Austin City Limits Festival
I crossed off two life list concerts at ACL this year! Willie Nelson was a must-see because of his impact on the music industry. Mumford and Sons is one of my favorite bands, and it was so fun to see them live. I’m already hoping to see them again! Despite the crowds, dust, and after-ACL sickness, it was a fun weekend!

Changing the World
I love this thoughtful and tear-jerking piece by Thomas Davis, linebacker on the Carolina Panthers. It’s an eye-opening account of how he got to where he is today and how he’s making sure kids in his hometown have more opportunities than he did.

Happiness and Regret
This insightful interview with a cognitive psychologist gives findings about happiness and regret. It’s interesting that when you ask a young person what they regret, it’s something dumb they did like getting too drunk, but when you ask an older person in a nursing home, it’s something they never did, like visit a foreign country. So, as you live your life, think “what will I regret not doing?”

I also liked this line about happiness:
“The problem is we adapt to that [stuff we buy] really quickly, and so the stuff we have doesn’t make us happy for very long, whereas the experiences we have make us happy for a long time. And I think sometimes much of our happiness comes from the expectation, the experience and then remembering it later.”

A Letter to the Doctors and Nurses Who Cared for My Wife
Death is never an easy thing to endure, especially when it comes suddenly. The care of doctors and nurses is an impacting part of the process. So, this man wrote a letter to those who cared for his wife for seven days before she passed and who was a thankful source of comfort and understanding.

Thanks, Canada!
Only a few more days until the election season/nightmare is over! Canada made the USA a website and video telling us how great we are to help us endure it. What a great idea!

Lessons Learned While Traveling
This article features insight from nine people who quit their jobs to travel long-term. While I was expecting to read travel tips, I was surprised to find life lessons instead. From appreciating simplicity to finding your true self, these lessons are great reminders of how we can improve our lives, even if we don’t travel long-term.

Sweating at SoulCycle
My friend Michelle at the blog StyleBeacon hosted a workout session at the new SoulCycle in The Domain. Yes, SoulCycle has landed in Austin! This spin studio is popular on the east and west coasts and I can see why. It was a sweaty and energetic workout!

Advice from Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an incredible woman who has paved the way for many women with her hard work and independence. At 83 years old, she is a wise voice on the Supreme Court and in the media. Check out this piece she wrote for the New York Times. I’ll paraphrase one her life lessons: “tune out the haters!”

Enchanted Forest Baby Shower
My friend Corey was thrown an Enchanted Forest Baby Shower this month! Her friends did a terrific job at decorating the house, planning activities, and creating a snack spread. We can’t wait to celebrate baby boy’s arrival!

The post Captivations v.28: ACL, Many Lessons, and a Baby Shower appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

This past weekend, I had the joy of helping with my friend Sarah’s baby shower! (You might remember Sarah from her wedding reception I helped with two years ago.) Sarah’s sister Rachel was the organizer of the whole event and she did a stellar job. The baby shower featured an amazing bagel bar, girly florals, DIY, and lots of fun!

First, the food! A fellow foodie, Sarah made it very clear that she wanted great food at the shower. Rachel, their family members, and some friends prepared all the delicious food. The amazing bagel bar spread had options for all tastes – from lox and capers to Nutella and banana. There was also chicken salad, pea pesto salad, herb and goat cheese frittata, sausage and potato and mushroom frittata, almond lemon cake, and mimosas.

For the décor, I kept it simple with these girly floral hoops. If you’re looking for something different than flowers in a vase, this project is doable in about an hour.

Here’s some info on how to make the floral hoops.

• Those white hoops are small hula hoops from the Dollar Store with two coats of white spray paint. Yes, only $2 plus the white spray paint that I already had. I went this route for the hoop thickness and color. The only problem I had was if I weren’t careful, the paint would scratch off when it touched hard surfaces. You can also get metal hoops in varying sizes (ones I saw at Hobby Lobby were thinner, silver and ranged from $1-5 each) or wood embroidery hoops from a craft store.
• Buy floral wire (thin green wire), wire cutters, greenery, and a mix of coordinating flowers. For the greenery and flowers, I got eight stems of greenery for $2 each at Central Market and two prepared bouquets from Whole Foods for $9 each. I got the bouquets because Central Market didn’t have the flowers I wanted, but the bouquets were good because I didn’t need to think about what flowers would go together and they were cheaper than piecing bouquets together myself.
• Sketch out your loop design or lay out your flowers to get a feel for the desired finished look. For my hoops, I knew I wanted the greenery to open out on the ends and for the big Gerbera daisies to be the focal point. The roses and berries were complementary.
• Start with the greenery and wire each piece strategically onto the hoop, layering on top of each other. I started wiring the outer pieces and moved in to the center with the flowers. You may need to use glue dots to help hold pieces in place. I used it in two spots to cover up the white hoop with leaves.
• Stick the hoops to the wall with plastic hooks with adhesive on the back and glue dots or hang them with clear fishing line.
• Altogether, this project cost $38 plus the white spray paint, floral wire and wire cutters that I already had. Your big cost will be the flowers and depends on the kind of flower. A $4 carnation bunch from HEB could look just as nice. My flowers were from Central Market and Whole Foods. I also hear Trader Joe’s has a good flower selection. You could also make this with fake flowers, which cost an average $3-5 per stem at a craft store.

Our DIY craft was decorating onesies and bibs for the future babe. Everyone did a great job with these! The drying racks came in very handy.

We also had guests fill out two different cards – one of baby predictions (things like height, weight) and another of wishes for the baby (things like “I hope you learn ___”). Sarah’s friend Cristina put these cute cards together and created this impressive diaper cake.

Cristina also created this pretty birthdate calendar that we all put our birthdate predictions on. I’ve guessed Baby Girl will be an early bird! It’ll be fun to see if anyone guessed correctly.

We played Pictionary using words associated with babies, like spit up and breast pump, but with a room full of moms, this game was a piece of cake!

There was gift opening that resulted in a lot of agreeing nods when another box of baby bottles appeared and oos and ahhs when adorable watermelon outfits and hand-knitted blankets were unwrapped.

Guests didn’t leave empty-handed. These bags of popcorn (choice of Dill Pickle, Cheddar, or Caramel) from Austin company Cornucopia were the perfect size. I added the printed labels to the bag for a personalized touch.

It was a wonderful afternoon celebrating Sarah and her babe. We can’t wait to meet the sweet little girl!

Have you ever been to a baby shower? What was your favorite part?

I’m on a mission to throw 12 celebrations in 2016. This is #6 of 12. See all of #Celebrations2016 here!

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