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A Random List

1) I’m up to my eyeballs in birthday party planning.  The good news is, it looks like the weather will be cold but sunny and dry.  I can live with that.  The park is reserved, and we have seven little boys coming.

Husband is planning games to keep the boys busy.  It’s my job to get party favors and the food and all the other crap that’s involved in throwing a party.  Did you know that it’s REALLY HARD to find age appropriate party crap for 8-year-old boys??  Yes, there really is an isle named “party crap” at my local Tar*get.  Well, okay.  But if there isn’t, there should be.  I’m just sayin’.

Any-Who.  Everything is either really babyish or just generic.  I have been running all over ten counties trying to find what I want.  And I’m not even entirely sure what that is.  Which makes the whole endeavor rather frustrating, as I’m sure you can imagine.  Also, ten counties really means two stores, so I probably shouldn’t complain just yet.  Still, I was hoping I could knock out all my errands at Wal*Mart and Party City, but no dice.

My son’s not much help.  Star Wars is good.  (There is NOTHING Star Wars related in the party crap isle.)  Sports is good, but the cake can’t be a baseball.  (Wouldn’t that be fun?  Hmph.  Party pooper.)  We’re trying to keep it simple, but I still want it to be cute, you know?  I want to give water bottles as party favors instead of a bag of junk, but would you believe I can’t find any?  I also can’t find any sports or Star Wars themed cake decorations.  So this morning, that is my mission.  I guess I will try Michaels.  Any other ideas??

2) Fashion Question of the Week.  Do you like this idea?  If so, feel free to email me any fashion question that you want me to ask the Internets.  Because one week and I’m fresh out of questions.  I’m sure more will arise, but at the moment, I’m blanking.

3) Halloween candy.  Any great ideas of what to do with all that leftover Halloween candy?  Besides eat it, that is.  Not that I have any problem eating it.  In fact, I have certainly been doing my fair share.  But if I keep up my current rate of consumption, I will have to go out and purchase an entirely new wardrobe to accommodate my expanding girth.  And while it sounds like fun to go shopping, I’d really rather keep my current wardrobe and my current size, thankyouverymuch.

So.

The candy must go.  But I hate to trash it.  Any ideas???

4) The basement.  We have carpet, and it is finished enough for the kids to play down there, but there is still a punch list of odd jobs.  I’m dying to share pictures, but it isn’t really picture ready yet.  So here is a teaser.

Husband brought this door home one night last week.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  I love how it opens up the basement and makes it feel more a part of the house.

5) And a while back someone asked me to post a picture of the centerpiece I got at the Pottery Barn outlet.  I finally got around to putting candles in it, so I snapped a photo.  Here you go.  Pretty?  It was 40% off of the outlet price.  SCORE!!!

6) Giveaways.  Today is your last chance to win a sample of Gloves In A Bottle on my review blog.  Comments will close this afternoon.  And also, if you haven’t already signed up to win the Vera Bradley purse for the Fall Ya’ll Giveaway, then you can find that post here.

TGIF, yall!!!

Join The Conversation

23 Responses

  1. I hate to bring this up now, but did you check here…

    https://www.birthdayinabox.com/search/dir.asp?keyword=star+wars

    or here…

    https://www.shindigz.com/catalog2.cfm?cat=34750

    It may be too late, but there are other ways to produce a Star Wars party. Find anything Star Wars related. A mask, a sword, pictures on the internet, game or the cake, then pick 3 of the colors and go crazy with them. When I look at the stuff at Shindigz, I see black, yellow and red. Get plates, cups, forks, table clothes, gift bags or whatever in the those 3 colors. Then get balloon center pieces made at Party City with those 3 colored balloons and have balloons around the park. Then you have a Star Wars party without a single Star Wars plate or cup. But, these are just suggestions. I’m sure whatever party you plan will be great!

    BTW, I have the same basement door!!! I love that door! I get a lot of compliments on it, so your husband did good! Can’t wait to see the finished product.

    Have a great day!

  2. Yeah, I know there are great internet sites to order stuff from. Unfortunately it’s too late. I should have started thinking about this earlier, but with Halloween and all . . .

    But I do like the idea about using the colors. I was also thinking of doing a Phillies or Eagles theme. Again, going with the color scheme would work just fine for that. THANKS!!!!

  3. I have a fashion question that you can ask the internets. I have to go to my husband’s work Christmas party and it’s “after 5 cocktail” (as opposed to “before 5 cocktail??”). I have no idea what to wear! We don’t have a whole lot of discretionary income either with Christmas coming up and all. Any ideas and an explanation of “after 5 cocktail” would be wonderful!

  4. I went a bit nontraditional with my son’s party favor bags earlier this year…I purchased “nicer” things and added a TINY amount of candy to each bag as well as a small notepad/pencil (found on party crap aisles everywhere). By “nicer”, I mean I got little dinosaur eggs that have dinos inside and you dig them out with the supplied tools; this gives a gift versus junk that will be tossed within the week–and an activity that takes a while! I believe they’re $1.99 at Tarjay.

    For Star Wars, you could buy a multi-pack of the little Star Wars figures to decorate a cake, then get some to divide up between party favor bags…again, a “real” toy but cheaper this way. Add some cool pencils and perhaps gum? If you spent more on one nice thing, no need to fill a bag full, at least that’s how I see it.

    And in our house, leftover candy from any occasion sits around until it’s stale b/c I hide it then refind it months later in the back of some hard to reach cupboard. Then, it’s easy to trash. Not that I recommend that necessarily…

  5. I actually don’t have a question per se but an idea I want to knock around with you related to fash-awn. Maybe things will slow down a bit this weekend and I can email you. I think you’d dig it, but it might have to be a post New Year thing cause it’ll take time/thought and those things are in short supply right now.

    What about a “camp-out” them for the party?

  6. 1. Go to Toys R Uz and find some small Star Wars figures and plop them on a regular cake. Try a sports store for water bottles. Also the dollar store is always a safe stop!

    2. I love the fashion question! I have one! I need new boots: Are knee-high boots still cool? Or should I just get ankle boots (which I’ve been fighting along with most of the 80s trends) and wear flats with my skirts? Because you CERTAINLY couldn’t wear ankle boots with a skirt.

    3. My kids school has extra halloween candy drop-off, which gets donated to a homeless shelter in Philly. If you give me your candy, I’ll drop it off for you.

    4. Love the door

    5. Love the centerpiece

    Does this win for longest comment EVER?

  7. Get gift cards for the Golden Arches or something. 5 bucks a card would buy them a meal and an ice cream, if they get the kids meals. Will boys even notice a theme? Are you stressing when they will be more concerned with the games and grub? Relax and have fun.

    Does your church have a youth group? Give excess candy to them. Our high schoolers love candy and will devour it. The leaders can use it for prizes when playing games and stuff.

    I enjoy the fashion posts, but I have no questions. Wait–yes I do. But I don’t have time to link to the shoes I want to ask about. So imagine. I have brown slip-on skechers sneakers (look nicer than sneakers) and black lace-up dressy sneakers (if you could call them that). Do I always wear brown socks with the brown and black with the black, regardless of shirt or pant color? Or can I get away with cream socks with the brown ones when wearing khaki? No biggie, just asking.

    Love the door.

    Have a good weekend!

  8. Regarding Halloween candy, the nurse who comes to give me my weekly shot gave me a great idea last night. She lets her son pick out his favorite candy to keep and then they bag up the rest and she takes it to the hospital and distributes it to the children who were unable to go trick or treating. I love that idae because the child get s to feel like they are doing something and you can cheer up some chldren who are going through a rough time!

  9. Long time lurker, first time commenter…

    Re: Fashion Questions, I have one I’d like some follow up on. What is the verdict – are boots allowed with short sleeves? I’m a Georgia girl and it is often well into fall before the long sleeves come out. Just curious as to the decision on this topic. I’ve never done short sleeves and boots, keeping in mind I don’t know if I would wear boots before mid November. But, if I could wear them earlier, I would!!

    Thanks and have a great weekend – best wishes for the party and party favors!

    Lisa Kay

  10. Don’t you remember birthdayexpress.com? Tsk! I LOVE the pictures of your house! Everything looks so elegant yet cozy! Donate the candy to a homeless shelter or a battered women’s shelter.

  11. Your husband could always take the Halloween candy to work. Always a great way to get rid of stuff. We’d all eat leftover celery if it was free and in that break room!

  12. On your review blog…..where do we type in the code that pops up to confirm our comments? I can’t find where to put it

  13. dare I say it? your teaser is Lovely!!! 🙂 I have a door obsession and am particularly fond of glass panel doors… Nice. Your home looks so beautifully autumnal… Love it!

    Birthday parties are a blast… rest assured, once the party is over you stumble across EXACTLY what you were looking for.
    I hate that.

  14. Maybe you could turn the Halloween candy into party favors???? I’m sure the other parents would kill, er I mean love you.

  15. Well, the candy answer is easy! Put it in the party bags for the kids to take home.

    Check with a grocery store bakery, they usually have Star Wars and Sports themed cakes. They might sell you just the figures if you don’t want the whole cake.

    Do you guys have dollar stores? They usually have party things there and water bottles too.

  16. Debby – Yeah, a day late and a dollar short. That’s the story of this birthday party. 🙂 I’ll never forget birthdayexpress.com again, I know that for sure!

  17. I agree with that other commenter — a good debate on “What to wear to your husband’s office holiday party when he says something helpful like ‘Well, I’ll probably wear a suit or sport coat.’ because that does not tell me anything at ALL.”

  18. I have two ideas for the candy–1. you can chop up the candy bars and throw them into brownie mix before baking them, although you’ll still end up eating the candy or 2. I seem to remember hearing about an organization that packages and sends candy to Iraq either for the soldiers or Iraqi children, but the organization escapes me now. You could probably research it online though.