Olivia's Second Birthday!

As promised here's a recap of Olivia's Second Birthday Party!

When I informed parents to bring their kids' swimsuits for a "water fun" little did I know that we would be dealing with much more water than the slip n' slide and baby pools I had in mind. The sky opened up and it rained like a monsoon but guess what--we still had a GREAT time. We have the BEST friends who still showed up for our little girl's day--with their kids in tow. Love them.

Besides rain turned out to be the small glitch--and an empty gas tank (whoopsi) for the grill left Charm City Daddy cooking up turkey burgers and hot dogs in the kitchen instead. CCD and I agreed that of all of the parties we've had in our home it probably ranked as the second most fun of all time---with our first New Year's Eve party taking top honors. Both were simple, small and unpretentious with just the right mix of people.

Olivia is such a great little hostess too. She returned the "Happy Birthday" wishes to each and everyone that wished her a happy birthday--lol--it was everyone's birthday! At one point, during the rain storm, she invited all of the children ranging in age from 8 years to 19 months up to the third floor of our house which gets awesome acoustics for a full out screaming match and game of "tagyou'reit!" I shut that down after 5 minutes. Everyone complied but the birthday girl who was removed kicking and screaming.

It is nice to have experienced parents around as well--helping me relax about the rain issue and transition the children from activity to activity. A new friend of mine brought her 4 kids (ages 2-8) and it was awesome--like a built in party. I was so thankful and happy to see all of them--and they are such great, well-behaved--adorable kids.  At one point, her two year-old son was actually talking to Olivia's cake, "Caillou, I love you! I love you Caillou!"

I could go on forever...here's the party in pictures!

 

 

 

Chirren and Chittlins

First of all Thanksgiving was fantastic. However, I took ZERO pictures. Sorry. I'm disappointed too.
But hey, here's a random recent pic of Olivia asking for "more muck peeease!" aka more milk, please.

Back to Thanksgiving--I am pooped just thinking about it. At this time I would like to "shout out" to all of the folks who spent lots of time on their feet preparing their Thanksgiving dinner for their families. I have done it only once before, but this was the first time as a preggo, and I had to stop a couple of times and pull up a stool and eat a snack just to make it through. I spent three hours alone at the kitchen sink cleaning Chitterlings on Wednesday night. Yes, you read that correctly. Chittlins people! My dad, bro and I are BIG fans. I season them with so much vinegar, lemon juice and hot sauce, and onion, you can barely taste them--but that's how I like 'em. When all of those spices combine enough to make your eyes weak (and mouth water) over the bowl.  Ahh--the family delicacy comes but once (sometimes twice) a year--Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Charm City Daddy, O and I celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad, younger brother, and my mother-in-law came down with a little 5 year-old cousin to play with Olivia. With the exception of my dad's fried turkey, my little brother and I split the cooking responsibilities (WHOAH) and we ate at my parents' house while mom was in the Windy City tending to my sister and her new arrival, Camille Arielle! The "peanut" finally arrived on Tuesday, November 23rd at 6 lbs 3 oz.!

All in all, it was a wonderful 5-day weekend filled with some light holiday shopping and lots of family time with Olivia including a trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  

The First Birthday Party

It has actually taken me one week to fully rest and recover to even be able to do this recap. Yowzah.

Although my wonderful mama (Charm City Grandma) is a champ and started helping me get ready for the party several weeks in advance, we were both overwhelmed and exhausted the day before and the day of the party. The next thing we knew people started showing up and we hadn't set up the food, tables, and we were still in our work clothes. In about 30 minutes, with the help of a few of my good friends that arrived early (I have the BEST friends), the place set up and we did our quick changes into decent attire. Here's the main spread in the dining room...

Pictured: My homemade cupcakes, pig-in-the blankets, DIY tissue poms (leopard), and a hot dog/hamburger spread.

I was still running around most of the time making sure the essentials were out, so the pictures are lacking with hardly any close ups--sorry about that. I was the crazy first-time, first birthday mom trying to do it all and telling myself you have to put in the hard work for at least one of your kid's parties with all of the homemade mom touches. It is your rightful baptism as a mom. I told myself this, so that I won't feel guilty about taking the easy road next time.  You know like taking the kids to the zoo or Chuck E. Cheese and you let the staff do all the work---yeah---like that. But my fondest childhood birthday memories were the ones at home that my mom organized and I can't help wanting to do the same for my family.

I also found a very reasonable petting zoo for a steal! I am so proud. The animals were a hit and the operators were professional and very permissive with the children. I highly recommend if you live in the area. We had goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, and bunnies.

I am also proud of the adorable felt animal party hats my mom and I found at Michael's craft store on clearance for $2.99! The hats were appreciated by adults and kids alike.

Are you looking for what I promised to reveal that I actually sewed myself? Well, I ended up just assisting (cut, pinned and partially sewed) my mom in the construction of a table runner which cannot be seen in any photo. Except for the one close up I took of my imperfectly perfect cupcakes. Look for the green jungle looking runnner! 

Also here's another DIY tissue pom I made..zebra!

Also the tablecloths for the the outdoor tables were made by good old Charm City Grandma. We hope to use them for years to come as my mom made a a similar set of tablecloths with cloth napkins for my older sister when we were kids and they appeared at all of our birthday parties.

We sang happy birthday twice b/c daddy was lingering around the house and I realized this and had to stop everyone mid-song and wait for daddy to come into the room to witness the magic/confusion of Olivia enjoying hearing everyone in the room sing her name. 

And finally, what the first birthday is all about...eating the cake! Olivia wasted no time at all and devoured half of a giant cupcake I made before daddy confiscated it. 

So we started here...

Then daddy tried to keep it from getting too out of hand...

But it didn't take long before it got to here (complete with icing in hair).

 

Olivia actually had to take a nap that extended through the first hour of the party b/c of all of the excitement of visiting cousins and people setting up before the party.

For me it was a power-packed three hours. One thing I've learned about myself as a hostess, I'm terrible at delegating tasks b/c I want to retain all control until the last-minute when I give up caring or finally realize there are many things that others can and want to help with. I never get to socialize as much as I would like when I host parties and I am going to make a better effort to do less during my parties so I can enjoy myself more. Charm City Daddy always enjoys himself. Other than that--I wouldn't change a thing. Yay! So glad we survived! Happy Birthday Olivia!

For My Fellow Paper Lovers

I love stationery. Moreover, I appreciate the time people put into selecting thank you notes, invitations, birthday cards, announcements, and holiday cards. In this day of email, spam, junk email, and text messages, a postage stamped piece of stationery is among my favorite things to receive. It's  like a little unexpected surprise gift in your mailbox.

One thing using real paper requires that e-vites, e-cards, and email do not is lots of planning ahead to allow for production and mailing time as well as a considerable investment in a large quantity of stamps.  I suppose that could be the reason many people give up and go the cheaper, faster electronic route these days.

So when I heard about Paperless Post, a eco-friendly, cost-effective way to still send a fabulous stationery statement electronically I immediately signed myself up. The site is still in its beta phase but what a wonderful idea! In my opinion certain events and messages should remain on paper but what a lovely alternative!

Charm City Mama's Holiday Gift Pick #4

Anyone that has been to my home knows that I am a candle lover. In fact, I used to be a regular at Candles Off Main when I worked in Annapolis and would visit their downtown boutique on my lunch break. Yep, that bad. They have REALLY good stuff though and it's a great place to get educated on candles.

Anyway, one of my favorite brands of candles is Voluspa. If you have every smelled their distinct, sophisticated, and "powerful fragrance throws" you know why people are loyal to the brand.  I buy the Voluspa three wick tins all of the time, but last year around this time, I bought the Voluspa Basic Black Votive giftset with the intent to actually gift it, but then I couldn't part with it! Ah! I decided to keep them for myself and I travel with them, put them in our guest bedrooms for our guests to enjoy and take with them. These candles are so powerful I keep the box in my closet and it smells up the place better than a sache.

I suggest you get the gift set for a friend (and yourself). That way you can decide which scent(s) you will become addicted to from the assortment and can then commit yourself to purchasing them for the rest. of. your. life.

And while you are in scent shopping mood--have you seen these?

Lampe Berger (pronounced in your best French accent) is another creation Susan at Candles Off Main introduced me to a couple of years ago.  Apparently these lanterns were used in Parisian hospitals back in the day to kill airborne bacteria and neutralize odors. I love my basic clear glass one, but there are many ornate lamps to choose from to match your home decor. I suggest starting with the starter kit which basically includes everything in the picture above. Susan's web site explains how to use them beautifully with an instructional video as well.

Okay..technically that was two gift picks. I promise to pick a men's gift next!

The Baby Clambake

It rained. It poured. But not even a forecast with an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms could deter us from celebrating the arrival of Charm City Baby.

Here is the clambake...in pictures.
 

Plenty of alcohol calls for plenty of water. (I used leftover wedding ribbon for a finishing touch.)

The Raw Bar...

..was a hit!

The Cupid Shuffle makes everyone dance.

But my parents would dance to anything.

It runs in the family (my niece).

the hosts...(check out the rain on CCD's blazer).

And OF COURSE...the guest of honor, Charm City Baby!

with MIL and expression of "what the heck is going on?"

Ironically, Olivia slept through most of her own party, only making three appearances. Luckily I had the foresight to create a DVD of the hundreds of photos I've taken over her first two months of life including the momentous hospital arrival. So, our guests enjoyed the slideshow set to Maxwell's Pretty Wings in our living room until the guest of honor made her appearances. It worked out rather well, I must say.

It will be a while before we do another one of these 6-hour bashes, but I see lots of house parties on our parental future.

Mocktails Book for Moms-to-Be

Remember my post about mocktails? In browsing through my blog roll yesterday, I read about Preggatinis!

And they have a featured drink recipe every month that you can steal. This month is the "Mamarita!" Mmmm... you had me at limeade. (Btw, I've been on a lime kick for some time now).

These recipes look delicious and are a great idea if you are still planning summer soirees, baby showers, or just nursing.

Cheers!

Ready-Made Shower Packages?

As my team rigorously plans my baby shower-- I can't help feeling guilty and want to help them in some way. Sorry, it's the busy-body in me (side note: You know its bad when your husband says the sound of drill reminds him of me-hehe).

I ran across the Social Couture website today--and what a great idea and lovely timesaver for folks throwing intimate baby showers! Basically the company packages your entertaining, party, decor needs all in one place and places them in little convenient party packages.

Our shower will be less of an intimate, frou-frou sit down and more of an informal collection of friends, but there are some good ideas here.

So if you have generously offered your time party planning for others (or know someone that has) you can also partake in this resource and look like a the fabulous, put-together planning champ that you are!

I know I am getting ideas for Charm City Baby's first birthday party already! Just have to figure out who would actually come to a one-year old's birthday party other than her parents. ha!

Dinner Party Success!

Our inaugural dinner party was great!

The only thing I forgot to do was take a pic of our lovely table setting to share with you (and mom).

I dashed in from work 20 minutes before "showtime" and CCD had already picked up the floral arrangements, the house was clean and smelled like food (the caterer had arrived), so all I had to do was freshen up! Perfect! All my table staring, list making, and mental "play-by-plays" definitely paid off.

CCD was a great help getting ready AND cleaning up (whew!) despite the fact that he injured his big toe playing basketball Saturday and has been limping around on major prescription pain meds. Poor baby.

I see many more "dinner and dialogue" parties in our future--with crying babies in the background, no less.

Bring it!

I had a birthday...

I'm 28!

I had a birthday Friday, and as my sister reminded me--one of my first sober ones in a while. Thanks sis. Gave me an idea for a future post, though---my growing list of prego cocktails!

Although it was a "birthday weekend," I spent most of it preparing for a 10-person dinner party that Charm City Daddy and I planned for this Monday.

We love getting friends together for "dinner and dialogue" as we call it, but we always always always do the planning backwards!

First, it must be said that CCD really started this whole thing. Come to think of it, it's always his idea. He conjured up the scenario--found a vegetarian caterer and left all of the nitty gritty details to me. Thanks Babe!

So in a matter of 2 weeks--(who are we kidding) this weekend--I did the following:

-pulled together everyone's calendars,
-sent out invites,
-ordered 4 additional dining chairs (that were discontinued and came from 3 different locations around the country),
-picked up sticks and leaves in the yard that have been buried under snow,
-cleaned and declutterd CCD's home office,
-counted stemware (bought more) and flatware,
-washed all the china, flatware, and stemware(ok--I threw it in dishwasher),
-ordered and hung new drapes for three rooms,
-prepared all of the table linen,
-polished my silver,
-ordered fresh flower arrangements,
-made countless runs to 5 different stores,
-obsessed over seating assignments,
-let my mom obsess over "pre-cleaning" my house before the maid comes Monday morning.

To CCD's credit--He drove me to all of the stores. He arranged for some minor plaster repair work to be done around the house that hadn't been done since we had A/C installed in November. CCD also had the same guy redo CCD's bad paint job in the guest powder room. Bless his heart. CCD knows he is not a handy man. He is ,however, a whiz with numbers and fantastic at hiring the right people and getting them to a reasonable price. THAT is extremely useful.

CCD also carved out time for us on Friday to do dinner and a movie (He's Just Not That Into You)--which we both enjoyed.

We are a good team. Although I am exhausted and spent most of my weekend staring at a set dining room table over and over again--I wouldn't have it any other way. And hey, I don't have to cook! Thank you LORD! My guests would thank You too if they knew any better.

Plus, everytime I get tired I think--what would my mom or Candy (super hostess and supportive wife of Dr. Ben Carson) do? And the answer is---have a kick ass, comfortable event that looks effortless. So that's what we will have. :)

I only wish I could have ONE glass of reisling for relaxation. Ahh well....in due time.

Happy Birthday to me.