"A daughter is a gift of love." ~ Unknown
Can you believe that my sweet little Mary Ashley is 13? We celebrated this milestone birthday with a special weekend brimming with all of her favorite things. Two of her best friends from our former hometown came up for a couple of days, and the girls picked right up where they left off. That's the best type of friendship -- and a gift we are glad to nurture. The girls joined us on a Friday night for pizza and frozen yogurt. Saturday, we began with a show choir competition, followed by Starbucks, Chipotle, manicures and a movie. Quite a start to her teenage years!
We culminated the evening with a family dinner at our home. Mary Ashley's favorite color inspired our tablescape, with accents of dried lavender.
Each place setting included place mats and napkins from Pier1, plates from HomeGoods, and ribbon and tags from Michaels.
Simple arrangements lined the table. To make these, slip a pillar candle into a vase and wrap a rubber band around the vase. Tuck varying lengths of lavender stems under the rubber band. Wrap the vase several times with twine, knot the twine, and trim the ends. Remove the rubber band, and adjust stems as needed.
Posies of roses added softness.
For Mary Ashley's birthday menu, we enjoyed Rosemary Chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, fruit salad and croissants.
And the birthday girl's favorite cake! In fact, she loves chocolate so much, she would not let me add anything to the top for fear that some frosting might be lost in removing the decorations.
A Pier1 heart-shaped wreath tied to Mary Ashley's chair now hangs on the door of her room -- a sweet memento of turning 13 among the people who love her most.
"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart." ~Unknown
