Operation Shower: Sunshine Farms

a view of the Military Appreciation tent on the 14th green

I know I do go on and on about Operation Shower, but I just can't help myself. I have a total weak spot for anything "baby", and when you top it off with our service men and women? I do whatever I can to be supportive. So when Amy from Stem Parties/Operation Shower offered to buy me dinner and cut my meat if I would come and help set up their most most recent event, you better believe I jumped, high.

The venue for this shower was the Torrey Pines Golf Course in beautiful San Diego during their Farmer's Insurance Open PGA Tour. Did I mention how beautiful it was? It really struck me especially because I had just returned from a fabulous but cold and wet trip to New York.

Anyway, I'm going to stop talking, and just show pictures.

Top left: Amy with her hay

Top right: Jenn from HWTM schooling me in veggie centerpiece design

Bottom: Marie (and her oh so patient husband) from Sweets Indeed

Top left: volunteers making some last minute centerpieces

Top right: a volunteer having fun with our 2" punch

Bottom: napkin folding!

ADORABLE! Just add veggies

and the sun sets on our day of set-up

And now some photos from the day of the shower, courtesy of LeeAnn Widyn Photography...

Thirty six Military moms-to-be got the dream shower they deserved, but there are so many more! Please visit Operation Shower's website or facebook page and learn how you can get involved.

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P&C Real Life Party: Pink Polka Dots

My sister Melia is one of my biggest supporters... She has been printing, cutting and party-ing with Paper & Cake since day one. This newly pregnant (CONGRATULATIONS!) mom of 2 recently put together a spectacular party for her daughter's 7th birthday using our Pink Polka Dot printable party. Here is what she had to say...

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Crystal’s 7th Birthday Party

For Crystal’s Birthday Party, she decided to have a Spa theme. I racked my brain for what this would entail. Then I hit the dollar section at Target and the party started coming together. In the dollar section, I picked up sleep masks with fun girly designs and a dual pack of nail polishes (so sad, I forgot to take pictures of the gift bags that we created with these).


The Decorations
So, I had the gift bags created...now it came down to what the party look would like. Thank goodness, I have the most creative sister who has a printable party business. I picked up her pink circle designs and went to town.

Here is a picture of my dining room table turned into party creation central. 

I cut out a ton of circles, which turned into the cutest decorations.

The Activities
Make your own Bath Salts - (which I didn’t take pictures of) This ended up being a huge hit at the party. Each girl got a container (thanks Ziploc plastic containers with screw on lids) and put two scoops of Epsom salt and one scoop of course salt and a couple drops of scented oil (lavender). If you choose to do a craft like this....ONLY DO ONE SCENT....my house smelled like lavender for days. Thankfully I love lavender. After mixing up the salts and scent, each girl customized their bath salts with food coloring.  I wrote each girl’s name on their container and they added them to their gift bags.  It made a great take home present for each girl.

Nail Painting – Each girl got to pick her own color and/or pattern. Some kids stuck to one color, others went for a different color on each nail. It was quite fun to see what they ended up choosing.

Photo Booth Wall – In my brilliance, I decided to decorate the photo booth wall with colorful post its. This sounded like a great idea until we were about half way through the entire wall an hour later. In hindsight I should have just used some of the great full page designs in the paper pack.  The wall, however, came out great. The girls had a great time posing for pictures.

The Cake
And last but not least, I decided to let the girls decorate their own birthday cupcakes. I baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes, along with chocolate icing and vanilla icing. I then pulled out every bottle of cake sprinkles I had. I have to confess I had quite the number of bottles. In the next pictures you can see the kids going to town on the cupcakes. They had a blast.

The Wrap Up
After the all of the fun, we got the girls together for a group picture. It ended up being one of my favorite parties.

As you can see, the girls had the best time.

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the end: A Martha Adventure

Day two of the Dreamers event in NYC, held less freezing rain and more lovely speakers. We began the day with a little welcome breakfast and a fantastic workshop lead by Terri Trespicio the Senior Features Editor at Whole Living. It actually felt like she was speaking directly to me - seeing as how I can't seem to find any work/personal balance these days. If I could have put her in my suitcase and brought her home you better believe I would have!

Over lunch, we heard from Maria Otero, Founder of Women's Venture Fund. She brought along two of her clients to tell us their success stories - Jackie of La Lumina and Yukiko of Tesage - fascinating! In the afternoon we were treated to a little cooking demonstration by none other than Sarah Casey, the food editor for Martha Stewart Living, I'm pretty sure Brenda fell in love.

And with gift bags in hand, all the Dreamers said good bye to one another, and good bye to our Martha adventure. Would I do it again? You bet! Will I get to shake Martha's hand next time? I will make it my mission!

But, wait, Brenda and I had one last stop - Jean-Georges' Spice Market. We ordered their "tasting menu" which for any price was unbelievable. This is what we ate:

Shaved Tuna, Chilli Tapioca Asian Pear and Lime (then I licked the bowl)

Lobster Summer Roll, Citrus-Dill Gelee Sriracha Emulsion

Spiced Chicken Samosa Cilantro Yogurt

Charred Chili Rubbed Beef Skewer Thai Basil Dipping Sauce

Cod with Malaysian Chili Sauce, Thai Basil

Char Grilled Chicken with Kumquat Lemongrass Dressing (I'm not kidding, it made me cry)

Ginger Fried Rice

and for dessert? Ovaltine Kulfi, Caramelized Banana with Spiced Milk Chocolate Sauce. To DIE for! and sadly paired with their Thai Jewels Crushed Coconut Ice, which on its own is probably fantastic, but alongside the kulfi just didn't stand a chance.

stopped at the Chelsea Market and went to Jacques Torres Chocolates for some, well, chocolate!

Yum. What a way to end the trip! Thanks for listening to me go on and on - I promise to have some new product for you... this week!

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Operation Shower in San Diego

image courtesy of Hostess with the Mostess

You know Amy from Stem Parties? I am so in awe of her! Not only does she know how to throw an amazing event, but she is also an integral team member of Operation Shower. The reason I bring this up, is that I am going to meet her, in San Diego, TODAY!

You see, March of Dimes and Operation Shower are throwing a giant baby shower at the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open, where thirty-six expectant military moms will receive the baby shower they deserve. The moms-to-be will receive gift boxes filled with baby supplies, clothing, toys, books and much, much more courtesy of Kmart, Ashford University, Farmers Insurance and so many other generous donors.

Amy and the crew will need some help setting things up at the legendary Torrey Pines Golf Course for the event on Tuesday January 25 - and I am honored to do any sweeping, heavy lifting or dish washing required. Who else will be there you ask? Well, from what I understand, Jenn from Hostess with the Mostess, Sweets Indeed and of course Heavenly Blooms.

I can't wait to share more when I return - the decor will undoubtedly be spectacular!

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part 2: A Martha Adventure

Martha answering questions after the taping

So now that Martha and I are BFF's, she invited me back to her corporate offices for a day of workshops. Okay okay, so it wasn't just me.

Brenda and I walked the 4 blocks (again in the FREEZING RAIN, and stopping to buy a crappy umbrella) arriving at her office building (a 50 thousand square foot number, spanning a city block) looking like a couple drowned rats. So, before walking into lunch, we paused to wring out in the restroom.

I'm not even kidding, this was on that back of every stall door

We were immediately thrown into a room with SO many talented women! Where do I start! Jill from Modern Cupcake, Terri from Terri's Party Treasures, Kristen from 3 Little Birds, Barbara from Kitchen Kuffs, Peggy from ComfyCozy, Maria from Maria Harper Designs, Crista from Creations by CristaMarie, Laurie from Twinkle Couture, Johanna from Familytopia, Lindi from Love the Day, Jasmine from The Couture Cakery, Danielle from A Few of My Favorite Things, Jean from Rotem Gear, Andrea from Dolce Drive, okay I'll stop now.

So, Terri Shapiro, from Deluxe, spoke about public relations while we ate a beautifully catered lunch. We listened to Brenda Dargan of MSLO talk about social media, and Danielle Marvel from Etsy give us tips and news for the future. So much great information - my brain is on overload. Overload. Overload. The day wrapped up with Martha herself showing up to interview Susan Solomon co-founder of NY Stem Cell Foundation.

Sadly, we did not have the opportunity to get a group photo with Martha. Could it have been the bum rush at the end of the evening? 80 women dying to shake her hand, thrust their business card in her general direction, kiss her feet? I was definitely one of them.

and once again, it's time for me to go to bed... more tomorrow?

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part 1: A Martha Adventure

I am tired. It is late. So I'll make this one short short short!

As Brenda and I walked out of the hotel this morning, we met up with a lovely "Dreamer" named Heather. You may have heard of her? She deigns the most amazing children's backpacks and accessories. Anyway, there was not a cab in sight, so the three of us hoofed it the 4 blocks (long blocks, really long sleet filled blocks, these were NOT petite blocks) in the FREEZING RAIN to Martha's studio.

Once there, we had was a little bit of waiting, form filling out and mandatory bathroom breaks, before we filed into the studio itself. They do require bright and colorful attire for the audience, so I think it was the bright mustard jacket that got Brenda and I placed in the FRONT ROW! (thanks for the suggestion Missy)

The guest of the day was the oh so funny Fred Armisen (of Saturday Night Live). He made chicken tostadas with Martha. Now that doesn't sound very humorous, but the way he handled her was definitely memorable.

I did really enjoy the taping, but it was just bizarre to be there. If you want to see me smile and clap, watch this...




Well, it's off to bed... more tomorrow!

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Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Armed with only a warm coat, some business cards and a few hundred vanilla mints, I am boarding a non-stop to NYC (well, not "only" but you get the idea). It does seem a bit surreal, and I can't seem to shake the butterflies, but as soon as I put the finishing touches on my (over) packing job, I am ready!

Tonight I will meet up with my friend (business guru, trusted advisor, fellow foodie), and travel partner, Brenda at our hotel. We have plans to attend a cocktail reception, and then dinner at nine pm. Who eats dinner at 9pm? I'm tired just thinking about it.

Tomorrow morning when I wake up - at 4:30am PST - I will gulp a pot of coffee and hail a cab to see the Martha show, live and in person. The remainder of the day will be spent soaking in the information. Soaking. Information. and LOTS of it!

If I don't fall asleep in the cab ride back to the hotel, I will attempt to post the highlights of the day. And pictures - lots of pictures!


While you are so patiently waiting, our friend Kendra over at My Insanity is having a little (BIG) contest. In celebration of her 3rd Blogoversary, she is asking everyone to enter their most fabulous party of 2010 for a chance to win big. And guess who is supplying one of the prizes? Yup. You guessed it. Enter to WIN our Peace, Love and Party printable set along with any Printable Photo Prop collection of your choice. Good luck!

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Countdown to Martha

I've been to New York once. In January of '08. January. It was COLD! (mostly because I am, born and raised, a Southern California girl). It was a whirlwind trip to visit a friend, I was in the city for a total of 48 hours - exactly. I've been trying to figure out a way to get back there, maybe in the spring or early summer for another adventure, but it just isn't going to happen.

Mostly because I'm going back NEXT WEEK! Yes, January again. And it's going to be COLD. But I don't think I'll care, because I'm going to see Martha.

Martha!

Yes, Martha Stewart is hosting a "Dreamers into Doers" two day event filled with workshops, forums, discussions and will be topped off with a taping of her show. I am so looking forward to meeting the 78 women who will be there with me, experiencing this once in a lifetime opportunity, in pursuit of their dreams.

ps- My daughter thinks Martha and I should go out for a cupcake.

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New Party: Peace, Love and PARTY!

Wondering how you will decorate for that upcoming Valentine's party you are throwing? Needing a trend setting printable set for your daughter's ninth birthday sleepover? Don't worry... your search is over!

pennant banner with the themed backdrop

In this Peace, Love and Party printable collection:

Customizable items (you can type in your own text using Acrobat Reader):
Invitation (fits A6 envelope)
Cupcake Picks
Door Sign
Nail Polish Label
Pennant Banner
Treat Bag Insert
Candy Buffet Labels

Non-customizable items:
Soda Bottle Labels
Gift Log
Thank You Note and Envelope
Popcorn Boxes
Cake Pop Flags
Themed Backdrop
Full Patterned Sheets

diy customizable invitation

diy customizable candy buffet labels

mini popcorn boxes

customizable cupcake toppers

customizable nail polish labels - can be used for almost anything, including napkin rings!

*NEW* Treat bag insert - customize these with your own text

soda bottle labels

these customizable candy buffet labels can also be used as favor tags, name tags or straw markers

this garland was made from cupcake picks and the full patterned sheet with 1 and 2" punches

a beautiful tablescape!

This set of 14 items calling your name... do you hear it? "Buy me... have a party... it will be fun... we'll eat cupcakes!"

Stop by the shop today, and pick up your printable Peace PDF!

ps, special thanks to my sister Missy of Missy Marie Photography, for helping me out with this shoot - she is a FANTASTIC photographer in the South Bay area of Southern California.

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