a classic hollywood cocktail party

saturday was a double birthday - drea & whitney both, so we had a double fun time and went ALL out with the celebrating! we had a cocktail party where the guests came as classic hollywood movie stars. it was FUN!

part of the fun was when each new person would come through the door, everyone would whip out their camera & bombard the person with pictures, papparazzi-style.

drea came as elizabeth taylor - appropriately decked out with jewels...

whitney's sister, michaela made the tasty cake...

we made a bar area in our dining room & nick was the barkeep. he absolutely REVELLED in his role and he did an amazing job mixing drinks. i told him maybe he shouldn't be a sub to get through school, he should be a bartender.

we played the game where you had to guess the name of the person on your back. for a good 15 minutes, everyone was jammed into the kitchen in this solid mass of people, trying to ask questions to figure out their person.

here's everybody... casey was yentl.

carissa came as the press & even had the press pass to prove it! i was going for endora from 'bewitched', but i didn't pull it off too well. whoever i looked like, the eye shadow & teased hair were a big hit. i'm thinking of bringing that style into my everyday look...

the two birthday girls themselves. aren't they the cutest? best buddies & born on the same day, too.

all the girls needed a shot behind the bar...

and by 'shot' i mean picture! haha.

somebody left 5 pennies as a tip. not a very lucrative night for the barkeep.

lucy & yentl, hanging out with the papparazzi.

the barkeep & john wayne, fixin' to haul that non-dressed up guy off to the klinker.

after all the revelry abated somewhat, we rounded the evening off with a fun game of 'apples to apples' - drea's choice.

a cocktail party was a definite first for the fried residence... i don't know that we would have fit in very well in a real cocktail party, we had a little bit TOO good of a time! no one got plastered though, don't worry.

ann-victoria's birthday dinner

this last tuesday was my dear friend ann-victoria's birthday and we had a dinner party at the fried home to celebrate! it was a good time. we had a mexican themed potluck - everyone brought something very unique & delicious! not just your standard tacos or what-have-you.
her hubby, zach, made his first ever cake (which was a shock to us all - he's the most amazing cook, but i guess he's always just stuck to pies until now). it was a success, of course - pumpkin chocolate chip.

then we had to have the usual group timer shot fun - i'll just post my top three favorite on here. i'll put all 12 on facebook if you're really interested.

(that's nick's favorite - the WOW face...)

susan, casey, kristen & the birthday girl...

in this next picture you can see one of the triangle banners i made with fabric - don't they look festive?

after dinner, cake & presents, we played ann-victoria's favorite game - the write a phrase, pass it, draw the picture of the phrase, pass it, etc. game. i'm sure there's a name for it, but i have no idea what it is.

we had good laughs. it can get pretty hilarious.

we sure did have a blast celebrating ann-victoria!

and getting the week of parties kicked off! next up... drea's party!

of pipes & pianos...

nick's birthday was a while ago, and ever since it came and went, he has been mulling over what to spend his birthday money on. one chunk of it went to purchasing the latest season of 'the office'. the rest of it was finally spent last week on this manly, yet intelligent pipe. doesn't he look like he could just write a novel with the power of his intellectual stare? or at least solve a mystery or two...

that's my husband, the adorable one.
not only does he look adorable, but he does adorable things, too. the other day he passed by a thrift store that had this treasure outside - he acted fast & scored it for a mere $10!!

for the last few months i've been faithfully searching craigslist.com for a piano - i've just had an ever-increasing hankering to have one in the house & maybe someday learn to play it. there have been random ones here and there show up in my search but either the owners wouldn't respond to my queries or else it'd be too expensive...

in actuality, the universe was conspiring to keep us piano-free until this gem came across our path. thank you, destiny! (or god... same thing, right? don't answer that.)

isn't it so perfect?!

i was SO excited, and still am, as you can tell! but as you can also tell if you play any smidge of piano, my fingers are probably not anywhere near where they should be to be playing chords (and if they are, it's a fluke).

the closest i ever came to learning to play the piano was when i was 9 or 1o. there was an older missionary lady that went to our mexican church who gave 'piano' lessons. i put that in quotes because i don't remember there ever being a piano in the picture. i do remember carrying a rectangular piece of cardboard home with the keys drawn on it and the instructions to practice my finger positions...

do i just have selective memory issues? was there actually a piano involved in my piano lessons? i may never know. but i certainly don't remember it. i also don't remember those 'finger positions', whatever they were that i was supposed to be practicing...

but i'm more than willing to fake them for now, in hopes that someday i'll really learn how to play! i have a dream of sitting down to a piano and effortlessly playing a beautiful piece of unidentifiable music. nothing that people can sing along to or recognize - something lovely & melodious that will fill my soul with joyful delight.

i know there's hard work to get to that point, but someday...

meanwhile, we wait for a little more cash flow to allow us to get a piano tuner over here.

that destiny, she knows we have a date sometime in the future. and on that date there will be beautiful music.

it's that time of year again...

for the crazies to come out of the woodwork!
this couple made me laugh out loud to myself as i pushed my cart through walmart and i just had to take a surreptitious picture from the back as i passed by.
i think they're he-man & rainbow brite. but he could also be thor... whoever he was, he cracked me up.

rob & erica hosted a costume party that brought together some great get-ups. here's the flores family in full pirate regalia. i just hope koen didn't have to witness whatever happened to make that sword all bloody!

casey brought her best red-hatter vibe out to groove with the beegees...

kristin & aaron were an adorable cowcouple (cowboy + cowgirl = cowcouple).

my poofy backside was everyone's favorite part of my costume...

evidently it wasn't as teddybear-esque as it could have been, but it still won me a foam dart crossbow prize for first place! can't beat that!

the future marshalls are a little frightening... hopefully they'll take care of themselves a little better than this.

after the party, the beegees & the bear squeezed into the front cab of our truck to go see nick at panera. he was the cutest ranger ever :-) and the only worker that dressed up! bunch of non-joiners. but he had fun anyhow.

and so did we. it was another good year of crazies.

eric's big birthday bash

our dear friend, eric turned 50 this month and his lovely wife, janet threw a genuinely fun party for him last night! we had a such a great time!

here's the birthday boy himself, with all his cakes - janet made a chocolate cheesecake, a carrot cake & a pumpkin cheesecake (my favorite of the three)!! she outdid herself, by far.

with a little help from the old age necklace, he managed to blow his candles out on all the cakes...

there was a what-hat-reminds-you-of-eric game (with pictures involved & post-its explaining why that hat reminded you of him), an amazing dinner (brats & burgers), a tell-your-favorite-story-of-eric time, and finally, a presents time.

nick & i got him a panera gift card & i made a fabric sandwich to host it that actually turned out pretty cute!

there was tomato, lettuce, cheese & a slice of roast beef on whole wheat bread. i don't think it tasted very good though.

then we took a series of group timer shots that were hilarious...

we had a blast - it was the best birthday party i've ever been to. (partially because i didn't have to plan it but also because janet did an incredible job!!)

happy birthday, ericonius!

sweet girls

i can't even begin to tell you how much i treasure these girls. our get-together last night was especially sweet since we hadn't had ann-victoria with us for a whole month!! she and her husband had taken a month to see scotland, ireland, italy & france. (wow! right?) she brought a delightful album of pictures to show us and it confirmed my desire to someday go to italy. i've always thought that's the place i'd love to see and after her pictures, i know it even more. nick has always wanted to see scotland. maybe someday we'll head over that way & take in the beauty...

(clockwise from top left) ann-victoria, kristen, casey, me, allison

to give a little history of our group, we started meeting over a year ago, but just four of us - kristen joined the group a little later... we used to meet once a month & take turns talking & praying for each other. as the months passed, we grew to like each other more and more until we just needed more than a monthly meeting. we've now bumped it up to every other week along with bringing food to share a communal meal. bread, meat, cheese, fruit & wine is our favorite meal, so we each bring one of those items to enjoy. it's amazing the different combinations of those categories you can make - we've been doing it for 5 or 6 months now and it still hasn't gotten old!

despite the lack of an official name, our group has slowly grown into a place of dear fellowship. after what seems like years of trying different small groups on for size, this one fits me just right.

the cutest makuches

a family i used to nanny for was able to come over for a cookout on saturday night. it was SO great to get to hang out with those kiddos again! that family is some of my favorite people.

andrew LOVED the swing! and i LOVED kissing his face again! it's been too long. here's another face i missed kissing - francesca's. she's getting so grown up, it's crazy! she doesn't have a baby face anymore - she's becoming quite the young lady.

after playing ping pong & swinging to their heart's content, all the kiddos cooked up their hotdogs & ate some supper...

the combination of a pit full of fire & a 4-year-old andrew made us nervous - especially after noticing that his eyelashes got singed at some point! see the white ends on them?! we tried to keep him in a chair after that.

at least he had a good time - he chugged hot chocolate & ate 2 s'mores plus an extra chocolate bar to top it all off. but what else are cookouts for, right?

here we have gabriela & angie ann looking lovely...

francesca getting in on the hot chocolate action...

and lots & lots of marshmallow roasting. i ate at least 5. we sat around the warmt & played movie trivia games until after dark.

it was really good to spend some time with this family! they're like my branson nieces & nephews & angie ann's like another one of my sister-in-laws (i have 4 of those - what's one more?).

once again, the firepit bringing people together.