Barca, Barca, Barca!

Parties to celebrate the special men in our lives can be such a challenge. My husband usually wants a low key birthday, but this year he made an exception. After a bit of thought, he decided that racing go carts would be an awesome way to spend some quality dude time. Knowing that he loves the Barcelona soccer team, I knew that it would be a very Barca party!

As the guests arrived, we had them check in at the Go Kart track and suit up. We listened to a safety video and then they were given these:

As a rule, the go kart track gives plain black head socks to wear underneath the helmet. Just to make it a bit more fun and personal, I went a couple days prior to the party and picked up our guests plain black head socks. Then, I fired up my handy dandy sewing machine and appliqued each of their names on them.  The guys really dug it and it turned out to be a perfect party favor!

It really was a fast and furious ride on the go karts! We did practice laps and then did a qualifying lap which gave us our poll position and then we had the final race. Everyone had a grand ole time and we finished off with a metal ceremony for the top 3 finishers. After all of that fun and burning rubber it was totally time for some nosh. We had all of Patrick's favorite foods- pizza, wings, Caesar salad, and garlic cheese bread, and of course beer. 

I wanted the dessert table to be a reflection of Patrick's favorite loves so I decorated it with his triathlon metals, favorite candy (I used his bike helmets as bowls), pictures of him, and thank you cards from the various patients he has helped over the years (he is a nurse). It was great to see his eyes light up as others would ask him about his various metals and competitions. We are just so proud of him! He recently traveled to Barcelona to see his favorite team compete (yes, he loves this team THAT much!) so I knew the cake had to honor some of the experiences he had there. I emailed a couple of pictures to this awesome bakery called the cake gallery  for his cake (we did a chocolate cake with fudge filling and white icing per Patrick's request). Not only did they do a fantastic job of depicting Patrick with his favorite player - Lionel Messi of course!, but they were even able to do a 3-D soccer ball that totally looked like the one he brought back for our sons. That cake was a total crowd pleaser.. sooo yummy! We also had another table with all of Patrick's college photos and honors throughout the years. Amazing to see a visual depiction of his journey throughout the years.

The guests also left with little mason jars of cake with the Barcelona crest on the top. Except for one of the guests who was a Real Madrid fan, so I made sure his favor had his favorite team on it instead!

As you can see we had a great time practicing our Ninja moves for the camera. All in all it was great fun and I know one special guy had a good time too :)

Bottles and Blockprinting!

We recently planned a lovely baby shower for Jamie, a glowing mom-to-be. Her request was that it be stylish and elegant with a bit of baby sprinkled in. And, that's exactly what we focused on.

Here is an adorable centerpiece from one of the tables. Love the wagon with presents and block art piece arrangement!

As it was a spring shower, we pulled hues from the season to create a cheery color story - lime, orange, turquoise and a touch of warm yellow. And, since she is a modern mom-to-be, the fingerprint for the event included a pair of baby bottles - clean, simple, bold and adorable! Lime and turquoise stripes framed the signage and ribbons in baby bottles added a nice accent. 

As the celebration got underway, the rooms were filled with a lot of love, laughter and conversation. It was a mid afternoon affair with a delicious menu that included freekeh salad, crudites and mini fromage blanc & grilled asparagus sandwiches from Bi Rite market.

Jamie loves bundt cakes, so we had this specialty bakery whip up some bundt-inis for the event! We arranged the bundt cakes on a tower and placed a larger cake on top with a beautiful peony topper. The guests simply adored the bundtinis! Especially the lemon.  Salted caramel, raspberry, and chocolate macaroons, short breads and luscious fruit skewers rounded off the dessert menu. The salted caramel macaroons were such a hit!

As the guests noshed, they wrote li'l notes for Jamie and the baby to be. The wishes for the baby had fill in the blanks that included "I hope you love...", "I hope you get...". Jamie's friends and family had great fun coming up with all sorts of inventive wishes! 

Jamie loves handcrafted items and loved the idea of her guests doing a block printing craft to welcome her new bundle of joy in style. The guests 'left their mark' on onesies, bibs and little t-shirts and had a collection of handmade wood blocks and rubber stamps to select from. After completing their work of art, the items were hung to dry on the tree so all of her guests could see the fruits of their labor.

We also engaged the guests in a very fun raffle that had them digging in their purses for blue credit cards, wet naps, pacifiers, gold keys and more!

In the end, it was a beautiful afternoon with loving friends and family. Jamie enjoyed every moment celebrating her bump and the baby that's on its way. And we absolutely loved planning every minute detail.