.travel: san diego, to celebrate a new mr. and mrs.

a while back, peter and i flew to san diego to attend one of the funnest weddings we've ever been too! makes sense, since these two crazy cats are seriously one of the coolest and friendliest couples we know -my old cruise ship bestie and her new husband, melissa and bryan swarberg.

[and gosh, didn't they make a gorgeous bride and groom! not even fair!]

and where do i even start? it was all just perfectly amazing. 

from the venue - a new children's museum in san diego, to the guests - probably some of the nicest people we've met in a while, to the decor - the bride has some serious diy skills and such a creative eye. seriously, everything was so beautiful.

we were welcomed with open arms, even invited to the rehearsal dinner the night before, which was super thoughtful of the couple. we had such a blast and made so many incredible new friends. i truly wasn't kidding when i said everyone was super nice. we felt like part of the family.

^^a canadian mountie we found at a local bar, after the rehearsal dinner! sweet! ^^

the ceremony was the best ceremony we've seen. period. it was emotional, personal, beautiful and filled with these amazing little parts - like a rope tying performed by the bride's dad, a reading from the story 'i like you' by sandol stoddard warburg and vows written by the bride and groom.
i cried. i laughed. i smiled. i held my husbands hand and was filled with love.

at the wedding, we sat at table 9 and shared many many laughs. we even had a little bonding session with a few 'famous' people [name dropping! yes, that's kaitlin olson and rob mcelhenney from one of our favourite shows 'it's always sunny in philadelphia']. needless to say i think kaitlin may be calling me to watch her children and vice versa, since we're bff's now. you know how it is. as rob put it, they got sucked into my vortex. umm....that's a good thing right?!
anyways.....

we also partied and drank with 'trebuchet', a band that we cannot stop listening too. peter and i fell in love with them and their music just solidified their awesomeness. seriously, how good are they? they played during the ceremony and it stopped us dead in our tracks. take a little listen below from a short clip i made on instagram.

other than that, we were known as 'the canadians'. and probably 'the loud canadians' as i allowed a few drinks down the old hatch. again, you know how it is....i simply could't let my girl, melly, down.

we danced. we sang. we ate. we drank. we talked. we sprayed the newlyweds with silly string. we bar hopped. it was the perfect way to celebrate love and friendship and everything that a wedding should be about. what a great night.

it was an event i knew we wouldn't miss for anything, and it is a memory that i am so happy to share with the newlyweds. i adore mel. couldn't love her more. she's one of my best friends even with our distance, and i know she's found the perfect match in bryan. he's just one rad guy. and that hair of his!
thanks again, you two. we love you both immensely and can't wait for our annual reunion!

.top knot events.

today i felt like sharing a little love i have for a new up and coming business [and business owner for that matter!]

the gal behind the scenes of top knot events - sara, is one hell of a woman. i won't give you the long soul-searching story behind sara's journey [you can read about it on her personal blog, saige wisdom] but i am basically in awe that she put it all out there to follow her dream. however i will tell you this, this girl has it. her wit, her style, her drive. her entire heart and soul has been thrown into this new venture top knot events, and i know one thing for sure - it's going to explode in greatness. 

event planning is a very personal subject for me as well. for those of you who know me personally, you may remember my desire to start my own event planning company years back which i never had the balls to complete, so needless to say i feel a little more selective when it comes to supporting companies like this. i suppose i have quite high standards.

the reason i mention this, is just to reaffirm that i truly believe that sara at top knot events has the qualities needed to make your moments and memories the best that they can absolutely be. every attention to detail, from the smallest things like place cards to the larger ticket items like venues or caterers, will be taken care of. just take a look at her website! it's incredible! if i was getting married again [to peter, of course!] i know that i would have sara right by my side. i'd happily have her as my third wheel ;)

sara is made to do this. made to create magical, creative, and unique events for us all lucky enough to have her. i wish you the best of luck sweetie, but know that you won't need an ounce of it.

and speaking of luck, why don't you all try yours out with this amazing giveaway she's having this week [enter and read more about it here]. those prizes [!!] amazing, right!?

**this post is not sponsored, nor has sara asked me to feature it, i just really believe that good things happen to good people. and she's one of those gems. 

you can find more of sara on her personal blog, saige wisdom.

and be sure to check out, top knot events.

.jack's little lumberjack party.

oh, my goodness. i haven't blogged since oct. 25th! not surprising since the entire month of october itself, flew right on by. i mean how is it november 14th already? how?!

i started work again full time, we celebrated jack's 1st birthday, flew to toronto for the h&m fashion family contest as winners [yay!], then spent a few extra days in toronto doing some sight-seeing and enjoying jack's first trip, flew home for a day and then peter and i jet-setted off for a week to celebrate the nuptials for one of my best friends in san diego [jack had sleepovers at the grandmother's houses and had a blast]. it's been a busy month. a good month, but busy.

that being said, i really have a bunch of catching up to do. 

so first off, i really wanted to start with our little jack bugg's lumberJACK 1st birthday party. we had over friends and family in our packed house and as encouraged, everyone came dressed in their best plaid.
i've always heard that first birthday parties are more for the adults then the actual birthday babes and i kind of have to admit it's probably true. although, i do know that jack had a blast and his sugar high lasted all afternoon. what a trooper! not one peep of a cry after missing his afternoon nap and just smiles all around. he must have known he was the centre of attention or something and well, he just loves that sort of thing. guess he takes after his father ;)

we originally hired a bongo drummer to come to the house and play for the kiddos, but after he called in sick last minute we had to resort to a beard decorating craft station. it was super last minute, but think it turned out to keep a few of them entertained for at least a couple of minutes! ha! we also had a little photo-booth set up and snapped pictures of each guest, which we included in thank you cards that i have yet to mail out [sorry friends!]. our props included beards for all, hats, scarves and a lot of buffalo check.

our food table was filled with all sorts of 'lumberjack breakfast' themed goodies. i made these fluffy flapjack pancakes, candied bacon-on-a-stick [by following this recipe], lumberjack sandwiches, sweet timber chocolate logs, and my talented friend morgan brought over some maple bacon cupcakes [thank you so much!] which were absolutely delicious! i highly recommend! she followed this recipe, as i know some of you will ask. we also featured 'uncle si's sweet tea' as our featured drink.

the kiddoes each went home with a goody bag filled with jacks favourite colouring book, some pencil crayons, egg candies, an owl mask and tattoos from wee gallery [the owl mask, book and tattoos]. we cannot thank the wee gallery enough for such awesome stuff. we simply love that store.

overall, i think jack had a blast and we got to experience our baby's first birthday. it was a very very good day.
happy birthday, sweet boy. we love you more than we have words. xo.

.the cookie party.

so five months ago [gosh, where has the time gone?!] i hosted a cookie taste-off party.
i personally can't take credit for the idea - that baby was sprung from the blog, you are my fav - and i basically edited it a bit and called it my own.
see, i was considering hosting this get together the minute i came across the invitation on pinterest and couldn't stop thinking about how much fun it would be. i mean, friends + cute kiddos + sweet delicious cookies? yes, please!
after what seemed like the most unlucky week to throw it [we had a few kiddos come down with croup, a few failed babysitters, etc, etc.] i gathered a small group to head on over to my place and just throw all caution to the wind by feeding both mama's and their kids as many cookies as we could put into our bellies.
the cookie contest was scored by counting the highest number on this score sheet. each cookie was put onto a plate marked with a # [as anonymous as i could get] and each # was marked and tallied on the score sheet. the winner was the highest score counted. yay!
all in all, i think it turned out pretty darn good.

^^the aftermath^^

each momma took home some extra treats in these adorable 'goodies' bags, as well as a recipe card for each cookie. [i've attached the recipes below for you to print for yourself at home. just click on the cookie for the pdf].

hershey's crinkle cookies | best ever chocolate chip cookie | brown sugar oatmeal coconut chewies | double chocolate chunk cookies | cookie fail 2013 | sweet potato cookies |

the winner was this sucker right here....heather's brown sugar oatmeal coconut chewies. super tasty, super great texture and just all around delicious! heather also went home with our small prize: fred's number cookie cutters + a mixing bowl + sprinkles :)
*i also wanted to take special mention of chelsea's 'cookie fail' recipe that she created herself! she got the directions a little mixed up and thought that you had to create your own cookie recipe from scratch, which wasn't actually part of the rules, but hey! i enjoy the enthusiasm! haha!

in the end, i think everyone had a nice time and i can't wait for the next little get together! thanks again girls!