A 30th Birthday Hoedown

The forecast was rain and the day dawned wet and dreary... but that didn't put a damper on our fun! Last Saturday we hosted a little hoedown to celebrate my 30th birthday. Despite the rain, we had one heck of a day! Bandanna banners, cowboy cutouts, friends playing horseshoes, and lots of sweet tea - doesn't get much better than that!
Here are a few pictures of the day -

A Birthday Girl and her Dog

A Cowboy Couple - my sister helped make the awesome cutouts! She outlined them the weekend before the party and then we painted them using random paints I had around the house from a previous project. They were a hit!

Yeehaw! The party is here!

Waiting for all the candles to be lit. There were quite a few! 


My mom made sure I got the slice of cake with the '30' on it. 
And I even blew out all the candles on the FIRST try!

Sheriff Dad, who came early to help. He and the hubs set up the photo-op tent, and he made the fantastic bandanna banner on the front of our house. Then he played photographer all day!

Yeah, this picture was all the Hubs. I had nothing to do with it. Sammi did make a new friend, named Dakota. Our friends recently adopted her from a local shelter. Isn't she sweet? I'm not sure how she felt about this whole picture thing...

 
Aren't my parents darling?

The hubs was so amazing with everything he did to get ready for the party, we promised to lessen the reward for his arrest. And to keep him alive... as much as possible.

Sweet tea tastes better with stripey straws in mason jars.

The rain meant a few people bailed on the party but that also meant we had enough room to move the party indoors. We cleared out the sunroom (thank goodness for a garage that will hold all our furniture...) and set up tables inside. My mom had the fantastic idea to use bandannas as chair covers. Genius!

Get some grub!

 













And be sure to snag a slice of cake. My amazing friend, Christina, brought us Texas Chocolate Cake from Jeannine's Bakery in Santa Barbara. It was perfect - looked great, tasted even better! (Wow, that's a lot of candles...)

Don't forget to grab a favor on your way out! Little bags of gold for the road.

And with that, have a rootin' tootin' Thanksgiving weekend! Yeehaw!

Pumpkin Parties and Treats

After one of the craziest weeks in recent times and few days of vacation, I'm back! We've been up to our ears in pumpkins around here and I'm honestly ready to trade them in for some acorns and turkeys to finish out the Fall season. 

Friends and family came from far and wide last weekend to celebrate Autumn with pumpkins and treats. Here are a few highlights from the day:  

A friend brought Pumpkin Pie Bars. They were gooey and yummy and perfect!

Mini Pumpkin Breads:

Apple Cider, sparkling and still:

The hubs helped make these cute little cream cheese truffles - I made the inside and he dipped them in chocolate. The chocolate kept falling off while we were dipping them but I think we figured out how to perfect these for next time. They inside has to chill for quite a while so planning ahead is always a good idea...

The hubs also made Bacon-Wrapped Cream Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeno Things. They were a hit! Easy to make and even easier to eat...

I couldn't resist this chocolate dipped caramel apple. It was as delicious as it was beautiful (before I sliced it and all the white chocolate fell off...). If you see one of these at your local Costco, buy it. You won't be sorry.

The Spread! Yes, those are Pumpkin Pie Bites on the corner - if you haven't made these before, you should. Or just come to the Pumpkin Party next year.

Pumpkin Carving! 

Sometimes it's helpful to have a hair tie...

My sister made Jack Skellington.

Our friend Helen is one of Sammi's favorite people. He was so excited to see her because she always plays with him! Even when she's in the middle of pumpkin carving, she'll pause for a game of tug-of-war.

Pumpkins!

The Hubs carved this one. It has something to do with a computer game. I think. He was really excited about it and posted a picture on an online forum almost immediately.

Aren't they all so cheerful and fun?

Our friends from LA brought their darling dog, Bailey. He had so much fun with Sammi that they both just pooped out after their dinners. They also made the awesome double-decker pumpkin man.

I can't wait until next year! The Pumpkin Party will be even bigger and better, I'm sure. 

Can you believe it's almost November? Only a few more weeks until Thanksgiving - enjoy the crisp Autumn weather!

All photos in this post were taken by me. Please don't use them anywhere else unless you ask me first. Thanks!

Party Planning!

I'm not a party planner by trade but I do love to throw a little soiree every once in while.
Currently in the works: A Jonathan Adler inspired birthday party for a friend's friend named Michelle. I don't know her personally but as soon as my friend told me that Michelle loves Jonathan Adler, I knew she and I were kindred spirits.

Currently in the inspiration folder:
Chevron striped note cube


Super fun pencil set


Reusable tumblers


Stripes cup and saucer (stripes!!)


Whale pitcher


Be still my heart. Anchor pillows.


All images via Jonathan Adler.

Weekend Wrap-up: Winery

Sunday was a good friend's birthday and since we're all at or approaching our 30s, we decided to celebrate the grown-up way with some wine tasting! If you've never been wine tasting, you should definitely try it. Not only are the wineries usually gorgeous and accommodating, it's a great way to get a feel for what you like and don't like. A smart friend shared her general rules for tasting: Do I like it? Can I afford it? I can deal with that!
We visited Roblar Winery in the Santa Ynez valley for the afternoon. I wish I'd been able to take more pictures of the winery itself - the buildings were gorgeous and I love the atmosphere they've created. They do free BBQ and fabulous tastings over the Labor Day weekend - I might have to take the hubs for a little day trip.
On the balcony for our tasting:

Sister! Overlooking the vineyards:

LB to Catalina to Ensenada to the Pacific and back to the LB...

I'm back! I almost don't know where to start describing my little cruise adventure so I'll just start at the beginning and go from there.
My friend, Christina, and I met in Long Beach and swiftly boarded our temporary home, the Carnival Paradise cruise ship. After dumping our bags in our ocean view room, we set out to explore and watch as we our ship pulled away from port.
The ship

On deck - and on vacation!

The Atrium

Our first towel animal - would you say this is a walrus? Other ideas...?

After dinner and a fantastic sleep, we woke up in Catalina where we spent most of our first full day. Christina had never been to Catalina before, so we perused a bit of the downtown area and then walked up to the Wrigley Botanical Memorial Garden. I'd never gone to this bit of Catalina before so it was nice to explore something new.
Christina among the Matilija poppies that were blooming everywhere:

Looking up at the memorial:

The view down the valley toward the ocean - oh, and me:

Stopped for gelato, we are happy ladies!

We were happy to re-board the ship for dinner after Catalina, knowing we had a full day ahead in Ensenada, Mexico on Wednesday and needed a good meal and some rest. Christina's boyfriend met us in Ensenada and we helped him choose new upholstery for his Airstream - he'd driven it down in hopes of getting some of the interior fixed up. After meeting with some local craftsmen for a few hours, we grabbed some lunch (and margaritas!) then wandered the town, doing a little shopping and visiting the local church.
If you ever find yourself on a cruise headed toward Ensenada, I will pause here to recommend that you book some sort of shore excursion. If we hadn't met up with a friend, the day would have held little excitement. The shop area is small and there isn't much to do downtown and no nearby beaches to visit. Your best bet is to book a wine tasting, or an ATV adventure, or a horseback riding tour to take up the better part of your day and then spend an hour or so downtown. That's all you'd really need to explore the area. The shore excursions are a bit pricey but everyone we talked to onboard in the evening really enjoyed their day and said the cost was worth it.
I hardly took any pictures in Ensenada - but I will share this one. The port of Ensenada sports one big ass Mexican flag - probably one of the largest flags I've ever seen, anywhere. And I've been some places... This picture really doesn't do it justice.

Thursday was our "Fun Day at Sea" and we spent most of it laying around on deck, eating, reading, eating some more, and laying around. And then eating some more. Needless to say, there aren't many pictures to share but it was the most relaxing day I've had in a while and was fabulous. I recommend a similar experience to everyone.
Eat, read, relax. Eat some more. Rinse, repeat.
And be sure to make some towel animals.

I'm on a boat!

Please excuse my blogging silence as I embark on a little vacation with a friend. I'll be floating the deep blue seas of the Pacific ocean down to Ensenada and back until Friday morning. I promise I'll come back loaded with pictures - and a little tan.

Photo via...

Sometimes I'm a little bit crazy...

Like when I volunteer to do Grad Nite. Again. I always get sucked into it by friends and I have a great time but the next day, I'm worthless. All I can do is take small series of naps with random eatings in between until I go to bed for real around 8pm and then finally wake up feeling like a "normal" person on Saturday morning.
This year was particularly fantastic because one of my best friends was also a chaperone and she was in a wheelchair due to recent ankle surgery. I know, poor her, what a bummer to be injured but SCORE! to the handicap line. She was also given an extra-wide wheelchair by Disneyland so we were able to double up on the capacity when we got tired.
I didn't take any solid pictures and I'm not sure how my friends feel about having their pics posted to this here blog yet... but I'll be sure to take more next time!
Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my next nap.

The Upside of Unemployment

When you're down in the dumps and unemployment looms but you've got another three months left to the school year... it's time to party!
We hosted a little get-together on Saturday evening for our friends to celebrate the hidden joys of unemployment and support each other in the midst of our employment crises.
Here are a few snapshots from the evening:

A Party isn't a Party without Balloons and Streamers



Some of the spread - Chris also made Chocolate Covered Strawberries and I forgot the brie in the fridge until it we were going to bed. Whoops.



Molly contemplates her drink selection.


A few of the ladies chatting in the living room...


...While the men make us bourbon shakes in the kitchen. I like this arrangement!