We had a little get-together for Stella’s first birthday.  Nothing huge, but a reason for me to decorate and bake. 

And sew, and pull out my vintage glassware, buy fresh flowers. . .  oh man, I love a party.

These cupcakes were amazing.  But, if you decide to make them I would suggest that you pull the little bag of silica gel beads OUT of the freeze-dried strawberries before you put them in the blender.  On my first attempt, I opened the blender lid to find a tiny empty paper baggie that said DO NOT EAT sitting on top of my strawberries.  Not cool.  (Don’t worry, guests I made a second batch.)

And THIS is my reward.  The best (albeit blurry) kissy-face ever.

I think I deserve the “Soccer Mom of the Year” award for coming up with these. 

Brad and I are coaching our son’s 4/5/6 year-old soccer team this year.  Okay, Brad does the coaching and I handle the organizational part.

We were out of town for Picture Day so I offered to do the team’s pictures on another day.  Then I got a little ambitious and decided that the kids should have “Memory Mates” like the real picture people sell.  This one is even more fun because it’s personalized for the boys with their team name.  I’ve been swamped with editing a wedding and processing a bunch of print orders, so this is all I can muster for the blog this week.  It’s kinda fun, though. 

Go Blue Stars!!