Caitlin's Wedding Shower

 We played guess how old Caitlin is

Persian treats

 Bridal bow bouquet

 Our florist for the wedding made a beautiful bouquet for the shower

 Caitlin with Vanessa. Vanessa is one of the brides maids.

 Caitlin and Brooke. Childhood friends since first grade!

 Bridal bouquet builders! They did a great job.

 Caitlin with her cousins, Isabella and Natalia.

There are lots more pictures of course, but I hope these give a good example of the day.  We put a lot into it and I think everyone had a good time! The maid of honor of course lives in London and we missed having her here, so some of these photos are for her.   It was so fun to see some friends that we haven seen in a while and to meet Zarin's friends. The weather was lovely and Zarin's garden is so beautiful that we got enjoy being outside while we built our mimosas.
We let Whole Foods do all the work for our food for the day, but I made the cupcakes. You can't see it very well in the pics, but I found the cutest sprinkles that were tiny, tiny gold stars and hearts!!! Then I topped them with edible rose petals.

It's scary how close the wedding is now! All the planning will soon come to a close and then the next chapter of Caitlin and Cyrous' life begins.  Looking forward to it all unfolding soon.

While planning the wedding and shower, I have been a busy bee with the shop as well. I made yet more  special order capes and have been selling made stock as well.  I will soon be putting the shop on vacation mode, because I will be making two flower girl dresses soon, and finish up all the small details left for the big day!

My post is going to be short, since I'm tired beyond right now hahah.  Hope you enjoy the pictures of the shower!

Flower girls!

Christmas Sweet Christmas

Funny how when you are a kid it's all about Santa and presents. As you age it's more about the little things during the holidays that make you happy. For me it's cooking for loved ones, going to midnight mass, and just spending time with the family. We had such a nice and laid back Christmas eve and Christmas day. We cooked and baked a lot on Christmas eve, then had a simple dinner of Italian Wedding soup, before we jumped in the car on a frosty night to midnight mass. We were all so tired on Christmas morning, that we slept in till close to 10 am! It's funny to look at Instagram during the day, and  see other families that are far into the day's celebration, and we were just eating brunch and opening gifts! We always eat Christmas dinner much later too, so the day seems slower paced and goes later into the evening for us.
For dinner this year we had confit de canard, with French green beans and cast iron roasted potatoes. I loved making those potatoes! The pinterest recipe was a Martha one, and it had bacon. I left out the bacon because of the duck. I made a nice little salad with striped beets, arugula, fennel, and hazelnuts. I have made confit de canard before, but this year I opted to buy some that were already done, to make my life more easy. I got them from here.  For dessert, I strayed away from the Buche de Noel that I usually get from Whole Foods. It tends to be a bit too big for our family, and lingers around for too long. This year I made a gingerbread cake instead. We really liked it for its peppery, spicy flavors. It had half a cup of fresh minced ginger!  I topped it with fresh whipped cream.
Usually around this time, I get a bit sad that it's all over, but this year I didn't. It isn't because I wanted it all to end, but more so that it was a nice time and it felt complete. I'm looking forward to the new year.  Planning a wedding, and I just found out my niece is having her first baby, along with her sister welcoming her second in the spring. Lots of beautiful moments to look forward to.  
I've got some cleaning up to do, as we will have some friends coming over for New Year's Eve.
Hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and a wonderful new year ahead!!!

Oh, forgot to mention, that in the second to the last picture, you can see the new picture ledges that we put up this past Sunday. That wall has been blank far too long! It feels so much more cozy in this room now. My little birdie Riki, isn't so sure he likes that clock above his cage though hahaha!

Exciting News!

 You already may know this news if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, but in case you don't, Caitlin and Cyrous got engaged last week! We are so thrilled and happy for them. This sweet couple have been together for 6 years, and we have all been lucky to watch their love bloom and become stronger as the years have gone by. Forgive me if I gush about them and share some fun photos of them. I stole some of these pictures from Caitlin....hope she doesn't mind!

They met in college. I remember Caitlin coming home from school in the fall of 2008 telling me that she saw this cute guy in the quad, but didn't know quite how to start a conversation with him. A few days go by, and while driving her home one day, I look in the rear view mirror while we were waiting for the light to change, and I say, " Hey, that guy behind us is cute." She turns around, sees him....and yells "That's him!" She quickly slumped down in the seat and we busted out laughing!  Little did he know, we were driving along side him on the freeway for quite sometime, glancing over hahaha. A few days go by, and while in the parking lot of  our Whole Foods, Cryous walks right in front of our car. Caitlin was driving and she slowly comes to a stop, and he looks into the car. She was surprised to seem him there! As most of my readers know, I shop at Whole Foods on a daily basis, and Caitlin at this time, use to come with me most of the time. We had NEVER seen him at this Whole Foods, so once again, it seemed like Cyrous was being thrown in her path. It was fate I suppose that they meet. We often laugh at the thought that their little souls have most likely crossed paths many times without them knowing, as both were raised in the same area.   Cyrous was the one that finally broke the ice and talked to Caitlin at school, and shortly after that on November 1st, 2008 they had their first date.  They are so cute together, and each others best friend. If you want to see Caitlin's engagement ring, go to my Instagram .  Tentatively Caitlin thinks their wedding will be next fall. Tune in for some fun times in planning this wedding.

 This Skype photo was taken when we were vacationing in France back in 2009, and the only significant time these two have been apart from each other!