5.28.2010

Memorial Day

Memorial Day Weekend officially marks the start of summer in my mind.  We'll be at a wedding, but I'm sure we'll sneak in a BBQ this weekend.  Hope you have a wonderful long weekend!  


Some inspiration for your Memorial Day celebrations: think shades of soft red and navy blue, galvanized tubs, sunshine, farm stand fruit, lemonade, seafood and skewers on the grill.   Enjoy! 


5.27.2010

sex and the city bachelorette

I saw this on Party Perfect, and had to share this bachelorette party, as it fit perfectly with today's SATC bridal shower.  


Check out this cake, it's perfection!!


...it gets better, an aerial view...

Sex and the City inspired shower

My fantastic friend Anjlee stopped by to share the shower she threw one of her friends, appropriately it's a Sex and the City themed shower! Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~


Do you and your friends remind you of Carrie, Charolette, Samantha, and Miranda? With the big movie debut of Sex in the City 2 today, get your girlfriends together, throw on a fabulous dress and pair of shoes, and celebrate the night away.

A couple of years ago, I threw a Sex in the City themed bridal shower, but you can use the same ideas for a fabulous girls night in.

Decoration:
I wanted to decorate specific parts of the room in the venue, themed towards the characters.
  • The venue itself was very modern and chic, much like Samantha’s style.
  • I collected fabulous dresses and shoes from my closet and hung them up, similar to Carries closet.
  • The pink and black just reminded me of Charolette, very girly.
  • And lastly, the TV with SATC show is very much like Miranda.




{photo credit: Pals City Developers}

 Food:
I wanted to keep this very Upper East Side with light nibblers: cheese & crackers, vinaigrette pasta, croissants with cheese and nutella, fruit plate, etc.  If you want something more filling, you can always order in Chinese (just like Miranda).


Dessert:
Cupcakes (with pink frosting, coconut)
Chocolate Truffles


Mixology:
Have fun with this. Create signature drinks for each one of you girls and name it based on the characters (ex: The Carrie, The Miranda, The Samantha, The Charolette)- all in fabulous martini glasses.  
  • Cosmoplotian
  • Champagne
  • Long Island Iced-Tea
  • Flirtini (Vodka, Champagne, Pineapple Juice)
  • For more signature drink ideas, check out USWeekly's SATC2 cocktails


Favors: (Inspiration from the Post-It breakup between Carrie and Burger)
Pink & Black Love Notes (Post Its)



Activities:
None other than GIRL TALK.


~Anjlee

5.26.2010

Sex and the City 2

The ladies are back!  May 27th, Sex and the City 2 hits the theaters, I couldn't be more excited.  Whip up a batch of the Carrie (vanilla with Nutella and coconut), the Charlotte (vanilla with white chocolate frosting), the Miranda (chocolate with chocolate frosting), and the Samantha (red velvet with cream cheese frosting), and adorn with these fun SATC toppers!


Download these cupcake toppers via Hostess with the Mostess, here.

How fun are these cupcakes!


5.24.2010

A Purple & Gold Affair

Friends of ours are getting married this weekend, and we couldn't be more excited for them.  The hubs is a groomsmen and just got his tie/cuff links/pocket square in the mail the other day.  


I love the gold paisley pattern, which got me thinking what goes well with gold...a deep purple or plum or aubergine/eggplant.  Some inspiration for your plum & gold event, Enjoy!


Wizard of OZ

We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of OZ....  I love this idea for a birthday party.  Wizard of Oz is a classic and what a fun way to celebrate!

I love these fun ideas from Kara's Party Ideas  From yellow brick road RiceKrispy treats, flying monkeys, house landing on top of the wicked witch, a hot air balloon (perfect for a photo opt) and mini picnic basket favors.

I love this as a desert option, found here.

5.23.2010

SPA themed bridal shower

We threw a Spa themed bridal shower for one of our best friends. With pretty blue details and a Tiffany's inspired cake, it was a blast to host. 


Dessert included a Tiffany inspired cake and a chocolate fountain.




Guests received gift bags that included: Old Navy flip flops in white, manicure kits from Target, customized hand scrubs, and H20 samples.  
I had called our local H20 store and they were willing to have one of their employees come to the shower to give free hand massages; the also provided us with samples from their SPA line.  The blue gift bags and SPA letters were from Michaels, the hand towels from Target, and the blue baskets and mini glass jars were from the dollar store.


We created a hand scrub station where guests could create their own hand scrubs with customized scents.  The theme of "Anjlee & Co. Spa" was carried out in the gift bags, hand scrubs and cake.



The Bride-to-be and her bridesmaids.


5.18.2010

{Flirty Cupcakes}



On our last trip to NYC we stopped at a food cart after the bars and had some yummy chicken and rice.  Sadly here in Chicago we don't have any food carts, but we do have a cupcake van.  Flirty Cupcakes ~  Similar to an ice-cream truck, our cute, cupcake van will cruise around Chicago meeting the sugar rush needs of those who delight in eating fresh baked cupcakes - curbside!  Ok I'm already drooling, what a fantastic idea! A cupcake will run your $3.25 and $35 gets you a dozen.  Their 7 delectable flavors:  Devil In Disguise (red velvet), No Plain Jane (vanilla), PB&C (peanut butter & chocolate),  Curious George (banana chocolate), McDreamy (chocolate), CBFF (chocolate with Nutella ganache), and Coconut Nuts (vanilla coconut).  I have it on good authority that the Curious George is a party in your mouth. 

 So the next time you see a van with cupcakes on the back, see above, wave 'em down and let us know what flavor you had!

5.17.2010

pink and grey baby shower

I'm loving pink & grey/pewter and yellow & grey color combinations for spring. Check out this adorable pink and grey baby shower from Couture Parties. From the banner to the baby bottles with pink straws, this party is simple, elegant, and so chic!





This is so sweet!! Animal crackers as a centerpiece, ingenious!

5.16.2010

Silver Moon

I love sweet treats, so it comes as no surprise that I love ice-cream.  But ice-cream that's flavored with liqueur, yum and so grown up!  Silver Moon serves up ice-cream and sorbets that are liqueur infused.  Try flavors like Praline Irish Cream, Coffee with Brownie Bits, Creme de Mint Chip, Mango Mimosa, and Strawberry Daiquiri.  Place an order via Ice-Cream Source, and you'll be enjoying this delectable treat in just 24 hours! A pint runs $8 and 4 pints (try multiple flavors) is just $30.  I love this as a hostess gift, or even as a thank you for your bridal party :)

5.14.2010

CupCake Happy Hour

MORE (1 E. Deleware- State & Deleware) is serving up Free cocktail flavored cupcakes from 5-7:30 PM!!!




Happy Friday!

Ready for Take Off birthday

I saw this fun birthday via Swanky Tables and had to share.  I love the idea of an air plane themed party.  Visit Melangerie on Etsy to purchase the printable template for just $10!!! (You get all of this: Invitations,  Runway Table Runner, Place mats, Juice Box Wraps, Water Bottle Wraps, Napkin Rings, Party Hats, Favor Labels, 3 Full-Page Patterned Sheets, “Ready for Takeoff” Pennant Banner).  PS she has some amazing things in her Etsy store!

I love the idea of using a boarding pass as the invite!

Other fun ideas:
Pilot: birthday boy/girl
Air steward/stewardess:  Parents/hosts
Place Cards: paper planes
In flight entertainment: Movies!
In flight meals served on a rolling cart

5.13.2010

the Buzzzz on this Bumble Bee Birthday


This is sooo cute!  Imprintables always has the cutest party invitations and I can't get over how adorable this Bee themed party is.  I love the bee details from the honeycomb back drop to the cute bee on the cake!

Check out the invitation and sign, all made in this Bee theme by Imprintables. 


And the pale yellow bee theme is carried out in all the little details.  Like in these treats, bee cupcakes, honey popcorn and this adorable cake!

5.11.2010

Cinnamon Rolls

For mother's day I decided to whip up some cinnamon rolls, my mom and I used to stop by Cinnabon whenever we'd go shopping so I thought it was an appropriate mother's day dessert.  I saw this yummy dessert on Bakerella, where else, and couldn't wait to make them.  I decided to make a third of  Pioneer Woman's original Cinnamon Roll recipe, which yields approximately 12 cinnamon rolls.   You'll need appropriately 3 hours before you can chow down.


Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1/3 cup Sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
  • 2.6 cups (Plus 1/3 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
  • 1/3 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
  • 1/3 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
  • 1/3 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
  • Plenty Of Melted Butter
  • .6 cups Sugar
  • Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
  • Ground Nutmeg

~~~~~~~~~~
Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pot.  Heat until right before boiling, at this point you'll want to turn off the heat and let the mixture cool, this takes about 20 minutes.  

Make sure the mixture is lukewarm and not hot, add the Active Dry yeast.  

Let this sit for a minute and then add the flour, stir together, cover it and let the dough rise for at least an hour, or in my case head out for sushi and some sake. 

After the mixture has been left alone for an hour, add the extra 1/3 cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir together, let this rise for at least an hour.  I came back from dinner to mix this together and let it sit overnight, also acceptable. 

Once your dough is done rising it'll look something like this.

Make sure you heavily flour your work surface, the last thing you want is for your dough to not roll and be stuck to your counter top.  Preheat your oven to 375.  Take your dough and roll it out into a thin, rectangle, mine looked like this, somewhat resembling a rectangle.

Melt or nuke 1/3-1/2 cup of butter in the microwave, drizzle over the dough.  Add the sugar, cinnamon (plenty of this, the last thing you want if for your cinnamon rolls to not be cinnamony enough) and a little nutmeg (I like cinnamon and nutmeg, the original recipe doesn't add any nutmeg).

Time to start rolling, starting in the middle begin rolling the dough towards you, try to keep the roll as tight as possible.  

My roll wasn't as tight on one end and some of the sugar fell out when I cut it :(  

Pinch the seams together to seal it.  Cut the rolls into 2-3 inch pieces and place in a buttered baking dish, you'll want to let the dough rise for about 20-30 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes.
How yummy do these look, and they haven't even baked yet !

Ta Da..

So good, its a party in your mouth!

I think I am now qualified to pursue a career at Cinnabon.  These were so yummy and sweet they really didn't need the frosting, which was a good thing, considering mine didn't turn out quite right.   You can check out the recipe for the maple frosting Pioneer Woman used.  I think next time I'll try making some Cinnabon inspired frosting.   Enjoy!