cheers to turning 7!

Mary James’ birthday falls at a (sort of) unfortunate time – right after the fourth of July.  Families are still on vacation, this year we were ending a vacation and time for all this party planning just did not exist.  So I let MJ pick out her invitations from Target (no homemade ones this year) and she picked out a fun star invitation.  She knew she wanted to do a cheer party so she conspired with her babysitter to help. My parents have a cabin in the woods they let us use (score! on not having to clean up my house) As unorganized as I was…it turned out to be the most fun party I think we have had!  It was SO HOT  that a friend suggested i bring along extra bathing suits just in case we had to jump in the pond and while i am against jumping in the pond…i did pack the extra suits and was so glad i did!  the girls took turns riding a paddle boat under the fountain and had a blast!

mj, molly, & mills painted the frames below.

Favors: megaphones that they glittered up


 
  

 
  
 
 
 
 
Isn’t emily great?!  She was so sweet to lead the girls through cheers and play and just help out with the party.  
 
and after everyone was gone, we changed up the concessions a bit and had our own after party
 

it’s good to be 7 :)
A little s&j side note – we do have some chalkboards in stock!  send us an email if you are intersted (hello @ stewartandjames.com)

catching up with molly

Because she’s the middle child and we middle children are always being left out :) 

I completely forgot to show you what I did with all those paper crafts i mentioned a while ago.  Well they were for Molly’s end of the year swim party at my parents house and here is how it turned out!

 

 

 

The triangles (below) were the remains of the bunting (above) and they were threaded onto fishing string, and weighted with seashells and hung over the food table.

and you know good ole’ martha and her tissue paper pom poms never fail us

 

a day later Molly had her dance recital.  Sometimes I can catch the girls in such a good mood they will put on a fashion shoot for me and really get into it

 

 

but usually it goes like this:

 

you do know i only show you the pictures when everyone is smiling and happy for a split second.  we have lots and lots of fights around my house and going out in public we have taken a turn for the worse.  just letting you know :)

 

with uncle matt & aunt arre

 

Enjoy your weekend Molly style – taking it easy

the beach

While our normal stopping grounds (beach wise) are 30A – we headed to Hilton Head Island for our family beach trip this year.  As I have mentioned before my sisters have had babies this year and my older sister’s baby was only 6 weeks old so we headed their direction to try to make her trip a little easier.  The cousins had a blast (7 of them now!). 

 

attempted group photo

missing jane & ralston

missing william, jack, ralston

missing over half.  we give up!

milkshake sale on the beach

 

but in the future don’t leave jane & mills alone at the milkshake table

 

while you are out trying to make a sale

 

because they will stick their hands in each milkshake causing the shop to be shut down (you are welcome potential hilton head customers)

oh well you live and you learn.  have a fun summer!

garden inspired summer orzo

This is an easy one!  I always keep orzo on hand (if you aren’t familiar it is rice shaped pasta) for easy side dishes like this.  We made 2 different variations, one for grown ups, one for kids.

Grown up rosemary orzo:

ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• cherry tomatoes (grown ups only)
• salt, pepper
• sprig fresh rosemary (chopped) (grown ups only)
• fresh parmesan
• frozen peas (kids only)
• orzo (i only used 1/4 pound this time but i would at least double!)

Boil the orzo as instructed on package, drain

 

Mix equal parts lemon juice & olive oil (i squeezed the juice of one lemon into a measuring cup then added an equal amount of olive oil.  Add a healthy dose of pepper and salt (see mills hand above..we like lots of salt).  This is the “dressing” for your pasta.  Set aside.

Chop rosemary, grate parmesan, quarter cherry tomatoes.

 

For the kids version you can see (picture on the right above) i omitted tomatoes & rosemary and added frozen peas.

Well Mills added/ate frozen peas.  Add your dressing to each bowl (i just added a little at a time until I was happy with the consistency).  Add all ingredients.  I like orzo best room temp so if you store in fridge, pull out of the fridge a little early.  Top with (more) fresh parmesan..and enjoy!

say hello to gold

I would like to present to you a little gold to brighten your day (and your living room, dining room, bedroom, or bathroom)

3 sizes (not in our online shop just yet but feel free to email us for an order!)

from left to right – frame is 8x10 but holds a 5x7 with mat / frame is 11x14 but holds 8x10 with mat / frame is 8x20 but holds 3 4x6 with mat.

only $30 each (mat included) $25 with no mat.

Other photos around the shop: all for sale (although last one is painted by MJ and I would have to run it past her but she has a little salesman blood in her…she could part with it for the right price ;))

 

 

 

Have a lovely week and email us (hello @ stewartandjames . com) if you see anything that interests you!