P.A.R.T.Y.

Last week my brother's and I threw our parents a 60th surprise birthday party.  Their birthdays are a month apart, so we picked a date right between.  It was a blast.  There was a great turn out.  We had a hot dog bar with classic chicago toppings as well as exotic ones like basil and fresh mozzarella.  I also made all the decorations for the part.  Here is the banner I made.

This was easy to make.  If you have a standard inkjet printer.  Each triangle is about 8x8.  i used curling ribbon to connect the triangles.

Next I snagged this idea from Martha Stewart.  I printed out old photographs of my parents.  Luckily my mom had just undergone the project of converting our old photographs to digital.  Next I created these collages in the shape of 60.  This was an easy project, and everyone loved it.

To top the whole evening I made toppers for my guests heads.  I am quite notorious for making tiny hats.  These tiny hats really made the night special.

J'adore

I Love these state, country, and city cutting boards.  Maybe I'm getting old, but I have become pretty obsessed with my roots.  I heart Chicago, and I bet you heart where you live too.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AHeirloom?section_id=7044086

Illinois

Michigan

Brooklyn

France

The Singleman Affair

Here are some photos of my brother for his band The Singlemean Affair.  They were just published in Time Out magazine.
 http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/music/7543095/the-singleman-affair-interview


My brother is also playing a show Thursday March, 10th at The Whistler.  2421 N. Milwaukee, the show starts at 9.  Check them out.

Some Pillow Talk

Andrew and I just bought a futon.  It's a pretty nice looking futon, however it needs some throw pillows.  Throughout my search for the perfect throw pillows, I noticed there are some really cute pillows out there.  Here are a few.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/secdus?ref=seller_info

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Kainkain?ref=seller_info

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lovecalifornia?page=1

J'adore

http://popchartlab.com/index.php/poster_detail/the_splendiferous_array_of_culinary_tools/

J'adore

J'adore Christina Christoforou and her hair portraits.  Let the guessing games begin!  http://www.christinachristoforou.com/

Rockstars

The Presidents of the United States

The First Ladies of the United states

My Favorite Things About Christmas!

So I decided to compile a list of my favorite things about Christmas.  So here we go and in no particular order.

#1  Tinsel.  Which can be shown by this great picture of my mom.  I think she is about 5 here, which would date it to 1956.  My love of tinsel stems from this picture.  My grandma use to tell my mom you had to place tinsel on your tree one strand at a time....yeah right...but still I admire the meticulousness.

#2  It's a Wonderful Life.  I don't think any explanation is necessary.  We watch it every Christmas Eve before bed.

#3  The crazy Christmas house on Logan Boulevard.  Best house ever.  

#4  Wrapping presents.  I love it.  I think I could do it professionally.  It takes me forever to pick the paper and bows out.  I really love the thicker vintage looking paper offered at paper source.

#5  Toffee.  I make toffee with my mom every year.  It's a pain in the butt to make, but so worth it.

#6  Scrooged.   Again I don't feel the need to explain.

#7  Ornaments.  In specific my mom's ornaments from growing up.  I've admired them since I was little.

#8  The song "Baby It's Cold Outside".  I've decided to demonstrate this song through this clip from Elf.

#9  The Sauna.  Every Christmas Eve my family takes a sauna.  I know that sounds weird, but my grandpa built a sauna at our family farm.  Every Christmas Eve we get our swimsuits on, pile into the sauna, sweat it up and then roll in the snow.  It's the best tradition.

#10  Christmas Cards.  Getting and receiving both are fun.  Evidenced by this card Andrew made.

Merry Christmas everybody!  Have a great one.