Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Have I mentioned before that I hate gift guides? It's all fun & games until someone suggests gifting a $45 candle or some outrageously priced purse.  It is rare to find one that actually has practical gift giving items. I also hate getting roped into some secret-santa-bullshit at Christmas where you give an anonymous gift to an anonymous person, requiring you to spend $20 on a gift that would suit both an 85 year old man or a 20 year old girl. Not for me.

I pride myself on being a good gift giver. 
I especially love giving themed gifts. A good way to put together a festive gift for someone is to pick up a bunch of things of the same color! Even if they don't necessarily go together, a nailpolish, chapstick, planner, bag of striped straws & coffee mug would be a totally perfect gift when they're all the same color! :) My friend & I have been doing this for each others birthdays for years! 

With that said, here is my idea of a perfectly themed gift, a modern take on the two most traditional Mother's Day Gifts: a bouquet of flowers or breakfast in bed!

Using a large mason jar (which doubles as a perfect vase for flowers), fill it with these Floral Socks, a Seed Bomb & a Flowerbomb Perfume Roller. Flowerbomb Perfume never disappoints, it has been my favorite perfume for a thousand years & is a totally safe, subtle scent to give as a gift.

A creative twist on breakfast in bed can be made up of this affordable & modern Coffee Press, Glass Jam Jar, Honey Pot & these Ceramic Cream & Sugar Containers. You know how I feel about white ceramic items. You could also include a bag of coffee, fresh bread or muffins & a jar of homemade jelly from your local farmers market.

Does your mama like cocktails? (If so, tell her I said hello) How about a Mother's Day Mimosa Bar! You can easily whip this up with a few kinds of orange juice accompanied with a yummy champagne, fruit & festive straws! And if you want to be a true gift-giving-baller, throw in this amaaaaaaaaazing Mimosa Body Wash. But try not to drink it.

Of course this calls for a picture of me with my mama.... and little-teeny-tiny-chubby-wubby-squishy baby Harpie.

Hope these ideas were helpful & you feel extra inspired to find fun ways to celebrate your mamas this year! :) HAPPY MAY DAY!

PSsssst. Husband. If you're reading this. I'll take the mimosa bar. We can pretend that you thought of 

it all on your own.

First Birthday Countdown!

We are down to the wire, with less than TWO weeks until Harper's first birthday! I'm totally that person that jots down ideas on random pieces of notebook paper, sends myself text messages in the middle of the night & of course endlessly pins things that I will never come back to... until it is almost too late & I'm doing the oh-shit-I-haven't-ordered-anything-yet dance. Eff. I hope all of my goodies get here in time. 

Ready to see the birthday wish list? :) Harper personally asked for all of these items (not), since she got SO many toys for Christmas, we are taking a bit of a different route for her first birthday. A few things that will have her name embroidered on them to commemorate the occasion, some stylin' wardrobe accessories for the spring & some other fun goodies.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.

I also love this birthday cake toy food set, but not sure if it is age appropriate with all the smaller pieces. But seriously, how cute? Gift ideas are so hard for one year olds, especially with birthdays so close to Christmas! If your little ones are also approaching the big O-N-E, you can find some ideas in this post that Harper currently loves (minus the walkness monster)!

I just finished her invitations, I am super excited to have been able to incorporate not only pink ombre & gold glitter, but also chalkboard! I can't wait for the party & to share all of the pictures and details that we have planned!

In other Harpie Doodle news, she & her hair are both growing like weeds. Her new favorite things to eat are TownHouse crackers, raspberries, shredded chicken & homemade fruit smoothies. I'm trying to milk all of her 6-12 month outfits for one last run before she grows out of them. And her new favorite activity is pulling the chair pillows onto the ground & climbing over them... for hours. Literally, the best entertainment ever.

Onesie, Pillows

And of course, thank you all so much for the sweet comments about Harper's killer dance moves. I've passed along all of the compliments which have encouraged her to continue perfecting her skills. I know, I'm in trouble! :)

Valentine's Day Festiveness

There are a million reasons why Valentine's Day is amazing. Cupcakes are one of them. Or in this case, six of them. My husband doesn't have near the sweet tooth that I do & since we are saving cake for Harper's first birthday, I whipped these up all. for. myself. I'm not even mad about it.  You can file these under how not to lose baby weight.

Heart Plate, Cupcake Recipe, Buttercream Frosting Recipe

My little Valentine has also been very festive lately, rocking her heart shaped elbow patches!

"Posing for a quick pic, mama. But then I gotta get back here & tear pages out of these books!"

Hat, Gap Outlet Jacket (similar here)

I grabbed this adorable Envelope Chair Backer right after Christmas (it's on sale now!) for all of Harper's Valentine's Day goodies!

So what exactly is going in her sweet little envelope? Here are a few of my ideas!

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.

I love buying Harper books for every holiday & writing inside of them. It makes bedtime stories much more fun & I know we will love looking back at her old books as she grows up!
Kids are the easy ones to give Valentine's Day gifts to.... husbands, on the other hand? Not so much. We usually do something fun together like dinner & maybe a few small goodies. Think along the lines of these stocking stuffers! My go-to is usually some heart shaped pancakes, some sort of gadget from the hardware store (with a heartfelt note saying something along the lines of "Thanks for not being a TOOL!") and some festive balloons tied to mini-booze-bottles! :)
We are so classy over here.

What are your plans for Valentine's Day gifting?

Merry & Bright

I'm so excited to share Harper's Christmas List with you! We have lots of ideas on how to make her first Christmas extra special! Mostly with fun activities & traditions, but buying for a baby is so much fun! Here is just a snippet of some of the things that will be under Harper's Christmas Tree this year!

 Kid O Go Car

Fox Bath Toy Storage

Skip Hop Zoo Meal Set

Giggle Striped Giraffe

Animal Party Bath Toys

 We have been having a blast lately planning for all of the fun Holiday activities to come. I have lots of ideas that I will be posting soon, fun things to do with your babe or as a family. Little Baby Garvin will be going into full 25 Days of Christmas mode in just a few short weeks!

Two weeks ago we got our family pictures taken by the very talented Natalie Shivers here in Atlanta. We just love them! Notice once again, Harper & I matching in our neon violet? She is totally going to hate me one day for all this nonesnse.

Haper's Outfit
Neon Violet Shirt, Striped Scarf from JCrew, Chinese Laundry Boots

Her little smirk here melts my heart. 

 We were so excited to spot this vintage, green couch sitting outside of a local coffee shop! My husband was having panic attacks about Harper touching it.

 And I'm sure it goes without saying why this is one of our favorite pictures ever! I don't know which I love more, her eyes or her eyebrows! :)

 Before I go, I have to just thank you all so so much for all of the great feedback about offering chalkboard prints!! It is so encouraging and makes me so happy that you all would love to see them! Cannot wait to show you what is in store!