Ladies Holiday Party

Friday night I had the girls over for our annual holiday get together to have dinner, drinks, presents, and lots of catching up.  While we all used to get together a lot, lives have taken us in different directions so it's fun to get together when it's just us girls like old times.  I made lasagna and the girls all brought drinks and sides so that it was an easy dinner to put together but still felt like a good holiday meal :)  This year we had the cutest little visitor Miles {Erin's newest} and like a trooper he got passed around between all of us, was mesmerized by the tree, then instantly fell asleep and started snoring {it was too cute}.  Once again the theme of our gift exchange was favorite beauty product and everyone brought amazing stuff {so far I'm loving the body brush I kept}.  The girls stayed late and while I was sitting there listening to everyone talk it made me nostalgic for all the fun we've had together in the past.  Hopefully we can get together for dinners like this more than once a year, but during the holidays it feels extra special :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Girls Night

Last night, all the girls got together to check out Erika's brand new deck - basically, an awesome excuse for wine, appetizers, and lots of catching up :)  It's rare we find an evening that everyone's free, so it felt extra special to hang out with all the ladies {and a few littles} - we even snuck in some ice cream sundaes to celebrate some recent birthdays.  The rosé was flowing, the food was so good {crab quiche! cheese! olives!}, and Calvin made sure each girl felt extra special with a big ol' sloppy kiss.  I love these summer nights where we can lounge around outside without sweaters and the sun stays out past 9 - it makes me so thankful to live where we do with such great friends.  Can we do this every night?

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Maddie & Ashley {The Wedding}

The wedding on Saturday was absolutely perfect.  We spent the morning relaxing at the house while leisurely doing each other's hair and make up and chatting about how excited we were for the day.  The ceremony was moved inside last minute, which ended up being amazing - I don't think I've ever seen a prettier venue than The Great Hall.  After the ceremony, we sipped on wine and mingled with our friends before heading back inside to the gorgeous reception.  The toasts were sweet, the food delish, and the ribbon dancing was some of the best I've ever seen :)  We all had the most excellent time at this party that we never wanted it to stop, but by the time it did, I went to bed dreaming of white lace, dancing like a kid, and some of the greatest friends you could have.  Congrats Mads & Ash - what a wonderful way to celebrate you!!

first look

 maddie with her dad and hubby

 bridesmaids!

 the beautiful ceremony & reception spot

 ribbon dancing is my new favorite

 with liz and autumn as my dress was falling apart

 best man & me

the happy family :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Maddie & Ashley {Welcome BBQ & Rehearsal}

Thursday evening in Sunriver, Mads & Ash hosted a welcome bbq for everyone at the ginormous mansion we were staying in.  It was such a fun and relaxed way to hang out with everyone while drinking beers, eating hamburgers, and getting super pumped for the weekend's festivities.  On Friday {after a long day of recovery from the bbq} we headed to The Great Hall for the wedding rehearsal, before heading over to Deschutes Brewery for a beautiful private dinner {and some great beer}.  It was so fun to hang out with everyone and hear the touching speeches by a few special people, and I had the honor of sitting with the bride's parents, where we told stories and laughed the night away.  It really was such a special night leading up to the big day!

 my date for the bbq

 the instax pics were a real hit all weekend

 groomsmen lining up

 bridesmaids!

 me and the beautiful bride

the beautiful blue suede clutch maddie got us with a fitting inscription inside

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Maddie's Bachelorette Weekend {Part IV}

Saturday night in SB, we decided to really do it up.  After a whole day of wine tasting, we had to keep the party going, or we were all definitely going to fall asleep by 7 :)  We went out to dinner at Opal, then headed out to find some bars and do some dancing, as is basically a must for a bachelorette party.  The pics are a little blurry, but I guarantee you we had a pretty awesome time dancing the night away and celebrating the bride to be. Mads - I can't wait to celebrate with you in just about a month!!  If this weekend was any indication, the wedding is going to be amazing :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie

Maddie's Bachelorette Weekend {Part III}

Saturday afternoon, after a lot of wine tasting, I insisted we head down to the beach.  I mean, we were in California, and how often do we get to spend the day on a sandy beach like that?  Ok, so the beach was not the gorgeous Santa Barbara beaches I had envisioned {I think we had to travel a bit outside of downtown for that} but it did lend itself to some fun pictures and a bit of that California' dreamin' :)

xoxo,
stephanie marie