Dallas Baby Shower

On Cinco de Mayo, my sister and best friends from college and high school threw me a beautiful baby shower in Dallas.  My college friend and sister both planned everything long-distance from Houston, which made the event all the more special to me.  

The hostesses did an incredible job of transforming my living room into a beautiful baby shower wonderland!  Carey brought a huge array of decorations from Houston, which matched the baby's nursery and looked great in the house.  

The shower too place over brunch, complete with a full spread of beautiful food and delicious punch and mimosas (for the non-pregnant gals).  

I loved having so many of my Dallas friends over for the shower.  From lawyer friends to church friends to long-time high school and college friends, there were so many wonderful women in the room and it was really fun for me to see them all getting to meet one another!

{my oldest and very best friend, my sister}

{high school/honorary high school friends}

{work friends}

{my first high school friend, from Georgia!}

{love this lawyer lady}

{one of my church friends with her sweet little boy!}

After an hour or so of mingling, we played a shower game where the guests had to guess how big my belly was.  It was so funny to see who was close - and who was waaaaay off :)  After that (and a short cookie break!), I opened gifts and was blown away by everyone's thoughtfulness. 

Everyone was asked to bring a book for the baby in lieu of a card.  My mom wasn't able to attend the shower as she was out of town that weekend, but she sent a gift with three books that were my absolute favorites as a child.  I managed to hold back the tears (dang pregnancy hormones!) through all of the gift opening until I opened those books.  Then it was a brief interruption of waterworks as I imagined my little girl reading the books that I loved so much as a little girl. <3  

All in all, the shower was just perfect.  I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but each of the baby showers thrown for Baby Simcox just made me so grateful.  I am thankful that this baby has so many wonderful, inspiring, kind and loving women in her life already and can't wait for her to meet them all once she makes her appearance in the world very soon!

Indy Showers

The last weekend in April found us in Indiana, where I was treated to not one, but two baby showers! The first was hosted by one of my best friends, Sara.  

Sara hosted our small group and just happened to also live down the street from me back in the day.  She has visited me in Dallas several times now, too.  Sara is such a joy in my life, so it meant a lot to me that she managed to throw a beautiful shower for Baby Simcox in the midst of the craziness that is balancing work/life/kids/her own birthday that weekend!

{my small group girls}

{Wooden McLaughlin ladies}

Sara hosted the perfect brunch baby shower at her home, complete with one of my biggest pregnancy cravings (especially early on) - waffles!!  The food spread was amazing and the decor was just perfect.  

The guests included friends from my old firm, my small group girls and two of my cousins who live in Indiana.  It was a lot of fun to have everyone finally meet and put faces to names, since I talk about them to one another all the time!

{Halsey cousins}

{Schuckit survivors}

I left the shower feeling so loved and knowing that Baby Simcox is already so loved by these wonderful women.  It's amazing how you can move away from a place but still keep friends so near to your heart.  And two of these girls are expecting little ones this summer too - with another just recently learning that she is expecting this upcoming winter!  So many babies on the way :)

It was hard to leave the shower at Sara's house, but nearly three hours later I knew I needed to get back to Steve's parents' house because my in-law family was throwing a joint shower for me and my SIL that afternoon.  My SIL and I are both expecting little girls, about 6 weeks apart!  

My nieces were a big part of the planning committee - along with my MIL, they put together the food spread, decorations and shower games.  They were excellent hostesses!

My MIL sure knows how to throw a beautiful shower!  It was great to see all of the ladies on Steve's side of the family and to celebrate the upcoming arrival of two new granddaughters/nieces to the family. 

After the shower was over, the men were allowed to return back to the house ;) and we had a big family dinner!  I was pretty wiped by the time the evening wrapped up, since it had been quite a long day.  But it was such a joy to be able to celebrate with dear friends and family, all in one day.  Baby Simcox is so blessed to have all of these wonderful ladies in her life, she just doesn't know it yet ;)

Fall Happenings

Testing... testing... is this thing on?

Hi there.  Long time, no blogging.  2017 feels like it has just flown by.  It's hard to believe that we're less than two months away from 2018, and I only have 2 blog posts to show for the year.  Oh well.  Life gets busy and blogs get sidelined sometimes.  But I'm back!

Here's what we've been up to this fall.

We caught a Cowboys game with some new friends.  I must say, after being there for a game, I can see what all the fuss is about.  Dallas sure loves its Cowboys.

We celebrated my dad's birthday over Labor Day Weekend in Oklahoma with my family.

We rang in Steve's birthday with the most delicious ice cream cake and spiciest guacamole I've ever had (I bit off a super spicy part and couldn't speak for 10 minutes!).

I actually hung out with my SoulCycle friends outside of SoulCycle!  We're not used to seeing one another all dolled up and not drenched in sweat.

My Indiana bestie came to visit (!!!) and we battled that Texas "fall" heat at the Texas/OU game at the State Fair.

I discovered a love of trail running.  Now to just get this pesky plantar fasciitis under control!

I took a trip to the pumpkin patch - The Wizard of Oz themed - at the Dallas Arboretum with my mom and aunt.  The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie of all time, so I just loved it!

And Steve and I got all dressed up for a gala at the Ritz.  We felt oh-so-fancy!

For those wondering about Lyla, don't worry - she's been leading that life of luxury per usual.  Lots of pool time and walks!

Steve's Bar Celebration

We got some big news last Friday - Steve passed the Texas Bar Exam!  After months of studying, sitting for the exam and waiting for the results, we were finally able to bring this chapter of life to a close and celebrate!  And celebrate we did.

Spring Happenings

It's been a while since my last post - this spring has been a busy one!  So let's get caught up on the latest happenings, shall we?  Here's what I've been up to since we last chatted:

- A belated birthday trip to Houston, including a delicious brunch with my sister and the epic Houston Rodeo with my college roommate.

Thirty

On Saturday, I hit a big life milestone - I bid farewell to my twenties and entered a new decade of life as I celebrated my 30th birthday!  Since my birthday fell on a weekend this year, I got to celebrate my birthday all weekend long!  The birthday celebrations actually began with two surprises delivered to my office on Friday - the most delicious cookie delivery of all time from my sweet college roommate, and beautiful flowers from two dear friends in Indiana.  One more surprise arrived from a long-distance friend (and another is on the way!) over the weekend, and all I can say is how grateful I am to have such incredible friends who celebrated this milestone with me from afar!