Allie's Pink First Birthday Party

 On January 31, our little girl turned 1! I can't believe that a whole year has passed already, and how much Allie has changed in that time. I was so excited to celebrate her birthday with our family and friends, and of course I had a lot of fun planning the party and making all the decorations. We ended up doing a few separate celebrations: we did a little party for our mom and baby friends here, then we did the family party at my parents' house in Dallas. I used the same decorations for both parties.

 

The theme was pink and more pink! I thought about doing something more elaborate and "kid" but I decided to wait until she's old enough to really enjoy it.

 

 

The food for her party was set up in the dining room.

 



 

I made a ton of tissue paper pom poms!

 

I added some different garlands to the buffet- one made of crumpled tissue paper, doily garlands, and garlands with tied pink and white ribbons.

Since her party was in the afternoon and was just moms and babies/toddlers, I kept the food really simple. I made these banana-applesauce cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and they were DELICIOUS. Allie's favorite thing to eat right now is fruit, so I cut up some different fruit and set that out in little candy cups.

 



 

 

 

I ordered Allie this birthday hat and bib from Etsy and she absolutely, flat-out refused to wear the hat. I don't have a single picture of her wearing it, only pictures of her angry and ripping it from her head. :(

 

 

I couldn't resist adding a few decorations in the family room too (since this is also our "playroom" we spent most of the party in here!).

 

 

This ombre number was one of my first ideas for the party. I was initially going to dye coffee filters in graduated shades of pink, but the project seemed so time-consuming I didn't go that route. I found a package of shades of pink tissue paper at Target, and just cut squares and crumpled them up onto the number. So much easier and I think it turned out really nicely.

 

I made a banner with all of Allie's month by month photos from the first year. It is so neat to see how much she has changed.

 

I added a few pom poms and this Valentine's mailbox in the entryway.

 

I will just share a few pictures from her family party as well (at my parents' house).

 

She is her daddy's daughter:

(And yes, I did match my outfit to the party decor.)

 

Allie with three of her four aunties....(notice that they match the theme too...and no, I didn't ask them to do that!)

 

I ordered the cake from Tart Bakery in Dallas and it was really fabulous. It was a strawberry cake with cream cheese and fresh strawberries in the middle and buttercream icing. Yummy.

 

Enjoying her birthday cake!

 

 

We had so much fun celebrating, and I'm already looking forward to her second birthday (have the whole theme down and mentally planned already). Not that this year needs to fly by, I can't even imagine having a two year old!

 

 

Sugar Cookies

 

A Valentine's treat for Allie and me! This sugar cookie recipe is the best- it's my mom's recipe, and she found it in a magazine 30 year ago, originally called "Little Sugar People". Everyone in family uses this recipe for decorated cookies- it's more of a crisp butter cookie than the typical big chewy (super sweet) sugar cookie. Simple and delicious. The dough freezes really well, so I always make the full size recipe, make a fourth of it, and then freeze three more portions for later.

 

Sugar Cookies

Make about 8 dozen cookies

 

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons milk

4 1/2 cups flour

2 teapoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

 

1. Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and milk; set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. In bowl of a mixer, cream butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg mixture in three additions, mixing well and scraping down sides of bowl between additions.

5. Beat in flour on low speed 1/4 cup at a time.

6. Form dough into 4 balls; flatten into discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

7. Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough to 1/4" thick and cut into shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges of cookies are just turning golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

 

 

For the icing, I just make an icing from powdered sugar, water, and a little lemon juice. Just stir together 3 cups powdered sugar + 2 1/2 tablespoons water + few drops of lemon juice. For my icing, I usually make a thicker icing, fill my piping bags with some of that, then thin out the leftover icing with a little additional water to make a thinner icing for spreading.

 

I use thicker icing in a piping bag to outline the shape of the cookie:

 

 

Then fill in with thinner icing, using a spatula or knife:

 

The outline of icing creates a dam, so you end up with nice, neat edges.

 



 

For some of the hearts, I did a marbled effect, which looks so pretty and is really easy to do. With the background icing still wet, pipe stripes of a contrasting color on top. Then, run a toothpick back and forth across the stripes.

 



 

My finished cookies don't look perfect, since I had my "helper" in the kitchen with me, playing with some mixing bowls and spoons. But, still festive and tasty.

 

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope yours is a sweet one :)

Sentimental Shadowboxes

Back in early December, I added put together some shadowboxes for the upstairs of our house, and right around Valentine's Day seems like the perfect time to share them, since they represent the people I love most. I think these are a great way to display some special items that would otherwise be packed in a box somewhere, and I love having those daily reminders of those moments in our life.

 

The first shadowbox I made contains items from our wedding in June 2006. These things sadly sat in the attic for over 5 years, I like them much better like this! This shadowbox is on the wall over my bedside table.

 

 

I included a calligraphied invitation envelope (I had the calligrapher address one to me), the ceremony program, my bouquet, garter, the comb I wore in my hair, a pin from the back of my dress, and my grandma's handkerchief.

 

The shadowbox itself is from Michaels and I just lined the back with a linen fabric, then pinned everything in. I did have to remove some of the flowers from my bouquet to get it to fit.

 



 

This is the hallway wall right outside of Allie's room. Here, I just used a frame with the glass covered in fabric to serve as a "shadowbox". The beautiful little hat was a gift at my baby shower from my very talented friend! Allie wore this sweet hat in the hospital and then home from the hospital. It seems so tiny now. I also pinned her hospital bracelet underneath, and a framed photo of Allie, taken on the day she was born. It's one of my favorites.

 

These are in Allie's room- same idea of just using frames with fabric. These things are from her Baptism and her first Easter. The pink dress was my first Easter dress and Allie wore it as well.

 

These two frames contain gifts from family for Allie's Baptism. The top frame has a small, beautiful rosary from her great aunt, and the lower frame has two charms from her godparents and aunt and uncle. The little shell is engraved with her initials.

 



 

 I sometimes have trouble figuring out what to hang on the walls, and this was a great way to add something personal and use things we already had. I'm hoping to add some more shadowboxes to a long wall in our upstairs hallway, maybe for trips we taken and Allie's first birthday.

Rossini Cocktails

 Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so it seemed like the perfect time to share this delicious recipe for Rossini cocktails I first made this on Christmas Eve and everyone loved them. I loved them again last night when I had to make more to photograph and "test" the recipe...ah sacrifices. 

 

 The Rossini is a classic Italian cocktail invented at Harry's Bar in Venice, the same place that invented the Bellini (my props to them!). The Rossini is so simple: just strawberry puree and Prosecco. I couldn't resist adding a tiny twist to my recipe, in a nod to my absolute favorite drink ever, the Kir Royale (champagne and Chambord). The final result is bubbly, fizzy perfection!

 

 

 

 

Rossini Cocktails

Makes 6 cocktails, plus extra puree

 

* A few notes about this recipe: I've found that using frozen strawberries really does work better here than fresh, the flavor is just more concentrated. Also, I think the drink looks prettier if you strain the seeds from the puree, but you can definitely skip that step if you're in a hurry. Finally, this makes more puree than you'll need for just 6 drinks but you can freeze the extra.

 

1 lb. bag of frozen strawberries, thawed

3 shots Chambord

Bottle of Prosecco

Fresh strawberries, for garnish

 

1. In a blender, blend the strawberries and Chambord until smooth.

2. Force puree through a sieve to remove seeds. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of strawberry puree to each champagne glass. Fill with Prosecco. Garnish with a strawberry and serve.

 

 

Cheers!!