My Biggest Fan Has Wings

"Jenni, your mom is gone."

I will never forget those words.  Especially since I have had to use them so much these past couple of weeks.  But even saying it so many times doesn't make it feel any more real. 

Isn't she beautiful?

I may have mentioned in previous posts that my mom had cancer.  She was diagnosed in November 2010 with Stage 4 Lung Cancer, which was a shock to anyone that knew her.  She was a non-smoker and had never been exposed to aesbestos or any of that fun stuff.  She was just that one person who was "struck by lightning," as her doctor put it.  But never once from that day did I ever think this disease would take her away from me.  And never once (that she voiced) did my mom have a negative attitude about her diagnosis.  She was an inspiration to me and all those around her.  She firmly believed that she would be healed by God and would grow older to see her grandchildren grow.  As did I.  I wasn't ready for her to go.  I never got to tell her good-bye.  And while she didn't get the earthly healing all of us would have preferred, she got the ultimate healing and finally met her Savior face-to-face.

My mom was by far my biggest fan (sorry sweetie, but you're no.2). Probably 75% of my fans and readers are because she put my stuff out there all the time. She promoted me as much as she could, even to her boss, which got me a couple of jobs doing event posters.  She was also one of my regular critics, but probably not in the way you're thinking.  I would run nearly all of my projects by her to get her opinion, which she would freely give, ha ha.  But she is the main reason I believe I am as creative as I am.  Whatever new venture, project, or life-path I took on, she always encouraged me, praised me, supported me.  The day I graduated college, I had to hold back tears during the whole ceremony because it was something WE had worked so hard together for, and something WE had wanted for so long.  And having her there a part of it meant the world to me.

Somewhere along the way, my mom became my best friend.  We talked nearly everyday, and if we didn't talk, we emailed.  We shopped, hung out, talked about guys & marriage, did most things girls do with their mothers, but it was different for us.  We were so alike, apart from appearances, but yet we were so different.  We knew each other's opinions before we even asked, but we still asked.  And our opinions were almost never the same.  She never understood my taste in interiors, nor I her's, and clothes were about the same--although we were kindred hippie spirits.  But for what we didn't agree on, we still got it.  We shared a love of George {Strait}, old houses, history, antiques, chick flicks and laughing.  I could really go on and on; I have been flooded with memories these past couple of weeks going through her things and packing up her home. 

As much as we are sad, we are celebrating too.  She told me so many times she didn't want her funeral to be sad, but a celebration because she was happy.  Or whatever a billion times happy would be.  So we celebrated her life, and we cried, but rejoiced too.  Her celebration was colored pink and purple, in honor of her two favorite organizations:  Mid-Coast Family Services & The Guardians of the Ribbon--South Texas Chapter.  And we had balloons.  She would have liked that.

A very good family friend told us that no doubt we would feel sadness each day, but we would also remember some moment, some detail everyday that would make us smile. And I think I have. But it got me thinking about all those moments in life that make us smile, and not just moments in time, but moments in space. I have so many moments in time that will stay with me always, but now I will have moments in space to look at and remember. So many things I am keeping of my mom's lived for nearly 10 years in the house I live in now. Kinda like she always belonged here. She loved this place and was happy to see my hubby and I love it as much.

Mom's portrait was displayed at the services and I had so many people tell me how much we look alike, which we already knew, ha ha, but these words began running through my mind: 

When I look in the mirror I see you.
Your eyes
Your hair
Your smile
Your nose.

But when I look in the mirror I see me
The daughter you created
The creative mind you fostered
The Godly woman you nurtured
The inner strength you helped groom.

I am you. 
You are forever a part of me.
I would not be me without you, 
And you live on through me.

But I still ache for you. 
My heart knows a piece is missing.
For my heart was formed from you.

Would that I could wish you back.
But to do so would tear your happiness away.
And I can't do that.

So shine on, my angel.
Until I see you again
and replace the missing piece.
I love you Mom.  And I miss you like crazy.

ta-ta for now...
Jenni

Memo to Life

One thing I have learned in my way-too-fast 28 years is that no matter how many times you memo Life on what you want, it never gets it.  I could go into more details, but I won't bore you.  Because I'm sure you all know this as well.

What I'm getting at is that memo mishap is why I have been a lot quieter than I would prefer, and why my to do list isn't getting to-done.  As you know, I quit my day job to focus more on my design work.  But I haven't been able to do that.  Life has given me a new role of caretaker for my mom while she battles that terrible disease better known as cancer.  She has been my biggest fan in my creative endeavors so I have to be her support now. 

So I hope you'll forgive my absence and project delays.  I have been working on my blog design and my website, as well as thinking/planning on new directions for this lil business to go in.  I'm still focusing on graphic design, but I want to venture back into interior design as well.  We'll see what the future holds. :)

so, ta-ta
for now...

Party for Baby J

Hopefully you've seen by now that I've done several sets of birthday invites for kids, had a birthday luncheon for my gran and baked and decorated a few yummies.  But for the first time I got to do all three for one party.  Can we say EXCITED?!  I gave a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Tiffany, who is expecting their second child, a boy, my nephew, in mid-July.  (As of the shower date, his parents hadn't chosen a name, so he will be referred to as Baby J.)  He will be welcomed home by big brudder Matthew -- you can see his birth announcement here.  At first, my mind was running in circles with ideas, and once I settled on a theme and did my research on what all I would need to pull this shower off, I quickly got overwhelmed.  But I got myself a spreadsheet and lists and lists and lists, and felt a little less overwhelmed.  But just a little.

I decided on a nursery rhyme theme.  I like to think of myself as a little bit old school and I wanted to do something a little more classic, but give it a slight modern twist.

 

Instead of working with just one rhyme, I decided to focus on six {because I can rarely just pick one thing!} and chose ones that were a little more boyish.  And for each rhyme, I had an invite, a food and a game.  I also started with the idea of having a centerpiece for each rhyme, but as details grew and grew I quickly realized it would make things a whole lot easier if I just had 6 of the same centerpieces.  But I'll get to all that later.

First things first, my six featured nursery rhymes:
Humpty Dumpty
Little Boy Blue
What Are Little Boys Made Of
Rub-A-Dub-Dub
Old Woman in the Shoe
Hey Diddle Diddle

The Invitations

I designed six different invitations, each featuring one of the rhymes.  I keep seeing chevrons everywhere and knew I wanted to incorporate them somehow.  Be trendy and all, ha ha.  I thought that would give it that modern twist that I was hoping for but I still wanted it to lean a little towards vintage.  I found these great drawings of each rhyme that were perfect for that vintage flare.  I printed the invites on white card stock, then layered them on varied brown card stocks.  In keeping with the theme, I cut out squares of Kraft paper and folded them into envelopes.  I also designed address labels that coordinated with the invitations.

Each invitation included a map to the party's location, a note to bring a pack of diapers to be entered in a raffle for a prize (a game inspired by Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub -- "Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Fill Up the Tub With Diapers"), and the guestbook card.  I asked each guest to sign their card and then write down their favorite nursery rhyme.  My plan is to take these cards and compile them into an interactive reminder for Tiffany of the shower.

The Party

There aren't many options in my small town to hold a nice party, and my house is too small for the number invited, so I opted for our local Chamber of Commerce meeting hall.  The space was the right size and, except for the paneled walls and past Presidents' pictures hanging on the wall, it wasn't bad.

I placed six tables in a U-shape, covered each with white tablecloths, then diagonally layered blue and green tissue paper as a runner along the entire U.  Each table had a centerpiece of a mini-galvanized bucket filled with mints.  The bucket's ribbon handle had three balloons tied to it.  A picture frame featuring one of the six rhymes sat next to each bucket.

I also used glass milk bottles as vases filled with Baby's Breath.  The bottles were wrapped in burlap ribbon, then overlaid with a satin ribbon featuring a toile-like nursery rhyme design.  How perfect!  That was probably my most exciting find!

The welcome table featured a simple arrangement of Baby's Breath and white Peonies.  The vase was also wrapped in the burlap ribbon then overlaid with a simple blue ribbon.  The "guestbook" was a bulletin board covered in brown fabric then edged with the same blue ribbon.  I then strung twine across the board and provided mini-clothespins for guests to hang their "favorite rhyme cards."  It was a great display to see everyone's favorites.  I also provided a book of rhymes, just in case anyone needed a reminder.  :)

See that awesome easel?  My hubby made it (:

The welcome table also featured the first game, inspired by "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe."

"Just How Many Children Does the Old Woman Have?"

 Other games included:

Inspired by Little Boy Blue:  "Don't Wake Little Boy Blue!"

Each person that brought a gift was given a whistle.  One of the whistles had been disabled.  As Tiffany opened each person's gift, they were asked to blow their "horn."  If their "horn" sounded, they had unfortunately woken Little Boy Blue.  But the one person who's horn didn't blow claimed the prize as the person who didn't wake the sleeping boy.

Inspired by Humpty Dumpty:  "How Many Humpties Does it Take?"

Guests were asked to divide into groups of two or three people.  Each group was given a bag of eggs.  Each egg was filled with pictures of essential parts to a nursery, i.e. crib, rocker, etc.  Each group was also given a pack of crayons, glue and blank paper.  Even though all the king's men and all the king's horses couldn't put Humpty together again, guests were asked to put together Tiffany's new nursery.  In 10 minutes, they had to design a nursery that Tiffany would choose as winner.

Inspired by What are Little Boys Made of:  "Baby Boys are Made of What?!"

Guests were asked to list as many baby things as they could using the letters from the words snips, snails, and puppy dog tails.

*Note on this game:  the preparer {i.e. me} should have checked to see what and how many baby words could in fact be made using those letters.  Apparently, not many.  But I think everyone had fun trying.  :)

The Menu

Each nursery rhyme had a corresponding food.  This most definitely took some imagination.  There were certain foods I knew I wanted to make because I knew the guest of honor really liked them.  So tying them to a certain rhyme was a feat, but I think it worked out well.

"Humpty Dumpty's Deviled Noggin"
*no Humpty's were harmed in the making of this dish*
{ranch deviled eggs}

"Snails & Snips Chips & Dips"

"The Candlestick Maker's Taper Crackers"

"Jumping Cow's Cheese"
"The Butcher's Best Cuts"

"Puppy Dog Tails Sandwiches"
{turkey and pesto jack cheese wrapped in mini crescent rolls}
*They kinda look like puppy's tails, right??*

The sweets called for quite a bit of creativity, but none so much as the strawberry dessert.  Tiffany had seen this idea on Pinterest and really wanted to have them at the shower.  So did I, ha ha!  But figuring out how to work them in with the rhymes I had made my brain really work.  

But I think I found a pretty good solution:

"Why the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon"
{strawberries stuffed with cheesecake, dipped in crushed graham crackers, and served on spoons}
And as good as these were, I can see why the dish took off with the spoon!

"Little Boy Blue's Haystacks"
{pecans & brown sugar finely blended together with butter, wrapped in pie crust}

"The Baker's Cream Delight Cupcakes"
{chocolate cupcakes filled with cheesecake, topped with whipped cream cheese frosting}

To quench our thirst, we had "The Old Woman in the Shoe's Sweet Broth," a punch recipe I've had nearly forever that we used at my wedding, parties, Tiffany's wedding and everyone loves it.

The food was yummy in our tummies, if I say so myself. :)

The Favors

As a parting gift, I didn't want to do typical favors.  I wanted to give something that wouldn't immediately end up in the trash can when the guests got home.  And I hope I achieved that.  I also struggled with a favor that coordinated with my selected rhymes.  But it occurred to me, maybe I could introduce one more rhyme, and maybe it should be that one obvious rhyme you think of with babies:  Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake.  So after some brainstorming, and a little Pinspiration, I came up with these:

The candles smelled sooooo good and so vanilla-y that I knew they would make the perfect "cake."  I think this was my favorite element of the whole shower.  But it took a lot of baby food to make these happen.  Good thing my other half will eat just about anything. ;)

Thankfully, I timed the shower just right.  Not even a week after the shower, little Zachary Robert made his appearance on July 5.  Welcome to the family cutie pie!

I really couldn't be more pleased with how it all turned out.  Of course, not everything went according to plan, but that's the problem with planning, right?

I hope you enjoyed this little shower "tour."  My Aunt Shirley asked me if I was going into party planning now.  Maybe.  :)

I'd also like to throw out an amazing THANK YOU to my dear hubby.  He was very much ready for this shower to be over with, ha ha, but he was also SO supportive of my random thoughts and bits and parts laying around the house and such a big help while I was going a bit crazy planning.  I really don't think I could have pulled this off without him!  Although I don't think he minded much being my taste-tester! ;)

ta ta for now...