Are You Ready for Some (College) Football?!

My dad always jokes that aside from the obvious (my education) the money on college was well spent given that it left me with a love of football. As sad as I am to say goodbye to summer, the consolation prize of college football season makes it somewhat okay. One of my favorite things to do is tailgate before a game, though watching at home is a close second. I couldn't love my alma mater more and will look forward to cheering on the Hokies Monday night.

And since I am a two-team-loving girl for the past 8+ years, I will be cheering on the Nittany Lions tomorrow as well.

So let's break out the Blue Moon Harvest and cheers to fall...more specifically GAME DAYS!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Last week was the week of celebrating baby girls over here. Of course I am always all for a few days full of pink so that suits me just fine.

First up was am order that was sent to a friend in Colorado for her baby shower by her mom (also a friend.) They are loyal OPC readers and picked a few of their past favorites to add into the mix while letting me add a few new designs to change thing up a bit.

Next was an order for a pink and green baby shower (of course I was loving that as well.)

Finally it was time to work on a pink and green baptism celebration (seriously, it really was a good week for my taste!)

A friend sent me the invitation in advance featuring a monogrammed christening gown which of course came into play for the mix of cookies. So cute!

There were also football teams, farm animals and characters thrown into the week but I was loving the pink theme for a day or two...

Thank you Sandy, Kristen and Lauren!

Feminine Baptism Cookies...and Monograms!

I recently had the absolute pleasure of making cookies again for the ever-sweet Trish of Preppy Pink Lilly Lover in honor of her daughter's baptism. Trish was kind enough to trust me in making the design decisions and I did my best to honor her love for femininity and of course pink. I took inspiration from her beautiful invitation and also added a few personal touches of bows, roses for her precious baby's name and of course a few monogrammed cookies.

In fact I tried two new styles of monogramming with this collection and have decided that both will be sticking around for good.

Thank you as always Trish! I always love chatting with you and of course having you appreciate these cookies so much made my day. :)

Vineyard Vines Birthday Cookies

I love when people give me new ideas to make cookies in honor of. So when a friend asked me to make Vineyard Vines inspired cookies for his wife's birthday, I was in. (Last year he chose Tory Burch and company - the man has taste!) I decided to go with polo shirts, bow ties, canvas totes and of course the signature pink whale...

Makes me wish I was on the Vineyard! :)

Thank you Ross!

Ahoy BABY!

When a friend sent me the invitation for a nautical baby shower she was hosting, I was very happy to make the cookie favors to compliment the theme. Sailboats, sailor onesies and anchors were the main players - love it! I was very happy with how these turned out and look forward to seeing photos from the big day. If the nautical diaper cake was an indication of how the rest of the shower would be then I know it was perfect.

Thank you MK!

Instagram Adventures in Asia

After a two week blog hiatus I feel like I owe you all an explanation. If you follow me on Instagram (@onepreppycookie) then you already know what I've been up to but I thought I would fill the rest of you in. I spent the last ten days in Asia. Crazy! Thanks to my husband's MBA program, he found himself in Beijing at the end of July for an international internship experience. A little over a week later I flew over (oh you know, quick fourteen hour flight) to join him. From there we traveled to four more cities in 10 days, making every minute count. I will only hit the high points here and considering the fact that it is going to take us weeks to go through our "real" pictures, thought I'd share a few photos through my typical way of photography these days...Instagram!

Hours before my arrival, my husband and his classmates went to see The Great Wall for the first time. We went back the next day so I could see it too. As a friend said that week, "You go your whole life without seeing The Great Wall and then you see it two days in a row." :)

A little Asian flair greeting me on my first night...

Round two of The Great Wall with me in tow. One of the most amazing sights I have ever seen with my own eyes.

Once we split off from the school group, we changed hotels in Beijing and opted for a more traditional feel in the Hutong area. There we found the best food this vegetarian could enjoy in the city - Mr. Shi's Dumplings, where we proceeded to eat three times between the two of us in a one day time span.

I loved Beijing for its history. There were MANY other sights we covered here that are not pictured. I could go on for days about it but will spare you for now.

Next stop was Shanghai. Oh Shanghai, we loved you too! A completely different feel than Beijing thanks to its modern lights and architecture. From extreme glitz to extreme poverty, we saw a little bit of everything. If you ever find yourself in this city, please go on this bike tour. We covered more ground than otherwise possible and enjoyed every minute of it.

After narrowly missing a dangerous typhoon that hit Shanghai, our next stop was Bangkok, Thailand. My brother and sister-in-law are both living there right now so we were able to have dinner with them and a few friends while we were there. (Between them, the Georgetown group, a former co-worker and a friend from college, we had a familiar face in every city we traveled to!)

We were smart enough to schedule ourselves a two day rest from the tours and hustle, hitting the beach in Koh Samui, Thailand.

There we were able to enjoy the views, relax in the sand and relish in the news we received that my husband had passed the third and FINAL CFA Exam! Awesome.

Hokies in Thailand - can't say that every day! It was so nice to catch up with a friend living his dream on the other side of the world.

Our last stop on our crazy adventure was Hong Kong. A far cry from the tranquility of the beach, we did more in our two days in Hong Kong than I would recommend people do in twice that time. However not knowing if or when we would be back, we took a "When in Rome" approach to seeing all that we could.

The final day of our trip was our five year wedding anniversary...the perfect ending to an incredible experience.

Having always been the planner in many facets of my life, it was nice to hand the reigns over to Mr. Preppy Cookie on this one. He planned every last detail and I could not be more thankful for his efforts. And while there is no place like HOME to me, I will treasure the memories of this journey forever.

New Routine - July Books

I started a new routine in July that involved reading on the treadmill several mornings per week. I have never been much of a treadmill girl let alone a reader on the treadmill but people change. :) The Kindle helped me tremendously in the reading department - I just bump up the font size and read away as I walk. Surprisingly it passed the workout time very quickly and has now become my favorite part of the day. (If you consider pre-sunrise part of the "day" that is.) This new routine helped me to read 4 books in July, a personal record I think. The past few years I tend to get lost in trilogies from time to time but aside from that MAYBE read one book every other month. Anyway, I love getting recommendations from other people so I thought I'd share what I've been enjoying.

1.) Gone Girl - I read this book in two days thanks to the 4th of July holiday. It was suspenseful and a page turner in my opinion. While the ending was not exactly what I would have chosen, the rest of the book made up for it. I have recommended this book to several friends, all of whom stayed up way into the night reading it. Definite two thumbs up.

2.) On the Island - Overall I really liked this book too. There were parts in the middle where I wondered if we would ever move on in the plot but overall it was a good story that you could easily get lost in. Good pool or beach read.

3.) One Pink Line - Again, I really enjoyed this one. I would put it (along with books 2 & 4 listed here) in the "chick" book category but that's okay because I enjoy that genre. I wanted this book to keep going and draw out the happy ending but I am also sappy like that.

4.) These Girls - I happily read this and enjoyed the story of friendship it involved. You get three perspectives from different characters and a sub-plot as well. Loved the ending here (girl power!) - would make another good, easy read to bring on vacation.

Next up for me:

1.) Where We Belong - Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors and I have been saving this book for a long plane ride I am about to take. I cannot wait to read it and will be sure to report back with my take on it.

2.) Insurgent - I have been saving this one too. I loved Divergent more than Hunger Games and have high hopes for this sequel.

3.) Blue Bistro - This came highly recommended by a friend with similar book tastes to me. I am about fifty pages in thanks to my treadmill time and am looking forward to seeing what happens.

What are you reading this summer?

Showering My Future SIL

A few weeks ago my mom and I co-hosted a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law. We chose not to have a theme per se but instead followed the colors from the invitation, tiffany blue and hot pink. We wanted the shower to be feminine and fun.

I made a chalkboard out of a frame from a craft store to greet the guests at the door with the countdown to the big day.

And of course I could not resist making carrot cupcakes (the bride's favorite) with wedding dress cookie toppers.

Our menu for the 2 p.m. shower included:

Assorted Pita Sandwiches
Tortellini and Tomato Salad
Cheese Platter
Spinach & Artichoke Cups
Fruit Platter
Carrot Cupcakes
Funfetti Cakepops

However the HIT of the menu was the champagne punch. We could not have served enough of it really! Many thanks to my friends Katy & Merritt for the excellent recipe (and Hillary for the reminder about it!) This is a definite keeper.

Champagne Punch
1 frozen Pink Lemonade
1 frozen Limeade
Add at least 1 bottle of Seltzer
Add Cranberry Juice till it is a pretty pink color
Add more cranberry juice and more seltzer to taste
Garnish with sliced lemons and limes (I froze these in advance)
Serve Champagne on the side

(Note: We tripled this recipe for about 15 people though we could have even served more.)

Decorations included photo garlands, paper poms, framed photos of the soon-to-be newlyweds and flowers we arranged ourselves.

We played a "How Well Do You Know the Bride" game which is always fun...especially when the bride really has to think through her responses. :)

And our bride was generously showered with beautiful gifts by her friends and family.

Would you expect anything other than cookie favors?? I made wedding cakes topped with hearts for the occasion.

It was a wonderful afternoon celebrating someone who I am so very happy to have join our family.

Congratulations Rachel & Jeff!