Fête à Fête

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Mr. B big 4-0!!

The invitation was inspired by an idea my sister Katia had for our dad's 60th birthday party a couple of years before - big faces on little bodies :-) She helped me "build" Mr. B's figurines, since I am less than a novice with any photo editing software... It was really fun to make - and even more fun to have my husband pose for the shots!

Let the party begin... with a cheese plate, some grapes and crackers

Shrimp with Catupiry Cheese & Cachaça ready to go in the oven

Voilà!!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Falafel with Tahini Sauce

Mini Chicken Tacos with Salsa Verde

Wine, wine, wine... in all shapes and forms

Parmesan-Black Pepper Biscotti with Moutarde à l'Ancienne

Salmon-Chive Mousse Cups

Homemade Hummus & Pita Chips. Corn and Lentil Nuts in the back

Palmiers - Anchovy Cream, Basil Pesto & Sundried Tomato Pesto

Silver confetti sprinkled on the black tablecloth

The "Salad Bar": Mixed Greens with Roasted Pears, Gorgonzola & Candied Walnuts, Curried Chicken with Raisins & Cashews, and Orzo, Spinach, Sundried Tomato & Pignoli Salads

Thai Chicken Salad served on a tasting spoon

I personalized some cigar labels with the husband's picture and the saying "Rolled in 1969". Again, my big sis Katia was the one who helped me create the design for the labels

The cigars were a gift from my dad, and came directly from Brasil

I forgot to take a picture, but on the beverage table, next to the cigars, there was a bowl full of breath mints that read "Fabulous 40" and one with Engov, the Brazilian magic solution for hangovers :-)

Take-out boxes to fill with yummy leftovers...

Pictures of the birthday "boy" at different ages were hung throughout the house...

...using metal clips and rod (for hanging curtains) from Ikea

...and displayed as a centerpiece for the table

And last, but not least... birthday candles in Roman numerals spelling "40", and not "extra large"... the running joke of the night :-)

Para uma versão em português da festa, clique aqui.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Gabriel's 1st birthday Party - Part 2 (in the US)

Following up on our “part one” birthday celebration…

We sent out these beautiful print invitations to our guests. They also inspired the party "theme", which was colorful dots and cute animals. My original idea was to have my husband and a friend put on a show behind a standing puppet theater frame, so I added a few "theatrical" elements to the party. (Husband was so busy "socializing" that the puppet theater never happened... :-(

The favor bags were loaded with fun and ludic stuff such as animal masks, finger and hand puppets, and other playful items like bubbles, animal stamps and stamp pads. Pretty much a "theater in a bag", as I like to call it :-)

I arranged a few serving pieces on the table a couple of days before the event so I could figure out spacing and what goes where...

I printed some "food tags" displaying the name of the dishes in both Portuguese and English, since we always have a good mix of nationalities at our parties...

I purchased the metallic colored pinwheel picks some time ago and thought they would be playful and look lovely with the party decor

I used a plastic cover from the dollar store on top of a embroidered white tablecloth. Doing so, I added a pop of color with the yellow, an interesting texture with the embroidery, and saved my beautiful white tablecloth from spills and tiny hands covered in chocolate :-)

I tried to incorporate as much as I could of my cultural background into the food. I ordered a few Brazilian hors d’oeuvres typical of kids' birthday parties (called "salgadinhos") and made some myself (with a twist, of course...). These bubbling shrimp and Catupiry cheese phylo shells were a big hit, and were so quickly devoured that this is the only registry I have of them...

...in fact, (and unfortunately) I don't really have any other pictures of the food to share. You see, this was my first adventure planning a kid's birthday party, and I had a lot to learn about timing and organization (still do!), before and during it. It also didn't help that we arrived from Brasil shortly before the big day... Thanks to the help of my good friends, food and drinks were refilled promptly, but my focus was to get my son out of trouble (a big job on itself!) and to snap photos of the guests, so pardon the lack of visual documentation of the food. But trust me, it was delicious :-)

The cake and sweets table. The men stood behind it for most of the party, and when it was time to sing Happy Birthday/Parabéns pra você we've noticed quite a few sweets missing. Ahem!

A finger puppet theater stand sat behind the cake with a cow-candle "presenting" the show. Mini cups filled with chocolate "Brigadier" adorned the table as well.

The candy sticks had finger puppets covering their tops. Twice the fun!!

Yes, mamma, I am "1"!

My intention with the balloons was to decorate our house for the party, but they ended up being the star of the day (along with the candy), with the 1-year-old-and-below crowd chasing and collecting them throughout the house :-)

Oh, what a day!

The fun continued even after the party with our gift-opening session. Ripping the paper was his favorite part :-)

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Gabriel's 1st birthday Party - Part 1 (in Brasil!!!)

Invitation for my son's first birthday party. We had an intimate (well, as intimate as it can be with a Brazilian family with Italian roots...) brunch at my parents' house in Brasil. Later, we would have another celebration, this time at our home in the US.