Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
me eat cookies
macaron-eating, pastel-coloured, disgustingly girlie, all girls birthday party
Dan-ger, a superhero's, birthday party
(daniel's 25th birthday party)
(archangel's wings; cowabunga! pizza!; heros's subs; batman's batarang)
(Elastigirl, with a beard; Jubilee, with long hair; Donatello, Agent J + Agent K, the MIB; Dan-ger, the birthday boy; Cyclops; Batwoman; Optimus Prime, with a sword; Batgirl; Buttercup + Emilio Estevez)
(photohunt find, the moon)
(photohunt find, the beatles)
(photohunt find, real heroes saving an animal from a tree)
(photohunt find, the beatles)
reasons to celebrate
so daniel started a new job a couple weeks ago, which is something we have been praying and hoping for for a long while. he was unemployed/underemployed for exactly one year before this new job, which is at an engineering company doing engineer stuff. exactly one year. a funny thing God's timing is, but I guess I have obtained a pocketful of lessons, like patience, gratitude and being optimistic even when I am scared and frustrated.
the downfall of daniel’s new job is all the initial travelling. he left earlier today, to be gone for a week and half. there is another two week stint in december and he will be travelling most of january and february. more lessons to learn and avenues to grow, daniel tells me. but, I don't really want lessons and growth. I want everything to be fun and easy and dandy and pink all the time, which means having my husband at home with me... okay, maybe I haven't really learned to be optimistic yet.
speaking of, couple of weekends ago I threw a birthday one for my dear friend aban. There were mad men (and women) running amok the streets of yoronto, and by mad men, I mean men (and women) dressed in dapper 1950s attire— like in mad men. one of Aban’s friends was dressed to the nines in this new light grey pinstripe suit, skinny grey tie and a bolero. very dapper indeed. I actually witnessed multiple old men and women (ages sixty and above) check him out. anyway, the party was a scavenger hunt downtown where the participants had to solve riddles and search for things like the colour of a certain door and the price of a specific item at a specific store which all eventually lead to the restaurant for dinner. I didn’t take part in the scavenger hunt, of course, but I had so much fun planning it and watching aban run around with a (small) cloud of pink balloons trailing behind her. I wished I had taken some pictures.
the downfall of daniel’s new job is all the initial travelling. he left earlier today, to be gone for a week and half. there is another two week stint in december and he will be travelling most of january and february. more lessons to learn and avenues to grow, daniel tells me. but, I don't really want lessons and growth. I want everything to be fun and easy and dandy and pink all the time, which means having my husband at home with me... okay, maybe I haven't really learned to be optimistic yet.
to prevent myself from being too lonely, I've filled my calendar with social functions and personal projects, one of which is daniel's birthday party. it's going to involves superheros, costumes and superhero costumes. I’ve been thinking about this party for months, since my super fabulous holi-colour war, and we're both really excited for it. I’m really “into” birthday parties this year, mainly because I didn’t want to turn twenty-five and the only way to ease into the second quarter of a century is to have lots of fun birthday parties.
speaking of, couple of weekends ago I threw a birthday one for my dear friend aban. There were mad men (and women) running amok the streets of yoronto, and by mad men, I mean men (and women) dressed in dapper 1950s attire— like in mad men. one of Aban’s friends was dressed to the nines in this new light grey pinstripe suit, skinny grey tie and a bolero. very dapper indeed. I actually witnessed multiple old men and women (ages sixty and above) check him out. anyway, the party was a scavenger hunt downtown where the participants had to solve riddles and search for things like the colour of a certain door and the price of a specific item at a specific store which all eventually lead to the restaurant for dinner. I didn’t take part in the scavenger hunt, of course, but I had so much fun planning it and watching aban run around with a (small) cloud of pink balloons trailing behind her. I wished I had taken some pictures.
happy birthday, dow!
my baby sister turned sixteen. oh my, she’s growing up so quickly. mum and I reminisced the younger days of andrea as we drove around town after work, gathering party supplies. we missed the baby dow* (which isn’t her real name—that’s andrea**—, but what we’ve been calling her since she was a babe), the toddler dow, and the child dow. she was the most adorable kid, with chubby legs and arms, big belly, and oh-so pinchable cheeks. even at the age of 2, she could finish a bowl of instant noodles all by herself.
people are often surprised at how close dow and I are— afterall we are nine years apart. I mean, when I was moving out for the first time and going to university, she was busy learning arithmetic; when I met daniel and fell in love, she wasn’t even going through puberty yet; when I was stressed about planning a wedding, she was stressed about starting highschool without her childhood friends. we’ve always been in different parts of life, but despite the age difference, andrea is my best friend and teen confidante of my married-career woman woes; I, in turn, do have to listen to all her teen drama (and there’s quite a lot!).
as per family tradition, the birthday person chooses where to go out for dinner; my sister opted for all-stars, thus dinner consisted of 100 wings, 2 baskets of fries, 5 pieces of garlic bread, and 1 plate of nachos shared among eight people.
people are often surprised at how close dow and I are— afterall we are nine years apart. I mean, when I was moving out for the first time and going to university, she was busy learning arithmetic; when I met daniel and fell in love, she wasn’t even going through puberty yet; when I was stressed about planning a wedding, she was stressed about starting highschool without her childhood friends. we’ve always been in different parts of life, but despite the age difference, andrea is my best friend and teen confidante of my married-career woman woes; I, in turn, do have to listen to all her teen drama (and there’s quite a lot!).
as per family tradition, the birthday person chooses where to go out for dinner; my sister opted for all-stars, thus dinner consisted of 100 wings, 2 baskets of fries, 5 pieces of garlic bread, and 1 plate of nachos shared among eight people.
* though being the biggest babe to pop out of mum, andrea was very small at the early stages of her babyhood due to an allergy to her milk formula. my mum nicknamed her ‘dow-dow’, which means pea in cantonese, because she was as small as one. the name stuck. many of my friends, and all my family, still refer to her as dow-dow (or dow, for short).
** andrea was my idea!
my birthday goodness
and finally, the rest of my birthday post: on the actual day I was born, Daniel handed me a little box wrapped in pink. beneath the layers of cellophane and pink, there was...
!!
daniel bought me an SLR!!!
the first photographs taken with the camera, which I have christened Alexis (yes, after my favourite sextuplet of Jon and Kate Plus Eight), was of the super delicious birthday dinner we made together: tuna tartare and pan-seared tuna over braised leeks.daniel bought me an SLR!!!
for the leeks:
some butter
some olive oil
keels, white bottoms only, halved lengthwise
some red wine
some chicken broth
salt and pepper
preheat pan and add oil and butter. add the leeks when the butter/oil foams. pan roast for a few minutes until the bottom of the leeks are browned and softened. add enough red wine and chicken broth (about the same ratio) to cover leeks and season with s&p. cover pan, reduce heat and braise at a slow simmer for about 30 minutes.
for the pan-seared tuna:
ahi tuna
peppercorns
salt
grind peppercorns and coat both sides of the tuna with salt and pepper. pan sear each side of the tuna for a couple of minutes. the tops and bottoms should be cooked but the center still raw and cool. serve over the braised leeks
for the tuna tartare:
tuna
salt and pepper
soy sauce
sesame oil
dice raw tuna into little pieces and mix with everything else. serve over chopped and seasoned avocado.
if you need special occasion, forget the lamb or steak; tuna is definetely the way to go!
forever young
I had a pretty awesome birthday this year... I had three birthday parties. yes, three. the first one was with my family; we had a bbq with an abundant amount of food: chicken wings, corn, fish skewers, shrimp, kalbi and lots of dessert. daniel and I ate so much we left my parent's house feeling a bit sick.
my second party was the one daniel threw for me. he invited my friends and we hung out at a earl bates park. there was a table of food, again in abundance, but his time everything was loaded with sugar, as I'd requested.
my second party was the one daniel threw for me. he invited my friends and we hung out at a earl bates park. there was a table of food, again in abundance, but his time everything was loaded with sugar, as I'd requested.
after filling up on cake and cookies, we had a relay race and played a game of red rover. yep, just like the good old days.
we also handed out party packs will with dunkaroos, gummy candies, marbles and random little things like bubble blowing kits or playing cards.
the best part of the party was the colour war! we got out a bunch of holi colours and just ran around the park throwing it at each other. it was so much fun!!
more later about the day of my actual birthday...
jamie's bridal shower in thumbnails
for a girl who loves mushrooms and her beer, we had a beer and mushroom themed shower:
(from top left: pomander balls, jamie banners, delicious beef skewers for the bbq lunch, mushroom charm bracelets, the most adorable felt mushroom (made by daniel!), airing out jamie's dirty laundry (with embarrassing stories), gift corner, the celebrity wedding wall, princess cupcakes, beer, centerpiece of flowers in beer bottles, a "beer bottle castle"/flower planter.)
party perfect
It’s 3:30pm on a Thursday and I’m home. I had a meeting at a client site earlier today and it was surprisingly and unexpectedly short. Instead of going back to my desk, I climbed the bus and went home instead. The weather is just so beautiful today that I couldn’t bear to be holed up in my sun-deprived cubicle. Upon arriving at home I meant to get some work done but, instead, went out for a walk in search for some of that Tim Horton’s free iced coffee. Now I’m back at a computer and… well, not being very productive.
(images source: sandra lane)
(images source: jose villa)
(images source: mycakies blog)
(images source: russell-life)
Most of them are children parties, but oh-so creative nonetheless. I can’t wait to throw parties for my own kids (and, by the way, my “baby fever” hasn’t subdued much since my last mention)! The first party makes my heart race; I love the bright punchy colours, the pink lacy table cloth, the simple but fun chair streamers, and— oh!—the sweet cupcakes and cookies!!
I’ve been in a great need to celebrate. Something. Anything. I turn 25 next month and Daniel is throwing me a birthday bash… I’ve given him a long list of requirements that he must meet. The list includes helium balloons, sno-cones, lobster dinner and three birthday cakes. At first I asked for 5 cakes, but given the economic situation, I’ve downsized to three.
Jamie’s bridal shower is this coming Saturday and I am scrambling to finish up all the little details. Stupid me waited till the last weekend to start. Why it was only last week that I sent out all the invitations! Poor Daniel has a long week of closing jump rings and cutting streamers in store for him. He helps me out a lot with my craft and party projects and a lot of the work should be accredited to him; he was the one who did the invitations on illustrator for Jamie’s parties.
I’ve mentioned before how differently we work. I am a distracted emotional scatterbrained who completes things in no apparent fashion; Daniel is methodical (sometime to an adsurdly boring degree). We’re like the design and the construction team on Restaurant Makeover. I come in with a million hundred different ideas and he’s Igor, having to tell me what’s feasible and actually doing the manual labour as I lament about how slow he works and how tired I am from this and that. But really, I need him.
I’m in a party mood today. I’ve mentioned party planning and oh happy day’s awesome rooftop party before and thought I’d share a few other inspiring ones:
Anyway, here’s a sneak peek of what I’ve been working on:
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