Halloween Bunco

It's time once again for my Halloween Bunco.

I have written my annual invitation poem,

but this

year I have added something new....

It’s that time once again, but look for a Twist

And if you dare to not come, the Powers at be will be Pissed

Rumor has it that a Masquerade Party has been planned

With Murder and Mystery, it’s bound to be Grand

An invitation will arrive with your part, which is Key

To give you the tools you will need to administer the Third Degree

You will play an important part,

so bring your Wits and your Cunning

And a Masquerade Mask that is both Glitzy and Stunning

You may Dress as you wish, but in Character I would Choose

Rewards will be given for those that step it up and Amuse.

October 28 is the date I think would be best

Let me know if this works to eliminate my stress

A delicious Mexican dish is the price of Admission

not to mention a lovely Bunco Tradition

Please come ready to play and help solve this Masquerade Mystery

And I apologize ahead…….you do know my History.

We shall be playing a murder mystery...

Something I have been wanting to

try for a long time.

Mystery at the Masquerade Ball,

I will let you know how it goes.

I'm hoping it will become our new tradition

and will be a party to die for.

It's a Jungle out there!!!

My daughter Kristi and I recently

hosted a baby shower for our good friend

Sheryl.  

Sheryl and her husband

Sal are expecting a little brother for their small son Leo.

Taking our inspiration from the jungle bedding

Sheryl has chosen for Aidan's new

room we designed her party.

We loved the bright fresh colors that are

so popular right now and decided to

stay away from the baby pastels...

it was great fun!

Oranges, turquoise, yellow and greens...all

anchored with brown.  Very boy but very bright.

We served luncheon and each dish was named with our jungle theme.

Menu:

Blazing Safari Salad (Lime Cilantro Salad)

Crocodile Smile Sandwiches (Chicken salad on Croissants)

Jungle Vine Surprise (Capresse Salad)

Piranha Bites (Pesto Pasta Salad)

Wild Passion Fruit (Fruit Platter)

Jungle Juice (Sangria)

Tiger Tail Tea (Stone Gable Tea)

Kristi made these darling cards to

identify the food,

using the graphics from the invitations

she designed.

The food was so pretty and good, but after making

everything ourselves we were beginning to think

catering may be the answer for next time.

Kristi made the cake and cookies too.

The cake was absolutely adorable as well as

delicious. 

One tier was lemon cake with citrus cream cheese filling and one tier was cookies and cream cake with chocolate mousse filling.

It was hard to decide which one to choose

so most people had a bit of each.

The cookies were decorated with

animal print icing...too cute!!

We used these as favors and the

colors matched our tables.

We used receiving blankets as toppers on the tables,

tying in all of our colors. 

We had this idea several years ago and

it's nice because the decoration

becomes part of Sheryl's gift.  She got

to take home all of the blankets and animals on the tables.

  I'm a sucker for a paper lantern of any color, shape or size.

They always say party to me.

Aren't these colors happy?

and these little stuffed animals were the perfect colors.

We tied each chair with an cheetah print ribbon to give it

a uniform look.  Love this ribbon.

We even swung a vine by her seat and hung

little outfits on it.  

They also became decoration as well as gift.

After working so hard on this shower...

we realized we ran out of

time to really take some good pictures. 

I can't believe we didn't

get a picture of the guest of honor.

You know you're having a good

time when you forget to take pictures

during the event.

Maybe we can talk Sheryl's mom Donna into sending us a couple of Sheryl.

I think Aidan is due any day....

so we are wishing Sheryl

a happy and healthy delivery

Dancing with the Girls

DWTS Party - Season 11

I am a fan of DWTS.  

 I am a late bloomer in the

the land of Dancing Fans...but have become a 
Devoted Fan.  

My daughter Kristi and

I decided it was just too much fun to keep our enthusiasm

to ourselves, so we decided to have

our second DWTS party. 

Since our party participants have expanded, it was

necessary to move the party to my house.

On Monday night, for the admission price of 1 appetizer,

we served Makstinis, ate delicious appetizers and watched.....

Our mirror ball was in place

and we rolled out the red carpet...

and prepared for our Stars...

V.I.P.'s only of course

We had a great time, and everyone shared

their favorites...and least favorite dancers. 

We had a lot to say about the various performances.

Did anyone have an opinion on Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke?

We did!!!

The "Situation" was also a major topic of conversation.

We sipped our Makstinis (since Maks is one of my favorites) 

and enjoyed an assortment of appetizers...

Kurt Warner tacos, and The Situation Pork Balls,

to mention two of the more creatively named ones.

Kristi made us pumpkin spice cupcakes

with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

What I wasn't expecting was how funny and creative these ladies are. 

We had our own judges table

(because we, and Michael Bolton are not always

in agreement with the Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno)

 They rose to the occassion, were extremely accurate

and kept us laughing.

So here are Carrie Ann (Sheryl) Len (Rosemary) and Bruno (Julia)

colorfully critiqued the Dancers

and here Carrie Ann (Tammie) is thoroughly giving her evaluation....

but Len (Katina) pointed out
that she was not watching very closely
because she was too busy doodling a pic
of Margaret Choo.
Busted!

and of course Bruno (Laurie) was not to be out done

Overall they did manage to give us their scores.

Peggy and a friend

and our pool. 

Who do you think will win this Season?
Poor Delores is already out.  She had Margaret Cho, who
was eliminated last night.

What does all of this mean?  We will be having a finale
party....  Put it on
your calender, it's a date.
Enjoy the show.

DWTS - Season 11

It's that time again....Dancing with the Stars season 11 cast and pairings have been announced.

• Derek Hough and Jennifer Grey, the now-50-year-old actress is best known for playing Baby in "Dirty Dancing.

• Louis Van Amstel and Margaret Cho, a comedian, fashion designer, actress, author and recording artist

• Tony Dovolani and Audrina Patridge, an actress from "The Hills" who was also in the horror flick "Sorority Row."

• Corky Ballas and Florence Henderson, the actress is best known for her role as Carol Brady, the mom from "The Brady Bunch."

• Mark Ballas and Bristol Palin, the 19-year-old daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Bristol has a young son with Levi Johnston. She's been engaged to Johnston twice, but they are currently broken up.

• Karina Smirnoff and Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, the "Jersey Shore" star refers to his toned abdominal muscles as "the situation."

• Chelsie Hightower and Michael Bolton, the Grammy award wining singer and songwriter is currently on tour for his new album "One World One Love"

• Kym Johnson and David Hasselhoff, actor from "Baywatch" and former host of "America's Got Talent"

• Anna Trebunskaya and Kurt Warner, NFL quarterback who played for the Arizona Cardinals, The New York Giants and The St. Louis Rams

• Lacey Schwimmer and Kyle Massey, rapper and Disney star who was in "That's so Raven" and "Cory in the House." He's from Atlanta.

• Cheryl Burke and Rick Fox, NBA champion who played for the L.A. Lakers and the Boston Celtics

What exactly does this mean?  A party of course.

October 4th I will host a DWTS party at my house.

All are invited...with one appetizer as the cost of admission.

We had a blast last time...so come for the food,

friends and fun. 

More info to follow, just get

it on the calendar.

I would love to know what everyone thinks of this cast,

and who your favorites are...or just who you love

to hate and who are you said to see missing????

So let the mirror ball trophy games begin .....

where everyone is a star....

Friends Hawaiian Birthday Dinner

Aloha

Happy Birthday

Kevin, Kris, Jae and Marc

On Saturday night we celebrated "4"
count'em, "4" birthdays. 

The hubster and I celebrated with 3 dear couples,
and one person in each of our couples

celebrate their birthday within

2 weeks of each other.

We all enjoy the ambience of Hawaii

so I made my theme Hawaiian. 

I had planned on eating outside, with the help of a
couple of heaters however,
Mother Nature had different plans.... and when Mother
Nature speaks .......
I woke up on Saturday to gale force winds (not
really but windy enough to destroy my yard and my plans)

So Plan II
Bring the Tiki man inside

 I set my diningroom for the
Hawaiian birthday festivities ...

I don't really have any Hawaiian decor, so I improvised

with some shells, fabric that reminded me of the ocean, and some

cool silver coral and shell items that I picked up that morning at Ross.

I set the table

These look like silver but are actually ceramic

(which I discovered on the way home

when I broke my coral candlestick)

I threw in a few Tiki guys

Seagulls eye view

Wooden chargers for that luau look?

The blue glasses have designs of shells and sea life.

I need to work on my Hawaiian collection

I do love the coral candleholder though,

and flower choices were slim pickin's

This was a tropical as I could find

(helpful hint from the florist....if you

want this style of flower to last remove the stamen, the

pollen causes the petals to die)

It was more or less an explosion of color...maybe a bit too much

It looks a little better with less light...

and even better with guests

see how happy everyone is, that's because I had already fed them....

we were getting ready for gifts and cake.

Our menu:

Salmon Salad

Marinated Flank Steak

Grilled Asparagus

Baked shells with chicken and alfredo sauce

Assorted Berries

Hawaiian rolls

Birthday Boy - Marc

Birthday Boy - Kevin

Birthday Girl - Jae

Birthday Girl - Kris

The Cake

Kristi did the cake in a Hawaiian theme. 

Tim did the surboard in fondant.

The words on the side of the surfboard are

"Happy Birthday" in Hawaiian.

The cake was iced in buttercream with

buttercream flowers which was just gorgeous.

The inside was just as gorgeous...

It was chocolate espresso cake with chocolate gaunache filling.

Buttercream Detail

And a candle each to blow out for the birthday kiddos...

Get ready....get set .......

Blow out those candles.

The rest of the guests:

Tom - eternally young

Greg - bigger than life

Cheryl - reflecting

Happy Birthday Friends ....

Boys

and Girls

Mahalo for joining us

and

"Hau oli La Hanau"

(Happy Birthday)

I linked late to Tablescape Thursday hosted by

Between Naps on the Porch