Confessions of an Overdue Visit

I have to be honest, I have a commitment problem. Not in the sense of marriage but for visits, phone calls and e-mails. My DH would be so happy to hear me admit this. I will say that I am going to do one of the three above and fail to do so. In many cases, I simply overcommitment myself or because of the overcommitment, I am too tired or spent to do so. One of my resolutions for 2010 is to have a 100% improvement in this area.

I say all of that to say that Kayden and I left NC today at approx. 9:00am heading to VA to visit the some dear friends. This visit was about three years overdue...YES, three years and the drive is only 2.25 hours!!!

We were supposed to visit a few times in 2007 and 2008, but it never happened. Bob and Mary purchased a new house this year and I kept promising to visit. Well today, we went and oh what a great time was to be had by all. Max and Kayden played SOOOO well together which was surprising for two only children and Mary, Bob and I were able to just catch up (maybe more Mary and I). The only down side is that this trip has me yearning again for that quaint historic bungalow on a tree lined street with neighbors that you know AND love!

Today was a VERY long day with FIVE hours of driving, but now that we are safely back home, Kayden has had her bath, all boo-boos are medicated and bandaged and she is sound asleep I am SOOOO happy that we FINALLY went to visit.

Bob, Mary(Larry) and Max, thank you for your love and hospitality today.

It's a Jungle Out There...Part II

My neighbor and her mother finally agreed on the invitation design for the baby shower. My DH and I will now be hosting the event at our home, so I am looking forward to that! Our holiday season is started to get busy with all kinds of WONDERFUL celebrations. Celebrating an upcoming birth at this time of the year is appropriate...you think?!?!?!

Working on Christmas Gifties and a Pizza Party

Yep...that's right. The Christmas countdown is still on and we are now at seven weeks away! I need to be focused on some birthday (Mel) and UFO (Unfinished Object) items, but I am so in the Christmas mood. I have FINALLY decided on my handmade family gifts and I cannot wait to begin creating. Anyone else out there already making holiday gifites...I want to hear about them!?!?!?!?!?

And Kayden's "Pizza at the Palace" party planning continues. Over the last two weekends I spent some time searching the web for ideas and things that I need to get done for the gala. Here are some things that I have brewing:

- Paper Chef Hats for all of the kids. I am going to try some uniform and commercial restaurant supply stores in the area to see if they carry them as well. I am still trying to decide if I want to do a crown or tiara over each one to play up the whole princess/prince theme.

- T-shirts instead of aprons. Cloth aprons were going to to be a little more than what we budgeted to spend and the plastic ones looked too cheap, so I decided to go with white t-shirts. I purchased some iron on transfers that I can print right at home. One will feature a pink tiara and the word "princess". The other will feature a blue crown and the word "prince". For the princess', I will also use pink ribbon to tie up their sleeves with bows :) This will be a great take away that the guests can use again! The only thing left to decide is whether or not to add each child's name to their shirt...thoughts?

- Favor Pizza Box for a take away filled with goodies of some sort...still have no idea for these items. I found the template for the box on the internet...what did mothers do in the 60's, 70's and 80's for great ideas?!?!?!?! I plan to make these using the pink paper used for the invitation pocketfold, pictured below.

- Cloth Apron and Chef Hat need to be made for Kayden. Believe it or not, I found patterns for both of these items online as well. I figure that since she is the birthday girl, she can be in the real thing. I need to find some fabric but I have a little time for that.

- The pizza cake...I am going to make the cake and yes, I AM CRAZY!!! I found this really cute pizza cake over at the Parenting website and thought...how hard can it really be. Instead of the icing for the crust, I am going to use a marshmallow fondant. I have been doing some research and this stuff is apparently SUPER easy to make and even easier to use. I will keep you all posted on this effort!

I have been trying to be diligent about getting things organized for the party while enjoying the holidays at the same time. This will make my January and the new year and enjoyable one! I was finally able to get a good shot of the invitations so I am posting those below. I created a pocketfold using a pink metallic paper and used more metallics for the band and the seal. Let me know what you think!

It's A Boy!

I was commisioned today by my twin sister to come up with some simple and classic baby shower invitations for her daughter's daycare teacher. She is having a baby boy some time Q1 2010, so the moms in the room want to give her a shower. Below are some invitations that I put together tonight...rough day at work, so it was nice to be able to do some designing. And for those of you waiting on something...Mel, I have not forgotten about you!

Let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday to Us...Updated with Gifties!

Yep, that's right! Today marks the fourth anniversary of mine and my twin sister's thirtieth birthday and I feel blessed to have made it a another year. My twin sister posted the picture below on her Facebook page and it brought tears to my eyes...4 weeks old and loving each other (I am on the right)! Happy Birthday Sakira! I sometimes forget that today is also the birthday of my oldest sister. My mother had her first child on October 26, 1960 and the last two on October 26, 1975...how often does that happen!?!?!?! Happy Birthday Nita! I love you dear ladies!!!
In honor of a birthday, I find it appropriate to each cake! For anyone that knows me well, they know that I LOVE cake on ANY day of the week! I was thrilled today when I ran across a lead on a great cake website, Bakerella. On the site, I found directions on how to make cake pops (yes, that is cake on a stick)...they look so YUMMY and all so cute! Bookmarking this site and adding these instructions to my recipe book.

Updated: So, today when I got home, I had a package from Ohio waiting on me...YEAH! It was from my dear friend Mel, so I knew that it was a craftie(s) of some form...and my thoughts were confirmed. She made me a beautiful deep red toboggan (I LOVE hats) and a cute little notebook (I keep one with me at all times...a habit from college). The toboggan has a beautiful cable design that makes it look store bought! Thank you Mel for the wonderful craftie gifties and for sending me something handmade! I love you girl! Please be warned that items in the pictures to follow are much smaller than they appear, i.e. my head!

Have a great day guys...I did!

Three P's - Pink, Princess and Pizza

Yes, your thoughts are correct; these three things have NOTHING in common, but of course, this is what my, 2 going on 33 year old daughter requested for her next birthday party. What else was a motherto do, but find a way to make it happen. So for my DD's third birthday party, the theme will be "Pizza at the Palace". The whole idea is to focus very little on the princess piece and focus more on pizza as a theme.

This post serves as a warning that if you are a visitor or follower of my blog, get prepared to follow this party planning process. Her party is scheduled for Sunday, February 7, which probably seems like a long time from now. Guess what, you are right! But, invitations have to go out the week or two following Christmas, so I start planning early in order to avoid a mad dash following the holidays.

Stay tuned for the party planning extravaganza!

From One Generation to the Next

Like most people, I had a wonderful childhood, but we by no means had a lot. My mother raised six children by herself working a factory job because she never had the chance to finish high school. No matter how bad times were, she always made sure that we had quality clothing and shoes, which was tough when you were trying to buy for a set of twins. This often meant waiting for end of season sales and buying ahead.

A number of the pieces that she bought were what some folks may consider heirloom pieces...those that could be passed from one generation to the next. Thus is the case with my winter coat...yes, MY winter coat. This winter, Kayden will be wearing the dress coat that I wore as a 2 and 3 year old. It is so hard to believe that the coat is 30+ years old, but it is. Below is a before pictures of the coat; it needs a little tlc. The coat is a heather gray wool with a navy piped double breast crest applique and single pleat.

I have plans to replace the buttons, give it a good professional cleaning and last but not least, make a cute navy blue hat to match. I cannot wait to see my sweet girl in MY coat this winter. Unfortunately, mama never got a picture of me in the coat, but how cool would that have been to have those hanging in our home. I am just thankful that she took such good care of the coat and even more thankful that I have a beautiful daughter to share it with!