#photography #life

Clumsy Oscar Awards?

Did you watch the 2013 Oscar Awards last night? Of course I was watching to admire the beautiful gowns and see which of my favorite films would win.  This was a tough year since almost all the films were very very good. It made it hard to pick a winner.  Big congratulations to Anne Hathaway, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence, Daniel Day-Lewis and Ben Affleck with Argo!  WooHoo!!   

Speaking of the winners...  Did any see Jennifer Lawrence FALL??   

When I saw that... I said " HA... that would totally be ME".  Everyday is a clumsy day in my world.  I don't think I've gone one day without running into a door, desk, table, jamming my toe (as I did this morning), or falling with every crack in the road.  Jennifer Lawrence if I were famous I would have fallen too.  ROCK IT!  I think she fell with grace! ;-)  

Also, did you see Adele's performance?  I just love her.... AMAZING!!!

Pretty in Pink Party

Last night, we celebrated my very good friend, Jamie's 40th birthday (20 x 2)!  Her sister, Liz arranged the surprise party and made sure everyone had some form of pink on.  I had to search high and low for some pink clothing for myself and Ryan since this isn't a color I normally wear.  I found this to be true with everyone at the party...pretty funny.  

 It was fun to see all of Jamie's loved ones come together for the BIG surprise! 

Happy 40th Jamie! We love you.  FORTY AND FIERCE!

Party Host Miss Liz & Me

Kirti & Chris

Melinda & Lysa

Flowers from Melinda

Ryan & Bridge

Kirti & Liz

Mark & Mickie

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jamie's PINK ensemble! 

Bridge, Jamie, Lysa

Happy 31st Birthday #hubby

Tom & Ryan as kids (can we say adorable??!!!)

 Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!  He seriously has a heart of gold and I feel truly blessed to have him in my life.  I'm wishing him the best 31st birthday!!  

Yes, I made this cake.  haha  Don't laugh too hard.  I know it's not pretty but it was GOOD!!

This is your life!

I saw this sign over the weekend and it captured my attention immediately with it's inspiring and positive words! 

It's good to remind yourself of these things when life brings you down.

Life is tough so make the best of it! 

Coffee with Tina Bark

Tina & Bridge

 Arizona had some beautiful weather this weekend and my time was spent outside as much as possible.  Sunday, I had the pleasure of hanging with my favorite jewelry designer and friend, Tina Bark.   She's moving to France in a few weeks so it was really nice to have some time to catch up on life.    We met up at this amazing venue called The Coffee Shop  ...check it out HERE!

YUM....coffee

After catching up on life, we started talking about social media, blogs, website, etc etc.  

FUN FUN FUN!

Tina just launched a new website and I was excited to hear she also started a blog.

Tina's Blog  & Tina's website

I look forward to following her next chapter in life in FRANCE! 

Happy Valentine's Day 2013

Happy Valentine's day!  

Today, is to remember all the people you love dearly.  

LOVE YOU GUYS!!! xoxo

This is my husband's interpretation of no gifts on v-day. #smarthubby

Crafty Valentine's from my god-daughter and her brother! LOVE!

#imadeface

Hello....all you smart phone geeks.....Have you heard of the app "I made face"?  I came across it over the weekend as it was rated the most downloaded free app on i-Tunes.  As I was watching the Grammys last night, I played around with the app to recreated myself. 

 Does this look like me?

High Tea: 50th Birthday

A spot of tea..... anyone?

A while back I came up with a brilliant idea of hosting a high tea for my aunt/god-mother's 50th birthday.  Funny thing.... I knew nothing about traditional teas at the time.  Seeking guidance in everyone I knew helped make this a true authentic English high tea.

It was a surprise party so we had people arrive early to enjoy small snacks and MIMOSAS! 

SET-UP

Nice Linens, fresh flowers, three tier tea server, tea pots and a variety of fun tea cups.

We had  4 loose teas and 6 tea pots.

Earl Grey and English Breakfast are a MUST at any high tea.  

These tea cozies helped keep the tea pots warm throughout the tea party.  

SURPRISE!  

My Aunt/God-mother was blindfolded and driven to my house.  She had no clue that her friends and family were ready to greet her once that blindfold came off.  

It was quite a SURPRISE. 

FOOD

I'm a bad blogger and forgot to take pictures of the beautiful food.  

Things you will need though......

First course: Tea sandwiches.  Variations of tuna, egg, cucumber, lox, etc.  

Second course: Scones!  I made scones for the first time ever and they came out pretty good. I found an easy mix from my local specialty store.  We had lavender, apricot and raisin scones.

You must have a variation of jams on the table.  We had apricot, strawberry, and homemade raspberry (made by my friend, Dee Dee).    You also must have clotted cream to keep things authentic.   Clotted cream is hard to find but worth it once you try it.

*Also make sure to have sugar cubes and milk on the table.  The English don't use cream in their tea but whole milk.

Third course: Petit Fours!  These are miniature tea cakes. DELICIOUS! 

There were 15 ladies total. Not everyone is pictured.

During the tea party we also played a few games....quizzes!  Everyone got into it and also learned a little about my aunt, tea and the year 1963.

PRESENTS!

Party Favors..... English Tea of course!

This tea party was so much fun and I think it's a great way to spend an afternoon with some fabulous woman.

Special thank you goes to my good friend, Dee Dee for supplying all the beautiful china, teapots and much much more.  Also, my friend Amy Savinon for custom designing all the decor as well.  You can find her work at, http://www.mypapertales.com/.  She's a fabulous designer!

CHEERIO!