we're on a mission: mission san juan capistrano

 last year's visit to the san diego mission sparked the idea in the mister & myself of beginning an adventure with our beauties; an adventure which we hope will create a lifetime of memories and a thirst for exploring beautiful & historical places. we are calling this little journey of ours "on a mission", our goal is to learn about, visit and explore each of the twenty-one missions lining california's golden coast. i believe it to be the perfect activity for a family like ours- it's affordable, educational, and full of beauty; a little something for everyone in the family. we absolutely LOVE chatting with our beauties about pretty much everything under the sun while we walk the grounds - from flowers, to missionaries, to tadpoles, to friends, to baby farts...we talk about it all. 

this past sunday marked the last day of spring break for samirah and the weather was beyond  PERFECT, so we took full advantage of the day and visited our second mission, mission san juan capistrano. 

:::

 after exploring the mission for a few hours we headed to ricardo's place for some grub. the food there was fantastic! i'm still dreaming about the drool worthy made to order guacamole and tender steak fajitas. we were so happy with the service and the food there that we plan returning often.

after STUFFING our faces we headed to a nearby panaderia {bakery} to pick up some pan dulce {mexican sweet bread} for dessert. it was the perfect way to end our day!

:::

if you are interested in "going on a mission" with your kiddos as well, this is a simple yet great 

resource on the different missions.

ittybitty style: may's wishlist

i hope you are having a fabulous week so far! the past two days have been pretty productive now that spring break is over and my big beauty is back in school. holy friggin' toledo! she & her sister were making  me CRAYCRAY and mama sure is happy to have a few FIGHT/CRY/DRAMA FREE hours in the morning while she is away at school {somebody do me a favor and tell me the madness is going to end!}

:::

oooookay, now that i got that off my chest, let me get to the point of this here post.

may is right around the corner and with it comes cinco de mayo & mother's day. since my ittybitty is experiencing these special days for the first time ever, i thought she should be wearing some special items to celebrate...

 top // moccs // bloomers

romper // mary janes

are you dying over that little embroidered top? i'm imagining my ittybitty beauty's fluffy brown face popping out the neck hole and i can't help but smile- just crossing my fingers it goes on sale before cinco de mayo. and then how sweet is that floral romper? i know, i know, i may be a little partial to it being that it's a right bank babies creation, but SERIOUSLY though, it doesn't get any cuter than that!

a pompom backdrop.

lots of "bang for your buck" and versatility make tissue paper pompoms a common sight at pretty much any kinda shindig imaginable. from birthday parties, to weddings, to graduations, you will find these fluffy balls of tissue dangling from trees or strung together as a garland. 

i am especially fond of how angela and i used them to create a backdrop for our food & dessert table during our recent spring fling- and as promised, i have put together a simple tutorial on how we did it.

:: what you'll need ::

poster boards {for our backdrop we used six of these boards}

masking or packing tape

tissue paper

string

scissors

scotch tape

thumbtacks

& lots of patience

:: step one ::

arrange your poster boards and tape{using packing or duct tape}them together.

once you have arranged your boards, you will be able to determine more or less how many pompoms you will need to make.

:: step two ::

using thumbtacks, secure board onto the area you would like your pompom backdrop to be. we turned the taped side of the board toward the wall to ensure none of tape would peek through.

:: step three ::

make your pompoms {there's a great tutorial on how to make them here} and arrange them onto the board by securing the back petals with scotch tape. the bulk of our board consisted of large pompoms with smaller ones used to fill in the gaps. we also made some of the pompom petals rounded and other pointed to add some texture to our backdrop.

:: step four ::

step back & check out your fluffy wall of goodness!

a spring fling: an oh, sugar! & inspired mama collaboration

 just as the dust was beginning to settle from our mother-daughter love day fest, my friend angela approached me with the idea of throwing a little easter/spring party for our girls and a mutual girlfriend's lil' munchkin. since i am never one to say no to a party, i happily obliged. 

we hit up our usual party supply spot, the dollar tree {i think i may be slightly obsessed with that place} and rounded up some goodies we had from previous parties and voila, our spring fling! 

:: the table ::

pith helmets dressed in ribbons and flowers along with a galvanized bucket filled with purple nets served as the centerpiece for our purple & pink tablescape. 

{helmets, ribbon, flowers, and nets all from the dollar tree}

clusters of flower filled tin cans that were decorated with scrapbook paper & lace added a sweet and feminine touch. you may remember the cans from nylah's vintage pony party, i absolutely love them and have used them for several parties and lunches. 

:: place settings ::

at each place setting was a juice box covered in scrapbook paper and tied with a lace ribbon,

a dollar  tree basket {which served as our color pallet inspiration} filled with goodies {also found at the, you guessed it, dollar tree!},

a napkin adorned with a glittery bow, and a marshmallow filled mason jar topped with a spray painted bunny.

:: the dessert & food table ::

a wall of tissue paper pom-poms gave our otherwise simple dessert and food table a super fun feel. i am SO pleased with how well it came out that i will have a tutorial coming your way right after this post! 

angela worked her oh, sugar! magic with adorable potted cupcakes topped with a golden bunny, exquisite handmade flower cookies, and a matching cake that literally took my breath away.

served alongside angela's masterpieces were some rice krispie treats wrapped in wax paper &     twine, peanut butter and jelly flower sandwiches {that i made using a cookie cutter and sprinkles}, and applesauce cups doctored up with a ribbon and wooden spoon.

our beauties also got to snack on carrot cups and bunny mix.

:: lunch is served ::

:: carrot croquet ::

the girls had a blast playing carrot croquet. again, all items came from the dollar tree. you can find the details and a tutorial on angela's blog.

 :: lil' bug hunters ::

what would a spring party be without some bug hunting? angela spray painted bugs and assigned each of the girls a color, the girls were then instructed to only "hunt" for the bugs in their assigned color.  needless to say, it was a brilliant idea! the girls had a "tear-free" {by that i mean, my baby beauty didn't have a FREAKOUT session because her sister found more bugs than her} hunt that encouraged teamwork rather than competing  for the "most" bugs.

:: oh, hey! can't forget to show you a shot of my itty bitty beauty just hangin' out ::

:: diy spring bonnets ::

for their craft, the girls got to decorate some spring hats with various items found at craft stores, target, and with some left over flowers from the tin can centerpieces.

:::

after the party angela and i sat at her table and chatted while we watched our girls play in the yard-they were so happy. we discussed how our beauties would probably have been just as happy with regular peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and that they probably could have done without the  wrapped juice boxes or the tin can centerpieces ooor the decorated pith helmets ooooooor....

you get the drift.

the truth is, yes, they could have very well done without all the extra little details, but here's my deal {and i'm sure angela would agree!}...if it is in our power as mothers to fill their lives with beauty and special moments-why not do it?  these thoughtful gestures and simple little details {like tying a silly little ribbon on an applesauce cup} will, in a not too distant future, become something very important. they will become memories - memories of a world that is full of beauty, full of joy, full of little things that were wrapped in pretty little ribbons - full of magic.
our world is filled with so many ugly things-shootings, bombings, people hurting all around. things that are slowly chipping away at the innocence of our children. at the blink of an eye they will be all grown up and no matter how much we try to do so, the magic we were once able to create for them when they were little will no longer be there. it is my hope, however, that the memories i am creating for my beauties will hold within them a magic that will transcend time. i hope that when they are older, and i am long gone, they will think not about the ugliness that exists in the world, but will remember and smile at the thought of their crazy mama running around the dollar tree buying fake flowers and ribbon in bulk to create something special for them.