I promise this is not evolving into a party blog...I'll leave that to the experts. My dear friend Coco is having herself a little party this weekend to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her 30th birthday, and her husband Jim asked me to help out with "the look". Coco is a natural beauty, she is kind, sincere, and a appropriately goofy. When we lived in Montclair (Oakland), we were their down-the-hill neighbors, our kids are friends, and we spent several days a week at each others houses. Our moving away was pretty hard on both of our families, so we were beyond excited when Jim took a counseling job at the junior college up here - they'll be our neighbors once more this summer! Right around the time we moved, Coco bought the supplies for us to make one of my paper lanterns together, but we never got around to it, so I'm surprising her with this gilded version for her birthday. The party is at Campovida's Oakland tasting room, a reclaimed wood and brick clad space, located near Jack London Square. I went for a Kate Spade inspired palate of gold, fuchsia, royal blue, and teal. I found these sparklers in the same colors for a little late-night fun, and we're doing a photo booth including big white C O C O prop letters set against a pretty gold sequined backdrop. The be-tasseled lantern will hang prominently with more draped garlands and some giant clear balloons filled with gold confetti placed around the room. To make the paper lantern watch this video tutorial, glue in a second layer of smaller papers, and apply multiple light coats of gold metallic spray paint, and check out the how-to for tassel garland below.
1. Fold a sheet of tissue paper in half, lengthwise
2. Using a knife, cut the paper fold in half
3. Cut 1/4" lines 3/4 of the way up the paper fold toward the seam
4. Open the paper fold, finished side down, and fold in half
5. Fold in half, then again until the center is about 1/4" wide
6. Gently twist the center to create a rope and twist in a loop.
7. Twist the loop once around to secure itself.
8. To make garland from the tassels, loop a 3-4' piece of fishing line in knotted segments
On NYE we threw a little shindig for Adam, who celebrates his 40th birthday next week. The guests were a collection of his old friends from high school and college, and his new friends from Petaluma. This very handsome picture was taken in the photo booth (instagram #adamis40). Today I want to share with you, 40 of my favorite things about Adam Jennings...
1. He's the most thoughtful husband ever. He often brings me flowers when he gets sent to the grocery store, and can't help but go overboard for my birthday and Christmas.
2. He is really
maybe the best dad ever. He will get up in the middle of the night with
a sick kid, clean barf out of a rug, read Harry Potter for an hour at bedtime, drive a minivan
around town, coach a baseball team, make school lunches, and send the kids
to their rooms if they are rude to their mom.
3. He is becoming a silver fox, and it's damn handsome.
4. He wears big headphones and sings and dances while he does the dishes.
5. He does the dishes.
6. He walks in the door after work, puts his stuff down and goes outside and plays catch with my kids almost every day.
7. When he has too much whisky he gets very sappy.
8. He loves to make soundtracks for our every adventure, including making pancakes on Saturday morning.
9. He supports and encourages me to stay home with the kids, in fact he sees it as a sacrifice on my part, which is very amazing.
10. He is a very good, appreciative son to his parents.
11. He works very hard and is very good at his job. It is not glamorous, and he is the go-to guy when someone is dissatisfied with their life/education/job. Then he comes home and plays catch and does the dishes.
12. He is very funny...kind of a wise ass, but for this know-it-all it's just the right kind of funny.
13. He loves his friends. Once you become Adam's friend, he will always be there for you.
14. He's not afraid to have uncomfortable conversations with people in order to make things better.
15. He is very good at admitting and accepting his faults.
16. He teases me. He gets me to climb off my high horse and laugh at myself.
17. He will rub my back in the middle of the night if I'm having trouble sleeping.
18. He hugs and kisses his sons and tells them that he loves them, everyday, even when they've behaved terribly.
19. He knows how to apologize
20. He loves food, he loves to cook, and he's fun to be in the kitchen with.
21. He was a football player in college, AND he wrote and performed poetry for open-mic nights. Hot stuff.
22. He's a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan, which has him planted on the couch every Sunday, disappointed, but he'll never stop loving them.
23. He's best friends with his siblings.
24. He tells me he loves our house, because I make it look beautiful.
25. He tells me I am beautiful, pretty much everyday.
26. When he asked me to marry him, he gathered up all of our friends, and surprised me by going on stage and singing me "The Book Of Love" by the Magnetic Fields before getting down on one knee and giving me a super sparkly diamond ring. I still can't get over it.
27. He gives me little pockets of time, unsolicited, where he'll take the boys on an adventure to let me have alone time.
28. He let's me be in charge of almost everything.
29. I see him looking at his kids, and me, and he's gets misty.
30. We have a shared passion for Cole's coffee and we won't settle for anything less.
31. He manages to put up with my moody, creative personality, which can be challenging.
32. When he wants to be romantic, he will gather up all the candles.
33. He gave Jasper his beautiful eyes and enormous personality, and made Wylie so witty and colorful.
34. He looks a bit like Tom Selleck, and JFK Jr.
35. He lets me "Pinterblog" or "Twitterbook" when I need to.
36. He keeps his beard because I like it.
37. He can run like a mountain goat, and motivates me to be active.
38. He has a sunny disposition, and makes everyone around him a little happier.
39. He dreams about and works towards a life that I dream about and work towards, and it's uniquely ours.
40. I know I am loved, because he tells me everyday, several times a day.
Happy Birthday Adam Jennings. I love you too.
