Weekend Recap and Trends

I spent the weekend back in Northern California for my niece's first birthday. My main job was balloon wrangler, so I have become quite familiar with them now!

[Balloons hanging at the party]

[The party site for my niece's first birthday! I took this shot while running around before everyone got there for lunch. Isn't it huge??]

[Tacos!]

[Cake!]

Speaking of balloons--I thought I was totally over them. It got to the point where I just stopped clicking on links in which the itty bitty picture showed balloons. But I was reminded of why they're so pretty this past weekend!

A tip from me to you if you'll ever be transporting balloons: it's hard! My sister drives a wagon and we had 25 balloons to shove in there. The problem is that they kept floating and almost escaping from us (those sneaky balloons). At one point, I was wedged in between the bumper and the trunk door, trying to hold all the balloons down. I quickly maneuvered my way out and my sister gently shut the trunk door after I escaped. I tried to regain my composure after I had just been shouting "they're going to pop! Don't shut the door on my hand!" in the middle of the Party City parking lot.

It was totally worth it because the kids LOVED the balloons and we sent them home with the guests at the end of the party. And so I opened balloons back into my heart.

Are you avoiding any wedding trends? C'mon, I know you're dying to dish. Mustaches. Candy buffets. Fabric hanging for photo booths. Birds. Argyle socks (say it aint so!) Polaroids. Jumping shots. CUPCAKES.

Quick side note: If you are having a lot of balloons at your wedding/event, I highly recommend renting a helium tank and blowing them all up at your venue. Starting rental rate for Party City in Northern California was $30 USD. Each of our balloons cost .89 cents.

The Happiest Place on Earth: Part 3

*We ended the night with fireworks*

*And we managed to go home with a couple of pictures of ourselves*

[At dinner, New Orleans Cafe]

All in all, a great day! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

The Happiest Place on Earth: Part 2

We had some really good food in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I started the day off being good by eating a banana and having a small non-fat mocha, and then I saw an ice cream cart and it all went downhill from there.

*We saw/ate a lot of items in the shape of Mickey*


[I know that you want one. Even if it costs $8 USD. I know that I really wanted one, but I'm allergic to apples.]

[Make no mistake---these are red MAGIC cupcakes, not red velvet!]


[This was not a normal ice cream. It was rock solid from being so cold! The vendor had to put a glove on to retrieve it from the freezer. It was really really good. What is it with soda and ice cream tasting better when ice cold?]

[Chocolate-covered Rice Krispie Treat! Do they have rice krispies outside the US?]

[This was the most memorable of them all. We ate in New Orleans Square and had a lovely dinner overlooking Tom Sawyer's Island. To top off the meal, we ordered beignets. I had no idea what a beignet was, the only thing I saw was the description, which informed me that it would be covered in powdered sugar. If something is covered in powdered sugar, how in the world could it possibly be bad??
When it arrived, I cried out "Oooh! Mickey donuts!" But I was so wrong. These are 100 times better than donuts. Especially with that dipping sauce--berry and vanilla...mmmm]

[Can you tell how much we LOVED them? I was close to licking the plate at this point.]

[The gift shops were filled with every lollipop imaginable so you could prolong the sugar rush on the ride home.]

Have I made you hungry yet?

The Happiest Place on Earth: Part 1

We spent 14 hours at Disneyland in Anaheim yesterday for my birthday. We had SO MUCH fun, and by the time I got home, my feet hurt and "It's a Small World" was officially stuck in my head. Best birthday ever.

And since it was my birthday, Disney wouldn't let me forget it was. Upon arriving they gave me this button and wrote my name on it, which I later realized was a way for every cast member I encountered to say "Happy Birthday!" to me.

I also got a special ticket. The boy's ticket is on the left.

And if we still forgot why we were at Disneyland, they gave the boy a button to indicate that he too was in fact celebrating.


Here were some of the highlights of the long, 80 degree weather day:

*We rode a lot of rides.*

This is Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters, in which you gain points by shooting targets in order to defeat the eeee-vil Zurg.

[Don't you worry Buzz, we'll defeat Zurg.]

[I officially have a photo that proves just how bad I am at video games. Yes, the boy in fact had 150,000 points more than me.]

["There is just one moon and a golden sun and a smile means friendship to everyone..." They recently renovated Small World and it looked amazing! I kept trying to take pictures, but as you know if you've been on the ride, the boat just keeps moving! Stop the boat! I need to take pictures!]

[I thought that this oar was just for looks. Turns out we actually had to paddles ourselves in a canoe in Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes.]

*We ogled (but did not buy) a lot of toys.*

[Baby Buzz Lightyear. Eerily cute.]

[Mini pooh bears!]

[Hayuck! I'm a little roly-poly!]

[In case you don't have a small dog to put in your handbag...]

My next post is going to be devoted to one of my favorite topics--FOOD!
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3.

Things That Are Happening/Happened This Week

[Birthday Cupcake via Blue Cupcake]

+ Tomorrow I turn 26. Yes, I'm turning 26 on the 26th, which resulted in a week of joking with people that I'm going to do everything x 26 (a la Rory Gilmore's 21st birthday, any Gilmore Girls fans out there??) Eat 26 things, take pictures with 26 people, buy 26 items, hug 26 random people. Am I going to? It'd be fun and quirky and probably scare some poor people I don't know, but no, unfortunately not. Instead, the boy and I are going here!:

[Sleeping Beauty's Castle via Mastery of Maps]

I want to 1. document everything we eat, especially anything that is in the shape of Mickey Mouse. 2. get a better score on Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters 3. ride Space Mountain and Indiana Jones at least three times 4. have a much needed day o' fun with the boy, who has been m.i.a. for the past two months due to this horrible test.

+ These puppies also came in the mail for me this week:

[Pink Studio's Jeanette]

I can't decide whether or not to keep them. I don't wear high shoes often, and these are 3 1/2 inch heels! I'm a little wobbly and have been practicing walking in our bedroom like a 13-year-old. But they look amazing with my green skirt, blue dress, and jeans!

+ On Saturday, my lovely friend Tiffany is taking me to Lulu's to get mani/pedis:

[Lulu's by Travis Parker, photo via Yelp]

It's going to be a fun girls' day out!

+ Earlier in the week, we tried a new restaurant called Blue Boheme, which introduced me to the wonders of pommes frites. Omigoodness, who knew fries could taste this good??? I'm drooling at my desk just thinking of them with the little bowl of mussles they came with. Also, the website is pretty awesome, it's almost as if I'm watching a movie.

*Phew* That was a lot, wasn't it? I also ran on the beach, led a book club at the library, and had a trip to the dentist which was surprisingly painless.

How is everyone else's week going?

Happy Birthday, K!

[Letterpress birthday card from afavoritedesign.com, via Etsy]

Happy Birthday to the boy! It's going to be a great weekend with non-stop eating and friends. Cheers to a quarter century!

Easy-bake Birthdays

[Easy-bake birthday cakes from CHOW]

There were a lot of late July/early August birthdays in my life, including my Mom, my brother-in-law, my cousin, my uncle, my good friend on the East Coast, my childhood friend in Northern California...so many special people turning one year older!
I unfortunately can't be with any of these people on the big day (boo!), but if I were, I may be inclined to try an easy-bake birthday cake over at CHOW.

In college I was all about the Betty Crocker mixes (don't those taste so good?? Admit it, I know you like them, don't lie to me!) but perhaps I've graduated to an easy-bake cake. The Triple-Malt Chocolate Cake looks pretty yummy. I'll be storing these recipes for more birthdays and celebrations when I have the opportunity to see old friends again.

And, if you've never visited CHOW before, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes food, reading about food, looking at food, thinking about food... it's pretty awesome.

My First Gocco Experience

[My first Gocco project. A little smudged, but totally handmade by yours truly!]

On Saturday, I spent the whole day playing with my Gocco with hyperartpro! I now have 25 birthday cards, but it was a long (but fun!) 6 hours to get to that point. And next time I print, I'll be a little wiser about the whole process.

This is what I learned from the day:

[Burning a screen, attempt #1. Please let this work. Shoot. It didn't work.]

[Me tracing after my first failed attempt at burning a screen]

1) The photocopier at the library does not make dark enough photocopies. Note to self: adjust saturation on copier so that photocopies come out darker.

2) If photocopies are not up to par, using the handy-dandy carbon pen that comes with Gocco kit is a piece-o-cake.

[My second failed attempt at burning a screen]

3) Don't cry after you've wasted 6 bulbs and 2 screens without any luck of successfully burning a screen! Take a deep breath and remove the blue filter that the instructions told you to use! Next time you will know better! Really!

[Red ink! All over the place!]

4) Expect your hands and arms to look like you've been stung by thousands of bees if using red ink. This may only occur if you're lucky enough, like myself, to be a messy crafter. Make as many jokes about the red ink on your arms as many times during the night as humanly possible.

[It worked!! It really worked!!! Let's go eat dinner finally!]

5) Don't get impatient and play with wet ink. That stuff smears all over the place. ALL OVER THE PLACE.

[Hyperartpro's otter stationery. Totally cute!]

6) Gocco with a friend! Especially one who makes ADORABLE stationery with cute animals on them.

Well, aren't YOU lucky if it's your birthday soon! I have the perfect card for you. ;)

[Thanks to hyperartpro for taking all of these photos on Gocco day.]

Thank You!

[Mo+boy share a birthday dessert at Extraordinary Desserts in Little Italy, San Diego]

As of 30 minutes ago, I am officially 25. Woohoo!! Tonight we celebrated with friends at Karen Krasne's Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego. I also got a special birthday surprise from my coworkers---more gocco inks, more screens, and more bulbs to add to my new toy! I can't wait to play with it! Thanks to everyone who chipped in and came out to celebrate, it was lots of fun!

Here's a pic of me and the boy. It was unfortunately pretty dark in there, but I like the picture anyway. =)