Two toast worthy things in my book: COLOR and COCKTAILS! Earlier this month I was daydreaming about a rainbow buffet of cocktails inspired by the Pantone 2013 Fashion Colors… see the original post + links to all the cocktails here. Cheers!

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For more creative cocktail recipe ideas, visit the Cocktails section in our Recipe Box and our Party Drinks board on Pinterest!

Tonya Coleman here from Soireé Event Design, and I’m back with a brand new series “Trend Alert” where I share with you some of the hottest trends in party planning and give you my twist on how to use it in your next party!  Today’s guest post is all about Bling Sticks! These beauties come in all kinds of colors to match any party theme and are making a big splash in party world!

They are actually made to hold cake pops, but they are so fabulous I had to come up with some other ways to use them as party decor! I was in the middle of designing my new “POP-arazzi BABY!” printable collection when I came across these bling sticks online from Made by A Princess. I knew right away that these sparkly babies would be perfect to use along with the printables to add that extra bling to the party’s decor! Your girl loves her bling after all!

Why not throw a “POP-arazzi BABY!” celebrity themed baby shower to welcome your new baby in celebrity style!  Bling sticks are the next big thing in party trends! Bling sticks match our printable collections perfectly and are so easy to use. See how I used them with printables at a celebrity themed baby shower to add an affordable wow factor to your next party!    

One thing I never get tired of looking at: beautiful FOOD! And gorgeous food photography never hurts either. ;) You can find an abundance of both of these things on Foodie, a Pinterest-style website especially for foodies. And for my fellow iPad-aholics, Foodie also has a free iPad app that’s updated monthly and features seasonally relevant dishes like (for Spring) Strawberry and Avocado Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing…YUM! The May edition just came out, and it’s packed with 40 perfect-for-spring recipes from some of your favorite food bloggers and culinary pros!

Look for contributions from Erin Alderson of Naturally Ella, Catherine Davis of Food Family & Finds, HWTM contributor Melissa Johnson of Best Friends For Frosting and more fabulous food bloggers right here! The app is simple and clean to look at… here’s a peek:

I have a question for all you lovely Mamas. When was the last time you were in a picture WITH your children? I know you, and I know the icky reality is that you can show me hundreds of awesome iPhone pictures of your children, but I won’t be able to find any WITH you in them.

Hi everyone! It’s Jen, your favorite photographer and owner of Jen CYK Photography. There’s a terrible epidemic floating around, and I’m on a mission to put an end to it! It’s called failure to take pictures with your children! The symptoms include a whole lot of pictures of your adorable kids, and not a single one with you in them! It’s okay though, you’re not alone!! And together, we can put an end to it right now so you will have plenty of pictures with your little ones!