Last time I mentioned the bachelorette party I hosted for my friend last weekend – now it’s time for show and tell. While I can’t show or tell many details from that actual night, because of their embarrassing and or adult content,  here are a few things I can safely share.

For the color scheme I wanted something that was girly and wild with a little class to balance out all the trash. I chose hot pink and gold and loved the way it turned out. I fell in love with a package of super cute hot pink envelopes at target and let this be my inspiration for the invitations.

I went with a bold typographic layout. I made the bride-to-be’s name the focal point because this night was going to be all about her. So there would be no mistaking this party for your typical bridal shower, and so that no guests would show up with a Pyrex dish for a gift, I included the Bachelorette’s bra and panties sizes on a tag secured to the invite with gold baker’s twine.  The hunky image in the background was another subtle hint of the graphic nature of the party.

I created some cool custom mailing labels for the envelopes. The fun twist is that the label wraps around to the back of the envelope where I placed the return address.

The final, and totally adorable detail I added was the stamps – and they happened by accident.  When I got to the post office to mail the invites the wait was forever long. Not wanting to subject myself to such a long line without Splash Mountain  at the end I decided to see if the automated post office vending machine could help me. I found out that you can indeed by forever stamps from the machine, but instead of your standard stamp they have several of these funny little versions you can pick from.  The heart was bold and cute and the little highlight of pink was a fun bonus.

For decorations I dressed up these cute dollar store vases with a coat of Krylon Premium 18ct Gold Plate spray paint. I picked up a few bouquets of flowers from the grocery store for five dollars each  and divided them up between three vases. Pretty, easy, and inexpensive.

The last piece of decor I created for the party were these sweet tissue paper garlands – and yes this is the best photo I have of them. I got my camera out with the intention of photographing my creation but things quickly deteriorated into an impromptu Ruby photo shoot. This is literally the only image from that day with the garland in it – so if you’d like a more clear illustration and instructions, I basically followed  this Martha Stewart tutorial. 

The party was a blast! Fun, crazy, and of course wonderfully awkward at times.

I’m back from Utah. Ruby was a great travel companion. Whenever she rides in the car  it’s like she can’t stop herself from falling asleep.  I thought this only applied on short trips to the park or Petco, but not so. So she slept the six hours from Vegas to Utah Right there on the seat next to me just being precious the whole time. We made a pit stop at the halfway point where I took this great picture of Ruby looking like a hoodrat.

I had a blast in Utah though I was reminded of the three reasons that may keep me from ever moving back there: January, February, March.  Utah is a really beautiful place but during those three months the things that make it beautiful are either dead or hiding under dirty snow. Of course I don’t really care because the one reason Utah will always be home is the people there that I love and adore. And that love will always outweigh dirty air and lifeless trees. And I got to spend lots of time with many of those lovely people during my stay.

The main reason for my trip was a Bachelorette Party and Bridal shower for my incredible friend Danica.  I helped host the Bachelorette party and I will be sharing the invitations and decor I designed for it  next time…and that’s all I will be sharing from that night. With anyone. Ever.

On Sunday my siblings and I threw a surprise 30th anniversary get-together for our parents. It was crazy putting it all together since we only had one day to do it, but that was half the fun.

Other things I loved about my trip include Ruby meeting her pug-cousins, Jojo and Ollie, staying up late with my sister, trying Taco Amigo for my first time ever and best/worst of all – enlisting the help of my mother to create an “adult” themed cake.

I call a lot of places home but Utah has my whole heart. The image at the top is a print I made to hang on my wall when to help me remember this.  If you’d like your own 8.5 x 11 print click the following link to download it for free.

This is the Place

NB

Well hello there.

This is Ruby. Ruby Soho. Mike and I brought her home a week ago and she is stealing our hearts. I will admit it took time for me to warm up to the idea of a pug. Their flat faces and “crazy eyes” are features that admittedly aren’t those of the classically handsome, but there is something so endearing about that little face. If you’ve never known a pug you might not understand the appeal, and I understand.

Pugs are full of personality – like hilarious-human-trapped-inside-a-dog-body personality. Ruby is no exception but so I don’t completely overwhelm/annoy my followers on various social media outlets with pictures and stories about my dog I’ve decided to dedicate one post a week on my blog to all things Ruby. Naturally I picked Tuesday.

I mentioned “crazy eyes.” Little Ruby’s eyes are especially crazy – she always sleeps with one of them open. It’s rather unsettling so Mike and I will place our hand over it and try to close it for her (the same way they do on dead bodies in the movies) but within seconds it rolls open again. Very creepy.

Tomorrow Ruby and I are taking a road trip to Utah – I’ll let you know how that turns out.

NB