Milestone Birthdays

Poufs and (a little) Bokeh!

To celebrate my milestone birthday this year, I threw a Favorite Things Party for me and my friends!  It was a blast.  I pinned the idea on Pinterest two Christmases ago and knew that the timing was not good during the holidays.  My 40th seemed the perfect time to give it a try!  Here's how it works . . .

Everyone invited is asked to think of a favorite thing (under $6) and to bring 5 of that one item to share with the other guests.  At the party each person describes why she chose her favorite thing and draws five names from the hat - those 5 people get to take her favorite thing home!  Though I was initially nervous about this part of the party, it ended up being so much fun -- it felt like you were winning every time your name got picked!

What I really loved about the party was hearing what people use and why they love it so much.  Additionally, it was interesting to find that almost everyone had an alternate favorite thing they wished they could have brought!  

Our Favorite Things

Here are the things we took home:

• Norwex Face Cloth
• Bath & Body Works Moonlight Path Bubble Bath
• Bioderma makeup remover
• (Indestructable) Glasses Case
• Moroccan Argan Oil
• Hazelnut spread (with a delicious recipe for Nutella Brownies!)
• Clay pendants with inspirational phrases
• Chatelaine Magazine with bonus cook book!
• Espresso Vodka
• Real Simple Magazine

Some other favorite things shared : 

• Himalyan Salt Chocolate
• Underwear
• Frank's Hot Sauce
• Tea
• Herbs de Provence

Swag bags -- how cool is that Trader Joe's bag!?! 

I couldn't decide between the Norwex Face Cloth and the Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper, since I use them both every day!  So I thought I'd cheat and give the Lemon Pepper to everyone, along with my favorite quote and a calendar notepad.  I was disappointed to find that they only had two jars of the Lemon Pepper when I went down to TJs, and resigned myself to a rather lame Swag bag.  Enter, Best Friend in the World . . . she sent me a package with I Love NY Trader Joe's bags, TJ's Lemon Pepper, and TJ's Dark Chocolate Nibs for everyone.  Joy!  

I tell everyone I know they should try one of these parties!  It was a great time and added a cool twist to a fun evening with the ladies.  Let me know if you give it a try!

I would love to hear about your favorite things in the comments . . . what do you think -- what favorite thing would you have brought? 

Stolen Moments

Sweetness.

Beansprout stopped napping last summer.  This was a pretty big deal in our house, as Matt and I are huge fans of The Nap.  We never felt any shame in lying on the couch for an hour after work before Beansprout was even born!  Once he joined the family, we usually left the little projects we could have been working on while the babe slept, choosing instead to indulge in a little shut-eye ourselves.

As you can see from today's photo, I had a lovely surprise this weekend . . . after our big hike on Sunday, Beansprout was absolutely spent by about 4:00.  At 4:30 he asked me to take him upstairs and I pulled him up on my lap to explain it was too late to take a nap so late in the afternoon.  As I was talking, his eyelids drooped and his little body moved with those falling asleep twitches.  He dozed off right there in my arms.

A priceless moment, that any mom of an almost-four-year-old could not disturb.  I held him there, snapped a photo, and tried not to eat him up.

Rainy Day Walks

Moss on tree stump

Today is one of those days when I'm reminded why I live here, far away from our family.  After breakfast this morning we took a 15 minute drive and found ourselves in the middle of the forest.  For a girl from Southeastern Michigan, this is simply amazing!  I think I drag my feet sometimes getting out of the house; I usually think there needs to be a big plan and a production made of things in order to go somewhere.  Not today.  Today we simply grabbed two snack bars (one for the trip there and one for the trip back), some water, and our rain gear.  It was simple and the walk was just what we needed to start the day off right!

Beansprout leading the walk.

Matt and I have always really enjoyed hiking and are happy to see, as I mentioned in this post, that our little guy feels right at home on the trails!  Today's hike was filled with extra excitement because we got to see a waterfall, huge construction vehicles, AND a helicopter at work.

Matt & Beansprout near the waterfall.

What have you been up to this weekend?  Anyone else out there who struggles to get out the house to do stuff?