Kirin's 1st Birthday Part I: The (Actual) Big Day

  
















1st off, none of these photos are edited. If you waited on me to edit them you would never get to see them........That first sentence has been in draft status for over a month. Soooo many details. Let's start with the personal stuff. My little mommy turned one Sept 15th and at midnight her daddy gave her a cupcake he brought home from our favorite bakery in town Tasty Pastry.

Have a Designer Tree on a Knock-off Budget.

I was recently talking to a friend and explained my Christmas ornament mishap: basically, they were never moved with us when we moved in February. Now, we are on a really tight budget and new ornaments don't really fit in it. Anyhow, he replied that they were expensive. I explained what I did to make my tree look expensive without blowing my budget and he said, "Cool, where did you get them, [My wife] is looking for some?" Hmm.... at the store. Are we still talking about tree ornaments here? They are everywhere! So it occurred to me that not everyone knows how to get the designer tree look, you know, like the ones on display at the store. So, I thought I would share some tips.

Giveaway Quickie

I am entering a HAM of a giveaway on the Laura Winslow Photography site with about $10,000 worth of prizes. Can you say "Merry Christmas" to all my loved ones? There are soo many great prizes and they have so convienently bundled all the pages together so you can easily like them. The required entry is to go to your favorite site and comment, as if I could choose! Anyhoo, check it out here. Toodles!

Happy Birthday Angel

Today would have been my mom's 42nd Birthday and the 2nd birthday she's spent in Heaven. I try not to get too down, but today is one of those days I would have been with her, like Christmas. I try to joke and say that she's at an awesome party and I bet they won't be running out of drinks. I try to make it light-hearted to keep everyone else up. I was recently contacted on Facebook by a childhood friend and the first thing she asked was how my mom was doing. Now, who has it harder? Those receiving the news of my mom's untimely death or me having to break it to them? It's a little like she dies every time I have to tell someone. I try to speed through it and say it as emotionless as possible, but I think people feel awkward. But then if I burst into tears how much more uncomfortable is that? I just felt the need to acknowledge that today is my mom's day and that I still love and think about her. I wanted to tell someone that reading all her birthday wishes on her memorial page makes me cry. That looking at her granddaughter and knowing how crazy she would've been about her can be a little overwhelming. I never thought about what I would do without my mom and I am surviving,but sometimes things feel empty.Like getting my A.A. with Honors, or celebrating holidays or even talking to family on her side. I honestly, feel like most of the love and warmth has gone out of my maternal family. She kept everyone together and made sure people showed up for weddings and graduations. She was the strongest woman I know and It's just hard emotionally without her. I didn't even realize what I keep at bay on a daily basis because sitting here truly thinking about her puts me in an all out sob. But you can't see the snotty, crumpled, ugly-cry face. So, thank you. Thank you for listening/reading. 

P.S. I plan to start an October recap. I have been so busy/lazy, but miss posting my little life moments. I'm used to sharing them with her, but now I share them with you.

On the Weekends We...

Hey! You busy? Obviously not you're on my blog page, but anywhoos...this and last weekend we took our daughter out to some FAMU activities. For those who don't know Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University is a HBCU (historically black college/university) and my boyfriend's alma mater. He kept asking me were we going to attend some games and requested that Kirin have a "FAMU tutu". So we bought tickets and at the last minute I whipped up a pettitutu (the really fluffy ones) and a onesie for her. We got sooooo many comments/compliments! Homecoming (a very big deal around here) was last week so I threw her back in it for the parade and at one point the people in our area were just watching her and not the parade. See my daughter has midget vertically challenged parents and we are none to chunky either so she is really small for her age and walks very well. Plus, she's super cute so it's an instant attention magnet. It's like she has paparazzi wherever we go. NO seriously, at the FAMU game this girl took a picture of her and walked off, umm...weird. Anyway I wanted to share the pics of my little precious in her FAMU regalia.

An Aside, a Story, and an Offer (Long)

Good Morning!
First, let me start by saying I think that I should write as things come to me. I've never been one of those people who had a rough draft and then edited it and had 2 or 3 other people read and critique it and then wrote another draft. I was more like I wrote as I wrote (if that makes sense) I MAY have on occasion had something written on paper, but I revised it as I was typing it. Once it was printed I may have asked an opinion, but what was done was done. How does that relate? Um, I have a blog and you have to write stuff. So, if I want my stuff to be interesting I need to write A.S.A. I have even one line of what I want to say, BUT definitely tweek it before posting.

Okay, so I wanted to talk about this failed giveaway. I was hoping, hope against hope, that people, mostly ones I know or their friends, would actually participate. While I don't have much traffic, I very much appreciate the people who do read it and I just knew I could count on the love of those people to sustain my little bloggie giveaway. I know that actually having to go and look at the site and come back and comment is a lot of work, but the sponsor wants site traffic so come on, give me a break. I was so excited that someone contacted me and that I was able to do a  giveaway with valuable giveaway-ware.

The results remind me of my first Mary Kay party as a representative. I invited the few people that I knew and actually liked. I was SO excited. I LOVE Mary Kay products and I could make money talking about it, WHAT!? But there's a script and they kinda want you to memorize it so that it flows naturally. Um, I'm not a good-product script-with-someone's idea-of-witty banter-type person. It's very hard for me to patronize people or fake being  happy. So, I gave it my best (I think) and tried not to drone on and on about the makeup ingredients and just get to the actual skincare part. Is this too long? Well, there's a part where you play a game to giveaway free stuff and get referrals. I was like, "...FREE STUFF!!!"... no response. "Come on, who doesn't like FREE STUFF?", nothing but blank stares. Hello! These people are my friends, where's the enthusiasm? Ok, moving on. Then I had painstakingly made and decorated these pale Mary Kay pink cupcakes. "Let's go into the kitchen for CUPCAKES and LEMONADE!!" Nothing once again. No one was excited about free stuff or yummy cupcakes. I wondered...was it me? Was I that boring? Did I make friends with aliens? Or terrorists? Or terrorist aliens? I know part of presenting is giving to the audience to get it back, but what more could I have given to get something from them. Could they have tried to have a little more fun? Well, I had a few more parties after that and had the best time! I..It's not me? Still not sure.

So, did I not talk about the software enough? Basically, it was like working in Publisher, but with the effects and editing capabilities you wish Publisher had. It's not as hard as Photoshop, which I can do minimally. And you don't have to deal with all those layers. I usually work in Publisher, but I always wish I could cut pictures into shapes, add frames and effects more easily and add embellishments that they don't have, things I do in Photoshop. Well I was able to do it in the my memories suite (yeah, I decided to plug it). So, for FREE I think it's pretty cool, BUT it's probably the highest quality scrapbooking software I have worked with just because I have yet to pay more than $10 for any. It had pretty good reviews on Amazon as well. So anyway, the free code doesn't expire until December so If anyone is interested GO TO THE WEBSITE ( can't get around it) look around,  leave me comment of anything at all that you saw, and tell me you want the software. First person to do it, get's it. For anyone else I have a coupon code that I will gladly share with you for $10 off the software and $10 in free downloads. Same requirements apply, but I would also like you to go and "LIKE" Creative Hobbies on Facebook (don't worry, I'm not one of those people who posts every five seconds) OR SUBSCRIBE to this blog, then LEAVE A COMMENT, also non-negotiable, that you did it. The coupon code offer is unlimited, I will deliver it by email.

Time...have any to spare?

I am soooo ready to talk about my daughter's first birthday and party. I have some pics I want to experiment with editing on first, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up as to if I'm ever going to get to that dress I was sewing, what the theme was and how it all turned out. Also, today we went to a football game (read: pics). I'm loving on some popular blogs out there and I want to share (read: features) and a few other things I've thought of recently. . And yes, I am going to talk about this give away that not ONE person entered (read: family vent). Plus, it's October so that means homemade caramel apples in our house and I'm attempting popcorn balls this year. Well, I'm off to study/project/entertain my child/be a good significant other/clean my house/lose my mind. I feel weird not having any photos so check this one out from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake exactly what I need to do, insert everything in the world instead of bake. They look sooo yummy, mmmph. Goodnight!

Really Quick - Dez just asked if I took Kiwi's diaper off, umm no I'm typing. I totally got some naked butt shots and will definitely be embarrassing the crap out of her later (in life), HAHAHA! And I forgot to add sleeping and eating to the list of things I need to do. Bye for real this time.

A FAN LOVE GIVEAWAY!!

First of all, I know I know. You actually need to have fans for a fan love giveaway, but for the few people (most likely related to or harassed by me) who have read my blog: I LOVE YOU GUYS!! So, the fabulously nice folks at My Memories Suite decided to hook me up with some scrapbooking software AND they let me hook you guys up with some too! I have been playing around with the software and I like how easy it is to change and enhance your items as you go. It's pretty straight forward and you can actually add media. Lovin it! The software comes with preloaded templates OR you can make your own from scratch OR there's a bar on the side to buy new ones AND they are very inexpensive, score! Did you know they have a Dollar Section? What?! As in my favorite words to hear, see, or read at any place of business with crafty goods to sell? Yes ma'am (or sir)! Right now it's my favorite season, Fwinter which is a Florida season that other states don't know about. And i'm loving these Fall templates  So, before my daughter climbs over the couch to destroy the things on my end table, I will give you the details.

Here's how to enter:
Go to:  http://www.mymemories.com/ and look around then come back and leave a comment on which template you liked the best.

For additional entries you can do the following and then come back and leave a comment saying you did:
1. "Like" Creative Hobbies on Facebook
2. "Like" My Memories on Facebook
3. "Follow" them on Twitter
4. Follow the My Memories Blog
5. Become a follower of the Creative Hobbies Blog
The contest will run from Sunday Sept. 25th,1:00PM EST to Sunday Oct. 2nd, 11:00PM EST tell your friends!

Let's Backtrack a Little

So, in January I turned 25. Woohoo! A quarter century, totally awesome. So we had a little soiree at our place. I didn't get to decorate like I really wanted, but we had a blast. I actually wasn't even dressed as the party started; babies make everything take longer. Kiwi (babygirl's nickname) stayed up the entire time, not planned, but it worked out. Anyway, I wanted to share some pics from the joyous occasion. Dez helped out with the cooking and setup and we mounted the tv on the wall which had a graphic I put together. The colors were hot pink, black and white damask. So these are some of the pics.

My Cake - the baker actually almost cut her finger off prior to that day so it wasn't as detailed as we had planned.The cake was Cognac and the cupcakes were champagne flavored. Courtesy of  Bite of Your Life

The spread  and "bar". Yes, I did cover my table with black wrapping paper. Please excuse the not done decorations. We had wings, meatballs, potstickers, dumplings, and a cheese fondue for the veggies. Very tasty.



 
The pink drink is "Xrated Pink Lemonade" very delicious as you can see they were guzzling it down. And we are always up for Jello Shots. Excuse the printer, just pretend it's not there.

 DIY Photobooth couldn't contain us. We basically, hung black curtains, and covered our upholstered coffee table a.k.a. the red thing, in white fabric. I had to say this was a fun group of people. There were guys too just not pictured. I randomly invited the girl who sat next to me in Art class and she turned out to be a blast.










Me and Dez coordinated outfits. I love how open he is to things, most guys would say hell no to a Hot Pink shirt. We went to Jacksonville to get our gear, worked out nicely I do say.

 

 Cake Tower and Edible arrangement.

 I've always wanted one of these and they can cut numbers out of the pineapple, YAY!

 I tried to incorporate black and white as best I could, we had them dip some of the fruit in dark and white chocolate.






So we played "Get Low" Limbo. Lots of fun! When the party was whinding down someone suggested we play charades and we did...til 3am.




Finally, the "royal family". Since, my daughter wouldn't stay asleep we let her stay up and party with us. Everyone pretty much just passed her around the whole night. Everyone made it home safely and as we were saying goodbye, Kiwi was falling asleep in our arms. Happy Birthday to me!

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1st Birthday Progress

Inspiration

So, currently I am working on my sweet little girl's first birthday party. I am keeping the theme a secret for now, but there will definitely be a reveal on that later.


Today was my first day sewing, like ever! So, what does mama do? Well I saw THE cutest pettiskirt dress, BUT it costs $124.00. Umm... no thanks. She pretty much gains 1-2lbs a month so I will most certainly not be paying that much for a dress she may wear once or twice. She's totally worth it, it's just not economically responsible to me. So I decide that i'm going to make it. What makes me think I can? 1. I bought a tutorial for a pettiskirt 2. I've read a lot of pettiskirt tutorials 3. My friend has a sewing machine and offered to teach me. (She said it was easy-peasy) 4. I am totally insane and firmly believe I can figure out how to do anything with directions. So, there you have it, I'm a sewing mama. I also plan to use this dress as a Halloween costume, princess fairy anyone?

I'll have to admit it is easier than I thought, I am really excited! Today I cut all the fabric, made the ruffles and sewed them onto one layer of the bottom tier. Tomorrow Kirin (babygirl) comes back from her first trip away from mom and dad. Yeah, we pretty much missed her  WAAAAY more than she missed us. And she will be all in my fabric because the baby gate only keeps her in the living room and it's so confined I hate to leave her in there. 

My Wreath

Last weekend I halfway finished the wreath for the front door of her party space.  Of course I modified mine: I used the wooden/twig wreath (from Dollar Tree). It took about 16 sheets of tissue paper and I cut my pieces into 4x5" rectangles since they were 20"x20" sheets and rounded the corners, which gave it a soft more petal-ey look. You can use less paper if you make it looser. I say halfway because I will be adding her initial or something to the middle. 



Well, I am super excited about this whole process even though I have about two weeks to pull it all together. Did I mention I'm a full time student? I haven't been able to produce a whole lot of physical elements for the party up until recently, but I have already designed her labels and cupcake wrappers. And of course invites have been mailed and received already. More pics and details to come. Yay, i'm so excited!

Ok, so I read all these SUPER AMAZING blogs pretty much on a daily basis and these ladies are funny, creative, and just all in all have a great bloginality (blog + personality). I see blog posts, then I attempt the projects on said blog posts, so I thought to myself, I should blog! Ok, easier said than done, but I have been SUPER (I like caps for emphasis) inspired and I WILL (emphasis on "will") do this. Last time I posted, way last summer, I was pregnant well now my daughter is 7 months old so there will be several "catch up" posts. This blog is a mish mash of cool stuff I see, projects I've attempted and a little bit of family life mixed in, but I hope you (all 5 of you, probably related to me) enjoy it.