remember!

Spring Awakening

I've been in a modified hibernation mode a little bit this winter -- we moved here to New Hampshire at the end of November and it's pretty much been winter ever since!  I have been keeping myself busy with indoor activities - laundry (so much laundry!), expanding my horizons with cooking, keeping house for my family, and painting / decorating the house.  We live in a beautiful New England-y neighborhood and I've seen neighbors out walking their dogs all through the winter.  I had every intention of following suit, but frankly -- I'm cold!  It's funny, because I'm from Upstate NY - we KNOW cold.  We do cold winters - and this winter was a particularly bad one in our old city.  Generally speaking, I don't think our winter here in NH was any worse than NY - I actually think it was a little milder.  Our first major purchase in NH - after the house! - was a new snow blower and when we used it a few times but not as much as I had anticipated.  My favorite purchase for winter?  A $20 oscillating, electric heater for my girls to use in our playroom, which is technically an enclosed porch.  We made it a "4-season" porch with the little heater and a mandate to wear a sweater or robe out there!  That has worked out well and now the weather is warming up and that will be an enjoyable room without the heater and robe!  Next year when I see those heaters on sale again, I'll be grabbing another one for the living room -- when the girls weren't using it on the porch I would have it in the living room with me!!

Anyway, in some ways it feels like time is flying by, and in other ways it seems as though it has been winter forever!!  We have been thrilled to see the temperatures start to rise, the snow melt and spring is in the air.  Since we moved here at the end of the fall / beginning of winter, our new yard has been hidden under leaves or snow.  It's exciting to discover what is out there as the snow melts away.  We have a stone wall (which we knew about -- it's much more visible now!) and my youngest loves to climb up on one side of it when she gets off the bus each day.  That's her special spot, she tells me.  My eldest wants to plant some flowers under her bedroom window - I told her I'm excited to see what comes up in the yard!  Mabel (our Boston Terrier) and I took a "sniff" (a LOT of her stopping and sniffing - not so much walking) around the front and backyard the other day after getting my little one on the school bus.  I think I see hydrangeas which are my favorite, so it will be exciting to see what colors they are!  That day was particularly nice with warm temps and blue sky so I found a place to sit on the back patio (needs a LOT of TLC -- can't wait to work on that next week!) and I enjoyed relaxing and listening to the birds chirping as Mabel sniffed around the patio and the backyard.

I think we can all use a bit of fresh, spring air at this point!  Yesterday, my husband had the day off and after spending much of the day finishing up painting projects, he picked the girls up from school and took our little one to both of the playgrounds in town!  She's been able to play on her school playground at recess -- and has enjoyed sledding at recess.  But now she's happy to go on the slides and swings -- some of the fun things of spring and summer!  She was extremely excited to finally get to play at the town playground which has been covered by snow most of the time that we've lived here! 

Looking forward to Easter with the family, including my mom who is coming up from Florida -- can't wait to show her our house and town!  Looking forward to putting my little heater away and opening the windows, and most of all, looking forward to shaking off hibernation mode, getting my energy up, and getting out in the neighborhood to walk my dog and meet the neighbors!

Settling In

The girls in front of our new home!

I'm still here!  Well, my physical "here" has changed, but I've missed my blog terribly and am anxious to get back to writing!  The past four or five months have been very busy for us - my husband got a new job in New Hampshire and the girls and I were back in in New York packing and trying to sell our house while he was staying with wonderful relatives and working for 3 months!  Then the girls (and Mabel, the dog!) and I moved in with my dad and stepmother for almost a month while we waited to close on both houses (selling the one, buying the new one) and the girls continued to go to school.  Now we are finally up in beautiful New Hampshire, and all together again!

Fit for a princess!

We're getting settled in - almost all of the boxes are unpacked (yay!!) - although I have not ventured up to the attic yet...  My 7-year-old's room was the first to be completed -- it looks lovely and pink and princess-y -- just like her!  My 12 - I mean, nearly 13-year-old's (this month -- a teenager!!) room need some work.  We're in the process of painting it - really just need to paint the trim now - and the other day I spent some time sorting through the last of the big boxes in there.  She assures me that it will all come together when Daddy finds the hardware to hang her two Pottery Barn floating shelves -- seems like a lot to ask of two little shelves, but we'll see!  At this point most of what needs to be done is painting and hanging things -- every day that my husband has off, I grab him to hang some more things around the house!  Right now I am enjoying being a full-time stay-at-home mom!  At some point I will probably look for something but at the most it will be part-time so that I can be home with the kids on their vacations, summer, etc.  It's really a dream come true for me -- I love being home when they get home, hearing about their days, helping my little one with homework, making hot cocoa, snuggling on the couch!

I look forward to telling you more about our adventure!  Hopefully this will be a wonderful new year for my family and yours!

What We Did This Summer - 2013 Version

I had promised myself that I was going to do a better job of keeping up with posts on my blog this year -- and this summer pretty much went by without a single post!  :(  It has been a busy summer - one for the record books, for sure, but not with our traditional summer activities.  My eldest daughter is struggling with anxiety over having to go back to school and how quickly the summer seemed to slip by.  She has asked me twice if I would post my usual list of what we did over the summer, so hopefully this will help her out by reminding her of some of the fun things we did!

- One of the last days of school, early in the summer, Daddy picked the girls up from school and took them to the zoo
- We had our end-of-year Girl Scout ceremony, bridging the Daisy troop to become Brownies
- We had a fun Lalaloopsy birthday pool party for our new 7-year-old (my youngest)
- We went on a vacation to New Hampshire to visit with our family
- While in NH we went to Newfound Lake, one of our favorite places to spend the day at the beach, and we had a picnic lunch with the family, spent the day in the water, and made sand castles
- Also while in NH I went to my favorite country store with my aunts and brought my two girls shopping with the ladies for the first time
- We went to Hampton Beach, NH and enjoyed a day at the beach, swimming in the ocean
- During our trip to Hampton, we went to Brown's our favorite seafood place and the girls tried lobster
- We went to Funspot "the world's largest arcade" in NH and played skee ball, air hockey, video games and then mini golf outside (and my little one desperately wanted to try ZIP LINING.... (daredevil!) but settled on swinging on a swingset until she fell off and scraped her knees big time!  (Barely a tear though, bless her brave little heart!)
- We went out for another seafood dinner with the whole family to the Weathervane in Weirs Beach, NH and then walked on the boardwalk, went into an old-time arcade, and got an ice cream
- We enjoyed time with family and I got to see a cousin that I haven't seen in years and the girls got to meet her daughter who is around their age - my girls always love adding new cousins to the fold!
- We went to the Genesee Country Village with Daddy one day for my 12-year-old to have a fitting for her costume for the Independence Day celebration on the 4th of July
- We volunteered as a family at the Lifetime Assistance Airport 5k - a charitable event that the agency I work for holds every year.  We all had fun and we got to see special guest, Abby Wambach speak right after she broke her world record for most goals scored!
- The girls and I went to the Genesee Country Village Independence Day celebration and my eldest once again represented Rhode Island (tallest girl, smallest state - go figure!) as a maiden for the day, walking in the parade and being at all of the special events
- The girls and I went back to Genesee Country Village in August and enjoyed Laura Ingalls Wilder Day - we have gone every year since it first began (5 or 6 years ago?).  The girls went in costume (of course!) and this year's special guest was Allison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson on the tv show. She is so funny and entertaining -- we had a great time as always!
- For my birthday we went out on Grandpa & Gramby's sailboat, sailed around the bay and then over to an Italian restaurant on the bay for a lovely birthday dinner!
- We also had a special birthday dinner for my 7-year-old and Gramby who share the same birthday!
- The girls spent a lot of time with Grandpa, who watched them in the afternoons while Daddy and I were working - lots of lunches out, some visits to Great Gram, and at least one trip on the sailboat with Grandpa & Gramby
- My littlest girlie spent one week at Princess Dance Camp this summer (her 3rd year, I believe) and she had a great time and we all enjoyed her recital at the end of the week!
- She also spent two weeks at the yacht club taking swimming lessons -- she did great this year!  Next year, level 4!
- My eldest had a fun day with a friend that started as a "couple of hour visit" and turned into an all-day, stay for dinner affair!
- My little went to 2 birthday parties for 2 different friends
- Nana came to visit last week from Monday to Sunday and the girls enjoyed getting to spend every day with her!
- Shopping sprees for school
- Dinners out on a few different occasions - Red Robin, Shogun Palace, our favorite diner, Applebees
- A couple of visits to local playgrounds
- A fun trip to the zoo with a friend and her mom
- A fun afternoon with Gramby - lunch, playground, and creating beautiful pottery pieces at Color Me Mine!
- Probably some more things I'm forgetting...  like swimming in our pool!

Pretty long list, lots of stuff going on!  And that isn't even the half of it -- the biggest thing we did this summer was Daddy went on a couple of interviews for a new job in New Hampshire, which he got, and we decided to take it and move our family to New Hampshire!  Yeah, that was pretty big...  We're actually still in the process of that "activity" right now -- getting the house ready to put it on the market and now keeping it spotless for unexpected walk throughs by our realtor and potential home buyers is keeping us pretty busy!  More info on that to come!

Hope you enjoyed your summer and best wishes for a great new school year!

Planning a Lalaloopsy Birthday Party

My sweet baby girl is turning 7 in a few weeks, and for months, every time we go to the grocery store she asks to look at "her cake."  About 6 months ago, she picked out a Lalaloopsy cake from the binder at the grocery store with pictures of all of the cake options.  So, Lalaloopsy theme party, here we come!  I took this week off to be home with the girls, and was mildly panic-stricken yesterday when I realized that her party is only 3 weeks away and I had yet to FIND, much less MAIL invitations...!  One productive evening on Google and Pinterest later, and I'm feeling like a plan is coming together! 

I searched on Google for "Lalaloopsy dresses for girls" and found a really cute pink and yellow-orange polka dot "pillowcase" dress from jazzygirlboutique on Etsy.  I had seen some really cute Lalaloopsy dresses with the licensed characters on them, but I loved this little dress -- it has a Lalaloopsy feel to it, but it's something that she can wear as a pretty (non-character) dress.  And, since it's a pillowcase dress, as she grows she can wear it with tights or leggings and eventually, even as a cute summer shirt.  I like keeping with a theme, but I also like to be practical -- no one-hit-wonders over here!

I am trying something new with the invitations this year -- a friend of mine from work did this for her son's first birthday party (a sock monkey theme - very cute!).  I found Lalaloopsy invitations on a website called "Cupcakes & Dragonflies."  They have all sorts of favors, invitations, thank you's -- tons of things for party planning -- and everything is done digitally.  I ordered the invitation that I wanted, told them what I would like it to say, and in 24 - 48 hours they will send me a proof and then a digital file that I can use to print my own invitations from my printer, or have them printed by my local photo lab.  All for $6!  Not bad -- I'll be printing them at home!

That's where I am for now -- lots of ideas for decorating -- I will certainly get balloons, because to me it's not a birthday party without balloons!  And as I usually do, I will get a couple of "character" items (tablecloth and napkins or plates) and then fill in the rest of the paper products with complimentary solid color -- less expensive that way, but still cute!  I will also gather up all of the Lalaloopsy toys that we have around here to use in decorating the table.  And I have some ideas for favor bags.

Lots of fun -- I love party planning!