Taco Tuesday!!

It's Tuesday and what goes best with Tuesday??

 

TACOS.

 

It's true!  They're the stuff dreams are made of.

 

If fact, they're so dreamy that one of the first meals I made for my hubby when we were dating was tacos.  With both of his parents being from Mexico and his affinity for authentic Mexican cuisine I KNEW he would be more than a little impressed with my mad south-of-the-border culinary skills.

 

Or so I thought.

 

Apparently, unbeknownst to me, the tacos I grew up eating (your classic ground beef, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, olives, etc.) were a little more 'American' than my mom (and that cute little Chihuahua) had led me to believe. 

 

I'll never forget the moment when I proudly presented my future husband with his taco dinner.  He looked at it, looked at me (trying to and failing at not grinning), looked back at the plate and then said, with brutal honesty -- ahem, loving support, those are not tacos. 

 

Say whaaaaaa?!?!

 

Yep.  It's true.  My tacos weren't actually authentic at all.  I was missing some major key ingredients. 

 

All of them.

 

Flour tortilla  Corn tortilla

Ground beef  Carne Asada, pork or chicken

Lettuce  Cabbage

Cheese  Cilantro

Olives  Salt

Sour Cream  Chile (aka homemade salsa)

Tomatoes  Lime juice

 

As much as I hate being wrong (although in this case I think it's fair to say I had been receiving years of misinformation, basically brainwashed), I have to admit that the 'tacos' I was making don't come close to the real thing. 

 

This one's for you babe. 

 

In writing.

 

I'll admit.

 

You were right.

(Were. This once. Simmer down).

 

Now onto the good stuff, a seriously delicious Taco Fiesta!  Kelly over at Studio DIY threw the most AMAZING Taco Piñata Workshop Party!  Just look at all these maravilloso images from her event!

 

This shot is everything.

 

LOVE El Pato, it's the real deal!  And using the can as a planter?!  Pure genius.

 

 

 

 

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better....

Tacos, crafting AND a swag bag!

#takeallmymoney

 

 

For more pics and all the details click here!

 

Ok amigos, that's all for now!  Happy (Taco) Tuesday!

 

Adios!

Jessica

It's A Bug's Life

Hey there all you beautiful readers, followers and friends.  We've made it to hump day and man, did I wanna keep sleeping when that dreaded alarm went off.  So I'm feeling pretty accomplished in only hitting the snooze 3 times.

(That's all it lets me snooze.  Dang smart phone).

 

The other day I was looking for some photos of a past event.  I grabbed the SD card out of the camera and plugged that baby into the computer.

 

Nope.

 

My fears were true.  The only images I had of the adorable Bubble themed party I did for a client were on my phone.

 

So.

 

Totally.

 

Lame.

 

The silver lining was finding photos of not just one, but TWO other parties I had done.  All of which made me realize I really suck at getting party photos posted.

 

Here's the deal.

 

After spending umpteen-million man-hours conceptualizing, planning, creating, procuring and putting it all together, the last thing I want to do is be the photographer, spending a millennia editing my mediocre photos.  When I've got a pro to shoot an event, it's like Christmas getting those photos back and I can't post them fast enough, but Jessica the photographer (that's me) isn't as eager to showcase her photographic work. 

 

Well, I'm gonna get over that.

 

So I'm no Annie Leibovitz.

 

Big deal.

 

I'm not letting a few less-than-stellar photos keep me from sharing all the fun details with you.    

 

Now, let's get to the goods.

 

A few months ago I put together A Bug's Life 5th birthday party for Sally, the cutest-curliest-haired-little-girl!  This party was especially fun because much of my inspiration came from the happiest place on earth!!  If you've ever been to A Bug's Land in Disneyland you know that everything is supersized, making you feel extra buggy, and that's how I wanted the party décor to feel. 

 

Take a look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a list of the items I custom made for this event (which was held at the MAC in downtown PDX):

 

Faux Grass Backdrop

Giant Pencils

Wood Round Cake Stand

Watermelon Prop

Leaf Welcome Bunting

Sally's Birthday Leaf Sign

Bug's Life Character Cut-Outs

Waterbottle Labels

Animal Cracker Box Centerpieces

Napkin Wraps

Bug w/ Rock Candy Party Favor

 

Phew.

 

That wasn't so hard.

 

I hope you enjoyed my 'unprofessional' photos ;) and maybe even found a little inspiration for your next party!

 

XOXO

Jessica

 

 

30th Birthday Inspiration

August.

 

Already.

 

How did that happen?

 

I refuse to think about summer ending, especially while I sit here in my comfies working on my second cup of coffee listening to my jammie-clad littles cheering on Team USA.  Summer is just too short, there's no denying it.  It's not the weather that I'll miss the most come fall, but more, it's the mornings spent like this and the absence of the gloomy homework cloud hanging over our heads.  Just as the weather season in too short, so is this season of life.  With the girls getting older and my business continuing to grow, our summers have definitely have evolved, much like life itself.

 

So.

 

We'll sleep in for 10 more minutes tomorrow and stay in our jammies just a little bit longer today as we soak up what's left of our break.

 

Let's switch gears and talk about something that never changes, shall we? - My obsession for a good party.  And this 30th birthday party from Urban Palate is great.  The venue, the décor, the cuisine, it's all perfection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the full post here!

 

Well, sweet readers, time for a coffee refill before a conference call with this weekend's bride.  Soak up all the sun and family time you can these last few weeks of summer.

 

XOXO

Jessica