Big Day Tomorrow

I was leaving for work this morning when I opened the front door and a box fell into the house. One of my neighbors must have accepted it yesterday and left it there for us. I decided to take a couple minutes to open it instead of saving it for tonight and this is what I found inside!

My mom, dad, and sister sent me a care package for school. My mom even included this little book with notes about how proud they are of me and how to handle the challenge and what not. This nearly drove me to tears!


(Sorry, Blogger will only upload these photos sideways for some weird reason!)
Then it was full of new school supplies. My favorite has to be the pencil pouch (I love organizational containers after all) and the new crayons. Remember how great it was to get a box of fresh and sharp crayons? I do!
I love it all, thanks family! And it is here just in time since my first day of school is tomorrow. I have a 2 day intensive orientation starting this Saturday. I am pretty nervous but happy to finally get some of my questions answered. Have a great weekend everyone. I will be heading to bed early tonight because tomorrow is going to be a big day!

Baby Shower Planning Part 2

Sorry, I realize now that there was no punch in any of the photos yesterday. I left it in the freezer until the very last moment. It is an orange-pink color when it is made. It seemed to go over well at the shower. Now, on to the party itself.

Games:
What shower is complete without shower games. Games are the thing most women dread about going to showers and who can blame them. Have you ever done a Google search for "Baby Shower Games"? Some of the games out there are 1.) disgusting (melted candy bars in diapers) 2.) embarrassing (diapering each other with rolls of paper towels) or 3.) Non-PC (guessing how big mom's belly really is). I looked high and low for some entertaining games to play at the shower that would not be gross, too embarrassing and wouldn't offend anyone. There were actually several games that fit the bill but here are the games I chose for us to play.

Game 1: Mystery Baby Items. I filled a bag with random baby items (you are supposed to use a diaper bag but someone had already bought that off the registry in this case and I didn't want to buy a 2nd one). I tried to get things that would be hard to figure out but not too hard. Baby comb, bottle, pacifier, aspirator, butt paste, baby lotion, baby powder, digital thermometer, diaper, travel wipes, bottle brush, teething ring, and rattle (baby food jar, baby spoon, etc the possibilities are endless). Let each guest reach into the bag and feel around at the items sight unseen for 1 minute. Then they write out as many as they can remember and identify. We only had 1 mom in our group so I didn't make it too obscure. You could get really specialized if you had more moms there. The person who gets the most correct wins a prize. The mom keeps the bag of goodies.

Game 2: Baby Items MSRP. I combined games 1 and 2. As I pulled the items out of the bag to reveal them in game 1, I had a friend put them back into their packages and place them on a tray. I handed out a card with the items listed (40 pack of diapers for instance, since only 1 diaper had been in the bag). Next we had everyone guess how much these items cost in today's market. Let them know that you have rounded the prices to the closest 25cents. I let them work for a while and then announced that no item was over $10. That created quite a stir since some people were way off base. Then I went through and read off each item and had people call out their guesses. Then I told them the real price. The one with the most exact answers won a prize. Mom of course still got the goodies. This was pretty funny since no one knew how much stuff really cost and their guesses were pretty out there. Our mom was the worst with 0 correct! Don't underestimate this game!

Game 3: Multitasking Mommy. I picked one game that was pretty funny and a little embarrassing. I bought about 15 pairs of baby socks (a few multi packs) in various colors. We unpaired them and put them in a big pile on a chair. Each playgoer took a turn trying to match up the socks as quickly as possible....but there's more. We gave them a baby (a bear) and a phone. All the guests made crying baby sounds while the "mom" tried to sooth her baby, hold the phone to her ear and match the socks together. It was harder than it sounded and really funny to watch people as the bear would slip from their arm or they would forget to sooth the baby and the guests would just cry louder. The "mom" with the fastest time won a prize. Great game!




Prizes:
Since this was a ladies shower we chose prizes that were from a local jewelry store that has inexpensive but nice items. I also threw in a few 1 month certificates to our lab coffee club. Definitely get a few extra gifts. We had 1 tie and not enough necklaces for them to choose from.

Gifts:
Gift opening time was pretty straight forward for us. Just make sure there is someone there to feed the mom-to-be gifts so she can stay seated (it keeps things moving along too) and pack items up once she is done. Another person to keep notes on who gave what and to keep all gift receipts in one place is also helpful. And don't be afraid to pass those items around. Everyone loves to hold the little clothes and toys and coo over them!



Favors:
What party is complete without a favor to send home with the guests to thank them for their attendance and gift. I put together some easy and inexpensive favors for the guest. I found these little pads of paper and tissues at Micheal's in the dollar spot that were black and white. I tied them together with a little blue ribbon (also from Micheal's dollar spot). At Micheal's I also found bags of colored M&Ms specifically for favors. I bought 2 bags each of blue and white, mixed them together and put them into little wax bags I already had. Trimmed with decorative scissors and punched for more ribbon. Next was a little thank you note that I made and had the mom-to-be sign. Lastly this was all put into a little white bag. These were also in clearance at Micheal's for 1.99 for 3 bags. They were meant to be decorated and I tried stamping them with paint but it didn't take so I left them blank. Super cute and kept with my color scheme for the party.


Timing:
Lastly a note on our timing. We started with mingling and punch. We had baby Lucy join us at our party and this mingling time gave everyone a chance to ooh and aah over the baby while the guest trickled in. Next we ate and talked, then games in quick succession. We followed games with cake and while everyone was savoring the butter cream frosting we watched the mom open her gifts. Here are some photos of the guests enjoying themselves.

Our Mom-To-Be, Indrani due in just 3 weeks

Baby Lucy and her friend Marcela

Managed to get one shot of me! And a couple guys did end up getting into the party!

Mingling and punch!

Overall, it was a huge success. Of course I had lots of help with setting up, food buying and transporting things to work. In the end not only did we get to honor our co-worker and her little boy on the way, I got to try out a bunch of party ideas I had been collecting over time. Hopefully some of these ideas can help you plan your next party!

Baby Shower Planning Part 1

I had the pleasure of planning a baby shower last week for a co-worker. I had originally wanted everyone to come to my house on a Saturday afternoon but some serious scheduling conflicts had arisen and the only free Saturday was 6 days before the mom-to-be's due date. We didn't want to risk a cancellation due to an early delivery so we planned the shower for after work last Friday. I want to share some photos of the event and some of the ideas I used to make it fun, sophisticated, and easy!

Invitations:
Because of our scheduling conflicts we ended up picking a date that was fairly short notice. I decided to use evite.com to send my invitations in order to maximize the time people had to shop and prepare for the shower. Paper invitations would have been cuter but evite worked out just as well and can even be customized with your own photos, clip art or scans.

Decorations:
Our conference room at work is actually a great space with big bright windows, clean lines, and ample room to move around. However, I wanted my guests to feel like they were at a party and not a meeting or even happy hour. I asked everyone to come in "party attire" and wanted the room to have on party attire too! I started by cleaning the room as best I could and breaking up the 4 tables that make up our conference table which fill the entire middle of the room into 2 separate banks of tables pushed up against the walls. This left the center of the room totally open. I covered them with cheap disposable white table clothes. One set of tables for gifts and games and the other held all the food and drinks. Next I found some super cheap ($1) paper lanterns in the clearance section of Michael's. They are marketed for kids to paint and decorate. Then I made these Martha Stewart tissue paper balls to hang from the ceiling. They sell kits of these at Michael's but I figured I have tons of tissue paper, I could probably make them myself. Sure enough Martha had instructions on her website. I will say that the large and medium balls turned out best. The small balls (1/3 of a large ball) were not so great. I hung them from the ceiling over my 2 sets of tables. SOOOOOO CUTE!!!



Drinks:
I decided to have a signature drink at the shower and wanted to go with a traditional punch. This Rose wine punch is a recipe that I got from my friend Katie years ago and served it at my wedding and at other summer parties in the past. I brought my punch bowl in from home and we drank it from wine glasses sporting my new wine charms. I provided GUS (Grown Up Sodas) for the mom-to-be and anyone else who wanted a non-alcoholic beverage although the wine punch is mostly juice in case you were wondering.


Here is the punch recipe:
Rose Wine Slush Punch
1.5L of Rose wine (2 standard bottles)
1 Can frozen orange juice
1 Can frozen white grape juice
1 Can frozen lemonade
1.5 Cans of water
2 Liter bottle of 7-up

Thaw the juices and combine them with the wine and water. Mix together in a large container and freeze through (do this the day before). Once frozen break up into chunks and put into your punch bowl. The wine prevents this from freezing rock hard. Pour 7-up over the top, stir and let thaw until it is a slushy consistency. If you don't have a punch bowl I am told you can scoop the frozen mixture into a cup about 1/2 to 2/3 full and then pour 7-up to the top. Give it a quick stir to combine. You may need more 7-up for this method.

Food:
It is always best to keep party foods simple and tasty. All of our food came from Whole Foods and was purchased the day of the event. We decided to offer some build your own brioche sandwiches as our centerpiece. Here was the menu:
-Split mini brioche rolls (with a couple flavored sandwich spreads)
-Thin sliced meets and cheeses (salami, prosciutto, grilled chicken breasts, cheddar, and Jarlsberg)
-Antipasti Platter (olives, mini mozzarella balls, artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, and pepperoni slices)
-Cheese and mini toasts (Camembert and goat cheese)
-Fruit salad
-Tossed green salad (Spinach, Romaine, Candied pecans, dried pear, balsamic vinaigrette, and crumbled blue cheese)
-Cake for dessert
The best part was that people could add almost any of those items to their roll to make a sandwich or eat them separately. Everything was devoured by our guests. Do remember your mom-to-be's dietary restrictions. She isn't supposed to eat soft cheeses, cured meats, and many seafood items. Make sure she has some food options. We made sure our guest of honor had a salad set aside with no blue cheese, we provided her with chicken breasts for her sandwiches and some hard cheeses so she wouldn't be left out.




At this point the room was pretty much ready for the party. More tomorrow!

More beads?!

This week has been a whirlwind. After craft club I launched right into planning a baby shower for a co-worker. Always more work than you think it will be. I will post about it next week (the shower is tonight). Our labor day weekend was very nice. I have just 2 weeks off in September before school starts so we used the time to relax at home together and do some home improvements like caulking the shower, hanging a curtain rod, touch up painting in the kitchen after our doorbell system was moved a few months ago, and things like that. Plus more time for jewelry making! Craft club inspired me to create a few more pieces which I will share next week. One was shipped off to my mom and I don't want to post about it until she receives it. But one beading project I will share is this:
These are wine glass charms. For the baby shower we are going to enjoy a nice wine punch using wine glasses we keep here at work (we are having the shower at work) and I wanted a way for people to keep track of their glasses because we don't have any extras to swap out if they lose tabs on them. I found some earring hoops my mom sent me years ago for card making, added some beads and dangly charms and went to town. Super quick and easy to make. A great gift idea!

Craft club!

Just got home from craft club and we all had a great time. Monica was kind enough to open up her home to us and Peh provided wonderful sweets to munch on (after a great lunch from Alice of course). We had about 4 hours of bracelet making followed by a quick magnet making workshop with Alice. Everyone did a great job and caught on to the jewelry techniques really quickly.

From left to right: Maureen, Sarah, Rachel, Marcela, Peh and Connie.

Alice made a red bracelet of course!

Here are Monica (green) and Sandy's creations (blue/gray)

And some cute earrings that were made. Other earrings by Rachel and Marcela were also to die for.

And here are the super cute magnets I made. Alice had lots of cute papers to choose from so everyone's were different. I can't wait for the next craft club!

Craft Club - August 30th, 2008 - Preview

I wanted to post a little preview of a project we will be making at the next craft club. There was a request for jewelry making so we will be constructing this cute bracelet!




Here is the class description:
We will be constructing a charm style bracelet consisting of about 30 beads of your choice out of my rather large stash. If you have beads you want to use you can also bring them along. If you have wire cutters, needle nose pliers or ring pliers please bring them along. If you are interested in jewelry making as a future hobby and would like to purchase a set of tools please indicate that in your reply and I can provide you with a set of mini tools for $7. Otherwise we will share tools during class. The cost of the project is $5. You can make a pair of matching earrings for an additional $1.

This should be lots of fun!

Inglings have landed

We had the pleasure of spending the day on Saturday with my friend Karen and her adorable kids William and Eileen. They are down from Maine for a visit with Grandma and came by on their way to Jersey. I haven't see the kidlings in 6 months (gasp!) and can't believe how much they had grown. William is talking up a storm and Eileen is scooting around on the floor and giving out heart melting hugs. It was fun to play with them and chat with Karen again. We enjoyed a yummy lunch and some time at our local park complete with a rainbow shaped sprinkler which William really enjoyed
(hence the shirtless appearance). In this photo William is "fixing" our radiator. If it weren't for the diaper I bet he'd have a plumber's crack! I hope to get a little more time with them this week if they make it into the city.

River Flicks

On Friday night we headed over the Pier 46 on the Hudson for River Flicks. Friday nights are kids movie night but this particular day they were showing Goonies. I didn't really want to go since it had been raining all day and was threatening to rain in the evening too. That and I figured even if it didn't rain again the ground would be soaked. My Co-worker and pal Marcela organized a group of us to go and convinced me to head over. I am glad she did. When we arrived it was clear we were in the right spot. Every "kid" there was between the ages of 28-32! It ended up being lots of fun to sit and cheer with everyone else at our favorite scenes while eating snacks and enjoying beer in secondary containers. It ended up being a gorgeous clear night and the rain that day ushered in a weekend of low humidity and cool temps. There are outdoor movies all over the city in the summer. If you are local definitely check one out!

Beads Galore!

One nice thing about jewelry making is I can get up in the morning and get dressed and then make a custom necklace to go with my outfit. Here is my white bead on clear elastic necklace I whipped up this morning while eating breakfast. Fun! It doubles really nicely too.

I am really excited because we are in the process of planning a craft club for late August or early September and I have been asked to do a jewelry making session. When I say we I mean my dear friend Alice is organizing it. In preparation I have been sorting thousands of beads that my Mother-in-law gave me years ago and my Mother stored in her house and recently mailed me. It looked like a big jumbled mess full of junk beads but once I started sorting the beads into groups I started noticing that there are actually lots of interesting beads in there. The colors are so pretty! Now I just need to design the project!