A Dragon Party

Yes, I am aware it is seven months later that I am posting but better late then never, right? So, my son's first birthday had to be dragon-themed because he is my dragon.  I started looking things up on Pintrest when I came across this blog and fell in love with her ideas: My House of Giggles.  I "stole" her dragons made out of construction paper idea and her banner. Here is how they turned out:

One of the many dragons made by my BFF

The Birthday Banner

I set up a station all about J, with a collage of his "Firsts," a chalkboard poster and "Write wishes" Stars and a time capsule box.

The Chalkboard poster was all done on the computer and I found the awesome tutorial here.  She gives you the background and the site for the fonts, and you can pretty much use a program like Powerpoint, Paint, Photoshop elements or if you are on a MAC (like me) Preview. It took a lot of drafts but it worked and I was very proud of myself (after all I am not crafty remember?). 

Finished product, printed at Staples and glued onto a black poster board. 

However, the project I was most proud of was the birthday banner I created with all of J's pictures from newborn up until 12 months. Simply Real Moms has a very easy, step by step directions on how to do it.  However, in the excitement of the party I did not take a picture of the hanging banner (sadness I know). I did take pictures as I created the banner so here it is:

...

 The birthday cake was awesome! it was made by Rossmoor Pastries and they did a phenomenal job with the cake and smash cake. (Unfortunately, it was after J went at it with smash cake that we discovered he is allergic to egg)

Dragon Cake!

Cute Smash cake that J enjoyed smashing

Of Course the party would not be complete without a dragon piñata :

Last but definitely not least I leave you with J's wonderful smash cake outfit I got from Etsy

All in all it was an awesome dragon party, and a great first birthday party. I'm so glad I took the time to make most of the stuff because I think that made it extra special. Until next time!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2014! It's been quite a bit of time since I last posted (I know I promised part 2 of "Dragon Party" I haven't forgotten). Life as always has been hectic, now a mother of a toddler (EEK!) time is ever more scarce. Anyway, the holidays were great, seeing them through the eyes of a child made me enjoy them immensely and having family time was refreshing. However, it's time to go back to "work" and make this new year prosperous. So as last year, I am posting my resolutions for this year, although I am calling them goals for 2014:


1. Pay off most of my debt
2. Take the CHES exam (it's a certification test for health educators)
3. Manage my time better. I procrastinate a lot and waste a lot of time
4. Move to a bigger apartment
5. Get back on track with healthier lifestyle and stay on track (hope to lose at least 15lbs by my birthday)
6. Meet some of "mommy friends" from my online mommy group.

I'm hoping the time management will give me more time to do things like post on here more often, and finish projects I've long ago started. (Anyone remember the quilt I wanted to start? How about the yearbook of my son's first year?) Yup, I need to get on track! So, if anyone has any great ideas or tips on time management,
throw them my way I am determine to stop procrastinating..so much.

As for last year's resolutions, they are still a work in progress, I consider accomplished in the sense that I am practicing self-compassion and reminding myself to be kind to me. It's not something that can ticked off a list because it's something that needs to be done continuously, and practiced all the time.
 Anyway, what are your new year's resolutions or goals? How do you plan to accomplish them? Help a girl out  (and everyone else) and post tips if you have them.
Happy New Year!