Petite Marie

For Japan With Love

2011-03-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

This is such a difficult time for Japan. But if we think about it, this impacts all of us (humans!).

So when I saw this post earlier today, I knew I had to share and be part of this.

Thank you Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours for coordinating this Bloggers Day of Silence initiative.

Donate if you can by going here.

cupid choices...

2011-02-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

Swissmiss made me laugh (a loving laugh, of course) today with her "Pick Your Cupid" post.

Illustration by designer Ji Lee. Image via Swissmiss

I though the "Desperate" was hilarious! Which one is yours???

love and a comeback.

2011-02-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

It's no secret I've been gone for a while. For a reaaally long while.
Many things happened (and some didn't, both fortunately and unfortunately) and time was just getting the best of me. All the time. For a long time.
It felt as if my plug had been pulled or my auto-pilot mode had been activated. It was definitely not intentional...but it happened. But since I believe we are always there (even when we're not), I would always hear that little voice calling me back...
And so here I am. I've missed this lovely place and I missed all of you!
And today is a good day. It's lover's day!
I think that any day that celebrates life's most important sentiment (in my opinion!) is a good day.
It's a great day!

Hope everyone has been well and loved.
It sure feels good to be back. And it sure feels good to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

So here's an image that really caught my attention about a week ago while browsing Twig and Thistle. Not much more needed to say, right?

via Twig and Thistle

Love to All, today and always...

thanksgiving!

2010-11-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is, as we know, around the corner!
This year we will have some friends over celebrating the day with us as well...and they have kids too...so I'm definitely excited about getting a few fun decorations out for our feast!

When browsing Ms. Amy Atlas' blog, I came across the lovely ensemble below!
How cute is this for a kids table??? I loved it! And from the looks of it, very easy to make.

image from Fiskars via Amy Atlas

I may just take some of these lovely ideas...How about you? What are your plans for Thanksgiving this year?

feature: halloween

2010-10-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

Ok - we're less than a week from Halloween and I have not posted anything halloweenish...
I don't really like scary, so I've never been big on Halloween.
But I'll tell you, I may just have to change my mind on that. And I credit all of that to Gabriella's post (Designs by Nina) on her incredibly awesome Halloween dessert table!
When I first saw it really blew me away! The whimsy of it, the details, the colors...perfection!
This has definitely opened things up for me and it surely has given me a new lease on Halloween!
Who knows...I may be planning a spooky part after all!
Without further ado...enjoy some of the pictures from her post, which you can check out here!

Designs by Nina Designs by NinaDesigns by NinaDesigns by Nina

rainbow happy

2010-10-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

Rainbows have been following me this week... It started with Joanna's post (A Cup of Jo) on Monday and since then I've seen a rainbow of some sort (some real and some animated!) everyday of this week. I'm finally catching on that it is a sign that I should do a rainbow post to break this streak of no-posts that has been going on for way too long! That's not to say I haven't been busy busy...I've worked on a baby shower, still working on a halloween party and started designing for a boy birthday (one of these rare chances!)! Now I'm all about finding the time to post all of this...

{intern} help wanted!

2010-09-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

Ok - so things are really getting crazy over here!

Let me clarify...the good kind of crazy! But since crazy means one (read "I") can't do it all by oneself (ready "myself"), I am looking for an illustrator intern who knows what he/she is doing and who would work with me creating some designs for Petite Marie's upcoming projects.
It would be unpaid, but he/she would get exposure on the blog AND as A Cup of Jo's Joanna said on this post, "tons of gratitude"!
Do any of you know anyone who might be interested?
If so, let me know...

Thank you so so much in advance!!!

PS: After looking at it again, I thought the picture I posted yesterday went beyond the "halloweenish" look I was going for...so no pic...

mermaid party!

2010-09-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've been dying to feature this latest beauty from Kate Landers! But I've been so busy that I'm just getting to it today!

She has done it again...so beautiful, classy and lovely! And what an awesome theme...perfect for a little girl!

this is my absolute favorite picture...I can't get over the fact that you totally get the effect Kate was going for with the "mermaid tail" runner on this one...

whimsical!

yummy and gorgeous!

Siren Sips...I loved this idea...

Kate, thanks for sharing this with us and being an inspiration for so so many people!

Since I only posted a few of the pictures here, do yourself a favor and go over to Kate's blog and see the rest! You will be glad you did!

construction party (more pics)

2010-09-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to get some of the other pictures of the construction party I had worked on a little while ago...
There are also some of the actual party (thanks Judy!)!
Enjoy,

some of the toppers and food sign

the round toppers

her display of favors

her driveway and front yard

appetizers

appetizer close-up

cupcake toppers

cake! love the table cloth with the trucks!

water bottles with labels

Children's Party Network

2010-09-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Natalie from Little Shindigs has come up with the awesome idea of a network for all of us "party people" out there!
I've joined and I can already tell this will be great!

My profile was also featured today (which I thought was wonderful, of course!) and had to get a screen shot of it:

Don't forget to visit our Petite Marie @ Children's Party Network!

feature: airplane party!

2010-09-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I realized I have not featured parties in a while...and I've been thinking about this awesome airplane party ever since I saw it. So it only made sense that I would feature it today!

Jordan from Polka Dot Print Studio prepared this lovely day for her son Levi who turned 2!

What a lucky little guy to have such a talented mommy!

Lucky us for being able to marvel at all the cuteness!!!

Enjoy!

Open Shade Studios & Kate Landers Events!

2010-09-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you all know that today I had the pleasure of meeting an awesome photographer, Andrea of Open Shade Studios! It is a lovely space and from what I could tell she has a great personality! To top it off, she is very very close to me...
And I can't finish this post without mentioning that while I was there today, I got to meet none other than Kate Landers! She is super sweet in person and we go to chat a little bit.
Couldn't have asked for sweeter deal! Found myself a new photographer and got to meet such an incredibly talented person!
Great day today!

wow! another catch my party feature!

2010-09-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

We are very excited (though humbled) by the feature of yet another Petite Marie party over at Catch My Party!
This time it was my sister's Sweet Sixteen *slash* Going Away Party!
You can take a look at the feature here!
Well, Jillian, thank you, thank you! This is just awesome!
If you are not already a big fan, you should get on over to Catch My Party to fall in love with Jillian's website!
It is so full of awesome parties and resources...I love it!

Catch My Party feature!

2010-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to get these kinds of e-mails!
Jillian just let me know that the wedding I worked is on the rotation for party of the day!

You can see it here!

I really, really enjoyed working on it and it was such a lovely day!
I have known both the bride and the groom for around 12 years and so it was wonderful to be a part of this moment!

Thank you Po! And thanks Jillian, once again for featuring Petite Marie!

I want to take up sewing!!!

2010-09-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the lovely Little Miss Heirlooms the other day when I found this wonderful pic...
It brought me back memories of all the Home Ec classes I did not take in high school, and all the subsequent sewing classes I also didn't take in college (needless to say I did NOT major in fashion).
Oh well! I guess the picture resonated so much with me because I think this is the only kind of sewing I could master right now...the pretend kind!

I'll be doing something about this pretty soon though...
In the meantime, I'll be heading over to Priscilla's blog over and over again for a daily dose of vintage lovelies.
You should do the same! I guarantee you'll have a smile on your face...

SMA Blog Party: Please Vote!

2010-09-16T07:47:00.001-07:00

I read Samster Mommy and today she posted an urgent plea:
One of her readers, Kendra, lost her daughter Mackenzie to Spinal Muscular Atrophy (Lou Gehrig's) and has been rallying to help in whichever way she can. The latest is in trying to win $20,000 for research. They are so close to the cure!
I've voted already and urge you to do the same!
Go to VoteForSMA.com and select "Gwendolyn Strong Foundation". Also, if you can, post it for your readers too!
If you'd like to get more information about Kendra's family visit her blog at kendraandryanwebster.blogspot.com

wedding

2010-09-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was working on some items for a wedding of a great friend of our family...it was this past weekend and it was wonderful!

We all had fun and danced until we (and when I say we I mean "I") had to take our shoes off. Sophia had a blast dancing as well...she was up until past 11 pm!

I had tons of fun creating so many details for this ceremony...I was delighted with the results! Hope the bride liked it as well! Thanks Po!

Here are some pictures of some things we did - Enjoy!

*She had a separate kids area because there were so many invited kids...I was in charge of making a dessert table for the kids area - and here is what I turned up! With the exception of the breakable vases in the back - which were out of reach for the kids, everything else had to be unbreakable. Unfortunately there is not a lot of options out there for pretty vessels that are not breakable (and clear!).

I had little baskets with puzzles, coloring books, crayons, different games, play dough and other fun things for the kids!

I made personalized chair backs for all the chairs in the wedding party table...

...including a special one for the Groom &...

...a special one for the Bride!

some of the decor: I made the programs and the table numbers

programs were printed both in Portuguese and English - to accommodate guests speaking both languages

in addition to the number, she picked meaningful songs to them and named each table with one of them.

I love the quarter foil pattern. I think it was perfect for these and it complemented the overall design very well.

I also made tags for all the foods being served (including for the cocktail hour) and for miscellaneous items around the hall - sanitizer bottles (with labels personalized with the couple's logo - unfortunately not showing in this picture) were placed in a couple locations to be used throughout the night, but especially during the cocktail hour.

also made personalized items for both the women's and men's bathrooms

again, both languages were accommodated

personalized tags and labels were used in the bathroom

sara's party perfect feature

2010-09-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

What an awesome end to my night (well, not quite the end yet...but you get the gist!)
My sister's sweet sixteen soirée was feature by none other than Sara Malone from Sara's Party Perfect!
Her blog is such an inspiration for me...it was one of the first blogs I found when I first started looking for ideas for my daughter's 2nd birthday. It won me over instantly. I remember staring at the screen and saying to myself that finally I had found something I liked...
Well, here I am, with my own blog and getting featured!
Swooning all over again.You can see the feature here...

Thanks Sara!

a goodbye and a wedding

2010-09-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

This past week (well, maybe more!) I've been both disoriented and extremely busy!
My little sister finally left for France and I had butterflies in my stomach from all the anticipation...
I tried to keep a rational mind about this whole thing...after all, this is an awesome thing happening in her life! Well, I think despite my nervousness prior to her leaving (and at the airport as well), I wasn't sad or anything that she was leaving (again, I was being rational). But then, after she left, though my immense happiness for her has not left me, this empty feeling started creeping up! It's been a really weird feeling...I've been away from her for I believe a maximum of 2 months before. This is going to be a whole 7 months more than that.
Well sis, here's a note to you: I miss you dearly! I've been thinking about you non-stop since you left and catch myself wondering what you are doing, what you are seeing and experiencing, etc...BUT, I really want you to learn a lot and enjoy and do as much as you possibly can! And don't forget to blog! Je t'aime - A LOT!

Well - on the topic of wedding...I've been working on a lot of personalized items for a dear friend's wedding, and it's this upcoming Saturday. I have to admit, due to the topic above, it's been a bit hard to concentrate.
But I have to say, the results are sure pleasing me. What I hope is they'll please her too!

Will post some pictures after Saturday - can't really spoil her big day by giving a preview!

busy weekend!

2010-08-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

hi there - we are having an extremely busy weekend over here.
From one project to the next (and of course, with life in between!), I haven't even found time to get near my computer!
Anyway, I really just wanted to jot a quick note to thank those who are stopping by! It is a pleasure and I hope you are enjoying it!
I do welcome your comments and feedback...so comment away!

I'll be posting some final pictures of some more items I made for the construction party I posted here, and I'll talk a little bit about my next project...

oh là là!

2010-08-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

As promised (better late than never, right?) here are some pictures of my sister's Sweet Sixteen/Going Away party!

All design and execution by moi (can't let the French thing go...)! Cupcakes were actually made by the birthday girl...some chocolate cupcakes had strawberry marshmallow frosting and the others were topped with chocolate ganache! We had yellow cupcakes too and we replicated the frosting of the chocolate ones (some had strawberry marshmallow and some had the chocolate ganache). Yuuuummy!

The frosting didn't hold up in the warm weather we had...neither did the marshmallow pops and the chocolate covered pretzels, so we really had them out for photo-taking purposes, and of course, when it was time to enjoy them!

The second to last picture has my "Au Revoir" banner (you can see half of it!). It looks so neglected because we had a change of plans about the favor table...I originally had planned to put out a very French-looking coffee table with the favors on top...and the banner would be placed behind it (higher, of course) as the "good-bye" table. Unfortunately, our favors were edible, and we couldn't keep them out, so I didn't even bother to set it up. But then, I changed my mind and did a quick improv (at that point, I couldn't even get the cute French-looking table anymore) and a white coffee table did the job.

I made the 16 cake topper, and actually decked out a store bought cake a bit more so it would go with the theme (this involved pouring the leftover chocolate ganache on top of the cake for a yummy double chocolate taste, and using the leftover pink sugar pearls). For a 5 minute fix, I thought it turned out great! Funny how the only picture of the cake that I have has my sister's pool-wet self behind it!

For the banner, I wanted to give a little bit more of a girly effect to the "Sara", and so I added brown tulle around the banner ovals. It turned out so cute!

Everyone had a great time...we went through a lot of "Eau"s as it was a hot one...Cake was great, cupcakes were awesome and we forgot the ice cream! Oh well! At that point, everyone was so happy and sugared up that no one minded!

All in all, a great time!

It was really a joy for me to design this and turn it into a reality...I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did!

Sis - I'll miss you. And so will Sophia (big time!). And so will everybody...

Rennes, here you come!

button

2010-08-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with some button designs for the blog...
Here's my favorite:

what do you think???

sweet sixteen and au revoir

2010-08-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said I was working on a French-themed sweet sixteen and going away party for my sister?

Well, that was this past weekend and we all had a blast!

My sister is going to spend her high school junior year in France through SYA (School Year Abroad) and so there was no better theme than France itself!

I'll definitely be posting more pictures, but today, I'll leave you with a little taste of our soirée!

individually wrapped chocolate-covered pretzels: one of our thank-you-for-coming favors

Party of the Day!

2010-08-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

I was already so happy to have seen my daughter's Lilo & Stitch party showing up in the front page at Catch My Party as I mentioned in my last post, that there is no words to describe my uber excitement for actually being featured as the

Party of the Day!

I love Catch My Party - so much wonderful talent displayed there - and this is just beyond awesome!

Thank you Jillian...and I'll be sure to post some more!

Check out the feature here and check out Catch My Party too for some awesome inspiration!

nice surprise!

2010-08-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

I went to check out Catch My Party today and was tickled by the sight!

thanks!

construction party II

2010-07-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well, here are the promised pictures...
Hope you enjoy these!

These are the 4 types of favor tags I made - they all have the same backing

Concrete Truck - banner ends

Dump Truck - banner ends

Concrete Truck (in reverse!) - I'm thinking of some type of sign with this...we'll see!

I still have some big tools and confetti tools and trucks to make...I'll post those as soon as I get to them!

construction party

2010-07-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some party goods for the birthday of a co-worker's son.
He will be three and currently very into all things construction, so there was no better theme than a construction theme!
His mom is very hands-on when it comes to parties too, so I've been really just adding a few touches here and there.I am making some truck and tool cut outs for his happy birthday banner, favor tags, cupcake toppers, and some "confetti" with truck and tool shapes. We are staying in the family of yellows, oranges, black and brown.
I'll have some pictures up tonight!
In the meantime, I'll leave you with some great inspiration pictures from a lovely construction party from Style Me Gorgeous!

Isn't it awesome?

new projects

2010-07-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Now that July fourth is a thing of the past, I have moved on as well with my projects...
My sister's sweet sixteen birthday is coming up this August...and in September she is also going to France for a whole academic year!
So since the two events will happen right around the same time, we've decided to have a Sweet Sixteen *slash* going away party for her...and guess what? How could we not go with a French-inspired theme?
I haven't committed myself to other colors yet...but I know we'll have light pink, chocolate brown and black. We'll see.
I'm thinking of incorporating some of the ideas below, but of course changing colors to keep with the chosen palette. Any ideas???

Images from Celebrations at Home, Prudent Baby and Five Lucky Charms respectively.

inspiration

2010-07-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

I know this party has been well through the blog rounds...but it is oh so cute that it deserves yet another feature!

as seen on Sara's Party Perfect right here

4th of July

2010-07-05T19:04:00.002-07:00

hope yours was great too!

party time!

2010-06-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

The pictures of Sophia's b-day are finally here!

There were some things that didn't happen as I had planned (aren't things always like that?), but the kids had tons of fun anyway!

First of all, we had to move the party indoors...the threat of thunderstorms made it so we had no choice. And then there was the heat...almost 90 degrees. I know that doesn't sound as bad for some people...but we are talking New England here, and our warm weather just started! We were not prepared for such drastic change! But then again, this is New England!

Well, moving the party indoors did get us away from the thunderstorms that surely came. But the heat was another story...we had 35 people in the house (spread out in 4 different rooms) and our central air could not keep up! Everybody was having a tough time with the heat...but besides me having a meltdown in the middle and at the end of the party (I went down right before happy birthday, got up just to do the honors, and then crashed again), it seemed everyone else was hanging in there.

This mix of exhaustion, dehydration and who knows what else actually took me down for the remainder of the week (hence the late post about this), but I got to work a little bit on the pictures yesterday, and here they are today.

In the pictures you will see that though this was a Lilo and Stitch hawaiian party, I tried to minimize the commercial aspects, and instead focused on the tropical, hawaiian, colorful and festive side of it!

All personalized products (paper and otherwise) were designed and executed by moi (exception: hibiscus hand fan).

Without further ado (little warning: this will be a big post!):

this was at our front door

main table (the cake appearance did not turn out like I had planned, but at least it was still delicious!)

Yummy!

a little closer shot of the Lilo dolls and cake (I used a strip of cardstock with the hisbiscus on top to cover the not-so-tall-and-a-bit-ugly cake stand). Cake pictured here without party-time "adornments"!

candy bar sign

candy bar

yummy La Salamandra dulce de leche

One of the three guest tables we managed to fit inside the house (and a glimpse of kids table in the background)!

fruit table: grapes, strawberries, pineapples and cold and juicy watermelon! It was life saver in that heat!

there was not a single drop of that limeade left!

cups for the adults

adult water bottles

water bottle close up

napkin ring

personalized cake plate labels (waterproof and food-proof!)

kids table: red balloons, tissue pom-poms and table runners in the 5 colors

kids table: hibiscus chair backs, monogrammed plates, mini water bottles,

labeled cups and napkins with matching "rings"

kids table: another angle

yellow!

green hibiscus chair backs close up

kids table: table setting close up

kids table: personalized cup and water bottle

kids table: flower "vase" (I had a glass tumbler in there!) and wooden surfboard

hibiscus fans - boy, did those come in hand!

favors buckets with tags

re-usable hibiscus bags, sunglasses, leis, Aloha "friendship" bracelets, sand-proof beach containers and beach ball (beach balls are underneath all items in the buckets)

favors: personalized bubble bottles and hibiscus seeds

close up of favor tags and hibiscus seeds pouches with tags that read: "Our friendship will grow and so will these seeds"

leis for the adults too!

food tags: just the two that managed to be photographed! Interestingly enough, we didn't get a picture of the Hawaiian chicken dish we had! Go figure! The Kibbeh dish is a middle-eastern dish (main ingredients are bulgur wheat and ground meat) and I had eaten this version at a friend's birthday party and knew that this was one of the dishes we would be serving at Sophia's too! The Hawaiian chicken had this delicious pineapple sauce...it was to die for!

All in all we had a great time and the kids had fun, and that is what matters!

Off to the next project!

party week and inspiration

2010-06-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

This week has been hectic...and it's going to be like that until the last minutes before the party on Sunday!
I've been busy getting all the paper products ready and finalizing all the other details...
I still have to go food shopping for the fresher items, like fruits and vegetables, but that won't be until Friday or Saturday.
All my online purchases have either arrived or are arriving tomorrow. I'm pretty happy about that. I wish I could buy EVERYTHING online!

Well, since I've been on a hiatus for too long...and have not yet taken pictures of where I am so far with Sophia's party, I'm going to leave you with an inspiring party from the Celebration Shoppe!
It's a lovely and chic Sailor party with wonderful colors and details...for us to fall in love with!

hiatus

2010-06-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

So sorry for the hiatus in posting.
I've been pretty busy getting all the details for Sophia's party.
Just finished the invite yesterday and should have some pictures for posting soon...
I'm a little bit at a loss for party games for 2yr olds (that at least remotely relate to the theme!) and so any ideas are welcome! I've decided on one game: magnetic fishing! I already have the fish cut out and I'll be placing a strip of magnetic tape on the paper fish. Then kids will have a fishing pole (I'm not sure what I'll be using for that yet) with a magnet at the end instead of a hook. I think they'll enjoy it!

So, if you have any ideas, send them my way!!!

Birthday Girl and Kate Landers Giveaway!

2010-05-17T13:41:00.001-07:00

The lovely Birthday Girl has teamed up with Kate Landers for a giveaway of a $250 custom birthday party package!

How exciting!

Head on over to Birthday Girl for more details on how to win!

planning a second birthday

2010-05-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Since I started talking about my lovely daughter's second birthday party in my last post...

For starters, I picked Lilo & Stitch as a theme. She has no idea who they *really* are (meaning, she has no idea they are from a movie), and I wanted something she would have a connection with. It worked out nice because she's had this L&S bath book for the longest time - so immediately I could check off the "connection" requirement.

Also, I wanted to have this party outdoors, more precisely in our backyard. So there went the second benefit to this theme: it is Hawaiian and our backyard (which has a pool and is surrounded by conservation land) will be more than suitable! In fact, it will be a great backdrop.

Anyway, I've kind of designed the invites and some of the paper products already.

I wanted it to be festive and colorful...so I've narrowed the color scheme to blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Here's a preview of one of the cupcake toppers:

I will, of course, try to incorporate the actual characters...my daughter met the almost-her-size plush Stitch and managed to stick to it like glue. I had to resort to telling her that the huge shopping bag we were given was his bed and that he needed to go in there to take a nap.

Even then she kept peeking in and letting me know he was sleeping...

Lilo dolls are very rare these days...and so I snatched a couple on eBay. They are not as big or new as Stitch was, but it'll do, as they'll only be making an "appearance"!

I will be posting some other sneak-peeks as I go along (and have time to post!).

I'm hoping some of you will be inspired and want to have your own L&S party!

I'll leave with my current version of the invite (I say current because I can possibly change my mind until the day I send them out!!!!). Enjoy!

inspiration

2010-05-12T20:55:00.001-07:00

I've been following Color Party ever since I started looking around for ideas for my daughter's 2nd b-day party. I can tell you that out of the thousands and thousands of results of my Google search for Lilo & Stitch, her ideas were the only thing worth looking at.

Well, I'm running the inspiration feature again...and Thalyta's blog is today's pick.

The following pictures are from her creation *slash* adaptation of an under the sea theme for her godson who turned one.

Have fun!

happy mothers day

2010-05-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

Could not pass posting a little something for moms out there!

Hope your day will be very enjoyable and filled with sweet surprises!

daughter's 23rd month birthday

2010-04-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated my daughter's 23rd month birthday...we have not been doing it all along (meaning the celebration of "month" birthdays), but I did do it for the last couple of months before her big 2! I wanted her to get some practice!

Well, she loved today just like the one last month. She sang with us and clapped all along.

The cake I made came out horribly sweet...one more frosting recipe I won't be using.

But her reaction to the whole event was priceless. And that was enough for me.

Though the cake did not please the palate...it did please the eyes a little bit. I'll upload it ~~shortly~~ one of these days!

happy Earth day!

2010-04-22T09:24:00.001-07:00

image from web

Well - this a must kind of post.

Think about it...if Earth isn't here, how are going to have all these beautiful parties???

Jokes apart, I really do hope we become more and more conscious of the consequences of our actions, good or bad, and opt for the good.

Find out how to take action: http://www.earthday.org/earthday2010

thank you!

2010-04-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to thank the ladies of Idea Studio for the shout-out!

So sweet!

inspiration

2010-04-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

If you are a blogger you know how much fun it is to check out the immense amount of great ideas out there!

Well - to pay homage to the great talented people, I've decided to start posting all kinds of delightful, lovely design as I come across it. Hope it inspires people as I am sure it will inspire me.

To start off this "delightful inspiration" series...here is an awesome production by the ladies at ideiasdostudio.blogspot.com (http://www.ideastudiodesign.com/). I just stumbled upon their blog and loved everything about it! Check it out!

This was created for a second birthday. Awesome!

farewell lunch

2010-04-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

One of my great friends' mom had come to lend her hand with her two girls while her hubby was away...and time flies! It was now time for her mom to go back home...

I wanted to see her before she left, so I decided to have a little going back home lunch for her!

We had tons of fun and the food was delicious (if I may say so myself!). Hope you enjoy too!

in sickness and in health

2010-04-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

When I decided to start a blog I told myself that I would keep this up as best I could, and would not let just any little thing stop me.

That was until I got sick this week. It's been impossible to get up and do anything...

As soon as I am up and out of bed (literally) I will be posting some pictures of recent soirées.

celebrating Easter

2010-04-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

My daughter will be 2 in May and so this year I wanted Easter to feel special for her.

Brunch was our choice this year. I baked a cake, and though I messed up on the recipe, it still turned out delicious and visually what I was expecting.

We had some dear friends sharing the day with us. There was egg hunting afterwards and the kids absolutely had a blast.

I fell in love with the color and pattern of the tablecloth, and designed everything from there. Enjoy!

22nd month celebration

2010-03-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 22 months and I had this out of the blue urge to prepare a little something for her. It was interesting because as much as I had wanted to, I never managed to have all her "month" birthdays celebrated. So this was special - picked up the cupcakes and fresh flowers that set the whole color scheme and then went from there.

Her reaction when we she saw it and during happy birthday was priceless.

Enjoy the shots.

a first birthday

2010-03-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

My great friend and I had been talking about her 2nd daughter's 1st birthday for quite a bit...She went from having something, to not having something big, to having something very small...to almost not having anything at all!

And we couldn't let that happen!

Unfortunately, there was barely time and minimum resources...but we managed to whip something cute!

Apologies for the quality of pictures. Didn't have time to touch them up before posting (will try to do that soon!)

just another one of the overall look - simple but cute

double birthday

2010-03-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some pictures (not so new anymore!)

This was a special one - my cousin who I had not seen in a long time came up to visit.

Since he was going to be here on his birthday, we HAD to throw him a little bash...

And since my hubby's own b-day would be a couple of weeks away...Double bash!

With a surfer husband, you can't go wrong with a beach themed event. I chose blue and green as the two main colors, but with some hints of yellow here and there. I am one to come up with very elaborate menus...but this time I did not want to have a full dinner as I usually have for night-time celebrations. So I kept the menu pretty simple so it tied nicely with the laid-back beach theme - but everything was still very "gourmet"! We had three types of sandwiches (roast beef, club/Italian with pesto and grilled salmon), homemade artisan pizza, and then cake with the delicious pineapple and sweet cream filling.

As usual, I ended up with more ideas than I had time to execute. So, here are some that did make the cut. I had a lot of fun preparing it and everyone enjoyed it. Your turn now!

Overall look of table before the action started...just some simple appetizers.

Banner I made for the two nicknames...the & is off center, I know...
...and I didn't put it up until after I took the picture above!

lovely sandwich "huggers", as I call it.

Beach-themed toppers...turned out great!

...almost cake time!

...cake time!!!

first things first: welcome!

2010-03-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

I love celebrating! It is such a great way to bring joy to everyone involved!

And marking the occasion - regardless of what it is - by adding unique and personal touches is bound to show how much you care and create memories for life!

So this blog is all about making the everyday, simple things, memorable. And then some.

It's going to be a pleasure to share this with you. So welcome...and come back often!