Weekend Wrap-Up: 40 Years

 Last weekend D & J hosted a lovely anniversary celebration for Phil's parents.  This year marks their 40th wedding anniversary and many of their friends and family joined together to celebrate this great couple and their love, commitment and friendship for one another.  J's momma did a lot of work with the food and decor - everything looked really beautiful and well thought out.  I took a few photos throughout the afternoon and thought I'd share a few:

Clever Alternative to the Usual Veggie Platter

Mason Jars, Candles & Pumpkins

Dining Room Table

Delicious Punch!

Sandwich Table

Sandwich Table Close-up

Dad & Phil

Playing the Newlywed Game

Some of the Answers Were Hilarious . . .

Couple's 'First' Dance

Dancin'

Joining In

All the Children Joined In

And Got Silly . . .

Mom & R

CAKE!

So Cute!

 Congratulations You Two & Happy Anniversary!  XO

Happy Hallowe'en! So I'm a little late. . .

Just before Hallow'en my family and I met at a farm none of us had visited before to pick up some last minute pumpkins and random goodies.  It was the farm's last day before closing for the season so there wasn't a whole lot to see or do at the time but that didn't stop us from running around the Barley Maze like children and enjoying a slice of (cold) pie at their cafe. 

Hallowe'en night this year was actually pretty terrible weather wise.  It poured and poured most of the night - we only had 3 trick-or-treaters this year! Disappointing!  Mostly because I was the one to gobble up the box of candy we purchased . . . I picked-up a couple monster hats from Value Village - not realizing that there were kid and adult-sized hats.  Must remember to read labels!  So needless to say mine was a wee bit tight . . .

Each year I carve a pumpkin (Phil opted out this time) and this year I thought I'd be super fancy thanks to Pinterest.  I couldn't find the linoleum cutters that were recommended and settled on a good quality x-acto type knife.  Things were going fairly well at first. I picked out a design I liked, had it all drawn on and started gouging the pumpkin.  About two hours into carving my pumpkin I lit a candle, turned off all the lights and was thoroughly disappointed.  I hadn't carved enough of the pumpkin flesh away to get a proper glow!  So back the counter I went and continued scraping pumpkin away bit by bit.  While I was scraping away, the power decided to go out.  Argh.  That didn't stop me!  I kept going with a candle in the pumpkin and a small but bright flashlight between my knees and I tried to finished my pumpkin project before midnight.

Unfortunately when I had finished, the pumpkin looked more like Jamie from MythBusters than an actual Owl.  However, after approximately four hours of carving, it be what it be.  So that is what we had glowing from our dining room window that night - A man with a large mustache and glasses:  

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy (very belated) Hallowe'en!
And Happy (very belated) Anniversary to G & G J!

Weekend Wrap-up: Birthday Season

This weekend my family and I celebrated three birthdays on one day as we did last year.  Since my sister, my mom and I are so close in date we find it easier (schedule wise) and honestly a lot more fun to clump them all together.  My actual birthday was at the beginning of the month so I thought I'd show some photos from last weekend as well since the birthday festivities seem to continue for the entire month of August.

Birthday Morning Snack

Breakfast at Big Feast

Birthday Brownies

Sunflowers

Smiley Phil Poolside

Pool

White Rock

On the day of my birthday Phil took me to breakfast with my parents, White Rock for dinner and a stroll, then we headed over to the Drive-In to watch a double feature of 'Total Recall' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'.  At home we split a late night chocolate cupcake.   

 The next day we witnessed two very special people get married - the weather was scorching hot and we were drippy sweaty but it was totally worth seeing these two get hitched.  Congrats R & J!

Since it was the long weekend we were able to do a quick stop by and see my good friend K at the place she's house-sitting near the ocean.  Gorgeous house/view.  She sure scored the best place for summer! Lucky gal.

So now back to the birthday celebration from this weekend . . . We decided to try our hand(s) at making BBQ pizza.  Now I've had it before but Phil's usually the one that does the actual BBQing so this time didn't necessarily work out as well as his is but it wasn't too bad and now we know for next time . .

Mom's Gluten-Free Pizza

My Veggie Pizza

Ice Cream Cake

Zoos at the 'Picture Wall'

Mom's Gluten-Free 'Cake'

Aside from the birthday Celebration, this weekend was pretty jam packed with an art gallery visit to see Megan Majewski's art showing.  The gallery was showcasing the work of numerous artists and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the work of others especially since the genre is a lot different than the work I usually end up creating.  It was also great for inspiration to see many accomplished artists showcasing completed work (I'm guessing my many partly finished pieces wouldn't go over so well . . . ha).   

I was invited to view the Perseid Meteor Shower that apparently happens each August.  Who knew?  So K, E and I drove out to a new park in the middle of the night.  I was surprised how many people were out there viewing the night sky and feel like I had been missing out on something spectacular each summer.  Unfortunately there weren't a ton of meteors but there were a bunch so it didn't really matter too much - I just found the number of stars we were able to see fascinating.  There's just too much light in the suburbs/city to view them all.

On Sunday I went solo to the housewarming/engagement party for J & D.  I was a little hesitant to go alone since I don't do so well interacting with large crowds of people but it turned out to be a fun time.  I spent most of it bonding with my nephew.  I feel I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with him since he was born so it was nice to finally have some time to do so.  He's a big ball of smiley giggles and I had a lot of fun doing silly things like throwing rocks in a pile and chasing each other around.
I was asked to be a bridesmaid (Phil will be a groomsman) and to do some help with wedding details - this will be my very first time as part of a wedding party so I'm pretty excited to see what it all entails.   

 Hope you had a great weekend!