Champagne for Awards Season

edible stars in champagne coupeMany of you might not know this about me but I studied TV and Film in college.  I had big LA dreams.  I interned for some pretty great casting agents but when it came time to pull the trigger and actually move to LA, I just couldn’t leave my little Orange County bubble.  I prefer more stability in my jobs and the idea of a show being cancelled or always looking for the next job did NOT appeal to me.  But what does appeal to me is awards season.  You can often find me crying right along side the best whatever winner.  I love when people share real joy.  And while the actors might just be adding a little something extra for the cameras, it gets me every time.  I don’t throw a big bash to celebrate the awards shows, but if I did I would totally add these adorable edible gold stars to everyone’s champagne.

champagne and cheese ball for awards season entertainingThe stars like to cling to the bubbles and they start to dissolve and turn the champagne a bit yellowish.  But I still kind of love it.  Oh yeah and I’d serve it up with a cheese ball.  Instant party.

easy flair for the awards shows and partiesAnd it wouldn’t take much more to turn to turn it in to a real legit party with some simple gold flair.  The Golden Globes are this Sunday.  Will you watch?

 

Halloween costumes can be chic

Halloween costumes can be chic.  For instance, take the example above (balloon work by Rie Hosokai via Fabric Magazine).  If I liked Halloween, had no children, had all kinds of extra time on my hands, was more crafty than I really am and had the body of a little boy, this would be my Halloween costume.  And I would be ‘champagne’.  I’d probably use blush colored balloons and go for more of a pink champagne.  I’d make people call me Piper or Veuve and I would prance around the neighborhood like a bubbly goddess.  But that ain’t happening.

This look is way more practical.  I do not like dressing up so being able to wear something that resembles a normal every day outfit is essential.  By simply adding this amazing paper mache lion mask or something similar you can take you carpool outfit right in to trick or treating.

But this isn’t going to happen either.  For me, I will most likely be dressed in some sort of a legging, some sort of a flat super comfy shoe and a nondescript mom tunic.  What about you?  Do you dress up to take the kids trick or treating?

balloon image by Shoji Uchida

gold top  .  black pants  .  black bracelet  .  lion cuff  .  flashlight  .  black hi tops

 

For, Like, Ever themed Bridal Shower

I’m sure that you all have seen the “For, Like, Ever” poster by now, but have you seen it as a bridal shower theme?  I had not and because I knew that Lauren likes that poster, and had a wooden sign made with the phrase for her wedding ceremony, I thought it would be a great bridal shower theme for her.  I had an idea of what colors I wanted for the party but knew I needed to enlist some help for the graphic design.  I reached out to my dbff (digital bff) Jenny of Hank and Hunt and she created the invitation for me.  I LOVED it!  I popped these bad boys in the mail and then got to planning!  By the way, this is a very photo heavy post!  Plan accordingly.

This special friend deserved the best bridal shower ever (this is her being silly she is not actually about to pound two beers).  I know most of you have never been to a party thrown by Lauren.  This girl can throw a nice little party.  She pays attention to the details, hand crafts most if not all of the decor, makes the food and hosts her guests with ease.  There was no way I was going to buy ready-to-go bridal shower decor for her.  It had to be extra special.  Her friend, Christy, helped me to plan the shower (although couldn’t be there the day of :( ) and was the perfect ally.  It has been years since I got to do something wedding related so it was super fun for me.

I used a banner stand to cover the big TV on the wall and to have a fun backdrop behind her where she would be opening her gifts.  We made garlands to coordinate with the great sort of ikat-y paisley fabric I found.  Aside from the traditional garlands I wanted to have a few inspiration strings (tip one for Jen Gotch and Bri Emery for the idea) of wedding related items.  And see that rad black and white striped straw garland?  I totally learned that from Jenny of Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line.

I like my parties to coordinate so I usually scan whatever fabric I want as the focus and incorporate it in to the paper goods.  It is a good way to add color and detail to various areas of the party without having to use precious, expensive yardage.  And you can’t go wrong with these .99 cent Ikea frames.  Can I get an Amen?  It didn’t hurt that Lauren has the perfect little styled vignettes around her house.  It made decorating for the party a breeze.

I like to give guests a little something as they arrive, so outside the front door I had these initials of the bride and groom and one of the little hearts I had my dad whip up for me.

I really like to personalize the party for the guest of honor and decided to have my father-in-law create this sketch of Lauren and her beau for the inspiration string.  How amazing is that?!  He is very talented and was able to recreate this from a photo I gave him.

We put out photos of the happy couple, including some of the awesome engagement photos shot by Eddie Kim of Up Imagery.  And while I love the oversized mylar letter balloons, I think I love these 14″ versions better!!!!

There were two things that Lauren mentioned to me when I was asking her about what she might like at her shower.  The answer…Champagne and donuts.  Bless her heart.

Lauren is known for her DIY drink stations so I decided to put one together for her.  We had to do an Elderflower drink.  Duh, it’s too delicious not too (FYI Thatcher’s Organic Elderflower liqueur is considerably cheaper than St. Germain…Just saying).  And I’ve been interested in the flavored Bitters that have been popping up so I decided we should try a more old-fashioned champagne cocktail too.

If you haven’t seen yesterday’s post, which is how to make these Ciao Bella Sorbet Champagne Cocktails, go look.  I’ll wait.

And just in case there were people who didn’t want to drink (What?! Why?!) we had the prettiest water ever with edible flowers and orange slices.

And also for the non drinkers we made this Blackberry Elderflower Spritzer with the Ikea Elderflower Concentrate.  Yum!

How lucky was I that Jenny had just done a tutorial on how to make these adorable little straws and then sent them to me because she knew they would match my party??

After the guests got their welcome cocktail put together, we pointed them toward the food.  I had my dad make these saw horses for me (yes, they are GOLD, thanks for asking) and laid out a really easy spread on top.

I can’t wait to share the recipe for that pink and gold goat cheese appetizer with you tomorrow.  For me, that was the star.  Delicious, pretty and served a lot of people.  I love when food is a triple threat.

There is nothing easier than an individual crudite.  I made a quick decorative fabric frill to call out the jars without ranch for those with dairy sensitivities.

And while we wanted to serve lunch we didn’t want to do a stuffy sit down.  Instead I made this super easy chicken pesto pasta salad and served it in a jar.  No table needed and could be eaten standing up or wherever you wanted.

Here is the recipe, make a pound of pasta, let it cool, and put it in a big bowl.  Add a container of Buitoni pesto sauce (or more, to taste), some shredded, cooled rotisserie chicken, a few handfuls of arugula, some cherry tomatoes, some pine nuts and some extra shredded parmesan cheese.  Yup.  Delicious.

I don’t think anyone hated the champagne cocktails.

Oh yeah.  And we had a dessert table.  Just some matching candies, some store bought spiced nuts and chocolate (Lauren loves chocolate) to compliment…

the most delicious peach flavored candied popcorn that Kristin, of Meringue Bake Shop made for me.  You read that right.  If you are local, you all need to hire Meringue Bake Shop and let her dazzle you with all that she can do.  She is SO much more than just cupcakes and Push Cakes.

Instead of trying to make donuts, we knew that they had to be gotten from Krispy Kreme.  Kristin added some edible gold sparkles to them and we placed more flowers around the platter.  Don’t these donuts look so much more dignified than usual?

Oh hey, we had a cake too.  Kristin made this tomboy style cake to try something a little different and added a little metallic gold edible paint to the top of the raspberries.  I love how this looks.  I think it might be my new favorite style.  And mini cakes are just SO. DANG. CUTE!

Since after all that food everyone was ready to take a break and play a game.  Bridal shower games can sometimes blow so we did a classy standard – how well do you know each other.  There are always laughs.

For the guest book, I wanted each person to draw Lauren a heart and if they chose, write her a message.  I will be scanning these and some awesome Instax pics I took and put together a digital book of the shower for her.  I think it will be really cute and I will share it with you before I give it to her.

As it had been just minutes since people had last eaten, Kristin and I brought out our super secret weapon…individual funnel cakes!  How awesome are those!?!  We decided to do this during the present opening so that people had something to do whist watching the bride to be open her presents.  Kristin fried them in the kitchen and then we passed them around, still warm, to the delighted guests.

Kristin made the dreamiest dessert sauces to pour over the top, a chocolate ganache, a strawberry coulis and a vanilla bean creme anglaise.  TO. DIE. FOR!  Yup.  I ate about 5 individual funnel cakes.  You know how I do.

Since cocktails were a big part of this party, I decided to send the guests home with a little cocktail themed favor as well.  These passion fruit flavored suckers are meant to be dissolved in champagne!  YUM!!

This party was SO much fun to plan and throw, but as you know, it takes a village.  I certainly couldn’t have done it by myself.  I have to thank Lauren’s mom for allowing me to plan it for her.  So glad I could celebrate her daughter and my friend.  Big thanks to Christy for planning it with me and letting me be all party Type A with her.  She did an amazing job with sewing all the paper garlands.  I wish you could have been there for it though I’m sure you enjoyed your vacation. :)  HUGE thank you to Emily and Amanda for helping me to set up the morning of the party.  I absolutely never would have had everything finished by the time guests started arriving had it not been for them.  I always forget that it goes so much faster if there are 4 hands setting something up and with an extra person to help with kitchen stuff it all got done!  If you haven’t seen their blogs yet, you have to go check them out!  Great gals!  And of course a super big thank you to Kristin who not only did all the desserts, but helped me with the food and drinks too.  Lucky to count her as a friend and am so grateful that she is always willing to try something new out with me and even stood over the frying funnel cakes in 90 degree heat for me.  That did not go unnoticed.

Ridiculously big THANK YOU to Dez and Tam.  They are the reason that I have such great photos to share with you guys.  Although I think my parties look pretty good, my photography doesn’t do them justice.  I am beyond grateful for their friendship, their talent and their generosity and am so glad to have them in my life.  For real.

Invitations by Hank and Hunt

Cocktail Lollipops by Sweetniks

Photography by Dez and Tam 

Desserts by Meringue Bake Shop 

Mother’s Day Brunch at Knott’s Berry Farm!

This weekend I got to have a pre-Mother’s day Champagne Brunch at Knott’s Berry Farm.  I took my fellow mommy friend, Carole, along to enjoy a kid-free meal with me (you must excuse her funny face.  Mere moments before this was taken there was an incident.  I’m just going to leave it at that.  But gosh dang, I wish this was a video and not a still photo  :).  I am no stranger to the Champagne Brunch at Knott’s.  My husband’s family lives in Buena Park and we meet up at the brunch to celebrate special occasions.  This time was different, though.  I only had to worry about making a plate (or four) for myself.

The Knott’s Berry Farm Mother’s Day Champagne Brunch features an expanded menu with over 60 items, including this delicious roast beef.  There truly is something for everyone from Mexican food, Ms. Knott’s Famous Fried Chicken and breakfast staples such as custom omelettes, waffles with strawberries and delightful smoked breakfast meats.

By now you must know that I have a wicked sweet tooth.  This was my favorite part of the brunch.  The desserts!  That carrot cake was SO tasty and the peach cobbler?!?!  Insane!  This is the perfect place to bring mom for Mother’s Day Brunch.  Hours for brunch on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13th, are 9 am – 4 pm.  Adults are $29.95, Seniors are $22.95 and Kids are $16.95.  BUT!  if you mention the “mom blogger event” when making your reservation, you’ll get 10% off (for Mother’s Day Brunch only).  Call 714-220-5055 to make reservations.

It had been awhile since I had walked through the shops outside the front of the park.  Carole and I strolled through, because we could since we were kid free!  These shops are great because you don’t have to pay for park admission to shop there.  There is 3 hour free parking right across the street which makes it super convenient (unless you can find a spot right in front! – SCORE!)  I found Boysenberry Punch concentrate in the Marketplace that I bought for my boys.  Have you ever had this stuff?  SO good and TOTALLY a Knott’s thing.  Word on the street is you can make a mean Boysenberry Martini with it too…I’ll keep you posted.

And there are great party resources to be found outside of Knott’s!  I already mentioned in my previous post that you can order custom cakes from their super talented bakers, but did you know that they have an amazing candy shop?!  Perfect for all your candy buffet and favor needs.  Not only do they have tons of colors, but they have the super fun candy that is hard to find like chocolate rocks and stones!

I am super grateful to Knott’s for giving me a few hours off of mom duty this weekend.  It was much-needed!  And I didn’t eat for the rest of the day thanks to all the delicious food I overate.

*I was given a free brunch and $25 voucher for the shops.  The opinions are mine.  As was the heartburn.  Just kidding. :)

 

Press Play and Party {St. Vincent . Cruel}

I am a music lover.  Certain songs prompt me to plan a party based on the mood the music gives me.  This party inspiration board is based on St. Vincent’s song ‘Cruel’.

02 Cruel  {Click the link to the left to hear song}

When I hear the song, I think of Disney princesses.  But in a grown up sort of way.  Why should little girls get all the fun? Wouldn’t it be cool to throw your friends a princess party? 
This party would be a mix of fancy and totally casual.  Of course the color pink would be the driving force throughout the party but other colors would be more than welcome.  Especially royal blue.  Oh NO you didn’t!

images: {clockwise starting from the top}

girls at dessert table . Graffiti Champagne . cupcakes and teapots . pink ropes . cotton candy . pink heart forks . balloons and champagne . head pieces . cake sparklers

 

How decadent do these perfume bottles look when styled as cake?  My friends would not hate going home with one of these as a party favor.

image:  perfume Of course there would be nods to the Disney classics throughout the decor.  Apples are a must {Snow White}.  And yes, I glittered an apple because I wasn’t happy with any of the images I could find online.  Crazy, party of one, your table is ready.

image:  Cupcakes and Cutlery

A glittery, mirrored garland would look perfect over a food table and some colorful wall art that a reminiscent of a spinning wheel would help bring the color {Sleeping Beauty}.

images:

mirrored garland . hoop rug

But I am all about comfort.  So the dress code would be a mix of fabulous and chic with absolute comfort.  Absolutely no heels allowed!  Just about anything by Wildfox Couture or Haute Hippie would work.  And of course, Ban.do can dress your head like nobody’s business.

outfit 1:  crown . dress

outfit 2:  stiped pants . bow headband . lace sweatshirt

outfit 3: pink and gold tiara . sequin blazer and leggings

outfit 4:  sweats and fur . black and gold headband

I am hoping to make this a recurring post category.  What songs make you want to party?