Amara's 2nd Birthday Party!

Tuesday evening, we celebrated Amara's birthday with some of her closest little friends. I really fought to keep it EXTREMELY small, and mostly family.... those that Amara has spent a lot of time with this year...that have invested SO much into her second year of life.

I opted for an outdoor celebration at Arrington Vineyards. It was perfect!! We were practically the only people there. The sun was setting, and we had an amazing view overlooking the vines. It couldn't have been more beautiful.

 For the first time, I was done setting up and able to relax before guests arrived. NEVER in the history of my party planning has that happened. I would like to think that it is because I have gotten better with planning and timing, but I don't think that is it considering I didn't even have time to shower or wash my hair for the party. Shhhh! However, swinging with my baby sweet toddler, staring at the gorgeous views and just taking it all in with her before the celebration started was a surreal moment for this mama. I needed a stress-free evening....we all did!

The little details......

 ^^ I just put three sheets of watercolor paper together with a crayola kids' art smock and crayola watercolor set. I had custom tags printed at Rock Paper Scissors. ^^

 ^^ I found a great DIY party hat template at Oh Happy Day (such an amazing blog!). I just used Kraft paper sheets, and then hot glued hand dyed/store bought poms on them! ^^

 ^^ These little guys were my favorite! I love a good party favor. I just bought the paint cans at a local craft store ( Michaels and Joanns both carry them), stuffed them with different color tissues to look like "paint", and stuffed them full of goodies! ^^

[ Mini paint set, mini slinky, Ring Pop, swirly straw, bouncy balls, stamps, temporary tattoos and mini bubble containers] I found all of it at craft stores and Target.

 ^^Adult picnic dinners: Sub sandwiches with chips and a pickle! Wooden fruit baskets here ^^

 ^^ Kids' picnic dinners: turkey sandwiches, goldfish/pretzel mix, grapes and a juice box. The boxes were a Martha Stewart find. ^^

 ^^ Found cotton candy at a local candy shop, wrapped it around a stripey straw and voilla! Definitely time consuming, but totally worth it! Who doesn't love cotton candy on a stick!?! ^^

^^ I decided to make an Instagram banner to showcase Amara's year of growth. ^^

Summer Nights at the Vineyard

Some people have a beach nearby, a farm or even a lake to retreat to during the summers. While all of those things aren't all that far from us, Arrington Vineyard is super duper close to us. I have a feeling that is where we will be spending a lot of our summer evenings. Gabe was out of town this past weekend, so I called up my spontaneous bestie and we decided that a picnic filled with Mexican food, leftover birthday cake and wine would bring us much happiness! Simultaneously taking in a beautiful view didn't hurt either.

Off we went! I love how many families had the same idea that night. I enjoy crowds of people ( for the most part). I watched Amara run up and down a hill repeatedly, which brought her a lot of entertainment. I was able to relax on a blanket and eat in peace. Did I mention, we will be spending a lot of summer nights here?

 ^^^ Left over birthday cake with some raspberry dessert wine that the vineyard makes. ^^^

(They have a blackberry that I am dying to try)

^^^ Little hands can't resist cake......who can blame her? ^^^

 ^^^ A little blurry, but I love this picture. ^^^