Entertaining with Greet & Gather

Thank you Greet & Gather for the complimentary box. All opinions are completely my own.

The older I get, the more I realize I absolutely would choose a fun night of staying in at our house instead of "hitting the town." Staying in doesn't always mean that I want to be in my jammies and binge Netflix (although that is quite nice a lot of the time!). Often times, I'd love to invite our friends or family over and entertain. Something about enjoying a nice glass of wine with fine cheeses and spreads, surrounded by those you love just feels right.

Lucky for us all, there is a brand new subscription box company that can help us entertain like pros! Greet & Gather was specifically created and curated for those who love to entertain. You can sign up to start your monthly subscription and receive a box full of 4-6 items that you can use the next time you host an event in your house.

A Ginger Kid

As a mom of a four year old, I've seen a lot of toys enter and exit my home. I know what toys keep my child's attention and which ones are going to get donated in a few months because they will be forgotten. For us, the tried and true toys that stick around are the ones that grow with Kendall. The toys that can offer her different levels of learning AND the toys that are durable are the ones we keep over and over again.

So imagine my absolute delight when I discovered A Ginger Kid. Besides the fact that the title of the company is the most appropriate toy company ever for my Kendall, we absolutely fell in love! The toys are wooden toys which are always a favorite with us because we know they will stand the test of time. Every toy we have gotten to play with is so beautiful! They are all painted with such brilliant colors and have complete attention to detail. Plus the toys offer so much more than just playtime. Many of the toys allow your child the opportunity to work on problem solving, memory building and motor skills.

I also love that A Ginger Kid is a local store with an online presence! You don't have to be local to me to purchase these incredible toys. Some of our favorite toys include:
Tick Tock Clock
Motoring Along
All Tied Up

All three of the above toys (and so many others) teach Kendall important lessons that she will use throughout her life - like tying her shoes and telling time - while allowing her to still use her imagination and play creatively. And a bonus for moms who like a clean house?!?! All of the toys come in their very own carrying bag, so you can keep all of the pieces together neat and tidy.

Mermaid Themed Birthday Party

Over the summer, our Kendall turned 4 and she insisted on having an Ariel themed birthday party. Who am I to deny my little red head of that!?!

I created an under the sea/mermaid themed party using a purple and teal color palette. I really like this color palette and I'm trying to convince Kendall that she needs this to be the decor in her new bedroom once our house is complete. But that's a different blog post all on its own.

Once I decided on the color palette, I set out scouring Pinterest to find some inspiration. I'll admit, I'm not a "create fun things in my own mind" type of person. But I can copy the heck out of stuff on Pinterest that other creative people have already come up with. Which is exactly what I did for the decor of her party. #worksmarternotharder

The decor:

My favorite part of the decor was the jelly fish that I made out of paper lanterns, streamers and ribbon. This project was a labor of love and it took me six hours to make six jelly fish. I did not know when I started out that it would take so long to complete, but the finished product was completely worth it. They turned out so pretty. I mostly used this tutorial (#5) to create them. We strung the jelly fish between the trees in our front yard to help make it feel like the party was underwater with the jelly fish swimming above us. We also purchased some bubble machines to help with the underwater feel.

Boutique Crush - Shop Ashley LeMieux

Over the summer I discovered the absolute cutest online boutique and I fell in LOVE with everything the shop featured. I bought a dress, felt absolutely beautiful and the rest was history. Shop Ashley LeMieux quickly became my go to place to look anytime I was searching for new, pretty clothes.
Beautiful clothes. Affordable prices. Ethically made. Plenty of options on sizes. Win. Win. Win. Win.

If you've read blogs a few times, you might have heard of The Shine Project and its founder, Ashley LeMieux. I've got quite a girl crush on Ashley because she has essentially dedicated her life to helping others and has found numerous ways to help those without financial means attend college. (To read all about The Shine Project and how it began, click this link.) I already trusted Ashley and admired her work, so I was completely excited to check out her new venture with Shop Ashley LeMieux.

Life is Changing

I can't start this post without acknowledging the horrible tragedy that happened in Las Vegas earlier this week. My heart breaks for the hundreds and hundreds of people involved or affected by such a senseless act. Love needs to be our loudest voice. Change needs to happen and it needs to start with us simply loving others. As many of you know, I'm a positive person who appreciates a space with rainbows and butterflies. This blog is that space on the internet for me and will continue to be just that. You will always find love here at Pursuit of Pink. No judgement, no condemnation, no negativity. Simply love. 

It is so hard for me to believe that there are only three months left in 2017. I very vividly remember New Year's Eve night when Tolar and I celebrated with friends. Three couples, six people, stood together in the middle of a cabin in North Carolina and prayed for the upcoming year. Tears were shed as each couple separately was dealing with personal issues/struggles and pleaded with God to make changes. Dreams were shared and bold prayers were said. And here I sit, nine months into the year and I see many changes and promises fulfilled.

The promises fulfilled for my friends are their stories to share, but I can certainly fill you in on what is happening with my family!!!!

The very first thing happened in March of this year. Tolar was in a miserable job that left him barely any time for family time/down time and often kept him traveling for weeks at a time. None of us were happy and Tolar felt like he was just existing. Well God opened a door to a job that kept Tolar close to home (6 minutes down the street to be exact!), had zero travel and plenty of work/life balance. Not to mention he has a pretty incredible boss to go along with the awesome job. Answered prayer...boom!