Finally!

Pin It Now! We finally have internet! After 9 brutal months we can connect to the world. Ahhhh. So happy :)

Will share pictures form our trip to Rome later.

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!

xoxo

B

Holiday party!

Pin It Now! I have internet! After 9 grueling months I have internet. YAY! I want to share the invite I made for the holiday party I'm throwing for Mr.Wright's students.

I am having SO much fun planning this party. I hope to make it my best yet. I have a whole board on my pinterest with fabulous ideas, check it out.

Can't wait to catch up on blogs and share more stuff! I'm working on a sparkly craft and will share it later on.

xoxoxoxo

B :)

Sweet table contestants!!

Pin It Now! I'm so excited to share some gorgeous party submissions from Germany! I had no idea I was surrounded by such beautiful talent.

This Cookie Dessert table by Regina was created for guests attending a Golden Wedding. She chose the brown, dark red and golden color scheme to fit the theme and to comliment the changing of the seasons.

[caption id="attachment_1502" align="aligncenter" width="589" caption="Regina's Sweet Table"][/caption]

All cookies, macarons and cakepops are homemade by Regina. 

[caption id="attachment_1503" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Cake pops by Regina"][/caption]

I just love these cake pops! She also created the labels, tags and the bunting with the names of the Golden Couple. To see more pictures and for details on her event check out her blog.

This next table comes from Christine of Weddingstyle.de

Christine styled this wedding dessert table for the magazine. Beautiful isn't it?

Should have more tables to share in the next few weeks! Germany is looking good so far :)

xoxo

B

Holiday ADD!

Pin It Now! Halloween is over. To me that means the holiday season has really started. Especially since we live in Germany and I have to consider shipping times. I have so many things going on and so many things I want to do! I literally have 8 windows up on my screen (good connection via my phone for once!!) with all the things I'm trying to do.

First I'm on amazon and qvc searching for Christmas gifts. Trying to be very cost effective and practical this year.

 and then....

I switch to buying outdoor Christmas decor. I want a pretty wreath for the front door and a garland and two little trees on each side of the door.

and then...

I go to my Target.com window hoping to find some shirts for little Wright and a winter coat for baby Wright.

And then....

I realize I still haven't found a place to stay in Rome for our trip this month. Hotels are expensive as heck and there are thousands to search through. I want to book an apt, but they are non refundable and I've heard we may get dumped with snow soon....so ugh I cant decide what to do.

and then...

 I go on fb to see what everyone is up. Cute costumes and fun parties from Halloween!

Then...

Im on people.com not at all surprised by Kim Kardashian or Jessica Simpson.

and then...

 I realize I need to start getting stuff together for the holiday party I'm doing for my husband's taekwondo students.

Then I spend most of my  time on pinterest getting even MORE distracted. 

AH! SOL! (scream out load. Im totally starting that as a new abb btw)

Anyone else completely obsessed with that site? It's the climax of all the things pretty.  I've always been a visual person. I used to do google image searches for ideas and would save inspiring images to my desktop. I LOVE how pinterst allows me to stay organized with ideas. It's overwhelming how creative people are and I want to do and see every craft I find. If you're on pinterest find me or let me know so I can find you! I've put together some boards for holiday party ideas and holiday crafts.

How does everyone else stay calm and focused during this nutty season??

Oh and please send me positive energy...will find out about internet in 2 weeks!

XOXOX

B

Life in the Bavarian Countryside

Pin It Now! We lived in Heidelberg for a year and half and I never really felt culture shock. Been in Bavaria for about 8 months and have definitely felt culture shock. I don't think it's Bavaria so much as our own personal circumstances, but still. There are many pros, but thepros are evenly weighed down by the many negatives.

It is SO incredibly beautiful here. The seasons are spot on perfect. Summer gradually simmers it's was from 80's to 70's to 60's in September and now 50's in October.

The people are the friendliest yet. Our little village is full of such sweet and kind people. I love my daughter's kindergarten so much and definitely appreciate the blessing of it being only a few minutes away.

I love traveling throughout Europe still.

But.

I am at a point of just wanting to go crazy because we still don't have internet at home. It's such a complicated mess and really quite ridiculous. It is 2011 isn't it?? How is it possible to live somewhere without internet. I am able to use my iphone (thank God), but I have very few days a month where the connection is decent. I miss blogging :( I miss being a part of the party/blog world :( I miss downloading Real Housewives of every city in America. *sigh*

So yes Bavaria is beautiful, but the bugs and distance and lack of internet are really sucking.

There is one more chance of us being able to get DSL. If this doesn't work, then no internet for us while we live here. Sooooo...I'm hopeful. And aside from no internet (being a MAJOR CON) I have Rome to look forward to next month (the MAJOR PRO).

Until we meet again world wide web.....

B

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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These are just the perfect fall time treat! The combination of fluffy pumpkin cake with a just sweet enough frosting is simply delicious. I followed Paula Deen's recipe which is for pumpkin bars, but I turned them into cupcakes and it made 24.

Mmmhmm. Delicious. Would even go great with a cup of coffee in the morning :)

As Paula would say, enjoy y'all!

-B

Super cute family tradition idea!

Pin It Now! [caption id="attachment_1474" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Photo from TheSubrubanMom"][/caption]

I have been searching the internet for Christmas gifts already. I have compiled a GREAT list of very cost effective, creative and highly rated toys for kiddos and everyone on my list actually. I'll be sharing that later, but in the meantime check out this SUPER cute product I found on amazon. It's called The Elf on the Shelf.

The product is a story book and a little elf.  The idea is to tell the kiddos that Santa sent the elf to watch over the kids and the elf reports to Santa each night. Us parents are supposed to move the elf into a new spot each night so it looks like he "left" for the North Pole and came back. There are over 200 positive reviews on amazon and many claim how excited kiddos were each morning to see where the elf was in the house.

Isn't this just the cutest idea ever for a family tradition for young kids?? I'm ordering one right now and thought I'd share :)

xoxo

B

The Sweet Table Contest 2011

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Calling all party planners! The 2011 Sweet Table Contest has officially launched! Last year the competition was just in Europe, but this year international contestants are eligible and encouraged to enter. I am the judge representing Germany for 2011, but if you live in another country you can find your national judge here.

Last year Belle Amour's stunning Snow White Themed table was the Sweet Table Contest winner.



She is an incredibly talented and creative party party planner and is the U.K judge this year. She wrote up a wonderful post with many tips for creating your own sweet table. Check out some examples and entries from last year for even more inspiration.

It's easy to enter...
1) The contest ends Friday December 9, 2011
2) If you live in Germany please email one high resolution picture of the tablescape to me and include your name, url with more images (facebook link, blog, picasa album, etc) and city. If you are not in Germany you can find your national sponsor here.
3) The contest is open to everyone worldwide except for professional party/event planners or professional caterers.
4) Voting will be based on the following: 
Creativity
Colour harmony
Presentation & harmony of the table
Accordance with the chosen theme
Overall look & feel.

Find out more about the competition by checking out the Sweet Table website, becoming a fan on Facebook or following it on Twitter.

I am looking for a sponsor to award a prize to the German winner. Please send me an email if you are interested in being a sponsor and learning about sponsorship benefits. The Grand Prize will be awarded by the Sweet Table Contest Team.

Looking forward to seeing all the creativity pary planners worldwide have to offer :)

-B

A beautiful experience in Budapest, Hungary

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Budapest is like reading a good book. The buildings, the streets and the monuments each have an epic story waiting to be told to those who visit. Today the city is vibrant and alive with happy energy , but as you walk the streets and learn the history it becomes apparent how different Budapest was just 50 years ago. Tortured by the cruel and brutal Nazi regime and then again by the Soviets, it’s amazing to witness the strength of the Hungarian spirit. In life it is the struggles that make you stronger and Budapest is stronger than ever these days.

There is so much to explore and see that you really need a minimum of three days to explore most of the city. I bought the kindle version of Rick Steve’s book on Budapest. I went through the book and took notes of what we really, really wanted to see. We had planned 2 full days and it was perfect for us because we couldn’t factor in museums anyway (not with two little monkeys in tow).
I highly recommend getting Rick Steve’s book before travels to Budapest unless you plan on hiring a tour guide. If you check out tripadvisor.com there are several hundred reviews of recommended tour guides in Budapest. I just thought it would be better to DIY with young kiddos. Rick provides invaluable tips, guides and information in his book and the kindle book also includes self-guided tours.

Budapest (pronounced Budapesht) is actually two cities. The Buda side and the Pest side, divided by the Danube river. We only had time to explore the Pest side, which is where most of the attractions we wanted to see were located at anyway.
Of all the many things to do and see we narrowed it down to this:

The Great Market Hall
A huge indoor marketplace selling everything from Hungarian paprika and wines to knick knacks and other regional specialities. Sadly, we were not able to make it to the market. We were in Budapest on Saturday and Sunday with plans to leave Monday. The market is closed on Sundays and we ended up having to leave on Sunday. A reason to go back and visit :)

[caption id="attachment_1434" align="aligncenter" width="540" caption="photo credit: budapest-travelguide.com"][/caption]

Stroll down Andrássy út
Along Andrássy út(street) is the opera house, House of Terror and at the very end is Heroes Square and the entrance to City Park. The address 60 Andrássy út is the heartwrenching historical site of the House of Terror.

[caption id="attachment_1444" align="aligncenter" width="412" caption="Opera house in Budapest"][/caption]

The House of Terror
The House of Terror is the most impressive musuem I have ever been to. It used to be the headquarters of the Hungarian Nazi regime and then the Arrowcross party. The entire building is a memorial the the thousands of innocent lives lost during and after WWII. In that very building some horrific things occurred.  I'll do a separate post on this later. an ABSOLUTE must see spot in Budapest. It would be like going to Warsaw,but not visiting the concentration camp if you don't visit this musuem.

[caption id="attachment_1438" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="photocredit:http://www.societerealiste.net/Soliton.html"][/caption]

Heroes Square
 
The Chain Bridge

[caption id="attachment_1436" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="View from Chain BridgeOne of the most impressive buildings ever!"][/caption]

St. Stephen's Basilica
The largest church in Budapest. Stunning!

View of St. Stephen's Basilica

Jewish Quarter and the Great Synagogue
Rick Steves has a lot of information about this area of Budapest including a tour, but Visitbudapest.travel also has an excellent online tour/itinerary.

[caption id="attachment_1443" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Weeping Willow Tree Holocaust Memorial"][/caption]

 

 Of everything we did and saw in Budapest, the House of Terror was the most memorable. It allowed us a personal and emotional insight to the history of Budapest. Will share that tomorrow. All in all my favorite historical city in Europe thus far.

 

Oh and on a completely unrelated note is appears we will have internet this week! *fingers crossed* I sure do miss the world wide web!!!

Update: girly, beachy room theme

Pin It Now! Been awhile since I blogged. Still no internet :( But I'm going to try and post more and n0t let my super slow connection deter me anymore!

Here's an update on my daughter's room.  It's still in the process, but coming together a bit more, finally!

Above her bed is some artwork that was DIY.  I bought some cheap canvas and painted it.  The fish I found at a local home decor store for 1 euro! I just used some spray adhesive to glue them to the canvas.  I thought the symbolism of having a mama, papa and baby fish would be cute.



The stripes are quite perfect, but perfect isn't cool anyway :) I just painted some stripes on a blank canvas and then made the star in adobe illustrator. I then printed the star on heavy cardstock and glued it to the canvas.



This artwork was semi DIY. I bought the cute sea animal graphics and backgrounds from Mygrafico.com. Love that site btw! Very cheap and cute graphics. I assembled the images in Illustrator, though you could possibly do this in paint too. Then printed on cardstock.



The pillow I photoshopped in to see how it would look.  I love it!  Found it on Etsy from NamlyPillows. 

Almost done with her room. Still need to figure out the bedding and a few more decor items. What do you guys think??

Review of Casa Anna in Sardinia

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Our trip to Alghero, Italy was incredible. I miss it so much and am already daydreaming about visiting again. What really helped to make it an incredible experience was where we stayed during our visit. Casa Anna is a fully furnished two bedroom apartment in a residential neighborhood of Alghero.

The apartment is decorated beautifully and really feels like a home away from home. It includes a washing machine (which we did end up using and it was wonderful to have), rack for drying clothes outside, hair dryer, iron/ironing board, air conditioning and tv with a dvd player. One afternoon was kind of rainy for a few hours, so while the kids napped we watched “Once Upon a Time in America” with Robert de Niro.


We really wanted an apartment with a balcony and/or terrace, so that when the kids would go down for bed, hubby and I could still enjoy the atmosphere.


I booked through www.Sardiniansunhomes.it The hospitality of this company was over the top. Laura and Maurice provided us with everything. We were picked up from the airport (in a car with child restraints for the kiddos!) and upon arrival were offered to be taken to the local grocery store. Laura gave us a bottle of wine, some apertifs and several bottles of water. It was wonderful to feel so taken care of on our trip.

We really don’t mind walking, so this apartment was perfect for us. Walking distance to the city center of Alghero was 30min and to Maria Pia beach was also 30 minutes. But it was the dead of summer and a beautiful walk, so no big deal. Plus it helped us justify our over indulgence of gelato and pizza.


Each morning we stopped by the supermarket which is about a 10 minute walk from the apartment. It’s an excellent supermarket stocked with everything you could need. They have milk, yogurt, produce, bread, crackers, snacks, water, juice, diapers/wipes, baby food and even beach toys. Really, anything you could need from a grocery store.



I would highly recommend this apartment to any family vacationing in Alghero.  A true gem!  Can not wait to go back to Italy.  It's my favorite so far.

 Our next adventure is taking us to the famous Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles!  We will also be visiting Dachau concentration camp.

xoxo

B

La Dolce Vita in Sardinia

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We were rather unpatriotic again this year as we spent the 4th of July in Italy. With Ryanair offering such cheap flights, we couldn’t resist a last minute trip to Sardinia. We flew into Alghero, which is a very charming town on the western coast of the island. For five days we escaped the daily grind and indulged ourselves with sun, sea, sand and gelato.

The first beach we hit up was Lido. Conveniently located near most of the main hotels, Lido beach offers a sandy beach and wonderful opportunities for people watching.

But when we walked 10 more minutes north we found exactly what we were looking for at Maria Pia beach. Miles of white sandy beach and clear blue water that went as far as the eye could see.

We spent the next few days building sand castles, competing for a tan as golden as the Italians and swimming in the warm blue sea.

[caption id="attachment_1359" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="We bought the inflatable swim toy from a beach vendor"][/caption]

Down the street from our apartment was a wonderful grocery store stocked with everything we needed for breakfast and snacks at the beach.

[caption id="attachment_1360" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="Produce at the local supermarket"][/caption]

For lunch we found out restaurants don’t open until 12:30-1ish. Snack bars are typically open, but for a restaurant we had to wait until later afternoon. Restaurants also close around 3pm and don’t open for dinner until 7pm.

Our favorite restaurant ended up being the Lido Pizzeria, situated right on the beach. Very thin, fire baked crust with a thin sauce and excellent quality cheese paired with a glass of vino made for one of the best meals we’ve had.

[caption id="attachment_1362" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Mr. Wright enjoying some vino in peace"][/caption]

We went to Alghero for the sole purpose of rest and relaxation. No agenda other than beach, beach and more wonderful beach. One morning was overcast, so instead of gambling a possible rainy day at the beach we decided to try one of the many boat tours offered down by the harbor. The boat ride to Neptune’s Grotto offered dramatic views of giant rocky cliffs submerged in the deep blue sea.

Walking through the caves of Neptune’s Grotta had me feeling like an extra in Indiana Jones. Mesmerizing and a bit creepy at the same time, but definitely worth the visit.

[caption id="attachment_1367" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Neptune's Grotto via iphone"][/caption]

After a fun day at the beach we showered up and would head down to the city center of Alghero for dinner and exploration.

One place that got our eyes wide was this pirate candy store, loaded with sweet treasures.

The Italian culture was every bit as dreamy and romantic as I imagined it to be. The food was phenomenal. The language simply gorgeous. The speedos abundant and the hospitality so warm. We were swept away by the beauty of this incredible Italian island and know we will definitely be going back again.

Until next time....
Ciao bellas,
B

Winnie the Pooh ish summer theme party

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My little man is one!  Wow it went by fast.  His party was this past weekend and I have to admit I'm kinda happy it's over with.  You see living in Germany is such an incredible experience.  We are within driving distance to some of the most historical and quaint cities in the world.  Yet despite this I just really want a Party City, Hobby Lobby and even a Wal-mart (gasp! Not usually a Walmart person.  I'm a Tarjay snob.  But Walmart does have cheap crafty type of things that are perfect and useful for party planning.  Oh and they are open 24/7!!

In order to plan a party over here I have to rely heavily on online ordering and that just things tricky and unpredictable.  The way I pictured this party looking in my head and the way it actually turned out are totally different. 

Here was my guy's 1st bday:

I really liked the number One decoration.  It was pretty easy to make.  I followed this basic concept to create it : http://crafts.kaboose.com/puffy-heart.html

Since one is a sentimental birthday I wanted to highlight his first year:

I seriously love pooh and his cute quotes and sayings.  I thought these were perfect for a first birthday:

For the honey pot I just painted a clay pot yellow and wrote hunny using white paint.  Mr. Wright said to me, "you know that's not how honey is spelled, right? And your y is backwards."  He's a nut.

So as you can see inside the honey pots I made cake pops.

They didn't turn out how I wanted.  For one, finding WHITE melting candy proved to be impossible and white chocolate chips just don't melt so well.  I ended up having to use speckled melting chocolates.  I really wanted to make these beach balls, but again I was limited in  my resources for having frosting utensils.  It's the thought that counts.  Btw etsy has several vendors who make very cute cake pops.  It would be a good idea to outsource these treats since they do take some time to make.

The cupcake tower turned out pretty cute.

I love my new drink dispenser I ordered online from amazon.  Less than $30 and free shipping!  It's perfect.

I kept the goodie bags simple:

And that was it.  I do have the pdf printables for this party, so please leave a comment if you would like the download.  For free of course :)

Here's some very cute ideas I found around the web for a Pooh inspired bash:

This party was submitted to P is for Party

These honey pots by the Party Mama are so cute.  Wish I would have found her site in time.

This Disney Pooh sweets table by Hostess with the Mostess is a very cute idea:

This hundred acre woods sign from etsy designer CSCuteCrafts would be a cute decoration:

I hope to have some more parties this summer to share :)