Jennifer Starr

And.....SNAP! The Job's a Game!

My mom,......we really have so much fun together. We may be opposites in some ways, but I do think we share the same heart. One of the BEST parts of having the majority of my Saturday's off is getting to spend more time with my mom. For Christmas I bought her two tickets to see Mary Poppins at Gammage, and luckily she decided to take me!! ( okay, so really I knew all along that she would take me, so I guess in a way it was a present for me too). Something about Mary Poppins has always reminded me of my mom, perhaps because when I was little we watched it together over 100 times.....

We had a blast, we were almost late to the show due to the oh so wonderful parking system at ASU, but we made it just in time before the house lights went off! And the show was truly AWESOME, definelty up there as one of my favorites! At the end of the show, Mary flew over the audience as her umbrella carried her away ~totally gave me goose bumps! I loved it!! Then mom stayed the night at the Starr Bungalow~ which was awesome!!! One of my biggest pet peeves about our home is that it's truly not suitable for entertaining at all ~ WHICH I LOVE TO DO (grr...I will so appreciate the next home we have)!! So we don't have an extra bed because our second bedroom is our office/design studio. So what does that mean? Mom sleeps on the couch just like one of my girlfriends! I love it, it meant so much to me... after the show we were able to pick up Chase from ASU, go out to dinner, go grocery shopping, take Chase back to ASU and come home to place and have girl talk all evening...so much fun!

Gonna take a Sentimental Journey...........

Jim and Jane Norris' Diamond Anniversary

All Because Two People Fell in Love........

Wow, what an incredible event to be a part of! My Grandparents fell in love when they were only 17 years old. 60 Years of Marriage.....7 Children.....9 Grandchildren.....1 Great Grandchild

Let me tell you the pressure was on to make this event so special for these two very amazing people!

Setting the Scene:

SweetPeas Floral and Events had the very fun job of being in charge of all the floral, decor, and entertainment. I have a big addiction to Grand Entryways.... but because this was on a Sunday afternoon I had to keep the design modest, simple, classic and meaningful. So a decorated entry table was in order! Complete with an 16 x 20 retouched & enhanced frame wedding photo of my Grandparents on their wedding day.

My mom, is a very talented florist.... she created 3 different centerpieces for all the guest tables. Our color scheme was black, white, purple & light blue (purple and light blue being Grandma Jane's favorite colors).

Justin and I created custom programs....I had sent out a questionnaire to all the "kids" with questions like "In one word, what was it like growing up a "Norris"? We included all the surprise answers in the program ~ so funny!

Another one of the beautiful centers

Justin had retouched and ordered large images of my grandparents ~through the years, very precious. It just really showed how much FUN they have together.

We had a another table with the family photos. The first family photo had just the three of them (Grandma & Grandpa and their first born Chip) the last photo had all of us from a family of three to a family of 27.

The event was held at The Property in Casa Grande. The Property did an AMAZING job with the catering. There was so many lovely options, I don't think one person could even see them all, let alone taste them all.

Grandpa had asked me to make sure that we displayed the "kids" photos ....

And the "grandkids" photos........

The "Sachet Bar" ~ me and my silly ideas. I had created an interactive party favor station (something new I had wanted to try out) Although you can't see the display up close... the frame read:

How do you think your parents marriage has survived 60 years?

Respect for each others strengths, recognition of each other’s weaknesses and acceptance of the hand God has dealt. Those and their exceptional progeny.—Chip

Their commitment to us children, solving all our problems never gave them a chance to think about their own. Their joy for life, their sense of humor and their love for each other.—Dennis

God only knows. I am being serious but I think it is a crazy little thing called love, because there have been plenty of good times and bad times but they have believed in each other, and God.—Tom

Their love……they still share it every day.—Patty

Common tastes in life, people, parenting, and bourbon.—Bill

At first mom didn’t have gas money to leave town. Later, they stayed passionate and connected by sharing active lives including playing tennis, bridge, and hosting wine parties. They always showed love, respect, and appreciation for one another.—Dan

In each glass vase had a different color and scent of bath salts ~labeled as an ingredient of "love". The idea was that you could fill up your sachet bag with all of your favorite ingredients to create your own "love story".

My highlight of the entire day was when I was sitting next to my Grandma towards the end of the event and she leans over and asks me" You mean if I put in the green bath salts, he'll get in the bath with me?"

The People/The Moments:

All 27 of us!

Grandpa introduced the entire family.....

Me and my mom ~ she's the real talent

And the introductions continue........

Grams & Gramps participating in the "Not So Newlywed Game" ~so funny!

Grandma really does remind me of Lucille Ball sometimes....

My dad gave a very sentimental toast to Grandparents...very special

Brought them both to tears and brought the 200 person audience to their feet with a standing ovation

A little friendly competition between the siblings........

I really don't know how Patty put up with all those Boys!

Dancing to their song "Sentimental Journey"

Grandma and Grandpa's one and only Great Grandchild ~ Miss Gracie

But not for too long. My cousin Andrea on the far left (blond in purple dress) had approached Justin just before we were about to take the Group Family Shot and whispered in his ear " Go ahead and tell them to say "Andrea's Pregnant" just before you snap the photo.

And this was the prize reaction caught on film from the family ~Congratulations Andrea & Matt!

I Love Our Sunday Mornings.......

For the past nearly seven years, I have worked every Saturday ( up until more recently) so Sundays were always the our only day off together. So I've always been in love with our Sunday mornings......

We usually take the pups out to somewhere big and lush and just let them run, play, explore. Every once in awhile Justin will bring his camera along play with. Starbucks & Sundays ~ Life is good.

Social Grace Studios: Recent Shoot

Just another great photo shoot from Social Grace Studios

I really enjoyed being on this shoot with Justin, mainly because I was in pure shock that my friend Cathy was actually having a baby. I've known Cathy forever! We were little five year old girls in dance class together many years ago.... and now she's a mom!

It was a rainy, cold day... but Cathy ( always the actress) put on her game face ~despite the huge rain drops falling on her head!

You could certainly tell that Cathy had her photos taken a few times before... she reacted to Justin's cues perfectly!

This photo shoot was actually taken a mere five days prior to Cathy's due date!

But you would have never been able to tell.....she was so calm and collected....

Just a darling little maternity model!

I love this black and white image....just so sweet.

Congratulations my dear friend.... I wish you much happiness and joy with your new little boy.

The Time is Now....

"It's that moment when your guests walk into your world and are captivated by their senses being stimulated............................all at the same time"

Alright, so as you may know due to past blog posts.... I've recently made a job change. I decided to leave Seville and challenge myself in different ways in the event industry. Many of my loved ones thought I was crazy to leave such a great solid job in the middle of a recession (and especially with my spouse being a full time grad student) .... but I REALLY believe in following your heart and instinct when you know it's the right time.

Thankfully my amazing husband who knows that I'm always thinking with my "creative" mind, rather than my "rational" mind was unbelievable supportive through this time.... truly... such a believer in me.

So as "cliché" as the saying goes "when one door closes another one opens....." it's TRUE!!! I've been so unbelievable blessed with opportunities.......truly so exciting!!! I've actually had to turn some great offers down, which just completely blows my mind.

So what am I doing now? Well.... I'm finally taking the plunge and following my true passion by.... "officially" starting my own Event Design & Coordination Company!!! I have so many fun ideas, connections, and plans in the working. I will be releasing more exciting details in due time ~ please stay tuned! And a big thank you to my family and friends who have supported and encouraged this direction!

Through these developmental stages, I still have a mortgage to pay:)... so I've taken a great job offer with my dear friends at Still Life Studios doing all of their Sales & Marketing! Matt and Dani Wheeler have owned and operated Still Life Studios for just over six years and they have grown their business into a multi-shooter studio, photographing well over 120 weddings a year! Matt asked me to join his team to help continue grow the business by using my sales background and industry connections. It's a very different role than what I had before, but I'm really enjoying learning from such successful entrepreneurs.

Stayed tuned for more details to follow.... I'm still putting several pieces of my dream together ~ but I'm so thankful to have this time and creative people in my life to make this vision..........finally, become reality.

Home with my Honeys...

We spent Valentines Day at home this year ~ just a nice easy going day. We spent the morning and afternoon putting together the slideshow for my Grandparents big Anniversary Party.

For dinner we decided not to fight the crowds and instead just ordered take out and picked up a bottle of wine.

All in all, just a great day at home with my loves...

Olive loved her rose.....

I loved my new glam earrings...

Sammy wanted to eat her rose.....

And the grand finale was the Valentine song that Olive sang to us ~ she wrote it herself.

Sleeping like a baby.......

Olive Update: I'm so happy to announce that my little Olive has survived her awful and frightening week!!!!

Just to recap: (in Justin's words...from an email he had sent to his brother (they tend to talk "medical" )

Olive spent 3 days is the animal hospital .
On Monday she started to throw up and didn't stop. Even if she drank water she would throw it up so we portioned it out little bits at a time and waited for her to get better but called the vet to get in ASAP just in case. We had to wait until the next day at 4 pm. Within 24 hours she lost about 2 lbs (she only weighed 10 lbs when she was healthy). That’s about 20% of her body weight. She was completely emaciated and weak. We caught her in the bathtub trying to lick the facet as it would drip. She was so thirsty but we knew if she drank too much she would throw up and become even more dehydrated. She threw up several more times throughout the night and I stayed up with her and attempted to give her moistened bits of bread but she refused to eat. When I picked her up she tried to bite. She has never bitten before so we knew she was in a ton of pain.

When the Vet first saw her she literally gasped and put her on fluids right away.

Our Vet is fantastic, we know her from Seville and I have done photos for her before so she gives us a little extra attention I think, at least we like to think that but she is just a great vet to everyone I am sure. She is pretty far away from us but very worth the drive.

Blood draws revealed potassium levels were at critical levels but her heart function was still in good shape so we caught it in time obviously. X-rays showed there was a massive blockage found in her stomach (some type of foreign object and it was big). She was scheduled for surgery the next morning. In 2 hours surgery they removed a huge blockage from her stomach and had to make 6 additional incisions to various portions of her small intestine to remove more compacted material. The material seems to be bits of string and fabric from a fluffy blanket she loves to sleep on. That blanket is now in the trash and we are changing her bedding and toys to ensure this doesn't happen again. The vet says she could have had this in her for months and it all of the sudden just got stuck in the wrong place.

Lucky there was very little necrotic tissue but they still had to remove 10mm of her small intestine. There were multiple bruises found in her intestine and they had to essentially unravel the intestines and straighten them out. Due to the extent of the damage and intensive surgery they removed an outer lining of her stomach and wrapped the intestines with it to help them heal. I forget what the doctor said it was but I guess it is rich in nutrients and regenerates itself readily so it will grow around the stomach again with no problems. The intestinal motility looked good after it was unraveled so it looks to be functional.

I was able to visit Olive the last night for about an hour and she was all doped up but looked very healthy (this was the sad photo listed below) in the face. Her ribs, spine and pelvic bone were still protruding out as they were when we brought her in but she literally has no body fat on her and has had no actual nutrients for days. They had her wrapped up in heavy blankets to maintain her body temperature. They also still had her on a potassium drip and her levels were stabilized at that point and her perfusion and capillary refill are where they should be. She was chuck full of antibiotics due to the surgery and of course, the fact that they had to cut her GI tact and expose the rest of her body to potential bacteria. They had her on some really strong pain meds so she was pretty out of it. She tried to make sounds every now and again but was still very weak. She also has about a 3.5 inch suture on her abdomen.

Continued (in my words)
I would call the vet to check on her and they would tell me that she was very quiet and looked very sad. Okay.. the worst thing they could tell me was that she looked "sad" ~ that broke my heart!!

Luckily the day following the big surgery... they felt it was okay to release Olive to come home!!
The first night home was a little scary, but day after day she's getting stronger and stronger.

The cutest thing is that I have dress her up in little night shirts so she doesn't lick her stitches....(she's the most darling lil patient ever!)

Thank you to everyone who cared enough to ask about her... I really appreciate it... and now I'm officially terrified to have "real children" :)

To Blog or Not to Blog???

So...it's Saturday Morning in the Starr Bungalow.....

I call it a Bungalow because our "condo" is actually on the second floor and is on a corner~ so we have all kinds of windows with huge trees surrounding us and an awesome view of the lake. I call it a "condo" because we do actually own it... although in today's market I'm not sure we'll ever be able to sell it.....oh well it's perfect for us right now.

So it's Saturday........... and the only thing I have planned for this entire weekend is going to see "Mary Poppins" the musical with my mom this afternoon at Gammage.

Justin on the other hand has loads of homework and is photographing a wedding tonight.

I've debated how to continue blogging? More recently I've switched from my "virtual" scrapbook style of blogging to a more journalistic approach..... not sure it just kind of happened.. Which is okay I guess....although I'm a big fan of keeping consistent "themes".

The other thing I struggle with is... not a ton of my friends blog, a few do... but not a bunch. I go on other people's blogs and it seems like they have a ton of friends who blog ~ and I think how awesome is that.. they can see photos from all the fun things going on in their friends lives.....

Me on the other hand, wonders do my friends keep in touch with me less because they see my blog and know what's going on in my life??? If that is truly the case then I will stop this crazy blogging addiction today my friends!

I'm just really concerned that people are turning to technology to keep up with their relationships more and more.... especially with facebook and texting...

ONE of my BIGGEST PET PEEVES....is people who simply shoot off a text or post a comment to someone one their birthday!!! Okay sure, if it's truly just an acquaintance that you maybe talk to once in a great while... I guess that's okay .... but if it's really a true friend or family member that you actually care about deeply ... pick up the phone (remember the phone?) and CALL THEM! I've been guilty of doing this myself, but I'm going to really challenge myself to keep in touch with people less electronically and more face to face or by phone.

In the meantime, I'm still debating..... as to whether I shall continue to blog or not....

Really not sure where this blog started or ended today....just random Saturday morning thoughts before coffee. (maybe that's my problem)

My Ollie Dollie.......

After two nights in the doggie hospital, my little one is home now.....no time to blog ~ I must go cuddle her back to good health. More later...

Poor Baby.....

Well, after a busy and exhausting weekend.... yesterday we had to admit our baby Olive into the doggie hospital. She began throwing up a 3pm on Monday and didn't stop until we were able to get her into to the vet at 3:30pm yesterday. By that time she was super skinny,very weak.... just heartbreaking.

Once the vet saw her she gasped and said that there was something very wrong with Olive and that she needed an IV right away. The vet explained to us that it could be many different things.... and that they would have to do xrays and blood work and that Olive would need to stay overnight.

After a long and tearful drive home, we finally got the call from the vet at about 6:30 last night, explaining that she's 98% sure that Olive has a foreign object in her belly.......so right now as I type my little one is in surgery. Poor baby........she's only 8 lbs, so I'm worried about her. Puppy Prayers.

Cake and Flower Parade....

Late night blogging/or should I say early morning...... sometimes when I can't sleep and my head is spinning I turn to the blogging ~ the creative release usually helps me go back to sleep.

Tonight/this morning is one of those times..... I'm getting really excited for my Grandma & Grandpas upcoming 60th Wedding Anniversary Party on Sunday ~ it's just so rare that a couple is able to celebrate such an amazing occasion, with all of their family and friends.

I've spent the last two weeks going through all their old photos, interviewing Grandma and Grandpa ~listening to all their funny stories, asking their children (my uncles, dad, aunt) to send in their favorite memories.... and it's just been such a wonderful experience. Life truly is about having fun and loving your family and friends unconditionally....and "building memories".

So...... back to blog of the morning, I thought I might share some cool photos of a recent event I went to. These photos are from the First Annual Cake & Flower Parade that took place at Inspirado in downtown Chandler. They created a competition to inspire local pastry chefs and florists to team up together and showcase a product based on the theme of "Marie Antoinette". Just an overall cool event and awesome concept............next year SweetPeas Floral and Events plans on competing in this! Stay tuned!