life is always about the journey...

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Happy Graduate!


Here's our 2014 Graduate....Alexa...she's pretty happy!
She graduated with top honors and we are so proud of all her accomplishments!!

Graduation was at 10 am on Monday...outside..in the 97 degrees plus humidity.
Let's just say we all were a bit sunburned, wilted and heat exhausted afterwards.
But it was a nice ceremony and Alexa is now a college freshmen...oy vey.
She will be at the University of South Carolina in August studying Marine Biology.


Alexa & James
Her dress is from Nordstroms here in ivory (I got it in the black lol)....those are my shoes she borrowed ;)


James, Alexa and me!
Dress is from Loft here (its navy) paired with hot pink Kate Spade bow belt
and Michael Kors heels.  I LOVE this dress and the way it fits!


Alexa with both her grandmas before the ceremony...my mom is on left and James' mom is on right.
We took these in the morning before we left for the 10 am ceremony and thank goodness we did because we had all wilted in the 97 deg heat afterwards LOL!






Alexa's A capella chorus sang a few times during the graduation ceremony.  I didn't start crying till the end when they sang the moving Alma Mater song for their school...then James and I UGLY cried!


Alexa accepting her diploma....there were 400+ kids in her graduating class.


The happy graduate!


Riley & Alexa after the ceremony!


Alexa and her 2 BFFs (Grace & Sophia)...it was so hot that Grace had already shedded her robe LOL!



Alexa and all her friends goofing off at the photobooth at their all-night-grad party LOL!
Gotta love these kids :)


In case you wanna see teens have some good, clean, goofy fun....I encourage you to watch
this video of their All Night Grad Party LMBO!  Alexa and her 2 BFFs singing "Dancing Queen" by Abba....I'm still chuckling!

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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Graduation Party-time!!!


CLASS OF 2014


One of Alexa's Senior Photos
There is a reflection because I could NOT get the darn picture out of the frame today...either I was weak from exhaustion or the frame was having fun with me...grrrrrr!

I know, I know....its been over a week since I've posted...I apologize.
We have had a whirlwind of activities around our house gearing up for graduation and the
graduation party for Alexa that happened this weekend!

PHEW.......

It's all over with...it was an emotional roller coaster, physically exhausting but lots of memories were made and a good time had by all.  Today I'm sharing pics of our Graduation Party that we had on Saturday.  Then this week I will share graduation photos....and project pics for other things I've been working on!

So lots of pictures in this post....but enjoy!!


This was a table I set up in our foyer for the party.  A few pics of Alexa, a place to put gifts/cards, balloons and flowers for the graduation girl.  Also my "KEYS TO SUCCESS".....



I had ordered bulk bags of silver skeleton keys on Amazon and cut tags for them on my Silhouette Cameo.  I used black cardstock because I wanted it to have a chalkboard feel and I had white-gel pens for people to use to write with.  She won't get the jar of keys and tags until we drop her off at college...I wanted her to have something long after the party ended to reminisce on and laugh/cry at.  Some of the tags are silly I'm sure, some are great pieces of advice and some are some tips she may need at some point.  The large jar I got on Amazon too...I liked the lid and size.



I had a lot of food for this party...and I was stressed I wouldn't have enough for the 65+ people.  But I always have too much food....we donated all the leftovers from catering to the local homeless shelter because I didn't want it going to waste.  I had Red Hot & Blue cater pulled pork, baked beans and potato salad....sandwiches from Which Wich...party platters and cake from Wegmans. I made lemonade, fruit salad and desserts.  My mom made 2 platters of Texas Brownies...mmm yum!








This was the beverage station I set up....I made homemade strawberry lemonade and wrapped water bottles with custom wrappers I made.  We had wine and beer and sodas in coolers outside.


I had bought 50 blue mason jars and striped straws for the lemonade...blue was one of the theme colors since Alexa's school colors are blue, white and black.



I had a white cake made by Wegmans and inside was stuffed with fresh strawberries and cream....it was really, really good.  I decorated it myself...hahahaha...the black icing kinda melted a bit but I used a Gamecock decal and some footballs from the Party Store along with sprinkles...it worked.


I didn't get the best pictures of this because I was rushed for time....but I had bulk-ordered small white take-out boxes and made stickers for the front of each.  Then used striped tissue paper to line them and fill half with Kettle Corn and half with Cheddar Popcorn. Then everyone could grab a box and chow down.  Those are my mom's Texas Brownies to the right...mmmm ;)



I had bouquets of white roses and daisies around the house including that lovely centerpiece I had my dad make me.  I keep fresh flowers in it every week.




This is our backyard patio and cabana all decked out for the party.  The coolers were a necessity to hold all the drinks we needed iced down :)  I love my patio because of all the different seating areas and places to be depending on the weather and activity.




My hubs and son helping get ready!  That's my mom's dog Snickers surveying the scene in most pictures LOL (no I didn't get a new dog)!


This is one of my fave little sitting areas as it sits behind the main seating area/fireplace...the butterfly bush and grasses are at edge of patio so there are always hummingbirds and butterflies flitting around. Its kind of hidden and a great place to read and get away.



Alexa with a group of her friends.  The bar to the left is one of two bars..I love the round bar addition because its another great place for seating or food buffet.


My niece, my mom and my sister-in-law.


Alexa and her friends using the photo booth props I ordered and some I had made.


Alexa's BFF Mya came up from Georgia for the party and to see her friends graduate. She grew up with them all but moved at the end of her junior year...was nice she could see everyone!



Alexa opening some of her graduation gifts...the girl made out well...thank you to everyone that sent or gave a gift, we are so happy you were able to come and join us to celebrate her successes and future!



Annnnnddddd...this is what happens at the end of a great day when you are slap-happy and tired!
Alexa and the hubs show their goofy sides ;)
James kept asking Alexa all day if she wanted to "take a selfie" hahahaha and singing "It's the Final Countdown" song to her.  So they had to take a selfie together hahaha!


I will be back on Thursday with Grad Pictures to share......


Entering In The Following Linky Parties:

Family Fun Friday

WOW Us Wednesdays

Summer Celebration Link Party

DIY Showoff/ Fun In The Sun Party

The DIY Dreamer

Ivy & Elephants







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Monday, May 5, 2014

Just Rent It!


Have you ever rented your clothes or handbags?  
I haven't in the past but I love the idea of it.  Why spend hundreds of dollars on a dress you may not wear again or even have a chance to wear again depending on the event.  I'd rather invest $40-50 to wear a fabulous dress and save my money to spend on great shoes or travel LOL! 

So I wanted to try it out for myself and Alexa to see how it goes.  I've heard lots of good things about "Rent the Runway" so decided we'd try them out.  I've always wanted to wear a Badgley Mischka dress so now's my chance for a whole LOT less.  

We've picked out a couple of selections we have our eyes on (below), but you sort by the date of your event and then you can rent for 4-8 days.  I recommend putting the day BEFORE your event just in case..it eats up a rental day but for the peace of mind its worth it I think. 
Then they dry-clean it for you...so you just pack it back up and send it back in the pre-paid envelope.  

Make sure to read the "HOW IT WORKS" section too so you understand it all!

Sounds good to me...I'm going to try it out and see how it goes.  
So I will definitely give you a REAL review once we have.  But I thought I'd mention it because I know a lot of us have graduations, weddings and spring events to go to and it can get pricey finding things to wear.  
For $40 I'm so in, even if its only once to try out.

******

Alexa has to wear a white dress for her graduation and we've seen some cute ones but some of them are over $200...ummm no!  So she picked out one she loves and I picked out one I love from this site, and we will each have a back up on hand just in case the fit is off or it just doesn't look right LOL.

So this is a Jill Stuart dress for rent for $60...gorgeous material, great details and the style 
suits Alexa's body well.

I mean you can rent a GORGEOUS Valentino dress for $100 for 4 days...for whatever your event it may be TOTALLY worth it!



And I love this Rachel Roy dress for her graduation at a rental rate of $40 for 4 days. Great length, love the gathering of material and it is sleeveless...oh and its their school blue, um can you say school spirit hahahaha?  I've tried on Rachel Roy dresses in the past and they fit fabulously so I know what size to get for this.
However you can get a second size of the same dress sent to you for free..no extra rental fees..bonus!
Make sure to read the SIZE & FIT NOTES too...they are tips about how the dress fit by real women, not stick models ok?



I mean we should all have an Angelina Jolie moment at least once in our lives yes?
I would so rock this dress in my favorite red, by Halston and love the one-shoulder look!

Anyway thought I'd share that with you...will let you know how it goes when its graduations time in June. Course I may need to wear a bib over my dress for all the tears I'm gonna boo-hoo that day LOL!


If you've tried it or want to try it, let me know...I'd love to hear more reviews!!!



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