Dancing Greeks and a Halloween Birthday...

Well hello there! It's been a few days since I've posted but in my defence it's because things have been busy-busy lately. LET me reiterate my love for this time of year...so many parties, events and things to get all involved in! We were invited to possibly the cutest ever birthday/Halloween party for a 2 year old. Her mama went all out to create a fun, kid friendly party with a Harry Potter wizard and witches theme. 

{there's a spider in the house...}

{these wizards and witches came to party...}

{ I die! This birthday girl was rocking her pearls, tutu and a sassy hat}

{Cheesecake "shots", mini-donut witch booms and custom cookies. Her mama has skillz!}

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Last Saturday night Husband and I joined up with 300 of our closest Greek friends to dance the night away in  honour of St. Demetrios. (A great saint if there ever was one!)  As always the wine brought on the dancing and the band played till 4:00 am- no big deal.

{self portrait time...why does drinking always make it seem like a great idea?}

{These Greeks got down to business,,,dancing, drinking, singing, drinking. Repeat.}

Alright all you witches and wizards, Halloween is only 3 days away. The count down is on and tomorrow night Mama is going out for drinks with the girls in full costume. Are you gonna get your BOO-on and go out this year? Don't tell me you're too old...you're never too old! 

Baby shower of the century!

Yup, in my humble opinion this weekend Mama pulled together the most amazing baby shower ever. The party was thrown in honour of my girlfriend Rolanda and her baby London (and that little girl most definitely came out to party...as much as a 2 month old can rock it out!)

My theme was a pink and green candy shoppe...super sweet fun for an even sweeter little girl.

The weather was hot and gorgeous outside and the white peach sangria was cold and delicious!

{The baby of the day, Miss London with a giant pink flower}

{Dessert anyone? Macaroons, chocolate chip stuffed raspberries, red velvet cupcakes and fruit kabobs}

{White Sangria with fresh peaches, strawberries and green apples- and a whole lot of Sauvignon Blanc and peach schnapps...Yum!}

{Mommy Rolanda opening her gifts and it wouldn't be a shower without at least a few cheesy shower games...}

{Lots of sweet treats to take home}

{Party blooms (pompoms) for a pop of fun and color}

{I'd rock a tutu too...if I could}

 {fresh flowers make Mama happy}

It was beyond fun putting this shower together...and even more fun getting together with all of Rolanda's best girlfriends. 

Babies are so special and they deserve to be celebrated as much as possible!

Planning only the most amazing baby shower ever...

So my best girlfriend in the whole wide world surprisingly found herself preggers last October and after 9 quick months (I can say that because I wasn't the pregnant one), her precious little girl "Miss" London arrived this past July. I had the honor of acting as her birthing partner/coach and you better believe I sweet talked that little girl out into this world. What an experience...but that's a story for another time!

It's only logical that since I cut the umbilical cord I should also be the one to throw her a fabulous "welcome to this world" celebration in the form of a baby shower.  

{Custom Pink Lollipop Invitation from Red Letter Design}

I'm beyond excited and have a million party ideas. The theme is a pink and green candy shop full of lollipops, gum-balls, sweethearts, cotton candy, macaroons and cupcakes. Considering that my own sweet tooth is absolutely non-existent I think I'm being mighty creative!  

But of course because Mama is hosting this party there will be plenty of fruity sangria, sparkling pink champagne and boat-loads of spiked punch.

Here's what I've pulled together/plan on having so far...

{Custom Party Blooms from whimsypie}

{Via Hostess with the Mostess}

{party accessories via letsPARTYon}

Good Lord how cute is this stuff!? I can barely handle it. I'm so impressed by the creativity of these ladies...and myself -what what!

It's going to be challenging pulling it all together and I'll have to channel my inner Colin Cowie, Mindy Weiss and Martha Stewart - but I'm up for it.
I'm so excited to shower this sweet little girl with all the love, attention and gifts that she and her mommy deserve. It's not taking place till the last week of September but I'll be sure to update you with mountains of pics. 
Can't hardly wait y'all! 

So what else should I do to make this party special, throw me some more ideas girls!
What would you do to make a baby shower fun or original?

Home parties

Lately I've been invited to a lot of home parties, not house parties but "home parties." As in the type of party that women over the age of 25 are invited to as an excuse go out (dump your boyfriends, husbands and children) and get to together to shop, eat and drink in the comfort of a girlfriends home.  

The idea is nothing new (think Tupperware) and you'd be hard pressed to find a girl out there who hasn't been invited to at least one candle, jewelry, food storage system, cookware, house wares, beauty products, sex toys or clothing party.  Usually a friend will invite you over for an evening of food, drinks and the chance to shop for whatever the sales rep is selling (and in turn that hostess will receive huge discounts on products for themselves.) It's easy to see the appeal.

 I myself don't mind them cuz I'll take any opportunity to get out for an evening with friends to talk, drink a lot of wine and shop for more stuff I likely don't need. (Refer to previous hoarding post)

 I recently picked up this completely over priced necklace from a jewelry home party. Apparently it's the same one that Courtney Cox's character Jules wears in "Cougar Town".   It sucked me in....once again.

Honestly I also like supporting my friends who've decided to earn extra income by selling the products and brands they like. And often the stuff is really good so why wouldn't I get behind them and throw down some cash? 

Who ever dreamed up the "Home party" concept was a fracking genius. "Yes, let's get a group of women together in a confined area with their friends, give them a 3 minute sales pitch, fill a table full of product and encourage them to drink wine and then buy buy buy." 

Sounds good to me!

So do you get invited to home parties by your friends looking to sell stuff to you and how do you feel about them? Are they a fun excuse to get together with your girls and shop or would you rather pass on the idea and head for the mall?

P.S.  Mama isn't endorsing or selling any particular brand or product here. She only shops.

images via google, ebay

Tacky Christmas lights, fat little trees and purple sparkle

It's Christmas time all up in here! And while our outdoor Christmas lights are about as classy as the Griswolds, my kids think I'm an electrical engineering genius with this "display" of lights. 

Moving inside I"ll bore amaze you with our indoor decor. Honestly I'd like to do so much more with the house but Kid # 2 is at an age of pure destruction. He's just so excited by the lights and ornaments that he wants to touch (and break) everything. I'll give our poor tree a week before he pulls the whole thing down onto himself...

 That's one fat little tree, but he's real! 

On the weekend we got our drink on at a pre-Christmas house partay.  These pics were taken way later in the night after much wine/scotch/rum/vodka had been consumed...

 Green party cups mean drink up!

Mama in purple sequins

We love wine. As always.

 Since almost everyone at the party was Greek Canadian it quickly turned into a basement dance party. Who dances in a basement? We all do apparently...

Basement pole dance...

After shots of Ouzo, shirts were being unbutton. Husband decides to rock out on a pink guitar and it seemed awesomely cool at the time...  The picture obviously proves otherwise!

Sparkle!

Mama and Husband are going out to our first holiday party of the season on Saturday night.  It's going to be fairly casual because it's at a friends house. But I'm so dying to throw on some sequins so I can get my sparkle on, but without looking like Rupaul in drag....know what I'm saying?

{this is nice, but no}

So I think I'll try to incorporate a bit of sequin shine while keeping things simple

{Ricki's draped sequin sweater}

{ok so my black pumps are not YSL like these, but the look is almost the same}

I'm thinking that since I can't go too bold on my outfit (no one wants to stand out as overdressed girl at the party), I might as well do a bit more with my makeup. I've just discovered that purple shadows are great for brown eyes. (This is not groundbreaking news but I was a bit scared of purple eyeshadows before.)

 purple smokey eyes are divine!

Do you have any Christmas parties coming up? Are they formal or casual and what will you be wearing?

And more importantly, will you be you rockin' some sequin sparkle?