Senior Ball (Prom)

One month ago, my daughter went to her Senior Prom.  Not only was it her last high school dance, it was also her first and only dance she attended in high school (and junior high).  Yep...maybe we are overbearing... overprotective...helicopter parents...but that is ok because she is a happy teenager (as happy as teenager are when they aren't being hormonal brats--ha ha ha).(She was allowed to attend the Junior Prom last year, but she decided against it.)

Those who really know me, know that I am not a shopper...sure I love browsing the scrapbook stores and Target just fine, but I hate clothes shopping with a passion and I hate clothes shopping with others even more!  So I was really really dreading Prom Dress shopping--I know--who hates that?  Ok, I don't truly hate it, but I knew it would be me saying "what about this" "what about this one", etc. only to see eyerolls. 

Luckily, dad and brother were along for our first store...Macy's Valley Fair.

The dresses that were not chosen:

Dress #1

Dress #2

We bought Dress #3

Then just to be sure we didn't miss anything, we went down to the Junior's department.  But according to my daughter, those were all Jr. Prom dresses...not Senior Ball dresses...ok, whatever, I've been out of school for a long time.

Dress #4

I did get her to try this one on just for the heck of it.  We both loved it, but it wasn't what she wanted to wear to her Ball.

While I was paying for Dress #3, she seen another similar dress, but in a different color.  So after trying on Dress #4, she tried on one more dress.

She loved it even more than the one I had just paid for.  We came home with 2 dresses that day.  I really liked the blue (dress #3), but everyone I showed really preferred Dress #5. 

Luckily, I took the blue dress back because you will see later on that one of her friends had a similar (not exact) dress in blue!  phew!!!

So the first store was also the last...not so bad.  And no drama--yay!!!

Then we took a 3 week hiatus, because well, I hate shopping!  ha ha ha.

The Saturday before the Prom, we went shopping for a necklace, bracelet, barrette, and shoes.  Shoes...even though my goddaughter was going to loan her the shoes she wore once to her prom...but no, they were a bit too big--ugh...whatever!  Let's just say, we came home with NOTHING that day :/  I did make a last minute makeup appointment at Bare Essentials (yes, I procrastiate).

So Sunday (Mother's day mind you), we headed out to the Great Mall...this time with dad so he could be the buffer :D  The day was a success (thank goodness!).

We finally had everything to put her together including the makeup appointment.  I was going to do her hair.  Everyone that sees me on a day-to-day basis knows I don't wear makeup (even when I do wear make-up, it is minimal) and my hair is always in a bun.  So every person that I told I was going to do her hair gave me this look of "are you crazy?  how are you going to do that?"  Well most people didn't see me in the 80's when I would spend an hour plus doing my hair.  If you can do 80's hair, you can do any hair--ha ha ha ha.

The day of the Prom, we got up early and were the first people at the nail salon at 8:58...she got her first Pedicure and first set of acrylic nails...and first eyebrow waxing.  That place took forever...and we were lucky to be the first people there because that place was crazy packed!!! 

Our next appointment wasn't until 2:30 to get her make up done.  My mom  went with us to the appointment.  This was also a first for her...she has never worn make-up either (no, we aren't cruel parents...she has friends...she is happy...she is fine...).

She did not look like my baby!!!!

Then we rushed home to do her hair.  There was so much product in her hair.  It should have stayed, right?  She has the thickest and straightest hair ever!!  Ever since she was little and I would curl her hair, it wouldn't last too long.  But this time there was mousse in her hair (washed the day before)...there was "lifting" gel...I read how you hair spray and let dry before curling...I did everything and it looked beautiful...even with everyone stressing out that I wouldn't get it done in time!!!  She did decide she wanted glitter, so dad went to the store and found nothing.  So grandma (my mom) went and just came home with craft glitter...whatever works, right.

PERFECT!!! (and surprised everyone how awesome of a job I did :D )  there is glitter in there (not flakes of dandruff--ha ha ha ha)

We headed over to a local mansion/hotel to take pictures...what about a date?  Her and her friends didn't have dates.  They went together...I think it is so awesome that girls do that.  She had a blast with her friends...no drama...no boys saying they didn't want to dance...

See her friend on the far left of the picture?  Her dress is the same exact material/color as the blue (dress #3) that we took back to the store--Phew!!!!

We had a bit of fun and she posed for this...please note...we are NOT cool parents and she is holding Sparkling Cider :)

The venue of the Prom was in the next town over called Willow Heights Mansion.  Good thing my husband and I were dropping the girls off because that drive was pretty scary on a barely 2 lane windy road!  The view was pretty awesome though.

She had a fantastic time.

That morning I had her do a "before" pictures so I could do a She's All That/The Princess Diaries comparison.

ok...we did an over-exaggeration of the before picture because she doesn't really wear her glasses all the time (and please excuse my stupid hard water dirty sidewalk--blah!)  

And one last picture...her after-dancing-all-night hair...see her hair is so thick and heavy.  I could have superglued her hair and it would have still fallen!!

If you've read through this all...thank you for letting me share :)

Graduation/18th Birthday Beach Themed Party

I wanted to share my Pinterest inspired Graduation/18th Birthday Beach themed party.

**PSA--if you decide to blog about something that inspired you via Pinterest, do not delete the board until you blog about it!!  I deleted my "graduation party" board on Pinterest so I had find all my inspiration all over again and some weren't found :(  Oops

For some reason, I was adamant that the party was a California Beach theme and not a Luau theme...I think it worked out :)

Let's begin with the invitations I made.  I found this inspiration via Pinterest for the invitations.  I was all ready to spend the weekend cutting out sandals and making the invitations...but then I texted my husband and told him that I "needed" to buy a new Cricut cartridge--Life is a Beach.  I am so glad that my local Joann's had it on sale and it was in stock.  It made my life so much easier.  

Using Cricut Craft Room, I was able to make the sandal fatter and shorter than just cutting it from the cartridge.  I also used the Fleur de Lys from the Teresa Collins Sophisticated Cartridge and added bling to the sandal.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to use buckets to put the chips and snacks in and I did...I just forgot to take a picture!!!

Here is the gift table which I placed a bucket on for cards.

My daughter decorated the tables.

We used spray glue to keep the sand and glitter down onto the table.

Also found via Pinterest was the photo display...for the life of me, I cannot find the idea on Pinterest or anywhere on the internet!  I had a bunch of ideas in mind, but when I ran across one that used fisherman net, I knew I had to do that.  I wish I would have just gone with the heavier duty brown net instead of 2 of the flimsy blue nets though.  I spray painted clothes pins from the dollar store orange.  I wanted to use something (paperclips perhaps) that looked like fishing hooks, but the idea was vetoed by  my husband and 2 kids :/

It came out cute though.  The photos were a bit time consuming though.  I could have just printed 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 photos (or cut them to fit) and pasted onto white cardstock and wrote the events and dates.  But instead, I used Photoshop and had them printed on 4x6 photo paper then cut a strip off the bottom to look like Polaroids.  

Here is a close up of one of the 4x6 pictures I had printed.

I did not make the cake, but I found a bunch of good ideas on Pinterest.  Of course they have the multi layered cakes with fondant, but I just wanted a sheet cake.  We went to Peter's Bakery in San Jose...one of our favorite bakeries.

I was a little scared that it wouldn't come out just like I had envisioned, but it did!!  I took four photos to  them (This one, this one, and this one.  There was one more, but of course I can't find it!!)  I did find this one on Pinterest, but I wasn't interested in the dead body washing up onto shore look!  I know someone really tried their hardest, but they could have gotten a tan looking doll instead of an alabaster looking one.  But not this bikini wearing Barbie because this one is just plain wrong...gross!!!

I was so happy when the lady taking my order asked "but not Luau theme?" without me even telling her!! :D  I did have to go back and let them know I wanted Orange and Blue though (school colors) and I was afraid the second lady wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about.

It was perfect!  The "sand" was a bit sweet though, but it looked so real.  My cousin's 4 year-old wanted us to take off the sand...she opted for the water--poor girl will be tormented the rest of her life that there was sand on a cake--ha ha ha.  It was pretty cute.

Now for the not so great.  I wanted to do a PhotoBooth.  I had been collecting items for ever!  But with so much going on I was going to ditch it.  But my daughter really wanted it and told me the day before she already told her friends.  During the party, I got a sheet and did a sad version of a photo booth.  (There were so many kids running around, I couldn't just leave my camera on the tripod, so I took a good amount of pictures of her and her friends.)

See my crappy make shift PhotoBooth--boo!

Yes, it is easy to crop and fix, but I wanted to print the photos with my Epson PictureMate Charm right after...I did print the ones with my daughter and her friends acting silly...it was fine and not so much distraction like this one ha ha ha.

One thing that I really wanted to do, but didn't, was have this wall of envelopes and have people place advice inside.  I just didn't do it on time...because I am a slacker...she knows to behave and have fun...not sure what else people would tell her anyway :)

A week after her party, I remembered this story (again found via Pinterest) about a dad giving his daughter the book "Oh the Places You'll Go" which he had been having teachers and coaches sign for the past 13 years!  Too cute...of course I wouldn't have been able to go back in time, but I could have had the party patrons sign it for her.  Oh well shoulda, coulda, woulda...

Thanks for reading and getting to the end!