WEEK 8- It's HERE!

Well friends,

IT. IS. PARTY TIME!!!

So, week 8 is here... what does that mean??

{besides stress, panic, mania}

Time to throw a backyard carnival!!

Let's see what week 8 included:

First off, a few last minute tasks--

1.  Make a banner

{did I mention I was REALLY happy my aunts were in town this week?!}

I decided a ripped-fabric banner would suit the antique carnival theme.  I scrounged up all of the coordinating fabric I had in the appropriate colors.  Next, rip 2 inch strips and fold in half.  Then tie along a hemp string.  [I tied mine between 2 chairs to make the tying part easier]  To give it a random look, I allowed my four-year-old to take part in the festivities- nothing says random like a 4-year-old!  Perfection!

Lastly, bake/make/assemble the cupcakes.

{fyi: fried twinkies are super easy to make!}

Last minute drop: cake pops... when time gets show, the list gets shorter!

So, after all of that cramming, backing, crafting and buying... here is what we came up with!!

Party styling: Looky Loo 

Photography: Looky Loo Photography

Printables: Scribbles

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is:

BOSTON'S EXTRAORDINARY, FANTABULOUS, AMAZING

3RD BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!

WELL, What do you think??!

Fabulous or Fail??

What was your favorite part?

Did you feel the carnival??

What would you do differently? 

Thank you so much for taking this journey with me- I hope the party was all you hoped and dreamed it would be- my son sure loved it! :)

Whew- over and done- I had a BLAST!!

Here's Looking at YOU!

xoxo,

LooWho

Party Planning WEEK 7... delegate and accept

Hello party people!!

So, this has become the most dragged out party of the century- sorry!!

But, we are getting SO CLOSE to the big reveal {tomorrow}

This week, we are getting down to the wire- crunch time, with the party ONE WEEK AWAY!

Recap:

Week 1:

Theme {circus/carnival}

Location {grandpa's ranch}

Colors {red, gold, and blue}

Week 2:

Budget {$250-strict}

Inventory {I have way too much stuff}

Activities {super fun games}

Week 3:

Food {hot dogs}

Cupcake List {4 delish carnival-inspired choices}

Week 4:

Semi Homemade {buy carnival stuff from amazon}

Week 5:

Invitations {Scribbles}

Week 6:

Birthday Shoot {adorable, if I do say so myself}

Carnie Assignments {you know you want to!}

Now, on to WEEK 7!!

Whew, we have a lot done, but we still have a LONG way to go!  And, I have to get everything I need and everything prepped, because I have a reunion to go to during week 8!  YIKES!  Doesn't summer just get SOO crazy-hectic!!

speaking of reunion, I thought I'd show you the crazy bunch I come from.  Jk, they're adorable and I love them to pieces- seriously, I have the best family!  Don't believe me- well, check out those sweet flower children- {necessity to maintain their privacy}.. so, when I offered to take a pic sans my lovely girls- you know, in case they aren't apart of our family in the future, just trying to help everyone feel comfortable- well, they not only refused but were revolted by the idea- "WHAT, no matter what happens, they are apart of our family NOW!"  Hence the flowers, because my family is so awesome I was not allowed to take another pic minus the girls.  Oh, and don't even get me started on all of the blankets and goodies they brought for them- see, AMAZING!  Sorry, folk, they are taken! ;)

This is when you need to swallow your pride and DELEGATE and ACCEPT.  Delegate simple tasks and, by all means, if someone offers to help- TAKE IT!

First task for week 7 that's being delegated:

decorate tin cans for the baseball throw.

I wanted the tin cans mod podged with some coordinating paper (bought at michael's- 5/$1).  I put my stepmom in charge of this, which she happily accepted.

Great- one less thing to worry about! :)

Second task: Beverage Station

via [tutorial]

My kind brother-in-law saw that I pinned this and OFFERED TO MAKE IT FOR ME!

YES, PLEASE!

This is one of those things that I thought was really cute- but, if I was short on time, was definitely going to get knocked off of the list of "to-do's!"  So I was VERY grateful that he offered to make it for me!!  Now, all I had to do was buy some soda and accessories to fill it with- thank you, Target, soda- 12 packs were 4/$12 and I found cute, cheap napkins and cups at Wal Mart- done and done!

Speaking of shopping, the time came to get ALL of my shopping done.  Leaving only the details for week 8.  First, I went through my cupcake list, and found all of the lacking ingredients, then the decor list, and finally the random list- you know, fishing wire, red and white string, etc.

After buying all of my last-minute necessities, this was the break-down:

cupcake goods: $45
{cake boxes, lemon flavoring, marshmellow fluff, twinkies.. the usg}

Other Food: $30
(buns, soda, fruit, animal crackers)
__________________________
$75

Which, from our $82 left over, gave us a whopping $7 remaining in the food budget.

For the decor/extra: $42
{string, root beer bottles, small fish bowls, ping pong balls, etc}

Which, from our $82.77 we had, left us with 40.77

I'm not very good with having left over money- so, I took myself down to our local antique shop, REMINESCE (obsessed), and found a cute vintage tool box in blue ($15) and an old little red ladder ($20).  Which brought the remainder down to 5.77.  Enough to grab a couple bags of ice on our way to the party! :)

With the remainder from the food money, I printed up some cute pictures of Boston for party decor.

Done and done- all that was left was assembly- no big deal, right?!?!

Well, tune in tomorrow to see the last minute preps

AND

The blog reveal of

BOSTON'S SPECTACULAR 3RD BIRTHDAY CARNIVAL CELEBRATION!!!

As for now,

Here's looking at YOU!

xoxo,
LooWho

Just Another Manic MONDAY MUST!

Well, hello there friends!

This is not your average Monday!

Something BIG is happening!  What, you ask??

I'm getting to it- you don't want to ruin the suspense, DO YOU!?

First off, this week I came across a lovely quote I thought was appropriate to share today:

 "Friends...they cherish one another's hopes. They are kind to one another's dreams."
~Henry David Thoreau

This is absolutely how I feel about friends and dreams.  It happens to be one of the thoughts behind MONDAY MUST!  To share with you my friends and help lift up their dreams!  Nobody can reach success alone, we all need each other.  And, the thing about dreams is, there is PLENTY of room in the airy-neverland that houses our inner-most desires for all of them!  

This is a wonderful transition point where I can introduce you to MY friend:

Mrs Alissa Bright.

This lovely author is the star of the show on this lovely Monday Must!

What did she do that is so MUST-WORTHY to find itself on my blog?? (because we are pretty exclusive over here...)

Oh, nothing, just write an AMAZING book that hit the electronic shelves TODAY!

Were you one of those people who was YEARS behind the times when it came to Twilight, Hunger Games, and every other trendy series???  Had everyone around you "read it YEARS ago!!"  (I hear that every time I read a book- who cares!?)  Well, this time, YOU can be ahead of the trend- heck YOU can start the trend!  Grab the book, read it, love it, and tell everyone about it!

Like the cover picture? Thanks, I did that! {shameless plug for myself, check}

So, where might one buy said book you ask?

Simple, I've got the link RIGHT HERE for you!

Your MONDAY MUST-READ this week is HALE'S STORM by Alissa Bright

Let's take a quick peek at the author before you go running off to buy your copy- because I know you are!

Don't you just love her??  

Get the inside scoop about the book from the author herself AND enter to win your own SIGNED copy, HERE!  

So, what do you think of the book so far?

Do you have an Monday Must-Reads for me??

Thank you for stopping by-

Here's Looking At YOU!

xoxo,

LooWho

FOTO FRIDAY! And, a WINNER!

Hello Friends!!

How is your summer going??!

I CANNOT believe that July is almost at an end! :(

Hopefully you have enjoyed every sun-shiney morsel so far!!

We sure have: TONS of swimming, water-parking, reunion-ing, fair time, concerts, oh and taking pictures- OF COURSE!

Before I show you more pictures, let me back up--- wasn't there some sort of CONTEST going on??

Oh, ya, some SUPER special person has won themselves a FREE Looky Loo Photoshoot!

Gosh, how exciting!

First, I would like to thank everyone for participating!!  We had SUCH an outpouring of love on the blog and fan page this passed week, it's been lovely!

Without further ado, the winner of this years TUNE INTO JUNE photoshoot is....

ALISSA BRIGHT!!!

{applause}

{more applause}

Ok, ok... you get the idea, I'm pretty pumped!!

Didn't win?  Don't worry your little head too much, we like to keep things hoppin' around here and try to have frequent giveaways, so make sure you're following the blog and the fan page and stay tuned for more fun stuff in the months ahead.

ALSO, getting a great deal is the NEXT best thing.. so be sure and book your shoots NOW, because starting August 1st, our rates are going up... read more about that, here.

Now, on to more exciting things...

If you've been following the blog for a while, then you know that each year I like to pick a senior rep to be the face of Looky Loo for my senior clients.  

This year, I decided to kick it up a notch.

Not just one rep, BUT THREE- one from each of the local high schools.

And, not just a photoshoot, but hair and make-up AND an outfit AND brag cards.

Holy moly, these girls got the royal senior treatment!  We had a BLAST working together and I am SO excited to show you what we did.

This week, I'm focusing on MISS ATASCADERO.  She will be the face of my timeline on the fan page, have her own Senior Mag cover shot AND is the star of today's FOTO FRIDAY.

Without further ado, 

Representing Looky Loo this year, we have

MISS ATASCADERO:

hair/make-up: Jackie 

styling: LooWho of Looky Loo

There are SO many fun trends out right now, I could have gone in a million different directions!  To narrow down my choices, I consulted with Kelly, from messydirtyhair- a fashion guru.  I asked her for her 3 favorite trends RIGHT now.  I then let each girl pick a trend from the list and off I went to shop.  The girls didn't get to see their outfits (clothing and shoes) until the day of the shoot--- talk about pressure!  Can you imagine showing up to your senior portraits not knowing what you're going to wear?!  I love these girls and am so grateful for the good sports they were with the whole process.  To top it off, they each LOVED the outfits I bought.. WHEW!

Trend #1 that Kelly gave me was: Lace

I got Miss Atascadero a jean jacket with a fun lace cut-out in the back.  I matched it with a fun and flirty polka dot dress and  some super-cute tan shoes.  The perfect outfit for looking girly with a little edge!

Do you like it?

Don't worry, as you can see from the pictures, we also had another outfit put together from their own closet that we put together during their consultation, so if I was a total fail, they were safe! ;)

Thank you for stopping by the blog- be sure and give Miss Atascadero some love this week!  And, if you're looking to book with Looky Loo- BOOK TODAY!  Spots are filling up quickly!

As always,

Here's Looking at YOU!

xoxo,

LooWho

Looky Loo UPDATES!!

Happy Saturday, Loves!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, so far!!  

As for me, I'm blogging and sprucing up my garage (I do not want it to get back to chaos, so I spend some time each month to make sure things get put in their proper place!)

First up, the winner of the bow ties...

DEBBIE FLOOD!!!

{applause}

Congrats!!  I will email you shortly to see what colors you want your new bow ties in! :)  

Thank you to everyone who has been participating in our giveaways so far!!  I look forward to this every year and really take a lot of time to think about what fun things I will give my fans!  I love you guys and am so grateful for the business you have helped me create!!!  A business is only as great as your fans, and, thanks to you, I think Looky Loo is pretty great! {if I do say so myself}

While we're on the subject of giveaways, I want to clarify a few things, it seems some people are having a hard time  with the new rafflecopter!

1.  just follow the links- they will lead you to the places

2.  If you already follow me on that media, that counts and it will let you have the points

3.  To follow the blog, head up to the top of the page and hit "join this site."  You have to follow publicly, otherwise I can't tell and you don't get credit for it.  If you're curious, just click on followers and if you don't see your name there, then you haven't followed.

4.  To leave a blog comment, go to the bottom of the post (just a couple paragraphs lower), and comment in the big white box.  You don't have to answer the question I asked- you can just tell me how much you love Looky Loo, but you have to leave a comment to get the points.

I check the entries and erase points that haven't been earned, so that everything is honest and fair.  Obviously, the more items you complete, the more points you have and the more likely you are to win. Although flattery gets you everywhere, I am not in charge of choosing the winner- rafflecopter keeps track of all the entries and chooses a random winner.  {finally, something off of my plate}

Now, onto more business updates..

As each year rolls around (June is what we consider to be our anniversary month), I take the time to re-evaluate the business, go over our assets, the amount of shoots we do, and take inventory on our goals and accomplishments.  With this information, I am able to assess how we are doing, where we need to improve and what changes need to be made.  I also contemplate A TON about our current pricing and how it reflects the time and money we put into the business.  

It's never fun to raise prices, but, alas, it is a necessity for a growing business.

However, I always like to give the opportunity to my clients to book at the current rates before they jump up!  {good news!}

So, as of August 1st, we will have a whole new price point, be offering amazing new packages and changing pretty much every session we offer.  We want to offer you the BEST!

With that being said, you have 11 DAYS to book at our current rates!  You can book up to a year in advance.  Payment is full is due at the time of booking to ensure your spot and rate.  You can even just buy a gift certificate if you're not sure on the exact day, but you know which shoot you want.

Keep in mind that August is almost completely booked, with only ONE remaining Saturday open and only TWO weekday shoots available.  Starting in September I will be limited to only Friday and Saturday shoots as El Jeffe starts his masters program.  THESE WILL GO FAST, so booking early will not only ensure a better rate, but will ensure a spot in our busy schedule!

We love all of our wonderful clients and hope to see all of your smiling faces this fall!!  I can't tell you how lucky I feel that such amazing people decide to hire us- it really is a privilege to be apart of your lives, even if only 1 hour!

**Don't forget about our FREE shoot giveaway going on here!**

Before I sign off, I will leave you with some pictures, since that is what we do around here! :)

Enjoy!

Here's Looking at YOU!

xoxo,

LooWho