May 2, 2016
Over the past three years, we’ve had the pleasure of working this pretty special girl right here —> Shannon. She’s always got a smile on her face and our customers love her as much as we do!
She’s a great student, a hard worker, a thoughtful friend, and now – a beautiful Bride-to-Be. Our team has watched Shannon’s relationship with Austin blossom from the beginning, and even though we’re sad to see her move on (we don’t want her to leave!!!!)… we ARE excited for this next chapter in her life! So naturally, the Barque team wanted to send her off in style with a Bridal Shower. I mean, parties are what we DO – of course we wanted to throw one for one for her!
The fantastic hand-lettering details were created by another talented Barque team member – Kelsey. {find her on Instagram @kelseylainee}. Don’t you love this chalk sign? She also did all the mini signs for our snacks.
The gorgeous strawberries were handmade by our resident Party Queen, Suzanne. She’s pretty much a pro when it comes to party mechanics and details. She was also kind enough to host the shower in her home – and it served as the perfect backdrop!
We purchased the bride’s favorite thumbprint cookies from Simply Decadent Bakery, and the Keesha made the Artichoke Lemon Pesto Dip (we carry it in the store and it’s a crowd favorite at parties).
For the floral arrangements, we decided on a combination of simple white flowers and vegetable garden accents. I had seen one similar to this from Southern Living awhile back, so I was anxious to try it for myself. I made a few modifications to their tutorial here, but I love how it turned out!
The larger arrangement also had hints from the garden with various pops of color from carrots, brussels sprouts, orange beets, artichokes, kale, collard greens and radishes.
Shannon’s guests showered her with so many great things!
Do you recognize any of these pretty ladies from the shop? 🙂
None of us wanted to play cliche “Bridal Shower Games”, so instead we opted for something PAPER related (shocking) – Milestone Mail for the happy couple! Guests were asked to choose a milestone event, write it on the front of the envelope, then write them a blessing or word of encouragement to read when that milestone occurs. It should be a fun way for her to remember these guests and how much they care for her – even years down the road!
The hostesses of the shower gifted Shannon a big basket of kitchen goodies – and we made each item special with words of well wishes.
We ended the shower with a sweet photo of our “Barque twins” – aren’t they the cutest? {By the way, Emory and Kelsey did some serious wrestling to get those balloons to cooperate – it was a windy day!}
Shannon, we are proud that you’ve spent the last three years working for us and we wish you nothing but happiness in this new chapter of your life!
Love, the Barque Team
[ If you’re planning a Shower soon, you might want to download our Shower Planning Sheet – this idea came from a customer who has throwing showers down pat! Thank you for the great idea Tomi!]
Apr 10, 2016
For my birthday this year, I had the pleasure of visiting Greensboro, North Carolina for a long weekend. My friends Tony and David moved there last summer from Dallas land opened a gift/stationery store there called Party Chick and Paper. It’s a really cute shop with LOTS of fun products (believe me, after shopping “around town” for a few days, I can say they have the best selection in town). The entire weekend was chock full of good food and drinks, laughter, and fun new friends – and it was one of my favorite weekends in a long time. (As a bonus, David gifted me a first class airline ticket both ways… now THAT’s a good friend!)
This is a shot in Tony’s store – isn’t the invitation room fun? They call it the Personalization Porch – quite Southern.
The guys really wanted me to “soak it all in”, so we had a FULL schedule for the weekend, checking out the town. To start, on Saturday morning, Tony and I visited a local Farmer’s Market, which was quaint and interesting – lots of yummy looking produce and interesting handmade items.
And quail eggs. Which I bought just because I wanted to try them. (aren’t they pretty?)
Since it WAS my birthday, Tony thought we should stop by a local sweets hotspot, Maxie B’s. It was such a cute shop that offers cake by the slice – and offers to warm them up for you too!
Even though I’m NOT a sweets person (I know, I’m weird), this cake was DIVINE – Girl Scout Thin Mint. We only had a few bites because we were technically on our way to lunch, but we just had to get a little cake in to make the birthday official.
After our stroll through the Market and cake tasting, we went to Lindley Park Filling Station for lunch, which was really fun. It’s a tiny little place with amazing food – I had the Reuben sandwich with vegetable curry soup. I didn’t think I’d love the soup (I’m not a big curry fan), but it was deliciously addictive!
We also spent the afternoon touring Downtown Greensboro, checking out the local shops – quite charming.
LOVED this idea – might have to use it myself for when Lucy comes to the shop!
I was also introduced to this Gin (made near Greensboro) – even the ceramic jug is cool.
For my Birthday Dinner, David cooked for us at home – steak, baked potato, panko stuffed tomatoes and his famous roasted green beans with shallots. He even humored me and put a fried quail egg on top.
On Sunday morning, Tony and I decorated for St.Patrick’s Day. It’s one of our favorite holidays (and his birthday), so it’s fun to go through vintage “treasures” and set them up around the house. I especially loved this little “wishing well” in his collection.
After the hanging O’ the green, we went to brunch. For, you guessed it, more good food at 1618 Seafood Grille.
We both agreed that this is how every salad should start – wrapped in bacon. Ha! (fried oysters and “salad”)
The seared grouper on a cheese grit-stuffed bell pepper was amazing.
More shopping. More fun, especially meeting up with their friends – such a great group of friendly people!
Then the grand finale – dinner at Lucky 32 on Sunday night. David worked there in college, and his recommendation of the fried chicken (only available until it’s gone on Sunday night) perfectly hit the spot, served with collard greens and gravy of course.
After all of that, it’s no surprise that I had to ROLL onto the plane home… but it was such a nice, relaxing weekend. Thanks for having me fellas – Greensboro treated this Texas girl right!
Jan 9, 2016
To get your pup red carpet ready, you will need:
– a white button-up shirt (I got mine in the Men’s section at Goodwill for $3 – just make sure the neck opening is clsoe to your dog’s neck size)
– scissors
– stapler
– black permanent marker
– bow tie with elastic (from a party store for just a few bucks)
Use the scissors to cut the collar and cuffs off the sleeves.
Then use the cuff to test the size of your dog’s “wrist”(make sure it’s still large enough to slide over their paw), folding it over and then removing it from your dog. Staple the cuffs in place, being sure to staple from the INSIDE so the sharp part of the staple will point away from your dog.
Take a permanent marker and color in the buttons.
Wrap the bow tie around the neck of the collar with the elastic on the inner crease, so the collar flap folds over it. Gently place the collar on your dog’s neck. DO NOT button the collar – you want it to fit loosely around their neck (and the elastic should hold it in place anyway).
Linus didn’t mind trying his on one bit. Ha!
Once you’re ready, slide the cuffs over the front paws. Then take a picture (or 83, if you so choose) of your dapper pup.
Jan 1, 2016
This year I had grand ideas for doing a “frozen” themed holiday card – pretty powder blue envelopes with silver glitter liners… a pic of the pups in the frosty snow… Well, nature had other things in mind – like a 70 degree Christmas day and a record-setting blizzard the next! So while I was waiting to get my “snow shot”, I had to improvise with a New Year’s card instead of a Christmas card.
A few props from the party store and a photo shoot later with the pups, I was actually glad it worked out this way – it was fun – despite the fact that Linus was scared of the balloons.
Can you spot the cans of soup? Those were my secret for keeping the mylar balloons in place – I photoshopped them out of the card later.
… Aaannndd the aftermath looked like an actual party happened.
