One of my closest friends is getting married next month! Sara is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. We danced together in college, and have kept in touch through the years since. She grew up in Springville, where my in-laws live, which means I get I get to see her at least every time we visit Utah!
Ok, so... Sam and I take full credit for the two of these lovebirds. Technically, Sara and Ryan met back in grade school. But, five years or so ago, Sam and I set them up on a date. Trust me, we never really play matchmaker, but we are now 1-1 and feeling good about it.
They went on a couple of dates and it didn't quite work out. And then, pretty much once a year since then they would venture out on a date only to decide that it wasn't meant to be. Until last Fall when I get a call from Sara saying, "Ryan and I are dating again! ...Oh, and we are thinking of getting married!" Ah, true love.
I am so happy for these two. Ryan is actually the younger brother of one of Sam's best friends from high school. He is kind and funny, and always smiling. He is the kind of guy who really just wants to make everyone happy. And Sara is absolutely the most deserving of that happiness. She is such a special person, and I was so excited to see her so excited about this new adventure. She was absolutely glowing.
Sara has impeccable taste, and has an eye for beautiful things. She is an extremely talented dancer with WDC and designs the storefronts and displays for Banana Republic in Provo. So, I was excited to throw a bridal shower that might really fit her style and love for pretty things. I pulled together this board, and was especially inspired by this Midsummer Mingle. And thus came, Sara's Midsummer Bridal Shower!
I had many ideas that just didn't work out, mostly because I was trying to keep costs down, but also because it is really hard to throw a party on a different turf! I didn't have my usual resources, and things like florals were literally ten times more expensive in Utah than in California. So, I minimized while trying to keep the things I knew would be most exciting for Sara.
I was lucky to have a lot of help with this party. I gave food assignments to many of Sara's friends and family, and oh they really came through! We had fresh fruit, a cheese board with crackers, a delicious berry green salad, pear walnut crostinis, and two of the most beautiful tarts. (recipes found on the board) It ended up being a perfect take on a fresh, summer menu.
Speaking of Summer, I sort of forgot how stinkin' hot it is in Utah in July when I sent the invite for an outdoor party at 6:30 pm. Whoops. But luckily, we were given a miraculously cool evening, in the shade of Sara's English cottage-style childhood home. I couldn't have picked a better location. Her family brought out pretty couches and chairs, and the rest of the guests were happy to lounge on blankets in the grass.
I foraged greens and flowers from all over Springville- which was an interesting task in the dead of summer! But, I found some beautifully soft greens for the tablescape. Arianna and I made green leaf crowns for the guests to wear. And my friend, Ashley, came and braided the guests's hair in the prettiest Midsummer-inspired updos, and decorated them with foraged flowers. I was happy many of the girls really got into this, and I was even more happy when most of the guests showed up in "summer whites" as requested on the invite! I love parties where people are willing to really enjoy themselves and have fun.
The thing that really made the decor were those beautiful overs-sized flowers that Ashley was able to borrow for the party. I really couldn't afford the abundance of real florals that I had planned to use. So, I was so excited when Ashley offered to procure these massive beauties- they are gorgeous! I'm thinking of getting some for Eliza's room. I love how bright and whimsical they are.
I loved watching Sara open her presents, and laugh while she told her cute love story. I especially loved sticking around after the party and watching her run around the house, excitedly pulling out all of her pretty wedding details. She is wearing her mother's dress, but cutting the top off to wear the skirt with a cardigan like Olivia Palermo. It's absolutely beautiful. Oh, and her ring! Her dad owns Forge Jewelry Works in Provo. He handcrafted that beautiful ring! She couldn't decide between rose gold and yellow gold, so he literally created a custom alloy by mixing the two to create, what he calls, "peach gold." I mean, seriously? How magical.
I am so happy for you, Sara! I can't wait for your wedding day!
Ah, how do I keep up with this girl!? There are just too many great tidbits of Eliza, and I just don't know how to write it all down. I started recording "conversations with Eliza" - which I love - but, they take too long to upload and edit. How do all you parents record your littles? I want to remember everything!
She loves to dance. She loves to jump. She loves to be a helper, and has declared herself a "big girl."
Eliza says, vol. 4:
stories- Eliza asks me to tell her stories sometimes. They always start the same, "Once upon a time their was a little girl named... Eliza." And then I make up a story about Eliza and all of her friends and family. Or, I tell the story of our day. Or, she will request a story about a particular person. it's one of my favorite things we do.
"ABCs" "1-10"- Any time she sees letters, she exclaims "ABCs!!" And then, she "reads" the words by pointing her little finger at each letter and saying, "A, B, C, B, A, A, C, B..." She also loves counting. I didn't even know she could count, and then one day she is singing "1, 2, 3..." all the way to 10!" Ah! That sounds like such a big kid thing, it kills me.
"I dood it"- The most common phrase in our house. "No, I dood it!" She wants to do everything by herself, and so everything takes ten times longer than it's supposed to. But, it's worth it because after all her tiny grunts, with a scrunched nose and furrowed brow, comes the biggest, brightest smile and "I DID IT!"
"let me go!"- I don't know where this came from. Maybe a movie or something? But, she says it all the time- when I try and smother her with hugs, or when I'm trying to get her to take a bath. One time I overheard her playing with her toys, and through the chatting and yelling, I hear "No! Let me go!" Sometimes it's really embarrassing... Like, when I'm in a parking lot and I'm forcing her to hold my hand and she's wiggling around yelling "Let me go! Let me go!" I swear she's mine!
"Eliza Baby" and "Sage-y Baby"- Eliza's best friend Sage gave her a little baby doll for her birthday. It's actually a smaller version of her other baby doll. And she LOVES both of them so much. She now has to have both of her babies all the time. They are "best friends" and they give each other hugs. She softly kisses their head and tucks them into beds she makes out of pieces of felt and laundry baskets. Her first baby, she named "Eliza Baby." And her second baby was named, "Sage-y Baby." Sometimes we get home late at night from a drive, and she's dead asleep when we put her in her crib. She will roll over, clutching Eliza Baby- and as we are about to close her bedroom door we hear a sleepy, "Sage-y Baby?"
"own baby" (one baby)- Whenever we go somewhere, Eliza is now allowed to bring one baby in the car to sit with her. She started copying my serious tone when I would look at her armful of toys and say, "You can bring ONE baby." So, now when we are getting ready to go out she will look at me all serious, stick out her fingers, and say "OWN baby?"
"Ok?"- She also copies my tone when I say something like, "We need to eat lunch first, Ok?" So, now she finishes many of her sentences with, "Ok?" I laugh every time she says it. Some of her favorites are, "No run or get owies, ok?" or "Be soft or will break, ok?"
"oopsie daisy"- I guess I must say this. Who knew? She will drop a blueberry on the ground and daintily say, "Oopsie, daisy."
"Oh, Papa fix it."- Whenever something breaks or is found broken or out of place, Eliza gets very concerned. She really likes things to be just so. So, I will assure "It's broken, but it's ok!" And she will say, "Oh... Papa fix it." And, after this confident declaration of relief, she will go about her business. I love that she says this, because I love to see that assured look on her face that Papa can make anything better. (But, I also love to tell her that Mama can fix it, too! :)
We took these pictures on a beach day recently, where Eliza was happily running around in her ruffle swimsuit jumping off of logs and playing in the sand and water with her friends. It was a happy day. And, here's a paparazzi picture of this sassy girl...
On our last day together, we made the big drive down to Big Sure. We figured, he's here so we might as well do it! I've been wanting to take my dad since the last time we went because I knew he would be blown away. And he was!
We made all of our favorite stops, and somehow smashed in a lot in just one day. We stopped at our favorite bakery in Monterey Bay, stopped at the Bixby Bridge, ate lunch at Nepenthe, saw the beautiful McWay Waterfall, and took a walk at Point Lobos. Nothing beats those shades of blue waters, rocky cliffs, and sweeping views. We even got to watch the Golden Gate Warriors win the Championship while eating pizza and gelato in Monterey on our way back home.
Our house always feels a little empty when visitors go home, and Eliza has been asking for Grandad for days now. She's added Grandad into the mix whenever she's happy, "Yuv you, Grandad!" or when she's sad, "Mama, Papa, Grandad, Mama, Papa, Grandad!" Or, when she's just mad at me, in general "No Mama! Grandad go!?" She loves him. We miss you, Daddy!
On Saturday we took my dad out to Tomales Bay, where we grilled fresh oysters and bratwurst. That place has become really popular, so it's a much different experience than we first started going. But luckily, they have a good system of dealing with the crowds and still making it a fun place to be. We ate so much food, I thought I was going to pop.
We also had a Berkeley day all about Eliza, where we took her on the Steam Train and Carousel in Tilden Park. My dad said the train was one of his favorite things we did. Mostly because he got to sit across the way from Eliza and watch her face. Eliza has a huge range of emotions, and you can see her spaz out from excitement at the drop of a hat. But, when she is seeing new things she get's really serious and her eyes get really big while she takes in every single detail. It's kind of funny to watch.
She is really into dressing up lately, and I'm always finding new things to add to her "dress up box." It's also her favorite thing to do when people are around. She drags the box into the living room and carefully selects an outfit for herself, and sometimes for everyone who is present. Then, she usually dance around and puts in her show. She also loves setting up tea parties with her plastic tea set and her plush cupcakes. I was in mama heaven watching these two have a tea party together.
Sam and I took my dad to a Giants game one night, where we had our first strike out on food. We were meeting Sam at the stadium, so my dad and I left early enough to grab food on the way. As we were walking to the stadium, we didn't see any good places to eat and ended up stopping at an over-priced grocer where we ate tofu noodle salad and wraps. Tofu! Only to find out that one block away were bacon-wrapped hot dog stands and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was seriously laughable- like Seinfeld standards.
We started a tradition of going on a daddy-daughter date every time we visit each other. This time I took him on a walk up at Inspiration Point on Orinda, where the wind threatened to knock us over- but the views were beautiful. We see each other a couple of times a year, and talk on the phone weekly. But, there's something about being one-on-one that is so important to me. It's just nice to talk without distractions. It's weird to think that I have lived away from home for almost a decade. I've been an "adult" for ten years, a wife for five, and a mother for two. So, these rare moments when I can just be a daughter are pretty special.
After our walk we went to Elmwood and split a sandwich and polenta at Summer Kitchen. Since it was nearing closing time, they were throwing food and drinks at us for free. Then, of course, I had to take him to Ici to get a cone. This is my favorite ice cream in the Bay, and it never disappoints. We walked around as it started to get dark, each with a cone of Vanilla Almond Cherry.
When I was little, our family took a huge road trip to the West Coast. We drove from San Antonio to San Francisco, and hit everything along the way. It was our biggest family trip, and even though I was only eight or so, I have some vivid memories of The Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Disneyland, and the Bay Area.
Chinatown was one of my favorite places we saw in San Francisco. I just remember it was really colorful, and we ate some really good food. So, I took my Dad into the city to spend the afternoon in Chinatown. We did some shopping, and he bought the grandbabies cute souvenirs- Eliza went home with a little purse and one of those solar-powered cats that waves at you, that you can't help but smile at. We spent some time in The Wok Shop where my dad picked out some beautiful bowls with delicately painted designs in blue. And, we even ate lunch at the same restaurant that we ate at as a family two decades ago.
I took him to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, too. My dad always bring a fortune cookie to Lucy or Eliza when they see him. It's his thing, and they love it. The Factory is a hole-in-the-wall place down a random alley in Chinatown, where you can pay 50 cents to take a picture of these old women sitting in front of machines that spit out batter, flatten and bake them in disks, before they are folded by hand and filled with a fortune while they are still warm. They sell fresh fortune cookies, or you can make them on the spot. My dad got to write his own fortunes for the girls, and have them filled and sealed.
On another day we drove out to Tiburon to take the ferry out to Angel Island. I have been wanting to go here for a long time. Angel Island is a State Park, that used to be about a million other things- military forts, US Quarantine facilities, and Immigration Detentions. The ferry ride was beautiful, and we took a bumpy tram around the island with an audio tour. It was a great way to see the whole island in a short period of time, and to learn a lot of great history. And, you get some amazing views of the Bay in every direction. There's also a really good cafe to eat at, hiking and biking trails, and a pretty, little beach.
Is it just me, or does Eliza look really old in these pictures? It's because she is. She warmed up to my dad within a day, and was so patient during all of our excursions. She had a blast! It was one of the first visits where I felt like we weren't just dragging her along, she was really enjoying everything and asking so many questions. She is such a curious thing, and really loves seeing new things.
