Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

That's What Friends Are For - Using Their Stuff

Monday, July 23, 2012



Last summer Ellie asked our friend Dayna if she could have her birthday party in Dayna's rockin' awesome backyard that has a pool, tire swing, and tree house. Dayna, of course, said yes, but I was having a lame-o summer so I never actually got around to it. Both those colored parts have links about those stories.


On a side note, Dayna was such a good friend last summer (my bummer summer of depression). She kept offering to bake the cake and get a pinata and all I would have to do was get Ellie and some friends there. But, ack, it was impossible! I also remember a day when she called and asked me to go to the gym and then have lunch with her and I said, "um, I don't really want to do that," because I was too out of it to even come up with a good/polite excuse. But we both laughed and she loved me anyway and let us have the party this year. Which was better anyway because - DOUBLE DIGITS!


Ellie turned 10! My baby! 10!  I don't know why I'm yelling except that this is very weird...only one more year of elementary school to go.


The party was perfect. Dayna busted out her chocolate fountain which was a giant hit. Turns out ten year old girls lu-huv giving themselves chocolate beards and mustaches. 
They swam and posed and posed and swam.


Dayna was having escargot for lunch (I know, right?) so I called all of the girls over to watch her take a bite. Other parties have magicians for entertainment.
I do hope she doesn't care that I post this picture. Take in their faces.



It was such a nice party, if you have a friend with a great backyard I totally recommend this route.

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Pretty Little Tea Party

Monday, July 16, 2012

Begin with dessert!
Once I wrote about my obsession love of dishes. It's a thing I tell you. And apparently I've given it to my daughters. All three of them have insisted on hosting tea parties primarily for the joy of setting a beautiful table. We are not really showing off, we just love our dishes so much that we want to share them (temporarily of course, if a guest tried to take one we'd hissy)and having a party gives us the perfect excuse to get those lovely china cups and plates out and play with them. Here is the post from when Ellie had her party.


And for her 19th birthday Maddie wanted to have her own soiree. Having raised children as food motivated as I am I shouldn't have been surprised that the menu she put together was a little fussy. 


I spent the morning making cucumber sandwiches with spreadable Swiss cheese and prosciutto, puff pastry bites with salami, Dijon, and baby lettuce, egg salad sandwiches with bacon and avocado, and goat cheese triangles with toasted pecans and red pepper jelly. It was fun. And I didn't have to help Marc and Jonathan scrape and patch the house in preparation for our big paint project. Poor Jonathan, he kept begging to come help me.


Pictures!
  
I have a lot of cups and saucers and Maddie had a good dilemma choosing which ones to use. 


Here she is with her cute friends.
And with Louie, who we are babysitting for three weeks.
It was so fun planning and executing this with her. My talents are not in the preforming arena (AT ALL) and doing this with her felt like passing down something I'm good at and maybe teaching her at the same time. Because throwing a great tea party is a relevant life skill, no?  

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Hooray for Tassel Mania!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010


I got lots of stuff for my birthday; 40, it's a biggie. Let me tell me, I mean you, about one of my favorites. Once upon a time at night, Marc and I were snuggling and when he asked what I wanted I bounced up and down in bed and exclaimed "TASSEL SUPPLIES!"

Like on a graduation cap?" he asked quizzically.

"NO! Like The Nester makes!" I said with more bounce.

"Will this be expensive?" he wondered.

"If it was cheap I wouldn't be asking for it for my birthday," I admitted.

So tra la la I got to go buy tassel supplies and the paramount tassel supply that is The Nester's downloadable e-book, "The Ultimate Tassel Guide." (Don't be jealous; just go get it. It's only ten bucks.)

And here's what I made! So much fun. I gave two to Paigy when I went to visit and they look so fine in her house.

So I can't show you how to do it online cause I don't want to steal from my best friend who doesn't know me whatsoever (Nester), but if we are in person friends come on over and we will play tassel-Yea! I can't wait!

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She's Just Seventeen

Monday, August 2, 2010


I left something super important out of my last post. While we were in Palm Desert Maddie turned 17! Frankly, I find this remarkable. How can someone as obviously young and fresh as I have a 17 year old? Two words...child bride.

Also, Maddie, you are as delicious today as the day you were born. Here's why:

1. You smell good, that's always been important to me.
2. You value a good book and have a (very) willing suspension of disbelief.
3. You don't know the difference between pot and marijuana!
4. You have a tender heart and love your friends.
5. You stand for truth and righteousness with determination.
6. You manage our home quite well for such a short person.
7. I like the way you dance.
8. You know how to save money; weird.
9. You appreciate good food like a Fosse.
10. You are stronger than you look, sweet daughter!

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It's Like a Disease

Sunday, February 7, 2010



Is it too early to start obsessing, I mean thinking, about my birthday? Marc is painting a picture for me and I am so excited!

He told me he didn't want to be in the picture but he's so cute when he's painting me a present that I just sort of sneaked him in there.

Just so I don't forget, I also want some lovely stained glass stars for my kitchen window...
and I've wanted the sketchers since WAY before the Super bowel. But now I want them even more.

Awhile ago TAMN did a post on how lame it is to post about what you want on your blog. Forgive me, I have a birthday illness.


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Happy Birthday Dad

Saturday, January 30, 2010


All that talk about bacon made you want to see a picture of my Dad at his party didn't it?


Here you go!

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Bye Bye Bacon

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Recently my Mom made bacon wrapped meatloaf for Sunday dinner. Don't turn your health-conscious-low-fat nose up; if you had walked through her door and smelled that meatloaf you would have been powerless to resist too.


My Dad was so powerless in fact that he asked for it again for his birthday. With homemade macaroni and cheese. Geez!
That bacon is STRONG I tell you what.

It tasted so yummy that when I accidentally (yes it was so an accident!) saw a recipe on allrecipes.com for bacon wrapped roast chicken I just went right ahead and made it, cholesterol be damned. And then I had broccoli bacon salad at my Dad's birthday party. Three times.

Friends, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I have a problem...

It's time to move away from the bacon.

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Easy Peasy Birthday Banner

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Friday with Marc out of town + four diet cokes + upcoming birthday party = uncontrollable need to make a birthday banner at nine o'clock at night!

And the bonus is I have something for DIY Thursday!

DIY Day @ ASPTL

So instead of doing any chore type items which I hate anyway, I decided I could make a Mary Engelbreit-ish birthday banner out of leftover fabric scraps and, I'll be honest, fabric I'd purchased for projects that I never got to.It was a great idea! Totally fun, fast, and rewarding. I imagined that I invented this from my own pretty little head, but when I googled "fabric birthday banner" It turns out I had not. There are LOTS of ideas out there.

My idea was to sew a little, use wonder under a lot, and hot glue everything else. Worked like a charm. Check it out.

I stole some wonder under from Dayna (thanks!) and just free hand drew the letters on the paper part. Remember to reverse them.I layered the batting between the front and back pieces, pinned them together, cut an edge with pinking shears, and sewed around the edge. Nothing is particularly straight or perfect but I was more interested in fast than perfect for this project.

The last step was to lay all the pieces out on my kitchen table and glue them to this piece of ric rac (is that what it's called?) and to glue on bits of pom pom trim and a few buttons. TA-DA! I am thoroughly impressed.

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A Birthday Princess

Monday, July 6, 2009


Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Ellie's 7th Birthday
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I can't believe I haven't posted pictures from Ellie's birthday! Someone slap my hand.

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It's So My Party

Thursday, May 21, 2009

So I'm just going to own right up to my dorkiness and tell you that I love my birthday. Even though I am way past the point where getting older gets you anything good like dates or voting or being able to sit in bars.

I love it when my friends take me to lunch (Jan and Leslie), or drop off gifts (Heytar), or meet me at Chick-fil-a (Paige). I think I am so fancy special that my family pretty much has to treat me like the birthday princess for the whole week. Is this unattractive in someone my age? Don't answer that; I'm not changing.

This is super extra dorky silly...I was a little worried that since I haven't been in California very long, my birthday might be a little lean. I mean, I haven't been here long enough for everyone to really grasp the very specialness of my birthday. And I obviously can't tell people (except Marc, I tell him all kinds of stuff). They have to just know.

But it has not been lean; it has been GREAT! I have been LOVED. I am so lucky!

On Wednesday my sweet friend Katie had me over for a beautiful lunch on her resort like patio and served black bean soup, tomato and mozzarella salad, sandwiches, and (whisper) chocolate. She inspired me with her excitement to home school her daughter with Aspergers and her dedication to figuring out this fun, creative, girl's "puzzle". She reminded me what a blessing it is to be a mother.

Then yesterday I spent the day with my very own "mom-lette." Sweet! We had lunch in Berkley with my Dad, and we completely explored Tuesday Morning and came away with new area rugs for our family rooms...and yes, mine was a present. I know; I am shameless.

And today the darling Dayna and I will be volunteering for Civil War Day at the middle school, but she called earlier in the week to tell me that it would also be our birthday date! Yes!

And FINALLY, the smalls and Marc have promised me the Saturday of my dreams. Here's what it entails: clean patio, clean car, clean kitchen chairs, and clean family room windows. Yes, you can totally copy me when it's your birthday. In fact, I hope I can help make yours as delightful as mine!

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