thankful Thursday: family and friends

Our family has had the highest highs and the lowest lows this year, and each of those presents an opportunity for our friends to draw close and show their love. I'm thankful for the calls, texts, comments, cards, hugs, and especially prayers. Our friends have truly been there and supported us through it all. As my family connections grow by marriage, the love and the cares have both grown. Even after losing a loved one, the good still outweighs the bad. I'm overwhelmed at the ways my life is enriched by my new family relationships. 

These times are both character building and character revealing, and I'm thankful for my family and friends growing with me and showing up for me in joy and in sorrow. Even the smallest gesture can mean so much. I hope that I learn how to be a better friend by watching my friends. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

our bridal shower

My best friend and next door neighbors threw a coed shower for us in April. It was clear that they put a lot of time and effort into it, which is nothing less than I'd expect from Lindsay. All of the details were so thoughtful! 

They created a photo scavenger hunt with pictures of us, and once all of the blank spaces were filled in on the sheet, it even spelled out a secret phrase about us flying! 

Lindsay's dad made these adorable bride and groom clothespins. 

Lindsay and Tom made us airplane cookies with our initials. How personal and sweet! 

One of my favorite details was the beautiful flowers. 

Thank you, Kelvingtons, for a wonderful shower!!! 

All photos by my pals Lindsay and Tom. 

bridal shower outfit

I haven't done an outfit post in months, so I figured I may as well take a few photos while I was dressed for my bridal shower. These days I pretty much live in barre clothes. More bridal event outfits forthcoming . . . 

I decided to go the traditional route in a white dress and simple accessories. 

Zack and I got to visit with so many of our family members and friends this weekend. I am blown away by all of the people who support us and all of the gifts we received. 

I didn't give him any input with the registry sooooooo he gave us this face. He has no idea what's coming! 

hand me down earrings from Granny // Trina Turk dress // Jack Rogers sandals

bridal shower for Katherine

My longtime friend Katherine is getting married next month, so her sister, Caroline, and I hosted a tea themed bridal shower for her. I have known their family since they moved here when Katherine and I were in fourth grade. Our parents became friends and we were in Sunday school together. One of my earliest memories of Katherine and Caroline is from one night when their family had us over for supper. Caroline and Katherine told my brother and me about the pumpkins they had decorated and entered into the State Fair. They won something like $200 for them, and we were extremely impressed! 

We hosted the shower at Caroline's house. She had this incredible set up ready when I got there! The china, crystal, and silver was borrowed from the bride's mother. The tables were beautiful! All I did was help assemble tiered servers and set out the food. Caroline is organized and dependable, so I shouldn't have expected any less than perfection, but she really blew me away, especially since this was the FIRST bridal shower she has ever hosted! 

My sister in law made vanilla cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries. Debbie, Katherine's mother, made cheese straws and cucumber sandwiches. I made sausage balls (recipe here and the paleo substitution I make for Bisquick here). Caroline made black currant tea, which was quite a chore for such a crowd! 

Of course, once people got there, I stopped taking photos, but I did catch this one of Katherine going to greet her guests. She is a lovely bride, and she received many wonderful gifts at her shower, including a Kitchen Aid mixer from her aunt! 

We had a great time catching up with friends, and I'm looking forward to Katherine and Nate's wedding! 

pink punch (T's favorite)

This is the punch bowl that I inherited from my friend's family (story here). 

And the beautiful glasses. 

First, I added half of a quart (a pint) of raspberry sherbet. Sometimes I just run warm water over the bottom and put the whole thing in, but this time I decided not to be lazy. 

The punch gets mixed together better this way.

I poured in about a cup to a cup and a half of lemonade, made with powdered mix. You could also dump in lemonade mix first, stir it into soft drink to dissolve, then add sherbet. It's actually tastier that way, in my opinion. 

I poured in half of a two liter (one liter) of Sierra Mist. I chose this brand because my SIL steers clear of high fructose corn syrup.

I added my ice ring.

Then, I placed frozen, sliced limes and frozen cranberries in the bowl for more decoration. 

A pretty pink punch! We served this punch at our cookie exchanges and at my new year's eve get together.

I am certainly not the first person to make this very simple punch, but I threw it together when I had these ingredients on hand, and my SIL liked it so much that I've made it again and again.

Pink Punch

2/3 cup lemonade mix + water

2 liters Sierra Mist

1 quart raspberry sherbet

Scoop out half of the sherbet into a punch bowl. Pour in half of the prepared lemonade and half of the bottle of Sierra Mist. Stir. Garnish with frozen fruit. Refresh the punch bowl as needed with the remaining ingredients. 

This recipe is a starting point for all kinds of variations. What are your favorite types of punch? Punch ingredients?

how to make an ice ring

I really enjoy making punch for parties and showers, and my favorite special touch is the ice ring. Not only does the ice ring keep the punch cold without watering it down, but it also dresses up the punch. 

I got this beautiful punch bowl and cups from my best friend; it belonged to her grandmother, and her mom was going to get rid of it because neither Lindsay nor her mom had room for it. I stopped that pretty quickly, "don't give it away; give it to me!!!" I love punch and punch bowls and have not inherited one; the other punch bowl I have used my mom bought at Goodwill because I was so sad that I didn't have one for our first annual cookie exchange. 

I usually use slices of lighter colored fruit, like lemons and limes, and a smaller, contrasting color fruit, like cranberries. I have also used pineapple slices and cherries quite a few times. 

Of course, consider the colors and flavors in the punch you are making, but I don't find that the fruit I put in changes the flavor much, except if you have leftover punch and drink it the next day. 

 

These Tupperware gelatin mold containers (new and similar) are great for making ice rings because they have lids and are lightweight. Mine is a hand me down from my grandmother. Bundt pans work just as well if you have plenty of flat freezer space and are not having to carry the ice ring with you somewhere.

After placing the fruit in the mold, I pour in lemonade. I filled these just enough to hold the fruit together without making the fruit float. You could also use water, which shows off the fruit better, but I wanted to use a flavor that was in my punch.

I have used ice rings a couple of weeks after making them and a couple of hours after making them. Why not make it easy on yourself and have your ice rings prepped well in advance? 

I run hot water over the bottom of the pan to loosen the ice ring, making sure to keep a hand ready to catch it when it slides out. 

The ice ring is ready to be gently placed in the punch. I usually make the punch in the bowl then add in the ice ring. Although it's easy to drop it in and splash out the punch this way, it's difficult to stir up the ingredients once the ice ring is in. I also added frozen lime slices and cranberries to make it prettier. 

I will post the recipe for this punch tomorrow.

Which fruits do you think are the prettiest for decorating punch?