Events – Page 4 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Baby October 20, 2017

Meredith’s Otomi Baby Shower

Last Sunday, five other hostesses and I threw an Otomi-themed baby shower for our best friend, Meredith (alter ego: Cake & Confetti, or ‘Cupcakes & Confetti’ according to my brother-in-law). If you are thinking to yourself: “What the heck is Otomi?” well, scroll down, because you will see an Otomi print cake, runners, invitation, macarons, vinyl backdrop, party favor bags, and detailing on the food signs. It would not be a Meredith-shower if it was not colorful, so we brought in every color of the rainbow! The photos are bright and happy, just like Mere is.

I will save you all of the sap, but Meredith is truly going to be the best mom ever. She is already my girls’ sugar mama (well, mainly just Isla right now) – they just love her. Piper is one lucky girl. I am so anxious to meet her. Doesn’t Meredith look AMAZING?! There was some back-and-forth on dress choices before the shower, and I’m so glad she chose the pink one (mainly to match me, but also to show off those rockin’ mama-to-be curves!).

It quite literally took a village to put together this shower, and all of the vendors/sources of paper goodies are linked below. The five other hostesses – Joy, Brittany, Allyson, Michelle and Amy – were the best! I also have to mention the MVP of the whole shower – Monica of Paper Flour Ink, who custom designed the invitation that had everyone talking, then outdid herself (and literally anyone on the internet/Pinterest) with that jaw-dropping cake. The detail on it was amazing. The balloons and arch from Big Ass Balloons were the perfect final punch of color, the florals from Blush & Vine were better than I could have imagined (Hello, tiny peppers in the arrangements! How creative!!). Nancy of Natalie Gene Creative took “Hey, could you do some calligraphy for the shower?” to the next level with those insanely gorgeous wooden signs, tabletop frames and margarita/mockgarita pitchers. The macarons baked by Erica of Wink by Erica and illustrated by Amy Mei of 6120 Creative were so gorgeous and intricate – I wish I ate eggs just so I could have tried one!

Many, many thanks to the amazing vendors for their help!

Sources and Vendors

Thank you cards from Minted, IG: @minted // Macarons by Wink by Erica and Amy Mei, IG: @winkbyerica and @6120creative // Vinyl backdrop designed by Monica of Paper Flour Ink, Printed by Signs.com, IG: @paperflourink // Calligraphy by Nancy of Natalie Gene Creative, IG: @nataliegenecreative // Table/chair and linen rentals by Aztec Party Rentals, IG: @aztecusa // Balloons by Big Ass Balloons, IG: @bigassballoons // Venue – The West Studios, IG: @theweststudios // Invitations, cake, topper, bingo cards by Monica of Paper Flour Ink, IG: @paperflourink // Flowers by Blush & Vine, IG: @blushandvine // Custom napkins from The Monogram Shop, IG: @themonogramshop // Photo booth props & margarita glasses from Party City, IG: @partycity // Bible from Hosanna Revival, IG: @hosannarevival // Custom jigsaw puzzle from CreateJigsawPuzzles.com @createjigsawpuzzles // Dip bowls from Re-Play, IG: @replayrecycled // Chip bowls and white tables from IKEA, IG: @ikeausa // Favor Bags made by my mom with fabric from Spoonflower, IG: @spoonflower // Food baskets, straws, and dessert plates from Shop Sweet Lulu, IG: @shopsweetlulu // Pitchers from World Market, IG: @worldmarket

Events September 25, 2017

Our Vacation at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa

Happy Monday/back to reality! We spent the last week at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, which is located on Miramar Beach near Destin, Florida. It was one of the best weeks of my whole life, truly. We were up at sunrise every morning, first in line for the breakfast buffet (more on that below, but it was so delicious!), first at the beach to get our umbrella and baby tent setup (Emi napped every single morning in it!), ate the best lunches at Barefoot’s by the pool, snoozed hard in the afternoon, then were back out for more fun around 3pm. Around 5pm, we’d head back to the hotel, all take baths/shower, then get dressed and eat dinner, either at the resort, or taking the free shuttle to Baytowne Wharf nearby. We were relaxed the whole time, and I couldn’t imagine it going more smoothly. I have some tips for beachin’ with baby below as well – we learned some things during our first time doing it! Isla was about 20 months old when we took her to the beach the first time, so her eating the sand was not a concern of ours! Ha.

Events September 14, 2017

Emi’s Serbian Orthodox Christening Ceremony

On July 21, Emilia was Christened in a Serbian Orthodox ceremony at St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church, officiated by Father Serge Veselinovich. Her Godparents, Kirby and Brett, came into town and played an integral part of the ceremony. I’ve been best friends with Kirby for over 12 years now, and we are so glad that they’ll play a key role in our daughter’s life forever. Emi is a lucky girl! Isla’s Godmother, McKenzie, flew into Houston from Chicago to celebrate with us! I have the best best friends.

While we attend a Baptist church, Bayou City Fellowship, we wanted to follow Sasha’s Serbian traditions for the Christening, which is very closely aligned to the Greek Orthodox faith (in which Kirby was raised). I did research about the ceremony prior to Isla’s Christening, and wrote about it in her blog post (which is linked at the bottom of this post!).

Although we didn’t know it at the time, sweet Emi had an ear infection on July 21st (now obvious in some of the photos, since she is pulling on her ear!). Needless to say, she was not a super happy camper during the 45 minute ceremony. Kirby was Godmother-extraordinaire, rocking her, giving her a bottle, soothing her, letting her play with her face and hair, etc.

Baby July 10, 2017

Baby Registry Guide: Newborn to 5 Month Essentials

I published a baby registry guide post (here) almost two-and-a-half years ago, and I’ve been sharing it with friends ever since. I recently read through it again and realized a lot of links were broken, and that I needed to add new ‘Emi favorites.’

When I first compiled this list, I thought to myself, ‘I need to make a concise list of all essential items for a baby’s first five months.’ Then I listed all of the products we use on a day-to-day basis, and oh-my-gosh – it is quite the opposite of concise. Babies require lots and lots of stuff.

Decor May 29, 2017

Isla’s Unicorn Third Birthday Party

Happy Memorial Day! This past Saturday, we celebrated Isla’s third birthday party in Durango, and simply put, it was magical. The birthday girl had asked for a unicorn themed party, so that’s exactly what she got – unicorn everything. It was relatively (for me at least! Ha!) small scale, given that there were only ten people there (including Emilia!). Our best friends, the Behennas (now Emi’s Godparents) were in town, which is why we chose to celebrate a week before her actual birthday on June 4.