~IT'S GETTING WARMER...WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?

Below are a handful of dresses that I came across on modcloth.com.  Their pretty summer colors are a treat to the eye...

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I think this dress would look really cute with leggings...

This "Strawberry Festival Queen" dress has such a unique print, and maxis are the best.  On the downside, the fabric looks like it might be really sheer, even with a cami and/or slip on underneath.

This dress looks like it would be very flattering and wearable...

This dress certainly is pretty, though it's not easy on the wallet.  On the upside, some would say that cost-per-wear can always be considered in these matters.  I wonder if the fabric would be see-through, even with a slip.  In any case, looking at it cheers me up since it's so summery--and who doesn't love seahorses? ☺

This trompe d'oeil "Storybook Illustrator" dress is too cute.  

*I think trompe d'oeil clothes and accessories are fun and fetching. In fact, I bought this tote several years back at Forever 21 for about $15, and it has really come in handy because it matches just about everything!

This "Prettiest of All the Landscape" dress is a beautiful vista you can wear on your body ☺.  On the downside, this style dress really needs to fit well in order to look good, because if it doesn't come up high enough on the strapless side, it's going to be disastrous.  Plus, it looks like it might be hard to have the shoulder taken up on this particular one because of the knotted detailing.

  I think the fabric on this dress is understated and feminine...

This "Dabbling in Design" dress is very artistic and elegant...

This dress is as fanciful as can be and would look great with a cardie over it.  By the way, I wish it were easier to find light-weight, short-sleeved cardigans to wear over summer dresses and tops.

This "Flying Fancy" frock looks like a storybook sky...

This "High Socie-tea" dress in Macaron is too sweet...

This would be a lovely dress to wear to a summer wedding...

And last but not least, this dress is "A Real Tweet"...

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~MY SIS HAS A PEA IN THE POD ☺

My younger sister, Meg, is expecting her first child 

(a boy) next month, so several of us threw her a 

sweet pea-themed baby shower.  This theme evolved by accident after mom ordered some cute napkins and candy bar wrappers online.  When we received them, the ball--or pea--started rolling, as more ideas of the small green vegetable kind popped into our heads.  We were delighted to realize that the colors we were incorporating were going to look perfect in Meg and her husband's cozy, green kitchen! 

Mom has a real talent for arranging flowers and creating lovely things to put them in...

Pics of Meg and her husband when they were children, along with more pretty flowers, made the table look festive...

My older sister made the ceramic dish that this bowl of cherries is sitting on ☺

Joyful letters were printed out on cardstock, and darling baby clothes added just the right touch...

I found this onesie on etsy, and it's perfect for Meg since she's a healthy eater and enjoys making trips to our local farmer's market to buy produce...

We wanted to make sure to include the sweet pea's dad in the celebration...

Mom made sure Mr. Pig had a spiffy bow tie to wear to the party...

Hurray for mom for finding this idea on pinterest and then recreating it.  She used a regular-sized washcloth for the pod and baby washcloths for the peas...

The food was made with love and was delish...

This adorable cake was made by a local bakery.  Interestingly enough, the baby topper was something mom came across "by chance" (God-wink), and the bakery was able to use it on the cake...

Fresh shrimp with cocktail sauce and petite pimiento-cheese sandwiches went very well together...

Chicken salad on lettuce leaves was easy to pick up and eat, and it looked so pretty on the table.  I need to get Meg's friend's recipe because it was very tasty...

This baby-bottle counting game was an idea I came across on pinterest; I thought it would be cute to substitute peas for the jellybeans that were used in the original version...

This turned out to be a tricky challenge, as most people guessed in the 150-300 range...

I found a couple of cute ideas on pinterest and typed up my own versions of them: a word game and a sheet for Meg's guests to fill out...

I made some sparkly, mint-green quartz and freshwater pearl earrings for a prize.  I've listed an identical pair in my etsy shop.

I made this necklace for Meg with a quartz teardrop and a sterling peapod charm.  "Funnily enough" (God-wink), the charm was something I bought quite a few years ago because I thought it was adorable, and it had been sitting safely in my box of beads all that time...

The mom-to-be...

Mom asked me to type up this classic poem so she could frame it (she's clever like that).

Gift time!

#cutelittlebabythings ☺

Favors for our guests...

Oh my goodness, how I hate having my picture taken.  But, I'll be a good sport and post one of myself with mom and Meg.  To keep up with tradition, you'll "see" that my eyes are closed (I mentioned in a previous post that I can't keep them open when my pic is taken).  Zzzzzzzzz.

Meg's shower was a special time for all, and I enjoyed seeing everyone's creative input in action ☺.

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