Settling Into Summer

Hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day. I foisted power tools onto my poor husband. He doesn't have many, so I think it was ok. I think he enjoyed the rest of his day. I didn't nag him too much plus he got some pretty cool handmade gifts from the girls and some relaxation time too which is worth its weight in gold around this house.

Yesterday, we went down to the Detroit Riverfront for their River Days Festival. You may remember my post from last year. It's beautiful down there. We rode rides, played in the fountains & ate hot dogs and sno-cones. It was a perfect day. Here are some pics:









Tomorrow marks the beginning of week 3 for Q and V at a brand new daycare. Both had been to their previous in-home daycare since they were 3 months old. They are now at a center mainly because of a ton of little reasons, nothing major. At the last daycare, Q was the oldest kid by like 1.5 years, every Monday was a struggle, and towards the end, she was starting to act like a miserable teenager. Now she is in her element. I'm so happy for her.

V on the other hand-- the first two weeks were pretty rough. However, the turning point may have been Thursday when I received this note in her box (written by one of the daycare ladies, of course): "I made a new friend today. Michael held my hand at nap time until I fell asleep". Picture a little guy with light cocoa skin, huge brown eyes, and chestnut brown curls with a green plaid overall romper on with his cot pushed up to V's and holding her hand. That's Michael. I think he's a little younger than V. I don't know if he made the difference, but all I know is that on Friday, she wasn't so sad anymore.

♥

Have a good week, all!!! xo

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all those fathers out there especially my own:

And this guy too...
You two are two of the best dads I know, and I'm so lucky to have you both. :) xo
P.S. The graphic above is a vintage card available from Kitsch Cupcake Gal's Etsy shop.

Full On Twerd: New Moon Party

As a follow up to my Twilight party, I had my New Moon party last night as it WAS a new moon per the lunar calendar (WARNING: much nerdiness ahead). Wait, it gets better...

I decided to gear this one towards my Team Jacob friends and show some TLaut love. The basement was decked out in Native American tchotchkes: dream catcher, crazy kitschy lamp and other stuff courtesy of my friends. Faux fur "pelts" courtesy of Joann's although that stuff is wicked messy to cut!
The framed New Moon quotes were from Jen at Hostess with the Mostess! You may remember I used her Twilight quotes too. I took advantage of her tip and used the Fed Ex/Kinko's store for laser printing-- you can upload and pay online then just go to your local store and pickup. Super cheap, easy, and they turned out beautifully.
Here are my lil' favors. Inside was a coaster/jar opener/mini mousepad. These things are the best. Also, Twilight phrase conversation hearts, a wolf pack tattoo sticker, and New Moon band-aids (we don't want to incur a papercut now, do we?).Food & Drink:

• Werewolf Kibble (puppy chow)
• Fire & Ice Shrimp (the spicy recipe is here plus shrimp cocktail)
• Bella is so Blue Cheese Dip (from Paula Deen)
• Quileute Crudite (just veggies)
• I had intended on Dog Bone shaped Crostini, but it didn't pan out, so they got oval. :)
  
• Olive You Both Tapenade (from a jar...good stuff)
• Hogs in a Blanket (as in motorcycle hogs, get it?)
• Pacific Northwest Fizz (my own concoction!) garnished with rosemary stems to look like pine boughs; consisted of rosemary infused agave syrup, lime juice, grapefruit vodka and club soda-- just kinda played around with the ratio.
  
• AWESOME werewolf cupcakes courtesy of Annie's Easts. My friend Al's niece (she's 17!!), Brooke made them for me and piped like a fiend in between studying for her ACT the next day! She is so talented. They were perfect.
• And my most favorite brainstormed idea yet-- Face Punch! It's just pineapple juice, ginger ale and lime sherbet. I am still cracking myself up over thinking of the name.
  
• Chocolate Twizzlers & brown/gold M&Ms

Also decided we needed a game, of course. I love Catchphrase and thought it would be great to get a Twilight-themed version. Lo and behold, iPhone has an app called Phrase Party where you can add your own custom word/phrase list! So I came up with a list of about 70 catchphrases like love triangle, stomach flu, eternal damnation, etc. TEAM EDWARD PREVAILED!!!

Prizes for both teams were packaged in a barf bag with Face Punch movie ticket stubs attached. I made them on this site! I used the actual date and location from the book. I just printed them out on cardstock and tore them on the side. They looked pretty cool. You can use my image below if you'd like!
Losers had REJECTED UNDER AGE stamped across the front (tee hee) and were filled with fake rubber Mike Newton puke and a package of mini marshmallows (since Jacob calls Mike a marshmallow, I thought it only fitting). The winning team had prizes inside like wolf charm earrings & zipper pulls, dog bone cookie cutters, Ciao Volturi Alice magnets, New Moon Pies, slap bracelets, chocolate bars with printable New Moon wrappers, etc.

You can see all my New Moon party pics on my Flickr page.

All in all, we had a great time!!! I am sure you all think I'm some crazy who takes this very seriously. I can assure you it's only the party planning I take very seriously. I don't care if it's a stinkin NASCAR party, I will be on that theme like Miley Cyrus on a middle-aged gay dude.

I already know next year's party is going to be a (SPOILER ALERT) Isle Esme tropical island theme and take place on August 13, 2011 which is Edward and Bella's wedding date (feel free to smile and back away slowly-- I won't hold it against you). HA!!!