birthday love

hello lovely,
well birthday week is officially over.  i felt so much love this week from all of my family and friends. thanks to everyone for the well wishes. my husband was extra sweet and took great care to make sure my birthday was special. i had dinner with family,  a trip to the drive-in with friends, a day at Dollywood, and saw Monsters University! i have several things to look forward to this year: joining a new team at work, going to the beach with my family, celebrating two years with my husband, one last wedding for the year, my friends welcoming their first child, and the first ever Fly Free Festival put on by some other dear friends. looks like my late 20's won't be so bad.
xoxo,
alyssa renee

*Dollywood photos courtesy of my friend Maddy

stitched with love

and they lived happily ever after.

Last weekend this bachelorette became a bride! Allison had several hand stitched details that really set the tone for the intimate homemade feel she wanted for the wedding. She had embroidery hoop table numbers and a basket of stitched hearts for guests to wear if they wanted to "wear their hearts on their sleeve." I gifted her a stitched wedding topper and i'm really pleased with the final product. it looked adorable in that amazing cake! Can't wait to see Tim Ivey's amazing photos of the big day! 

congrats love birds!

let them eat cake

hello lovely!

this weekend i attended a lovely little bachelorette sleepover for a dear friend. as you can tell by the banner above, it was a "marie antoinette bachelorette" theme. (really fun to say out loud) the hostesses did such a lovely job. we had lovely little desserts and pastel details. i made the banner and a pretty feather hair clip for the bride to be. here are a few photos from the fun night. including a hilarious photoshopped "pin the member on the man" game. looking forward to the wedding this weekend!

xoxo,

alyssa renee

 

Our Family Dog

It was August 1994. I was 7 years old. My sister was only 8 months old. My Dad came home from work while I was outside jumping rope in our front yard. His door swung open and a tiny black ball of fur hopped out. It was our dog. He'd brought him home without telling my mom. I was so excited. We sat on the front steps and thought of names for him. The Little Rascals remake had just come out that summer and we decided Rascal was the perfect name. He became a member of our family. He loved to ride in the car with his feet on the hump dump and the wind in his face. One time he was chewing on a bone and I went up behind him and he bit me on the nose. He used to run laps around our living room when guests would come over. One night he got skunked and had to spend the night outside. He'd look away when he was getting in trouble so he didn't get scolded. If I took him outside without a leash he would run halfway down the street chasing God knows what, but he never would do that for my dad. He loved to sleep in my bed under the covers. After I left home he would sleep in my sister's room and would wait outside her door in the hall for her to go to bed. His favorite place was my Grandma & Grandpa's house. We would put him in the car to head out there and he would get so excited once we turned to head into her neighborhood. He used to run back into the house when my mom would try to put him in the car to head home. His favorite thing was boat rides. He used to ride on top of the front bench on the pontoon boat. He loved it at Grandma's house. This Saturday he died there.  We buried him in her flower bed next to my Grandma's dog, Ginger. He was 18 years and 9 months old.

He was my brother. He was loved.

(through tears I laughed out loud when I saw this picture of our poor dog in these ridiculous USA pants)

You were a really great dog, Rascal. 

birthday wish list

TO ME!

well, not until june but i'm already getting excited.  i'm one of those people that keeps a wish list all year long. (gotta love the amazon wish list) i just love birthdays! what's not to love? a whole day devoted to feeling special? sign me up. i thought i'd share some items that  i'm swooning over. aren't they lovely? 

birthday, pinwheel, elements,  mail, kissed, moon, fascinator, bee