Cora Anne Designs

Much to Celebrate!

This summer brought big birthdays and a big anniversary for my parents. Partnered with the fact that my Navy-brother was in town for a short period this summer, a family celebration was in order! We surprised my parents with a family luncheon at our summer place. Here's some of the details...

I was aiming to create a casual, picnic-style lunch. Seeing that it was just our immediate family, I could take some time creating special details.

birthdays + their anniversary, printed on paper and displayed with a clipboard.

Menu:

Turkey & Swiss Rolls (Costco)

Broccoli Salad

Edamame (Costco)

Potato Salad (Costco)

Watermelon

Pretzel Chips

Key Lime Pie in a Jar

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake in a Jar

Blueberry Pie in a Jar

Sangria

Lemonade

I kept the table simple. I rolled brown Kraft paper down the center and purchased some flowers from Costco. I also painted cardboard numbers from Hobby Lobby showing their ages and anniversary (60 40 60) with chalkboard paint, then rubbed chalk on them to give them a "broken in" look. I used large glass jars (from Target) to serve the food in.

I stamped gift tags to label the food and drinks.

I then ripped strips of fabric to attach the labels to each food container.

Coral and white napkins : Target

Kraft food trays & wooden utensils : Creative Juice Cafe on Etsy

Small brown bags to hold napkins & utensils : Hobby Lobby

the pies in a jar were a huge hit

(no surprise, I suppose!)

we took pictures of the kids without my parents knowing and surprised them with a huge canvas

(I'm pretty sure family pictures are my mom's love language)

Happy Birthdays & Anniversary, mom & dad!

see my Pinterest inspiration board for this party here

Insta-Summer So Far

Hello, everyone!

I hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far! Ours has been really nice. We've been staying at our summer place full time and having a blast. I l.o.v.e. small town living. We're in the middle of a heat wave right now though, so we came home for a few days to enjoy the indoor surroundings here. Which also means this is my first time on my computer in WEEKS. (and you know what? I didn't really miss it!)

Here's a peek at what we've been up to...

kitchen sink bath taking

summer home decorating

beach loving

paddle board testing

puzzle-doing

stencil-turned-vinyl-decal installing

(I'll share details on this one later!)

4th of July celebrating

back yard bubble blowing

mural loving

farmer's market enjoying

all around town scooting

cherry donut eating

new beach exploring

I'll check back in again, but probably not anytime in the next few weeks. Michigan summer is just too short to spend too much time on the computer!

Enjoy and stay cool!

10 Years

This past weekend, Eric and I were blessed to celebrate our 10 YEAR wedding anniversary! Ignoring the fact that we looked like babies at our wedding, and that I can hardly believe it's already been 10 years, I am so grateful for Eric and this life that we have together.

Eric arranged for my parents to take our kids for a few days so we could have some time to celebrate. (see, reason #142 why he's a keeper!) We stayed at our summer place and enjoyed doing all the things around town that we don't normally get to do with kids in tow. And yes, that even including taking a nap one afternoon, rebellious, I know.