Monday, July 27, 2009

Summer Party: Friends

To follow up on my post of details from our Summer Party, I thought I would share some photos of our guests enjoying the party:












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Friday, July 24, 2009

Our Fourth Seasonal Season Party: Summer

A couple of weeks ago we had our fourth Seasonal Season Party, celebrating what we love about Summer. If you are new to the blog, I'd love to introduce you to our little Toney family tradition: Last fall, we decided to have a party at the beginning of each season, inspired by our favorite things of that season. We select a decor theme, discuss what foods remind us of that season, my husband picks out a playlist of the perfect seasonal songs and we get together with our friends and enjoy it all! You can take a look at Fall, Winter and Spring.

For summer, I wanted something laid back and easy (and not just because we were moving the next week!). We had a pool party complete with BBQ (hamburgers & hotdogs), otter pops & ice cream sandwiches and lawn games. It was so fun to just relax with our friends enjoying the beautiful weather.

Friend of ours graciously offered a family home that has an amazing backyard which overlooks a local lake:

Here is a look at our decor (my favorite part!):


For tablecloths for the food tables, I used cheap towels that coordinated with our color scheme:
I made two different styles of paper pinwheels and stuck them into sand pails filled with sand:




I also utilized the sand pails (from the Target $1 section!) to hold the plastic utensils (just stuck upright in sand):


I 100% stole this next idea from little tags I saw at a scrapbooking store:

I reworded them a bit to my liking :)

Mason jars for drinks (frozen margaritas, horchata and lemonade):

One of our good friends works for an up-and-coming upscale water company, Kiawii, and they graciously offered to sponsor our party:

It is really great water... and I'm not just saying that because we got it for free! And... get this- it even matched our decor!!!

Plates and napkins were all from Target:


I made these fruit kebob sticks by cutting out small circles with my cricut and taping them to the end of bamboo skewers. Not only was it cute, but it made a great holding spot.

Lots of delicious summer junk food:

And, finally, a cute frozen margarita (with umbrellas that I found on clearance at Pier One in december!):


All photos were taken by my good friend, Jenetta Penner Photography. Thanks so much Jenetta for always working a bit while attending our parties!

So, my question for you: now that you have seen all four seasons, which seasonal party was your favorite?

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Kelsey and Carl's Engagement Photos

I am so excited for Kelsey and Carl's wedding this September- is it going to be a gorgeous day, held at the bride's parents home. Michael Norwood recently met up with these two to take their engagement photos and they are stunning!






Monday, July 20, 2009

Summer Party Sneak Peak

Here is a little taste of our summer party:

Photo taken by the wonderful Jenetta Penner.

More to come! Happy monday!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Rolling along...

I could not let a week go by without a blog post!

To say this week has been crazy is an understatement. We had our summer party and an industry bonfire worship night at the beginning of the week, now we are moving, my husband hurt his finger badly while moving and I got amazing news on thursday which is resulting in a big photoshoot on monday. All good (except the finger!), but things are busy busy busy. 

I am excited to share details on what the photoshoot is for and we have a few more exciting things on our radar as well, but you will just have to wait :)

All of that to say, I promise a few posts in the next week, but for now- I wish you all a happy weekend! I'll leave you with a pic of my cute little swimmer at our Summer Party:

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Our TV Debut!

Joel and Danielle's wedding is going to featured on Amazing Wedding Cakes TOMORROW!! (That is sunday, July 12th). It is on the WE Network- check your local listings for times.


I am so excited/a little nervous. If you get a chance to watch or DVR it, let us know what you think!

ps- another huge Thank You to Leila of Be Inspired PR for setting this up for us!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Renegade Craft Fair

If you are in LA and looking for something fun to do this weekend, you have to swing by the Renegade Craft Fair. It is at the California Market Center on saturday and sunday and is FREE! There are hundreds of artists selling their handcrafted items.

Last month, by pure luck, I happened to be in New York during the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn. We met up with a couple of local friends and headed over to check out all of the handmade goodness. Here are a few highlights:

I was thrilled to see wedding blog world favorite Goose Grease showing off their adorable cake toppers:


I loved kindling's super cool wood candle holders and bud vases:
These would be so perfect for a outdoor, very natural wedding!


I bought one of these for my son:

I really loved looking at how people designed their displays:




Berd and Bee (where we bought some amazing smelling candles)

I fell in love with these ribbons made by Kindly by Hayley Carmo:

Grabbing lunch midway through the day:

It was such a fun day! I left with a few shirts for Isaiah (and his first pair of little undies!), a beautiful necklace by So It's Gray, a poster for my husband that I then left on the plane and a few other goodies. I totally regret not getting this T-shirt for my son by Hello Banjo Baby:

My friend Clarissa scored a super cute dress, some fabric flowers and even a pillow made out of an 80's concert shirt. 


I wish I could go this weekend but I cannot make it up to LA. If you are going, please please please report back on monday and tell me how it was! There are three more fairs after this weekend: San Francisco, Chicago and a holiday sale in Chicago.