Category Archives: etc.

Science Themed Birthday Party

June 8, 2013

So, here’s how we celebrated my son Dylan hitting the double digits. For his 10th birthday, our little geek wanted a Science Themed Birthday Party. This was a proud day for his nerdy, Biology teacher dad. All those years of brain washing final paid off and science is cool.

I shared some of my science party decor sources last week. I’m so pleased with how all of this came together. The yellow and teal color scheme was bright and cheery and played well with the blackboard details and vintage frog dissection chart.

For the dessert/treat table I had fun making white chocolate Lab Rats, Atomic Pops (oreo truffles), Flask Cookies (that my mom skillfully decorated), candy filled test tubes, and Petri Dish Delights.

And I sewed fun treat bags with the fabulous sciency fabric I had found and filled them with fun nerdy notions.

This was one of the easiest parties I’ve thrown in a while. We didn’t have to organize games or keep the kids entertained and out of trouble. My husband simply kept the kids busy with fun, interactive science experiments. He had them look at the cheek cells under a microscope, they played “guess the magnified object” under the microscope, they made a classic soda and vinegar volcano, they made their own borax goo, and they even got to participate in a dissection.

And what’s a party without a cake. I like to make my kids classic piped buttercream themed cakes. This year’s was super simple, I just made a big flask cake.

And these are my two favorite geeks in the whole world.

DIY / etc.

A Science Party Bunting and a Cricut Giveaway

June 6, 2013

All my Cricut friends, this giveaway is for you! If you’re not using Cricut Craft Room yet, you NEED to be. It allows you to have access to all your digital cartridges and you can mix and match them together on your computer and then cut everything all at once. You can also play with designs and then save then for later. I only started using Cricut Craft Room this year, but there is no going back. Often times I work on my laptop in front of the TV in the evening and lay out everything I want to cut. Then later I just open up my saved designs and cut away.

I recently threw my son a Science Themed Birthday Party (you may have seem some of it on Instagram). I’ll be sharing more of the party tomorrow, but I wanted to share this custom Science bunting I made with my cricut machine. Who wants to buy pre-made party decorations, when you can make beautiful ones to go with whatever theme or color scheme you choose? I made cute little beakers and flasks to go perfectly with all my party decorations.

I’m hosting a great giveaway today! I’m giveaway the Cricut Chalkboard Fonts Cartridge to one lucky winner. This new on-trend digital cartridge gives invitations, cards, and signs a hand-lettered look. There are three fonts included in this cartridge and bonus letters and flourishes for all the fonts.

It’s super easy to enter, just leave a comment below sharing how you’d use this fun new cartridge. Just check this fun custom cell phone cover using vinyl, I really like this idea. Thanks Cricut for this fun giveaway.

Love Cell Phone

Giveaway ends Friday, June 7th at 12 midnight. Winner will be announced on Saturday June 8th.

etc.

Land of Nod Grand Opening

June 4, 2013

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

I am one lucky girl. Last week I got to attend the Land of Nod VIP Grand Opening party in Costa Mesa. What I fun evening. There was food and shopping and HGTV celebs and my best friend was by my side – seriously, what could be better? You may have seen some of the fun on my Instagram and there’s even more on Nod’s Instagram.

So, can I start by saying, I love the Nod staff. Seriously, they are the sweetest, most down to earth, fun loving, and creative group of folks. Can I somehow work for The Land of Nod? DREAM JOB friends! Everything about this company fits so well with my taste and aspirations. I’m just putting that out there.

The brand new store is amazing! I wish I could have brought one of everything home with me. I know, from personal experience, that their products are absolutely adorable and of great quality, because I used a lot of Nod touches in my girl’s shared bedroom. But, it was so much fun to touch and see everything up close and personal. Yes, I do love flipping through the pages of their catalogue and their online store is fabulous. But, being able walk through rooms of their totally stylish, yet quirky and eclectic products is the BEST!

Every surface had been thoughtfully arranged and styled. The Land of Nod does such a great job of pairing vintage finds with modern and practical pieces.

Oh my, the OCD in me was so pleased with this wall of rainbow storage. Can you image your child’s room organized with some of these fabulous bins and baskets? My clean freak heart be still.

My little nerdy son would totally dig this robot bedding. I am highly tempted to order theses fabulous gears sheets pictured here.

And who doesn’t need a set of mini suitcases for storing all of life’s little treasures?

They do have amazing furniture pieces, but really any space can be totally spiced up with just a few tiny details. Details like this triangle garland and these hot air balloons give a room a playful and fun vibe.

And my favorite furniture piece of the evening, this fabulous retro style rocker. Oh my, when can I own you my precious. I’ll rock you and love you, well you’ll rock me, but either way, it will be divine.

I did buy a couple really fun items. I brought home the little squirrel nightlight, it’s going to find it’s home in Riley, my vintage trailer. And I also bought this gorgeous gold lamp, it’s coming in a couple weeks. And when it arrives, I will share a whole post about how much a love this lamp, just you wait and see. It’s going to be a part of my new living room, I’m going to be using Nod pieces in a grown up space.

So, all my SoCal friends the store is now open at the South Coast Plaza (3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, CA 92626). And if you can’t make it to the store, be sure to check out their online store or if you just need a good dose of inspiration, I love following Nod on pinterest.

etc. / Travel

New York City – here we come!

June 3, 2013

You guys, I don’t even know what to do with myself, I’m just sooooo excited. This Friday, Lon and I are headed to New York City for FIVE days, by ourselves! This summer is our 15th anniversary, and we’re celebrating with this trip.

We’ve been planning out what we’d like to do, see and eat while we are there. To be honest, I may be most excited about the food. After years of faithfully watching Martha Stewart and the food network, now I can visit all those amazing places that they talked about. We plan to walk a tone, so I figure I can eat anything.

But, we would love some suggestions of what is a must-see, must -do, or must-eat while in NYC. I’d love to know where your favorite shops are or your favorite hole-in-the-wall pizza or coffee spot. Help me out! We want to pack it in and see as much of the city as possible. Please leave a comment with your favorite suggestions.

etc. / Food & Drink / Style

Modern Grey and Orange Baby Shower

May 28, 2013

I had the pleasure of throwing my sweet friend a baby shower recently (you may have seen bit and pieces of it on instagram). I was a really fun party to put together, and the whole day turned out to be really lovely. It was one of those very relaxed, easy going parties, where everyone seemed comfortable.

Before Baby Reuben arrives we needed to have a little celebration for his Mama. I took the color inspiration from the nursery colors. I sent out Minted‘s Urban Baby Invitations , nothing sets the mood for a party like a beautiful invite. These invites a clean, crisp and elegantly modern. Decorating for this party was a piece of cake, I simply used Minted’s Urban Baby Party Decor as well. With the customizable buntings, I was able to make one to welcome Baby Reuben (and how much fun will this be in his nursery later?).

You’ve probably heard me say it before, but I really believe great parties are all in the details. And these party decorations have the perfect details. I not only used the straws and flags for the drinks, but I also cut them in half and used with as cupcake toppers and I also used them in my party favors (which I will share soon).

Minted also sells beautiful party serving pieces. I use my large and small modern white cake plates from there all the time. Varying heights of treats on a party table adds interest and movement.

I was really smart with this party and when friends offered to help, I gladly delegated. I love the decorating and treat making part of parties, so I gratefully gave over the task of organizing games to a friend. She did a great job, and it was one big weight off my shoulders. And I also gave another fantastic friend the job of making the savory treats (the REAL food). She is a fabulous cook, so I could trust that she would make something yummy and elegant. That left me with the fun stuff. I kept my treats in the orange and grey color scheme. Here’s what I served:

The Menu
Iced Coffee
Cucumber Orange Water
Blood Orange Sodas

Veggies and Hummus
Curried Chicken and Egg Salad Sandwiches

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Honied Apricot Marshmallows
Turkish Apricots
London Fog Shortbread Cookies

And a mini treat bar with Cutie Oranges, Hershey Kisses and Junior mints.

The Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes were a Vanilla Bean Cupcake, filled with Orange Curd and then topped with Orange Butter Cream Frosting (I’ll share the recipe soon). I love serving unique homemade marshmallows at parties, I got the Honeyed Apricot recipe from this cook book. And the Turkish Apricots are a copy cat of a dessert I had in London at a Turkish restaurant years ago (I’ll share that recipe soon as well).

DIY / etc.

Science Themed Party in the Making

May 22, 2013

View the whole party here.

This weekend we are celebrating my baby boy turning 10 with a Science Themed Party. Each day this week I’ve given myself of list of things I need to complete so that I can be ready for the party. This theme seemed like a natural choice for my mini nerd (I’m married to a real life Science geek). My inspiration for the colors and decorations came from Minted. I used Minted’s fantastic invitations and also their Blackboard bunting.

I ordered some beakers and flasks from amazon to display candy in. I’ve also found some great nerdy Science fabric that I’m sewing into goody bags (it’s kind of a tradition for my kiddo’s parties). And to fill the bags I have some fun treats like candy and slime in test tubes, nerdy glasses, and magnifying glasses.

I think it’s going to be a fun party with lots of yummy treats and Science Experiments galore. My Biology teacher hubby is bringing his classroom to our backyard.

etc.

The Land of Nod is coming to SoCal

May 20, 2013

I am beyond excited friends. Yes, I do love a good online window shopping session, but real life window shopping is soooo much better. And now if you are living in Southern Cali, you get shop at a REAL LIFE Land of Nod shop. Eeeeek, I can’t wait to see everything up close and in person. The Land of Nod is opening a brick and mortar shop at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA on May 31th. If you live near by, you are going to want to be there for the Grand Opening, there will be lots of free goodies for everyone who arrives early to shop.

You probably know that I am a HUGE Nod fan. I share their products here often and when I gave my daughter’s shared bedroom a makeover, I turned to The Land of Nod for the fun, funky, and fresh look I was looking for. I’m still so jealous of Denali’s new gold dot sheets, Nod bedding is amazing.

Deer // Lamp // Metal Letter

Walnut Dresser // Pillow

Feather Print // Gold Dot Wall Decal // Rocking Chair

I’m heading to the new SoCal Land of Nod shop at the end of the month. I’ve got my eye on some great “grown-up” pieces. Although The Land of Nod is really a shop for children’s furniture and accessories, I’ve found some great pieces that would be fantastic in any space or room in my home. But specifically, I would love to have these pieces for my living room. I’m working on trying to make the space a little more modern and although it’s technically a grown-up space, I really want to keep it playful and family friendly. I can’t wait to share with you what I come home with.

You may want to follow The Land of Nod on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram to find out what’s new or what creative adventures they are on. I love following their Instagram, it’s great place for inspiration.

You might also want to enter The Land of Nod Win A Room Sweepstakes. The Grand prize is a room designed by The Land of Nod (a $4000 value). The winner with receive a design consultation with a the Nod design team, a room makeover with selected products from The Land of Nod, and then be featured in the The Land of Nod Real Families section of an upcoming catalog. The sweepstakes runs till June 17th.

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”

etc.

This Week

May 18, 2013

This week… well it was a doozy. The weekend was fabulous with lots of celebrations. We celebrated my baby brother’s 25th birthday (who also finished painting my garage), Lonnie’s birthday, Mother’s day and a I hosted fun baby shower. Then came Monday morning – I got rear ended at a red light! Boo, Mondays do stink. But, I’ve pushed through this week and actually ended it on a pretty productive note. I’m refinishing a small dresser for Lonnie’s bedside table and I’m also repainting Olivia little play kitchen. I hope you all have a great weekend. I’m looking forward to getting a lot accomplished.

Olivia // My freshly painted garage

Honeyed Apricot Marshmallows // Lonnie with his birthday cinnamon rolls

Thrifting Thursday Finds // A last minute baby shower gift

Me enjoying a post-baby shower iced coffee // A sneak peek at the thrift store dresser I’m refinishing

If you follow my instagram, these pictures may look familiar to you. But here’s a little instagram taste of my week.

etc. / Find

Thrifting Thursday – Pyrex Pitcher and a Ceramic Bowl

May 16, 2013

It’s been way too long since I hit a thrift store. I love thrifting, but for the past few months I’ve restrained myself because I really needed absolutely nothing at all. But, on Monday, I couldn’t stand it any longer. What if there was some really great treasure out there that I was missing out on? So, Olivia and I headed to our local Salvation Army.

My first attempt to get there was foiled. While stopped at a red light, we were rear-ended my a big full-sized truck. My little Toyota Matrix got hurt pretty badly. Olivia cried, I think mostly because she was scarred, and I ended up with a fat lip and some sore muscles. I am pretty bummed with the whole situation. I love our little Matrix and it’s totally paid for. Now I am just waiting for the police report (which takes over a week) and then we can see what the insurance company wants to do.

But, I didn’t let this stop me. The next day I headed to the thrift store in our truck (I’m so grateful we have 2 cars, we didn’t for the first 13 yrs. of marriage). And I came home with this cute Pyrex Pitcher for $3.84 and this beautiful hand made bowl for the same price. Did I really NEED these items? No, but I think this was a pretty harmless $8 to spend. And I know I’ll use both, and probably often.

Design / etc.

Window Shopping – Camping and Outdoors Decor

May 14, 2013

Yesterday I shared a little family video from our Spring Break camping trip to Joshua Tree. We are gearing up for Summer and camping is on my mind. I love decorating and accessorizing Riley, and I have a vision. It’s a slow process though, firstly because I’m picky and want to do it right, and secondly because it has to be on a budget (like almost free budget). But, I recently was checking out some of my favorite online shops and I found a few dream pieces for my trailer. So here’s my finds, and wouldn’t this be a great start to a little boy’s camping/outdoors themed bedroom?

Squirrel Nightlight // Camp Bedding // Pendleton Pillow

National Park Canvas // Away We Go Print

Smore Pillow (Land of Nod – no longer available) // Teepee Print // Bear Pillow