A Paris-Themed 10th Birthday Party

Another year older meant another themed birthday party for my daughter.  Her 10th birthday was no exception as we brought Paris to the Midwest with a pink & damask themed party.  I held the party at my salon which made it incredibly easier in terms of prep, clean-up & activities. (I was extremely limited on time for party planning & prepping in general as it was our bridal season.) 

I dragged out an old Stampin' Up! stamp kit & pink paper to make the invites & we held a little day of fashion & beauty for the girls -- very Parisian.  Guests were encouraged to wear pink as well.  I made simple passports for the girls which they were given upon arrival &, as they visited each station or completed each activity, they received a stamp in their passport.  The party palette was bright pink with black & white damask.  I honestly did not have to do much decorating because I had some items I was able to reuse from my damask-themed wedding & my salon is already decorated with damask & neutral accents.  The thing is, I'm all about reusing.  I mean, why buy all new stuff when you can reuse items?  Plus, with my salon already decorated with damask, it only makes sense to work with existing decor.  My biggest decoration splurge was a white Eiffel Tower from Hobby Lobby for under $10.  

The girls received salon services:  manis, pedis, mini facials, makeup touches & a "runway ready" hairstyle of their choosing.  My daughter insisted on a French twist with loose curled tendrils around her face.  (The professional stylist in me cringed when she asked for the dated hairstyle but the birthday girl gets what the birthday girl wants!)  

For the activities, the girls designed & created their own fascinators.  I picked up plain headbands & then glued on large felt circles as a base for their designs.  I picked up feathers, faux flowers, ribbon & butterflies and they were encouraged to come up with their own unique look.  (Supplies were bought at Michaels & Joann Fabrics and, thanks to coupons, everything cost me less than $30.)  

The activity table & one of the girls' passports.

I also created a matching game for them where they needed to find the correct English to French translation pair.  

Once everyone's salon-spa services & fascinators were finished, we had them do a little runway show to model their creations around the salon floor for the adults in attendance.  

My daughter's fascinator a la mode.

Then it was snack time.  I made a triple layer cake.  Frankly, I thought it was absolutely hideous with its pink frosting & sugar sprinkles.  My daughter adored it.  I took pre-made store croissants & cut them into smaller portions.  (I had tried to find mini croissants but to no avail.)  I melted some chocolate chips then drizzled them over the croissant pieces.  I also purchased those little pre-made chocolate eclairs you find in the tubs in the frozen food section.  We also served French Vanilla ice cream.  For beverages, I made a sparkling pink lemonade (pink lemonade + club soda garnished with berries).  I also attempted to make pink macaroons from scratch.  That was more disastrous than the cake.  The first batch was completely burnt & the subsequent batches were still pretty lame.  But I needed a gluten free option for two of the girls and as they are made from almond meal I thought it was a good idea -- in theory.  I think I leave the macaroon making to pastry chefs from here on out.

The activity table transformed to a dessert table ... with my poor hubby surrounded by pink ladies!

Despite my limited time & budget for the party, it still came together quite nicely & the girls seemed to enjoy themselves.  A simple trip to Paris for some fashionable 'tweens in just under 3 hours!  

Fred & Ginger Go Camping

The view from our campsite at Black River Harbor in the Ottawa National Forest.

Bob & I have talked about going camping since we started dating ... and finally got around to it last summer.  (Per usual, I am a bit late in posting.)  We went over the border into the UP to Black River Harbor on a friend's recommendation.  It was fabulous.  There were only two other campsites in use so we pretty much had the run of the grounds to ourselves ... AND, major bonus, they had indoor toilets.  I am all for roughing it in a tent but I will never turn away from a flushing, indoor commode.  We enjoyed our trip so much we already have plans to go camping twice this year and Bob found some great treasures during garage sale season at the end of last summer so I know this year is going to be even more amazing.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's focus on last year's trip.

Hacking into the wood ... minus the power saw.



 

Our camping trip was a wonderful couple's trip that helped fuel the fire of our marriage & lead to some interesting discoveries about each other.  For instance, I discovered my husband is a bit of a glamper.  He brought a set of the good sheets from home, an air mattress and ... power tools.  I also discovered he is not at peace with nature.  From the moment we started setting up camp, he was creating quite a ruckus with he power saws, etc. as he hacked into wood for our eventual campfires.

But I will say the man is incredibly efficient at setting up camp in a jif.  He had the tent & everything else set up in probably under an hour.  And we were able to start enjoying our little vacation right away -- once the noise of the power tools quieted.  We set off exploring the nearby waterfalls which are just amazing & pictures cannot do them justice.

One of the many waterfalls at Black River Harbor.

We hit all of them -- there's a series of them.  There are these handy little signs that let you know how many miles you need to hike to get to the actual waterfalls.  What the signs don't tell you is that some of the waterfalls have "stairs of death" that you must descend and then ascend in order to view their glory.  And after a few sets of death stairs, Bob started asking other hikers on the trail if the "stairs to view ratio" was worth it.  I'd say there was only one waterfall that wasn't worth the stairs to view ratio but we still saw them all over the course of our trip.  (Note to fellow hikers & campers:  Bring lots of water.  You will get thirsty as all hell climbing those stairs of death.)  At one point we snuck off the approved trail onto an older trail and found a really beautiful, serene spot with mini waterfalls.  I felt so at one with nature ... until a I noticed a puff of smoke go by my head and turned to see Bob huffing away at a cigerette.  Apparently all that hiking in nature was giving him a little too much pure oxygen.

Stairs of Death.

In addition to the fabulous waterfalls, there is the harbor itself with a great beach on the lake that you can have campfires on.  We had a wonderful romantic evening on the beach on our last night of the trip.  I was almost able to pretend we were on the ocean.  The weather was a little rainy off & on during the time we were there which actually worked out in our favor because it meant less people to deal with on the beach.  Yay for couples' alone time!

At the beach on Lake Superior.

Grilled New England Seafood Bake a la Martha Stewart.

Besides the great hiking & views, we enjoyed some pretty awesome camping food.  I did one of my favorite Martha Stewart fish recipes (and just swapped out the parchment paper for foil).  It's so good & hearty with corn, potatoes, fish, shrimp & lemon.  Here's the link for the recipe:  Grilled New England Seafood Bake.  I also did an amazing clean-eating Jambalaya recipe which you can find here:  Clean Eating Cajun Jambalaya.  I also came up with some recipes of my own as well, including a little something I call Bob's Hobo Breakfast.  It's delish & very filling.  Here is the recipe:

The chopped up prep ingredients.

3 Russet Potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
1 Red Pepper, coarsely chopped & seeds removed
2 tablespoons parsely, chopped fine
2 strips bacon, cooked (I used the leftovers from breakfast the day before)
4 eggs, shaken in a baggy

Potatoes sizzling away!

I fried up the potatoes in a bit of bacon grease leftover from the day before until golden then added
the red paper & fried up a couple minutes more.  Then I added the bacon by breaking into pieces into the cast iron skillet & poured the eggs over the entire mixture & sprinkled with the parsley.  I stirred it up until the eggs were cooked & voila!  Super easy & delicious.

Bob's Hobo Breakfast -- ready to eat!

Now, there are a couple of other camping essentials that I took with on our trip besides the good food.  I cannot live without my Starbucks so the VIAs were a must.  And, while I am not a fan of box wine, I am a fan of protecting the environment while camping ... so I picked up a box of Bota and was actually surprised at how good it was as far as box wine goes.  (I did have a little trouble opening the box initially which Bob delighted in giving my a hard time over.)

Box wine -- keepin' it classy while camping!

Just because you're camping doesn't mean ya can't have your Starbucks.

 While this was a couple's triip, we did have one extra companion with us and that was our dog, Gryf.  I was amazed at how well he did on the trip.  We brought his crate along with us and he hung out in there while we did our hiking and slept in there in the tent with us at night.  He seemed to really enjoy his time in the outdoors ... but I imagine his biggest frustration was not being able to go after a red squirrel that kept taunting him evily from up a tree.

Gryffindor, sunning himself at the campsite.

As I said, we had a wonderful trip & can't wait to go again.  We plan to hit Copper Falls with our daughter this summer as well as take another trip back to Black River Harbor.  Stay tuned for new camping recipes & more!