Big Birthday Celebration - Planning the day

My Mother's birthday is coming up. Not just any birthday, a really really big birthday. My Mom will be 90. Ninety! 

We all have talents in our family and one of mine is organization and party planning. It's fun for me and I really enjoy it. So I have been the main planner for my Mom's big party. 

This thing has turned into the size of a wedding reception. We will have close to 100 guests, catering, music and dancing. 

I went through the instructions from my previous post on Party and Event Planning - Laying the Foundation and came up with the following list: 

• What is the purpose of the event? The purpose of the event is to celebrate my Mom and to make sure she knows she is loved and appreciated. 
• What do I want the tone or mood of the event to be? Relaxed and fun, but beautiful at the same time. Party casual dress, safe environment for all my Mom's friends, and a great party atmosphere.
• What is important to me? That my Mom has the best time of her life. That she is celebrated and knows how much we all love her.
• What do I want for my guests? I want them to be well taken care of. I want them to have a good time. I want to have some surprises, and to provide a beautiful and fun environment.
• How do I want to participate in the event? I want to eat and be able to participate fully in this event. I tend to take on too much leading up to events so I am exhausted at the party. I want to relax and have fun at this one.  

Starting the Planning

Now that I have a foundation for the event I can start planning. The first thing I like to do for a party is put together the guest list. This helps me understand the approximate number of people, which leads me to how much space, food, and drinks I will need.

We have a huge family. Our baseline of guests is 32 right now, and that is just my siblings and their families. My Mom came up with a guest list of 60 something people, so we are up near 100.

I don't hold surprise parties for 90 year olds, so having my Mom included in the initial planning helped to move things along. It also makes it easier to come up with the right guest list, theme, and color scheme. We have booked a hall to hold the event, and my Mom has a caterer she likes. We have chosen a tentative date of June 21.

Guest list:  Approximately 100 people
Theme: I struggled with this one. Was going to do Old Hollywood since my Mom grew up in Hollywood but, I have settled on no theme. I will write about this in  a future post.
Colors: Bright teals, corals, and pinks

Filling in the details

I like to create nice invitations. The invitation sets the tone for the party and lets your guests know what to expect. My niece created a gorgeous invitation which sets the tone perfectly for this party. I hand address the invitations per old Emily Post rules. There is something about receiving a more formal invitation that is properly addressed that creates anticipation. I love hearing the guests excitement when they RSVP. It keeps me motivated.

We have rented a hall, and it is huge. I think we could easily seat a few hundred people there. We will need to make the space more intimate. 
 
I love teals, corals, and pinks and hadn't used these colors for a party before. I found a great palette at The Perfect Palette (I found it on Pinterest and followed the links).

We will also add in a touch of black and gold to make the party shine and make the colors pop. 

So far we are having white tablecloths, teal blue table runners, gold centerpiece vases, black accent vases, and pink and coral flowers on the tables.





I have found a lot of items on eBay and others at floral supply stores. I will post pictures and where to buy in a future post. 

 
The party design is coming along. My biggest concern at this point is whether I should have put in an order for the flowers. I need to plan out what I need for a party of this size. I usually just go to the flower supply and pick out what works with my color theme, but I need a lot of flowers this time. 

Time will tell if I made the right decisions. More in a coming post! 

So how are you celebrating life? Leave me a comment below.
Laureen

MMMMmmmm Muffins

Have I mentioned I like baked goods? MMMmmmmm Hot from the oven, yummy, fluffy, baked goods. With my eating plan cutting out all wheat and sugar, it has put a big dent in my enjoyment of baked goods. This isn't just a gluten free thing, it's a no wheat thing so gluten free flours are out. 

I have found a way to make cookies, both baked and no-bake but I wanted more. This morning I jumped into muffin making with both feet, and by am I glad I did! YUM!

These muffins use buckwheat flour, which is not a wheat, surprisingly. Buckwheat is made from the seeds of a fruit which are in the same family as rhubarb. See this wikipedia link for more info: Buckwheat. Since it isn't a wheat there is no gluten in it naturally. I am eating for heath these days and buckwheat seems much healthier to me than overly processed wheat. 

I also used almond meal or flour and some gluten free oats. These 2 ingredients made the muffins more dense and hearty than what we made in my Rum Cake Donut Muffin recipe.

To replace the sugar, I used Xylitol and Stevia. Both of these sweeteners are natural and do not include chemicals. Stevia is an herb and Xylitol is made from birch. Neither of these sweeteners raise blood sugar nor impact the pancreas. 

Taking all of that in mind, here is the recipe.  

Note that the buckwheat will make them dark. The batter will be dark and the muffin will be dark. But the flavor is great. Give them a try!  


Healthy Muffins (makes 32 mini muffins)

1/2 cup organic buckwheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal or flour
¾ cup gluten-free oats 
1-½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ teaspoon cinnamon

⅓ cup coconut oil
½ cup organic birch Xylitol
1 packet Stevia
1 egg (for vegan, substitute a flax egg)
¾ cup almond milk (or coconut or hemp)

Preheat the oven to 350º. Whisk together the flours, oats, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, add coconut oil, sugar, egg, and milk. Mix to combine until thoroughly blended.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir only to combine.

Coat your muffin pan with a little coconut oil cooking spray and scoop the batter evenly among the cups. I filled a 24 mini-muffin tin and had enough for another 8.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. The muffin should spring back when you lightly touch the top.

Let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and allow them to cool another half hour or so. 

Topping

Ingredients: 
3 Tablespoons Earth Balance "butter"

3 Tablespoons Xylitol or 1 teaspoon Stevia
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl or on the stove. Mix the sweetener and cinnamon in a second bowl. Quickly dip the muffins in the butter and then roll them in the sweetened cinnamon. I just did the tops but you can do the whole muffin if you want--you just may need to double your topping recipe to cover all the muffins.

Tap off any excess cinnamon and they are ready to eat. 

I am loving the fact that I don't need flour or sugar to make a yummy treat. Hope you enjoy them too! 

Laureen

It's the little things that make life grand

Sunday mornings are my favorite time of the week. Friday evenings come in a close second. Sunday morning means I can sleep in until my body tells me it's time to wake up. I can leisurely drink my tea. Make a hearty breakfast. And relax and enjoy myself.

This morning I woke up before my husband. We are both on a detox diet so we drink red clover tea throughout the day. I took our vintage carafe and made a large pot, suitable for the whole day. 

I love our vintage carafe. I gave it to my husband for Christmas this year. It was a great eBay find. I love mid century modern design and this one is perfect. 

I poured my cup of tea and set his favorite mug beside the carafe. 

Through this detox process, while I am cleaning out my body and allowing it to be healthier, I am starting to really enjoy the little things. My favorite mug, the great designs in my home, making good food, listening to good music. 

These little things help me not miss the junk food so much. I still crave breads and cakes but making sure the things I am eating are beautifully served makes me happy. And makes that road to health not so steep.

The red clover tea we drink is just a simple loose tea. But you have to admit that pouring it from that gorgeous carafe into a fun mug makes all the difference. 

It's a beautiful rainy day here. Great day to spend appreciating the warmth of my house, hot tea, and watching Peter Gabriel in concert (the one in Athens--highly recommend). 

Soon it will be time to make that breakfast. Ahhhhh Sundays. 

Hope you are enjoying your day. You don't have to spend a lot to make your days special. 

Time to relax,
Laureen  

What I wanted to see at the Opening Ceremonies

I love the Olympics. I watch as much coverage as I can. We upgrade our electronics so that we can record and watch more. We take it very seriously. We stop watching news so we don't see results before we can watch. This year, we have enough storage to record literally all coverage that will be aired on all 4 channels. 

Image credit:
http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2014/02/07/live-blog-2014-sochi-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony/

The opening ceremonies are always very special as well. I love learning about the countries that are hosting and I love seeing the culture. Which brings me to my topic for today: I was disappointed in the Sochi Opening Ceremonies. 



I loved the torch. What a beautiful design. I loved the dancing. I loved the small amount of music we heard and the ballet dancers. I loved the gears and that portion that showed the advancement of Russia. But the rest was lacking. 

I am not going to go into the politics. There is enough online about that. 

Here is what I would have wanted to see in the Opening Ceremonies for an Olympic Games held in Russia:

• Multitude of Russian Cultures: There are 27 languages that are considered official languages in Russia. Who do these languages represent? I would have loved to see each culture represented. 

 

• Vodka: I am sure some will disagree with this thought but Vodka is a huge export of Russia. I would have liked to have seen this industry represented during the industrial part of the ceremonies. Russia has perfected the making of vodka. 

Image Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll

• Nesting Dolls are a great tradition in Russia. I didn't see them represented at all in the opening ceremonies. 

 

• Russian Composers - I would have loved to have seen an orchestra come out and play music from some of the great Russian composers. There are so so many! Heck, even Willie Wonka uses Rachmaninoff. 

 

Credit: http://lcrsperspectives.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/architecture-in-russia/

• Real interpretation of the onion-shaped domes. To me, this is some of the most beautiful architecture in the world. The balloons looked like something out of a children's game. Why not give us the real colors and designs? They are gorgeous! And not a drop of neon in sight.

 

• Medical Advances: Russia has made some huge advances in photodynamic therapy and laser medicine. They are treating cancers with it. This means no chemicals in the body, just light used by the cells to heal. I need to do more research into this and some other things they are doing. This is incredible! 

While I love the Olympics and fully support our athletes fully (those sweaters they made the US athletes wear are a whole other post), I would have loved to have learned more about the real culture and history of Russia. It seems that there is so much more to the people there that we didn't see, or more importantly feel, about Russia. Parts of the opening ceremonies were beautiful and entertaining, but overall it was a bit of a disappointment because I didn't learn enough about the true history of Russia.

Laureen

Gloves - This Winter's Fashion Statement

Picture (c)  of Vogue Magazine

I am a huge fan of elegance and decorum from the 1940s and 1950s. I also think some of the things they did for fashion make great sense today. The way they wore gloves in those days must have kept them all healthier since they weren't touching germy doors with bare hands. 

Okay, so I am a bit of a germaphobe. Alright, a LOT of a germaphobe. I wash my hands as soon as I get to my office, I wash my hands throughout the day. I touch door handles and elevator buttons with my sleeve or the back of my hand instead of my fingers. And I ALWAYS use hand sanitizer after I pump gas. 

If you think about it, we walk around touching door handles, railings, elevator buttons and such that hundreds of people have touched before us. 
Is it any wonder we pass so many illnesses around? 

So I am adding gloves into my wardrobe this fall. They will stay a part of my wardrobe through the year and not just with formal gowns or in snow. 

One of my favorite looks for gloves is worn by the editor of the magazine in the movie Funny Face. The gloves are a little longer and flared so they cover her cuffs. Click the video below to see the wonderful Think Pink clip from the movie. 

I have begun my hunt for the perfect gloves that will look great and add a certain panache to any outfit.         

Gloves can be cute and sassy at wrist length, or more mid-forearm length with a flare to keep blouse and jacket cuffs clean until you get to your destination.     

You can get great vintage finds on eBay for very little cost. Click here for the results of a search on eBay. I have recently found a seller with some great options and have purchased the ones in the pictures you see here. 

Since my favorite ones were longer, I found these fabulous flared gloves to the right. I love the detail at the wrist and can't wait to see how they look with my favorite blazers. 

I also purchased some of the short ones. I found a great deal on 2 pairs with fabulous design. I can even wear them with jeans and a sweater. 

 

I love the detailing on these gloves. They remind me of the ones the office women had on in the Funny Face video link above. 
 
The detailing on the wrist is wonderful and the colors go with everything. These gloves are made out of cotton so they wash and dry in a delicate load.    

I live in an area that doesn't get too cold so these gloves will work well for me through the winter. Those of you in snowy areas can still wear cute gloves by choosing ones that have a bit of flare and style. There are some adorable wool and leather gloves available today.
  

Cute faux fur cuffed gloves

 

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You can also wear the vintage cotton gloves when running from your house to car to the heated malls or businesses.   Add some flare to your winter accessories and join me in bringing back gloves year round.   
Think of how gorgeous and healthy we will all be! 

Yours in Style,    
Laureen 

Ahhhhhh.....Friday

It's Friday of my first week back at work. This has been quite the busy week but I have kept to my vision of bringing more fun and beauty into my life. Today I am making my body and mouth happy by having a tasty, healthy, and pretty breakfast.


Before I get into the details of my breakfast, I want to say an aside about dishes. If you don't like the way your food looks on your dishes, please look into replacing your dishes. You can do it one dish at a time at places like Ikea. 

White plates let you focus on the food

Patterns compete with the food

You can also find inexpensive dishes on eBay and Etsy. I prefer white because then there isn't a pattern to compete with the food. It's important that your food looks great on the plate. It really does make a difference.


 Now back to breakfast. This year I need to work on my weight, so I am in the same boat as many others. As I have said, the food I eat at home is organic. Unfortunately, I also like to eat out and that food isn't organic. I will work on that in this coming year. 

I recently tried oat groats, which are whole, minimally processed oats. Because they have not been extensively processed, they retain a high nutritional value. They take longer to cook than other oats but I figure the health benefits are worth it. I found them in the bulk section of my local, organic grocery, Jimbos Naturally.

On Monday evening I made a large batch of groats. When you cook the groats you put in 1 cup of groats to 4 cups of water. So it's a 1:4 ratio. I have also tried replacing 1 cup of water with 1 cup of coconut milk. It works well and makes for a creamier oat. I put the raw groats into cold water and then turn on the heat to medium-low. I let the water come to a slow simmer and then turn the heat up to medium high. Boil for 20-30 minutes or until about 85% of the water is absorbed. Reduce the heat back to medium low and finish cooking until the remaining water is absorbed. Don't let them boil dry. 


I put them into a container and store them in the refrigerator. 
I re-heat a portion in the morning and usually add in the a tablespoon of raw honey, So Delicious coconut milk, and cinnamon.  


You can add all ingredients into a pan and reheat on the stove top. Since I run out of the house and head to work, I found a new item that I have fallen in love with: a personal crock pot that warms your food (it does not cook). 

I throw all my ingredients into the container. When I get to work I pop the container into the base unit and plug it in. When I am ready to eat my food is warm. I like it better than microwaving because I am always grossed out by the microwaves at work. They are covered in food that has popped during cooking that no one has cleaned up. Also, microwaving can kill some of the nutrients, and if I am going to eat healthy food, I might as well get as much benefit as I can. 
 

The crock pot comes with a container so you can heat leftovers, soups, or any other item that you want warmed.
The container is a good size and has a lid that doesn't leak as long as you get it sealed well.

 As the food warms, the lid on the container pops up. I removed the lid to the base unit so you could see. You can remove the base lid to stir or check on the food that is warming.

I leave the base at work (the whole outer crock is considered the base) and bring home just the container. I wasn't sure how well this would work but I love it. I plug in my crock when I get to work and my food is warm by the time I am ready to eat. There are extra containers available on the Crock Pot web site and I plan to buy a few more as soon as I can get a deal on shipping and handling.


Meanwhile, for my breakfast this morning I had oat groats with coconut milk and some of my blueberry compote. You can find the recipe for the compote in the Strong start to the week post. 


This is a wonderful alternative to my standard honey and cinnamon flavors. It was a great way to start my Friday since it tasted so good. 

I had no idea I could make whole grains taste this yummy. I will continue to eat my groats and include this as one more way to make my life exactly what I want it to be. 

Happy Friday! 
Laureen