OUR FIRST SOUL SISTER'S WEDDING

Last night we had an incredibly beautiful, romantic and fun wedding reception for a beautiful bride, Ashley.

I made the wedding cake - vanilla with raspberry filling, white polka dots, gold chevron and fresh flowers.
Larry came to my rescue with cutting the chevron out - luckily he has a math brain and figured out the dimensions we needed.  He also drove me and the cake for delivery - I think I held my breath the entire time.

Here is the cake set up with all the flowers applied and the cutest 'love is sweet' sign.  The details of this reception were amazing. It was seriously breathtaking.

The dance floor provided lots of boogie-woogie fun and the sweeping white fabric and lights were magical.

There was a lemonade stand with the cutest mason jars, cutout lids and paper straws.  The lemonade stand served strawberry, watermelon and blueberry lemonade.

The Sweet Shoppe had sweet treats galore.  It was any sugaraholic's sweet dream.

The gorgeous couple greeted a gazillion guests, got lots of hugs and well wishes.

The cute little lad on the bench is Landon - bored out of his gourd.   Romance, shmromance.

We watched the couple's first dance.  My favorite part was watching my beautiful friend, beaming with pride, watch her daughter dance with her groom.  I have to admit, I watched with tears streaming down my face.
And then the daddy-daughter dance.  I'm so happy for this amazing family.

It was the happiest night.

bottom photo credit: heather hemmert

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Hegerman!

I GOT SO SPOILED YESTERDAY WITH AN EARLY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BY MY THOUGHTFUL AND GENEROUS FRIENDS

Last night was Yaya night and we were celebrating my birthday and Kathy's.  Adrienne planned a fun bbq with a sweet 16 flashback, complete with pink tiaras for the us birthday girls and 80's music.

Kathy and I have celebrated together for 13 years and counting.

We had an assortment of yummy cupcakes from Twinsies - they sell vegan cupcakes - yay me!

We were trying to get a photo with all the sweet 16 candles lit and a fake blow - didn't work out so well, candles melted super fast and we couldn't stop giggling.  It was hilarious.

We all brought a picture of us in the 80's.  This is me in the 80's with my bestie Kristen.

Want to see my presents?  I got a super cool succulent pot from Brenda.  I'm ecstatic about it! It's gorgeous and has some starts of chicks and hens from her pot.  And, I got cool new shades from A that won't fall off my face running or paddling.  They're rad and I absolutely LOVE them.

I am super delicious to mosquitoes, so Kathy got me some citrus body butter and spray.  I'm putting it to the test when I'm in Arizona next week.  Cindy got me two sets of monogrammed dessert plates.  I'm so excited to eat my birthday cake on them tomorrow.

To make the day EVEN BETTER, earlier I had lunch with my Soul Sisters at Marco Polo.  I received a very generous gift certificate to Amazon and spent the afternoon purchasing things from my Amazon wishlist to help with my urban farming dreams.

All these lasses did some serious spoiling yesterday.  I'm so thankful that I have known them for so long and have them in my life.  These women are amazing and we've been through a lot over the years.  They teach me how to be a better woman, friend, wife and mother.  I love their guts.

THIS WEEKEND I WAS IN PORTLAND WITH

five of my favorite people, at Time Out For Women, for a spiritual ooomph and boy did I get it.  Most of the time I felt like the speakers were talking directly to me.  My heart is full, my spirit is excited and refreshed and I feel loved and motivated.

I was so happy to have this weekend with my Soul Sisters.  They are incredible, beautiful women and wonderful example to me in motherhood, friendship and life experiences.

THE COLOR RUN PORTLAND

was Saturday. Although I couldn't run it because of cooler toe, I was able to participate in the finale and get colorful. What a fun, fun, FUN morning we had at The Color Run Portland!

Us girlies BEFORE

and AFTER 

Please note my impressive and skilled cooler toe lift so I can participate, with out 'participating'.

This will no doubt be an annual event for us.

PS - Do you remember when we participated in The Color Run Seattle in May?  I wish I could participate every month, now THAT would be an awesome!

GRADUATION CAKE

Two of my Soul Sister's daughters are graduating from high school and I was asked to make a cake for the graduation party.

It was such a fun cake to do - a whimsical white, orange and black (school colors) for two fun, beautiful young ladies.
The toppers were made by a family member out of polymer clay - aren't they amazing?!

Glass apothecary jars held orange, black and gold candies, there was a table of food and an Italian soda bar.  The house was full of family and friends to celebrate this huge milestone.  

On a side note - This photo is of me and my sister.  She came over and helped me with the cake.  This photo was taken in the wee hours and we were a little giggly.

PS - I think it looks like my mouth should be in a denture commercial.

NEYSA'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

was a yummy, fun lunch with the Soul Sisters.  Do you remember when Dwight showed up with roses and a smooch at our last lunch?  Well, Jared showed up with a birthday balloon with two candy bars that red "you get to SKOR with a BIG HUNK" and a bouquet of flowers for Neysa, his beautiful wife, and chocolate kisses, balloons and three yellow roses for the rest of us.

We were talking about how we are going to be disappointed when we don't have a husband show up at one of our lunches with a surprise for us!  Larry needs to put his thinking cap on....

LUNCH, WITH A SIDE OF ROSES AND A SMOOCH

The Soul Sisters got together for lunch today. As we were finishing up, one of our favorite husbands, Dwight, came to our table with a bouquet of red roses. He handed us all a rose with a sweet note saying "I ROCK!" Heather, his is wife, got the remaining roses and a sweet note saying, "YOU ROCK!"Before he left, our deliverer of warm fuzzies and laughter gave us all a smooch. Some kisses on the forehead and some on the lips, but I don't kiss and tell.
Dwight, you made our day and I'm never washing my forehead again.

ORCHIDS

Two weeks ago, my Soul Sisters dropped by the house to cheer me up. Besides their smiling faces and hugs, they had a beautiful potted orchid, numerous flavors of vegan ice cream, traditional Chex Mix, pistachios, Diet Coke and Twizzlers. Do they know me well or what?
This orchid is on my dining room table and every time I walk into the kitchen, I can't help but smile.

THE SOUL SISTER GETAWAY

at the coast was a blast.
We stayed in a 4th floor 2 bedroom 2 bath condo that had a full kitchen, jacuzzi on the deck and a beautiful, peaceful view of the ocean.

We strolled amongst antique shops and found items that ranged from uber funny to interesting to creepy and everything in between.

We treated ourselves to a relaxing pedicure and ate at many yummy restaurants.

Can I just tell you that if you think you play Ms. Pac-Man well, Heidi and Heather would wipe the floor with you. They should be professional competitors.

This was such a fun long overdue weekend.

And yes, we might have had fun with the camera's self timer.