Friday ConeZone #12- Party Edition

Our Conan birthday party is tonight so I'm busy tidying house and getting things ready. I'm a little too busy for a full ConeZone post today, so here's a cute Conan pic instead. I used this for the FB party invite. Also, if you weren't already in the know, you can get the inside scoop on what's going down with Conan's tour by checking out the Teamcoco. com Blog, updated by Aaron Bleyaert. All sorts of little tidbits you can learn about the tour experiences they're having. Have a great weekend and I'll fill you in on our Conan party next week!

Under the Weather

I went to bed last night with a sore spot in my throat and it was still there when I woke up. I went ahead and stayed home. Not 100% sure if I'm sick, it's allergies, or something I ate might have scratched me even. But when you're boss is undergoing chemotherapy it's important to not compromise his immune system and best to play it safe. Unfortunately I was planning on taking Friday off so I could clean house before the party. Which means today's sick day has also become today's cleaning house day. And hopefully I'll be feeling fine for work tomorrow and can do a half day on Friday so I'll still have time for some party prep. I have to say it is hard to motivate yourself to clean when you aren't feeling tip-top (hence the blog post, procrastinating), but then I remember I'd prefer if kitty tumbleweeds weren't meandering past our friends Friday night.

Weekend Roundup- Conan News Edition

This one is a bit slapdash. This weekend went a little something like this:

-Plant herbs
-A few errands
-Steph's birthday at Top Golf driving range
-Laundry
-Grocery shopping

That pretty much sums it up. We got a late start on Saturday so my chore time was almost nil, then my lady problems had me laid up most of Sunday, so a little laundry, watering my plants, and grocery shopping were about the extent of what I got done that day.

I didn't get around to posting yesterday because there was all sorts of excitement in the nerdy world of Conan fans. Conan will have a new show on TBS starting in November! And yesterday was the first day of his 30 city tour! Last night he kicked things off in Eugene, Oregon and the show included special guest Jack McBrayer and musical guest Spoon. I wonder who the guests might be in Dallas?! So much excitement!

Additionally I've been doing some party prep the past few days. We're having a party on Friday in honor of Conan's 47th birthday, which is this coming Sunday. I had the idea to carry through on the message of his final Tonight Show speech, so we're having a "Be Kind" Shindig. We're asking our friends to each bring a can of food, which we will donate to the Tarrant Area Food Bank. In addition to that we're starting with a total of $47 (for his age) and for every guest that comes we will add $5. That money will be donated to Labels Are For Jars, a hunger charity in Massachusetts which Conan is on the committee for. We'll have some Conan clips playing on the TV, but aside from that it's just a regular party and a good excuse to hang out with our friends. Looking forward to partying!

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck, but leave early
-Shower
-Get ready
-Head to SouthPeak Games Christmas party at Ferrari's in Grapevine
-Meet Josh's co-worker's, hang out with Lauren and Randy
-Couple glasses of champagne, some cocktails, and a shot with the ladies
-Stop for supplies and head to Omar's for after-party/30th birthday party
-Party it up with Josh's work peeps, some beers, and another shot- skittles vodka, wth
-Head home very late
-Crash in the guest room, out of fear of hangover illness the next day

Saturday:
-Rise and shine, in surprisingly good shape- no hangover!
-Be a bit lazy, some TV in bed
-Get ready
-Lunch at Chipotle
-Christmas shopping errands
-Wrap presents while Josh and Matt rehearse
-Late snack of cheese, sausage and crackers while we watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
-Into jammies
-Fall asleep watching The Miracle on 34th Street

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Put Christmas Eve chicken in fridge
-Make menu plan and grocery list
-Have coffee and leftover Chipotle
-Grocery/stocking stuffer shopping
-Put up groceries
-Install new rain barrel, all by myself thankyouverymuch
-Composting
-Start laundry
-Clean and prep veggies for the week
-Make dinner
-Eat and watch Simpsons episode with Josh
-Shower and hide out in the bedroom so Josh can wrap my gifts
-Oh, mi estomago
-Finish laundry
-Crash into bed with a tummy ache

Stephanie's Baby Shower

So, bff Stephanie is currently growing two babies in her belly. That's right, twins- a boy and a girl! This weekend I hosted a shower for her family and friends. This was the second shower I've thrown for Steph, and this time around she wanted things to be really simple. I chose a bird theme that I knew she would love and almost everything else just fell into place. I looked through the archives of a couple of blogs I frequent, namely Oh Happy Day! and Brooklyn Limestone, for some ideas and everything came together really well, I think. I used some kit invitations that I actually found in the wedding aisles at Michael's, and embellished them with a little birdie stamp to work with the theme. I went with a light lunch-ish menu of tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, kettle potato chips, veggies with dip, fruit salad, and blueberry crumb bars. I had lemonade, iced tea and coffee to drink. Michael's also provided the grapevine wreaths that I "nested" the sandwiches in, the little birdies that matched my yellow and blue color scheme, the twig & nest combo, and the card stock to make the sandwich flags. I bought two small bunches of delicious smelling freesia for the tabletop and voila! I think everyone had a good time, and Stephanie and her husband Rodney got a lot of stuff that's going to come in handy once little Logan & Hadley get here. Here are a few pics. Oh, and the cake? It was made by Steph. Because she wanted to make her cake, and because she makes awesome cakes. If she hadn't been dying to make this particular cake design then I probably would have done some of those bird's nest cupcakes that have been around the blogosphere and back again. Or talked her into doing it. Because she's awesome. Here are a few pics. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate the soon to be here babes! Edit: I neglected to thank Josh and Holly for being super helpful with the party prep and even more so with the clean up. They rock!

Catch Up

This past weekend can be summed up in a few words. These words are- fun, family, friends, cleaning, cooking, recuperating, and Rock Band. Friday and early Saturday were all about party prep, and then before I knew it it was time for our friends to start arriving. I had a moment of panic once all the food was on the table- what if no one comes? Funnily enough that idea hadn't occurred to me before then. And luckily it proved not to be true, as within an hour our house was filled to capacity. I was so happy that so many of our friends came to see our new home, and over the moon to have my sisters there with me. And after all the party people left, I got to sit outside and have good girl talk with them while Josh cleaned up all the mess. That's some kind of double luck or something. Sunday was all about recouping. Lots of laying around and playing Rock Band while we ate party leftovers. We've been eating leftovers since the party. I realized that one of the things you learn after throwing your first party is what you over and under estimate on in the food category. Next time more cheese and less veggies. The biggest hit of the party? The cheese ball, I'd say.

Unfortunately, the luck left me as I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat and am just now back in the office today. I feel increasingly that sticking a couple of skewers in my ears and twirling them round might be a good idea, just to scratch that unreachable itch and irritation that is engulfing my head, throat and chest.

Now that the party planning is done, the travel planning takes it's place. One week until we head to Cali to visit Diggy!

Happy Days Are Here Again

This is quite possibly one of the coolest party ideas I've heard. Joanna Goddard threw a 1930s party to celebrate the current day depression. It's the awesomest. These are the kind of people I want (need) to be friends with.














*Pic from A Cup of Jo