Dear Boutique Cafe Readers, thank you all for a wonderful fun-filled year! I hope you have enjoyed our Christmas Festival of Traditions & Tutorials – thank you to each of our special guests for making it happen! I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and Holidays filled with the love of family & friends. I know many of you are rushing around getting the last minute things done on your checklists, don’t forget to take a moment to soak in what really counts when you gather (and give yourselves a pat on the back!).

May you all feel the joy of the season, and your cups of couture will be overflowing with creativity in the New Year! From my family to yours I wish you the happiest holiday. XOXO - Daria

Oh my heavens! Wendy and Tyler of Blue Lily Photography came to Alberta before our move to The Island and we were able to snag a family photo session. I “patiently” awaited on our session for a year knowing that they would be coming to the Calgary area and we could finally meet in person and capture our family in photos.

On the day of the session it was crazy – we weren’t sure we could even make it in time driving up from Lethbridge. But made it we did, and in spite of reports of possible rain we had beautiful evening light. The only major issue were the millions of biting and nasty mosquitos threatening our very lives. I joked with Wendy that she would have to spend hours photoshopping them off of our faces.

Between the travel time, and the time of night our kids were crazy monster children ready to pounce. Lola wouldn’t stand still and was constantly escaping and running down the paths yelling “RUNNNNNNNN” Noah was freaking out about ants on his shoes, and Joshy and Brigs were trying to behave but couldn’t sit still or resist trying to parent the other kids. It was a gong-show comedy playing out right in front of my photography blog icon friends! I could die! Wendy in spite of all the chaos was cool, collected and darling – all the time telling me how precious my children were and how perfectly we were dressed. I love her!

Seeing the images today brought tears to my eyes. These are the last family pics of our family in Alberta, they are treasures to me. I love and stand in awe of how Wendy was able to capture such beautiful shots of our family. We love each other and she was able to get that, despite all of the chaos. I can’t tell you how much I recommend the Blue Lily experience, they are the travelling vagabond photographers who just might be in your neck of the woods next. I have many more images I couldn’t share on here, but I love them all – the shots of my individual children are beautiful too. Come over and I’ll show you all the shots! Thank you Wendy + Tyler – we loved being “Blue Lily-fied” and can’t wait to do it again. XOXO - Daria, Nathan and family

You can catch up with the photography and travels of Wendy + Tyler (and their adorable insanely well behaved children) at Blue Lily Photography Blog here>>
Join in the Blue Lily family of the happily photographed on their Facebook page here>>

Enjoy some of our family shots here:

Tomorrow is an exciting one that I’d love to share with all my Boutique Cafe buddies. I’ll be going to an ultrasound in the morning, and hoping to not only see a happy healthy little bundle – but also find out if we are expecting PINK OR BLUE!!

Obviously we’re hoping for PINK since we already have four strapping boys, and I’m severely outnumbered. But we’ll be thrilled either way, a baby is just such a beautiful blessing. So everyone stay tuned, and cross your fingers that our little baby will cooperate with the ultrasound tech and show themselves. LOL!

Cheers and thanks for your support and friendship! – Daria

Our dreams are coming true, Boutique Cafe is heading to California!! We’re going to be taping a Video podcast for Boutique Cafe at Disneyland next week!

I’ll be at the park next Tues, Wed, Thursday. If you’re going to be there with your kids, dress them in Boutique, we’ll be watching for you – I’d love to get them into the segment! If you’re a designer this would be a great way to showcase your designs in the happiest place on earth!

We hope to meet several of our Boutique Moms there, and your Disney-kids too!! If you’re going to be in the area, please leave me a comment below and I’ll email you my cell number so we can hook up at the Disneyland park.

See you there! – Daria

***Shhh Don’t tell my kids, they don’t know we’re going there yet!! hee hee

There’s a cool new company on the playground and they’re dishing out dinosaurs and other curious creatures with peculiar personality. Meet Playground Partisans, a business with tees for your entire family. Now there’s no excuse for Dad, Mom, Junior and your beloved dog Rover not to get in on the fun!

Being a Mom to four children, I can certainly attest to the draw of anything and everything dinosaur. Playground Partisans offers some of the most adorable and charming dino-rrific characters for your little tot to wear with pride. With character names like: Karl, Hildegard, Horst, Wolfgang and Dorthea you immediately will bond with your favorite new friend. I was especially drawn to Karl, a ferocious and friendly TRex, as well as Hildegard who looked so pretty and precocious riding on her bike.

The shirts are 100% cotton, and are sturdy quality tees. Playground Partisans offers baby sizes from 6-24 months, Toddler sizes from 3t-7t. They also offer matching Karl tees for men and women. If you’d like to see how other dino-lovers are sporting their tees, you can stop by their customer photos page.

Playground Partisans would make a tremendous gift for your family and friends with abounding personality! – Daria

**GIVEAWAY – Playground Partisans is offering an adorable Hildegard tee in yellow size 3 for one of our readers. To enter simply leave a comment and tell us “Who your Favorite Playground Partisans Character is” . Please include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: July 10, 2008 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen. miss this!