hello...i've missed you

oh how i've missed you...

that little bug sure did slow me down.

but i've still been able to manage to get some things done around here for ella's 1st birthday party coming up on saturday...

wanna see?

i've been...

finishing her...

the cake topper for ella's mini birthday cake!

ordering these...

(fun sprinkles from bakeitpretty for cupcake decorating @ ella's party)

and some of these...

(mini cupcake "cups"...aren't they adorable? again from bakeitpretty)!

assembling these...

(for the jumbo cupcakes the kids will be decorating & taking home as favors)

painting this...

(part of the table decor - this will also be used in the future for ella's newly decorated room)

and finalizing the bakery order...

(lots of yummy treats coming from this fabulous local bakery...)

i'm so glad to be feeling almost 100%...

feeling pretty relaxed about the party at this point. (although it's only monday - party is saturday).

j's parents fly in tomorrow for the big event!

what have YOU been up to?

have a lovely monday...

i REALLY HAVE missed you....

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so behind...

behind in posts.

behind in my little ella's birthday preps.

behind in everything.

all because of a little bug.

frustrating.

i WILL give you a peek into the things i've been able to work on, (all at a snail's pace mind you). and it took everything i had to muster up the energy to get through:

i did a photo shoot with this beautiful family over the weekend...

and i did another photo shoot earlier that day - a quick one...for this brand-new handsome little guy...

in other news, i celebrated a birthday on tuesday.

i couldn't enjoy it though.

i was fighting that little bug.

i didn't even get to sample a piece of the peanut butter silk pie j picked up especially for me.

in fact, i'm still eating crackers and sipping ginger ale. *grumbling*

so behind in ella's birthday preps.

but i'm not giving up.

i must get to the artisan bakery TODAY.

she's making me macarons & possibly some petit fours and truffles.

for ella's birthday party.

hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

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close your eyes...

that's right...close your eyes if you are completely "over" halloween...

because i've got our weekend recap...neatly packaged & grouped together...

remember my post on friday about the cakepops i'd been making for ema's class?

well, along with those cute polka dotted "pumpkins", (which by the way... i'll spare the details at how i ended up with the polka dotted pumpkins...let's just say it initially began with some very hideous looking jack-o-lanterns.. *laughing*), i also made a batch of these little ghosts. (two versions...standing ghosts and "sitting" ghosts). *wink*

and then here are the pumpkins the girls carved this year.

ema did the bat and clara did the ghost...

note to self: buy the pumpkins one week before halloween but don't carve them until the night before halloween...unless you WANT rotten pumpkins at the door to scare away trick-or-treaters...)

and then here are this year's costumes...

clara was a "candy corn witch" (she felt all "cute"...and she was).

ema was a "pumpkin-faced scary monster" (she was getting frustrated that little kids were so scared of her - and that most people kept calling her a him)???

& ella was a hot air balloon. (she pretty much stole the show as we strolled through the neighborhood streets).

and then there was food...

the menu consisted of chicken fingers, freaky fries, devilish dipping sauces, creepy cookies, mummy dogs, & sinister sodas. (no nutritional value what-so-ever - because that's just what they needed before they filled themselves up with halloween candy...right?) *wink*

i picked up two more yard stakes at target that went perfectly with the "stop in for a spell..." sign i already had. i cannot get enough of the black & creme mix in decor. LOVE it.

overall, saturday was a FULL day. i was up at 5:30a.m. to get going on everything that needed to be finished/done before we had some friends over @ 6:00p.m.

i could NOT have done it all without everyone's help. seriously! between everything j did - and it was A LOT - and all of the help the girls gave with ella's costume, cleaning and food prep...it was heaven to have that much help! and it turned out to be a great night for everyone. even little ella...she LOVED being in that hot air balloon basket...aka stroller.

i'm officially moving on from halloween...i just HAD to document the details.

onto thanksgiving!

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up to my eyeballs in cakepops...

just wanted to post a quick glimpse into what my morning looked like today. i've got lots more pictures to share...(the ghost-version cake pops)...but i'm running these little treats up to the school.

IF...and i mean "IF"...i am consumed with halloween festivities for the rest of the day and i don't get another chance to post...

hope you all have a "SPOOK"tacular halloween...& be safe out there...

* cake pops inspired by the infamous bakerella...thanks for the ongoing inspiration!

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"boo"tiful cookies...seriously!

oh how i wish i could claim having made all of these "boo"tiful cookies. i can tell you that i absolutely adore what marian from sweetopia can do with cookies. i mean look at the details in each one of those cookies!! it's SERIOUSLY amazing. i'm officially stating that i idolize & worship her abilities. not only is she brilliantly creative...she's also willing to share her secrets and tips. you MUST go check out her site. there are some A.D. orable frog & princess cookies you MUST see.

here's to my new-found friend - or in her own words..."cookie-decorating hobbyist"! (hobbyist? what? she needs to be selling these things...)

marian....

girl.

you ROCK the cookies!

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