alison's surprise bridal shower

my dear friend alison is getting married next month to a man who is just perfect for her. this summer was hectic for both of us so she didn't seem surprised when i asked her if she wanted a bridal shower with her school friends two weeks ago. with tests every other week and med school on our minds 24/7 i could tell she was getting worried that i wouldn't be able to plan the shower in time. little did she know that i had been planning a secret surprise shower since may. i spent the summer crocheting, sewing, crafting, shopping and planning for what i hoped would be a bridal shower she would never forget. in the end, i think it turned out really well (some of the girls in attendance called it the best bridal shower they had ever been to, might i add) and it was so rewarding to see the looks of surprise and happiness on her face. i have only known alison for a little over a year now but i can tell that she will be in my life for a very long time. ♥

L to R: crochet bunting in progress, white yarn ampersand, pink pinwheel, pink and white pinwheels + trying out bunting options

L to R: glass bottles from crate & barrel, a gift for the future mrs. tran, pink and white ribbon, flower and scarf, packing up for the party

This is where Alison lost her beaded necklace. Each guest got a necklace with a pink or white pony bead and we played the game where if you said certain words, you had to give your necklace away to the person that caught you. I thought this would be really cute with necklaces instead of clothespins. 

Taboo words for the night were "wedding", "marriage", "engagement", and "Steve".

We also played a game where Alison left the room for five minutes and guests wrote down everything she was wearing. 

This was fun - we heard all sorts of answers!

One of my favorite bridal shower games: making a wedding dress out of toilet paper! Can you guess which team won?

Alison's fiance Steve knew I was planning to throw her the surprise shower so he answered some questions for me for the next game. 

For each question Alison got wrong, she had to put a (pink or white) marshmallow in her mouth. 

There were 20 questions. She had about 15 marshmallows in her mouth. You do the math ;)

The shower was so much fun and came together with the help of all the lovely girls in our class. I'll leave you with some pretty pictures of Alison.

troy farmers market

when i moved to temple from austin, i was so used to organic food and farmers markets that i was disappointed to find so much fast food and no whole foods or central market. but in the year i've been here, i've found an amazing restaurant that gets vegetables from local farmers and then discovered that a nearby town, troy, was starting their own farmers market. the people of troy were so kind and the farmers and crafters at the market were so passionate about what they were doing. if you'd like, head over to their website and see the kind post they wrote on alice lee photography.

rockin' rogers grand opening

rockin' rogers is a neat 50s-style diner that opened near my home. at the grand opening, elvis came and sang songs and mingled with the customers. there were also games for the kids and some of the customers even came dressed up in poodle skirts and saddle shoes!