Wedding Planning in Arizona

This past (long) weekend I visited one of my dearest friends to help plan her daughter's wedding! It's not for another 6 months, May 27, but there is a lot of planning that needs to be done! I have enjoyed visiting the beautiful garden venue and meeting with the vendors that they have in place and have been learning lots. Been having to think outside of my San Diego box.  Mostly dealing with heat.

 I love learning new things!  Keeps my thoughts fresh. I met with new vendors with lots of amazing ideas!  Love the fresh ideas.  Made lots of lists, took lots of pictures.  All the bones are now in place and we can start working on all the fun stuff to make the wedding personal.  Gonna combine Arizona with Chicago, with a touch of San Diego. I can't wait to put it all together.

Menu planning time...

I hope that your home is beginning to feel like Thanksgiving.  Did you get some great ideas for a beautiful ideas for your tablescape?

Now let's plan the menu.  I like to include as many items that can be made ahead as possible. I DO NOT want to spend the whole day in the kitchen. I want to be with my family and friends! I also want to include the traditional dishes that we all look forward to, along with a couple of new ones to shake things up a bit.  Now that my family has grown up everyone brings something to share.  No one person is left doing all the work and everyone gets to show off their favorites. This is one of the advantages to planning the menu early. You can start crossing things off the list when one of your guest offers to bring it ;-).

Sandra Downie has some beautiful and tasty ideas for pumpkin themed desserts.
The White Library | Style Inspirations for Entertaining, Weddings & Beautiful Living

Happy Planning!

I'm celebrating!!

Today I am taking a day off from blog land to celebrate 31 years of marriage to the Love of my Life.  He's my friend, partner, lover, father of my sons...

Here's hoping for 31 more years! Love you...

Family Traditions

What does your family do to make the holiday special? What are the dishes or activities that your family looks forward to?

In our family it's all about the competition! In the beginning...the Guys would play golf Thanksgiving morning while the Girls would stay at home watching the children and preparing the wonderful meal.  I think that lasted about 2 years!  At that time our oldest son was playing high school football. Sooo...the Guys would play golf Thursday am, then go to whomever's house the big meal was at and hang out for the rest of the day. But then came Friday and CIF Football Play-offs!  Everyone would head over to our house for more food and head to the game to cheer the RBV Longhorns on. Way too much driving all over Southern California. And besides some of the "Kids" and some of the Girls wanted to play golf!

Solution? Golf on Thursday for anyone who would like to participate in what became knows as the Annual Turkey Trott! (Yes it was mis-spelled on the trophy and stuck.) Afterward, anyone who had multiple obligations were free to head to wherever they needed to go.  Friday became our Turkey Day and instead of watching football on TV we would head to the high school game.  As our family has grown, and we moved on from high school football, the Turkey Trott has remained. A tradition that we all look forward to.

What are your traditions? Special food? A prayer? Sharing what you are thankful for? These traditions are important. They are what set this day apart from the other 364 of the year.  It becomes a celebration.

A Little Sunday Inspiration

This fall tablescape from StoneGable's blog is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Click on this link    Fall Tablescape   to find all the details and close-up pictures of each element.

Enjoy!

Free Thanksgiving Printables!!

Pizzazzerie has done the hard work! She has posted several sites with free Thanksgiving printables to help you keep going with your decor!  Take a look at all her great ideas and let those creative juices flow!  

Click on the link below to get all the great ideas!

Free Thanksgiving Printables

Have a great weekend!

What a difference a day makes....

Wow! One day we have beautiful blue skies and Santa Ana winds...Then today we had pouring rain here to wash any hope of another day of Summer away.  So, what to do? Gear up for Thanksgiving!  Now I am finally in the holiday mood and ready to set the mood for my family and friends.

Where do you start? Set the tone in the first room people see when they walk in your home. Check out this fireplace mantle from Chic on a Shoestring Decorating.

Clink on the link to her blog to get the details of how to re-create this for your home.
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating Blog  Now get going!  Start creating the mood for your family. Remember, every event can become a celebration!  Show your family and friends that they are special and deserving of a celebration.

OMG! I forgot the MOST important photo of the night!!

I can't believe that I didn't post this most important, made all the traffic, parking situations, waiting in line in stillettos worth it Photo...A once in a lifetime opportunity, photo with THE David Tutera.  Lourdes, I'm so jealous. Next time it's my chance.  He is amazing. So real. So humble, Love you David!

MY FAIR WEDDING PREMIER!!

I had given up ALL hope of receiving an invite.  But then it came. The LONG awaited invitation to the Premier for Season 5 of MY FAIR WEDDING showed up in my in-box!

So after a few days of fretting over just the right attire for the Red Carpet Event we took to the road. After making a couple of stops to visit potential vendors and a quick dinner we were THERE! The BEAUTIFUL Park View Hotel.  Perfect, vintage Los Angeles. Amazing architecture. You could imagine the starlets of the 30's, in their beautiful gowns, on the arm of their dashing escorts, going up the stairs to the ballrooms.  We entered via those same red carpeted steps flanked by brides in David Tutera Couture gowns.

 The first ballroom was filled with guests served champagne on silver trays.  We were entertained with songs from Frenchie Davis, grammy nominated artist.  Then DAVID TUTERA, in the flesh, came up to introduce us to his new season.

And what a heart-warming season it will be.  You'll just have to watch and see for yourselves. The season begins on November 13 on WEtv. Set your DVR's to record every minute.

Then came the After-Party! Another amazing ballroom. Straight out of the movies of the 30's.  Awesome live music. Open bar ;-0.  Tray passed DELICIOUS appetizers.  PERFECT!  Of course, there were swag bags with bling.  A Perfect Evening.

We are now at HALLOWEEN CRUNCH TIME!!

OMG!  Where did the week go? ( You'll see in a few posts where this week has gone for me!).  So how do you make Halloween an Event at your home?  The most fun my family has had is with block parties!  There is plenty of time to rally the neighbors for a driveway potluck. Volunteer your driveway. Ask the neighbors, or your children's friend's families, to bring a dish to share. Easy alternative?...order pizza and sodas and share the cost. Be sure the kiddos all eat, then take turns as the responsible parent to escort your trick-or-treaters.  Set up a table on the driveway where each family has a bowl of their give-away candy.  The parents spend the evening socializing and the kiddos have a great time trick-or-treating with their friends!  So much better than spending the evening answering the front door! What do you think?

Now....if you want to 'kick it up a notch' check out Pizzazzerie's Halloween Party for some great ideas to make you the hit of the neighborhood!

Pizzazzerie Halloween Party

Enjoy your Halloween...and your family.  Let's make it a day to remember.

Looking for a way to "Celebrate Girlfriends"?

A Day at the Spa sounds like a perfect plan.  Glen Ivy Spa is having a Women's Health Day this Saturday. Gather together your girlfriends and make a day of it!  Check out the details below.

Women’s Health Day

At Glen Ivy Hot Springs
Sunday, October 23, 2011

SAVE THE DATE This event is free with paid admission to the Spa.

Join us Sunday, October 23rd at the Hot Springs as we celebrate the physical, mental and spiritual health of women. We will be joined by experts and luminaries in the areas of health, well being, finance, fitness, mind-body, healthy cuisine, and more. This all-day event is free with admission to the Hot Springs, of which $10 will be donated to Casa de Paz, Inland Empire’s transitional living facility for victims of domestic violence.

Glen Ivy Women's Health Day 

Are you ready for Halloween?? Oh MY!!

I can't believe that Halloween is only 2 weeks away!!  Here, in San Diego, we have been having a wonderful late Summer, but it hasn't put me in much of a fall decorating and party planning mood. So, for those of you in the same predicament, let's find some inspiration to get us moving, quickly, in the right direction.

Let's start with something that will make a big IMPACT very quickly!  Is this not the cutest garland? Can't you just see it in your front window?  How about hanging from a doorway? My Hubby's favorite part of Halloween and Thanksgiving is CANDY CORN!  You know he's going to love seeing this when he walks in.   Easy Peasy directions are on Poppytalk's blog. Click here for the link and get going!Poppytalk garland instructions


So that's today's project. Tomorrow I'll have more inspiration for you.  How about a "pre-trick-or-treating" party?  Gather the neighbors together, make sure the kiddo's have some good food in their tummies before they head out for sugar high land.