Part 2: The Beach Party

While I'm still sorting through all the beach party photos I thought I'd share with you part of the party entertainment. While trying to rack my brain what would be a good show for a beach party something clicked..........beach, frisbees, dog show! BRILLIANT if I do say so myself. This is the type of entertainment that you have to have a lot of room for and lucky for me we did. The next problem was finding a frisbee dog show, I had never used one before and no one I knew had either. Just an FYI there are not many out there and the odds of finding one available at the last minute are pretty much second to none. But I was determined..........and the Client was willing. Lucky for me I found Disc Dogs in Southern California.


All these dogs are family dogs and loved all the attention. What was so neat to watch was how anxious they were to get out there and perform. You could tell they loved it. Unfortunately I don't have a super fast camera but did manage to get a few photos of the dogs airborne.

It really was a very cool show and not everyday you have a client with that much space available for this type of entertainment. The dogs don't normally perform on sand but they did a great job considering they had to deal with not only the sand but the wind.


After the show the children had a chance to visit with the dogs. I would definitely say the kids had a blast (and the grown ups too). Thank you Sung and everyone at Disc Dogs you were great!!
If you have 100 feet x 30 feet of space I would definitely recommend having a frisbee dog show at your next event.

Part 1; The Beach Party

What looks wrong to you in that picture.........Hmmm maybe a few dark clouds??? Mean looking sky, maybe you think it is in the evening and is getting dark? NOT, that is 12:30 p.m. in the middle of the afteroon in the middle of June at the beach............go figure

It finally happened..........13 years I have been planning events and have never been rained on. I have come close a couple of times but knew in advance to be prepared. It finally happened no advance notice and rain out of the blue, all morning, right up to afternoon. And of all the times to get rained on in the the middle of June at the beach.....What the heck!

It would have been one thing if I even had a clue we might get rain, then shame on me for not being prepared, but get this the weather report while it was raining never mentioned rain and said 0% percent chance of precipitation. We waited and we waited for the rain to pass and no sooner would it stop raining it would start raining again. And it wasn't just rain it was wind and rain so even the things we had under cover were getting wet. We waited patiently until we could wait no more and we quickly had to come up with a Plan B, needless to say quite a few things changed rather quickly. Thank goodness we had a client with some room............

Stay tuned......to be continued

Diva Spa Party

A few weeks ago we helped Janay celebrate her birthday in style with a Diva Spa Party.

It was a great evening with lots of fun extras provided by Janay's Mom. She provided all the girls with their own pink spa robes, fancy flip flops and spa goody bags.

The evening began with a sit down dinner in the backyard with a fancy Italian diner served by Janay's dad all dressed up in his tuxedo pants, shirt and bow tie.

They then moved inside to enjoy a relaxing evening of spa fun.

Even Janay's brother and his friend joined in the evenings fun, it was the first time we had ever had boys at a spa party. But they were good sports donning their own bathrobes and enjoying a facial, hand soak and pedicure. I believe that memory will not be forgotten.

Thank you Janay for letting us help you celebrate your Birthday. To see more photos of the Diva Spa Party click here and then click on Spa Parties.

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to all the wonderful Fathers and men in your life! I am so thankful for the amazing Fathers in my life. My Dad, who is and always has been there for me. When I look back at my relationship with my Dad I always thought he was a little overbearing, but now in the wisdom of my age I realize that everything he did and does, he did with love for me, my children and my family. I love you Dad.

And for the other Father in my life, my husband. My absolute best friend, my soul mate and the one that I have come to depend on more than I have ever depended on anyone in my life. He might be a little impatient at times but he would do anything for me and our children. He is always there for them, whether they know it yet, but with the wisdom of age they will see that everything he does for them is done with love. I am so blessed to have two such strong Fathers in my life and I hope that you are just as blessed.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers, Dads, Husbands and men who didn't have to be a Fathers but have taken on that role unselfishly. They might not say much but they give of themselves everyday in the things that they do not the words that they speak.

Custom Crazy

Since I told you how excited I was about the upcoming last minute beach party and my visions, I thought I'd share with you what a custom party looks like around here, some early before pictures. That used to be my living room, but it is much easier to sort everything in this space, because as I walk past it all the time I remember things that might not be on my list. Speaking of lists, my lists consist of about 20 pages and I carry them everywhere and update them each night. I am a fanatic about lists, I get a lot of satisfaction crossing things off my list. I have to keep detailed lists, because forgetting something to take to a job site is not an option. What you see above is about 20 ft. of stuff and the mail order deliveries haven't arrived yet. Its a lot of shopping and stuff that needs to be sorted and put together, but this is what I live for the details.

Sometimes when you are shopping for a last minute event you have to purchase things you might not really be crazy about, but have to get them in case they are the last ones around. Like the buckets above. I'm not really sure what they were thinking when they made the weird brown putty colored shovels, but rest assured if I had to use these buckets I was going to lose the shovels.

But then I was saved I found these much more colorful buckets with cute colored shovels, so I will be returning the other ones. These will match the theme better, thank goodness.

Here are the buckets in the beginning stages of assembly; all lined up and as items are bought they are added to the bucket until they are ready for assembly. They might not look like much right now, but just wait until I'm done with them. They will be adorable.

Look what I found a cute beach ball bag for putting the non-winner game prizes in and then I bought another one, because I'm sure there is something else I can put in it.

Stay tuned............more to come

Happy Monday

Happy Monday................I guess. Probably wont be blogging much until after this weekend, or next weekend or even next weekend. This is terrible of course because I have done some fun things but just don't have the time to upload photos because I am working on other fun things.

This will be quite a week, the Beach Party I told you about didn't 100% confirm until Saturday afternoon, sooooooooooo my time frame window became much tighter and much more difficult. This puts a lot of pressure on me and how I use my time while still managing my business and taking care of other clients needs. Custom parties require a lot of time, this is probably the shortest notice I have ever had for a custom party and am probably crazy for taking it on, but I love a challenge. Besides I get to use the colorful umbrellas, YEAH! Not only was my partner in crime okay with the idea, he told me that I should buy the last 7 of them YEAH & HAPPY DANCE! See I knew there was room in the warehouses for some little old umbrellas : )

Stay tuned....................

Beach Party!

I'm working on a custom Beach Party themed Kindergarten Graduation Party on a little short notice {its next weekend, ahhhh} but anywhoo thats how it goes in this business. And the best part its on the beach, so how much more perfect could the theme be. I love doing custom Children's parties, I love incorporating games, activities, decor and personalized touches that all match the theme! It's even better when the Client gives me total control, there is nothing better. So now the voices and visions are starting to take shape and while they are a little blurry they are taking a fun colorful direction.........

I am having visions of beach balls, and beach balls, and more beach balls. I'm thinking of how many different things I can do with beach balls. You will have to check back to see what I came up with.

And what could be more fun than umbrellas that are colored like a beach ball. I have always wanted to do a party using these colorful umbrellas. I have just been waiting for the perfect theme, I know that if I use them with beach balls and a colorful beach theme they will work. I can just see them over tables with colorful table linens, with I don't know a cute centerpiece made out of beach buckets.

Speaking of beach buckets, I'm seeing lots of beach buckets for all different things and decor. I love it when a party theme is being used when all the theme items are in season and are in the stores at great prices. I love to make goody bags out of beach buckets and right now there are lots of beach toys available at great pricing, so the visions continue.........

I can't wait to see the final result..............stay tuned...........................

One of those days........

It's cloudy overcast and looking like its going to rain.........they say its going to rain but who knows. I have so much to get done and just can't get motivated, probably going to need a large iced coffee and work late into the night. When I can't get motivated I tend to poke around; organize my computer folders, delete old stuff (you know that stuff you don't think you will ever use again and then a week later you need it), organize my desk, organize my calender, etc....

Then I stumbled on last Summer's vacation photos............I love vacations..............I love roadtrip vacations. Last Summer we did a 2 week road trip up the California and Oregon Coast, it was wonderful, but weird weather. If you happen to notice that we have on the same sweatshirts over and over again, its because we do. Who knew it would be 60 degrees and raining from the moment we crossed the Oregon border.

Road trips are just more relaxing for me, plus it makes packing so much easier, if they [your husband] see you carrying small bags to the car, they dont actually realize that you packed 10 of them until you get to the hotel the first night and with a handy dandy roof rack bag there is no limit to what you can buy! On one road trip I bought a bear carved out of wood, fit in the car nicely! Would have had a hard time getting it on the plane unnoticed!

Sorry didn't mean to change the subject...... I get to spend time with my husband and kids and stop and see whatever we want to see and do and sometimes you just never know what you will see........

like a dinosaur at the side of the road just waiting to have his photo taken with you.............i think everyone has a photo of themselves at some age in front of some giant extinct animal LOL!

a baby black panther that needs his back rubbed...................... what is it with wild animal parks in the middle of nowhere???????????????? {still cool though}

then there are the 1,327 souvenir shops and the weird people in them..........ooops thats my daughter : )..........of course they saved us we had to buy our beautiful coats in one since I never thought to pack jackets to take. Jessica is modeling one right now..............they were perfect waterproof, had a hood and were lined, however my fasionista daughter made sure we looked in every souvenir shop in town just in case they sold them in a better color. Sorry darlin' pink, brown, blue or black. We got one in each color of course! Just easier when grabbing them out of the back of the car, we knew whose was whose.

But then you also get to see things like this...........the back side of water

and this...................... a stream to have a picnic by.................

and this.....................

and this.............. and that is why I love road trips.

Happy Monday!

I hope you have a Wonderful Day!

Balloon Ceilings

I love doing balloon ceilings for parties. They just add that extra something special to the room, they set a fun, intimate mood with a little dazzle added.

Often with decorating a space you have to be careful how much you to. Keeping it simple with balloons to add a fun WOW factor is just the right touch. To try to do too much in a space that doesn't quite match the party theme or color can get expensive and labor intensive.

I have done this ceiling many times at Valentino Restaurant but never in this color combination. It was like Tiffany's exploded on the ceiling.

Tis' The Season already????

Well the call has gone out and the answers are still pending. How much will the big trees go for this year. Seems strange to be talking to the Christmas Tree farm in May but the holiday season never really ends around here. From the time we are through finishing take downs I am working on price quotes, contracts, taking notes and working on new ideas for next year. So my FYI Tip for pricing this year is that Christmas tree pricing should come down again this year, Yeah!

Unfortunately, there is a lot more work involved with a fresh tree. I spend hours looking at trees trying to find the best shape and quality for my clients. I prefer to only decorate Noble Fir trees, they are sturdy, a beautiful shape and lend themselves to being decorated. I go through the tree with a flashlight to make sure she is okay. I have to be very picky since I am the one who has to make the tree look great and am often picking the tree 1 to 2 weeks before they are actually going to be delivered and installed. I have to trust that once I pick my tree she will look the same when we have her delivered that can be a very nail biting moment.


Then you have to be very careful delivering and setting up the tree another nail biting moment, things like "I hope it isn't too big!" "I hope it isn't too small!" "I hope the client likes it!" and the worst one of all "Oh my gosh will it fit through the door!" all go running through your mind while the tree is being carried in. There are so many variables involved with a fresh tree it can be a very stressful situation for me and my staff.

But I do believe the worst part is going back to see your beautiful fresh tree at the end of the season and it looks like this. This was once a gorgeous 10 ft. noble fir tree that was full and green. Unfortunately, even when the trees are watered regularly they still don't last. This was a commercial installation and part of the reason that the tree doesn't last so well is because of the fire retardant spray and the bright lights that are constantly on in the space. It is just too much for the tree and oh is it a mess to clean up.

SHOP VAC anyone???