Happy 40th!

I have finally had a chance to go through the photos from the Fabulous 40th Birthday Party we did a few weeks ago! All decor, design, ideas and execution were designed and executed by CHS. I personally am a BIG fan of the color combination. To view more photos click here

Hope you enjoy.......................

Face Painting~Shout Out

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with my friend and party planner/face painter extraordinaire Risa of colorfulfaceart.com! We set Risa up in her own cabana on the beach and watched the magic happen from full face painting to glitter tattoos Risa does it all and does it brilliantly.

Please note that we both match the party because isn't that what its all about, details, details, details! After a crazy week planning this party I was so thrilled to see Risa.

Coming soon the photos from this fabulous 40th birthday party..........................

Beach Party Part 3

Finally I have had a chance to go through all the photos from the Graduation Beach Party and get them up on my photo gallery. It took awhile since I had to lighten them all up due to the miserable rainy weather we had that morning. Yes things are wet in the photos and yes the layout is not exactly what I had in mind, but we made it happen.

It literally was raining, not misting, not dewy but raining with nasty dark clouds just hanging around daring us to have a party. It was 12:10 p.m. and the party was to start at 1:00 p.m. we had to do something and we had to do it fast! We couldn't put linens on tables, rain was running off the umbrellas and canopies onto everything. Even the things we had under overhangs were getting wet because not only was it raining it was windy too. All this lovely weather in the beginning of June at the beach in California, go figure.

Luckily my client had two houses side by side, not including the two houses in the back of those two houses. So with 30 minutes before the party was to start my staff and anybody else with two hands and two legs including some very confused valet attendants began emptying one house of the furniture and bringing things inside and on the patio. Needless to say it was complete chaos!
But we did it and it worked. Of course at 1:00 the rain stopped and I'm sure guests were wondering why there was a big empty patch of grass and all the tables were on the patio and in the house.

All in all despite the darn weather we pulled off a great party. The children were entertained all day with crafts and games, we had a fabulous caricature artist, a delightful balloon twister and an amazing frisbee dog show on the beach. There was a wonderful beach ball cake but somehow in all the confusion I never got a picture of the cake, dang it!

No matter what the weather the show must go on.............

Happy Birthday Twila

I am so busy right now with back to back parties but I just wanted to get a quick photo up of the wonderful birthday party we did yesterday. It was a a 40th birthday party celebration and what a celebration it was. The above is just a quick peek of the event. Amazing that this was pulled off in literally 5 days. We had The Trip band, courtesy of Essence Entertainment playing on stage, who were a great band, we had a strolling juggler who did some great stuff and had the kids twirling plates on their fingers, we had Tim Mannix performing strolling magic tricks, we had my good friend Risa from colorfulfaceart face painting and doing glitter tattoos, we had a smoothie bar and catering and much more. It was a great party and everyone had a great time. All the decorations and flowers were created by me and my staff and wow what a great look for a summer party on the beach and best of all the weather gods smiled on us and we had great weather. This was the same client whose party we did two weeks ago that got rained on, what weird weather we have been having.

I am swamped right now with custom parties and will do my best to get more photos of the past few weeks parties up as quickly as possible but I just wanted to share.

Stay tuned for a photo link to more pictures of this great party.

A Fun Weekend

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July weekend. I managed to rest a little and just enjoy. Easier said than done since I have 6 Price Quotes sitting on my desk for custom events, that all need to be done asap. Price quotes are the most difficult process about what I do and they can quite literally sap your energy very quickly,but enough about that.

We are lucky that we live in a city that you can still light fireworks yourself, I have to admit I have a little pyromaniac in me when it comes to fireworks I love lighting them. But this year was so different, my youngest son is 14 and he can now light them so I get to sit back and watch. While it was nice not to be bouncing around worrying about who was going to catch who on fire it was also very bittersweet. This was the first 4th of July my daughter wasn't with us, she was off at Nascar with tickets she won.

Chase (my son) and friends

Sitting there watching my son burn money in the street and not having to be in charge of the lighter it gave me a chance to reflect on how crazy my life has become and how quickly time flies. I miss my babies and I miss my stay at home mom days and I miss my children's friends and I miss not having the most decorated house on the block and pulling out all the fun stuff for all the kids to do and, on and on.

Sticking flags in pots was about all I had the time and energy for this year, and I was actually quite proud of myself that I remembered to do that.

My life has become crazy, my business is growing, my days run into each other, I run from event to event, one weekend to the next, one creative idea to the next, and I love it but I also love the way it used to be running from one playdate to the next, one home decorating project to the next, one relaxing moment to the next. I guess this is just one of those times that I am reminded be careful what you wish for and don't forget to continue to create memories along the way. I will find balance but I don't think it will be soon :) .

Happy Birthday America!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July and takes the time to remember what a great country we live in and even though she is struggling right now we shall persevere. We are a nation of strength, diligence and compassion and that is what will and always has gotten this great nation of ours through all her tests and trials.

Enjoy your family and friends this holiday weekend and don't forget to take a moment to remember those who have sacrificed and who are sacrificing for this great nation of ours. Freedom is not free and anything worth having does not come easy.

God Bless America!

{photo courtesy of Shane Horten}

Face Paint Recall

I just received this information from the Event Planners Association; and have attached a copy of the actual FDA recall notice for your information.

FDA Alerts Consumers to Recall of Water-Based Face Paints
Fun Express, Inc. recalls children’s face paint associated with adverse events

The Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers to stop using certain cosmetic "Face Paint" items labeled as distributed by Oriental Trading Co., Omaha, Neb., due to adverse event reports of skin reactions in children. These items were distributed nationwide.

The FDA has learned of a cluster of adverse events in children exposed to various colors of the face paint. All exposures occurred on the same day at an organized event and included rashes, itchiness, burning sensation, and swelling where the face paints were applied. Significant microbial contamination was indicated in most of the products in testing by an FDA laboratory.

The following Face Paints manufactured by Shanghai Color Art Stationery Company Limited, Shanghai, China, are being voluntarily recalled by Fun Express Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oriental Trading Co.:

Item Number	Product Description	Universal Product Code (UPC)
85/2077	Blue Face Paint	8 8760048110 7
85/2078	Purple Face Paint	8 8760048112 1
85/2079	Red Face Paint	8 8760048114 5
85/2080	Orange Face Paint	8 8760048116 9
85/2081	Black Face Paint	8 8760048118 3
85/2082	Green Face Paint	8 8760048120 6

Fun Express Inc. is recalling the face paints from the market and FDA advises consumers to stop use of these products and discard them or return them to the retailer.

The FDA encourages consumers and health care providers to report any adverse events from face paints to the FDA as well as to state and local health authorities.

Adverse events and product quality problems can be reported to FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program:

• online
• by calling 1-800-FDA-1088
• by returning the postage-paid FDA form 3500
• by mail to MedWatch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787
• by fax 1-800-FDA-0178

Photo: Product Label: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cosadv.html

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm152301.htm

Dang Economy

Dang this darn economy. A month or so ago I was contacted by LAX, yup thats right Los Angeles International Airport to prepare a holiday decorating price quote for them. This was to be the first year that they had ever done holiday decorating at the airport. After doing many happy dances, and telling everyone around here that I was going to decorate for the world I got my price quote done.

Just the idea of decorating LAX for the first time was so exciting and it wasn't that I don't decorate for some great clients, but the people who would be seeing my work would be coming from everywhere, it was pretty cool.

BUT my bubble burst and I just got the call that due to the economy they were going to wait, dang it, dang it, dang it. But I totally understand and I look forward to the opportunity next year, things will change they have to. But dang it, dang it, dang it!!

Photo credit; photobucket.com

Fancy As Nancy Party

Yeah finally had a chance to get the Fancy as Nancy party photos up! Trying to be organized in the middle of my third custom party in 4 weeks with another one in less than two weeks and another one after that and another one after that in 3 weeks............whew now I'm tired again just thinking about them all.

I would love to make a nice collage of photos for the blog but unfortunately time does not permit, I'm anxious to get the Beach Party photos up from a few weeks ago. So instead of a nice photo collage here is the link to the photo gallery .

The chandeliers are new to my arsenal and I love them because you can use them with a light bulb in them or take the whole light bulb attachment out for day time use. Which is great because it would look silly with a light bulb hanging in it and not turned on. They were a fabulous find and I can't wait to use them lit up. Before we added the feather boas to the canopy the canopy was looking very sexy and ready for a grown up night time party. Although having said that there was a guest at the party who thought she would like to have the whole set up complete with feather boas for her 65th birthday tea with her girlfriends and the funny part is I can so see it........ so you never know Fancy as Nancy might turn into an adult party theme as well.