Cinco de Mayo for a Birthday!

I'm slowly working on assembling a photo book of Javi's first year, and I'm enjoying browsing through the pictures I took last year. As I was working on <Javi - Five months old>, I found these pictures from the birthday party we hosted for our friend Yesi last May. Her birthday is the 4th, but we went with a Mexican theme because she loves Mexican  food. Of course, once I was out shopping, I realized that it was Cinco de Mayo, and the perfect time to host a Mexican party! We decked out the dining room, blasted mariachi music, and had a wonderful time.



The centerpiece, made from a thrifted basket, fresh flowers, peppers and a pineapple, and fake carnations. So happy!



Yesi is a private gal, so I'll just show you the decor, and let you imagine the house full of her friends celebrating her very special day.



Our picnic blanket is an awesome old Bolivian blanket, and it worked perfectly as the tablecloth. All of our Culoare Zi decorations came in handy, I pulled out the string lights and paper lanterns, along with every other festive tablecloth and candleholder we had. The more the merrier!



We had faux carnations for all the girls to put in their hair - so fun! I also had every intention of making mustaches for all the guys, but alas, ran out of time. Maybe next time!



The margarita station was a big hit - and I'll always laugh at the memory of Yesi and her mom arguing over whether rum is an alcohol or not. Her mom insisted it wasn't - and who am I to argue with a feisty Cuban grandma? :)



The dollar store had these mariachi hats for... you guessed it... a dollar, so I picked up several and hung them up around the room - so simple and easy.

One of my favorite things that we did at the party was a tradition passed on by my friend Andrea. We went around the room and shared one of our favorite things about the birthday girl (and wrote them down so she would remember!). A birthday is a chance to celebrate the special person that you are, and I love the way of celebrating. Feel free to steal borrow this idea and use it at your next birthday party! It's always a hit!

Sweetie Pie Baby Shower

I think it is super funny that my friend Jen and I share a name, and lately more of my posts have been about her life rather then mine. :-) I showed you some of her maternity pictures, and then also the beautiful nursery that she made for her little girl, and today you get to see the shower that Andrea and I threw for her. So just so we are clear, Jen is married to a great guy, was pregnant, made a super sweet nursery, had a fun shower thrown by friends, and is now enjoying her sweet baby girl. :-)

Andrea and I decided to go with the theme "Sweetie Pie" and use the colors that Jen would be using in her nursery: soft gray, pumpkin orange, magenta and a little bit of green. Andrea handled all the food (and did a fantastic job) and hosted the party, I made a bunch of decorations, and we pulled off a simple and fun baby shower brunch where Jen got spoiled with gifts.

For decorations, we kept it simple and fun. I'm loving pennant banners lately, and we thought they tied in well with the "pie" theme. So I whipped up several different banners, one with the words "Sweetie Pie", another with the baby's name, and the last with some fun flowers and patterned papers. I made all the banners with scrapbook paper and gray ribbon from the crafty stores.





I also made a "mini banner" that we draped over the favor table. I have to confess that I liked this one the best! But I pretty much love all small and undersized things. :-)

We made balloon bouquets to fill up the corners, and Andrea bought a beautiful bouquet of ranunculus that was just lovely. On a side note, wasn't it nice of Andrea to paint her home in colors that coordinated with our shower colors? :-) In all seriousness though, Andrea and her family live in a beautiful old Victorian home that is just spectacular. I'll have to show you guys sometime. :-)

For food, Andrea kept it simple and delicious. She made two different kinds of soups and two different salads, and fresh bread for dipping. It was awesome. Food was ready as people came in, so there was no awkward waiting around or bad attitudes from low blood sugar. :-)

Andrea's collection of Polish pottery was the perfect touch to the meal that she served up. Of course we also had lots of coffee, tea and lemonade.

Immediately following lunch, we gathered in the living room for gifts. Here's a preview of the mountain that Jen worked her way through;

One of my favorite things from this shower that we did was that as each gift was opened, the giver shared a favorite memory of her mom and herself with Jen. (Andrea was kind enough to write them all down for Jen to review later) Here's Andrea sharing her memory.

Jen got lots of great stuff for the baby, including baby sunglasses (she'll be growing up in California!) and lovely homemade gifts.

Then it was time for pies! We subbed pies for cake, but Andrea also made Jen a fun little diaper cake.

The pies were delicious. And just to up the ante a little more, Andrea made fresh whipped cream. It was awesome. 

We sent the guests home with individual pies in a jar. (We got this idea from this blogger) Andrea and her daughter made up the pies, and then I whipped up little labels for each one. I used Japanese masking tape to create more pennants, and printed out reheating instructions for the back of the labels.  On a side note, I ate one of these pies the other day that I'd been storing in my freezer, and it was delicious. :-)

So that was it. Simple and sweet, short and fun. It was a blast to plan and work on, and I had a great time at the shower as well. A fun, simple and yummy Sweetie Pie baby shower! :-)

Sara's Shower

Last week I told you I was working on two parties. They are both over now, so I am here to tell you all about them, now that I have my sanity back. Sara's shower was for her newest addition to the family, a little boy. They already have three girls, so we decided that she needed to get some "manly" stuff for the little guy. However, the shower was anything but manly. Sara loves feminine, girlie things, flowers and chocolate. So we did our best to accommodate!

We set the tables with white tablecloths, pretty little clear plates, and a favor at every plate. We were going with a very elegant theme of blue, silver and white, which I think turned out awesome. Melissa did a great job with the favors, aren't they just beautiful?


Here's a closer look at them. Inside each box there were some truffles and Dove candies...so yummy.


In the center of the table we put a painted clay flowerpot planted with white petunias, alyssum and lamb's ear. One guest at each of the tables got to take home the flowers at the end of the night.



Sprinkled on all the tables and throughout the room were these little photo holders with cute sayings about motherhood, family and boys. The guests had fun walking around and reading all of the little sayings.



The tables were loaded up with lots of yummy goodness to dip into the chocolate from the chocolate fountain, and we also had oreo truffles. It was chocolate heaven!



We asked the guests to write down some words of wisdom on parenting, motherhood or being the mother of boys, and then gave Sara a pretty little box to keep them all in.


Speaking of the guest of honor, here she is opening some of the cards (it was a gift card shower)

She is such a sweet and loving person. We had a great time planning her party, and it went off without a hitch!