2011 Year end Review of Parties!

I have been a very bad blogger the past 6 months......our computer caught on fire (literally) and I have been networking on other social networking sites AND have had the busiest year EVER filled with exciting events....which you will see in this post! My goal is to blog more frequently in the comming year--but for now I have decided to review my year of parties!!

This first party is a vintage sports party that we had for my son last year, he is really interested in sports and the history of sports so this was the perfect party theme for him!

I always feel bad that my son's birthday is so close to Christmas.....and this year it was so soon after a move and school change....So when the weather warmed up we had a pool party inviting all of his new friends over! This party was featured on my favorite Party site HWTM!! Here is the link Summer Kick-off: Crab & Lobster Party

We had a Pink Cabana Pool party for my daughter this year, we had a funfilled day for my sweet girl.....this was actually my last blog post ....AND it was featured on Amy Atlas--such an honor--you can see the post here Lilly Pulitzer Inspired Guest Dessert Feature.

This year my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniverssary! We recently moved back 'home' were we both grew up and met...it has really been an excited year...so we decided to renew our vows! We invited family and our entire wedding party--it was a memorable celebration filled with love!

I had my BIG 40th birthday this year too and decided that I wanted a girl's weekend at the house...my husband took the kids to his parents and set us up with a stretch Hummer limo (I have the best husband in the world!!)--and a week later I went to Italy with my college roomates...needless to say I had an AMAZING birthday and was surrounded with people I love dearly...it really took the edge off of turning 40!

This past Fall I had the opportunity to style a photo shoot for Bird's Party Magazine - Fall 2011, Issue 3 issuu.com....I was thrilled to use Bird's adorable printables and be included in her inspirational online magazine!

In the Fall we had a back -to- school Madeline themed tea party! I really love the non traditional celebrations we have been having....I hope to continue these new traditions in 2012!

I was able to host a baby shower for my good friend in December....we had a champagne brunch and it was a gorgeous Southern California day in DECEMBER so we were able to eat outside. I love the navy and green color combo--We had a whale of a day!

and.....Christmas! We had guests over for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day brunch and Christmas dinner! I set up this dessert table and kept refilling it as new guests arrived--I love my new cup cake covers that are personalized with our last name (thank you to my dear friend Debbie)! Well thats a wrap--I look forward to all of the new parties that 2012 will bring!!

Pink Cabana Pool Party

My daughter decided to have a pool party this year for her birthday and I found the most adorable invitations and party decor by Lilly Pulitzer...I love Lilly and planning a preppy pink cabana party was WAY too much fun for this MAMA!!
I referred to my 'Essentially Lilly, a guide to colorful entertaining' book for inspiration. It was definitely a Lilly Pulitzer inspired party!! This monkey is wearing a Lilly dress that my daughter wore when she was a baby!
Going with the Lilly theme we decided to use pink and green throughout the party............
We started off the party with a poolside lunch.....so I decided to make mini cabanas on tooth pics to top our sandwiches........
I placed pink hydrangeas on all of the tables and counter tops--they added such perfect round puffs of pink to the party!!
I made cabana tags out of the Cabanarama file folders by Lilly and put them on everything! Here is our pink dolphin ice sculpture...............


I ordered paper parasol umbrellas and fastened them to the back of the chairs to add some shade and more pink of course!

I scattered flamingos in plants throughout our backyard.................
I love these paper pink convertibles that held the cabana striped napkins and the Ice Cream truck filled with cabana striped ice cream cups!

I actually had a pink convertible back in college--I know, shocking... right??


This fabric is a Lilly Pulitzer design that I used as inspiration for the party-- it has monkeys hanging from chandeliers on it! My daughter is such a great gymnast and she started at a young age managing to climb out of her crib when she was only a year old. We had a chandelier in her bedroom that she always used to stare at and I would say that she was dreaming of hanging from it!! She was also born the year of the monkey--so I decided to use monkeys as decor and I made this candy chandelier out of candy necklaces and rock candy.......

We made this tent last year for my daughter's birthday and I was so happy that we were able to use it again-- this year as a cabana!! I added many pillows and blankets to cover our orange cushions and make our backyard as pink as possible!!

My daughter loves shopping.....and her favorite activity at her party last year was the 'posh puppy boutique' were the kids were able to 'shop' for outfits and dress up their puppy--so I decided to turn the cabana into a poolside gift shop where the girls could pick out snacks, sunglasses, towels and treats!
Barnum's Animal cracker packages are designed by Lilly this year--I almost screamed when I spotted them in the store--so perfect!!

I used my daughter's doll house to create a small cabana to hold the cupcakes.
It was such a gorgeous day and perfect weather for snow cones--the girls loved picking out their own flavors!
I made fondant pink cabana cupcake toppers, this was the first time I have made them myself--I can not wait to continue to explore and create with fondant, the possibilities are endless!

It was hard getting the girls out of the pool....but cake and ice cream are always a motivator!!
We had this wooden ring toss game to play by the pool--I love the colors of the fish they matched so perfectly!
More pink backyard decor!
We had pink boxes filled with pink themed books that were perfect for pool side reading and I found these adorable puppets with pink hair that the kids took home along with other party favors from the cabana shop.
We had an amazing day--Happy birthday to my sweet Mandi!!

Memorial Day!

Here are some images of past memorial day and independence day celebrations. I am thinking of all who serve our country and I thank you for all that you do!! Have a great long weekend everyone!!

Prepping for a Pink Cabana Pool Party!

It is getting closer to my daughter's birthday and I am happy to report that we are using the tent again!! I made this tent last year for my daughter's Fancy Nancy party--we used it as a reading tent where the kids read Fancy Nancy books............this year it will serve as a pink cabana because................... we are having a pink cabana pool party!!!
Here are a few sneak peeks of the party decor....I have gone a little cabana crazy with this theme....probably because I love anything pink and preppy!! I have a lot of details that I am excited to share over next couple of weeks--stay tuned!
We are handing out the invites tomorrow with a pink cabana sugar cookie......I have simply gone bananas with pink cabanas!!

The Royal Wedding!!

To say that I am excited about the upcoming Royal Wedding...is an understatement!!
I am in love with the UK, a good friend of mine moved to London many years ago and I was fortunate enough to visit her a couple of times!!
I have always been drawn to all things British.........and when I was ready to register for my china before my wedding I found the most gorgeous place settings by Wedgwood ....named 'Crown' platinum of course! I remember so many friends and family trying to talk me out of the high priced china explaining that I would not get all of the pieces because of the high ticket price.....but I did not care, I had to have it and decided that I would slowly collect it through the years..........I was very lucky that a family friend moved to London and visited the Wedgwood factory outlet often!! She was able to find the remaining pieces of my china for me and brought them back to the US for me!!

Here is the Tea cup and saucer from my place settings.....I just love it and we had to have them out for our 'royal' tea party!!

I have been wearing my Burberry charm watch that has many British inspired charms....it is really getting me in the spirit for the big event!!

We decided it would be fitting to have a tea party and I decided to pull out my travel albums and share my UK visits with my children and discuss all of the history behind this royal event.........
One of my favorite places I went to was The Tower of London which is home to the famous Crown Jewels. I was able to see many of the Crown Jewels that are still used by the royal family today....I can not wait to see what gorgeous jewels the bride wears on her wedding day!!
I visited a jewelry store in the tower of London and purchased these charms with small jewels. I was not married and did not have any children yet-- but I decided to buy a little crown as well to pass on to my own child someday...........I am going to give this crown to my daughter tomorrow so she will always remember this event and her mommy's love for all things royal!!