Tis the Season!

This week has been CRAZY busy!!!

Tuesday was Lindsey's Birthday!

So we got all doll'd up and went to San Francisco

We had dinner at First Crush, it was delicious.

After dinner we headed to The Curran

To see The Book of Mormon.
Hellllooo Hilarious.

Here are all the ladies.
Such a fun night out.

I miss going to the Theater.  It truly is one of my favorite things to do in the entire world.

Happy Birthday Linds!!

Wednesday night was the Tree lighting ceremony.

Where we ran into Frosty...

And Aunt Casey!

And Brit spoiled us with Light Brights

And we got a little crazy...

Saturday Morning was The Day....

We made the trip to see the Big Man in Red

And clearly were thrilled to be in our Sunday Best.... 

I love that I bring out the joy in my children.....
Can you feel the love?

Madeline was NOT having it this year....
(secretly this made me happy...I love love love screaming Santa pictures and was hoping this would be my last year obtaining one....)

But after a little coursing.....

She agreed to sit.

You see....if you don't tell Santa what you would like....It may not be under the tree on Christmas Morning.....
and Maddie wasn't about to take the chance on missing out on a Pink Kitchen....

so

She obliged...

But she would NOT look at Santa...all conversation with Santa were made with constant eye contact with Mom.
However...Jack on the other hand was my perfect child..
Can you see the Halo?
 Oh it's there....
His internal monologue went something like this...
"See Santa...I'm the perfect Brother, I love to hold my Sister's hand all the time, I never push her or steal her toys.....I help my Mother and do all my chores around the house....Please bring me an Automatic Nerf Gun Blaster so that I can aim it only at low household furniture and never EVER directly at my Sister's head..."

:)

Regardless.... I got my Santa photo.

Hoo. Ray.

Saturday night was December 1st.
Which means...

The start of the Advent Calendar!
I'm very spoiled as you know... Mimi fills the Advent Calendar for us every year.
The kids are so excited every night to open those doors.
This Year Madeline got to go first.
Woot! Woot!
For the Start of Christmas!

Sunday was my second annual 5 Favorite Things Party.

Per the Ush....Girls Only.

Madeline put on her party dress to join in all the reindeer games.

Here are the ladies enjoying delicious wine provided by Lynne. Thanks Lynne!

These were my picks this year

Here were the rules:
  Each Girl Brings 5 Gifts. Each Gift mush be exactly the same. This year we had a total of 12 Girls. The Gift must cost $10, and you must use every penny of that $10.  There are 2 prizes.  
1) Favorite gift
2) Best use of every penny of their $10

My first Gift was from Casey.

I LOVED it.
Mustache Wine Glass Markers, nail polish, cute mason jars filled with polish remover, cotton balls and emery boards.
Adorable.

Lindsey picked Casey too...

Maddie got some cuddle time with one of her favorite Aunties..

Mary's gift was a huge hit....again.

Mom did quite well herself

Laura loved her gift from Brit

And then it was my turn.

This year I gave the gift that keeps on giving....
;)
Wine and Cheese....

Entwine wine by the Food Network
and
My homemade Mac and Cheese.

Some people were very excited....

No group photo this year...
*fail*

BUT

The party was a success!

I can't wait for Next year!
I'm already thinking about what gift I'm going to bring....

Week one of Christmas to down..
3 to go!!

Britt's Last Night of Freedom!

This weekend we headed to San Francisco to Celebrate Brittany's Bachelorette Party.

We arrived at the Westin St. Francis on Saturday Afternoon.

The rooms were perfect.

We started our weekend off right with some drinks at the Cheesecake Factory on the 8th floor of Macy's in Union Square.

Some of the girls met up with us later in the evening.

We enjoyed some leisurely shopping while we waited for them to arrive. 

When we got back to the room, Brittany's Sisters had arrived and Decorated.

Very Nice.

Decked out in Brittany's favorite colors we headed to Asia SF.

If you have never been, Asia SF is a Drag Queen Show and SO MUCH FUN.  Only the best for Britt, the Limo dropped us off and there was a Red Carpet to welcome us.

Inside we had a private VIP section

The food was delicious.  And there was SO MUCH.

Brittany was provided with a Scavenger hunt....

(most of which was not completed)

After dinner Brittany was brought up on Stage.

Where she was greeted by an Asia SF Performer

And it was Awesome.

So, So Awesome.

Brittany was such a good sport.

Especially

When the second Performer came out and gave her a SECOND spotlight show.

And 

That was DOUBLE Awesome.

Britt wasn't the only Bride to be there celebrating.....

:)

After the show we all climbed back in the Limo and headed out on the town.

We hit a couple of other places, but ended up where we knew a good time was guaranteed.

Johnny Foleys.

So. Much. Fun.

Nothing beats a Piano bar.

Brittany said it was the perfect night.

I can't believe the Wedding is in 13 days. 

Holy Cow!!

Let the countdown continue!

Showering Brit!

Today was Brittany's Shower.

It was a Success!!

(If I do say so myself...)

I have been planning this Bridal Shower since the day Ben proposed.  I knew I wanted to do a "Love Theme", with the Wedding so close to Valentine's day, and with the party planned the weekend after Valentines day, I knew it would be even easier to execute.

It needs to be said that without my entourage, this event would not have been possible.  Mom, Casey and Lindsey were worked to the bone.  Every detail of this shower was addressed by each of them, and they helped TREMENDOUSLY in making this day PERFECT!
Shannon and Rob took the Kids AND Henry the day of the party to make it easier on me for set up and a kid-free, pet free party.  So nice!  Mary took Madeline on Friday night to make prep easier. Tegan loaned me her Valentine's Box for extra decor (is anyone surprised Tegan has a box just for Valentine's day....because I wasn't! Thank God for friends that throw as many parties as I do!)  And Laura for loaning me her appetizer plates and punch bowl.

We started on Friday getting things ready.

Most of our prep was for dessert and appetizers

Casey was in charge of everything craft-y.

And Linds was in charge of everything Alch-y.

:)
I'm kidding!

Auntie Mary had Madeline for most the night, but once she came home, Mom and Dad were on Madeline duty.  Here they are playing "Birthday Party" Maddie's favorite new game.  And YES that is my Mother in Mad's Elmo Chair.

Decor was so much fun for this party.
I found the most adorable invitation for this shower.
On the invite there was a banner across the top.
I emailed Heather and asked begged her to make the sign.

PERFECT Execution.

Let me bring it in for a close up.
It's worth a second look.

So adorable.

My Mom made her sash for the party.

Super Cute!

For appetizers we made 7 layer dips in individual servings.

I found the recipe on Pinterest.

They were a HUGE hit!

We also put candy out around the room.
(Thanks Teegs for the adorable dishes)

Lunch was catered.

Woot! Woot!

I only made the salad!

Los Panchos 

MMMmmmm

BCR's, Carne Asada, Chicken Tacos, Beans and Rice.

Deeeeeelicious!

For Dessert....

Fresh Fruit....

Heart Rice Krispie Treats, Pound Cake, and Marshmallows..
To dip in a Chocolate fountain....
Yum.

At the end of the Dessert counter I placed a photo from Brit and Ben's engagement shoot with Mia Hope.

Let's take a moment and talk about Mia Hope.
They recently did Brittany and Ben's engagement photo shoot and did an AMAZING job.  I wasn't surprised...I had seen their work from Tegan's Wedding and knew they were the perfect photographers for the job.  They are so kind, so wonderful, it was an easy decision to have them do photos for Jack's Six year annual shoot. (more on that another time)  Anyway....during the shoot I was talking to June about the shower.  I could see the lightbulb go off in her head. She turned to me and said, "Would you like to do an autograph board for the guest to sign at the shower? "
Uh.. YA!
OMG
Yes!
So nice!
That was last SUNDAY!
By Friday I was handed a framed photograph for signing
AND
TWO pictures to choose from.
She had me at white mat and black frame.
I'm in love with Mia Hope.
They just got a customer for LIFE.

I framed the second picture and displayed it at the dessert table.

How cute is this picture!
I can't WAIT for Wedding Pics!
Thank you again Mia Hope!

For drinks I served Brit's Fav's

Coronitas and Cranberry-Pomegrante Sangria
(if you have been turned off by Sangria's...make this one, I PROMISE you will run out....It's THAT good.)

We froze fresh fruit and cranberry-pomegranate juice in heart molds to float in the wine glasses.

We were ready!

When guests arrived they were handed a page out of Brittany's Guest book.

You answered questions about the Bride and gave her advice on Marriage.
(Shannon sent me this link a while back, and I LOVED it and had Mom order it immediately. Thanks Shan!)

Guests had fun filling out the pages.


On the invitation sent out, Guests were also asked to bring a Red Panty to add to the Bride's Lingerie collection.

We attached little tags to each panty, and asked guest to add a little "spicy" advice for the Bride.

We used these heart pins to attach the panties to the twine.
(How cute are these clothes pins....Thank you Tegan's Valentine's Tub!)

I adore this idea, not only is it cute decor for the party, but it gives the bride TONS of new panties.
(Casey saw this idea on a blog forever ago and told me about it, I immediately stored it in my Brain's Party Planning idea's for later use.... Kind of like Pinterest in my head if you will...)

Love it!

Brittany was adorable.

We had quite the turn out!

The guests played Bridal Bingo during gift opening.
(It's one of the only party games I find acceptable.)
;)

Brittany raked in the loot!
(How cute is that pillow??)

Brit was SUPER exited about her new panty collection in her favorite color.

Brittany took time after the shower to read everyone's entry into her guest book.

Lindsey was told she couldn't leave until she disassembled her creation of the Balloon Chandelier.

Dad came home and dug right into the chocolate fountain when no one was looking...

As Did Jack....

But not Ben....Benny came home and went right for the Clothesline of Panties.....
Seriously...
This IS my Brother.

:)

I'm actually gonna end it on that note.
I can't top that last pic.

I will say...

It was a great day.
For the Greatest of Girls.
Love you Brit.