amy's lion king baby shower

back in june, amy's husband approached sarah about flying her out here (from alaska) for a weekend, and if we would be capable of throwing her a baby shower at the same time.  uh.  yes!  so we picked a weekend, and got planning.  the thing is, amy didn't know where she was going until the night before she got on the plane!  she flew in on a friday morning, and the baby shower was a total surprise as well.
the plan, as she knew it, was that i was going to pick her up from her parent's house and then we were going to go get sarah so we could go to the fabric store in order to have her pick out some fabric for a baby quilt that would match her nursery theme.  well, safe to say that wasn't what happened.  we filled sarah's home with friends and family from reno to san diego and everywhere in between to celebrate baby barto before his arrival this december in alaska.  here's a few fun photos of party decor, chocolate poop smelling, and present opening :)
instead of doing a diaper package donation, we decided to do a donation jar, since it would be easier to travel back to alaska with that instead. i painted the simba on using chalkboard paint that i got at joanns after i traced an outline printed off the internet. i found a chalk pen at hobby lobby that claims to just wipe off so you can write on it again. i'll have to ask amy if she's tried to re-use it yet!
we wanted to make sure everyone had some food to snack on, including amy's favorites of cotton candy and gold fish crackers :)
i promise, they're all chocolate! the other shower games we had were guessing the size of amy's belly (ribbon compared to measured size) and the "don't say the word" game. our two words you couldn't say were "cute" and "name". the necklaces you see in some of the photos were what we used instead of clothes pins. all they are made from are 2 life savers and a jelly bean to make it look like a pacifier. when i went to jessica's baby shower a few years back, her mom made them for the same game and i thought they were perfect! i feel like i might be forgetting a game... Sarah bought a packet of diapers to use for decorating with sharpies as a "late night" diaper change. some people doodled (I know Leah & I drew animals), while others (well, most of us) wrote things instructing the baby to be given to luke to change.
we asked that instead of cards, people bring books to start building a library for baby. i found a double sided little critter book that had both a story for amy to read (just me & my mom) and a story for luke to read (just me & my dad) to the baby.
and that's all the peek that you get at my gifts! more on those throughout the week :)
a crafty shout out to sarah who knitted this adorable little octopus baby beanie! i can't wait to see it rocked on a baby noggin this winter.
it was sad to have the weekend zoom by so quickly, but just as wonderful to spend time with amy and all these wonderful ladies who were able to trek it out to northern california to celebrate with us.  the next day was spent celebrating even more by going to brunch with sarah, amy & dori followed by a trip to carter to do some hardcore baby clothes shopping.  and then we finally, as promised since day one (haha) made it to the fabric store!  amy picked out some fabric to make curtains for baby's room with, as well as some to make a crib sheet.
it was absolutely a weekend to remember, and i cannot wait to see everyone again once little leonidas is here :)  congratulations again, amy!

last fling before the ring - amy's bachelorette party

i can't quite blog about the wedding just yet without posting this one first!
the first weekend of march, with the moral support of the other bridesmaids, i threw amy's final fling before her wedding.  sarah, melissa, jenny & i got there earlier, and helped with wedding favor completion (in which i metaled gold in ribbon curling, according to amy) we checked in to the hotel after a classy lunch at taco bell, and waited for the other ladies to arrive.  once everyone was there, we got in our comfy clothes, and headed on to poletic fitness for a group pole dance class.  yes, it was exactly that.  there are few decent photos from that, so i'll just leave it at these... haha.  kudos to melissa for hooking me up with some other photos from the night :)
melissa and i were "pole pals" since there were only 5 or 6 poles, and 8 of us... so we had to share. whoot whoot!
we went back to the hotel, changed in to normal/going out clothes and then ordered pizza. which turned out to be located in the grand sierra resort & casino. so we trucked on over there (with the help of luke) and enjoyed some pizza, followed up by some laser tag.
luke was outside at the driving range... so we may have taken over and started hitting golf balls in to the lake as he went to get the car. just maybe...
there was cake, made by bethany, but i didn't take a direct photo of it. use your imagination to imagine what kind of cake would show up at a bachelorette party.
after cake, we took a taxi to a bar that was closed... and then ended up at the west 2nd street bar for drinks and karaoke. there was singing, there was dancing, and there was a weird trio of dudes that spent the evening (eh. morning. we were there until 4am) boozing amy up and talking to the group of us.
so the weird guy on the right in that photo above? that's feather... and he is responsible for the crying amy that happened in the next photos
yeah... when amy says she doesn't do shots... she means it.
mad props to sarah who stayed up with amy until 7:30 as she nested in her bathroom fort.
overall, it was a very fun, entertaining, TIRING evening.  i'm pretty sure all of us headed home and crashed out afterwards.  good news is, amy did survive, and she did make it to her wedding day.  blog post on that to happen soon :)

wedding weekend is upon us!

uh what... it's saturday already?
yeah, i totally meant for this to happen like, thursday.  oh well.  there is always next week.
rehearsal dinner tonight.
wedding shabam tomorrow.
so excited to be standing next to this gal as her maid of honor for the day.
though perhaps i should get to speech writing at some point...
kelp jumping back in 2000.
nearly 15 years of friendship, and we're still standing.  or perhaps jumping?

amy's bridal shower

the realization of that this was nearly a month ago, her bachelorette party is this weekend, and her wedding is less than two weeks away now... this post needed to happen!  if you remember the invitations, here is the final product of amy's bridal shower.  primarily socializing photos & amy opening presents (and food) but it is what it is.  and we had a fantastic time.  even me, who found the ice in the driveway and fell on my bum.  that was uber exciting!
i realize i don't have any cool pictures on my camera of the insides of these cupcakes, but they were basically DIY funfetti cupcakes to match amy's wedding colors of blue & green.  i purchased wilton's batter bits from joann's in the colors, mixed them in and they baked up delicious.  there's a picture on my instagram somewhere... they look like a mix between fruity pebbles & aquarium rocks, but tasted a billion times better.  the punch i mixed up was blue raspberry koolaid (or berry burst.  whatever the blue packet is) mixed with country time lemonade.  it was a bit on the sour side, but super delish.  and very blue.
i'm starting to wonder who was the guest of honor... amy or rue. probably rue...
jenny's brother drafted up a madlib for us to offer her some wedding advice. some of the words proved to be rather interesting... someone used "moist" at one point. haha
spoiler alert. i got amy a hanger & made her a ruffle apron. more on that later this week
bridesmaids!
and of course, finishing things off with amy & her momma dori :)
after all the guests came and went, we knocked out some hardcore wedding planning for her, and checked a bunch of things off her list.  right now, it's down to double checking that list and getting ready for a rockin' bachelorette party this weekend in reno.  i will do my best to get some blog worthy photos from that as well :)