Rainbow baby shower

I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend Sarah last weekend. A twins baby shower. Because a baby shower isn't cute enough.

We did a rainbow theme, because she saw a rainbow before her IVF success.... success after round 4. Yep, this was the most deserving baby shower ever.

Now, on to the details...

The food:

The cake (yep, a rainbow cake):

And most importantly, on to the decorations. We wanted to make the decor practical, so we did rainbow-themed banners with onesies, socks and bibs.

For the guest book, we used the super cute book "What Makes a Rainbow?"

And a shower wouldn't be complete without a diaper cake (or two):

The hostesses + mom to be:

The shower was a blast. And I can't wait to meet the twins!

*Photos by Brooke German Photography*

The separation of church and state

Hehe. Not really. I just wanted to picture all my readers thinking "@$%@$^%@" all at once.

The title does hold some relevance though. I've debated about doing a family blog for awhile, and well, it's time to divide and conquer.

I want a place to post tons of pictures of Audrey, show off her wardrobe, store videos and talk Westies. I don't want to do that on Decorating Obsessed, because that's not what you guys signed up for. But that is what The Miller Project will be about – a photo/caption type of blog about the Miller household.

So what does this mean for the Decorating Obsessed reader? Absolutely nothing. Decorating Obsessed will still be for design and entertaining, as well as my health and the occasional family update. There will be a post crossover from time to time, but that's as exciting as it gets.

Just wanted to let everyone know.

Now carry on.  :)

My 30th: Part 3 – Cape Cod

My fascination of Cape Cod started with Nantucket in middle school. Instead of Snapple, my cafeteria served Nantucket Nectar. I would faithfully drink one each lunch period and learn a fact about Nantucket on the inside of the bottle cap.

Since then, my fascination with Cape Cod and my love of lighthouses has grown to an unhealthy amount.

Oh, and I'm happy to report that I saw 13 lighthouses this trip. Eeek!

Day 3

Our hotel was in Dennis. The logic was being, it was in the center or Cape Cod – so it'd be easy to get to everything. This was great in theory...unless you fall madly in love with Provincetown and spend all free time driving the hour to get there.

We stayed at The Breakers Resort, and it was rather fabulous. I went the cheap route and booked the studio apartment, which came with a kitchenette, balcony, fireplace and jet tub. The only downside was the murphy bed.

We did score a front room, with a view of the ocean.

Then we started our lighthouse road trip to Provincetown (and I fell in love). Let me explain. Massachusetts is basically all woods, because of this, you see nothing from the highway but trees. But once you reach Provincetown, everything opens up and you see this amazingly tall monument and it's just so beautiful (but more on that later).

That afternoon we walked halfway down the water break:

And walked Herring Cove Beach at sunset:

By the time we got back into the car, it was dark. We drove past the mysteriously tall object, which turned out to be the Pilgrim Monument, and then headed back to Dennis. There, we chilled on our balcony and enjoyed some local beer.

Day 4

We took a high-speed ferry to Nantucket from Hyannis. While high-speed is more expensive, you'll save an hour each way – so worth the money in my opinion.

When we got to Nantucket, I'm pretty sure I was glowing. My first view was this:

Followed by this:

Yep, this was exactly how I pictured it.

We did the senior citizen thing again, and took a 90-minute bus tour. I'm so happy we did, because there's really not an easy way to get around the island...plus we got to see an amazing lighthouse The tour guide was a Nantucket native, and we learn lots of fun facts about Nantucket, such as residents only have 12 exterior paint color options.

Once back to the Cape Cod mainland, we enjoyed another beach/lighthouse at sunset.

That night I tried to finalize our plans for the following morning. We were supposed to explore the west side of Cape Cod, but all I could think about was Provincetown and that amazing monument, and how great it would be to see again. I talked about the monument enough that I'm pretty sure Brent knew the question I was going to ask before I even knew what I was getting at.

Day 5

That morning we drove to Provincetown...again. I'm pretty sure I was giddy to entire drive, but how could you not be when the trees open up and this is your view:

I find the Pilgrim Monument to be completely unexpected, and that's why I find it so amazing. Provincetown is this old-school looking town with white churches and whatnot, and then there's this giant castle-looking tower. It doesn't fit in at all. It's eerily beautiful. Even now, I'm completely mesmorized by it.

Because my pictures don't do it enough justice.

This monument is 238 feet of fabulousness, and it's worth the exhausting journey to the top.

I didn't want to leave Provincetown. Thankfully, I got distracted quickly by the thought of our upcoming lighthouse tour in Truro.

And then on to the lighthouses in Wellfleet:

And then it was on to Martha's Vineyard, where we stayed overnight. We stayed at Harbor View. I don't think I'll ever forget that hotel. It was my happy place.

Even better? It's across from the lighthouse.

Yep, I was in heaven.

Aside from a nice dinner out at Seafood Shanty, Brent and I spent our time relaxing at either the lighthouse or our hotel's giant wrap-around porch.

Day 6

We had to jump back on the ferry at 10 a.m., so we made the most of our morning by watching the sunrise.

Once in Falmouth, we visited one last lighthouse.

And then it was time to head back to Boston.

I can't say enough good things about this trip. I especially love Cape Cod, and already have dreams of going back.

My 30th: Part 2 – Plymouth

Day 3

The original plan was to drive to Salem and then Plymouth, before heading to Cape Cod. Sadly, time wasn't on our side – so several days prior, I decided to cut out Salem, since it was out of the way.

Brent and I were only in Plymouth for several hours, but it was a fun detour and worth checking out. Plus, it let us get our history geek on.

We went to the Jabez House, which is the only house left in the US that pilgrims actually lived in.

And of course, there's the Mayflower replica:

And Plymouth rock (aka: the hardest thing in the world to get a picture of because of all the shadows):

Plymouth is the type of place I want to take Audrey once she's older. It's filled with history, touristy fun and beautiful beaches.

My 30th: Part 1 – Boston

I pretty much started focusing on my 30th birthday right after I got sick.

Pre-heart condition, I always pictured spending my 30th around friends while having my own version of Brent's beer-tasting party. But that all changed. I quickly developed a "bucket-list mentality" and knew the best thing for me was to just get away.

Brent left the location completely up to me. I think that's why it took me 5 months to finalize it. I told Brent we were definitely going to the west coast – the debate being between Portland or Seattle. Then one day I changed my mind and never looked back.

Boston and Cape Cod were what I needed.

DAY 1

In Boston, we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Chinatown. We did this because we had Marriott points. Even if it wasn't free though, it was a great hotel and walking distance to a lot of things – including several subway stations.

Once unpacked, the first thing we did was leave Boston and take the red line over to Cambridge to see Harvard. Brent and I are a sucker for a college campus – the older the better, so this destination was a given. The campus was beautiful, and we loved the Cambridge Square area.

We ate burgers at Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage, which was feature on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. (Wherever Brent and I go, we always go to at least one DDD restaurant). I had The People's Republic of Cambridge:

Then we went to a Red Sox game. I know it's blasphemy, but I'm not a baseball fan. That said, I love baseball stadiums. And going to Fenway during their 100th anniversary was a once in a lifetime experience.

Our hotel was across the street from Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery. We stopped there for a night cap (aka: try all their beers. The pumpkin was the winner.

DAY 2

I know it's an old person thing, but I love a good tour – and since today was my birthday, Brent couldn't deny me. If you're not in a city for long – it's the best way to see all the sights. We did the Hop On, Hop Off Trolley Tour, and it was worth the $34.95. As suggested, we did the entire tour once and then hopped off the second time at the stops that intrigued us.

We went to Charleston to see the U.S.S. Constution:

The Holocaust Memorial:

Back to Cambridge to see MIT:

Enjoyed cupcakes in Antique Row:

Had several beers at the Cheers bar:

 Saw the shortest suspension bridge:

And hung out with the duck statues in the Public Gardens:

The tour also included a free harbor cruise:

That night, Brent and I had dinner at Giacomos. I found this Italian restaurant on Yelp – with more than 700 reviews – it maintained a 4.5 star rating. How can you say no to that? Brent declared the cesaer salad as the best he's ever had. The crab cakes with corn salsa were fabulous, as was my lobster ravioli was cream sauce. I'm drooling was thinking about that meal.

This is the part of the story where I played "good wife" and we went to a sports bar to watch the rest of the Kansas State game. As a Kansas grad and someone who finds football boring, this was my least favorite part of the trip. Since KSU beat Oklahoma though, this is one of Brent's favorite parts of the trip. Sigh.

Day 3

We were in our rented Jetta by 10 and ready to start the next leg of our journey...Plymouth.