It's the holiday season

I love this time of year....

I love sitting by the fireplace....

I love leaving cookies for Santa....and a cocktail...

I love getting to decorate the smallest of rooms...

I love celebrating with my community (Kwanzaa)...

I love spending time with the ones I love...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS...

AND MAY A LITTLE SMILE, CREATE A LOT OF SUNSHINE 

IN THE NEW YEAR!!!

Princess and the Frog....Mission Complete

I know, I know.  Why is it December 1st and I am writing about a party that took place on October 22nd.  Well, it's because frick and frack upstairs limit mommys nighttime "freetime" with "having to go to the potty", "I'm thirsty" "I need a hug".....go the heck to sleep!

Yet I digress....the birthday party was awesome(In my opinion)!  My daughter had fun and so did I, so that is all that mattered.

In the beginning....

If I saw anything green, purple or froglike, I picked it up.  I held on tight to my receipts because I knew I wasn't going to use half the stuff I bought.  But when Michele (the other birthday party planner) and I went shopping downtown, we knew that most sales were final, so we better like what we buy. Downtown is where we got the pinata and party favors.

The set up...

Why in the heavens (if I cussed, that word would go right here) does time seem to speed up when it's almost party time?!  Half my decorations didn't go up, the table wasn't set the way I wanted it to be and I was funky and unshowered with an aunt jemima scarf on my head when the first set of guests arrived. BUT it was hard to smell my funk over all the great food Michele served.  Princess and the Frog is set in New Orleans so we did a cajun style menu.  She did an amazing job preparing the food.  The the decor might have been lacking on the food table, but the food was doggone good that people didn't even notice.

Party on...

The Kids Table

The Dessert Table

The Gift Table

The Jumper

The Painting Station

The Painting Station...Final Product (Each guest painted 3 strokes to celebrate the 3rd birthday)

Eudora's Dress Shop...Dresses for rent

The Grand Finale

Well, I got the Tiana Dress from Costume Craze and it was as cute as can be.  My neighbor couldn't do it so it was mama to the rescue. Since mama is not a size 12, I was swimming like a fish!  That once size fits all jibberish was a lie.  My poor strapless bra kept falling down, I had 2 big safety pins under my arms and I swear it was the hottest day of the year cause I was sweating like a pig.  BUT The kids loved her...Tiana that is!! 

All in all....The Princess and The Frog was a success!!

The Week of the Frog..Planning begins for The Princess and The Frog Party

So tomorrow my countdown begins for the big Princess and the Frog Birthday Party for my baby girl. This weekend the supplies arrived from Oriental Trading. I have to give them a call first thing tomorrow morning because they didn't pack the froggie finger puppets that I ordered. HOW WILL I SURVIVE WITHOUT FINGER PUPPETS. LOL. I will be just fine. My daughter is turning 3 so all she really needs is a simple play date; I don't think the finger puppets will be missed. And that will be $8 that can be placed back in the budget (According to my co-party planner Michele, I have created an imaginary budget that I am doing a great job sticking to :-)

Another way I'll be saving some money is that instead of hiring a character to show up to the party and making me $200 dollars poorer, we bought a Princess Tiana costume from Costume Craze for about $35 bucks. Please pray that when I remove it from the bag tomorrow it doesn't look crazy. I'm trying to see if a neighbor is available to wear it to take pictures with the party guests but if that doesn't work out, Mommy Princess will have to do :-)

Tomorrow I'll post pictures and I'll let you know how my prepping is going. EXCITED!

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 22

Wow wee!! I am so behind with this blog. But those of you reading that have kids know that finding time to do anything "not kid related" is very difficult. But here I sit at 12:30am writing my blog because I promised myself that I would see this to the end.

So let me catch you up a bit on my birthday celebrations. My last entry was Day 30 where I spent a relaxing evening with "The Man". Well, I think that peaceful evening near the fire sparked something in "The Man" because this is no longer my personal countdown, it has become his countdown. Since my last blog, I have woken up to cards, flowers and wonderful surprises.

Day 24 he gave me a word puzzle that was my clue to the days event. Soooo cute. We went downtown to the fashion district which is a spend thrifty womans paradise.

Day 23 I went to I Fly which is an indoor sky diving place. I am soooo glad I tried the indoor skydiving before I did the real thing. I was not feeling it. I'm a cheesy, smily, laughy type of person and none of that could be done in the air chamber without losing all the breath in my dag gone body. I felt like my cheeks were gonna fly off because the air pressure was so intense. But woo hoo for trying something new before I turn 40.

And here we are at Day22....an amazing day. I went to hang out with some girlfriends and when I returned home, there was jazz music playing and candles lit throughout the house. In the dining room there was an arrangement of cheese, crackers and an awesome array of exotic teas. Does this man know me or what?! I am a tea drinking fool. So we sipped tea, relaxed and then he enjoyed the sound of my snoring once I fell asleep half way thru our mini date. Ah, the simple things in life make me so happy.

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 30

There must have been something in the air because my toddlers were on level 10 tonight. Screaming, crying and temper tantrums were in effect the moment they walked in the door.

My son is like TV Mike from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (no young'uns, not the one with Johnny Depp). If you let him, he will watch tv until his eyes roll out of his head. So tonight, we said homework, then a few "minutes" of tv, then bed. My child got possessed by the Tasmanian Devil and started spinning around the room because we had the nerve to not allow him to watch a full movie at 8'o clock at night. Well, he spun himself to sleep once he didn't get his way and Day 30 pampering began...

DAY 30: ENJOY AN EVENING BY AN OPEN FIRE

I have been in my place for over 3 years and I have never used my fire pit. I think the main reason is that the yard is the home to every creature this side of the 405 freeway. Take your pick, I got 'em. You want ducks...I got 'em. You want raccoons.....I got 'em. You want skunks...well, I know you don't want skunks, but I got'em. But I "man'd up" and took my backyard back from the wild kingdom....and brought the dog and the man with me for back up.

It was sooooo peaceful. We don't get much quiet time together, so it was long overdue. An evening of conversation under the stars is something that I wish I could do every night.

Well, the Tasmanian woke up so I gotta run...

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 31

Again I say, whose bright idea was it to do this countdown! I am exhausted! Day 32's closet task has spilled into Day 31 and it is 1 in the morning so we are technically in Day 30. What the heck. See, this is why people become hoarders. This purging thing is for the birds. My stuff isn't bothering anybody so why should I bother my stuff.

So, ONCE AGAIN there was no major pamper today. Just a continuation of the closet fiasco. But tomorrow, lookie here...I'm getting pampered one way or another. My better half has something planned for Day 30, so watch out now!!

Countdown to my rebirth: Day 32

This dag gone ear infection is messing up my countdown. I've been stuck in the house doing house-like pamper things cause when I go outside I feel like the girl in the plastic bubble. I'm walking on a lean because my balance is off and I am loud as heck because I CAN"T HEAR. But the countdown continues come rain or shine..right?
DAY 32: GET RID OF EVERY ITEM OF YOUR CLOTHING THAT DOESN'T LOOK GREAT ON YOU
Now this was a tuffy. This was one of those pampers that didn't feel pamper-like when I was doing it. You see, I love stuff(that's how my better half describes it). And I have a lot of "stuff"; especially in my closet. I believe that almost everything will come back in style, or it can be worn for a costume party or my kids might want it when they grow up, etc. etc. I HATE PARTING WITH MY CLOTHES!! And I take pride in knowing that I purchase things for a great price. In my closet right now I have about 20-30 vintage shirts that I bought from a costume warehouse for about 7 bucks for a bundle of about 100 pieces. Who the heck can pass up that deal!! I gave away tons and sold some at the flea market, so I basically got the stuff for free (one of my favorite words by the way).
Well that purchase was almost 10 years ago and I've accumulated 10 more years of "great deals". My closet is packed!!! So until I get my dream guest house that doubles as my walk in closet, it is time for some stuff to go.

Don't get scared by the picture...I didn't throw it all out. I'm turning 40 not turning crazy! I just took everything out so I could take inventory and organize. This is a big job. I have clothes every where. I didn't realize I had so much....okay, I'll say it....so much crap!! Am I really going to wear those leisure pants I bought from Lerners in 1993?! I can almost guarantee that I won't be wearing that midriff to any parent-teacher conferences. Why do I have my moms sequenced tops from the 80's...wait...I'm keeping those. They're cute!
So after a few hours of trying on over sized, undersized, out of fashion clothes...I finally tackled part of my closet.
Organized by style, on matching hangers and finger spaced. Boo-yah!!! So just 3 more sections to go in this closet.....then I move to my shoe closet . Help me Jesus!!