A Party: Life is Sweeter at 30

My friend Shannon turned 30 this month...

Paperless Post Invite

Jenni, Josh, and I couldn't let that milestone be marked without celebration!

Always humble, Shannon asked us to keep the party low key. So, we tried, by mostly just serving desserts...

and cocktails...

But 30 is a big deal (and we're not exactly a low-key people) so....

we had to light up the night just a little!

 Since we were going for a snowy, wintery look....

the 23,424,234 (or more like 50!) votives we used helped make things feel cozy, if not "low key"...

...as did the "snow" (it was just sugar) we sprinkled on the antique window panes used for serving up the sweets!

Just as I believe you can never have too much candlelight, you can also never have napkins that are too personalized - hee!

My favorite napkin vendor on ebay is Party Favors Plus.

These days, you can't have a party without some sort of Pinspiration. From Pinterest, I got the idea to hang balloons upside down...

It was perfect for framing the main food table, plus it was easy and very inexpensive (just toss in a marble before your hot air - no helium, obviously)! It's also a different way to use balloons without your affair looking like a child's birthday party, or a middle school dance.  I also saw this photo and knew I wanted to make pretty drink flags....

I used the same font from Paperless Post featured on all the party's papers, printed a page full of "Happy 30th Shannon!" lines on regular paper and just cut the "flags" down to size. Josh used a glue gun and attached the papers to drink stirs - so cheap to do and very easy!

We stacked the cupcakes on a cake plateau, which sat atop shiny fabric that covered a strand of white lights. With the main lights dimmed, it looked so pretty, as inpsired by this.  And finally, the sticks....

Or, as Dan - who oversaw the gathering, spray-painting, hauling from suburbs to city, and constructing - calls them, the *#!$ sticks! Though they didn't turn out quite like I'd Pinmagined, I couldn't not feauture them after all the curses, sweat and tears offered up by my wingman (we've been watching Top Gun at our house). This guy, however...

 

...he doesn't even need to mine from Pinterest. Josh made this pretty flowered "S" to hang above the fireplace all by himself!

Before guests left the party, everyone signed an empty recipe binder for Shannon, who loves to bake, with their ingredients for having a sweet, 30-something life...

It looks like the Birthday Girl is well on her way!

Happy 30th, Shannon!

Momtinis & Manicures - A Spa Day Baby Shower

Despite one uninvited guest, the Momtinis + Manicures baby shower celebrating my mom-to-be friend Megan went on as planned this weekend...

Not pictured: Hurricane Irene.

Megan didn't want lots of baby brew-haha, just a relaxing day with friends (half of whom are expecting or have just had a baby themselves!)...

The guest-of-honor sipping on a Pink Grapefruit Mock-a-rita

So, we opted to give a party that was more about mom....

than baby.

Margaret at GoodInvites was asked to model the invitiation off an OPI bottle, only using Megan's initials instead of "OPI", and she came up with the cute invitation above, and some other signage to match, like this card for the monogrammed cookie favors...

and these cupcake toppers, that were hot-glued to an emery board - theme devotion at all turns, people!

Because we knew our guests would be busy with the primpage...

...instead of a big food table...

the hosts passed bite-sized snacks to the ladies...

as they got their pedicures...

and manciures.

In between all the food and the Raspberry Momtinis...

Kathleen - bartender + gamer

we managed to play two really fun games. No melted chocolate in diapers for this crew...

We're more of the Hollywood A-list kind.

The prize for the winners? A bottle of nail polish, of course.

Irene did cut short our post-party plans for dinner, as afterwards everyone rushed home to hunker down...

 When there isn't a hurricane, the spa keeps its TVs on E!

but it was still a great day. What, afterall all, is a shower...without a little rain?!

Tomorrow, I'll share drink recipes! They were DELISH!

Shower Ideas You'll Want to Steal!

The Baby Shower -
My friend Annie Laurie  (right)  is having a baby girl!

So is my friend Amanda (center), who co-hosted this really pretty Parisian themed fete for AL...who loves Paris!

I loved the cute party favors - cupcakes in a tiny jar!

My favorite part was the Bebe Cakes!

Tiny cupcakes, in chocolate and vanilla, were offered with indulgent toppings.

So clever - I'm filing away this idea for sure!

The Bridal Shower -

My friend Katie is getting married in November.

Her bridal shower theme was Alice in Wonderland.

Her new last name will be King so for the day she was the Queen of Hearts.

There was a Project Runway challenge for the shower guests - to design, with a bag full of random items - a wedding dress.

This was one of the most fun shower games I've ever seen!

I was on the shower circuit hard last Saturday, from morning to night, from Maryland to Virigina back to Maryland again. Communting is SO much more fun when your destination is a party instead of the office!

Best wishes to you, AL + Katie!

Something Bubbly for Something Borrowed

After being serious yesterday, let's get back to the superfluous today, shall we....?

As you may have gathered, my friends + I are big time socialites: we rarely miss the opening of a chick flick.  High rollin', I know...


What to some is just the chance for buttery popcorn and the empty hope for a teenager-free theater is to us a real night on the town. Someone call TMZ!


Friday will find us trading in our Fandango'ed tickets to watch Something Borrowed. As latecomers, but big fans, of the Emily Giffin book that inspired the film, we're already invested. Plus, there's Kate Hudson, who after serious ponder on the topic of romantic comedies, emerged as likely my favorite leading lady of this genre.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days {Frost yourselves!}, Bride Wars {Your wedding better watch it!}...those movies I've seen a zillion times, but if my TV remote lands on either's weekend cable feature, I'm locked in for viewing. Here's hoping SoBo will join equal ranks.

As part of the exclusive, see-it-before-its-available-via-Redbox social sphere in which I live, I often take the experience up a notch by sneaking alcohol into the movie theater. Nothing too heavy, just champagne or wine. This slight misdemeanor, save speeding on the Beltway, is the one facet in life where I don't just live on the edge, but I dance there. It's also very classy...in a screw top/4-pack kind of way....

So, last night instead of excercising, doing laundry or donating my time to a worthy charity, I made favors for Friday's box-office bash.. A little something bubbly for Something Borrowed....

and some candy kisses, too - three each for the love triangle plot of the movie. Tied up, in advance of SoBo's sequel, in Something Blue.

I'll tote these pretties, right past the theater authorties, in an oversized purse and when the lights go down I will pass them out to my friends. They will love the free booze and the chocolate, and in the moment it will make everyone's being together all the more festive. Then later when they are home, digging candy wrappers and champers screw tops from their handbags, they will wonder about me, about why I make such silly to-do over movie nights, then falling asleep they'll think, Bless her heart, she needs to get a life.