THE Party

A few weeks ago, on a lovely afternoon spent with the in-laws, two very important things were decided. 1) The new village in Daybreak is not nearly as charming as the first two, but that everybody needs to move here (the house across the street from me is for sale- come be my neighbor!). And, 2) There ought to be some sort of large celebration when Tyler's siblings come to town.
Hrmmm. Let me think on that one.. Celebration=party. Party=Andrea's favorite thing
ever. Andrea's favorite thing to do+5 birthdays within a month+a mother-in-law kind enough to turn over control and let me go crazy= Bliss! I think I needed something like this to get me out of my funk and back into my groove. (Beware the groove!)
So, once I got done with my niece Chloe's 5th birthday paper doll party (see Becca's blog, since I forgot my camera), it was full steam ahead on THE Party planning-as opposed to 'the party'. A much needed distinction when you are planning more than one party at a time.
I had a pretty good idea of what I was going for with THE Party, so I was able to start making things early-ish. I made pinwheels and sprouted wheatgrass for centerpieces and decor. I made my first cake balls (inspired by Bakerella's cupcake pops), made paper umbrellas (which I totally forgot to take and can't seem to find anywhere?!?!) with Becca and Steve's help, and did all sorts of other crazy things..
I think my in-laws thought I was totally crazy when we started bringing things inside, but I hope that they still like me enough to not have me committed...

I had to borrow my mom's car to transport everything to the party. Hazel, Chloe and Calvin were pretty impressed...

The party favors, all lined up in a row. The containers were filled with chocolate raisins to anchor the cake balls.

The dining room set up, with favors and wheatgrass and pinwheels, oh my!

One of the birthday cakes- I don't know if this was the lemon or the chocolate, but it doesn't really matter... They both looked pretty cute, I thought. Tyler was a saint and baked and rolled fondant like a champ.

Pinwheels!

The lemonade bar. Lavender, mango, plain, mint and blueberry.

Mango lemonade. Very tasty stuff.

Mint lemonade. Also very tasty stuff.

Uncle David playing the clothespin drop game. By the end of the night Megan, Tyler and I were all tied for the high score- 7 out of 10 clothespins.

Ian attacking the pinata.

Randy wearing the pinata.

I love Bingo. I love it WAY more than I ought to.

And so, THE Party was a success. I had so much fun putting everything together and it seemed like people were enjoying themselves. Thanks, Barbara, for letting me do this one! Happy birthday to all of us!

I'll leave you with just one last picture. This is Scotty, rockin' it mandolin style...

I love the Muppets!!!!!

Beaker does Beethoven


Sousa never sounded better!


The Swedish Chef, Animal and Beaker sing.

The written word...

Tyler and I lived downtown when we first got married and one of my favorite things about that was being so close to the big library. And the farmers market, but this post is about books, not produce... We used to make frequent trips to the library and I was a reading fiend. When we moved to our apartment in South Jordan we were no where near a library and I kind of forgot that I like to read. I still read, but not with the vigor that I had before, and I seemed to only read things from my personal collection. Over and over and over. And the Harry Potter books as they came out. I read those.

An exciting thing happened last week. I went to the library with my sisters and nieces and nephews and got a new card, since mine had long ago disappeared. And I checked out books. And then I read them. (You may think that last part is a given, but I can't be the only person has had the problem of bringing home a book or a movie and then not getting around to it, right?) And I liked it.

I'd like to keep track of what I've read each month, just so that I can look back and remember. So here is the list from the past month or so...

Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Again. It's pathetic how many times I've read these, but they are my current favorite feel good and bath tub books. I first picked them up less than a year ago, but I have read them each at least 9 times.

Book of a Thousand Days and Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. Mom checked these out and sent them up my way. They are just sweet, heart warming little books. They're the kind of books that make you happy and optimistic.

My Life in France by Julia Child. A cute neighbor said she thought of me when she read it, so she brought it over for me to read. It was a fun read, talking about learning to cook, throwing dinner parties, writing her cookbooks, her husband and her love of all things French. I hadn't realized before just how tall she was- she was 6'2". I may have an inch on her, but she must have had it pretty rough back then..

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. A nice read, very much like her other books. I enjoyed it but probably wouldn't read it again.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I loved this one! It's her story of growing up dirt poor, moving all over the country with her brilliant and drunk father, highly eccentric mother, and her siblings. I highly recommend this one.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I realize that I am about 5 years late on reading this, but oh well.. There is a reason it is such a popular book- it's thoroughly delightful. I enjoyed it.

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman. Becca checked this out from the library. Before she was halfway through she had ordered multiple copies of it on Amazon- it's that good. It's pretty much the most delightful thing I've ever read. It's a series of essays about books, words and language. She writes about compulsive proof reading, sesquipedalians, reading aloud and marrying libraries together (5 years and one child after getting married, they decide they are ready for this level of intimacy). I cannot recommend this highly enough.