{HOLIDAY} Heart of Hearts

Last year for Valentines Day my friend and roommate Cami decided we'd invite people over for homemade pizza. Our friends all bailed so we were left with a fridge full of ingredients and a bouquet of heart balloons. It maybe crushed us for a second but that didn't last long. We took pictures and went out for dinner. No big deal.

Goes to show not every party is a success :)

{HOLIDAY} Valentine's Day Breakfast

My sister showed me this recipe for Double Chocolate Waffles in the Our Best Bites cookbook. Topped with a homemade berry sauce. In fact the recipe was created for a Valentine's Day breakfast, perfect!

Make the table special with flowers and a little love note on each plate. I used wrapping paper for a quick plate mat and you don't need much more decor then that, especially since we set up in the back yard. And turns out the kids don't really care they just want to inhale the waffles.

{HOLIDAY} Crazy in Love Party

I dreamed up a little Valentine's day party. I saw this outfit in Zara kids lookbook and wanted to show up to a Valentines day party wearing that. Instead I just planned a party around it. This party is versatile, it could fit with any age group and be all girls or invite boys too. Make heart shaped pizzas and let your guest build their own and sip Strawberry Crush while they cook. If it was an all girls party you could learn to make paper flowers or make them as favors for the party tied to a little box of Chocolates.

Outfit/ Love Sign/ Heart Pizza/ Paper flowers

{BIRTHDAY} Brooklyn's Golden Birthday

My niece Brooklyn just had a Golden birthday. She turned 6 on January 6th! When planning her birthday party we took inspiration from my niece Quinn's party because she too had her Golden birthday this year! I helped my sister Jen throw the party for Brooklyn. We had so much fun thinking for gold details, food, and games for the party. We decided to add pops of pink in the color scheme. The party was a major success!

The Decor:

Balloons: A was ballon tied to each chair that each guest got to take home.

They were Stoked about getting a balloon!

Giant Confetti: For the table we cute out giant confetti and scattered them on the table.

Votives: Gold votives found at Target.

Party Hats: Gold Crown party hats (my sister Annie mailed us the left overs from Quinn's party!)

Centerpiece: The dessert was the centerpiece. The cupcakes looked so pretty and had gold sprinkles and tall gold candles.

Garland: We used the same garland we made for my Mom's party but took out the silver tissue paper and added more gold!

When the party guests arrived we had them go to the craft table and decorated a crown that would be used later for 'Pin the Crown on Brooklyn.' There was glitter, gems, letter stickers, etc.

Dinner is served! Jen made homemade macaroni and cheese in ramekin dishes. She also had a platter of veggies and a platter of fruit. The macaroni was delicious!!! But the sad truth is, kids just don't eat that much at parties and we ended up throwing most of it away :(. But they did all want 2 cupcakes. haha.

After dinner we had them split into 2 groups. Older brothers Jackson and Tanner took one group to dance to Just Dance 3 on the Wii. The girls loooved it!! They took the dancing very seriously. ha!

Older sister Saylor took the other group to play 'Pin the Crown on Brooklyn.'

When girls were done pinning the crown they could get their nails painted glittery gold!

After each group was done with their activity, they swapped.

Cake time. While they ate cupcakes she opened presents.

The girls were soo excited about the pinata. (see the darling behind the pinata holding herself!) The sad part was that the pinata wasn't taped well enough at the bottom and with one hit, it opened. I think they were bummed they didn't get a swing, but that didn't last long because there was gold candy to pick up!

Brooklyn's Dad set up the photo booth. Always grateful to have a photographer at a party!!

Favors: gold and pink candy, bracelet, and gold mardi gras necklace.

I was so happy with how the party turned out. Jen is a wonderful host too, relaxed and so organized.

{BIRTHDAY} Guest Post by Egan: Courtney's 30th Birthday

My sister Egan (with the help of Jane) threw a dance party for our friend Courtney that turned 30. They've been besties since they were kids and they knew exactly what kind of party Courntey would want. Egan is a designer at 3Form and one of the most talented and capable people I know. I knew with the powers of Egan and Jane they'd throw and incredible party.

Thanks for sharing Egan.

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Courtney was turning 30! There was really no other option but to have a dance party for her 30th. All her favorite people in a big space together poppin off! Jane and I started brainstorming.

I happen to have a massive garage in my back yard so it was the obvious space for the party. Courtney's friends don't really need motivation to dance... it's a favorite past time. But since we were in a cold garage in December it was even more incentive to dance. (Eventually the garage got nice and toasty.)

We set up a photo booth. (a great way to document who was with you on your 30th!)

There is only so much you can do in a huge garage on a limited budget. So decorations were bright, fun and low key. We picked 4 head-shots of our birthday star, xerox copied at a high contrast in black and cut them out in circles. We hung them around the garage to give some color to the space. We also made a garland, unrestricted by a color scheme we used a rainbow of colors. It definitely felt like a party once that was hung. Turning a big plain space into a place that felt like a party!

Food was simple: We made things Courtney likes: a funfetti cake, slush made by a friend, and treats brought by other friends.

One of our friends helped set up the lighting and testing for the photo booth. We also made this pinata and a last minute decision was to let Courtney just have at it. Brillant!

see Jane's post Here

{BIRTHDAY} My Mom's 60th - Sparkly Dinner Party

We spent the day celebrating! It was a really fun day. We went to Pho for lunch and saw the movie War Horse. For dinner we decided to make dinner at home, stir fry to be exact. It was a really fun night at home. We cooked dinner together, Jane whipped up her Oatmeal cake, and we played games around the dining room table. I think it's just the kind of day my Mom wanted for her birthday. I'm so happy I could be home to help celebrate!

My dad added googly eyes to an orange at set it at my moms plate. So awesome!