Gift the Groom

I know I am about a week behind but things have been (as usual) chaotic around here so I haven't had a chance to post. Last weekend, we co-hosted Cliff (and Rachel's) Gift the Groom shower. We rented out a shooting facility in Dallas, and after some yummy snacks and cold drinks, we headed for the woods! To say it was fun is quite the understatement. I can't believe how awesome that event was. Everything turned out great (minus a few hiccups in the beginning) and I think Cliff got a pretty good showering of man gifts.

I took a ton of pics but here are a few that sum up the day:

{From Top:  The happy couple;  the cake; clay pigeon cookies I made for the special event; 

Rachel's gift to Cliff; most of the guests; shooting shenanigans; the hosts with the bride and groom}

All in all, it was a hot great weekend. Our team finished second, behind Rachel's dad, brother, his friend, and her sis-in-law Mary. Three teams finished behind us (yay) so I would say we did pretty freaking good! As usual, Cliff and Rach were wonderful hosts and we are looking forward to our next visit...

Just Truckin' Right Along...

Just a quick note from the Davis family....

There was nothing too exciting going on last weekend; we just got some things done around the house that we were putting off, and hung out a bit. We have had a busy week though, as expected. Troy has been working pretty late (dang those conference calls with Australia!) so I tried to be productive around the house. Oh, and I decided spur-of-the-moment to go surprise Rachel on Wednesday for her bridal portraits. I am her Matron of Honor and haven’t gotten to do any of that one-on-one stuff with her really, because of the two hundred miles between us, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a surprise. Rachel’s mom and I schemed and plotted and the plan was a success! I met them at her aunt’s house where she was getting her hair done, and just rang the doorbell. Molly opened it and there was Rach! She was so surprised! I love surprises! It was really special to go with her to get her portraits done, to see the ceremony and reception location, and just spend some time with my BFF. I was planning to leave around 430 to make it back to Houston at a decent hour, but who the heck was I kidding?! I didn't get home until midnight and I was exhausted. BUT, it was so much fun that if I didn’t have to go to work the next day, or have cookies to make, or a million things to do, I would have totally stayed the rest of the week! She's the bestest and I am so excited for their wedding in a few weeks.


Did I mention we are going back up to DFW today? Ya, that’s right… we are hosting Cliff and Rachel’s ‘Gift the Groom’ shower with Brandon this weekend. I made some sugar cookies for the event, which turned out really cute; they look like little sporting clays. We are driving up today—in a about an hour or so actually—so I will be sure to post some snapshots of our fun weekend.

On a side note, tomorrow, Troy and I ‘officially’ unofficially celebrate 5 years together. I can’t believe it has already been five years. It doesn’t feel like it at all, and yet I can’t really remember too much of life before him. It seems like just yesterday we were telling ourselves that we were ‘just friends’ and denying the painfully obvious. He is still my very best friend, the person who knows the most about me (and likes me in spite of it all!), and the one person I could do anything with, any time, any place. I love ya Fred!! Happy five years love.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! On the road again...

Stock the Bar

Last weekend, we hosted a Stock the Bar party with our friend Allison, in honor of Patrick and Erin. Patrick was a groomsman in our wedding and we have known him for quite a while :) Erin is his bubbly, thoughtful, funny other-half, and we were so excited to throw this party for them.

(Disclaimer: I spent hours editing these pics all pretty-like, only to have my computer die before I hit that beloved Ctrl+S. So you will have to deal with mediocre-quality pics. Sorry Charlie!)

We went with a 'college' theme for the event, since we are all friends from the good ol' college days. That meant a simple (but yummy) nacho bar, cold beer, and of course, jell-o shots!!

After gifts, we played a really great game that Allison came up with, kind of like The Newlyweds game, but better! We made a list of questions that both Patrick and Erin had to answer by holding up a sign with either his name or her name. For example, "Who wants to have kids first" or "Who's mother-in-law is the best cook?" If they said the same answer, we drank. If they didn't...uh oh! :) It was really fun!

The party really got going when the beer pong tournament began! It was so fun; a good throwback to the college days. Unfortunately, I learned that I am not quite as good as I used to be :(

We all had a really good time -- good food, good drinks, good weather, good friends, and a great stocking of Pat and Erin's bar! Now if only that wedding weekend in Lubbock would hurry up and get here...!

Oh, and I almost forgot...kudos to Allison for making and frosting these yummy chocolate and white cupcakes with homemade icing. I am very proud of her baking skills! All I helped with was piping the letter 'P' for Patrick and 'E' for Erin. Didn't they turn out so cute??

We Are In Business!!

This was a very exciting week in the Davis household. I have been working almost non-stop to officially launch Chelsea Davis Designs. I guess I started the 'business' or 'hobby' a little over a year ago, but as orders increased in size, complexity, and frequency, I quickly realized (with the polite urging of Troy) that I need to make this thing legit. And why not? I work on it enough to call it my second job! So yesterday, we headed down to the Fort Bent County Clerk's office to officially file as a business owner. Chelsea Davis Designs is IN BUSINESS!!

As many of you know, I have been posting my designs on my CDD blog, but it just didn't serve my new business needs. I wanted something that was more "official" and user friendly, so I launched chelseadavisdesigns.com yesterday afternoon! I love the website -- the layout, the galleries, the contact page (isn't it so savvy?!?). I am really happy with it and although it will probably get a few makeovers over the months, I think it is a great representation of my business and where I am trying to go with it.

{chelseadavisdesigns.com homepage}

{my design portfolio}

{my custom cookie designs also have a place on the site!}

I am beyond excited about this BIG step, and am eager to see where I go from here. I have gotten so many amazing supportive responses to the website and congrats on the business, which make me feel so blessed to get to share this with my friends and family. I have to say a very big Thank You to everyone who trusted me to design and create for you thus far. Without you, I would have never been able to learn, grow, and become confident in my designs. And Troy, you are everything to me; the motivation behind this endeavor and my source of constant support and encouragement. You have stayed up with me until 2 am tying ribbons, printing invitations, and spell-checking my work. You have taken me to buy the laptop and a few printers in my chaotic last-minute frenzies, helped me decorate dozens of cookies, and have settled with many a night falling asleep alone while I worked away on my designs until the wee hours of the morning. I could not--would not--do this without your support. I love you, Fred.

Thanks everyone :) I hope you enjoy the site. Let the designing officially begin!

Project Restoration

I blogged the other day about Troy refinishing a piece of furniture for me :) Well, it's done!!! I am so happy with the result too; it is perfect for our house. I found this piece on Craigslist (my new favorite obsession) for a steal. Seriously...I still can't believe how much of a bargain we got. We have been searching for so long to find an entry piece but everything we like is either too big, too small, or too expensive! So when I came across this piece, I thought it had a ton of potential (and storage!).

Troy and I drove all the way to League City to pick this buffet up, but it was completely worth it. After almost two weeks of stripping, sanding, sanding some more, staining, sanding again, staining again, and a few clear coat finishes, it is finally done! We put it in its place tonight and stocked it full of goodies that needed a home. Don't judge me on the finishing touches (or lack thereof); we are in the process of purchasing some frames and stuff to put on and around the buffet. These random objects just showed up in the reorganization process.

What do you think? Beautiful, huh?! I wanted it to look a little rustic and mission-esque and I think Troy was spot-on. I have to say a huge THANK YOU to my wonderfully patient, diligent, and talented hubby for willingly making this piece of furniture come to life for me. I am so happy with it and am so grateful for Troy's hard work. What a guy! :)

On the Road Again

Boy oh boy did we have a good weekend! We went up to my parents' house to spend some time with them and have a relaxing couple of days. Troy and my dad woke up super early to take the boat out and go fishing Saturday morning. They caught a bunch of fish and no cell phones were lost (which seems to be a trend with our guys), so I'd say the trip was a success. While the guys were out on the water, mom and I went to grab breakfast, get pedicures, and do some shopping. I love time with my mom and I am so happy we got to spend the day together.

We drove over to Corinth on Saturday evening for Cliff and Rachel's shower, which was a blast! They were showered with lots of love and some amazing gifts and we cannot wait for their wedding in only 6 weeks!! Those two are so great, and so great together. We have us some wonderful friends :)

On Sunday, we got an early start back to Houston and stopped at Troy's grandparents' house on our way. They generously donated shoes for our Soles4Souls shoe drive (thanks!!) so we picked them up and got to catch up with them a bit. Troy's aunt and uncle were visiting from Connecticut so it was a nice surprise to see them. And speaking of Soles4Souls, I will be posting the amazing results of our shoe drive soon, as well as some very exciting news, so check back soon :)

Okay, I think that sums it up for now. Have a great week!!

Chaotically crazy...