Wedding Bells for a Bestie!

So one of my best and longest friends got married 2 weeks ago. It was such an amazing wedding. It was easy and fun and simple yet magical. It had such a great vibe and was filled with really great people. It was soooo great to be a part of such a special day for one of my very special friends. Cathleen and I have been friends since the 4th grade. So she really had no choice when it came to having me in her wedding ;) I mean if she's gonna have her sisters, well I guess I'm a shoe in. LOL! I'm kidding (kinda.) And Raya was a flower girl. Cathleen and I kept talking about how surreal this sentence was (Said by Cathleen): "Your DAUGHTER is in my WEDDING!" We just couldn't get over that we were really at this place in our lives. How did this all happen?!?! I really can't get over what a special weekend it was.

Fam time before the Rehearsal 

Her wedding was at The Horizon Hotel in Palm Springs. We packed up and drove down, or over, or whatever, to Palm Springs Friday afternoon so we could be there for the evening rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Wellll. The hotel had a beautiful pool. With balls. Raya's 2 favorite things. And she couldn't touch either. So that was the beginning of one of the most stressful nights ever. Haha. I held Kallen through the whole rehearsal, which was totally fine. Babies are so easy at 2 months cause they just sleep :) Raya was off running wild. Like WIIIIIIIIIIILD. By about 7 she was exhausted and super fussy because she was beyond tired and beyond frustrated. Poor kid. Gentry took her for a drive and she was passed out within 5 minutes. And lucky for us it was perfect "leave your kid in the car" weather. Calm down. The car was parked literally right next to us. AND Gentry left his phone on in the car in her lap and called mine and I left mine on speaker so it was basically a baby monitor. Man we're smart parents. As soon as Gentry got back Cathleen and I called my Mom and BEGGED her to come to Palm Springs and baby sit. Really, it was the first time being a Mom that I truly and seriously needed extra help and I couldn't take No for an answer. So my mom came :) And after Raya's flower girl part was all done she whisked her off and they went back to the hotel to do Nana-Raya things like climbing tables in the hotel room and, Nana's newest teaching: "Surprise!" Yah, my Mom taught Raya how to Surprise me. That's a really awesome game when theres a 3 month old sleeping on the couch and your 23month old keeps popping up in the kitchen. And bathroom. And living room. Yelling "SURPRISE" every time. Thanks Mom.

On a side note Raya was a perfect flower girl. I was so stressed about whether she'd really walk down the aisle. I was sure she wouldn't, but when the time came, she held the other flower girl's hand and they walked down sooooo sweetly. Only annoying thing: the wedding coordinator forgot to send the flower girls down!!!! Uh. So she sent them down after they announced Mr and Mrs. Simmons. Either way the flower girls were so stinkin cute!

And Raya's dress! My Dad made that :) It was soooo perfect. I had an idea what I wanted in my head and this seriously was exactly what I pictured, fabric and all. Too good!!! I didn't get any of just Raya in the dress at the wedding. Here are some before I did her hair.

It's so stinkin cute!!!! AND I couldn't leave it at that, so my Dad has his hat maker friend make Gentry a matching bowtie and then I made myself a headband and Gentry a pocket square. I wanted Kallen to wear grey pants and a white shirt so I could make him a matching Tie, but no joke we spent like 4 HOURS trying to find pants and a shirt for him. In those 4 hours I found 75,000 cute girl things. Uhhhhh. Shopping for girls is so fun :) The night before we left Gentry found the green Polo at TJ Maxx and it matched our stuff perfectly.

We had a really great time at the wedding. I didn't get to dance :( It got pretty chilly and we had Kallen. BUT I didn't get to sit and chat with my good friend Steph and her husband Danny. Stephanie is another one of my long time girlfriends that I love dearly, so it was soooo great to catch up and Danny and Gentry finally got to meet.

Congrats to Tyler and Cathleen Simmons! Thanks for letting me be part of your Big Day. It was absolutely perfect. Love you guys!
Ps- As soon as the photographers put their pictures up I'll share the link. The pictures are going to be AHHHmazing!

Is this a Posh Park?

Yesterday was such a great park day! Amy and I try to meet a couple times a month and this time Stephanie came too. It was so nice to be around my good friends that know me for me. Ya know, the "Kelsey Before Kids." I feel very thankful to have the girlfriends that I do (those with and without kiddos,) And its just so perfect to be able to be at the park with girls I've been close to since junior high and now be able to swap advice and info as it relates to our lives with kids in them.  The day started with the phrase "Is this a posh park because I really want to wear yoga pants?" -Steph. What was most hilarious about this convo was that I was literally putting makeup on as I said "I promise I won't judge you for wearing yoga pants to the park." First of all, who wears makeup to the park? Yah me. And I usually accompany my face of makeup with yoga pants :) It's how I roll. And thank god I did because Raya made me climb half a rock wall to prevent her from sliding down it. This was actually probably pretty funny if you happen to walk by when it happened. Raya was sitting atop a 7ft rock wall (she took the stairs, she didn't climb it) and was trying to slide down it like it was a slide. Me, being 5ft tall and 5months pregnant had only once choice, and that was to climb it. That's when my ladies, one holding a sleeping 3 month old and the other consoling her 3 year old after a heart breaking goldfish incident jumped into high gear and saved me from having to climb the whole wall :) What are friends for, right?!

Raya and Tyson-he just turned 1 this month!

Little Miss Raya

Sydney- she's 3. Syd was so sweet with Raya. She was hand feeding her goldfish and brought her a Barbie to play with. It was so cute watching them together. 

Steph and Tyson

Raya and Jackson- he's 2. I have super cute pictures of them together. They're BFFs. When we pull up in the car and Raya sees him she gets soooo excited. Its the cutest thing ever. And Jackson says "Kelsey! Raya!" Uh, LOVE IT!

Amy and Carter-he's 3 months old. Seriously, could they be any cuter? Amy, I'm gonna need you to not look so cute when you meet me next time ;)

Thanks ladies for a perfect afternoon of no judgement. Lol. Love you girls!!!

I'm an official Souper!

I thought I posted this weeks ago...but clearly I didn't, so here it is! 2 weeks late :(


One of my best girlfriends, Cathleen, started a blog called Donut Soup. She started it because she felt she knew "so many talented people in lots of different industries that work jobs that may or may not include these passions, and I wanted to write about them to tell their story. Lets think of Donut Soup like this: A place where there’s a mix (ahem, “soup”) of telling stories about my friends or things that I love (ahem, “donut”). Anyone who knows me knows I can’t say no to a delicious, mouthwatering pastry such as those heavenly round lifesaver delicacies. There’s nothing better than a maple bar, let me tell you. Yowza." Its a brilliant idea. And seriously, this girl has quite a group of talented friends! I think she probably has a rule about it or something- like she can only be your friend if you've got your "ish" together and know how to rock it.

Speaking of having your "ish" together and knowing how to rock it, she featured me! HAHA, I'm shameless ;) It was such a fun night with her. Basically, my interview sums up what its like every time we hang out, which is probably why we've been friends for close to 20 years. She's such a great writer and its so fun to read her blog (even when its not about me, i promise!) She also posts things here and there that she loves or finds really creative. She's a little Creative Cathleen, as I like to call her. (I may or may not have just made that name up ;) 
Interview: Tan, Big Hair, Animal Print