best

now,
i've had some pretty sucky new year's eves.
for example,

last year
i had the flu.

two years ago
we paused our boardgame and said happy new year.

three years ago we watched tv.

five years ago we co-threw a party
and it BOMBED.
i mean, embarrassing. bomb. of a party.
luckily, my party throwing skills have improved.

so this year, at the last minute
we decided to throw a party together.
we're a good team.

pictured below: two crazy hosts


we moved furniture,
we strung lights,
we hung a disco ball,
we cranked music,
we threw confetti,
we burned stuff at midnight,
and had the BEST new year's eve.
of all time.

pictured below: aftermath of partying


next year's will be even better.
expect an invitation.

service

we tested the dedication of our friends



and invited them to come labor


in our yard on labor day.


we were hoping


though not expecting lots of help on a holiday

and were pleasantly surprised

and extemely touched

by how many people came

and helped us turn our yard

into something beautiful.

spa

on saturday
emily and i threw a baby shower
for our friend, carly,
who is due this month with her second baby.
since it will be her second boy,
she told us that she really wasn't needing anything for him.

so, we came up with the idea to throw her a
spa shower.
it was so much fun..

i tried to decorate and arrange my living room like a spa.
i had my fountain going and candles lit.
i had relaxing spa music playing on my cd player.
this cd. but this one is good too.
i borrowed yards and yards of chiffon and
draped it on the ceiling and the walls.
and arranged my plants just so.



i taped a sign on my door that said welcome, please come in.
and then when ladies walked in the door,
they could remove their shoes and put them in our shoe cupboard.



in the living room i had various "stations" set up.
a couple of places were set up for facials...



then a pedicure area..



and everyone's favorite:
the massage corner provided by a licensed massage therapist...
the best in my opinion..thanks, sundy!



ladies could soak their feet
over rocks in hot water
with a few drops of tea tree oil,
then enjoy a foot massage by sandra.
{or emily, in this picture..}



my facial recipes were given to me by my friend, anat
who is an esthetician at the most amazing skin spa down the street.

the idea of the facials and foot/hand massages and pedicures
was that we would give them to each other.
so that we were all pampering each other.
and i think everyone loved that.
but starting out, i did a few of the facials myself..

first i cleansed faces with a little bit of honey and lemon juice..



then wiped the face clean with
a little loofah type sponge thing that i bought at the drugstore



then for the masks..
i bought a big tub of bentonite clay at whole foods for $6 dollars..



for oily skin, i added lemon juice..
for dry skin, i added olive oil..



and mixed it to the right consistency



and then applied it with a paintbrush to the face
and neck and left it on for 5-10 minutes.
shorter time for more sensitive skin.

then i ground up oatmeal and mixed it with
nancy's natural yogurt till it was a good consistency
and applied it to the face.



this one was kind of messy
and almost all of the girls who did this mask
ended up having to go into the bathroom to wash it off.
..but it tasted good.

then emily provided the delicious spa food.
she brought ice water with lemons and mint leaves in it.



then the most amazing vegetable salad with homemade dressing,
fruit with fruit dip and
homemade bread with hummus.
now i'm hungry again.



in the basket by the door,
i placed little party favors for the ladies to take as they left.
little tubes of lotion,



or lavendar bath and shower gel.



don't you wish you were there?
you do, don't you?

africa party

about a month ago, an acquaintance from our ward asked if i would host a party with her. her and her husband threw a party last year and called it "a night in africa" where they ate african food and watched the gods must be crazy. she was going to throw a second annual one and wanted me to host it with her and have it at my place. it seemed like a strange idea for a party and maybe even a little politically incorrect, but i agreed because i have a hard time resisting the chance to throw a party and get together with friends.

the closer it got, though, the more excited i became as i formulated ideas of how i would decorate and arrange the room. on a whim, i called a lady from our ward who has some funky artistic style and asked if she had any ideas for me.



she told me she had some stuff i could decorate with and when i went over to her house i found her entire dining room full of boxes of cloth, about a dozen african figurines, bowls, baskets and framed photographs she had taken when she went to africa a few years ago on a humanitarian project. all laid out and ready for me to sort through and take. everything was perfect and just what i needed.

for the tables, i used 2 long banquet tables with the legs folded up and propped on boxes. i took my couch apart, (thank you, ikea) stored my frame on the deck and used my couch cushions and tons of pillows all covered in african cloth for seating. then i put up chairs and other cushions and low tables around the perimeter of the room in case not everyone wanted to sit on the main middle tables. but, everyone did. it was rather popular. i think at one point there were about 20 adults and kids sitting around the tables. and i think we had close to 40 people come total.



for lighting i really wanted to use only candles but since the kids were invited too, i also used some low lit lamps. i went to a thrift store and snagged a bunch of wrought iron candlesticks (my favorite are pictured below)



as well as some bowls and baskets to serve the food in. the biggest basket i put a cloth in and we put all the bread in that one. this picture is lame. i would rather have a picture of the table covered in food, but once the party got started that was it. oh, and i went and bought some enormous palm plants that were on sale and used them to frame the doorway into the main room. and found a great cd at the library called golden afrique to have playing during dinner.

this was "my" most successful party to date. for various reasons. but mostly those involving the kids. the seating was low and kid friendly. the food was kid friendly (we were supposed to eat with our hands). and when we started the movie, the kids thought it was the funniest movie ever. something about half naked kids running around and people running into and up trees and being chased by ostriches made them giggle nonstop and watch the entire movie from start to finish without getting whiney. the party began at 6pm and the people with kids didn't leave till close to 10pm and the people without kids didn't leave till close to 2am. (though, rock band and the wii might have had something to do with that.)

overall it was a hit and i definitely will consider doing something like this again.

open house

last night was the open house for eric and lauren.
welcoming them into our ward.

i did not create this invitation, lydia did. she's amazing.
notice the BS.


to date, it was the party i was most proud of.
with only a couple of exceptions.


champagne grapes floating in the drinks.


fricos filled with goat cheese mousse.


stuffed cherry tomato halves.


i also made stuffed mushrooms and brie-filled proscuitto rollups and lydia brought delicious homemade gyozas.

instead of the typical guest book, we created a blog for eric and lauren. full of advice on life and marriage. then everyone took pictures of themselves to add to their post. sometime this week, i will send it in to blurb to print out a small book for them to keep. i would show you the the blog but some of the advice is a little personal. if you know what i mean.

pants on fire

i always thought i was a horrible liar, but i guess i'm pretty good after all.
i've been planning a surprise birthday party for paul's 30th for a very long time.

i mailed out formal invitations inviting friends to
come and mourn the passing of paul into his 30's,
to dress like they're attending a funeral and
bring a eulogy in memory of paul.

i arranged for him to be taken away around 8pm last night.
and then brought back around 9:30.

and he was surprised.

the whole time i was preparing,
i was positive that he somehow had guessed.
but he didn't.

here are some pictures from last night.

i hung up pictures of paul all over the apartment.


and had the food table all black or chocolate brown.


a few people gave eulogies. this was my favorite: