St. Patrick's Day - a wee bit o' fun

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow! Where did the time go? It is uncharacteristically warm here in Fredericton (NB). I have no snow to speak of on my front lawn - eery..... usually we can expect a winter storm on St. Patty Day but I highly doubt it this year - double digits I suspect (not psychic - but watch the weather channel)

So, does this mean we are now experiencing the luck of the Irish? I don't know but I'm going to give you a few tips to make your party a bit more special with very budget wise ideas. Gotta luv the budget!

1. Send out an evite (www.evite.com) to all your guests inviting them to your fabulous last minute party. Hey-last minute can be fun especially for those who have children and didn't plan on going anywhere (yep - referring to me! we love St. Pat's at home & WHO wants to stand out in a line all night anyway!)

a sneak peak into my private life with the little man, wearing our 'mommy made' T-shirts....

Use creative language on the invites to make them more festive like:

a bit of malarkey
and lots of green beer
make no mistake
you'll want to be here

2. Play with colour - obviously I mean green! Decorations, Drinks, Food
Easy to do decorations:

• pick up some glow bracelets from the dollar store and transform them by using them as napkin rings - twist and slip - oh so simple! Green pipe-cleaners would also work, you could even shape them into a shamrock!
  
• use a white table cloth to make all decorations of green pop
• balloons - inexpensive & can make a big impact (shout out to my friend Claire at Just Balloons & Party Supplies located in Oromocto, NB)
  
• think pot of gold - tablescape made from clusters of pots filled moss/grass/potted herbs, etc with hidden gold coins (chocolate coins with gold foil)
  
• give the men a green carnation boutonniere and the ladies a green boa (if you can't get a green carnation you can dye them at home by cutting the stem and placing it in warm-to-hot water with green food colouring; leave for 1 day)
  

Easy to do drinks:

• pale ale with green food colouring, mix and serve.
• repeat with any drink,
• for children or those not drinking what about Oscars - my name for green milkshakes.

Easy to do food: (this is where I have sooo much fun!!!)

• Think small and portion size (and I choose to make this party a bit healthier - got to fit into that summer attire!).
• Start with a basil pesto pasta salad - pictured below
  
• if you have sandwiches cut them out with shamrock cookie cutters - very unexpected!
  
• Have green veggies galore - green peppers, cucumber, green beans, celery, broccoli.... (see my foodie attack of green peppers below)
• make green rice crispy treats to hand out as snacks - the smaller they are cut the more delicate and funky they become (insider CSJ secret - 1.5 inch squares are oh so one-bite-delish!)
• serve 'pots of gold', aka pineapple cubes in small dishes (dixie cups also work, a more elaborate look - step it up a notch by serving them on trays using the small plastic wine glasses you can buy at party stores - and I believe the $store too)
• shamrock cookies - mmmmm! If you don't bake you can pick them up at any bakery or get green frosted cupcakes instead.
  

love desserts check out the post by The Food Librarian.

3. Think Irish & Tradition. Incorporate traditions like placing a stone inside your door as the "Blarney Stone" tradition is that they kiss it while laying on their backs - should make for a fun time!

4. Games & Prizes. Try a limerick writing contest and give a prize to the best one. The prize could be a great basket of treats like Irish beer and gold foil chocolate coins.
How to write a limerick:
lines 1,2 and 5 should have 7-10 syllables and rhyme with each other
lines 3 & 4 should have 5-7 syllables and rhyme

Cheers! & be safe

All about the Oscars

I'm sitting here in star style wearing a recycled dress from the uni days of formals and sipping white wine from my gorgeous hand blown Jon Sawyer glass while watching The Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny Show!
This is how I have referred to the Ocsars in the past coming weeks. How could I not with the commercials airing as they did with Steve Martin and Alex Baldwin acting as they were. Now granted I have a 2 year old so I may see connections that others were not expecting. :) However, this pair really puts a new low to events. Funny individually I can see how the pair would be a 'sure fit' for the Hollywood night of glitz and glamour - wait can those 2 words be used in the same sentence as Steve & Alec???
This disappointment added to the fact that again I did not see Cojo on the red carpet, was a true sore spot with me. The reason we at home watch this awards 'stuff' is so that we can see the dresses - really do we care who wins best such and such? The red carpet is now reduced to a mere, hey how are you, let me talk about why I like you and then an actual tap saying oh no, you are done talking (which they didn't even talk anyway) and need to move on to the the inside. - Thanks Sherri! Worst interviewer of the red carpet - EVER!!!! please go back and stay at the view...
So having seen the red carpet and some of the dresses and then seeing the awards and those presenting I have made my list of best and worst dressed:
First I have to say, did you check out he dress that won for most votes? It's the one that the ladies handing out the actual Oscars were wearing. Yep, I voted for that one - beautiful.
So to the nitty gritty of it:
Best dressed top picks were:
Elizabeth Banks, Sandra Bullock (oh, and she won!), Meryl Streep, Demi Moore


Worst dressed - and there were many (Deborah Ann Woll- what were you thinking!) so I chose the most surprising ones for my list:
Sarah Jessica Parker - Carrie Bradshaw would be so upset but not sure with what more the hair or the dress!
Charlize Theron - what was up with the Vera Wang design with the bulls-eye on here breasts! Seriously that is all you could look at!
J.Lo - the trend was to be 'architecture' in dresses and this one certainly had it but it also accentuated all her curves in all the wrong ways.



Weather you agree or not I'd love to hear from you on your picks!

Cheers!

Oscar Buzz

How do you plan on celebrating this weekend?
What am I talking about - the Academy Awards of course!

The red carpet walk and interviews are my favorite. The dresses and the hair, remember Cojo? I loved him and I don't get to see him as often as I would like. I always look forward to his picks of the best & worst dressed. Do these people not have stylists? Seriously!? I question the loyalty of them if they do - friends, well, some friends and hey, I don't need to be your friend but I'll tell you if what you are wearing should be tossed out in the compost. I could always be hired to dress you celebs (if you're reading) - I'm quite reasonable.

Here's Cojo's picks for the Golden Globes just to remember how good he is!

Can you figure out his best & worst from the above without looking? Hint: One is just added in but is not his pick and there are more 'best' than 'worst'.

So, the question was how do you plan on celebrating this weekend? Will you sit back and enjoy a relaxing glass of wine or bubbly while you watch the celebs do their thing and walk down the red carpet? Will you be more involved? Hmmm....be more involved....

I like the sound of that!

Pull out your best dishes. Dust off you finest glassware. Invite your best friends over and put on your best star-studded threads - shine like the celeb-party hostess you are!

The Academy Awards website makes being at the "Oscars" all too easy. Click and print. Simple. They provide you with pdf versions of everything you need to be involved. Ballots, games and even more important recipes!
http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/partykit/index.html
Cheryl Cecchetto the planner for the best after party gives you tips to have a successful party at home - star style!

Have your guests fill out the ballots for the nomination categories and then collect them. Do your votes compare to all of America?

Have fun and relax - that's what all the star's are doing!

Cheers!

Stagette Party Signature Drinks

With the upcoming wedding season I'm often asked about the parties that surround the main event - The Stagette!
I like the signature drink idea and came across a most fabulous one in my opinion.
The Banana's Foster Cocktail which was submitted to the Food Network by Sandra Lee.
I think the photo itself describes exactly why I think it would be a perfect signature drink - lol!

To get the recipe for this creamy drink (which of course I had to make and sample - a bit on the sweet side but still Yummy!) just click on the drink name above.

I simply love signature party drinks. Every time we head over to a particular girlfriend's place we know we will be served Sangria. It's different every time but very good! She may be a mixologist at heart! A signature drink at any type of party is always great; it cuts down on the bar cost of having to have everything from gin to dark rum and various liqueurs. This way you can just have the ingredients for the one beverage and a few non-alcoholic choices as well. (I like saving money.)

Signature drinks don't even need to be something completely new and complex. Taking a favorite, say a mojito, is a classic drink that most will enjoy and simple to make. You can even play with colours of other drinks by simply adding food colouring to make your mark.

Options are truly endless! Have fun and mix it up!

Passionate and dedicated

A few weeks back I was asked by Laverne Stewart to come into the Daily Gleaner to be interviewed for a piece she was working on. Of course I went.
I was a bit nervous as I new the piece was going to be of a more personal nature and I'm always leery with telling people everything about me. What if I forgot something? No one really knows how individuals can perceive you and well 'print' can be immortalized. I spent maybe over an hour there talking to Laverne that day, I cried, I laughed and I remembered. She was a pure delight. At the end of our time, she asked me for individuals with whom she could speak with. (???) Ok, so of course my husband (I've always wondered what he really thought about everything), a new and old friend (Jan & Samantha - I knew where they could be reached without hesitation). I'm sorry to say that she didn't have a chance to speak to my sister but over all I was quite pleased with the article. (Who am I kidding? - It was perfect!)
So today, one of the worst snow storms may be hitting us now and I ventured out to get the paper (of course after posting it multiple times on various social media outlets). I bought 5....lol
I was standing in line with them and noticed that I was actually looking at myself - ON THE FRONT PAGE! Here I was at the top of the front page in the banner - playing my guitar no less! Now I should state that I am only learning to play. The photo shocked me as it had been taken earlier in the summer when I was interviewed for Last Summer Parties which was printed around Labour Day. This is the original photo....


I personally liked that they clipped me out from my ugly purple chair....Someday it will get recovered...someday.....

One of the best things that has happened (so far today) from this article was that I received an email from an old employer who had just read the article (not sure how he got the email - google?). I almost fell over I was so shocked. I was surprised but really glad that he took the time to reach out.

I'm trying to determine what I'll send Mrs. Stewart on Monday for such an amazing article.... I know what I'm sending my sister - an autographed version of the paper! lol

Holiday decorating tips

So, I'm a bit behind in the blogging....

I have had the great opportunity to be on the radio each week this month (News91.9) and I've had a lot of fun. This past week (16th) we talked about holiday decorating:

5 great budget extenders for holiday decorating:
1. hold a 'last year's' decoration swap with neighbours or friends to change it up. This can be really fun provided you have people who's taste you like :)
2. throw a party organized around decorating to minimize the work. (This would also work for baking) This is great event for bringing together extended families who live close together and including those friends who may not have family close to be involved in something festive.
3. Organize family craft night for making decorations. This could range from cut-out decorations to candy dish centrepieces.
4. Use the outdoors as inspiration - add twigs and evergreens. This will also be very 'green' and minimal effort provided you have some in the back yard. You may need to be willing to go for a chilly walk.
5. When you have a dinner party it would be easy to take a simple Christmas bulb and tie a ribbon on it with a name tag to use as place cards. Each guest could then take them home. This could also be swapped with individual goodie bags at each place setting.




We also touched upon some tips for holiday decorating in general:

1. Edit the room first by removing all those items that aren't necessary.
Why? if you don't edit, after you remove the christmas decorations the room will look empty if you don't have things to move back in.
2. Seperate your "Christmas" and "winter" decorations.

3. Decide on which decorations you will use (this year) Use a colour scheme and let it flow thorough the entire house.

4. Extend decorations into non-traditional rooms such as the bathroom. This will help to tie the entire house together. It also adds a great mood lift as guest see decorations all around.



As some of you know I was also on Live at 5. It was a great experience and some got to glimpse my tree (which is never decorated the same).

Update: So as promised - here is a photo of my tree. I'm not computer savy so I don't know how to add a poll yet but during our radio show when Dan announced that I would be on Live at 5 we opened it up for people to judge my tree. Like or Dislike.
Lets have at it!