Sophisticated Ba[BEE] Shower

Hi there! This was the weekend that culminated many days and weeks of planning. I finally was able to see the BEE shower i designed for my good girl friend come to life. As promised, here are a few pictures to give you a little inspiration for your next bee-themed birthday party, bridal or baby shower. I've already shared the invitation that inspired the entire event. The designers at the Celebration Shoppe really outdid themselves with this collection. It totally gave me the direction in which to carry my vision.

VENUE: The Josephine Butler Ctr.

This beautiful home was once the estate of Washington's elite. It was also the home of the Hungarian and Brazilian embassies. However, its beautiful buttery yellow color palette perfectly complimented the tone and ambiance for our shower.

Here's the rest of the pics...ENJOY!

I designed the sign above in MSWord and sent it over to my local printing company to be mounted onto posterboard. The cost was nominal and was a nice touch to the over aesthetics of the party.

Above is the tablescape designed for the event. Plates, placemats, cupcake picks and napkin rings were all purchased from the designers at the Celebration Shoppe.

I made and decorated the diaper cake to serve as a centerpiece for the gift table.

The wishing tree was created to provide an alternative to the typical mommy advice cards.

I also placed a vase of fresh and silk florals in a small vase for color. The Oh Baby letters were spray painted to match the color palette. I added two glass dishes filled with yellow lemonhead candies for guests to enjoy as they signed the wishing tree notes.

No event is complete without a cake to compliment your theme or idea.

This yummy confection was created by the awesome cake goddess, Keyla Clements of

City Girl Custom Cakes. We worked together to come up with the final design. The cake

was french vanilla with yellow buttercream icing topped with white chocolate drizzle.

The drink station was certainly a hit. Well certainly the peach champagne bellinis with fresh peaches, strawberries and raspberries. For the mom-to-be, I created a fresh lemonade non-alcoholic beverage that was yummy in its own right. We also had custom water bottles for guest and additional sodas in case we ran out of drinks.

Overall the babyshower was a huge success. We had an awesome time and mom received ton of baby gifts to welcome her new son sometime in August.

Hugs and Love!

Personalized Children's Books

Having my daughter, has unleashed the inner Do-it-yourself [er] in me. If I see it and there's a possibly that I can [re] create it, I'd much rather put in the sweat equity. It's something about the time and effort is takes to make something that crescendos the love factor for me. So, when I accidentally stumbled upon the site, http://www.babygamer.com/, I couldn't resist browsing through it to see what it was in store for me and Ava.

No matter than I'm up to my ears in preparing for the shower on the 10th, gearing up for trial at work. All the while, never missing a beat at being mommy to Ava and a wife to Jay. Did I mention that I have the gall to be in the process of establishing a business? Seriously, I must be crazy but I digress. I wouldn't be me if I didn't chip away at everything on my bucket lists. Now would I, to those who really know me? Ah yes, back to babygamer. As I was saying, this site is jammed packed with exciting activities for the kiddies. My favorite section however happens to be the one where you are able to personalize stories featuring your child's name, favorite food and friend among other things depending on the story you select. It also has a feature that allows you to print the book out in color or black and white to share with your budding scholar.

Here's a peek at what the site looks like:







Its super user friendly and only requires the click of your mouse. Right now Ava's currently fascinated with all things Sesame Street, Pooh, and Mickey. She's totally enamored with the characters. I've purchased every book in the series and we have quite the collection. But, I think she will enjoy hearing her name in the book, Goofy's Carnival, starring none other that Ava herself.

I remember growing up with the "Reading is Fun [damental]" campaign. I am thrilled that I get to share my love of words with Ava. Hope you enjoy as much as we do!


Signing off with my usual...

Hugs and Love

Yellow, Black and White Damask Babyshower

I am planning a baby shower for a dear friend in July. I've been working through the design concept since I completed Ava's birthday party. It is going to be so amazing. I will post more pics after the event. I don't want to spoil the surprise but I will give you a little sneak peek. I purchased this invite online from the talented designers at The Celebration Shoppe. Everyone should use them for their party needs. Their selection of quality stationary and other accoutrements will give your event a celebrity status feel.

Ladybug Garden: Ava's 1st birthday Party

Planning Ava's birthday party was a labor of love. I wanted everything custom and perfect. I scoured the internet for the best of the best ideas to serve as my inspiration. My goal was to set out to plan the most awesome 1st birthday party ever. In my humbled opinion, I think I captured that feeling. Only one little problem, I never factored in the weather. Which was kind of silly because Ava's birthday is in January, in the dead of winter. The DC metro area generally experiences cold but mild weather when it comes to snow. Well, not this year. Ava's birthday happened during one of the worse winters on record. But hey, that only seemed appropro. We never do anything on a small scale. So, 30 inches of snow was consistent with how we live our lives. Her original party was scheduled for January 30th. It snowed the morning of and we were forced to cancel. I rescheduled for a month later and although it was cold with 5 ft snow drifts on the side of the road, the day couldn't have been more perfect. Below are some of images from the party to include the decor, her cake and candy table, table settings and the cute thank you note I got from etsy.com. I am huge supporter of etsy.com. Check it out, if you haven't already.

Hugs and Love

Introducing myself...

I'm so excited I've finally decided to forge into the blogging phenomenon. Several of my friends and acquaintances have asked whether or not I currently maintain a blog. The answer outside of creating one for an accelerated computer class was absolutely NOT. Until today that is, I have decided that I would love to share my creative and mommy knowledge with the masses. I think I have an interesting perspective that people will love to follow. So in my blog, I intend to talk about any and everything that strikes my fancy from mommy-isms to offering tips on how to make your kiddie's birthday parties no ordinary event. As the former part-owner of White Dove Weddings which was a full-service event management company, I so enjoyed being involved in the most important day of my clients lives. It really enhanced my appreciation for all things beautiful. And boy, do I love all things beautiful (just ask my husband). I have discovered that I also have a passion for all things "Mom." Who knew, really? My daughter has opened up a whole new world for me that I would love to share with you.

With all of that said, let me introduce myself. My name is Towanna, I'm 34 yrs. old, and live in the greatest state (VA) in the continguous (bias of course). I'm also the extremely proud new mother to my blogs namesake, Ava Grace. Well, she's new in the sense that I just gave birth to her in January 2009. I waited quite a while (33 yrs. old) before embarking on this amazing journey and I'm so glad that I did. I have so much patience when it comes to my daughter. Its my personal magic ingredient for being a successful mom. No one gives you a manual on how to raise your new bundle of joy. You learn from the ground up with everything being so new and different. You second guess everything not sure if you're doing it right or wrong. You put your best foot forward, give it your best shot and hope for the perfect outcome. That's my parenting philosophy that you will come to know as you venture back here from time to time. Hope you decide to follow me. I would love a following. Can you imagine?

Check back with me and I promise to keep the topics entertaining. I'll always sign off on my blog with hugs and love because having joy keeps you alive and well.

So........Hugs and Love,
~T