Ugly Christmas Sweater Party 2013

I really wish December would slow down! I know I wait every year for Christmas but I don't want it to come too fast because it will go by too fast... Well.. I guess it's ok, makes you look forward to next Christmas! :)

This is the 2nd Ugly Christmas Sweater party our friend's John and Janassa have thrown, and it's my 2nd Ugly Sweater Party ever. I couldn't believe how expensive sweater's are. I think I'll be more prepared for next year. This year, as some of you may have seen, I decided to make matching sweaters for Oliver and I. It may not be a "ugly sweater" per say but it was complimented and I thought it was cheesy enough :)

 Like last year it was a lot of fun with drinks, food, laughs, and even a white elephant game. (Dirty Santa) Thank you guys for hosting again! I think we all we step up our game making our own sweaters for next year!

The awesome hosts

 

I can't tell which one's the real Christmas Tree!

 

30th Birthday Continued

I had a blast on my birthday party and was looking forward to taking the day off on my actual birthday. My special day falls on a Wednesday this year so I decided to take off and make it a pampering day for myself. I have to say it was very nice. First I had my favorite Filipino breakfast which is fried eggs with garlic fried rice(sinangag). Might sound funny to some of you but you don't know what you're missing! Oliver had to work so he couldn't spend all day with me but he did in the morning. :)

 

A few hours later I had my hair appointment and decided to do something different for my 30s!

 

I know, I look creepy

 

The result!

 

I went to the mall after to have lunch and shop a little before I went to my facial appointment.

Thanks to Groupon I got a European facial with massage valued at $85 for $37 at a place calls Kerri's Aesthetics in Carlsbad. That's a steal! 

I'd really like to do something like this every month. We'll see.

 

 

Later one of the Bff's came by to drop off my present and hung out with me! :) That was a nice end to the night.

 

I know this isn't the most exciting post but I mostly did it for myself so I can remember how great my big 3-0 birthday was. :) Bye my 20's! It's been fun.

 

30's.. I think I'm ready for you.

Mad Men 30TH Birthday Party

My friends know I love anything retro/vintage. One day, Oliver and I decided to watch the whole series of Mad Men just because it was based in the 1960's. Well I liked it so much I decided to have a Mad Men cocktail party for my big 3-0. The venue wasn't easy to find and I almost said forget it to even planning this party. I finally decided to ask my parents if I could have it at their place and we'll cover the food, drinks, and even clean up and YAY they agreed!

The week of the party was torture! I was so excited about it and I swear it was the longest week EVER. But finally it was here! Surprisingly we finished and prepared everything on time. I was so antsy about being on time and being ready on time but I'm glad to say it was a success! Everyone looked great with their 60s outfits and everyone had a good time. That is always important to me when we throw shindigs! ;)

Enjoy the pictures! Click to view larger.


This is carrot cake. I picked carrot cake because it's a classic cake. My friend made this from scratch.

 

The spread! I wanted to make the munchies 60's inspired as well.

 

 What's a cocktail party with out cocktails? I made a menu for 60's inspired drinks. Tom Collins, Mai Tai, Old Fashion, and screwdriver. I had all the ingredients and fixings and all guest had to do was just follow the recipe to make the cocktail they wanted!

Found these wine labels searching on google and printed and stuck it on!

Red velvet and yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting with different Mad Men pictures.

 

 The classic Jell-O mold! Orange Jell-O with mandarin oranges.

I found an app for my tablet called Vintage Photo booth so decided to make a backdrop and you can see I have photo props with candy cigarettes. I got to say those cigarettes got put to good use! I printed out the character faces from AMC's website.

Backdrop: Just got 2 foil curtains and put them together. I used a black plastic table cloth to cover the painting behind. I actually wanted all silver but this was all they had. Still looks nice though.

The back yard all lit up. The hubby was putting up tiki torches.

 

Most of the crowd

Everyone said I looked like Audrey Hepburn. I wasn't trying to just happened to :) I just wanted to look the part!

 

 My Gifts :) I feel so loved.

 

Mad Men 30th Birthday http://theriverasblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/mad-men-30th-birthday-party.html

Anniversary # 2

Wow has it really been 2 years already?! Seems like yesterday that we were celebrating our 1st year anniversary!

Our Anniversary falls on a Tuesday this year and we couldn't really go out to celebrate because right now, Oliver works from 2pm to 10pm. The plan was to celebrate the weekend after our anniversary.
 I asked Oliver to plan our celebration since I did it last year...and I like a man with plan!
Even though I drilled it in that the celebration would continue the coming Saturday, I got a surprise call at work from Oliver on our actual anniversary day. He called from the security area at my work. He never comes unannounced so I was surprised and asked him what he was doing here and he said he doesn't know LOL. 

When I come down to see him he has a bouquet of flowers and a chocolate gift basket and said happy anniversary! This guy.. <3
It was so sweet and so thoughtful. Not only that but he bought lunch to. (Popeye's! YUM). My work has a private park with picnic benches so it was nice to have lunch together there.

 

 

 

After that Oliver went strait to work and I'd see him when he got home. I wanted to do something a little special for him so I made a cake and had a nice dinner ready for him. I usually have dinner waiting for him but I wanted to make it a little fancier.

 

 

 

The upcoming weekend, we celebrated an early dinner at an Italian restaurant called Il Fornaio in Del Mar. The reason it was early (2pm) was because Oliver knew one of the guys that worked there and he definitely took care of us. Our meal was taken care of. His friend set us up outside with a nice ocean view. The food was delicious and the place is very nice. I plan to go back. Thanks Gregg!!

 

 

 

 

 

Butternut Squash Ravioli was delicious

 

I will get this next time. Risotto cooked in red wine and steak. 

 

 

Hubby Approved.

 

 

 

Happy 2 years babe. Looking forward to celebrating 200 more! I love you. ;)