i just finished up with my nephew’s first birthday party and am totally rejuvenated! it came out so great and i loved everything about it. while talking with my sister in law about the future, she encouraged me to make a facebook page for my party planning. i toyed with the idea and decided to do it. while designing the page, i made a realization/decision. i don’t spend any time on this page. i no longer have the time to sit and write. however i am always finding fun facts, designs, ideas, etc. so i am thinking that i am going to randomly use this page for longer finds but will use my facebook page for everything else. whether it’s something i find or something i create, facebook will be easier to maintain. so please check out my page on facebook- A Lil something more out of higganum. let me know what you think…. i hope you enjoy it as much as i do! p.s. i have already posted my pictures from my nephew’s party so you can see how it all came together.
testing 123
just wanted to run a test to see how to work with some things on wordpress. please bare with me….
i am once again fully submerged in party planning and dying to do it for more people though continue on my own path to nowhere…. i have some ideas up my sleeve, just need to enact them. one of the ideas is to pay more attention to my blog, so here goes…
i have come across some great ideas/other blogs that people have done for dr. seuss birthdays so I am going to attempt to do that here… pizzazzerie has designed a dr. seuss party that looks awesome! i hope this works! let me know if it doesn’t. since i am testing, i will only use this site today… stay tuned!
quotes for baby sam
i hope that i can do this properly…. i found this list of quotes on pinterest by mamiverse.com
i am still learning how to use this… for example, i don’t know how to highlight those words to have you be able to click on them and go right to the site…. any suggestions?
for sam’s party, we are hoping to use some of the quotes to print out and frame around the party…
sam’s 1st birthday
june 10 is my nephew sam’s 1st birthday and i am thrilled to say that i am planning both of his parties ~ one in ct and one in me. his mother, my sister in law jessica thought that a dr. seuss theme would be best. you know, sam i am! so here i am!
the party in ct will be combined with our annual memorial day so we are looking to go with red/white/blue/yellow. we will have a lot of decorations, some themed food, etc. but aren’t going to get too crazy as the memorial day party is a big one in itself! a lot of work i should say! don’t let these words fool you… i say that but knowing me, i will go above and beyond! it is after all some of my favorite things… planning and my favorite nephew!
the party in me will be a bit more! the tentative guest list is 100 people, depending on where the party will be. this will also be dr. seuss but i will blow it up more there! signs, books, colors, partyware, drinks, games, favors, etc…. everything a 1st party should be!
every day i am on the computer looking for new ideas and inspirations for the party. i have a notebook that i now carry around with me in case an idea hits me~ well i have it for ideas of all kinds of ideas that come to me!
the invitation for the ct party has gone out and some have replied!
success #2
wow! i again have to say that the shower was fantastic! the whole thing went off without a hitch! as i dig through the mess that is overtaking my kitchen, i am reminded of how pretty and fun the shower was!
now that it’s over, i can divulge in the details! because allison and wayne are having a girl, i decided to go with pink, white, green and owls! though through the planning stages and spending lots of time online, my theme swayed a bit. though i mainly stuck with pink and white and owls.
table: white tablecloths with pink napkins. i set the favors out onto the table to use as part of the decorations. then in the center of each table, i made flower arrangements of pink roses, pink carnations, white daisies and baby’s breath and put them in the big mason jars.
drink table: i think this was my favorite table! again white tablecloth with coffee and owl themed cups. bottled water with pink personalized labels with a V (for volpe, their last name)! SO CUTE! then a pink punch that allison’s friend melissa made which was so good!!! mason jars were put out for each guest with custom straws- white with pink polka dots. very cute but didn’t stand up so well.
food: at my aunt’s request, we had the salad bar that i had done for my sister in law’s shower. my dear friend jen from hazelnuts again did the food and again out did herself! it was so good! warm chicken, warm rolls, homemade dressing, yum! thank you my love!
with the help of allison’s tall brother, we hung pink tissue balls from the ceiling. erin and melissa brought pink balloons. there were 2 clothes lines of pink clothing. very pretty! once the decorations were up, you couldn’t tell it was the firemen’s lounge!
dessert: i made jumbo cupcakes (vanilla and chocolate devil’s food cake) then dyed vanilla frosting hot pink, sprinkled them with pink/white/red sprinkles and put owl stickers on tooth picks in the middle! melissa made chocolate chip cookies with pink m&ms. hazelnuts made a fruit platter to go with the chocolate fountain! i hesitated a bit about using the chocolate fountain but i am so glad hazelnuts encouraged me to use it! allison loved it and it was very easy to use!
melissa and erin (allison’s friends) were in charge of games. they did the “guess mommy’s size” and “don’t say baby”. one guest was right on with allison’s size! “don’t say baby” i think was the funniest as everyone was tuned into what others were saying!
favors: i ordered hot pink boxes from oriental trading and glued pink ribbon with polka dots around the box. i then put felt owl stickers on the front. my cousin sarah made owl smores~ so cute and clever~ and put then in cellophane bags. they were then put in the boxes for the guests. many i was told, ate the favor before we even ate, so sounds like they were good!
overall, it was great! really. my goal and theme was really to be very pretty and girly, which i think it was. i also wanted it to be very classy. classy in that we used real things vs. plastic. so not only were we green, we didn’t have to worry about forks breaking or plates foldin in half from the weight of the food. my mother told me she overheard a woman (who was wearing a furry coat) say she was so glad we weren’t using plastic like other showers and knew this would be a nice shower!!! SUCCESS!
i must make a special note to thank everyone as they were part of the success… allison’s mom, brother, friends melissa, erin and darka, jen at hazelnuts, my mom, our cousin sarah, and all that attended the shower… i wish to thank them for their involvement, ideas, enthusiasm and help with all they did. not only did they help in the beginning with planning they helped to the very end with cleaning up! (which is harder than set up!)
i am so happy i was able to do this for my cousin! since she was born, she has been ‘my girl’ and i am thrilled that she was able to have such a nice shower filled with people that love her and shower her with many things for her new baby! xo
Time to set up!
Here we are… The day before Allison’s shower! My excitement is hopefully contagious! I’m packing up the car to head down to the place to set up. So happy we can get in today! Can’t tell you how many trees & ink have been wasted on lists that I’ve created… What to do Friday, Saturday, Sunday. What to bring on each day. What to buy. What to make. And on and on…
My excitement with http://www.etsy.com is a bit diminished. I placed an order a month before the shower and the girl tells me 3 days before she hasn’t sent them out. I understand that the people that do this probably do it on the side but don’t promise one thing and do another. Very disappointed as this item was my whole focus.
I can say that I ordered something from someone else which was successful, however, she lives in my town, the gift was made and I drove there myself to get it.
Lesson learned…. I guess it would be to contact seller BEFORE placing order to make sure it will be ready and shipped in time!
Now I must go… Have to check my lists, make new ones, pack the car and be off!
Pictures and comments to come! Wish me luck! Nah, I got this.
back at it
as i have mentioned before, i am in full swing planning my cousin’s baby shower. in the process of making sure it is perfect, i am again sucked in the wonder and joy and excitement that i have when i am party planning! which then makes me wonder, why haven’t i done anything to promote myself this past year? if this is what really gives me excitement, pleasure and happiness, why don’t i do it more?
lack of confidence in myself? probably. which makes no sense. i am organized, creative and full of possibilities. so what can i do?
i am thinking i need to market myself more and get in others faces …. so here i am. if you are planning a party and need some help, seek me out. i am here to help. to offer you ideas and suggestions. here to help you carry out what you already dream of. i will just give you a Lil something more to think about. give me a try. not only can i help you, you can help me 🙂
allison’s shower in full plan mode
2 weeks until allison ‘s shower! i can’t wait! things are coming together. lots of paper has been used to make diagrams, ideas, lists of what to do, etc. i am constantly on the internet, often googling “pink baby shower images” in hopes of additional ideas i haven’t thought of!
the linen is set. i received the real napkins on monday and the table cloths are scheduled to arrive on wednesday (all thanks to my mother in law!) i had a special package arrive from the sweets & treats boutique! very cute pink striped straws! so cute! i am still waiting on my www.etsy.com order (which again, i strongly encourage you to check out if you are into artsy & craftsy things!) i can’t wait for these to arrive.
sadly or disappointingly or annoyingly, i am still waiting for about 30 responses- there were 42 invites! so you can see my sadness/disappointment/annoyance. the response is set for 2/5, so technically there is still time, but…… still waiting.
my cousin is helping me out with the favors. don’t know that we have figured out the final favor but we have the packaging set!
games- my cousins friend melissa is tending to… as well as drinks and balloons!
music- allison’s friend erin is handling this!
food- hazelnuts will again be catering! don’t want to spoil the surprise on our feast!
dessert- i have almost figured out. i have the table figured out, just need to figure out what to fill everything with.
and i am waiting for a big package from www.orientaltrading.com– also a great site for party planning!
anything else????
i am back!
it has been a really long time since i have been on here, but here i am. i can’t tell you why i have been absent but i can tell you that i haven’t planned any parties since march of 2011. it’s not because i declined an offer. it’s because no one has asked me…. {hope that gives you the push/guilt you need to seek me to plan for you} in any event, i am back!
i am in full swing planning a baby shower for my cousin Allison who is having a girl in april! so excited! as many of you know, or will find out now, Allison was my first “child’! ever since she was born, i have taken her on my hip as if she was my own! she is the reason i wanted kids and my parents feared i would be pregnant at 12! and now she is having a child! crazy!
i don’t want to share too much on here, as hopefully she reads it {and i want some surprises} but i will tell you that the theme is pink, green and owls! all of the dishes/silverware/cups/linens will all be real! not paper or plastic. trying to do my part to be green! i have made some special orders on www.etsy.com– if you haven’t been over there, you MUST check it out! lots of goodies that are all handmade!
i don’t know why i have waited so long to plan, i LOVE this stuff! i absolutely thrive on it! so stay tuned…. pictures will come after the shower {february 12th}….
The art of the response
R.S.V.P. stands for a French phrase, “répondez, s’il vous plaît,” which means “please reply.” The person sending the invitation would like you to tell him or her whether you accept or decline the invitation. That is, will you be coming to the event or not? Etiquette rules followed in most Western cultures require that if you receive a formal, written invitation, you should reply promptly, perhaps that same day. For hosts who are planning a dinner party, a wedding or a reception, this is important from a practical point of view, because they need to know how many people to count on and how much food and drink to buy. More important, though, is the simple courtesy of responding to someone who was nice enough to invite you, even if it is to say that you regret that you will not be able to attend. (http://people.howstuffworks.com/question450.htm)
After throwing multiple parties throughout my life, my biggest frustration is when people don’t reply that yes they are coming or no they are not. So I have taken the guess work out for those of you that are throwing/invited to parties. Above, I have cut and pasted the reasoning behind RSVP’ing.
For me, my frustration starts before I even send the invite out! How will I write it… “please respond” or “please reply” or “kindly reply”… there are multiple ways of writing it but no matter how I write it doesn’t matter. I know that no matter what words I use, there will be the people that don’t respond/reply. Why not? I understand that it’s in my house which may lead you to believe number doesn’t matter, but it does. I have to know how many people are coming so that I have enough food, drinks, seats, favors, etc. I also need to know if you aren’t coming so that I can yell at you for not attending one of my events!
Eventually, it’s going to get to a point where I will stop inviting the habitual non-repliers. Not only is it a waste of my energy, it’s a waste of a stamp and a beautiful invitation that I have designed! Either that or I assume you are not coming and if you do show up, I will turn you away… just kidding. I couldn’t do that but know that I will be upset with your behavior!
So to those of you again that are planning or invited… please take a minute to pick up the phone (or send an email or text) and respond to the lovely party you were invited to. It will be greatly appreciated!
a Lil something more 