One of my best friends Joleen is expecting her first baby this fall, and I couldn’t be more excited for her! She is going to be such an amazing mother, and I can’t wait to meet her little baby girl!
My friend Ellie and I threw a co-ed baby shower for Joleen and her husband Aaron this past weekend. We threw around a few different ideas, and in the end decided on a book theme, since Joleen is really into literature.
We had originally planned to hold the shower on the outdoor patio at Merry Cellars Winery, but the day ended up being stormy and rainy. When we said shower we didn’t mean literally! So we opted to move it inside to their barrel room which was perfect. And huge thank you to the staff at Merry Cellars for being so accommodating last minute!
Ellie made really cute cupcakes (you may remember her cake from this post), and topped them with these adorable book toppers that she made. If you like this idea but don’t want to make them yourself, I also really love these ones.
I loved the book themed snack table! Joleen is a book worm like me, and is excited to grow their baby’s library. I had so much fun choosing some of my favorite books for her, and coordinating snacks with them!
We picked pink peonies from the local you-pick flower farm, and arranged them in burlap and lace mason jars. The flowers ended up being a perfect pop of color inside the barrel room!
It was so much fun to shower our dear friends with love as they prepare to embark on this big adventure of parenthood!
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1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cup milk
*note: I made this cobbler using my nice ceramic baking dish, and the cobbler didn’t turn out so well because the ceramic is such a good conductor of heat that the edges browned too quickly. I have the best luck using my plain jane glass baking dish for this recipe.
Big thank you to Cathleen B, who shared this recipe with my mom years ago!
You may have noticed by now if you’re following me on Instagram that I really enjoy wine! Despite how much I love baking, I would choose a glass of wine over dessert any day. My interest in wine is actually a relatively recent one, and I’ve been having so much fun learning about it for the past few years. I’m really excited because next month (cue panic mode as my to-do list flashes before my eyes) we’re going to leave for our vacation in Britain and France. On that trip we’ll be visiting Bordeaux, and doing soooo much wine tasting! I can’t wait to learn as much as I can about Bordeaux wines!
I was trying to brainstorm fun sorbet recipes the other day, and opened my fridge for inspiration. Voila! Rosé sitting right in front of me! So I poured a glass (naturally) and got to work! I love that this sorbet has a hint of fruit and citrus, but the flavors only compliment the rosé flavor – they don’t overwhelm it. This recipe includes kiwi, which was actually the suggestion of our friend Patrick who is the winemaker at Merry Cellars Winery in Pullman. I would never have thought to add that flavor, and I love it! This is perfect for enjoying on a hot summer day!
Ingredients:
1/2 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups of your favorite rosé wine (I used Merry Cellars)
2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
Directions:
Rinse, hull and slice strawberries and kiwi into smallish slices. Place the fruit into a medium saucepan, and cover with water. Bring the fruit water to a boil, and them reduce to medium and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. You will know it’s ready when the berries have lost their color, and the water is dark pink. Strain the fruit out using a fine mesh strainer, being careful not to squish the berries or kiwi. Discard the fruit once the liquid is strained out.
Pour the liquid back into the saucepan, and add the sugar. Bring to a boil again, and then simmer for about five minutes, stirring as the sugar dissolves. Once all the sugar is incorporated, take the syrup off the burner and allow to cool completely.
Pour the rosé into a medium bowl, and whisk in the grapefruit juice. Add the strawberry kiwi syrup a little at a time, tasting as you go. Sweetness is a personal preference, so it’s nice that you can so easily control it in this recipe. Once the ingredients are combined, transfer the frosé to a shallow baking dish, cover carefully with plastic wrap, and freeze overnight. I know, that’s the hardest part!! The first time I made this I tried to freeze it in my ice cream machine, but because of the alcohol I found it didn’t really work.
The next day you will be able to enjoy your cold, refreshing frosé and instantly become the most popular person on the block!
Do you like wine as much as I do? Then you will also love my Merlot Chocolate Truffles!
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This is the first post in my Favorite Things blog series, and I’m so excited to expand the blog and start introducing some new content! As a thank you to those of you who are following along on this journey with me, I’m giving away one featured product every month to a lucky subscriber. The winner is announced at the bottom of the post – make sure to check if it’s you!
If you know me or have been following the blog for a while, you know that I love all things roses! They’re such a beautiful flower, and their scent is so light and fresh. Every once in a while I come across a rose scented product that smells old and stuffy, which is such a shame! I much prefer my products to smell like the actual flower from a garden. If you have this same preference then you will love every product on this list!
Rose Sugar Scrub
I love how this sugar scrub makes my skin feel. After just using it once my skin felt so soft, exfoliated and refreshed. After a few uses I started to feel a really noticeable difference! It’s especially great to use before I shave my legs. I also really love how it smells. The scrub of course smells like roses, but it also has a warm vanilla scent to it, which I didn’t expect and really enjoy! After using this sugar scrub I could still smell just a hint of it on my skin, which was perfect. It’s not too much to interfere with any perfume I might be wearing, but I still like that there’s a little scent left.
Rose Candle
I have a really hard time finding rose scented candles that I like, because a lot of them are way too strong for me! This candle smells like fresh roses and clean laundry. It’s such a clean and light scent, and even my husband likes it! I’m also really particular about my candles – they have to be made from good wax and have cotton wicks for me to feel comfortable burning them in my home, and I love that Rude Candle Company makes safe candles. This candle is a collaboration between Rude Candle Company and Kay & Edna, and it was literally just released! So excuse me while I go buy 10 of them.
Rose Himalayan Salt Mineral Bath Soak
I love a hot, relaxing bath. If I’ve had a long or stressful day it’s my favorite way to unwind. We love bath salts in our family, because they’re an amazing way to de-stress, and also a great way to soak up some extra minerals! I’ve been trying a few different scented salts, and this one is by far my favorite! It’s moderately scented, so while it smells nice in the water, the entire house doesn’t smell like my bath when I’m done. My husband is especially thankful for that haha! I also love that there are dried rose petals in the salts, which re-hydrate when they’re added to the water and add to the bath time ambiance!
Congratulations to Michelle Crowell who has won the rose sugar scrub AND your choice of the candle or bath soak! Please email me at kirsten.bell@thiscelebratedlife.com to claim your prize.
Didn’t win this time? Subscribe here for a chance at next month’s prize!
Today my sweet baby Charlotte is a year old. Maybe if I re-read that line about 100 more times it will actually sink in. This has been such a challenging, sleep-deprived year – and also the most special, love-filled year of my life so far. Charlotte is such an amazing blessing, and it’s hard to remember life before she was here, even though it was only a year ago!
We held Charlotte’s birthday party this past Saturday, and it turned out so great! I love any excuse to gather our family and friends together. It was so touching to see people take time away from their busy schedules to celebrate our little girl.
I had the hardest time picking the theme for Charlotte’s first birthday party, because there are so many sweet options out there. Damn you, Pinterest! I finally settled on the swan theme because it’s so cute and feminine. By next year who knows! Maybe she’ll be telling me that she hates pink and wants a pig in the mud theme party (which actually sounds kind of fun). So I thought I better sneak in one pink party now, just in case!
The party planning began with this sweet pink swan princess invitation from Minted. I hadn’t ever ordered anything through Minted before, and I was a little nervous because I’m a bit of a paper snob. I was really pleased though, and would definitely order through them again.
When guests arrived to the party, they were greeted by this swan planter that I filled with pink and purple flowers, and of course balloons!
My friend Ellie made delicious strawberry cupcakes, and we topped them with these adorable swan cupcake picks that I am so obsessed with! I also found some little swan candy bowls which I filled with pink kisses.
Ellie also made Charlotte’s smash cake. I love how pretty and whimsical it was, and topped with flowers it was even better than what I had imagined!
As you can see, Charlotte also approved! That’s what I call smash cake success – the girl went for it haha!
Can we also just take a minute to admire these swan cookies? I love that they matched the color scheme perfectly, and the swans were set upon a heart cookie which made them even more perfect.
I was so thankful to have so much help from family and friends putting Charlotte’s party together. She is one lucky girl to be so surrounded by love!
Happy first birthday my darling, sweet girl!
