a winner and a fiesta pool party

We have a winner!  Through a random drawing, our 2nd commenter (Jamie!) has won two pairs of sweet em earrings of her choice – Congrats Jamie! – please head over to etsy to pick out two and let me know which you choose – shopsweetem @ gmail (dot) com

On to the fiesta!  MJ turned 8 :)  We celebrated pool side with a Mexican fiesta. 

 

MJ found a picture of a cake online and I tried my best to copy it, with a little guidance from a friend I think we pulled it off pretty closely (and I think Mills had an early taste by the looks of that finger swipe)

 

I saw these streamers here and they didn’t take long to make at all and were so festive, I highly recommend them!

 

the cake again:  There are 4 (9” round) layers underneath all that (6 cans of!) icing.  I used two boxes of chocolate cake mix (and of course, froze those a week ahead of time!)

 

slip n’ slide was a huge hit (rental from Rental Depot, the owner is a good friend of Jim’s and one of the nicest people I know)

We served tacos (per MJ’s request) With the help of my mom (which by the way, all my parties are with the help of my mom), we made the taco meat (ground beef plus this mix) 2 weeks ahead of time and froze it.  We put it in the crock pot the day of.  Easy, easy party and just what Mary James wanted.

 

Just for fun:

• MJ turns 5
• MJ turns 6
• MJ turns 7

Have a lovely weekend!  We are headed to the beach with the family so all Sweet Em orders will be on hold until 7.22.13, thank you for your patience!

a few changes around here and a giveaway!

See the new heading ?! ^  I feel a little explanation is needed...

As you know, stewart & james is a company Arre and I started...we made frames out of reclaimed wood and then we became busy with life.  We took a "break" and realized how nice that was (wood had become scarce and keeping our product how we originally envisioned was starting to become quite a challenge!)

During the break - I started making earrings, sweet em was created (as I explained in this post).  Arre is still enjoying her break with her sweet baby, but she will still stop in every once and a while for a post because what would this blog be without her?!  Not nearly as pretty, imaginative, and well written that's for sure!

Also, on etsy or facebook you may have seen those pretty ears and well styled photos?  That is in large thanks to Arre and her eye for style... so she's not totally uninvolved :) And maybe she will start something that I know will be worth following.

We are excited to get back to blogging and hope to keep these pages filled much more often.  Thank you to all that have continued to follow us in this break and as a thanks to you all we are offering a giveaway.

two pairs of sweet em earrings of your choice

::Please leave a comment on this post for a chance to win:: winner will be chosen Friday, July 12th.

Now, I will not make you (since I am a total pushover) but out of your kind heart, please like sweet em on facebook and if you are feeling extra nice, suggest your friends to like as well.  I know y'all are so nice you will try :)

And, as a side note, my oldest baby is 8 today...eight! She's so old