A Year In A Flash - Celebrating Cora's Birthday

A few months ago, I was hunting for cute birthday party themes for Cora's First Birthday. I came across Stacey's party and thought it was the perfect theme for us. Here's what we did...

I created a photo collage (above) on my fav photo site picnik (so sad this site will be shut down in April). The collage was used for the invitation and for the cake.

The Invitation

The invitation was created on Paperless Post. I'm not the biggest fan of paper invitations

because of all of the paper waste, but I understand that some people don't have e-mail (like my mom). Paperless Post allows you to create beautiful e-invitations/e-cards, but you also have the option to print them out. Here is what the invitation looked like. I just printed this on nice card stock.

Timeline Banner

Since the venue for the party was already beautifully decorated, I kept my party decorations fairly simple. I knew the colors of the room had a lot of earth tones, so I chose pink and green for the party colors.

I created a timeline banner of Cora's first year. I painted clothes pins in glued on the number medallions with a hot glue gun. The medallions were just a punch of paper and the numbers were cut from my Cricut machine.

The timeline banner held pictures of Cora from each month of the past year.

Treats

I had two tables of food. One table was a snack table and the other was a yummy treat table. Here are the details...

My uncle and I made the wonderful cake pops. I find that traditional cake balls are too sweet, so instead of balling up cake and icing and dipping them in chocolate, we just just cut out pieces of pound cake, inserted the pop sticks, froze, then dipped in colored chocolate. The decoration on the pops are from chocolate transfer sheets. the flower pot was $0.79 at Ikea. I just cut out a large flower and a C on the Cricut and glued it on.

The cookies are done just like my easy no bake thin mints. Except that I used colored chocolate instead of Andes mints and used the chocolate transfer sheets again.

The popcorn bags were made from small treat bags. I used the Cricut to cut out C's and 1's and glued them on the bag. The popcorn was a salty/sweet mixture of cheese and caramel popcorn.

More Goodies!

I knew I'd be crunch for time to do a cake so I purchased a 1/2 sheet cake from Costco and asked them to only ice it in white. I took a jpeg of the collage picture from Picnik and had an edible sugar sheet made at a local cake supply store. I also purchased the colored Sixlet chocolate balls to border the cake. I found the CORA letter candles at Party City.

In keeping with the colors of the theme, I offered 2 beverages: pink strawberry punch, and cucumber water. I put them in beverage dispensers.

Since my party started at 2:30 in the afternoon, I just had deli and veggie trays, love dip and chips, and fruit skewers. The chocolate oat crisp cookies came from Ikea (I love those cookies!).

Photobooth and Party Pics

I made fun pink and green shades and moustaches. I also made talk bubbles out of chalkboard contact paper, matting board, and wooden dowels. I hired a photographer who captured photo booth type pics and all of the other party pics. I really love how this turned out!

Party favors

Last but not least, since I had leftover chalkboard contact paper, I decided to make mini talk bubbles to put in the party favor bags. The kids got mini talk bubbles, chalk, stickers, and other various goodies.

We had a wonderful party and Cora was showered with a lot of love! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Have a happy day!

Off To A Good Start

I completed week two of acupuncture and week one of Bodybugg and I am down 4.2 pounds overall. I try to get to the gym at least 2 times a week for cardio and in the for next couple of weeks, I'll add strength training. I've also cut down my sodium. Most of the food show above was made with salt free seasonings (unless I added a sprinkle of cheese). I really wanted to post a screen shot of my Bodybugg stats, but I'm having issues with it since I am using my husband's computer (mine is being repaired). Once I get my computer back, I'll post those up. As far as the acupuncture goes, I do think it's working. I've noticed a big difference in my appetite and I haven't had any late night snacking. I'm hoping to have another great week!

This past weekend we celebrated the upcoming wedding for my dear friends, Melissa and Larry. We had a Jamaican themed couples shower and everything turned out beautifully. We served jerk chicken, rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, plantains, Jamaican patties, fresh fruit, rum punch, and pineapple upside down cake. I made the pineapple tree with fresh fruit and the pineapple upside down cake. Our party favors were coconut cups. Most of our guests enjoyed their rum punch in their coconut cups :-)

Of course, I can't post without mentioning my little one...

Ready for Spring!

I found this cute dress at Costco!

Someone is hogging the bed :-)

Actually just a snooze while I got ready for the day.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy day!

The 2010 Christmas Holiday Season

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas holiday came in a flash! Even being 7-8 months pregnant and busy with baby preperations, I manged to squeeze a lot of my favorite holiday activities in this month. Here are a few of my holiday activities....

Handmade Christmas Cards

My girlfriends and I have been making handmade Christmas cards for the nursing home for a few years. We get together for an afternoon and bring out all of our scrapbooking and craft supplies. We cranked out aprox 80 cards this year!

The Cookie Exchange

I hosted my 2nd cookie exchange for 10 of my close friends. We each had to make 6 dozen cookies. I am always nervous to try out new cookie recipes for occasions like this so I stuck to a cookie that's always been a hit, I made the Cranberry Pistachio Mexican Wedding Cake Cookie.

Here is the completed tray of cookies after the exchange. Cookies featured this year were: Peppermint Cocoa Kiss Cookies, Triple Ginger (using crystalized ginger, fresh ginger, and powdered ginger), Red Velvet Cookies, with Cream Cheese Icing, Potato Chip Cookies, Lemon Volcanos, Oatmeal Cinnamon, Butterfinger, Snickerdoodles, Pecan Triangles, and Noels. All so good!

Stocking Stuffers

I have a huge family and a lot of cousins. We usually draw names and do a secret Santa gift exchange, but I also like to give each cousin a little stocking stuffer. This year I have sweet treats packed in paper cones for the guys, and a pair of gloves for the girls. I love how these turned out. Simple cuteness!

Well, I am off to celebrate Christmas with the family. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I am looking forward to sharing another year with my blogger friends!

A Fabulous Baby Shower!

This weekend my sister, cousin, niece, and closest friends threw me the most fabulous baby shower! I love all of the little details that went into the shower. Here are a few of my favorite pics...

The Ultimate Diaper Cake

The diaper cake was made by my Uncle Ron. He's so amazing! He's also the same uncle who does the upside-down Christmas tree (see the previous post). Can you believe this is the first diaper cake he's made? I love the sock monkey and the G ornament (it lights up). The cake also has little rabbits around it since my baby should be born the year of the rabbit.

The Decorations

The decorations were done by my good friend, Holley. She knew I was sewing these cute elephants and using earth tones in the baby's nursery. She made these cute elephant prints and I just love how she pinned them up on a clothes line with the adorable clothes.

The Sign In Sheet

My friend, Erin, created this clever sign in sheet for the guests. Each guest placed their thumb print on the tree and signed their name. I love how this turned out and will be framing this in the baby's room.

The Cake

My friend Melissa picked out this wonderful vanilla cheesecake cake. Delicious!

The Baby Game

I'm not the biggest fan of baby shower games so my friend, Veronica, came up with the celebrity baby name game. She knows I love my celeb gossip! The craziest name on that list...Pilot Inspektor (really?). It was actually a tough game. Good thing I read US Weekly because I actually won the game!

The Party Favors

My sister made these cute rice krispie treat lollipops that spells out Cora (the baby's name). I love how they set them up in the beautiful bassinet. Thank you Tammy for the beautiful bassinet!

The Hostess With The Mostess

Here I am with the talented ladies who threw this beautiful shower for me. I am truly blessed to have such loving people in my life!

Jewel Tone Colors Are Popular For Weddings

I had a friend's wedding to attend and I was tired of all of my old dresses. While running errands this week, I popped into Target (of course) and picked up a cute jewel tone dress at 50% off. The color was gorgeous and it was a cute style on me. When I got to the wedding, I realized how popular the purple/pink jewel tones were. Here is a pic of me and my girlfriends all nice and color coordinated. I paired my dress with the navy and pink polka dotted peep-toes and a beaded bracelet. All together this whole outfit was aprox $40! As you can see, the weather is still in the upper 70's to low 80's here. I think we will finally get a little colder weather in the next few days.

So how was your weekend? Anyone do anything fun? I am excited about the upcoming holidays. Is it too early to put up my Christmas tree? I really want to start putting it up soon.

Have a fab day!

Happy Shower!

After a fun weekend with friends in Austin and New Braunfels, Will and I ran home, got dressed and headed to the fabulous wedding shower of Stephanie and Jonathan at The Wine Bucket.

My outfit:
White top - NY & Co
Green belt - borrowed from my green dress
Black beaded A line skirt - French Connection (thrifted)
Lacey slingbacks - Hype (DSW)
3 strand pearl necklace - Target
Button hair clip - spare button from my green dress

Cheers To The Happy Couple!

Stephanie's fab magenta dress! Love it!

With the lovely ladies....

Blogger Inspirations

Rachel at Fruit In A Box has been sporting some beautifully chic black, white, and grey outfits lately. The colors are classics and always go well for the office. Her beautiful outfits inspired me to ditch the summer colors and go for the classic black, white, and great....perfect for the office.

So once I got the outfit squared away, I was looking at myself in the mirror trying to figure out what I should do with the scarf I had on. Even though it's lightweight, the last thing I wanted to do was wrap it around me neck in 100 degree heat and humidity. Then I remember this post from Kimberly at Fab Finds Under $50. I really liked how she simply tucked her scarf under her belt. It just gives it a different look. So I did the same thing and viola! My outfit was complete.

Thanks you ladies for the inspirations! So here are the details:

Black ruffle sleeveless - Target

Bitten sailor pants - Steve & Barry (no longer around)

Grey belt - Target - Old Navy

Dangle earrings - gifted by Anna (yes I am wearing earrings!)

Well I am off for the weekend! My closest girlfriends and I plan an annual girls weekend every summer. They are just quick road trips that are always fun. It's a great time for us to get away and strengthen those bonds. This year we are going to the Texas Hill Country. We rented a fab house that sleeps all 14 of us. Since I am on the 1st car to arrive, we are toobing down the river. On Saturday we are all hitting a fun waterpark. It should be a great weekend. Of course I'll be taking lot of pics to share.

I hope everyone has a great and fun weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Funday

The heat is turning up in Houston and it seems like we're headed for the tropics... Well we just went to a cruise theme engagement party, hence the tropical background. Here was my tropical look...

Scoop neck top - Express

Multi-green skirt - Old Navy

T-strap sandals - Target

Gold necklace - Target

On Will:

Short sleeve button up - Old Navy

Khaki shorts - Foley's (he's had them a while)

sandals - Foley's

My good friends JC and Michelle had a wonderful engagement party today. Since they plan to have a cruise wedding, they turned her parents house into a cruise ship by the beach. We had a great time aboard The Love Boat :-)

At the party, my friends Michele and Laura were complimenting me on my skin and asked me to blog about it. So ladies, this is for you.... On my face, I use a glycolic moisturizer at night. This helps keep my face "exfoliated". During the day, I wear a different moisturizer (Studio Max) with an SPF built in. I treat my neck like my face and moisturize it twice a day. I refuse to get lines on my neck! I always wash my face before going to bed and in the morning. I drink a ton of water throughout the day and it really does help keep my skin hydrated. On my body, I exfoliate every few days. I like Mary Kay's Satin Hands Smoothie Scrub. Even though it's for hands, I use it on my entire body. I especially scrub my upper arms and they are always nice and smooth. I am a firm believer of putting lotion on within 3 minutes of getting out of the shower. It really does help keep in the moisture. My absolute favorite lotion is Archipelago's Soy Milk Lotion. You can find it at Ulta. I use it twice a day. That's really it. So ladies... moisturize and lotion up!

Well ladies, I may not be blogging as much as I would like to in the next month. I have a month until our wedding ceremony and I am starting to really feel the crunch! We have a lot we need to do in the next month. My workout schedule is also going into overdrive. My trainer and I are about to go from 30 minute sessions to hour sessions, plus whatever I do on my own. Like I said, I'm not going away completely, but you may be just getting a weekly blog during May.

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's to a new week and month!

Floral Thursday

Staying with my spring looks, here is another floral inspired outfit.

Short sleeve button-up - Express

Baby blue tank top - Old Navy

Brown/ Fuchsia floral skirt - Talbot's

Ribbon/pearl necklace - Francesca's

Pink Flower - Claire's

On Wednesday, I took a 1/2 day off and spent time with my mother. She needed to shop for the wedding so we hit a few stores. I found this fab skirt at Talbot's and I was able to take 60% the lowest price. Score! Even though we were mainly shopping for my mom, I got 2 skirts, 1 dress, and a fab pair of shoes for the wedding. Yay!

So I love the colors of this skirt. I kind of ran wild with it. I wanted a long necklace, but felt it was a little boring so I added the pink flower. The flower is actually for my hair. The bobby pin is just attached to the ribbon on the necklace.

The color coordination on the shoes and nail polish wasn't that intentional. I love these brown peeps and had a chuckle when I realized that my toes matched my outfit perfectly.

So no meal shots tonight. We had basically the same meal as the other night. Turkey meatloaf... Will loved it so much, he asked for it again. My girlfriend Lilly joined us for a healthy meal. We haven't really had some good quality time since her move back from Argentina. Thanks for coming to dinner Lilly! We'll definitely need to do it again.

I kind of had a lazy day at work and didn't get to walk during the day. I made it up at the gym though. I had a 30 minute workout with my trainer and then 30 minutes on the treadmill.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy weekend!

A Christmas Without Borders

Friday night was a holiday party with our close friends. Here is my festive and super affordable outfit...

-Green tie neck top - Banana Republic ($13.16)

-Converse One Jeans - Target ($26.24)

-Merona Open Toe Wine Snakeskin pumps - Target ($12.49)

-Feather headband - Made by me (aprox $3 to make)

Everything is a fairly recent purchase. The green top was a super clearance at Banana Republic. So happy I found such a steal!

Oh and fyi...I wore my Bodybugg all day and only took it off for the party.

Last night we went to my friend Jamie's house for our annual holiday party. Every year we have a different theme and this year was A Christmas Without Borders. Houston is a very diverse city and most of my friends and I come from different cultures and backgrounds. We wanted to celebrate with traditional foods we have with our own families, so everyone was required to bring a dish reflecting their culture/background. Since I am half Chinese and half Filipino, but born and raised in the US, I made an Asian fusion dessert... fried wontons filled with chocolate and banana! The night was a blast. We had great food, great friends, a fun white elephant gift exchange, and a few crazy rounds of Catch Phrase. We were out till 1 am and it made hitting the gym at 7 am a killer this morning (but I did make it!)

With my girlfriends (and fellow bloggers) V and Melissa

Chocolate Banana Fried Wontons (Shoot me an e-mail if you want the recipe)

Sunday's Great Sk8!

Well this isn't the best photo, but it was dark and my battery was dying so here is my blurry skate outfit. Here are my details....

HWR Sweater - Anthropologie

Bitten Boyfriend Jeans - Steve & Barry

Skates - rented

So no 80's outfit for me. I was going to do it, but we had a blast of cold weather this weekend. I was scrammbling to find my long sleeves. Plus we were running to church afterwards and even though it's casual there, 80's outfit probably isn't the best to wear.

Skating was fun. Well I should say it was very nerve wrecking at first. I was wobbly and I felt out of control. Plus the kids are so small and unpredictable. At a moments notice, they can switch directions, cut you off, or fall in front of you. I finally got into the swing of things and found my skater legs after a few go-rounds. Plus it was a great workout. I was working up quite a sweat! All in all, it was fun and I'm glad my friend Holley had a great birthday. Here are a few pics from the event. V and Melissa were also there. Can you pick them out in the group shot?