The Birthday Pal-alace DECOR

Dr. Seuss Variety buttons attached to
red/white polka dot ribbon.

The Birthday Boy attire- a Thing 1 t-shirt, a Cat in the Hat
birthday hat, his "Half & Half" big, and a birthday boy button.

Dr. Seuss books, characters, and blocks

More blocks, wall decals, more buttons and ribbon,
and a variety of Dr. Seuss quotes.

More Seuss wall decals and the 12 month growth photos.

From newborn to 12 months.

Signs for photo ops with the guests. Funny thing about this photo?
Both guys are actually named David.

And here's Thing 1, enjoying his new birthday drum.

The Birthday Pal-alace EATS

My son turned 1, and if we're tee-totally honest, I've been planning this party for, oh, the last 12 months. I realized early on that in choosing a theme, for a kid birthday party, this year is possibly the only one that Papa and I get to choose. I say "Papa & I" to be congenial. Everyone knows I chose the theme and he got on board. Party planning is not the hubs' passion. But it is mine!

Dr. Seuss won over all other possible party themes. This will be a series of posts showing you how his  party came together.

The EATS:

I planned the food to be both kid-friendly and to the tune of All Things Seuss.
Starting out is the Green Eggs & Ham spread.

The makings of Green Eggs and Ham:
M&M's (only the yellow ones), pretzel sticks,
and green candy melts

Start by placing the pretzel rods in pairs on an ungreased cookie sheet,
then add 2 of the 'eggs', i.e. green candy melts to each pair.
Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 - 3 minutes, until the melts start to
shine. Remove from oven and place a yellow 'yolk' M-side down
in the center of the 'egg.' Let cool, and voila!
Green Eggs and Ham... er, bacon?

What Dr. Seuss party could be
complete without Green Eggs & Ham?

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Inspiration included a bowl of fish:

Blue Jell-O, Swedish Fish, and a fish bowl (below) and voila! I
made the jello according to package directions (it took 2
packages to fill my fish bowl), and when it was semi-cold jell-o
texture, I dunked the fishies! In hindsight, I wish the blue
jell-o hadn't been so dark, or that the fishies had been a little
brighter. But hey, it worked!

One Fish, Two Fish, Lots of Gold Fish!

Inspiration from The Lorax:

Truffula Fruits!

Inspiration from Apples Up on Top:

Sliced apples with a little lemon juice squeezed
on them, and voila! Not-brown-apples!

Hop on Pop "Corn":

We also had some other EATS, but since they didn't really fall under the Seuss umbrella I used matchy matchy food labels helped tie it all together.

The makings of empanadas.

The finished empanadas.

Un-iced cupcakes for the kidlets.

Ants on a Log <-- always a hit with kids and adults!

Thing 1 and Thing 2's HAIR inspired the cupcake toppers, which the kids loved. I decided to go with a whole wheat pumpkin bread recipe that made yummy cupcakes. Recipe here.

The birthday boy in all his sweet birthday glory.

The adults also had cake, made by the birthday boy's godmother.
Lucky adults!

Pin It #5

My sunroof baby arrived last August, and subsequent to his birth it seems that a whole slew of our friends have buns in their ovens. This can mean one thing, and one thing only:

It's Baby Shower Season!

As a Mama-to-be, and now as an actual Mama, my creative juices have been a-flowin'! And with the ever-abundant source of modern-day inspiration known at Pinterest, I've been leading somewhat (p)interesting weekends lately.

I'm all for giving new parents gifts that are both neat and functional. Here are some baby shower decorations that will be going home with the Parents-to-be that I'm blessed to celebrate.

"Lollipops" -- 2 rolled up baby washcloths
attached to a baby utensil

Lollipop, close-up

"Peppermint Candies"
-- rolled up receiving blankets --

Peppermint, close-up

For the diaper cake, my favorite source for instruction is this video... in case anyone reading this (one of my sisters or my mom) is inspired to do the same...

My second diaper cake.

My first diaper cake -- by far
my most ambitious
creative expression to-date

Pin It #4

Martha Stewart, folks.
Accordion Valentine, found here.

 In searching for something *free* and *homemade* and *Valentine-y* to offer up the hubs tomorrow, Pinterest had a lot to consider. I decided on a cute little fold-y Valentine because a) it required materials that, between the home and the office, I had on hand, and b) it required skills in the area of "crafty" that I thought I had a smattering of.

Only in hindsight did I realize my inspiration was Martha Stewart.

Had this little fact dawned on me at the time I was considering points a) and b) listed above, I would never have ventured into this one for the simple fact that it would never turn out as cute/nice/lovely/perfect at something Martha Stewart creates << I don't care how much time she spent in the slammer, the woman knows how to do all things cute and crafty >>. Let's analyze the image to our left for just a moment. First, all of her hearts are cut out flawlessly. Second, they're all perfectly aligned and seamless. And let's be real, folks-- who doesn't have hearts floating on their computer monitor?

Here's my version that hubs will find when he goes to leave the house in the wee early hours of the morning. It's no Martha Stewart, to be sure. I like to think of the rough edges... as symbols... of the rough edges of our... er, um, nevermind. That's sappy. Lord knows there'll be enough sappy to go around tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day, ya'll!

And Happy V Day, Hubs!

Pin It #3

I found this idea on Pinterest, and it seemed like a really easy DIY for my life (and our house). So I did it. In our hall bathroom. Under the sink << seems funny to type in sound byte (non)sentences like that >>. At first I was pleased. I was proud, and I thought to myself, "Self, nice job. Organization is your strength." But then I felt a sense of 'itch' every time I went to retrieve something from underneath the bathroom counter. It felt like clutter, not like organization. The spray bottles hung down in such a way that pretty much blocked access to anything in the cabinet placed beyond the first 6 or 8 inches in. I don't know about you, but we use every inch of storage available in our house, and it definitely needs to be easily accessible. So I got down on my hands and knees and took inventory. I assessed our workspace and BAM! It was all clear to me.

The tension rod wanted to be placed under the counter behind the sink.

Bingo! So here you go. This is my modified version that has worked like a charm!

Pin It #2

Found this one on Pinterest. I typed in polenta (which is a fancy word for grits), and chose this one a) because we had all the ingredients, and b) because the hubs was on baby duty and couldn't object to my dinner choice being 1) vegetarian and 2) made with grits... I mean corn meal, er, um, polenta << I learned early on that the hubs 'doesn't like grits,' but I always suspected that he just hadn't tried any that were prepared well >>.

In the end, I did make a few changes. Instead of regular diced tomatoes I used diced tommy's with jalapenos (kick!). Although it doesn't specify red salsa, I used green (it's what we had). In the polenta itself I added a little bit of crushed red pepper. To go with dinner I whipped up some guac, and I sauteed the hubs two chicken sausages to go on top of his << I'm not a fan of the chicken sausage, and I wanted to go vegetarian tonight anyway >>.

This one's a modified keeper, and it would be great for a family where one person is vegetarian and the other is a carnivore-- as in, easy peasy to cook the meat apart and add it at the end. Here's a pic of what ours ended up looking like, right before we devoured it.

Left, with meat. Right, without.

Here's the modified recipe, originally found here.

Polenta and Black Beans

Makes 4 servings

Time Required: 20 minutes

ingredients

• 3
  cups water
• 1
  cup yellow cornmeal
• 1
  cup water
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 1
  15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1
  14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained <-- I used diced tomatoes with jalepenos
• 1
  cup bottled salsa with cilantro or other salsa <-- I used green salsa here

       3/4

       cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (3 oz.)

1 tsp      Crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp  Garlic powder

1 tsp      Pampered Chef's Chipotle rub

directions

1.For Polenta*: In a large saucepan bring the 3 cups water to boiling. In a 

medium bowl combine cornmeal, the 1 cup water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir cornmeal mixture slowly into the boiling water. <-- Here I added 1 tsp of crushed red pepper, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, and 1 tsp of Pampered Chef's Chipotle rub. Cook and stir until mixture comes to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until mixture is thick, stirring occasionally. (If mixture is too thick, stir in additional water.) <-- I left mine on the stove more like 20 minutes

2.Meanwhile, in a large skillet combine the beans, undrained tomatoes, and

salsa. Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir 1/2 cup of the cheese into the polenta. Divide polenta among 4 shallow bowls. Top with the bean mixture and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Makes 4 servings.

3.In a small pan I cooked 2 chicken sausage links (for the hubs to add to 

his dish- one for dinner and the other for his leftovers). 

Pin It #1

There are times when David is on nighttime baby duty << which includes giving him a bottle and/or rocking the little bugger to sleep >> and instead of doing something productive like laundry, I lurk Pinterest.

I always come across something and think, "Wow, I'd like to try that." So I Pin It.

The other day I was looking for a quick, easy, healthy dinner idea. My sister was coming over after work while the hubs went with her fiance for their suit fitting, followed by dinner out with all the groomsmen.

Here's what I landed on, pinned to my "Who's Hungry" board, and it's all courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens:

Farfalle with Mushrooms and Spinach

In the end I used the recipe as a really good base for our dinner. From the original recipe, I doubled the quantity of mushrooms called for, added another half of an onion, 2 tsp of paprika, and for moisture I put in a cup of stock (chicken is what we had). For toppers, in addition to the parmesan cheese we put walnuts and thinly sliced steak that the hubs grilled the night before.

On a rainy winter evening, this was pretty darn comforting. Thanks Pinterest. This one's a modified keeper.