Photojourna.list: First Day of School 2014

First Day of School: 2014. New school year, new school. This year Indio headed off like a seasoned pro to his new school at Samuel Preschool - ready to make new friends and play hard. The school is very impressive, I know this because when I picked him up he was gushing about all the things he did and one of the first things he said was, "I already learned everything today." Not bad for a first day on the job. (Story on the weird bear picture: The school had the bear and balloons set up at the entrance to welcome the students. I hurriedly snapped a couple of shots and didn't pay attention what-so-ever to how Indio was posing. The boy poses are all his own, no matter how hard I try to get no blurry motion and a nice smile. When I loaded the pictures on the computer I thought this one was hilarious...and creepy. I had to include it.)

Lego Firefighter Birthday Party - Sweet Treats

When it comes to birthdays, Indio knows two things: presents and cake. That's my cue to produce some magical cake that is molded to perfection and has 20 pounds of fondant covering it, right? Considering my last few baking attempts have literally fallen flat - how do you mess up box cake mix?!?! - I'm sitting this one out. This year I've decided bakeries are in business for a reason and my cakes are going to be purchased*. But blogger guilt won't let me call it a day with store bought goods, so I am making Lego toppers to add a special something-something to the cakes.

Not wanting to try candy melts and molds for the first time the night before the party, I've been testing my methods over the last few weeks. Here is what I think are the secrets to success when it comes to molding melted chocolate or candy melts. Did I mention they can be made in advance?

Materials.In my project, I used silicone molds in Lego block and Lego minifigure shapes and Wilton candy melts in different colors. Everything else you'll find in your kitchen.

Step 1. Melt the chocolate or candy melts. This varies and I'm not going to even try and cover all the options. Just be sure not to overdo the whole melting thing or it seizes (you'll know seizing when you see it - it goes from almost melted back to a hardened state.) Just forget about that batch and start over.
Music suggestion: Melt With You . Modern English

Step 2.  Spoon your chocolate/melts into your molds. No worries about too much or too little just yet, that comes after the next few steps.

Step 3. Start tapping your molds on the counter - I've found a few harder taps followed by a quick vibration works well. The chocolate/melts will start filling into the molds and air bubbles will float to the top (break them with a toothpick, fork or your finger). This step is important for getting a nice mold - getting the air bubbles out will give you a nice, smooth surface that fills the mold in completely.
Music suggestion: Cosmic Thing . B-52's

Step 4. Add more melted chocolates/melts as the level in the molds sinks. If the mold is overflowing, take a knife and level off the top.

Step 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the level stays the same and most of the air bubbles appear to be out. Tip: fill your molds to a level just below the top of the mold - the finished product will comes out cleaner without having edges later.
Step 6. Put the filled molds in the fridge and let set. For me 30 minutes is the magic number.

Step 7. Remove the set chocolate/melts from your mold. If you are feeling particularly particular (like me), don't touch the chocolate/melts for fear of fingerprints ruining your masterpiece. Seriously, I use tongs to move the chocolates/melts from here on out.

Step 8. Put the finished product in a sealed container and save until needed. Tips: Do not put chocolate/melts in the fridge as opening and closing the fridge will cause them to bloom (have spots of white on the surface); the chocolate/melts can be made weeks in advance and stored; place parchment paper or wax paper if storing in a container with multiple levels.

*Wow, re-reading that sentence makes me feel like my grandma Bubba.

Photojourna.list: Backyard wedding reception

I couldn't believe a Facebook message that reminded me of a two year wedding anniversary of a good college friend - where did the time go? Of course, I wanted to look back on the pictures I took of the wedding and backyard reception they had in south-side Chicago, only to find a draft blog post that I never finished. So, here we are, two years later and the pictures remind me of the fun night we had in Chicago - delicious Mexican food, homemade pies and a cozy reception in their backyard. Congrats, Jose and B!

Lego Firefighter Birthday Party - Invitations

Today is my birthday, which has now come to signify the time of year when I realize I haven't planned a thing for Indio's birthday and it is less than a month away (poor thing). My favorite time-sucking best friend, Pinterest, and I stayed up late last night gleaning all the ideas from pretty pictures that cannot possibly be taken from anyone's real-life for a firefighter theme. Early in our research Indio saw a Lego fireman* cake, proclaimed it was the cake for him (as of that day and hour) and left us behind so he could run around the house requesting cake. Adding Lego to the theme was brilliant - lots of people have done Lego themed parties leaving a trail of ideas, templates and general craftiness in their wake.

Scribbled on scraps of paper are the guest list and party layout; pins of inspiration are on the board; favors are in the works; Lego molds are on order. Better yet, the invitations are created and printed. I've got lots to still do, but this kind of laser focus and productivity is almost unheard of, right?

Not one to keep a secret, here are the invitations:

[Front]


[Back:]


I used an old version of PaintShopPro that we have kickin' around on the computer to mash together my downloaded graphics and text to make up the invite. It came together pretty quickly and printed just dandy on cardstock. Done and done. I am pleased.

Front graphic . Lego freebie (seriously, Lego has put out a lot of cool, free things)
Lego Font . Lego Thick
Other Font . Century Gothic

Also out there are many downloadable invitations and templates:
Invite
Blank minifigure
Links to invites, coloring pages, etc.

For more of my birthday party hopes and dreams, check out my Lego Firefighter Pinterest Board.

*Not surprising as Indio loves the book: Lego City Fight This Fire. So much so that Daniel and I could probably recite the text verbatim AND Indio calls himself "Rookie", based on the main character, with anyone familiar to him rounding out the rest of the cast. Daniel usually gets to be Chief, I get to be Spanner...you get the idea.

Menus and More: La Fiesta Mexicana

Stinkin' Pinterest for getting me all riled up to host a dinner party. But, of course with Pinterest, just a typical spread 'round the table wouldn't be enough...no, I needed a theme. Inspired by a little of this and a lot of that, I decided a Mexican Fiesta sounded delicious.

Menu:  Shrimp tacos . Elote . Fruit salad . Mexican sodas . Dessert


I can tell some of you are hardened Pinterest users and this does not impress. Relax, I'm bringing more to the table (literally.) Knowing I was facing a tough crowd I devised a little craft project of my own: banderas de papel (paper flags.)

Oh, you want a little how-to? You got it. Check it out here. Buena suerte!

Fiesta Mexicana . Banderas de Papel

Use these easy-to-make printed tissue paper flags for place cards, menu cards or whatever your heart desires at your next dinner party.


Want a menu to go with your Mexican Fiesta theme? Here's a fun one here.

I Ain't No Halloweenie

What the...it's already October! Despite being planted in front of a computer everyday and attached to a phone every waking minute -- both of which tell me the date -- I can't believe October is 29% over and I have 0% done on Halloween costumes. Well, I can believe it and starting on a costume now would put me well in front of previous Halloween's start times -- Indio's first Halloween (caterpillar) I bought a costume bunting because sewing a costume didn't even enter my mind with a 2 month old. Indio's second Halloween (Fred Flinstone) I whipped together the night before by sewing the world's most haphazard orange sheath and then hot gluing embellishments to it. It turned out way better than I thought it would*.

Which brings us to Indio's third Halloween...this year. Indio is into dress up and right now he is very much into Toy Story, Winnie-the-Pooh and Fireman Sam. We've asked him if he wants to be Woody, his answer is yes, Buzz? Yes. Winnie-the-Pooh? Yes. Tigger? Yes. Momma? Yes...okay, he says yes to it all. I am making the executive decision for Toy Story - now I just need to make the costumes and convince him this is the best idea ever.

Some inspirational links:

Buzz Lightyear

Woody

Slinky Dog

Alien toys

Oh, and one more thing: Daniel and I have gotten into the costume spirit in the past. How is this for awesome? Incredibly, both suits came from one Goodwill.

*Last year I was Anya from Project Runway, so the last minute costume actually working out was all in the spirit of Project Runway. My Anya costume I put together in 2 hours.

Menu and More: Concert Picnics

If you live in St. Louis and you don't know where you can drop in for a free concert then you aren't looking. Just about every ward, museum and park hosts a concert series. Though we missed a lot of the concerts this summer simply because we didn't have our act together, we decided last Tuesday afternoon to gather up a quick picnic dinner and head over to see a Journey Tribute band performing at Twilight Tuesdays at Missouri History Museum.

Just as important as getting to the event is packing a good picnic. Here is our impromptu concert picnic menu. Shopping for and making the menu was only 1 hour (not including driving around).


homemade pesto with tomatoes and mozzarella: Get cherry or grape tomatoes (extra points if you grew them), ciliegine mozzarella (those are just the small 'cherry sized' balls of mozzarella) and pop them into a container. Make some homemade pesto and place in a separate dish for easy dunkin'.

apple and fontina sandwiches: This is inspired by a sandwich I had from Mendocino Farms once. Our take was slices of apple and fontina cheese with a light smear of peach jelly (sounds slightly insane, but it was pretty good.) Cut into quarters for quality picnicking.

cucumber tea sandwiches: I love tea sandwiches. They are just so cute and easy to devour. I pulled a recipe off oprah.com - I thought she wouldn't let me down when it came to food - and they were okay. I wouldn't mind find a better cucumber tea sandwich recipe (hit me up if you have one!) Despite your recipe, you must always, I repeat - always - cut into quarters. Otherwise it isn't dainty.

poor girl's chocolate crepe: Get a good tortilla and heat it in a skillet. Take a good bit of Nutella and spread it in a line on your warming tortilla. Once the Nutella is a bit melted, fold in all the sides of your tortilla and you got yourself a poor girls chocolate crepe.  These folded dandies will save until you are done with the savory picnic and are ready for your dessert. Note on the tortilla: don't go low fat on your tortillas (you are making a faux chocolate crepe, for goodness sake) - those low fat tortillas will just split apart on you and your chocolate spread will be all over the place.

Okay, so summer is almost over, but here are some concert series that happen annually around St. Louis:

Missouri History Museum . Twilight Tuesdays

Missouri Botanical Garden . Whitaker Music Festival

St. Louis Zoo . Jungle Boogie

University City . Starlight Concert Series in Heman Park

Washington University . Jazz at Holmes

...and someone researched this a lot more than me and came up with this listing. Happy listening!

Photojourna.list: Indio Turns 2

Indio's second birthday party was all about trains, cupcakes and irritating hats.

We had the party at the Creation Station in the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. Best decision ever. Check them out.

Photojourna.list: Chinese Lantern Festival

The Chinese Lantern Festival at Missouri Botanical Gardens as close to magical as you can get in real life. The massive silk and wire lanterns (some are 3 stories high) are scattered around the grounds of the gardens and light up the summer nights. So glad we checked it out before the festival ends.