Margarita Cupcakes!

I went to a party for my friend Molly recently. She is moving away and turning 30th this month, so it was a double-duty party.  

The party was catered by an awesome, affordable taco truck that will go on site with a grill.  The owner Abel brought his grill and the fixin's for all-you-can-eat burritos, tacos, and quesadillas to the park where the party was held. The food was delicious! 

We seriously can't wait to use him again! 

Lindsay and I figured that we needed Margarita cupcakes to go with the Mexican food. 

Yum! 

Lindsay used this recipe to make the cupcakes. 

I used this recipe to make the frosting. 

And then we got together and frosted and decorated with little candy limes and straws.  Cute, cute! 

 ...and we'll miss you so much! 

Real Party: San Francisco Retirement Party

Phew, I'm still recovering from the party last night! 

It turned out wonderfully. 

Everyone had a great time-- especially Katy, the honoree. She was absolutely thrilled! 

Here's the details! 

Rather than a standard guest book, we wanted Katy to have something fun to take with her when she moves away from San Francisco.  We found a great San Francisco scrapbook, and lots of vintage post cards with scenes of the city. 

 Guest signed postcards and put placed them in the scrapbook.  It made a nice display as guests entered the party too.  

The postcard idea was inspired by Martha Stewart Weddings.   There are so many fun ways to use this idea ~ its perfect for destination weddings & going away parties!

Katy LOVES Manhattans.   We could not have a party for her without featuring her favorite drink!

One of my coworkers volunteered to be the bartender! (Thanks Jen!)

Katy was given a special glass for her Manhattan. 

Another coworker of mine found this gift at Macy's.  Its a beautiful hand-painted Martini glass with scenes of San Francisco.  Perfect for our theme! They sell designs with many different cities...a perfect going away gift, wouldn't you agree?

And the highlight: the dessert table!

We had such fun putting this together.

The bar included vanilla cupcakes, raspberry gummies, black & red licorice, yogurt covered pretzels, madeline cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownie bites, and cake balls. 

Guests of all ages loved it! Especially this little guy.  I love this picture of him, digging in with both hands! :)

What a fun party! I had a blast doing my first dessert table and look forward to doing more in the future!
Thanks to all the wonderful blogs out there for their dessert table inspiration!
Especially Amy Atlas, TomKat Studio, Celebrations at Home, and Save the Date for Cupcakes...though I read many more than those religiously!

Inspiration Board: San Francisco Retirement Party

My blog posts have been a little sparse lately because I'm in the midst of some serious party planning. 

A coworker of mine is retiring and moving away and we are sending her out in style. 

I'm finally getting around to sharing the inspiration board we're working from! 

We wanted to do a tribute the the city where she's lived for so many years.   And in addition to a bright red Golden Gate bridge, we decided on black and white. A classy combo, just like the honoree. 

Lots of fun things in the works -- including a dessert table which is coming together quite nicely! -- and I can't wait to show you all the details later this week! 

Photo credits:
Red tablescape, damask runner, red candy vessels, red velvet cupcakes, Golden Gate Bridge, Vintage San Francisco postcard, red & black tablescape, fleur de lis candles, polka dot baking cups.

Real Party: Going Away Party

I recently blogged about invitations and friend and I had made for a going away party. And then Brooke of the fabulous Jackaroo Love featured them! So exciting!

To refresh your memory:

The party was held at this little bar/restaurant on the San Francisco bay:

via

It ended up being a perfect location. The party was held immediately after work, which allowed the couple's coworkers to stop by and celebrate. We were able to order some appetizers off the menu rather than having to prepare the food ourselves after a work day.

Luckily, they let us bring in our own desserts.

The blue and brown color scheme started on the invitations, and was carried through on the cupcakes.

The cake was modeled after our suitcase invitations. The "handle" was ribbon, so it was removed before serving. I baked the cake in a standard 9x13 baking pan. I sliced it in half to put in a filling of more chocolate frosting, and a crumbled toffee candy bar. (Just like I did with this cake). This is the easiest little trick, and really makes a cake seem so much more special. I highly recommend it for your next shindig. :)

Here's the whole dessert display. I tied up some silverware packets with raffia (left over from the invites) to make it easy for people to grab. We avoided any kind of cake-cutting fee by bringing in our own plates and silverware.

And, a party-must-have: the banner!

"We'll Miss You Johanna & Dustin"

Here's a close-up, so you can see the cute paper.

Rather than a guest book, we made little cards for guests to write their contact information on, and gave the couple a little box to store them. It was a perfect touch for a going away party...now if only I had gotten a picture of it. :(

Invitations: Going Away Party

Some of my friends are moving to Portland in a few weeks. :(
Naturally, we've decided send them off with a little party. (I always like to channel my sadness into crafting.) One of my friends and I put together invitations for the party:

Aren't these little suitcases adorable? There's a "PDX sticker", which is the airport code for Portland's airport. A "tree sticker", as a nod to the woodsy Northwest. The little luggage tag tied with raffia has the couple's initials and their new city.

As we were putting these together we were coming up with all kinds of ideas for how to use this design.

• beach bags for a beach-themed party of any kind (with tropical-patterned ribbon, a little "towel" sticking out)

• suitcases or beach bags as save-the-dates for a destination wedding

• retirement party invitations
  

The details were written on the back:
Johanna & Dustin are packing their bags and heading to Portland.
Please join us in wishing them good luck on their new adventure!

Ready for envelope stuffing!

Whenever I address invitations for a party that isn't too formal I do my "dot letters". It takes a bit more time, but I think it adds something special the the presentation. And I never use plain white envelopes, unless it is the only thing that will match. I like to think they jump out at the recipient from a boring pile of bills. Don't you just love getting mail?

This girl is headed off to the mailbox!

PS I'll post all the details of the party within the next few weeks, so check back!