Latest Obsessions 09.20 – Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes

If you’ve been reading along, you may have seen my mom’s 60th birthday at the cabin in the woods! And one of my favorite parts that I still can’t stop obsessing over are the amazing cakes we ordered from our go-to local bakery; Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes also known as KEC. Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes is quickly becoming a household name in the CLE area, and it’s for a variety of reasons from her celebration of national holidays, like Harry Potter Day to having custom holiday menus and just a variety of delicious every day sweets available, you really can’t go wrong.

Let’s talk about her Party Cake Collection first. With a newly expanded collection of new party cake flavors — these are easy to order and fun to make a statement for any occasion. Whether you’re rocking a pink theme, in need of a smash cake or want something for a milestone birthday – these cakes are gorgeous and also allow you to add personal touches with birthday candles or a cake topper. Our go-to is the Reese party cake, it has layers of peanut butter and chocolate cake and a crispy crunchy peanut butter layer that is just so yummy. For my 30th we were able to get the Macaron Sprinkle (see below) aka a more delicious spin on funfetti cake, plus with KEC’s staple macaron’s on top. The next one we want to order is the Cookie Dough one, um YUM! Rule of thumb for ordering cakes from KEC, always try to plan at least a month out if not more — extra for busy seasons/holidays.

Next up is her Buttercream Cake Collection. This is another variety of cake designs that fit a number of special occasions and themes! We first tried her buttercream cake collection for our wedding — and we ordered a hand painted floral cake as B and I’s cut cake with a chocolate fudge flavor. Honestly it was so easy, because we picked the size, colors and example from one I saw on her instagram and then I got a special cake topper that personalized it more for our special day. The best part? We were able to order a mini recreation of our cake for our 1st anniversary! For my mom’s birthday we got the Retro Dot cake with a Vanilla Blackberry flavor. There are endless possibilities with the buttercream collection from colors to sizes and flavors!

Every other delicious treat. This is a loaded section, loaded of sweet, deliciousness. On top of making incredible cakes — KEC also offers a variety of cupcake and macaron flavors, cookie dough, cakesicles, cookies, and chocolate covered oreos. Getting a sleeve of macarons is always a nice party/hostess gift to bring for sampling with friends – or honestly just a date night at home – as you can get a box of 6 or 12! Another reason I like to go into the store to order my cakes is so I can grab a treat or two like a gigantic salted chocolate chip cookie or pick up the newest macaron flavors!

Holiday Menus. We recently took advantage and jumped on the train of ordering off last year’s Thanksgiving menu, and got an incredible spice cake (pictured below, in the middle) to bring home for the family! It was gorgeous, delicious and a fun piece to bring to our family feast. I unfortunately missed out on ordering off the Christmas menu — because you must order fast, as KEC only offers a limited number of orders for the holiday menus. I’m excited to see what she has to offer this year — one benefit of following her on social is getting the latest updates and info on when the menus are going to drop!

Ever since we got our wedding cake from Kelsey Elizabeth, it’s become a sentimental and go-to spot for special occasions and big birthdays — and also has me wanting and planning for our next cake, or another sweet treat! I mean you don’t always need a reason to order a delicious cake right?!

A 60 & Fabulous Airbnb Birthday Party

Today is my mom’s 60th birthday! We were lucky enough to celebrate it earlier in the month with a long weekend away at an airbnb cabin. It was a backup to a cancelled week long trip that was supposed to be with the bigger extended family aka all my mom’s siblings plus a few cousins. So since it was a make-up to something to be much bigger, I wanted to really make sure my mom had a special weekend – celebrating her!

To make this weekend special for my mom’s big 60th birthday, there were a few things I focused on to help bring the birthday party to the cabin in the woods. One of those things was decorations! Luckily, this is a cabin we’ve stayed at before, so I had a pretty good feel for the space and the decorations I wanted to get to decorate the space. The second thing was bringing the people to the party – virtually of course! And lastly was the sweet treats and having a special cake to help make a statement for 60.

Virtual Birthday Wishes. With the world of COVID, things are definitely different — and since this much larger family trip wasn’t happening, I wanted to surprise my mom and bring her well wishes from her family and friends! DISCLAIMER: If anyone has mastered this craft, please comment below with help — but I’m not sure if there is any easy way to reach out to over 40 people asking for them to share a recorded video wish. For some people I reached out via email, Facebook messenger, text messages and Instagram DMs. I gathered videos, pictures and well wishes and even sourced a variety of pictures and memories of mom’s life and put them into an iMovie — it ended up being about a half hour long and was so fun making and even better surprising and watching my mom watch it.

The Decorations. As I mentioned, I knew the space but I also wanted to rein myself in, because I can easily go overboard with everything. So I think I did a pretty good job at keeping it simple! I picked the little theme of ’60 & Fabulous’ and kept on the color theme of gold and white. My big statement was getting oversized gold 6-0 balloons, a party pack that included a large Happy Birthday banner and other fun pieces that could be used throughout the cabin. In order to blow up the balloons at the cabin, I brought a mini helium tank from Michael’s — it was perfect for filling up the balloons. In addition to the birthday decorations, I also made sure to bring a few pieces from home to give it a homey and polished feel like table runners, candle holders, a cake stand, fresh flowers, matching plates and placemats.

Shop My Party Decor: Gold 60 Balloons | 60 & Fabulous Napkins | Gold & White Decor Party Pack | Cake Topper | Made in 1960 Banner (not pictured)

The Sweets! Another super easy way to help create a statement and make your birthday queen feel special is ordering a fancy cake! Of course, I went with our go-to special occasion local cake place; Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes (KEC) — we had our wedding cake done there and ever since, those cakes have held a special place in our hearts and is our go-to. I went with a 6″ Retro Dot buttercream cake, we got the Vanilla Blackberry flavor, and I was also able to pick out the colors, so I picked mom’s favorites! I also ordered a mini Reese’s party cake, because it’s delicious and my dad’s birthday is also in September so we gave him a little treat too! My dad also coordinated getting chocolate peanut butter cupcakes from a local baker near them, Morgy Cakes — he organized everything from the pick-up, to the flavor, to the design — it was so sweet and they were delicious. We made sure to have fun gold glittery 6-0 candles and tall skinny white and gold candles for mom to make an early birthday wish!

Since we were there for almost three nights, we had coordinated our meals between our two households, and had no shortage of food! We also made sure to plan a special dinner for Mom’s official birthday dinner which included steaks and a delicious sweet potato grilled dish (will share recipe!) — we also made a few epic charcuterie boards that served as our dinner at least one of the nights as we listened to music, chatted, played games and drank the nights away. My brother, SIL and niece also made it in for the trip, which I know was extra special for my mom — especially having all of us under one roof, which hasn’t been like that since Thanksgiving!

It was a super fun and exhausting weekend — and I know my mom loved every moment of it and now she gets to have a nice and relaxing day for her actual birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Fancy Fiesta At Home Party Decor

We’ve been gearing up to celebrate and have our own fancy fiesta at home just in time for Cinco De Mayo! I’ve been sharing with you how we’ve been gearing up for our party at home dinner menu and drink recipes, including our favorite Taco Pizza to a new favorite, Strawberry Prosecco Margarita. Now it’s just time to set the table, add a little festive flair and get ready for a fun and fancy feast at home to celebrate Cinco De Mayo — which happens to fall on a Tuesday this year! #TacoTuesday
To create our own little fancy fiesta, I grabbed a few new dining pieces with a bohemian flair and will also be a new summer staple — these really inspired the rest of the pieces that I pulled together for our party decor.  These colorful and festive melamine dinner plates from the Opalhouse collection at Target were an instant swoon and must have. I also got these light pink Toucan salad plates to match and compliment the color pallet. To top it all off, these Monique Lhuillier Gabrielle Etched Champagne Coupes are an elegant touch with a tint of bohemian to sip those delicious prosecco margaritas! Using blue as my base color, I pulled in other bright colors like greens, pinks and yellows for a fun flair. And, to let the colors pull through, I used a fix of clear and white bowls for serving the chips, beverages, dipping sauces and limes — which also helped the food serve as it’s own decor piece in the tablescape.

Now for the fun finishing touches! I couldn’t decide which garland I liked better, so I got both and then ended up using this Wooden Bead Garland from Opalhouse as a centerpiece — it was the perfect finishing touch. I then decided to use this bright tassel garland to hang over the windows in our dining room, which was the perfect mix of bright fiesta inspired colors. I also made a cute little Bae ❤ Ritto cut out from cactus scrapbook paper and strung up just above the tassel garland. To round out everything, I ordered this adorable mini cactus pinata that was the perfect finishing touch for my table decor. The best part for all these Target pieces if you easier order on the app and then do a drive-up pick up, with limited human interaction, it’s seriously the best!

We kept the menu simple since it’s just a party at home for two — although we would love to kick it with some friends or family! We also kept it simple to have the perfect amount of color, delicious eats, drinks and taco fix. Our taco pizza recipe is the right amount of taco flavors and toppings, only in pizza form and it’s one of B and I’s favorite dishes. Tostitos Lime Chips are also a must have for any type of taco night, paired with our homemade guacamole, some salsa and occasional some queso for B! The tequlia-less strawberry margarita that we made is also going to be a new summer favorite and go-to taco night sidekick! 
Shop my pieces: Fruit Dinner Plate | Colorful Spritz Tassel Garland | Monique Lhuillier Gabrielle Etched Champagne Coupes | Pink Toucan Salad Plates | Mini Cactus Pinata | Wooden Bead Garland 

Cinco De Mayo has always been special and celebrated by B and I — but we usually celebrate this day a little different than most, because it’s the anniversary of our first date! This Cinco De Mayo will be the start of our 9th year and moving close to our decade of memories and life together.

Easy Birthday Inspired Cocktails

Let the birthday fun continue! Whether you’re having a big birthday bash or keeping it low key with a close group of friends, a fun and festive birthday inspired cocktail can be a delicious addition to the celebration! So I did a little research and had some fun experimenting to bring together a few of my favorite things for a tasty treat for these two easy and super cute cocktails.
Sprinkled Cranberry Rum 
Take your rocks glass and have some frosting in a dish, flip your glass upside down and twist the glass in the frosting so the rim is lined with frosting. Then take your vanilla frosted rim and roll in sprinkles to cover! Once your rocks glass rim is lined, add your ice cube ball and get ready to add your beverages. Add a shot of Bacardi Rum and then top off with your pink lite cranberry.

For both of these drinks I was looking for a cranberry mixer, but a lot of them had high sugars and a lot of carbs. I stumbled upon the Ocean Spray Pink Lite Cranberry cans at Target and read the ingredients and was pleasantly surprised and picked up a 6-pack!

Ingredients:
– Bacardi Rum
– Ocean Spray Pink Lite Cranberry
– Ice Cube Ball
– Vanilla Frosting (homemade or store bought)
– Sprinkles
Pink Birthday Bubbles
This one is pretty easy, all you need is some bubbles and again lite pink cranberry and your frosting and sprinkles for your champagne flute rim. With frosting your a dish, flip your champagne flute upside down and twist the glass in the frosting so the rim is lined with frosting. Then take your vanilla frosted rim and roll in sprinkles to cover! Once your sprinkle rim is covered – just liking making a mimosas, fill your glass about 75% with you bubbles and then top off with your cranberry. Cheers!

Ingredients:
– Prosecco of your choice, I used Freixenet
– Ocean Spray Pink Lite Cranberry
– Vanilla Frosting
– Sprinkles

The frosted rim is so tasty and a yummy treat to enjoy as you sip or have once your glass is empty. I bought store made frosting, but would love to make my mom’s frosting recipe for this, especially if you’re already making a cake!  Of course the rim would also taste great with just a glass of plain ol’ delicious bubbles 🍾.

Now that you have a festive and fun birthday drink the birthday celebrating can officially commence — Cheers 🎉!

Must-Have Birthday Party Decor

With a few of the stress out of the way with my last post, it’s time for all the fun. It may be no surprise to my bee readers that March for me is all about my birthday and St. Patrick’s Day (only because it’s the day after), so that means eating cake, fun party plans and festive decor!  So, continuing on this birthday party train — here are a few finishing touches that are easy and essential for any party celebration and can really help pull in a thoughtful and personalized flair.

Balloons. Ok, helium shortage aside — balloons are super fun and can be made affordable with the personalize helium tanks, and also make transporting and decorating easy and convenient to decorate in the party space! Bare minimum, having big gold numbers for the big milestone birthday is an absolute MUST. Ordering those off Amazon can also help save on cost and have the balloons shipped right to your door. Even adding a little bit of helium into balloons so they cover the ceiling with long pretty strings is also a simple yet bold look!

Polaroid Frame & Polaroids. This is another Dollar Store hack! If you grab their foam board, it’s conveniently the same rectangular size as a polaroid — so tracing and cutting out to make it a hand held photo prop is another fun way to make a memorable mark. You can even include a hashtag, date or event title on the bottom for all the pictures! Not feeling crafty? You can order customized ones from Etsy. If you have a polaroid camera, this is another fun way to capture memories and moments in front of a photo wall or all the faces who are helping celebrate!

Festive Centerpieces. As much as I love fresh flowers for parties and events, there are simple and cost effective ways to add a little party flair to dessert tables, centerpieces and food spreads.  Grabbing a bunch of party blowers from the Dollar Store and throwing them into small glass vases from the Dollar Store, is a fun and party festive way to add a little extra flair — and even more perfect if you’re throwing a surprise party!
Dessert. Whether it’s a fun party cake that represents the birthday bee’s personality and favorite flavors to a tee or custom sugar cookies with fun designs and year dates, having a variety of desserts, favorite snacks (like frosted animal crackers or chocolate covered pretzels) or just a super fancy cake, is a fun way to add another personalized touch while making the birthday bee extra happy. Don’t forget, left overs for breakfast!

A Signature Cocktail. A festive cocktail and even themed party cups is another easy finishing touch that can serve as a conversation starter and fun party favor! Whether the cocktail is a play on the number, or an ode to the birthday bee’s favorite beverage and mixer with a fun garnish, patterned paper straws or golden party umbrellas for a fun birthday beverage!

Simple Photo Collage. Creating a simple photo wall of the birthday bee can be the perfect way to celebrate the big milestone birthday and looking back at all the years before! Using a string and festive clothes pins can be a cute way to display all the pictures, also clipping onto your blind strings is another alternative that can help fill up a space without making away from streamers and other fun party decor!
Another easy way to help keep yourself on track and also having a cohesive look for your next birthday bash is picking a theme whether it’s a 90’s throwback theme, a color scheme, or a mood you want to invoke — this can help keep you in line for picking all these finishing touches and really make a statement!

Galentine’s Brunch Planning Guide

With Galentine’s falling on a weekend, it is the perfect excuse to host a brunch! And for me, there is nothing more that I love than a good brunch — not to mention, I think it’s one of the easier meals to host, while still being able to make an impressive spread that is tasty for everyone. But don’t worry, I have you covered from the menu, recipes, table setting, Valentine’s and decor, too!
When it comes to brunch food, there are a ton of great recipes that are overnight prep so all you have to do the morning of, is stick them in the oven and wait for your guests to arrive! Not to mention both casseroles are easy to prep, don’t require a done of ingredients and cover both bases for those friends who are sticking to a diet or maybe love indulging in a little something sweet! The overnight egg casserole is easy to switch out to be meat free if you’re accounting for any dietary needs. Fresh fruit with brunch is always a must, I like to go with blueberries, strawberries or raspberries – something colorful and health conscious to take away some of the guilt!

Galentine’s Brunch Menu:
– Overnight Casseroles: Breakfast Egg Casserole + French Toast Casserole
– Fresh Fruit
– Donut holes or Cinnamon rolls
– Bloody Mary Bar
– Mimosas

Lastly the beverages for your Galentine’s Brunch are just as important as the food! Knowing your gal-pals preferences always helps streamline this, so you can have a mix of Bloody Mary’s and Mimosas or can stick to one. This post on how to create your own Bloody Mary bar can help you make a fun statement and if you’re planning for mimosas, be sure to grab a few extra juices besides the standard, like cranberry or pineapple plus your fresh fruit can garnish these too!
Set the Table & Decor. Since it’s your gal pals, keeping the table setting and decor simple, yet fun and festive is key and will also let you enjoy yourself too! Making your own table runner and place settings can help save some money with taking little time and effort on the crafting side, and still resulting in a big impact. This hand painted X’s and O’s table runner, I shared last week is just too stinkin’ cute and is pretty in pink for Galentine’s Day!

Also, don’t let your gals go home empty handed without a little keepsake; these wooden love letter Valentine’s can be customized with everyone’s names or fun little notes like, “U R CUTE” or “BFF4L” or “Ride or Die.” Adding a little note on the back is another way to send a little extra love their way! These will help finish off your table decor and filling these seats, while also bringing a big smile to your pals faces. And snag the colorful cute heart tassel garland from Target for only $6 to add to your table decor or hang in an entry way! Finishing Touches. Getting festive red or pink paper straws can be a fun touch for those Bloody Mary’s or the mimosas. Fresh flowers are always a nice touch if you wanted to switch out your table centerpiece.  Don’t forget to set the mood for your brunch with some music, check out my Heart Ache playlist or my emnblovetracks playlist for a mix of all those feelings of love. Heart Ache has a lot of good throw backs, especially some good ones to sing with your gals.

Happy Galentine Brunching!

DIY – Holiday Snow Globe Place Settings

Spoiler! I love decorating and hosting get togethers and I especially love transforming our house into a Christmas wonderland.  Included in that Christmas wonderland is playing around with our dining room decor and making a statement with our tablescape. I love shopping on Pottery Barn, we registered for our wedding there and I always find a few gems, especially seasonal ones that I grab when they’re on sale or occasionally splurge on. So long story short, I saw these Village Snow Globe Place Card Holders and was about to splurge — until I was like, wait it would be super fun to make those!

What You’ll Need:
– Plastic ornaments
– Mini wire brush trees, animals or houses – shop Christmas Village decor at Michaels. I bought (2) mini white trees and (2) green tree set
– 12×12 Glitter scrapbook paper/card stock, silver glitter and glue
– Craft sparkle pipe cleaners, same color as glitter/paper, I used silver
– Cotton balls
– Uline knife
– Hot glue and mod podge

Estimated total project cost: $25

Step-by-Step:
1. First things first, you’ll need to cut a opening in the bottom of your plastic ornaments. This was a bit tricky to figure out, and should be done very carefully!  I used a sharp mini philips head to poke a hole in the bottom. Once I had a hole, I used a Uline knife to cut a smaller circle for the opening, go slow and wear gloves to protect your hands. Repeat based on the number of place settings you’re making – this is the least fun part of the whole project!
2. Woo! We have our openings, so now it’s time to cut our our bases and start planning our wintry scene. I used thicker card stock, that I ended up painting and putting glitter on — I would highly recommend buying scrapbook 12×12 glitter paper. This would’ve saved time and a mess. *smiles*  So using your thicker paper, trace a circle using a drinking glass that is rounder than your ornament, trace and repeat to cut the same number of circles as you have ornaments. These are your bases!

3. Working from the center of your circular base play around with your mini trees/houses or animals. Once you have your scene figured out it’s time to glue in place! I started with my larger wire brush tree in the center, and flanked either side with smaller ones. Pull a cotton ball apart and shape around the base of the trees and glue into place. Wah-la, snow! Repeat, or switch up to have different variations.

Pro-tip: Don’t go to far from the center, so that you’re ornament can fit around your wintry scene especially the cotton ball snow

4. Once you have your bases decorated, glued and secured — place ornaments overtop, making sure everything is fitting within the ornament.  Glue and secure the base of the ornament with hot glue!
5. Now, depending on if you bought glitter paper or not, this step may not be needed.  Using mod podge glue I painted the top of the white paper bases and then covered in silver glitter over a paper plate to catch the excess. I had to touch up a few spots once the glue dried and I dumped the remaining glitter off to see emptier spots.  If you bought glitter paper, you are 10-steps ahead of me!

6. Time for finishing touches! Get that hot glue back out and glue the pipe cleaners around the base where your ornament meets the base. You’ll most likely need to trim for an even meet at the back.  I then used the left over scraps of the pipe cleaner to create a circle to loop into the top of the ornament to hold place cards for guests! I used old place cards that we didn’t use from our wedding, but you can cut and customize as you want or not include!

7. Once your mini snow globes are created, it’s time to set the table and get ready to host a delicious meal with close friends and family!

This was such a fun DIY and I love how they turned out. For $25 I created 8-mini place setting snow globes compared to spending nearly $60 at Pottery Barn — plus I made them! I must admit figuring out how I was going to cut and create this using ornaments had be puzzled for a while, and it took a few trial and errors before I figured out how to cut the hole in the bottom. And I really wanted to use ornaments vs. mason jars or other types of glass cylinders I saw online.  So once I figured it out and put it all together I was so excited! The best part is you can keep and use year after year or send home with guests as a little keepsake <3.

Happy Holiday Hosting!

 

Bee’s Holiday Party Check List

It’s no secret around the bee life that I love planning and hosting parties! We’ve slowly started a tradition of hosting a Christmas Party each year, that started in our old apartment hosting a Christmas Ale themed shin-dig and has turned into a larger party now that we have a home to entertain in.
With hosting a Christmas party nearly 4-years in a row (last year we substituted B’s 30th surprise party in place of it) — I have a lot of the fundamentals down that are my go-to party planning check-list.

1. Simple but inclusive menu. For our parties, I really like to stick with the basics and easy snackable items. Like a nice charcuterie board, pizza, peanuts, popcorn, and chips and dippy items. Also work to be conscious of dietary restrictions, since I’m an offender of that and have a few friends who are meatless.
2. Don’t forget the booze. We always like to have a variety of beverages for our guests available, as everyone is always good about BYOBing. So we always have plenty of options and variety for everyone!
3. Something Sweet. It is important to ALWAYS have dessert – especially something chocolatey. I love having m&ms around in little dishes and then other yummy treats like brownies, cookies and even a few Christmas cookies if I really get my butt in gear.  Let’s be honest — I’m going to be drinking champagne and eating desserts.
4. Party Games. With our holiday party, I like to bring in some of my family traditions and games to our friends.  As we’ve had these parties over the years, games have been requested and even demanded and it’s fun to see these new tradition started.  We even do a white elephant ornament exchange!

I’ll be a busy bee elf next week getting ready for the party, especially with Thanksgiving falling so late in the year — our house is not yet Christmased. So it will be fun getting everything set come December 1st for our party! Do you have any party planning hacks that you swear by? Do you stick to the same general game plan when you host parties or switch it up each time? Leave me a comment below, telling me your hacks!

Tips for an Easy Summer Table Setting

When we host a dinner, I always like to have a warm and inviting space for our guests to dine at whether that is inside or out.  This means, putting a little extra time into creating a unique space for that dinner.  When I set the dining room table, I like to have pieces that I can use for multiple seasons, while pulling in other elements to highlight the specific season.  This summer has been a little lighter on the dinners we’ve hosted, but we finally hosted a cookout this past week and have the most perfect summer evening. And I just have to share the simple, yet beautiful table setting that anyone could pull together the next time you’re hosting some guests!

To make it easy while also making a statement, I like to start with a neutral color palette, and then add in some color/patterns paired with a decorative centerpiece. The last piece to top off your table centerpiece and really make guests feel welcomed is a bouquet of fresh flowers.  This really made the table-setting pop with the fun colors of the limey-pink hydragengas – which I cut from our own yard!  And fresh flowers outside are a nice, unexpected touch to most.  With our outdoor dinners, I use a fun caddy to tote out silverware, salt and pepper and other condiments – this allows guests to grab what they need while make it not feel too formal. Ours is a white metal caddy with a handle so it’s supper easy to fill up and transport in and out! 
Shop My Pieces: Indoor/Outdoor Tweed Placemats | Similar Plain Blue Napkins, set of 4 | White Napkins with Pom Pom Trim, set of 4 | Dinner Plates from Pottery Barn |  Water Glasses from Pottery Barn | Similar Metal Flatware Caddy

The best part, is this can easily be translated inside for a great setting and paired with a different centerpiece elements to fit different seasons, weather it be spring or fall!  I think the key to keeping it simple, is working with a lot of pieces you already have, whether they’re our more neutral pieces or our a little more fun pink pieces – this is one of the things I love to do, and helps make the evening feel effortless while still putting a little thought and personal touch on the space!