A Very Merry Birthday Tea Party: Part Two

As promised, here are the photos taken at my surprise tea party! (See original post here.) The girls all did such a fabulous job. It was surely a memorable birthday this year.

My mom utilizes this over-sized chalkboard for everything. In between events, she always has a quote written on it at the bottom of her stairs. Today she used it as a menu board- and my first clue as to what was going on!

Some necessary Tea Party accessories awaited me on the front porch. Mom hand made this dress, hat and invitation. The dress fit me perfectly (without ever having tried it on), amazing! The hat was beautifully embellished with layers of chiffon and French netting. The invitations were sewn onto fabric, a unique and crafty touch.

Here I am all dolled up!

Talk about wow factor! I was taken back when I walked into my mother's living room and saw that it had been converted to this charming setting for afternoon tea. Each table was dressed with layers of lace and floral prints creating a lush feminine feeling. I loved it! She brought out gorgeous vintage tea cups from my nana's collection which was a special sentiment to me. Parasols from my wedding hung upside down with fishing wire to add to the grandeur! It was truly stunning.

We had an extravagant three course feast, close to a traditional afternoon high tea. The first course included mom's famous scones, fresh fruit and mimosa's. The second course consisted of classic tea sandwiches-delicious! And for the third course (drum roll please)....

...a breathtaking Red Wine Poached Pear Trifle. I had clipped this recipe months ago and told her that I'd love for it to be my birthday cake next year and she remembered! I can't even begin to describe how absolutely delicious it was with layers of marscapone cheese, toasted hazelnuts, homemade vanilla cake and red wine poached pears. As a bonus, the dish was a gift for me! If you would also like to partake in this pure joy of a dessert, here is the link at Better Homes and Garden: Red Wine Poached Pear Trifle

There were sweet little touches throughout the party that really made the day special.

My mom's china along with whimsical touches.

My mom loves fairies.

A reference to Alice In Wonderland

A favorite doll from my childhood

Party favors from Tea Forte

The girls were enticed to dress according to the theme with a grand prize for best "costume." I think they all looked fabulous!

We all voted and my childhood friend, Mandy, won with her Mad Hatter inspired look. She crafted her top hat, belt and shoes on her own. I love the enthusiasm and she did an outstanding job! 

Well, I guess that's Ta Ta for now! 

Fashion Maverick

             I am proud to say this is my very first blog! So to describe myself, I would say I eat, breathe, and sleep fashion. I used to design and make clothes almost every day of my life. Now, that dream is a distant memory. I am very passionate about my job, which has everything to do with fashion...but I think it's time for me to open up the design gates I've kept closed for so long. I'm going to start slow, with a collection of summer dresses for myself :) I found this series of fabrics in all different colors and I fell in love!

I will continue to post my progress on the collection. I'm going to start with the teal fabric on the left...a maxi dress. Wish me luck! I hope I still got it! LOL

Rainbows

This morning I overslept and was rushing to get in the shower. I heard gentle raindrops outside my window and thought oh great rain, rush hour traffic and waking up late. I opened the blinds on the bathroom window and to my surprise and delight was the most perfect rainbow. You know the kind where all the colors are super vivid and it fills the sky. I could see from one end to the other!

I ran and got my camera trying to capture this elusive treat from Mother Nature. Of course in the 3 minutes it took to find my camera the colors were already fading and you can't really capture a rainbow.  If I hadn't woke up late I would have missed it all together because I would have been in the shower.

Sometimes in our quest to do it all and be all - we miss or forget the simple beauty of a rainbow!

Tea Infused Cocktails - Yum!

While planning my daughter's surprise tea/birthday party I was researching all about tea. I learned many things about afternoon tea, high tea, brewing, presentation etc. But the most interesting thing I ran across was teas from TeaForte.com; my sister and I had a coffee shop a few years back and we carried their products. So I went to their website for inspiration. I am so glad I did.

They carry a line of tea infusers to be steeped into alcohol and then mixed into some awesome cocktails. I bought the set with the little beakers and 3 flavors of tea: Lavender Citrus, Lemongrass Mint and Silkroad Chai. Their website gives you recipes for all 3 infusers. I bought the Mixology set of course - I am not my health conscious daughter.Here are my favorites so far:

Lavender Pear Martini

Wild Mint Mojito

Chai White Russian

I am sure there will be another party for me to try out some of the other recipes!

I Scream for (Low-Cal) Ice Cream!

I must say holidays can sometimes be a blessing and a curse. For obvious reasons, holidays are wonderful because they provide a reason for everyone to come together (not that we ever need a motive to be social). People are generally in high spirits and its fun to celebrate the seasons with loved ones and friends. Holidays give us something to plan for and look forward to. On the other hand, they tend to contradict every regiment I try to stick to as far as a diet goes. 

So, in attempts to curb the amount of naughtiness this last weekend was sure to bring, I quickly volunteered to bring dessert!! I recently came across an intriguing recipe on hungry-girl.com called "Too-Cool Key Lime Sandwiches." She had me at Key Lime, a particular favorite in my family. Further investigation proved they were fairly easy to make using four simple ingredients and ringing in at only 128 calories per sandwich. My kind of recipe!

As usual, I had a most helpful sous chef/taste tester in the kitchen with me that morning...

My ice cream sandwiches didn't turn out quite as beautiful as the recipe's photo, but they were certainly tasty nonetheless. I think next time I will wait until Porter is sleeping as timing was everything with this recipe. I'm excited to play with the stir-ins this summer...maybe fresh strawberries in place of lime and chocolate graham crackers instead of cinnamon. Sounds good to me!

Porter's First Easter

Okay, so it wasn't technically his first. However, since Porter was less than three months old last Easter this year was much more exciting and full of a lot of firsts!

He got to open his first Easter Basket. We kept it simple. Thanks to Target's dollar section, Porter got his first pinwheel, a pack of sidewalk chalk, some green bunny ears, stickers, a darling little wind up chick and of course bubbles.

Not surprisingly, I had to indulge in the silly traditional Easter candy a little bit. Some Resee's Eggs for Daddy, Kit-Kats for Mommy and a few Peeps for Porter. I'd dare say he enjoyed them!

Porter did get one real present that will carry us far in the hot summer days. I took a shallow Rubbermaid tote and filled it with sand. I threw in a few plastic toys and a watering can...and walah! Cheap, messy fun for hours!

 A first Easter wouldn't be complete for a little one without the egg hunt and Porter did really great! He knew right what to do. He found all 12 eggs and brought them to us one by one to see what was inside. It was great fun for everyone! I absolutely love watching him discover things.

After all the pint sized fun, we relaxed on my dad's new deck (built entirely from scratch by him and Josh) to enjoy some adult refreshments. Here's my dad enjoying the fruit of his labor.

My mom made us all tea infused cocktails that were really delicious and unique. 

I will be sure to have her post some recipes this week for you to enjoy!

Our Mascot

Wow. trying to learn how to use a drawing program is a challenge. I am sure it is easy to use once one figures it all out, but for now it was easier to color 'Bee' in with markers and scan her in! I'm not giving in though, just need time to experiment.

It has been a pleasure to start drawing again. I am not sure why I got away from it, maybe this will be my impetus to get back at it.

I did manage to use the drawing tool enough to give 'Bea' your signature green eyes, ladies.

A Very Merry Birthday Tea Party: Part One

This is me in all my Tea Party garb, after the surprise!

Last weekend I turned 29. I didn't really want to do anything over the top or extra special this year. Let's be honest, I'll save it for the big "three oh" next year. So a few friends, a nice home cooked dinner and some drinks on a patio is all I craved. I knew my mom had something up her sleeve though...I had plans with my bestie to lollygag around the Plaza and kill time til dinner. We had modest plans for a little shopping and some nibbles and bubbles at a happy hour somewhere. Well, in the midst of this lovely afternoon I get a phone call from my mom asking me to please let her dogs out so she didn't have to go all the way home before meeting up with us when she got off work. What!?! You want me to drive 20 minutes just to let your dogs out when I asked you before I left the house if you needed me to? Grrrr! But, my friend and I agreed to help her out and high tailed it to her house. Low and behold the most beautiful and extravagant Surprise Tea Party awaited me! I really had no clue. A lot of thought went into every detail of this shindig and I'd like to share all the hard work my mom and friends did to pull this off. I am still waiting for photos, so for now this blog shall be continued...
To see the party, click here.

Life is Rich

My Father was in the Navy during World War Two and my Parents wrote to each other. As a teenager I came across these letters in the attic one day. I sat down and read these letters and it was like traveling back in time and meeting my Parents for the first time. I could never tell my Parents that I had read those letters for they were private and I would have gotten in TROUBLE! It is funny how different life has become - now I am writing as a guest on my daughter's blog. We are a very close knit family and life is richer when you can share your love openly with your children! Even though they are grown women now; I feel fortunate that their Father David and his partner Josh and I can be friends and enjoy the girls and our first Grandchild! I feel we are the new American family...

About Us: A "Co-Blog"

This little blog has many functions. I had this idea to start what I am calling a family “co-blog.” You see, my immediate family is the most talented and creative group of people I know. We are all extremely close and we quite possibly spend entirely too much time together. You will find many topics covered by all of us throughout this blog.

I am a (fairly) new and thrifty mother who has decided to (mostly) stay at home and care for my one year old son. I call downtown Kansas City my home. My lab (who thinks he’s actually a bear) and my boxer (who acts more like a princess than a dog) were my first babies. I am very family oriented, but still know how to get down with my girls every now and then too! I try my hardest to live an active and healthy life and to drag my husband along with me. I love baking and will always have a weakness for sweet treats.

So, from me you’ll find posts about the craziness that comes with raising a toddler, wholesome and healthy recipes that won’t break the bank, some beginner DIY craft ideas as well as interesting stories that everyday life brings. My passion is throwing parties, so any chance I get I will be documenting my many random soirees along the way.

From my “Co-Bloggers”…

My mom, Bethany, has been a huge inspiration to me my whole life. My younger sister teases me because she says I am slowly turning into my mother!  I have always called my mom a “Jane of All Trades.” She is one of those people who knows a little bit about everything-and a lot about a lot of things too! She is (to name a few) a jewelry maker, a seamstress, a chocolatier, a landscaper, a lover of all crafts…and she’s pretty handy with a set of tools too! I can confidently say that there are not a lot of things left in the world of DIY that she hasn’t tried yet. I imagine her posts shall be innovative, artistic and sometimes maybe a little out there but one thing they'll never be is dull!

My dad and his partner, David and Josh, are the kings of restoration.  Whether it’s flipping a house built in the 1930s or repurposing a jewel they found at an antique store, their work is always exquisite. They have impeccable taste and a gift of combining vintage and modern to create something beautiful. A lot of their inspiration comes from all things mid-century. Stay posted to see their awesome work in before and after form!

My sister, Megan, is an aspiring fashion designer. She has created several unique collections for women and I am always stoked to see what she will do next. For the first time in our lives we currently live thousands of miles apart and my wardrobe is suffering from it. She is one of those lucky people who fashion comes easy to. Her eye for style is superb and I think sadly I may always rely on her help in that department! Stay fresh with me as we read her take on all things fashion and beauty.

My husband, Rob, is a master of meat. You can give him any cut of any meat and he will create for you the most mouth watering and delicious meal, better than any restaurant. He is also one of the most skilled mixologists I know. He presently bartends at an upscale hotel and has a passion for creating an array of complex and intriguing cocktails. We have been married almost three years and are inseparable. 

So I urge you to read on and get to know my amazing family a little better. I hope this blog will allow you to discover something that moves you. You never know what you’ll come across at Catch Bees withHoney.