I know most people consider Valentine’s Day to be the holiday for lovers but I love when we can celebrate how love shows up in all forms; especially in friendships. I’m 1000% behind any type of Galentine’s Day celebration. I was so grateful when I was asked to join this adorable shoot with Amy from White Blossom Events. I was even more excited when she asked Evelyn to join in the fun! Evelyn and Amy’s daughter Faith had hit it off the last time we got to have tea at our favorite tea house, Morning Lavender. I knew Evelyn would have a great time.

Look how adorable these girls are?! The dresses are from Alice and Ames and I’m in love with them. They are so well made and the material is so soft and swingy. They are perfect for dancing, jumping, and playing. The color palettes for each season are always right on the mark too. I’m anxiously awaiting for the next release! The bows, purses, and other accessories on the girls are from My Little Precious Co. Evelyn was super into all the little accessories and what is a girl day without accessorizing?! As a wise lady once said, “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize!”

The whole set up is just to die for. When we walked into the patio at the gorgeous Morning Lavender, Evelyn and I both sighed with all the prettiness. The planning, designing, and styling by these three talented ladies, Amy from White Blossom Events, Sally from Pretty Little Events, and Cindy from Sweetlee Made is just unmatched in perfection and attention to detail.

Anytime we get an opportunity to head over to Morning Lavender, we take it! I can’t say enough things about all the clothes, the teas, the tea service. In my mind, Morning Lavender is synonymous with “girls day”. It’s woman and BIPOC owned and Kim Le is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet! She’s just a big hearted, smart woman and one of my role models.

The curation of talented vendors is what makes any party, big or small, successful. Amy has definitely currated her group incredibly well. The sweets were the center of all the little girls’ attention. Sweetlee Made and Sweets by Keeks really out did themselves! We got those girls to pose and smile just as much as we wanted with the promise that they’d eventually be able to dig into those treats! I might’ve snuck a cookie for myself too and they were so yummy!!

Rentals can be a bit of a budget breaker but you really only need a few pieces to make a space pop. Finding cute kid size table and chair rentals can be challenging too, but Sweet Salvage Rentals has the most adorable kid party rentals. These were a perfect match for our Galentine’s Day Tea Party. I’ve been stalking their site since I’ll be planning a party soon myself, they have so many cute things!

The tea set is actually from Amazon and I’m totally getting myself my own set. You can order it here.

The beautiful and absolutely perfect florals were by Jovial Floral Co. She took that palette and matched it to complete perfection. The roses were such the perfect shade of pink and creams. It smelled heavenly. Let’s be real, no tea party is complete without beautiful florals! Jovial Floral Co. did not fail!

I love any opportunity to work with an amazing group of vendors. For this event we did heart shaped white acrylic stir sticks for the little girls to stir their sugar into their tea. They were so cute swirling them around. For place cards we did wooden pink painted heart place cards with names in white acrylic. Nothing elevates an event quicker than a place card right? Lastly, we did a wood “galentine’s” sign that was painted gold for the backdrops. I love being able to see our products in real life, I don’t usually get to. I ship them off or drop them off to a planner or client and I get pictures back. However, seeing everyone’s reactions, the little girls’ excitement, it was so fun! My favorite part though was the little bit of pride in Evelyn’s voice when she said “my mommy made them”.

The girls were given these adorable Hello Kitty masks from My Little Precious Co. and it immediately became one of Evelyn’s favorite masks. They are so light and comfortable for her to wear. They fit her little face just right with a great snug fit around her sides. I’ve ordered some more for her because they are so cute and comfortable for her. Anything to make it easier on her!

Of course, give a group of little girls accessories and they went crazy! Evelyn is still talking about the adorable purse she got to model. My Little Precious Co. has so many adorable high end accessories for little girls. We also have their placemats and when we go out to restaurants, they are always a huge hit. My girls love them!

Paper and Ink Designs did a fantastic job pulling everything together to create this gorgeous invitation for a flowery Galentine’s Day tea party. Go see her work when you have a chance, she’s amazing!

The amazing talent behind the camera is none other than the sweet Joy from Joy Theory Photography. She is so great with kids and capturing all the moments quickly and putting the kids at ease. The things she sees in the camera lenses versus what I see, just goes to show how talented she is. I was so excited to collaborate with her again. I was even more grateful to her when she offered to snap a couple of pictures of me with my girls. Hazel wasn’t the best model, but I will always cherish these moments that she captured. I can’t wait to work with her again professionally and personally!

I love a good Galentine’s Day celebration and I’m excited to make this a tradition for my girls.

Do you celebrate Galentine’s Day?

Shoot Details

Planning & Design: White Blossom Events

Styling: Pretty Little Events & Sweetlee Made

Photography: Joy Theory Co.

Venue: Morning Lavender

Rentals: Sweet Salvage Rentals

Cake & Desserts: Sweetlee Made & Sweets by Keeks

Laser cuts: Delovely Details

Florals: Jovial Floral Co.

Invitation: Paper and Ink Designs Co.

Dresses: Alice and Ames

Accessories & purses: My Lil Precious Co.

Models: The daughters of Sweetlee Made, Cathiecathicathy, Stayatbeach_mama, Delovely Details, Ting Makeup, and White Blossom Events

It seems that every year, more and more people are doing away with their traditional New Year resolutions and focusing more on maybe just a word of the year.

I’ve set my fair share of resolutions in the past and I completely agree with the notion that they can be overwhelming and easily discarded after a few weeks of pressure.

So, I’ve decided to try a word of the year for 2022. Trying to decide which word I would focus on this year was much harder than previously considered.

Exactly what was I hoping to accomplish this year? The list seemed endless. My goals ranged from big to small, vital to trivial. I had business aspirations and personal standards I wanted to meet. I want to grow my business this year but I also want to find more time for myself.

I could go on and on, and basically it turns out…I just want to have it all. Let’s be real. That’s what we all want right?

Back to the drawing board,

Rather than focusing on all that I want, I started to think about why I haven’t met my previous goals. Of course there are a bajillion reasons that are completely out of my control as to why I don’t “have it all”. I don’t think it’s a standard we are actually allowed as women to have yet. However, I’m realistic and I do think some of this is very much in my control.

As a creative, and often times a perfectionist, I think one of my biggest struggles is staying focused. I am one of those typical people in this industry with 20 tabs constantly open. I’m sending work emails while simultaneously looking for a Ghost Spider sweater for my kid. While I’m at Disneyland with my family, I’m planning out my weekly meal plan. While picking up my daughter from school and asking her about her day, I’m also trying to get a post or an instastory up. Honestly, it’s no wonder I’m missing the mark so many times.

The pressure to “have it all” is so strong, that we are all self sabotaging our actual ability to “be happy with what we have”.

This year, my word is going to be “focus”. Focus on what I am doing and just focus on that. If I’m picking up Evelyn from school, focus on having that moment with her. If I’m at work and writing or designing, focus on that design work. Will things fall through the cracks? It’s possible, more like probable. However, I do wonder if what doesn’t fall through those cracks, perhaps, will reach new heights I’ve previously not met. Maybe my mind won’t be as exhausted. Maybe I’ll feel more accomplished at the end of the day.

Who really knows how this could turn out, I certainly don’t. But hey…it’s just one year right?

Do you have a word of the year? Or are you more of a resolution type of person?

Here’s to focusing in 2022!!!

I really can’t believe that Valentine’s Day is already around the corner. The years are just flying by here. With kids, these little holidays aren’t so little anymore. Drew and I were never big Valentine’s Day people however, now that Evelyn learns about the holiday and does crafts and stuff for it at school, she really enjoys celebrating it.

This year I got ahead of the game, and designed some Valentine’s Day cards that Evelyn could sign and take to school pretty early. She got one of these mini palettes at a birthday party and she loved it. Kept her busy for hours. I try my best to stay away from candy for these classroom giveaways, having been a teacher once before. When I found out that I could grab a 24 pack of these palettes for $15 on amazon, I knew this was the route we were going to take.

I designed this printable, two valentines to a page, and I just used photo paper to print on. I try to keep the ink usage to a minimum. I’m super excited with how they turned out! What do you think?

This is Evelyn’s second year in school and so she knows exactly how this is all going to go down. She’s super pumped about it and won’t stop asking when she will get to pass them to her friends.

Like last year, I’ve decided to share this printable if anyone else wants to use it. Don’t forget to snag these awesome watercolor palettes to tape to them to. I just used double sided sticky tape to attach the paint and cute washi tape for the paint brush. Just sign up below (full disclosure, you’ll also be added to my newsletter list but who doesn’t want to get updates on new products and sales?!) and I’ll email you this downloadable printable for your own use! I recommend on printing on thick cardstock or thick photo paper, there are two per page. Let me know what you think!

Make sure you tag us in your pictures if you use our printable so we can share them!