Dinosaur Theme Birthday Party

October 15, 2012

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? For us, this weekend was full of more birthday celebrations, lots of soccer, and a yearly block party. Our weekends are always social and because our family is far away, we embrace opportunities to see old friends and to make new ones!

The weekend activities also inspire me and I say perfect timing because next month is Santi’s 2nd birthday! Keep an eye out for that post because I’ll be using a lot of Pinterest ideas for a musical theme! I’m so excited! For now, here are some pictures from Diego’s 4th birthday back in our place in NYC. Enjoy! [Read more...]

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Colores en la Mesa

June 19, 2012

Happy Tuesday everyone! I’m feeling upbeat and wanted to share with you my colorful Mexican table setting I put together a couple of weekends ago for friends who came over for their first carne asada. They arrived in time to help me bring everything back inside because it was one of those days where it started to rain while the sun was out! Can you believe that!? It’s like mother nature doesn’t want me to set out these multi-color place mats and napkins I bought for our outdoor Easter celebration! Oh well. I took pics before the rain and before the arrachera (grilled skirt steak) was ready. Enjoy!

Little tips: Add a fresh fruit to your water. Beautiful and extra refreshing.  I added lime as many Mexican households are usually stocked with limes! But lemons or cucumbers would do of course!

The bright orange serving bowls and pitcher are all from Crate and Barrel…wedding gifts that are almost eight years old! The white china serving bowls are from our stay in Singapore. Always pick up a little something useful for your home while traveling!

Helpful hints: Group things together for easy serving. I placed the guacamole, salsa and chips together and then grouped the sour cream, cheese and a pico de gallo for fast taco making! Oh and don’t forget to set out the serving spoons! I always forget and have to keep running back and forth to the kitchen.

I think a runner at the center of the table would have made the table look a bit better or maybe a whole table cloth? What do you think? Are you looking forward to entertaining this summer? I kept it very simple and basic with the ingredients but spruced it up with lots of color! No need to overdo everything at once right?

Your friend,

Betty

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Baseball Party Theme

April 24, 2012

I was looking back at some of Diego’s old pictures and came across his 3rd birthday party! I’m not planning a party right now…just the arrival of baby number #3!! Since I miss Diego as a little baby, I find myself looking at his old pictures often and wonder how time flies.

If you are planning a party and baseball is huge in your house as it is in ours, here is a cute baseball theme that can be used for any age!! Enjoy!

Decorations: All the decorations can be purchased at Party City. I bought the “green field” table cover for a little bit more but you can use a regular green table cover too. The baseball place mats you see on the table corners were purchased years ago from Pottery Barn Kids…they don’t have them anymore but they always have cute baseball stuff!

Cute idea: Living in New York meant meeting friends from all over the world. So we asked everyone in the invitation to wear their favorite baseball team tee or jersey. Teams from The Oakland A’s to the New York Mets were represented. We of course wore our Cubs gear!

The food: All ball park food of course! Including beer in plastic cups for the adults!! We grilled hot dogs in our tiny Tribeca apartment (I’m sure the neighbors loved that) on our small stove-top cast iron grill. I threw frozen pretzels from Whole Foods in the oven, bought peanuts and Cracker Jack boxes from Nationwide Candy online and made sure to have plenty of Baby Ruth chocolate bars!

Diego’s beautiful cake and cupcakes were made by my friend Laila! Aren’t they gorgeous?

Look at Diego’s tiny face!!! They are only little rookies for a bit huh?

Please share other ideas that would have been good for the table! Love to hear your thoughts!

Your friend,

Betty

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Baby Shower at Lady Mendl’s

April 13, 2012


A few weeks ago I hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Venus. She is expecting Baby Boy #2 in June and because she is fabulous and lives in New York City, I knew that she wanted to have a chic little tea party with her closest friends to celebrate in pure elegance and style.
Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon is located at the Inn at Irving Place in Gramercy Park. Lady Mendl’s offers a five-course afternoon tea with champagne! Everything from the finger sandwiches to the scones with clotted cream and jam were absolutely delicious! Their Marbury Room was perfect for our party of ten girls. [Read more...]

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A Bright Good Friday

April 9, 2012


I know that when it comes to decorating for Easter, pastel colors are usually the chosen colors. I saw these place mats for outdoor dining at Bed Bath and Beyond and I thought, why not use them indoors for Easter? The bright and assorted colored place mats and napkins were sold together…how clever! I already had these sparkly bright Easter eggs on my table and Jose picked up fresh flowers for me on Friday. Everything matched perfectly without me looking for the perfect match!

Our lovely neighbors invited us over for Easter lunch so our only guest this weekend was our good friend Kinsey. She came over on Friday and Jose and I made a Good Friday salmon dinner. But just like everything else on my table falling into place, a sweet new friend Yeni stopped by earlier to deliver these awesome carrot cake chicks she made for our family! Not only were they delicious but they also made our table even more festive for our dinner with Kinsey!

I couldn’t stop photographing these cuties!

If you look closely you will see the short wine glasses (acrylic!!) that I bought at Crate and Barrel for outdoor use as well. I thought I would use them for the boys for our dinner on Friday without worrying about broken glass plus…I knew Diego would feel very mature drinking from one!

This all came together as I was starting to plan for outdoor dining. The weather was so nice so early that I thought I should get a few things to start eating at our table outside. Well…since I was raised in Chicago I should have known that the weather can change quickly, so eating in on Friday was a must. I was so inspired by the bright hues of these place mats that I really couldn’t wait for the weather to cooperate so I could use them! Sometimes inspiration for your home starts off with just one simple item! And honestly, nothing makes me happier than eating a great meal in a beautiful room with my family.

I hope you all had a bright Easter weekend!
Your friend,
Betty

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Cooking Birthday Party Theme

April 5, 2012


I’m still trying to fill you in on what we did last weekend! On Saturday evening, we were invited to a birthday party at Taste Buds! Nicolas turned five and is one of Diego’s best buddies. Our friends live in the city and yet we have managed to get the boys together pretty often. I thought it was really great when I heard that Nicolas insisted on having a cooking party. His parents told me that they couldn’t find a place to host such an idea so they tried to persuade him to have another theme, maybe soccer again? But no, cooking it was and in New York City, of course you can find “the first and only kitchen in Manhattan” that hosts hands-on birthday parties for kids of all ages. What surprised me the most was that there were 19 kids there, mostly BOYS (!), and they sat, decorated aprons, made pizzas from scratch, decorated cupcakes while the pizzas baked and ate so nicely!! How impressive…and brave of the parents to plan such an event. The kitchen was stunning, state of the art and a dream come true for any culinary student! I wished I still lived in the city just so I can take the boys here for some classes because they love to cook. Here are some pictures! [Read more...]

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My Baby “Sprinkle”

April 2, 2012


I love what my friend Celeste said my baby shower would be called: a baby “sprinkle”!!! As you already know dear readers, this is my third baby but thanks to one of my best friends, Ofelia, who believes every pregnancy should be celebrated, organized an awesome baby sprinkle! My girlfriends showed up yesterday for this little version of a shower and we had a delicious brunch at Sanctuary T in SoHo.

A custom menu! I love seeing my name in print!! Haha! We started off with a crisp fruit salad and I chose the truffled croquet monsieur, “mommy-to-be tea” and of course the chocolate cake for dessert. I ate it all! So yummy...
Look at these beautiful boxed favors! Ofelia did a wonderful job filling them up with jam, tea, and a little infuser!


A picture of all of all the girls! I’m so fortunate to have made amazing friends out here in the east coast. Some live in the city, some came in from Connecticut and some from New Jersey! I appreciate their presence, the gifts and most of all their friendship. All three of my babies have been so lucky to be welcomed and celebrated in fabulous and loving settings.

Your friend,

Betty

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Space Theme Birthday Party

February 23, 2012


As always, we can not host a birthday party around here without a specified theme. Diego insisted on a Space theme this year (I wanted Asian/Martial Arts theme but it was not my party as Jose reminded me). [Read more...]

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Tip for Your Next Gathering

February 8, 2012

It doesn’t have to be expensive to ditch this…

For this…

So you are feeling a little down. You decide to brighten your spirits and have a few. You invite a few friends over and you bring out the…SOLO cups??? You have to act fancy to feel fancy to be fancy. [Read more...]

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