Signs of Adulthood: Hostessing Baby Showers

My friend, Rebec is having a baby girl in September. So on Saturday some sweet friends and I hosted her baby shower in my condo's banquet room.

The shower was amazing! Mainly thanks to the amazing work of my friend, Carey, who did most of the decor.

Look how cute the tables were!


And the brunch food spread was amazing!


Besides the venue, I was in charge of coffee and mimosas (which happen to be two of my favorite things!)

I decided that the champagne glasses needed a little flair so before the shower I made some adorable (if I do say so myself) baby-themed wine charms.


Here's a closer look...


These were actually really inexpensive and easy to do. I just bought a couple colors of curling ribbon and these little table sprinkles from party city. Then I just threaded the charms, tied them on the glasses, and curled the ends of the ribbon. That way each glass had a unique charm and ribbon to people would know which mimosa or OJ was theirs.


I loved it!

Can I just say that the mom-to-be was so adorable and tiny! Here were are together...


And here she is with her loot...


I wish I'd taken more pictures of all the super cute clothes baby clothes that she got! All that cute pink stuff just melts your heart.

Here's me with a couple of my friends. Hair stylist and party planner extraordinaire, Carey, is on the right.

Magazine Quandary - Help Me Find The Perfect Perfume-Scented Read?

When I was in Middle School and early High School, I read Seventeen magazine religiously.


Then by the end of High School had graduated to Cosmopolitan Magazine and Glamour Magazine (I look back and now think, “wow I was wayyyy to young to be reading those”, but that’s another whole topic). Cosmo and Glamour were my staples throughout college.


After college, my life changed dramatically and actually quit reading Cosmo/Glamour-type mags (again, another whole topic). I was pretty into celebrity gossip and had a People Magazine subscription (don’t get me wrong, I still love the occasional People as well thesuperficial.com, I just try to limit it now).


Then I got engaged and Modern Bride and Martha Stewart Weddings were always in my travel bag or by my bed.


Then I got married. No more beautiful glossy pages of Vera Wang and Wedgwood for me. (Note: I know that some of you married ladies still read wedding mags, but I just can’t bear to do it. It makes me sad that I don’t get to have 18 weddings so I can do all the fun ideas! Is that crazy?)

So on my Honeymoon, I thought to myself... "what should I read now?"

I tried to go back to old faves, Cosmo and Glamour, but those magazines seemed so empty. Plus I don’t need tips on how to snag a guy at a cocktail party or how to tell if he’s “into me”. He’s into me. He liked it. He “put a ring on it.”


I tried Vogue and some of it’s cousins, but I feel like I’m not into fashion enough to love them.


I’ve tried home and decorating magazines, like Real Simple. Which is great! But not enough on relationships, fashion, and travel.


I'm still searching.

I feel like I may be in a magazine demographic gap here. I’m not old enough for my Mom's More Magazine yet. But too old for Cosmo.

I think this could be a "Sign of Adulthood."

So now that I’m at 25-year-old, happily-married, girl-next-door, what magazine should I read? What magazines do you love? Subscribe to? What magazines would you recommend for me?

Maybe that’s why I like reading all of your blogs so much. A little bit of relationships, a little bit of fashion, a little big of fitness, a little bit of travel. It's perfect! But I want something that I can read on the airplane!

Bedroom Inspiration

Sorry to disappoint... this post is about bedroom decor inspiration...

In mid-2008 I saw this bedroom in a Crate and Barrel catalog:


(I just pulled this image from crateandbarrel.com)

I remember loving with bright blue walls and the dark furniture -- But I never consciously tried to copy this room.

Well I must have ingrained that image pretty deep in my mind, because I'm finally done decorating our bedroom and this is what is looks like:



Isn't that crazy?!

Just so you know, I love love love our bedroom! The blue walls make me so happy and the chocolate furniture contrasts oh-so-nicely. We can see the Pacific Ocean while laying in bed, which perfectly ties in with the blue decor.

Also, this is my first "adult" bedroom -- meaning this the first bedroom I've had where the bed is in the middle of the room and has two nightstands (hey! This could be one of my "Signs of Adulthood"!). I guess that what happens when you need "his" and "her" sides.

What has inspired your bedroom decor?

UPDATE: In case you were wondering... the paint is Behr's Brilliant Sea, the furniture is the Polo Set from Plummers, and the bedspread is The Plaza Bedding from Z Gallerie.

Signs of Adulthood: New Years Eve as a "Couple"

This blog's subtitle is "Newly Wed, Nearly Mature" -- which I think sums us up really well. In many ways I still feel like an adolescent sorority girl, and in some ways I already feel like an old married lady. So I've started a series of posts called "Signs of Adulthood" (check out my first post about "baby showers") and I plan to blog about all the things that I do that make feel like an actual "grown-up". Today's topic? New Years Eve as a "Couple."

Although I haven't been "single" for a New Years since 2002, this is our first New Years as married couple. And it just so happens that this year we're not spending New Years at a bar, or a club, or house party... but we're doing a fancy pre-fixed dinner with wine at gourmet restaurant in Long Beach, just the two of us. I'm really excited about it, but it does make me feel like an adult ringing in the New Years as a "couple" without wild drunken debauchary like so many years past.

How about the rest of you? How are you spending New Years? Night on the town? Quiet night at home? With friends?

Wherever you are, the Newlyweds Next Door wish you a very Happy New Year and fabulous 2009!

"Woo! Girls"

A couple of weeks ago I watch THE most hilarious episode of "How I Met Your Mother" called "Woooo!"

Robin rediscovers the “Woo Girls”, the single party girls (who say "woooo!" after every sentence). Lily (the married girl) feels left out.

Here's a good clip:



Or you can watch the full episode here.

I can totally relate to Lily!

Have any of you young Newlywed or Married girls felt like this? Do you feel slightly left out of the "single party girls club" that some of your girl friends are still in? Maybe you were once part of the "Woo Girls" (I know I was... wooo!). Can you still "woooo!" with the best of them, or are your woo-ing days behind you?

Signs of Adulthood - Attending Baby Showers

A couple weekends ago we attended our first co-ed baby shower (much to the Mr's chagrin). My Manager had a football-themed shower for her baby boy in Saratoga (the Mr and I were already up in Nor Cal for the USC vs. Stanford game so it worked out perfectly to show up in our USC gear).

The Mr. and I representing for Southern Cal deep in Nor Cal territory. Go Trojans!


The Mom-to-be (she's still thin, I hate her)



Our gift for the parents-to-be (an animals mobile and lion pillow from Babies R Us). I was really impressed with my reusable gift-wrapping skills ($3.99 reusable basked from Michaels, tissue paper, and grosgrain ribbon).


One of the only people at the baby shower younger than me, my co-worker Brittany.



The food! Delish!





What are some of your "Signs of Adulthood?"