• Easter bunny tea party

    Easter bunny tea party

    If you have a little girl, I’m telling you right now: You need to throw an Easter bunny tea party for her and her friends (or siblings). My friend Daysi had the idea last year for our girls, and it was the absolute cutest thing ever. It was also pretty easy to put together, and […]

  • Four-ever magical birthday party

    four-ever magical birthday

    Arabella is about to turn five, so I think it’s time to share the details of her 4th birthday party! The theme was “four-ever magical,” aka unicorns and mermaids. I scoured Pinterest for unicorn and mermaid party ideas, then combined them into a super fun four-ever magical birthday party at our house. Decor We had […]

  • Peppa pig birthday party

    Peppa Pig birthday party

    Arabella absolutely loves Peppa Pig, so a Peppa Pig-themed birthday party was a no-brainer when she turned 3. I wanted to go with a slightly pastel color palette, to match the rain boots she already had. But as you might imagine, there was a LOT of pink involved. Since the British children’s show is so […]

  • Kid-friendly Halloween tea

    kid-friendly Halloween tea party

    Happy Halloween! Did you already go trick-or-treating? We’re going tonight, but we got in the spooky spirit this weekend with this toddler-approved Halloween tea party. The best news: Everything other than decorating the cookies is super easy and fast, so if you want to throw together a similar Halloween tea today—or just try one or […]

  • Cincinnati Bengals foods for Super Bowl

    Cincinnati chili dip for Super Bowl

    The Cincinnati Bengals are in the Super Bowl, and that means you’re going to need at least one in Cincinnati- or Bengals-themed food item at your Super Bowl party. But while some teams and cities lend themselves to very obvious foods, you may have a harder time thinking of foods that scream “Cincinnati Bengals.” Luckily […]

  • Oh Twodles birthday party

    Oh Twodles birthday party

    Long before Arabella turned two, a Disney-loving friend of mine posted photos of her son’s “Oh Twodles” Mickey Mouse-themed birthday party, and I thought it was genius. (For those who don’t know, Mickey and friends all say “Oh Toodles” several times per episode on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, summoning a magical helper thingy). And since Arabella […]

  • Winnie the Pooh tea party

    Winnie the Pooh tea party for children

    We’re having a Winnie the Pooh tea party at home, and you’re invited! When I canceled Arabella’s first birthday party in March, I thought I was just postponing it. But as restrictions increased and our time in Okinawa got shorter and shorter, I realized we weren’t going to be able to have her party there. […]

  • Arabella’s baptism

    Arabella's baptism

    We had decided early on that we wanted to have Arabella baptized at Toby’s church in Kentucky, so when we decided we were going to go to Kentucky for Thanksgiving, it seemed like the perfect time. My family was able to come, too, which was awesome because we were all together for the ceremony. Arabella […]

  • Thor hammer cake

    Thor hammer cake

    Toby was at boot camp for his 21st birthday and in Afghanistan for his 30th birthday, so when his 40th birthday rolled around, I wanted to do something a little special to mark the occasion, even though we had only just moved to Okinawa. Luckily, because the Marine Corps is so small, some of our […]

  • What to make for Friendsgiving brunch

    hosting Friendsgiving brunch

    Celebrating holidays far from family is never easy, but it can be particularly challenging when you’re living overseas and trying to celebrate a distinctly American holiday. Most military service members get holidays off (if they’re not deployed), but actually flying home to the U.S. for every holiday is unrealistic and expensive. So, that means friends […]