Blogging

I can not tell you how hard it is to begin this post. It seems taking extended time off from posting makes blogging quite the chore. Ha. The kiddos start school on the 22nd which also happens to my birthday. I know how ridiculous it must seem that I am so distraught over this, the school part not the birthday. I LOVE birthdays. You see, having atleast one of them around daily for the last 7 years to simply being alone is quite the change. I like routine and stability and this is throwing me for a loop. I know in the end I will probably grow to enjoy all the me time, but I have yet to reach that place. I am sure the below view is something that will become a daily occurence for me once again. It's a view I rather love.

In other news it seems Freshly Pickled, who made my mouse pad, has new colors in her shop. Are they not amazing? I may need another to come into rotation. A mouse pad for every mood possibly?

A Hummingbird Rescue

If you happen to follow me on twitter or instagram then you already are aware of the hummingbird fiasco from the other day. This sweet little bird got stuck in our garage. It went frantically wild not being able to find its way out. Ellie had the sweetest idea of me holding a flower up to lure it out while she chirped. I can't say that it worked, but after 45 minutes it finally grew wary and allowed me to escort it out upon a badminton racket. I think it knew we were trying to rescue it. Later in the day I saw that very one outside my office window taking in our flowers. It most definitely made for one exciting day!

Remebering a Friend + a Renovation Completed

If you have been in the blogging world awhile I am sure you remember the gut wrenching death of Marija an interior designer and blogging friend. She unexpectedly left behind a loving husband and two children. She was beautiful inside and out. We connected through email and her blog as most "blogging" relationships begin. Well, today on Elements of Style her home is featured. It was a renovation that she never got to see come to life. Her husband and children along with Julia Edelmann, of Buckingham Interiors + Design finished it beautifully. I am sure Marija would approve. I can easily see touches that Marija would have done herself and pieces that she purchased right before her passing. You can see more on Elements of Style and the original source where the home was featured, Chicago Garden & Home.

Organizing {a desktop idea}

This summer has been flying by and I have been enjoying it thoroughly. So much so blogging has taken an obvious back burner. I do plan on blogging regularly again once the kiddos are in school on the 22nd. Any work that must be done on the computer has been dedicated to the shop and KJP. This past weekend I realized how far behind I have fallen in deep cleaning the house. The Mr. took the kiddos on a long hike and I tackled every room. Cleaning out from under all the furniture, vacuuming everything down to curtains, and dusted even the walls. I swear this house attracts dust like no other which is awful for our families severe allergies which is also why a regular deep cleaning is a must for us. Any thoughts on how to reduce the dust??? Anyhoo, yesterday as I sat down to blog for the week I got caught up in the need to organize the desktop. Visually it was overwhelming. I really wish I had a before image. I came across this fabulous desktop organizing idea on Rylee Hitchner's instagram page and that very idea came from Brooke Boling apparently. It is such a good idea that I wanted to share it here as well. I ran with the idea and made it work for us in ILLUSTRATOR. I really hope it helps keep me on task. Needless to say my plan of creating a week worth of posts did not happen. Oh well.

Ellie's 7th Birthday Party

This may be the longest post ever done on Two Ellie, but 7th birthdays are a big deal. Ha. Ellie knew what she wanted for this years party, lots of colors, sparkle, pinata bashing and a touch of fairies. Of course I wanted to deliver. We had the party later in the evening and made it an ice cream social with cake. Really what is a birthday party without cake? I will post links to goods at the end of the post. These are the invites I came up with to usher in her color loving ways...

Of course Ellie's ribbons she won from her horse show earlier in the day had to be displayed.

The day before Ellie and KJ decided they wanted to make some of the decor so they colored a bunch of elephant portraits. The garland I made and the flowers were from daddy.

The gold number balloon has quickly become a staple for all our parties and the glow sticks were perfect once the sun went down.

During parties I try to keep everyone entertained with arts and crafts and such so toys don't end up everywhere.

I still have this room set up. Tried to convince the Mr to let me keep it up till my birthday on the 22nd. I have a feeling though that they will be coming down sooner than later though.

How I incorporated the fairies into the party...

Some of the toppings for the ice cream which ended up being a huge hit.

The mandatory funny face pic with my girl...

Piñata time was tons of fun. The Mr decided he would hold it up. A daring choice it was...

Alas this was one tough piñata so a few of the adults got a go. The Mr knows my athletic skills and I believe he was quite nervous that I would miss and miss I did not. I also did not bust it. That honor went to long time friend Chris, the guitarist from Act of Congress. Have you heard their new Album. It is FABULOUS!!!

I love her and was happy to make her party day dreams come true...

The Details:

- For the gold tassels I used this tutorial and my own version for the longer ones. I bought the mylar sheets here. They are not easy to make. The mylar slides. It was most definitely worth it though. They have been used in two parties thus far. I am sure using tissue paper would be much easier.

- The ruffle streamers, ice cream cups, wooden spoons, straws, lanterns, and candles were all purchased from Shop Sweet Lulu.

- Big gold seven, piñata + stick, and candy apple peppermint sticks are from our local Party City.

- Glow sticks, napkins, and paper plates were purchased at Target. The confetti table cloth is from there too, but it was bought back in March.

- Art & craft supplies are all from Michael's

- Gold votives bought here.

- The grass for under the cake was purchased for another party and I was able to use it again. It was purchased from Save on Crafts.

- Cake from Edgars as always.