Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall

Sometimes, life presents you with an opportunity that is completely out of the blue!  While having breakfast at the hotel, Darin struck up a conversation with a gentleman who was obviously a military veteran.  During the brief time, he mentioned that he was one of the representatives of the 'Traveling Replica Vietnam Memorial Wall' which was in the parking lot right around the corner from the hotel!  So, of course, we packed the children into the Bronco and went to check it out.  It was sobering.  The traveling wall is 3/4 the size of the wall in D.C.  It was painful to visually see how many of our people were lost in such a few short years.  How many of these souls left young families behind?  How many of these souls were too young to have even had a chance to really experience life?  I look at Charlie, he just had his 19th birthday - how many of these names belonged to soldiers younger than he is now?

Dad and Jeannie's Wedding

One thing that I never thought about as a child was attending my father's wedding.  As an adult, it was a bit disconcerting being one of the 'Daughter's of the Groom'!  That being said, I couldn't be happier for my dad or Jeannie.  She is such an awesome addition to our family and is just sarcastic enough to fit right in!  The ceremony was beautiful.  The reception was filled with good food, laughter, and conversations.

Dad with the grandkids: Sam, Tori, Charlie, LaKara, Damien, Jordan, Airian, Jaidyn, Jacelynn

Robert, Best Man  and Debbie, Maid of Honor

The 'I Do's'

The musical interlude - thank goodness we had practiced often with no music because the words and music cut out in the middle of the song and we were left to do the rest A'Capella fashion - from what everyone said, we did all right!

The Happy Couple

The cake

The Grooms' Cake

Darin, Stacie, Stan, Jeannie, Sheila, Robert, Shannon, Corinna

Stacie, Stan, Jeannie, Robert, Sheila

Nick, Jean, Stan, Jeannie, Terri

Tori, Stacie, Jaidyn, Stan, Damien, Jeannie, Airian, Charles, Darin

Robert, LaKara, Stan, Jeannie, Corinna

Sheila, Jacelynn, Stan, Jordan, Jeannie, Sam, Shannon

Back row: LaKara, Stan, Jeannie, Charles, Tori, Sam
Front row: Airian, Damien, Jordan, Jaidyn, Jacelynn

Robert, Stan, Jeannie, Debbie

Party Like It's 1965

Our version of the 'Swanky 60's'

For Darin's 50th birthday, we decided to do a throwback theme.  I tried to include the iconic drinks, food, and decorations from the time period, as well as dressing the part!

I'll ty to put in as much detail as I can as to decorations and how to's.  For all the printables, rather than individual links, they are all saved on my Pinterest board 'Darin's 50th Bday' check them out there!

  

Musical themed cake - the decorations are all made from chocolate

Table decorations - the small jar is filled with Jolly Rancher Fire Candies and reads '50 and still hot!'  The tall jar is filled with Hershey's kisses and reads 'Kiss your 40's Goodbye!'  

I found this 16th Century replica of an Italian globe bar at the Goodwill for $25!!!  It fit perfectly!!!

Also at the Goodwill was this magazine from February 1965!

The bottle was supposed to look like it had had many candles burnt in it....  I guess 7 and 10 year old girls have no idea what dripping was would look like!!!

These recipes all came from a 1965 'How to entertain' article

One thing I did was add pictures of Darin throughout his life.  It provided a great source of entertainment and conversation to all of our guests.

The old record player and 45's belonged to my grandparent and was passed to me after they passed on.

The spiky balls are just styrofoam with skewers poked in them and then painted gold.

Two of my favorite pictures!  He is on the far left.

Another super Goodwill find was the fondue pot.  We also had sweet and sour meatballs.

We tried to make a blacklight photobooth since that was just starting to come onto the scene, but were unable to get the blacklights bright enough to fill the space.  Oh well, we did have glowlight fans.... ;)

Darin and a few of the boys around the bonfire!

Shannon and Sheila - the hippy and the greaser

And the party aftermath with the candy cigarettes and the big pink curlers that were in the bathroom!!

 Let me know what you think!!  Overall, I think we captured the spirit of the 60's and we all had a great time drinking Manhattans, Old Fashioned's and SoCo Sours and jiving to music played on a phonograph with all the snaps and crackles that accompany old records.  It was a great party!!

Navigating through molasses

Do you ever feel like you are trudging up hill - through a river of molasses - in February? Then you can relate to my current state of mind!!!  I could continue with many cliches about how I am feeling, but I think that pretty much sums it up! Let me tell you where I am at....

I started out the year with a clear vision in my head of how I wanted the year to go (organized, prepared, focused, etc.).  It has not gone so well!!  My house is a disaster - I still have my Christmas bottles on my mantle - they should have been painted for February about 2 weeks ago.  I'm supposed to have my laundry room and my office done and organized - not even started!  I'm supposed to have a routine and a schedule and a family organization center - um..... nope!! There's more.....

On the other hand, I have started exercising every day, whether its yoga, strength training, walking the dogs, its something every day.  I've been drinking the amount of water that I am supposed to be drinking.  I've started teaching art in two more classrooms and am interviewing for a paid art position next week. I threw Jaidyn a really, really cool birthday party.  I worked 17 days in a row to help cover a situation at work.

After reviewing the month of January, looking at my goals and my vision, reflecting of progress made or not, and looking ahead at where I need to be, I have come to the conclusion that my life plan needs to be way more flexible that it is currently!  So, my 12 week plan has become more of an as I get it done plan.  I don't feel the need to beat myself up for not sticking to a set timeline.  Life happens daily and sometimes I am motivated to get things done and sometimes I'm not.  Yes, my life is chaotic; yes, it stresses me out; yes, changes need to be made.  But, no more timelines.

I have a renewed commitment to my goals. I can do this; I just have to navigate through the molasses.

The Diva's 10th Birthday

Overall, the Diva Party was a HUGE Success!!!  The girls had a grand time getting their make-overs and then walking the catwalk to show off their amazing styles.  I am SO grateful to the slew of teenage girls that helped with the stations - as well as a couple teenagers at heart!!  And the immortal words that every mother wants to hear at the end of the day from the birthday girl, "Wow, Mom!  That was the best party ever!!"

Yay, ME!!!  {HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE} Just imagine it in your head!!

The Cake

The Make Up Station - Thank You, Tori!

The Nail Station - Thank You, Sam!!

The "Make Your Own Lip Gloss" Station - Thank You, Shannon!

The Hair Station - Thank You, Sierra!

Short video of the glamour session.  Taylor Swift, Blank Space - playing in the background.

The Diva herself

Strike a pose!

The Presents

The Toast

The FUN!!!

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment!!  If you have any questions about the decorations or stations, please ask, I'd be happy to share my recipe for hair chalk, lip gloss, or any other part of the party!!