Hosting a Book Club Party?

I'm up next for hosting book club and if you don't know, I love planning parties. 

I thought it would be fun to coordinate snacks with the titles of the books we've read so far.  

John and I brainstormed a bit last night in bed (which admittedly went on longer than it should have, knowing that we were losing precious minutes of sleep because this baby of ours is up by 7 am every day) and then today I took some of my favourites and edited pictures.

Yes, this is what I've been doing in my spare time today.

Sorry household chores. 

Mama's getting creative.

To be slapped onto the outside of a bucket filled with ice, keeping our vino chilled.

To be put on a baguette. Ride that grain, girl.

(This one is also my favourite, editing wise).

I couldn't find the proper font to match and couldn't space out the letters to make it a perfect fit but I think I can be forgiven in the name of goat cheese.

I also like this one. I was going to flip around 'GIRL' to 'GRIL' but... too much work. 

Again, I can be forgiven in the name of sweet, sweet grilled pineapple.

Bear Paws and Teddy Grahams. Deeeelish.

Also contenders: 'I am Malollipops', 'Stilton Alice' (for the cheese plate), 'Eleanor & Pork'

Baby Shower Invitations

Last Sunday I had the honour of attending my good friend's baby shower. 

She's due early next month and, although she looks beautiful and content, she is ready to get that baby moving (her poor swollen feet & ankles)! 

She, along with another friend who just gave birth to her daughter this week, have made me keenly aware that my group of friends has started the move from bridal showers, bachelorette parties, and weddings, to pregnancies and baby showers. 

Inspired by a template I came across, I decided to mock up some baby shower invitations for anyone thinking about hosting a baby shower. 

I had so much fun creating my wedding RSVP cards and I wanted to create something else.

Keep in mind these are incredibly tailored to my personal preferences (I love old school Winnie and also books). If you have an idea in mind I highly recommend you do what I did: find a template or an image that you like, open it in Picmonkey and edit away!

But if you like either of my invite templates feel free to save the image, open them in Picmonkey or any other photo editing site you like, and add in the missing details like the mom-to-be's name and the party details. 

1. The template that got me thinking about baby shower invitations

Martha Stewart Baby Book Shower Template 

(with matching book mark template!)

2. Winnie the Pooh

3. A Book Shower

Happy Birthday Mom!

To my mom -

 who taught me to be strong and passionate, kind and accepting of everyone.

who gave up a lot so her family could have a bit more.

who would wake up early on weekends to take her daughters to gymnastics practices and competitions.

who once walked through a snowstorm to bring my sister Tylenol. 

Who I love very much.

Happy Birthday!

On Saturday, with the invaluable help of my aunt Wendy, my dad, sister and I successfully threw her a surprise party!

I can't thank everyone enough for braving the bad weather and making it out (and completely understand those who chose not to risk the drive - I don't think I would have risked it either) .

She was completely shocked and (hopefully) happy to see so many familiar faces there to celebrate with her.

Although I forgot to take more, here are a few pictures from the party!

The theme of the party was Paris so we colour coordinated things white, black & pink.

On the carrot cake I stencilled happy birthday with icing sugar. Unfortunately the sugar dissolved and didn't show up as well so I tried to re-do it with sprinkles, which also didn't really work.

Using an image I found online, I traced over the eiffel tower on parchment paper with melting chocolate and let them harden before using them to decorate the edges of the cake (to hide the less-than-stellar icing job).

Our spread was pretty full with lots of kind party goers bringing snacks to add.

And everyone left with a party favour - delicious looking macaron soaps courtesy of Baked Soap.

A few people thanked me for alerting them it was soap as they would have eaten them on the way home.

I ordered these soaps here (more info available on the website here) and they make amazing party favours for any occasion.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you.

Last Minute Christmas Printables (and ice storm 2013 pictures)

It's Christmas Eve!

Our beautiful city was pummelled by an ice storm over the weekend and many people are still without power (including my parents).

We've been lucky and haven't been without power & heat but my parent's have been wrapping themselves in blankets upon blankets to stay warm since Sunday morning. 

I finally convinced my mom to come over yesterday for a shower and dinner but I haven't been able to talk them into sleeping here yet. 

Hopefully tonight.

Freezing rain and high winds caused a lot of trees to snap and pull down power lines all across the city. Roads and walkways were turned into skating rinks seemingly overnight.

Driving home on Sunday morning we saw a lot of the damage first hand:

This is the dog park we frequent. John took the dog but wisely didn't stay long as the trees were making ominous creaking noises and the possibility of having large branches come crashing down was too great.

This was a common sight on the roads.

But despite the destruction and danger, the ice has actually been quite pretty. 

I snapped this picture of John last night on our walk back to the apartment.

As a result of the lack of power we're switching up our Christmas Eve tradition this year (also cause my dad is working) which, as a big fan of traditions, I find really sucks. But I'm sure tonight will still be as magical as every other year.

Christmas Eve is hands down my favourite day of the year. 

Hopefully everyone is finished their shopping.

If you're struggling for some last minute gifts you could whip up some bacon jam, knit mittens (that post to come), or bake a batch of Christmas cookies (with Bailey's icing on those snowflakes)

And if you're wrapping up your gifts, why not print out and use these adorable rustic gift tags? I've been using the gift tag templates found HERE or you could use the tags found  HERE

If you're throwing a party why not make some props for people to take photos with?

Simply save and print this image to size, cut out and attach to sticks.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE! 

7th Annual Bad Sweater Party: Quick Recap

Days til Christmas:

 

 

This year's Sweater Party didn't disappoint.

There was an abundance of food (especially cheese), a good turn out of guests, and the Christmas carols were put on pause for a bit to pump Pirate Metal.

Not a typo.

 

Before the bad sweaters made their debuts, John's friends from work joined us for a 'Wild Game Feast', something that they have done for at least two years now.

We feasted on duck, goose (both hunted and prepared by one of our groomsmen), moose sausage, black eyed pea fritters (delicious), and roasted root vegetables.

I made cornbread (I'll post the recipe later, it was the best cornbread recipe I've used to date), and ciabatta.

John bought an ostrich egg.

 

It required a power drill to break the shell.

 

The end result was a delicious frittata which John added elk summer sausage to as well.

It was really good and there was more than enough egg to feed all of us plus leftovers.

 

My cake-expert friend Danielle provided the cake - a sinfully good 5 layer red velvet and mascarpone cake, designed to look like Santa very ungracefully coming down the chimney.

 

And of course, being so crafty, my sister and I both made our own sweaters.

By cutting out felt, and in her case, attaching lights for added effect.

 

Another successful party!

 

Now only one week to Christmas Eve!

 

Wedding Wednesday: Bachelorette Edition

Wedding Countdown: 16 days.

2 more pre-big day Wedding Wednesdays after this.

Since the big day is rapidly approaching and I'm running out of crafts that I don't mind giving away before the wedding to post, I thought I'd share some of the photos from my Bachelorette Party 2 weekends ago.

My sister and friends threw me an incredible party filled with many many laughs, some majorly embarassing moments, and memories that I'll cherish forever.

My sister really went all out to make sure I celebrated my "last wild night" properly and for that I love her.

I only hope when her time comes I can plan something equally as incredible!

So, in (safe to view) pictures, here's the basic steps for planning a bachelorette party.

1. Organize fun games, such as 'Never have I ever', and pin the manhood on the stud.

2. Have your best friend (who you love to death) bake and decorate an incredible and delicious bachelorette cake.

There was red velvet cake under that hot corset, FYI.

3. Drink. Champagne cocktails, wine spritzers, strawberry shots, champagne shots, and shots shots shot.

 

4. Take a SUV Limo and have the driver lift you out of it. Go to a club with lots of dancing and catch a Drag show. End the night with street meat that the driver won't let you eat in the limo.

Wish you could do it every weekend.

But be excited about the 5 upcoming weddings and the potential for more bachelorette parties to come!

Fam Jam 2012

We got home this afternoon after a wonderful weekend at the lake for Fam Jam 2012.

Though we were down a few family members, we had a beautiful day on Saturday, sunshine for some of Sunday followed by a rainy day spent inside watching the Olympics, lots of great food, games, and lots of laughs.

Sunday, in between rain showers, we managed to get almost everyone out into the lake at the same time.

Saturday night was a very sweet celebration of our upcoming wedding. My cousins set up an awesome photo booth complete with the most incredible (and appropriately hilarious) props ever.

These are two of my personal favourites, as modeled by their daughter:

Bill Murray: the actor & the cat.

They also organized a wine shower (we are now the very proud and very excited owners of a large number of bottles of wine) and made a desert of the best thing ever: s'mores. Done 3 ways. S'mores mini pies, s'mores cookies, and s'mores squares (made like rice krispies squares only with golden grahams and chocolate chips) (these might have been my favourite considering I had 3 of them).

They also brought moustache cookies as a thank you for everyone who sponsered my cousin during Movember. He is a big supported of Movember and raises a lot of money for prostrate cancer research by growing a respectable (or not so respectable) moustache. Currently, he's rocking a pretty serious beard, to his wife's dismay and to my dad's awe.

On Sunday me, John, my sister, and her boyfriend all got to work in the kitchen to make a meal for our 'Cinqo de August' night. In trying to come up with a theme it was either that or 'Olympics' but to come up with a meal for 'Olympics' was impossible.

And Mexican food can be done relatively on the cheap.

We cooked up some beef, sauteed some peppers, baked some pulled pork quesadillas, and put out a whole bunch of fillings for burritos and tacos including refried beans, black beans, Mexican rice, tomatoes, salsa & salsa verde, cheese, and guacamole.

You really can't go wrong with Mexican.

Inspired by these but not wanting to put THAT much effort into it (what? Look at how many steps are involved!) I tried to make a pinata cake.

As most great ideas of mine tend to do, it failed when the cake fell apart once it came out of the pan.

But with some icing and mushing together, the cake stood and was filled with candy to spill out once it was cut into.

And since Sunday was my birthday I got to cut into the cake wearing the birthday Sombrero.

Thanks to my family for these pictures (my camera's broken), a fun birthday, a very sweet shower, and an awesome long weekend!

Fam Jam 2013: 363 days to plan next year's theme dinner.

Cookie Exchange: Success!

The cookie exchange this afternoon was a hit!

Fortunately/unfortunately (depending on how I look at it...) there are lots of yummy things left over here and I'm a notorious snacker...

Here's a photo breakdown for your viewing pleasure.

A layout of cookies (sans top plate of chocolate chunk cookies)

Take-home bags:

Siobhan's chocolate chunk cookies:

Kashyap's white chocolate chip & cranberry cookies:

My Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes:

Sacha's Spicy Cheese Scones:

All in all, we ate well. And lots.

I see this being a reoccuring event!

Cookie Exchange!

Sorry for the break in posts. One of those weeks - LOTS to do.

But now it is Friday and the weekend has arrived.

And next week?

Reading week.

Hallelujah!

Tomorrow I am hosting (for the first time ever) a Cookie Exchange Party!

I'm very excited to see what people will be bringing tomorrow afternoon.

I bought some bags for people to take their cookies home in, and will be providing some non-sugary snacks (sammies and puff-pastry-cheese hors d's) along with tea, coffee, lemonade and other beverages.

I'm busy getting my own recipe idea together and have finally made a decision.

Since the exchange is open to more than just cookies, I'm going to make a somewhat-healthier baked good:

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp salt. Add1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup finely grated zucchini, and 3 tbsp sour cream.
• Sift 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup cocoa powder into the zucchini mix and stir until incorporated.
• Pour into greased muffin pans or pans lined with muffin cups. Bake for 15-17 minutes.
  

If you want to throw your own cookies exchange there are great cards (thank you's, recipes, etc) to be found HERE!

In other, un-food, related news, I just saw this video and it was like the skies opened up and beamed down an explanation of what happened to me 4 or 5-ish years ago.

I get migraines about once or twice a year. They are always preceeded by a blind spot (very scary sometimes) and that gives me a warning that I have about half an hour to get myself into a quiet, dark and medicated place before the pain kicks in. I used to get really painful ones accompanied by nausea and numbness in my mouth/tongue.

A few years back I was at a kick boxing class with my sister when I get my blind spot. Knowing the class was almost over, and knowing I had about half an hour to get myself home, we finished the class. In retrospect this was a terrible idea as the last 5 mins were all about exerting yourself til you collapsed.

Going into the changeroom, I tried speaking to Robin and couldn't get words out. I was slurring and just generally not making any sense. While she was killing herself laughing, I was freaking out that I was having a stroke and needed to get to an emergency room!

Anyway we walked to a walk-in clinic but by that time I was okay. I went to my doctor and she said it was likely the migraine coupled with over exerting myself. I believed this cause it meant I hadn't just had a stroke but in the back of my mind I was convinced I had had a TIA

The explanation the doctors gave to Ms. Branson however was more or less what my doctor told me - complex migraine.

Yikes.

Scary, but kind of reassuring that it happens to other people.

Since February is Heart Health month make sure you pay attention to any warning signs you think might be related to heart & stroke issues!

Birthday Blitz Over and a Success

What a great 25th birthday celebration!

Thursday night I went out to Cafe Demtre with a group of friends for cake and ice cream. I have pictures that I may post at a later date.

Friday I had a wonderful day with my mom. We went shopping, I got a pedicure, and we went for a really tasty lunch at Gabby's. I know, you wouldn't think pub food could be really tasty. We were going to go to an Indian restaurant that I've been eyeing for awhile but it didn't open until 4 pm. So at the insistance of our growling stomachs we picked another place nearby. We split a chicken souvlaki and a trio of sliders (one pulled pork - drool - one buffalo chicken and one beef) with sweet potato fries. Then we headed back home for chocolate cake.

Friday night we had people over and then we went out to a bar downtown. I chose a place with cheap cover and cheap drinks which turned out to be a bad idea. Not because the place was a dive bar. Because I had way to much to drink. Cheap drinks = more people willing and wanting to buy you a drink/shot.

It was worse because Saturday morning John and I drove up to his family's cottage. Morning turned into 2 pm. And I could not keep food down until 8 pm that night. Gross.

But I'm recovered now and can fully enjoy how great a weekend it was!

I got some amazing gifts too. A beautiful Kate Spade bag from my mom (somehow she must have known how many hours I've spent on ebay searching for cheap Kate Spade bags!), memory foam for our bed from my sister, the magic bullet (now I too can feel like a part of that infomercial family), Martha Stewart's hors d'oeuvres Handbook, a Winner's gift card, and much more.

I also got some delicious baked goods from my friend's who are amazing cake decorators:

My birthday cake from Tracy - notice the '25' has been crossed out to just read 5.

Cookies shaped like drinks from Danielle - if only these had been the only adult beverages I indulged in.

I decorated the place in the spirit of having a 5th birthday rather than a 25th birthday. My wonderful aunt Wendy provided almost all of the decor in the thoughtful gift basket she put together for me last weekend.

The napkins, the plates, the tea set ... all so perfect! Not to mention the 5 fridge essentials I mentioned in a previous post!

I made a nacho dip, soft pretzels, and Aunt Wendy's caramel corn which I brought up to John's cottage afterward and it was a BIG hit.

I also decided that instead of making loot bags I'd put together a loot jar. Included were mardi gras beads, ring pops, lollipops, and these really cool finger lasers from the dollar store! If you see them at dollarama they are fantastic! Short battery life but fun while they last.

I'm on a mission now to lose the 7-8 lbs I've put on since July 1st. Luckily I also have that ol' half marathon I registered for fast approaching so getting back in shape and training for a 13 mile run should compliment each other nicely.

I ran 5 miles this morning and I'm thinking that if I up my run but one mile each week I should be good. So 2 more 5 milers this week and then onto 6 milers next week. If I can comfortably run 10 miles a few times before September 26th then I'm in business.

Yikes. That's a long distance to run.....