Polka Dot Party Time!

All this pressure for a first birthday party!  First of all, there are no good themes for girl first birthdays.  You don't want to use up any character themes that you will inevitably have to do later (um...princesses, anyone!) but then if you move off the beaten birthday party path, you have to be uber-creative, which I am not.  Originally, I was going to do butterflies for Emma's first birthday, but after hitting decorations roadblock after decorations roadblock, I decided to go a little more general, and we gave her a pink & green "preppy" party with polka dots & plaid.  I'm really proud of how it came out, especially since I am the world's least creative and crafty person ever.

Here's a couple picks of how it came out:

The buffet setup:

The centerpieces - made of tin buckets from Target and daisy placemats from Homegoods:

As a supplement to her daisy cake, we had delicious Sugar & Sunshine cupcakes!

Finally the brownie tray with the daisy decorations that I made. I am only showing this as a warning to others who may try to use Wilton Sugar Sheets to decorate.  DON'T!!!  They were a total pain in the butt, and they looked a little too much like paper.  I think people were afraid to eat them because of it.

The polka dot balloons that started the whole idea:

Even Emma had a great time, she enjoyed her cake, but in true Emma fashion, she wasn't really into eating herself, but she was all about having my grandmother feed her bits of cake like she was a baby bird or something:

She did still enjoy her cake:

Above all, I think everyone had a great time, especially the other kids who bounced themselves into exhaustion (Thanks to B who let us borrow her bouncy house - you rule!)

In other news, this week's CSA take away: 4 heads of lettuce, 4 zucchinis, 3 cucumbers, a bunch of beets (I don't know how many because I didn't look since I think a. they are gross, and b. they stain so I refuse to make them), 1 bunch of broccoli and 2 quarts of string beans.  I'm bringing all of it up to the Poconos for our 4th of July weekend that I am lovingly naming "Operation Ruffage."  I'm also bringing up a couple of recipes including this one for zucchini patties and this one for zucchini bread.  I won't have internet access while I'm up there (is there a blogger app?  If so, fill a lady in!) so I'll see you next week!

Happy 4th of July!

Oh, Hello Summer...

Sorry I haven't been around!  It was the last month of school which is basically just pure insanity, and at the same time I've been helping to plan for different events for the 2 weddings that I'm in this summer/fall (Congrats K & S!  We can't wait!). 

The big event is coming up today because it's Emma's 1st Birthday Party!  I can't believe she's one!

This was her the day she was born:

And one from her first birthday:

Isn't it funny how she looks so different and yet exactly the same?  I went back and forth on her first birthday theme: butterflies?  Strawberry Shortcake?  I'll post pictures of the final theme tomorrow, but here's a little hint:

I will also be back blogging about our food trials and tribulations.  I can't wait to try all the recipes that people have given me! Now, in addition to limiting what we buy at the store, I'm trying to use up all the local, organic produce we have been getting from our summer CSA, Honey Brook Organic Farm.  for example, last week we took in: one head of cabbage, 4 heads of lettuce, 2 zucchinis, 1 head of arugula, 2 quarts of string beans, and 2 cucumbers.  Part of the blog will be seeing what I can do with these ingredients and the other part how I store up everything for winter. Since we threw out WAY too much last year, our goal for this year is to use or freeze everything so that we have it for later.  So far, I have 2 gallons (not that's not a typo) of strawberries and 1 quart of string beans in my basement freezer.  If you gave me a recipe, I'm on it!  I just have to wait until the ingredients become seasonal.

Not to be forgotten, Will has officially entered his terrible twos (how fun for us!) We moved him into a big bed, which had the unfortunate result of a 5:30am wakeup time.  Now we have trained him to stay in bed and yell, "Mom!  I'm up!"  Much to our dismay, this wakeup call comes at 6am.  Ugh.  Here's my current favorite Will picture. He was up at the lake playing golf with my dad:

Judging from his expression, I'm pretty sure he just bogeyed that hole. 

See you later!