Last "Little" Birthday Party

We go big for birthday parties around here. Long ago, I vowed to stop the elaborate parties after age ten. Well, my friends, my eldest daughter has turned ten. With a tear in my eye, I am going to present her last "kid" birthday party. Grab a coffee, it is going to be a long one!

When N was seven, she laid out her remaining parties. She is nothing if not my child! For the past three years, I have known that she wanted a messy, ten-part obstacle course and chocolate fountain for her 10th. Despite the lengthy advanced notice, I wasn't really sure how to do the obstacle course or if the girls would participate. A funny thing about turning ten is that half the kids are still playing with American Girls and half are think they are too cool for school. I knew that if she wanted full participation it was going to have to be good.

This past Spring, I heard of a company that offers Foam Party for kids. It was basically just like the ones for college students but with more clothing and less grown-up innuendo. I knew right away that it was a perfect fit for us as it was both messy and cool enough to engage even the "big shots." After thoroughly questioning the vendor to ensure that it was not going to ruin my grass and after negotiating over the price (sometimes the law degree comes in handy), we struck a deal. One obstacle down--nine to go....

Even with my amazing powers of negotiation, the foam was pricey, and everything else had to be super cheap! I began making obstacles before school let out. I tried to think ahead whenever I was working on a project and plan for double-duty at the obstacle course. When we styled a bar mitzvah as a favor to a less fortunate family in our congregation, I knew his football goal-post centerpieces would become an obstacle. When Mr. 31-derful got two frisbees in a charity golf tournament gift bag, I set them aside for the party. When or neighbor had leftover pool noodles from a light-saber project, I begged the rest off of her :). Our rainbow hued pool rings became hula hoops. Our hula hoops became jumping targets. You get the point--cheap, cheap, cheap! Even if I had bought the items, they were mostly dollar tree purchases. The only trouble was that I normally keep a tight color palate and this was "mismatched" at best. We decided to just go with it. Hence N's Rainbow Run was born! Here are the obstacles she selected:

Over the course of the summer, we attended several parties at the club where we belong. I have never done a kid party there, as I think it is a little ostentatious, but the other mothers swore it was easy and cheaper than doing it at home. I looked into it, and they were right. For a little more than the cost of filling our large chocolate fountain at home, I was able to host the event on the manicured lawn of the club (and it included food and a chocolate fountain). It was beautiful and I didn't have to clean up a thing--anyone who has ever cleaned a chocolate fountain knows getting out of said cleaning is priceless!! Here are some pics before the guests arrived:

The flag favors came from a friend whose business has a wholesale account with a popular party business. I did not pay nearly as much but you can find similar ones here: I thought a flag was a perfect little favor for those who triumphed over the course. It doesn't look hard but it was up a hill and pretty hard for this author! It was set up with two alleys so two teams competed relay-race style.

As guests gathered, the foam was turned on and a few giant bubbles went flying, sending the girls into a frenzy!

I have some priceless pictures of all the girls in action, but don't want to show guests' faces. Here are a few of the birthday girl herself on the course:

Notice, how little sister was stationed to throw some color into the mix!

Then, this happened:

After the rainbow war, it was time to hit the foam, where we had a dance party the rest of the night:

We did take a break for a chocolate fountain, of course:

A few moms stayed and I served them Sangria from a patio overlooking the party. It was a very fun, sticky, and bittersweet way to end N's childhood birthday bashes. While I know this all may seem over-the-top to many, it has been a joy for me to create these precious memories for N. There has been love sealed in each homemade invitation envelope I have sent and joy built into every DIY project. They say that joy doubles when you share it with others and I think it grows exponentially with each guest, so I do not regret the way we have celebrated these ten birthdays. Well, I do regret a few peoples' hair was pink all week, but I don't regret one penny or one second spent on these ten celebrations to honor my girl. We almost lost her on the day she was born; ten parties or a ten thousand could never show my gratitude for her life. We still have two more to go for little sister and then the bat mitzvah planning can commence :)!
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Flowers with a Message

They say that each flower represented a word and meaning in Victorian flower language. Sadly, other than knowing that red roses mean love, I don't speak that language. I did recently "meet" some flowers with a message about simplicity and sustainability that I am happy to share with you!

My friend was formerly with an event firm and still has many contacts in the industry. She heard about the flower farm from a young floral artist known for her whimsical and wild style. All I knew was that this florist had gone to NY for additional training and that she was involved in an event at a local-ish farm. Armed with a ticket to the event and no additional information, we headed out (thanks to Mr.31-derful and Dr.My-Friend's-husband for skipping their normal golf routine so we could spend a whopping six hours away on a Sunday). The hour drive with my friend sans kids was worth the price of admission, but when we pulled up the long, rocky driveway to Flower Hill Farm, we knew we were in for a treat!

We were greeted by two big dogs and a bunch of smiling faces. Even before we were ushered in the farm house, I ran into a friend from my congregation. She is an artist and caterer by trade who was there to turn "whatever was in the garden" into a vegetarian lunch. Once inside the cozy farmhouse, we were offered Fruit Water and Raspberry Zinger tea served in mason jars with name-tags tied on in baker's twine (they had me at baker's twine). Everywhere you looked were floral vignettes (including the one above next to some magazines featuring the florists work). Even the food from the garden in its untouched state was beautiful:

As I looked around, I was very surprised by the crowd. They were not young hipster florists as I suspected. In fact, there were more old hippies than young hipsters-- a mix of master gardeners and people that I recognized to be social activists from my community (half the "audience" are members of our congregation). As my eyes adjusted to all the familiar faces, we were ushered out onto a wisteria-covered pergola. There we learned that the farmer was a yoga instructor turned master gardener who had spearheaded an urban garden initiative in Ferguson, Missouri for many years (yes that Ferguson). Her dream was always to have her own flower farm and produce locally grown flowers for sustainable florists. We also heard from two florists who left traditional shops and are committed to sustainable, local farming methods of their flowers. They had already picked many flowers for us (as we learned you must do that before the sun rises). I could have dove right into those flowers to soak them up!

One exception to the pick-at-dawn rule are zinnias and so we headed out to the fields to pick zins!

My photos don't do it justice, it was simply breathtaking to see rows and rows of flowers (not to mention their personal food garden, garlic fields, bees, and even the most breathtaking weeds).

We began picking--learning how to tap a zinnia ever so lightly. If it bends, it is too soon--but if it stands up like a pencil it is ready:

On the way back, we saw their greenhouse, where they are "burning" the plastic planters to be used for next year. I guess you let them get really hot to clean them to be re-used (I wish I had taken notes). We also saw the garlic house, where they are preparing bunches of garlic for local restaurants.

Back on the pergola, we saw two demonstrations on 1) how to style flowers in the wild and whimsical style that is dominating the wedding scene right now and 2) how to make a proper french hand-tied bouquet--if you do it right it will stand on its own).

Next it was back inside to see what my friend did with all those gorgeous veggies:

We had the most delightful lunch and conversation and then headed back out to play with the flowers. We each made a a "wild" arrangement and one small hand-tied bouquet. I am pretty good with oasis and a tight floral arrangement at home (they think oasis is bad for the environment and taught us a chicken-wire alternative). Here are my flowers once we got home.

They would have been better with oasis and more tightly arranged, but these babies were wild-Missouri-grown and they told me they needed to be free. Hey, maybe i do speak flowers after all!
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Raw Images, Almost Raw Food: Zu-ghetti

I need to edit, crop, and carefully select images for the blog if I am going to really keep it going. Today, however, I am bringing you raw deliciousness. Enjoy this unedited (but much paired-down) recipe:

First, I gathered and washed tomatoes from the garden (maybe a pint of cherries). Of course, you can buy these at the store. After they were all washed up, I sliced them using the old Rachel Ray trick of placing them between two deli container lids and slicing right through the middle. Such a quick and easy method to avoid runaway tomatoes! Call me crazy, but I love the look of them all scattered in my sink. In the spirit of raw photos here they are before their wash, cut, and style:

Then I shredded Two Large Zucchinis:

At this point, you will want to gather everything, as the actual cook time will go super fast:

Yup, that's all you need--Zucchini, Tomatoes, Lemon, Parmesan.

Well, almost. You'll also want to prepare a pan with a generous amount of Olive Oil and big scoop of Minced Garlic:

Turn on the heat to high, but be careful not to let it get too hot as the garlic will burn (I added the zucchini almost right away to keep the garlic moist). I put the lid on at this point to allow the zucchini to steam a bit, but you could skip this step if you want more al dente "Noodles." In either case, you don't want to overcook; after about one minute, add the tomatoes and stir.

As I mentioned, it goes quickly (like too quickly to photograph), but at this point, you will want to squeeze the juice of one lemon over the pot and add Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. Let it cook no more than another minute or two and serve. The great thing is how incredibly adaptable it is. At this point it is Kosher and Gluten-Free. If you are Paleo--skip the cheese. Our resident vegetarians ate it just like that, while I added some leftover shrimp to mine (which obviously makes it non-vegetarian and definitely not kosher). Since it was so low-carb and healthy, I went on and added a roll with European style butter:

It is so simple and so delicious for Summer's End--Enjoy!

Almost that time again!

While my brain is fully on back-to-school-mode today, I am beginning to plan for the Jewish holidays (which will be here before you know it). Here are some of my favorite from years past in pictures (all from my phone, but cute enough to share):
This was my favorite sukkah ever. It was from this past year,and I feel a repeat coming on!

A picture from a few years back. While this is not the finished product, we were building a sukkah that was (not kosher and ) very glam. It was eventually decorated in all white with a "custom" chandelier made by my daughters!

I loved this hospitality basket I took to a host with round challah and honey sticks:

I styled this rustic table for "Rosh HaShanah" for a holiday symposium last year :

Each place-card was on a honey stick with an individual challah napkin ring, while blessing cards on cut-out apples reminded guest of the prayers for apples and honey!

Fall Flowers placed in Cornucopias remind me of the shape of shofars:

While I fill out forms and pack supplies, I am dreaming of crisp days, sweet apples, and tradition!

Linking up with best of the weekend!

A lemonade date!

I will still be back with N's party pics from last Sunday; it was great and I can't wait to share! In the meantime, we are all about back-to-school prep around these parts (including one fantastic PTO Bake Sale and Lemonade Stand). It was so fun and "delicious" to be back at school with friends!

Yep, the oldest idea in school fundraising is new again! We had bags of homemade baked goods and lemonade all for a dollar each. Of course, my job was to style the stand. Most moms brought their items already packed in adorable bags. All in all I think it was precious!

Real Kid Product Review: Balloon Bonanza

Today we are back with my oldest daughter N (who just turned ten and had a fabulous foam party--plenty of pics to come).

If you're wondering how Balloon Bonanza works, I will tell you. Balloon bonanza allows you to blow up 40 balloons at once, and you don't even have to seal them. You get three bunches of balloons with 40 balloons each. So that's 120 balloons!!

The cool thing was that you could fill a large number of ballons at one time, which was a big time-saver. However, you have to use the balloons within 10 minutes, and the seal does not work too well. Just a slight squeeze will break the seal. They didn't fill up with enough water either. The item was 10 dollars, which is a little expensive for the balloons that don't work.

The balloon fight was fun, but I wouldn't buy this product again.