We're Moving

It's official we are moving from Germany back to the USA! 

We're sad to be leaving our friends and the country we've grown to love, but we're happy to be closer to our family and friends in the states. When we leave this January we will have lived here just shy of 8 years and we've enjoyed every minute.  Our children don't realize yet what they'll be missing but I'm sure we'll find wonderful new adventures and friends in Maryland. Yes we are going to Maryland a beautiful state filled with culture, history and very close to a lot of really fun stuff.  I am trying to contain my excitement about being able to shop at large craft stores and Target and Walmart again and Starbucks. 

It's bitter sweet though because we love our life here and feel like we are leaving a part of ourselves behind.  So bear with me the next few months as our family makes this huge transition back to the states.  

Have a wonderful New Year!

~Sunny~

Rothenberg Christmas Market

When my bloggy friend Rebecca from Living Wright at Home, asked  me to go to the Rothenberg Christmas market with her friend Natalie, there was no doubt in my mind what to do.  If I had to pick one Christmas market in Germany it would be Rothenberg ob der Tauber.  It's like the medieval wall that surrounds the village has kept out the passage of time.  The moment you walk through it's gates the hustle and bustle of today's busy world just melts away. Cobblestone streets and horse drawn carriages make this town the perfect place for one of Germany's oldest Christmas markets. 

Client Party, Leopard Print 16th Birthday

I'm loving this leopard print dessert table by Chanda of Two Left Spoons.  She used my glam party package in custom brown and red to add some cute accents to this ultra glam 16th Birthday party she catered. 

Our family Christmas card mini book

Yay I finally finished our family Christmas card.  Every year I struggle with how to get at least one good shot of each of our four kids onto one card.  So this year I decided to go with a photo mini book.  What better way to show what we've been doing all year.  

A Real Princess Tea Party

What could be better than dressing up like a princess and sitting down to a traditional British tea?  Well for a five year old girl probably not much.  Unless she gets her nails and her hair done too.  Now that's the bees knees. I don't know of a better way to make a little girl feel like a princess for a day.  

Whoohoo! Hostess with the Mostess {Party of 5}

I'm not sure how I could have missed this but I was featured on Hostess with the Mostess, party of 5, last Friday.  Every Friday they pick 5 parties from their directory and feature them on their gorgeous blog.  My Minecraft party was listed along with four other beautiful parties last week.  

I'm just happy to be anywhere near Hostess with the Mostess.  I love their blog and their parties.  They are the go to blog for inspiration, resources and just plain loveliness.  I'm super psyched to be listed along with all those other amazing parties and designers. 

Thank you, thank you Hostess with the Mostess for including me on your site.  I'm tickled pink.  

Super excited!

~Sunny~

{All imagery was taken from the Hostess with the Mostess website.}

A Cowgirl Birthday Rodeo

It's not often you get to go to a rodeo themed party at an actual horse ranch.  We got to do just that at the Bonanza Horse Ranch in Katzweiler.  If you love adorable cowgirls, cowboys and horses then read on partner. 

Minecraft inspired Birthday party

My kids love Minecraft the video game.  They play it together and separately and sometimes with me.  I'm secretly a Minecraft junky too (shh, don't tell).  When they aren't playing it they like to pretend they are in the game and our house turns into a mining/ building/ construction zone.  This is why I wasn't the least bit surprised when Myles and Marina both asked for a Minecraft birthday party.  I actually got a little bit excited because this is something I'm pretty familiar with and I knew we could make it really fun.  

Thankful Thanksgiving

Wow, I'm thankful that Any Given Party featured my Thankful Thanksgiving party.  I have so many things to be thankful for this holiday season.  I hope You all have a wonderfully thankful Thanksgiving with those near and dear to you. 

~Sunny~

Vera's 2nd Itsy Bitsy Birthday

Yay I love it when I get customer pics.  Here are some adorable pictures of a sweet 2nd birthday party for Itsy bitsy Vera.  I love the cute spider centerpiece and the puffy spider head bands.  Thank you Sarah for sharing.  I can't wait to see what you do with your twins playground party.  

~Sunny~

Fabric Flower headbands

We are getting down to crunch time for our double birthday party this weekend.  I'm running around finishing all of the things that I've put off for way too long.  Fabric flower headbands were on yesterdays list which tumbled over into today.  But they are finished, I'm relieved and Mara is happy. 

He or She gender reveal party.

He or she - what will it be?  I recently attended my first gender reveal party for this lovely lady right here.  Lips and mustaches helped us pick a side and cast our votes for a girl or a boy.  

If you don't know what a gender reveal party is, no worries, just read on.

A Simply Elegant Baby (boy) shower

A few weeks ago my friend Elizabeth asked me to help her throw a baby shower for her best friend Gro Eli who just happens to be Norwegian.  I jumped at the chance because American baby showers are not the norm in Norway (tee hee I rhymed).  I also happen to think Elizabeth is pretty awesome so I probably would have helped her no matter what the circumstances. 

Elizabeth and I planned and worked tirelessly for weeks and then took over Gro Eli's home for an evening of fun, food, games and lots of her lovely Norwegian friends.

Pink Ribbon

This month is Breast cancer awareness month.  If you have had or know someone that has breast cancer this is for you.  I currently have one dear friend and two family members fighting breast cancer at this moment.  Never has this month meant so much to me.  

Printable envelopes are in

Alice invites

Yay the printable envelopes are finally in the shop.  

I'm in the News!!!

Find the full article here at North County Times.

I would love to be all cool and calm about this but I just can't.  I've been doing a happy dance all day and I've got to let it out.  I'm in the NEWS!!!  Not just the local news but the Associated Press.  A wonderful lady named Kim Cook interviewed me a few weeks ago about my "Cat in the Hat, Thing one and Thing two" baby shower and now I'm in her article.  This article has been picked up by many different news papers and online news sources. Holy Cow!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Nothing says fall to me like pumpkin.  I love the smell of it, the taste of it and the wonderful orange, homey look of it.  I also love whoopie pies and if you've never tried one they are really a must.  I'm not talking about the ones you can buy prepackaged in the store.  I'm talking about the cake like cookies that are sandwiched together with any type of wonderful creamy filling in between.  There are so many versions of these delightful mouthfuls and I would love to try everyone.  But since fall is just around the corner, or is it here already,  I had to go with pumpkin and cream cheese.  Probably my most favorite flavor combination ever.  

Printable Envelopes

Here is a handy dandy tutorial on how to assemble my printable envelopes.  First you need to print the envelope sheet using a color printer and regular printer paper or white cardstock (110lb wieght). 

Midnight in Paris Vintage Market

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Midnight in Paris Vintage market at Vintage Inspirations Antiques and Brocante.  A beautiful and dreamy little shop in Ramstein village.  The shop is small but packed full of lovely things from floor to ceiling, literally. 

Let the Minecraft party planning begin

Myles Birthday isn't until October but he has been adamant about having a Minecraft Birthday.  So for once I'm trying not to procrastinate and I've already gotten started.  If you have never heard of Minecraft then you will have no idea what these crazy looking block characters are.  If you have heard of Minecraft then you will probably recognize them and I'll show you were to find them.  

Fun with Buttons

   When I was little my Grandmother (Grandma Dix)  had a big jar full of buttons.  There was also a needle and thread in that jar with a few buttons always on the string just inviting you to start sewing.  I think this is why buttons make me happy.  

Donut muffins of course.

I made these this weekend because my kids love donuts and they love muffins so the two together must be better.  I found this recipe on Pinterest from Somewhat Simple. 

Chocolate Caramel Brownies, Wow!

Holy cow these were good.  Caramel and chocolate and brownies are such an amazing combination.  So rich and slightly salty and very sweet and gooey and did I mention amazing. Yes they were really good.  

And the winners are...

Yes I said winners.  I really wanted to chose everyone that entered, but I decided to go with two.  One was such a lonely number.  So I am happy to announce that the winners of my very first giveaway are (drum roll please)....

Apple Bread mason jar mix

School is quickly approaching for us and I like to start off the year with a sweet greeting. Normally I give a loaf of apple bread and a recipe card.  This year I wanted to go a little bit further and include the apple bread mix.  That way our busy teacher friends can just toss it all together and have a freshly baked treat anytime.  

One Year Blogiversary and Giveaway!

In a galaxy far, far away.... I started a blog.

Shrimp and Coconut milk

Yet another lovely recipe from my lovely Mother in Law, from Guam.  This is one of my favorite summertime dishes, well anytime dish is probably more like it.    I love shrimp and so do my kids but my pocket book doesn't really like shrimp that much, so we don't eat this nearly as often as I like.  This is perfect for summer though because it requires very little cooking time and it's a one pot dish.  

Finadene, a mixture of soysauce, vinegar and yum

 Finadene is one of the most flavorful and delicious things I've ever tasted.  It's a Guam, soy sauce and vinegar mixture that is to die for.  It goes really great with barbecued meats of any kind, and rice and even vegetables.  The only thing I haven't tried it on is ice cream and I'm sure it would be good there too.  There are probably a million and one ways to make Finadene.  Every family and really every person has their own recipe for it. Some people like it more spicy, some like it with tomatoes, some like it with cucumbers(one of my favorites), some like it with lemon juice instead of vinegar.  I've had it many ways and they are all good.  So I'd like to share a kind of base recipe as a jumping off point.  

Planes, tractors, and jewelry...

I love summer.  I love being able to just pick between any one of the random events that might be going on at any given time.  This weekend we got to go to a local airshow or flugplatz fest as they say in German.  It was small but ended up being a lot of fun.  My favorite part wasn't even the airplanes or the hot air balloons (but those were pretty cool).  

Apple pie in July

I don't normally make pie in the summer time.  It's hot and the whole idea of a warm pie on a hot day doesn't appeal to me.  But my sweet Myles kept asking and asking and asking for apple pie.  The weather was unusually cool at the time so I said yes, I would be happy to make him some apple pie.  I bought a ton of granny smith apples to bake for my sweet little boy and then the weather changed.  It got hot.  Well hot for people that live in Germany with no air conditioning. I wanted to wait until the heat broke but it lasted for about a week and I knew our apples wouldn't make it much longer.  So I baked Myles apple pie in 90 degree weather with no air conditioning and lots of love and sweat.  

The results were lots of smiles, happy tummies and a very hot kitchen.  Since I had the pie ingredients out and I guess I wasn't sweaty enough I decided to try to make pie pops.  If you've never seen these adorable little confections they are basically pie on a stick. I found a very easy to follow tutorial at Bakerella (one of my favorite ladies).  I just made a little bit extra dough and a little bit extra filling ( I did dice the apples very small for the pie pop filling) and attempted to create something that would hopefully resemble a pie pop.

Well it didn't turn out as nice as Bakerella's.  It was a little bit messy and the crust was a little too thick, but it tasted pretty good and it looked like a pie pop.  This is something that I will definitely try again and again until I get it right.  I love the cuteness and the convenience of having it on a stick.  It's brilliant really to put something that is so messy into this tiny pocket of pastry goodness. There are also so many options with different fillings and flavors.  I hope that you are having a wonderful summer and if the heat breaks make some pie.  

Credits...

Bakerella for her wonderful Pie Pop walkthrough.

My Apple Pie recipe.

Fairy Garden Party Printables

The Fairy Garden party Printables are finally up in my Etsy shop.  Ready to be used at Fairy parties everywhere or anywhere.  

Fairy Garden Party printables
Sunny by Design

Fairy Garden Party

Last week I had the pleasure of having a house full of fairies.  It was wonderful and magical and memorable and so much fun.  I invited several of my friends and their adorable children to help, attend and enjoy this fun filled day.  The results were priceless. 

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you have a wonderful day filled with red, white and blue.

I was featured

http://www.anygivenparty.com/

Any given party is a new party planning website recently launched by Christine Matter.  She was kind enough to include some of my parties along with many other beautifully styled parties.  I really love this site it's cute, bright and uses gorgeous imagery to showcase every party they feature.  It's a great place to find ideas or inspiration or even vendors for your next event.  Thank you Any Given Party for including me on your site.  It's such a pleasure.  

Myles Kindergarten Rodeo Roundup

The end of school has finally come and gone here.  With four children to keep track of it always happens in a whirlwind of activities, parties and bitter sweet good byes to teachers we have grown to love over the year.  This year Myles kindergarten teacher Ms. Sperry along with four other teachers from Ramstein Elementary threw a Rodeo Roundup bash for all of their classes.  I was happy to help out in any small way as well as many other parents.  With 100 kids I have to say I had my doubts about being able to make this all come together but everyone did wonderfully and the kids had the best time ever.  I know Myles will remember this forever.  

The Fairies are coming!

Very soon fairies will be visiting our house.  I love fairies. We are getting everything ready so everything will be just perfect. Lots of tulle and organza are floating around.  Lots of beautiful, yummy sweets and treats are being made.  Lovely flowers and precious little doors have been appearing every which where.  It's going to be magical and wonderful and we can't wait. Well I can a little bit I still have tons to do. Keep the fairy wishes coming for good weather too.  

Fairy Wishes

~Sunny~

Happy Fathers Day!

To all the Fathers I hope you have a wonderful day filled with family, love, rest and relaxation.  Today my son Marcus cooked lunch for his Dad and then all the kids presented their homemade gifts.  Tonight we plan have steak and baked potatoes and brownies, Dad's favorites(well besides sushi).  Just a nice relaxing day enjoying being a family. 

Every holiday I want to do a special Holiday post with a recipe or a free printable that associates with that holiday.  Really that is my intention and I have the best intentions.  However when holidays come around.  I'm so busy getting ready for them and trying to make sure my family is happy and taken care of that those intentions go out the window.  Maybe if I was more organized and better prepared I would be able to make it all happen, but I'm not so it doesn't.  I'm always disappointed in my self but I realize every holiday what's most important to me and that's my family.  There have been so many times that I've wanted to sit behind the computer and do blog posts or edit a recipe or even post things to my Etsy shop, but I put my family first and I've learned to just let it go because they are so much more important.  This Father's day I was thinking about what's important and sitting here with my husband and four kids enjoying each other's company is what's important.  So if my Etsy shop is not up to date and I have a million blog posts that need to be finished, it's okay because my family is happy and that's whats important. 

Hope you all have a Happy Fathers Day!

~Sunny~

School's out!

Just in time for the end of school we finished our teacher gifts. This year I had the kids draw a picture for their teacher. Then I scanned it, printed it and ironed it onto a canvas bag. Something personal unique and practical (my three favorite things). We have been blessed with such wonderful teachers this year that it was hard to say goodbye. Probably more for me than the kids. Hope everyone has a wonderful summer break.

~Sunny~

Painted Sea Lilies

Last week I had the pleasure of painting faces for a ballet recital by Grace Studio.  The same Grace Studio that I recently did the Spring Showers baby shower for.   A couple of my friends have cute little girls that were going to be sea lilies and I was more than happy to pretty up their faces for the event.  I paint faces all the time for my kids and friends kids but this was the first time where I was actually asked to paint faces for an event.  Normally I just show up with my paints at friends birthdays and parties and they happily let me paint away.  Kind of like the phantom painter. 

Olympics cake

Yes today is my Birthday and what better way to spend it than making cake. This Olympic rings cake was a last minute rush order, like two days ago rush order. I'm really happy with how it turned out though.


I did learn one important thing from all of this. When you make black frosting it helps to add a little cocoa to get that dark black color. An invaluable lesson.

Hope you have a great party Aiden and Happy Birthday to both of us.

~Sunny~

Lemon Lush Parfaits

Nothing says summer like lemons.  The smell, the taste and the color of lemons makes me feel happy and summery.  That is why Lemon Lush is one of my favorite summertime desserts.  That is also why I had to make it into a parfait because everything is better served in a tiny little glass container.