i mustache you

Scott turned 27 almost two month ago. (I'm a little behind) He is one year closer to the big 3-0! Anywho, I decided to throw him a party this year. I had tried to include him in planning a get together for his birthday in the past and they NEVER came to fruition! I totally blame it on him and his modesty. He didn't want to be the center of attention. This year I took matters into my own hands. Mwahahahahaha! I took Scott out of the equation. His party would be a surprise! I mean who doesn't like a surprise party? Probably Scott but too bad.

My next step, after deciding to exclude him from the planning, was what kind of party should I throw. Scott is a kid a heart so a themed party was a must. I thought about a western theme for awhile and then it hit me. A MUSTACHE PARTY! Scott loves facial hair, especially mustaches. If I let him he would sport a stache at all times. I knew it was perfect for him. Thankfully, everyone and their brother loves mustaches and mustache parties so there were lots of resources. Pinterest was my friend to say the least. I got a lot of ideas from The Story of Pat and Lindsay.

A few things we did at Scott's party

• Everyone wore a stick on mustache - I got them from this site. (I was totally freaked out about ordering them from China. I know, I know, everything comes from there but i don't generally give them my credit card info. The above blog I linked ordered them from the same place so that made me feel better.)
• I had a game called "Name that 'Stache"  I downloaded the pdf from the blog above. I didn't think to buy a prize which was a fail. Sorry friends!
• I got Scott's mom to find me pictures of him through the years. I scanned them onto my computer and added mustaches to the pictures with Microsoft paint. (Thank goodness for Google!) I bought frames from the dollar store and spray painted them. I put them on the tables and I hung the extra with clothes pins on string. 
• We ate pulled pork bbq with cole slaw, potato salad, salad, and chips. 
• We had carrot cake for birthday cake, chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing, and sugar cookies with icing. 

It was a blast celebrating my hubby's birthday. Everyone looked hilarious with their mustaches on and it was fun just hanging out. Check out some pictures below courtesy of my friend, Whitney! 

It's not a party without Diet Coke. 

Yes. I cut all those staches out. 

Mason jars for cups!

Scott's favorite - carrot cake!

I used vases from our wedding and roses on clearance from Kroger. (Yes you can tell they were a few days old but it was WAY cheaper) 

Along with Diet Coke we had water and sweet tea! 

Some more birthday decorations....My friend, Sarah, and I made these. 

My Microsoft Paint skills

Got him! 

Surprise Birthday Party hugs

Our lovely friends and family! 

Thank you so much to Hudson and Whitney for hosting the party at their house and taking pictures, to my friend, Sarah, for helping me get everything together at the last minute, my mom and dad for making the food,  my mother in law, Judi, and sister in law, Whitney, for helping me setup, and for all our awesome friends and family for coming! You guys rock.

Photo credit: Whitney McGinnis 

Steppin Out With My Baby

Almost two Saturdays ago Scott and I went to a Gala held by Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association in celebration of VCOM's 10 year anniversary. It was held at Hotel Roanoke. We got to get all dressed up and PAR-TAY! It was good times with good friends. We didn't take too many pictures but the few we did are below.

Also a brief life update. Scott is almost done with his first block of medical school! Wooohooooo! Can you believe it has been 10 weeks already? We certainly can't. He has two more finals this week and block one is in the basket!

Our fabulous friends and neighbors Steve and Sarah Pupillo!

After Dinner

This is Scott's artistic shot of the night- everyone walking to their cars!

Katie graduates

This entry is somewhat about Scott and I, but it is mostly because of my sister, Katie.  Katie graduated from Virginia Tech on May 14th!!! Her degree is in communications with a concentration in public policy as well as a minor in political science. All this and she graduated with honors! Needless to say, my family was beyond proud. To celebrate such a huge milestone in her life, I wanted to throw her a party at our place. This is where we come into the picture. I had other, more selfish, motives for throwing her a party. First off, I wanted Scott to clean off the patio, which we never got around to last summer when we fixed up the rest of the place. It was a nasty mess with a broken rusted grill and an even more broken and rusty fire pit along with leaves, an old hose and a tarp that had, well I assume had, creepy crawlers in it. I was not a part of the removal process for that reason. I also wanted to get a patio set from my parents' house. Scott's dad generously gave us his old patio set when we were first married, but we lived in an apartment and had no place to put it. So I let my family use it until we got a place that had a patio. Well, they got attached to it. My family knew it was ours but didn't want to see it go. I felt guilty, but as Katie so wisely put, not guilty enough. (See why she graduated with honors?) I thought having a party would be the perfect excuse to commandeer the patio set since we would need more seating. We borrowed my Dad's truck and loaded it up. Scott and I got the patio looking fabulous. I even planted some plants! (I wasn't born with a green thumb, I'm forcing it.) Guess what happens after we do all this work? That's right, it rains on Katie's graduation day. It was all for nothing or at least in the immediate sense. We had to have it all inside. Which I feel like the rain is partly because of my selfish motivation for throwing the party. We ended up having a really good time, rain or not. Katie's boyfriend Prabhaav (who "secretly" reads my blog) came down from the Washington D.C. area. My grandparents were able to come all the way from Georgia thanks to my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Randy bringing them half way and my Uncle Mark for taking them back. We had the essentials, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pasta salad, and Katie's favorite, poppy seed cake. Oh, and of course, some sweet tea. A nap soon followed.

Pomp and Circumstancing

There was no air conditioning...

The Gang

Love Birds

Southern essential

More essentials

Nehi... so retro

Grubbin' it up as Scott would say

Opening the spoils of the day

Proof

will + kate

Ok. I was (kinda still am) obsessed with the royal wedding. I know some people are haters of the royal fever but how can you not want to watch a fairytale come to life? It's like a Disney princess movie!

A little background on my obsession. I grew up following William and Harry's life. It all started because of my mom. She took off work when Charles and Diana were married. She continued following Diana throughout the rest of Princess Diana's life and that meant I followed it as well. When Princess Diana passed away, which coincidentally was on my sister Katie's eighth birthday, my mother was in tears all day. Needless to say that probably wasn't one of Katie's favorite birthdays! Anyway as soon as William and Kate announced their engagement I was hooked! I read every article on Yahoo about the wedding for months gearing up for the big event. I'm a goober, I know.

In celebration of the royal wedding I threw a party. Well, it wasn't much of party because we were quite bleary eyed and nauseous from awakening at the ungodly hour of 5:45am. I'm no ray of sunshine in the morning as some of you might know. My guests were my mom and Katie. Here are a few pics of our morning.

The real deal.

English tea, English muffins, and marmalade. So English.

Can't have tea without tea cups!

Cheers!

That's about as exciting as our party got but we can say we watched Will and Kate tie the knot in real time. We got to see the dress (uh gorgeous!) hear the vows, the crowds cheering, and watch history in the making while making some memories ourselves.

-Sarah