Thursday, May 31, 2007

Tea With Me


My daughter will turn 5 in a week. How did THAT happen???
I started planning her birthday party on January 23, 2002 (the day we found out we were having a girl after two boys.) Having a tea party for her 5th birthday was one of my first bright ideas when I found out I'd be the mom of a daughter. It wasn't my first thought though... that thought was, "YES! I can buy pink and flowered paper now!"

I've had a love for all things tea since the mid 90's. Back in the nineteens, Zack would say. In fact - that's where I used to spend my wad before I was a scrapbooker. I collected all kinds of antique (and antique looking) cups, saucers, salad plates, dessert plates, creamers and sugars, tea pots, silver serving trays, pastry forks, lemon forks, sugar tongs, linens... you name a tea accoutrement and I bought it!

I would either host or assist with a tea once a month for several years. I had Teddy Bear Teas, British Cream Teas, Afternoon Teas, Bridal and Baby Shower Teas, High Teas, Retirement Teas, Just Because Teas. I lived for tea. Then came kids.

That slowed me down a bit (and caused me to lock up the china...) The teas became fewer and farther between - but I still loved to do them now and again. Sometimes on a HUGE scale - like 50 to 80 guests.

I've missed "doing tea". It's just not the same to go to a tea room (though the clean up and prep is a breeze...) So this is my first tea in two years and I'm very excited to do it!

I'm trying something new for this one... I'm making a tea pot shaped cake for the final dessert at the request of the birthday girl. I'm NOT a cake maker. I can bake them OK - but the decorating part is where I get tripped up. But I'll give it my best shot and I'll post a photo of it - good or bad. You can either ooh and ahh or laugh at it.

Posted above are the invitations I made for the party. The base panel card (scalloped) is from Target. The cardstock is Bazzill (of course...) The patterned paper is Basic Grey, Lily Kate. So are the rub-ons at the top edge of the cup - but you can't see those... The flowers are Prima and the pearls are K&Co. (LOVE them). The "tea bag" is vellum (folded like a tea bag...) with a bit of glitter inside and the tags (tied with turkey string from the grocery store) are from a QuicKutz die. (LOVIN' my new QK Revolution tool too...) The stamps are Technique Tuesday clear stamps from the "Let Them Eat Cake" collection. I used Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in Lavender for "it's a Birthday". I used a gray shadow EK Brush Pen for the shading around the cup and saucer. Those were cut with a Creative Memories circle/oval system. I used foam tape for dimension so there'd be a place for the teabag to go. :0)
The invitation reads:
How wonderful we think it would be
If you would join us for a Teddy Bear Tea.
Fifth birthdays come but only one time
And you being here will make it sublime!
Sunday coming, the third of June
At three o’clock in the afternoon.
123 Fakename Drive, Michaela's address
Bring your gloves, hat and doll in her finest dress.
We certainly hope that we’ll see you there
Call 555-2286 and we’ll save you a chair.
We don't really live on Fakename Drive - and we don't have a television phone number... but you know that if you know us...

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

My Name Is Sara...

And I may have a teensie bit of a problem...
It happened almost a month ago.
I was in Wal-Mart in the frozen foods. I was out of tater tots and needed to restock when I became distracted.
I should have just kept walking... never stopped and opened the door... but I was drawn - pulled like a bee to a flower - a magnet to the refrigerator door. I had a feeling that something was different and couldn't stand to not see for myself.

As I touched the handle of the door I received a shock. Just a bit of static build up in my flip flops - but I should have taken the warning. It just may take electric shock therapy to help me now.

And that was it. It was over. I'd fallen for the "new, new, new" labeling and it was too late.

Now I have an addiction.

There. I've said it... I'm totally addicted.

Here's how bad it is... I've stopped eating CHOCOLATE!

Who stops eating chocolate??? I LOVE chocolate. There are times I'd offer my first born for chocolate. Particularly the Lindt milk chocolate truffles.

I have some. Probably thirty or so... and I'm not touching them! Not the m&m's either. They just sit there in the jar... sulking... wondering why I've forsaken them. Why the late night rendezvous have stopped so suddenly.

I've read and heard about these sorts of addictions before - but I never thought it would happen to me. This is the sort of thing you never expect from a church going woman let alone a scrapbooker. But I confess now - I've been deeply involved in what the French would call a manage a trois, (that's "threesome" in English without the showy accents over the vowels...) with Benjamin and Jerald. You may know them as Ben and Jerry.

Yes - it's difficult to admit - but I'm in deep and it's only by admitting that I have a problem that I can begin to recover. So I'm going to try to back away... but not all at once.

This picture shows you a little of what's been going on the last three and a half weeks. By the way... the ones in back are empty...and this is only a drop in the bucket...

Take my advice - Resist! Don't even TRY it. Smooth custard ice cream so creamy and cold - perfectly soft if you put it near the door of your freezer... with the tiny bits of crisp, caramelized sugar, swirled expertly within. If you close your eyes you can taste the faintest bit of perfectly roasted marshmallow. But it's not worth it - because you can never go back - life is never the same again. You'll find yourself purchasing them two at a time and hiding them from your husband and children behind the frozen peas at home. You'll intend to stop - but before you know it you're past the halfway mark and headed for the bottom. Just over a half a day's calories later you yearning for more. For the longest time I thought that these were single serve containers... turns out there's four servings in there! Who knew?!

So don't. I've warned you - and it's for your own good. And it may cost you a long gym membership to recover...


Monday, May 28, 2007

Remember

Did anyone ever wish you a "Happy Memorial Day"?

I get a little irritated sometimes when people ignore what Memorial Day is all about. It's so much more than a three day weekend or "the beginning of summer".

Today I took the kids to the National Cemetery in our town. Not every town has a National Cemetery - so it was a bit of a privilege I think. I told them about love, sacrifice, the last full measure of devotion and how freedom isn't free.

Memorial Day is Wednesday. Find your flag and fly it. And remember...

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Where in the World is Sara?

I've been taking a bit of a bloggy break I suppose. It's been almost a month since my last post and I'm obviously way behind. It's not that "nuthing" has been happening - cuz it certainly has been - it's just that I've been too busy to write about it because I've been living it! Oh... and I also have a tiny touch of OCD when it comes to this sort of thing... I have this need to do things in order. Meaning that posts must be written in the order that they occur.

So now I'm going to try to get over that a little and write about things as I have the time too. But that wouldn't be right now... maybe tomorrow... :0)

EDIT: May 27, 2007
OK - Obviously I've done a bit of updating and back dating. It's a holiday weekend and I've got a little more time to dink around here.

I'll try to keep up better now...

Serendipity

I was fortunate to have my camera with me yesterday in the car. We made a "quick" run to San Antonio and then all the way out to Hondo and back home (about a 180 mile circle...) At least we get paid for the mileage from Brian's company.


When I was driving back home from our little airport I had to pull over and take these photos. The wildflowers continue to be so beautiful. The hills are just covered with them. Driving down the highway is almost distracting with the flowers in the median all the way. Even the cactus looks inviting doesn't it?



Thursday, May 17, 2007

Happy Scientist

Jaek competed in his second science fair today. He worked really hard on his project (Melaleuca Oil vs. Mold) and did a great presentation. Worthy of another blue ribbon! (I'm not sure what he's doing to his belly while he presents his project... I think he just must have had an itch...)

Zack decided not to finish his presentation on the differences in bird's beaks he's observed - so he's writing a five-page report by the end of the weekend instead...

We're very fortunate to be able to participate in activities with the students up the road in our church's private school. It's great for the kids to stay in touch with their old friends there.
I'm very proud of both of them! My two happy scientists!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Happy to Be a Mother

Although - as I write this little feet (that should be in bed) keep running up and down the hallway!



I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I made some yummy french toast to compliment the beautiful brunch that Brian prepared. Lots and lots of lovely fresh fruit, strawberries and whipped cream for the french toast and Brian's specialty - hash brown casserole.



The kids gave me some really sweet gifts too. Michaela gave me a miniature tea cup and saucer that said "mom" on it. It was very special since I'd given it to my mom almost 30 years ago. Jacob twisted some very artistic and creative shapes for me with chenille stems and pom poms and Zachary drew me a very lovely picture of a great white shark. (?) I also got a creme brule chocolate bar, some craft keepers from Brian and a wonderful blender stick from my inlaws. Brian gave me the afternoon to play in my scrapbook room. My mom-in-law came back over and played all afternoon with me too.

Of course - the best part of Mother's Day is the hugs and kisses. Who could ask for anything more than that?

The card at the top of this post I made for my mom. It's My Mind's Eye double sided cardstock (from the Tres Jolie collection). The rub-on is Basic Grey, the flowers are Prima (Target issue) and the center stick on pearls are K&Co. I used a Creative Memories oval cutter to make the hole and my mom-in-laws Bernina to stitch the front. All the little glitter (including on the stitching) is done with a gold Twinklette pen from Marvy.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Here Comes the Flowergirl

Michaela has been looking forward to this day for a very long time... since before she was even asked to be Ronni's flowergirl next October.
Today was the day we picked up Ronni at the airport and after lunch at PF Changs we went to get her flowergirl dress at David's Bridal.

She was So excited - she wanted to try on every dress in the place. They were all so "BEAUTIFUL". She would twirl and spin in front of the mirrors admiring herself. I had a real hard time getting her to take them off and get dressed again. This photo was her attempt to back herself into the farthest corner so I couldn't get the dress back.

Well - it's on order now. It should be back in June so we can have it altered. So far it's the most expensive dress she's ever gotten... Wonder how long that will last?

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

I {Heart} L.A.


The party's over. And what a party it was!

I spent 8 days in L.A. with my dearest friends - My "Scruds" (Scrappin Buds). We had a wonderful time scrapping, cooking, eating, laughing until our guts hurt and shopping. Linda, our hostess this year, had everything planned out to the last detail. She had put so much thought into the timing of everything - I can't imagine it going any smoother.

I arrived early on Tuesday and had the opportunity to be let in on some of the last minute secrets and errand running with a few of the other early girls. On Wednesday a few more girls arrived and we set up the cropping room with Linda's expert direction then headed out to In-N-Out Burger. What heaven... I hadn't had an In-N-Out Burger for 20 years! It was as good as I remembered it.

Thursday evening we had our first shopping trip to Crop Circles after a quick trip to the beach for photo ops. We had a very interesting time at the beach and an encounter with a special new friend. It pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend.



Friday afternoon there was another shopping trip and make-n-takes at A-Z Scrapbooking and then an evening of cropping and laughing until my sis-in-law Shari and I went to "cook" and make tags to match our napkins and paper plates for Saturday afternoon's picnic.

Saturday was an early morning trip to Creative Paradise with more make-n-take fun and then a picnic in Griffith Park. Shari and I had a great time putting out a great spread for the rest of the group. Next we had a little walking tour of Hollywood at the Kodak theater and on the walk of fame. Then a drive through Hollywood, Westwood and Beverly Hills.
Saturday night there was a group dinner out at the famous King's Hawaiian restaurant and more laughs. And can you believe even MORE laughs late into the night?

Sunday was time for most to go home - but I got to spend a couple more days at my sis-in-laws house doting on my two beautiful nephews.

I gotta say - I think I was gone too long. I really was getting heartsick for my kids. I missed my early morning snuggles and the random "I love you Momma"'s all through the day. I even missed the "go to bed now" struggles. But it turns out I wasn't gone too long - I quickly acclimated to the role of mom again.
I think I need another vacation.







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