The Soundtrack to my Birthday: "Pompeii"

Today is my birthday and I'm celebrating by enjoying the various covers of "Pompeii" by Bastille that Lauren has lovingly posted on my FB timeline!  It's running joke with us and that song, so it's kinda mandatory on a day like today :)  Enjoy!


NEW FAVORITE: Anthem Lights









This kid is amazing!!



Beautiful acoustic version from Bastille themselves:



And, of course, the HOLY GRAIL of "Pompeii" covers:


Obviously, the next logical step is to record our own cover of it ;)
I hope you have an awesome day!

PS - there are WAY MORE covers to check out!

DIY Pie / Cake Box Care Package

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time on Craftgawker.  It's true.  I spend my days scrolling through pages and pages of creative craft ideas and bookmark them all in the hopes of maybe trying them out one day.  Take that, Pinterest!  Just kidding.
But seriously, I really do love Craftgawker because I've found so many great blogs through them: Alana Jones-Mann, The House That Lars Built, Minted Strawberry...the list goes on and on - trust me, the bookmarks on my iPad will agree.

Anyways - one of the coolest things I saw was this Birthday Cake Care Package from The House That Lars Built.  So cute!


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It also contained a link to the cutest, scariest DIY I'd love to try: the Cake Postcard from She Knows.  I say it's scary because there's sponge cutting and caulk "frosting" involved.


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Pretty awesome, huh?! Alana Jones-Mann took it another step further by using that same tutorial to make business cards!  WHAT?!?!?


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Okay, if that isn't cute overload, I don't know what is (except, maybe, Cute Overload).
I didn't have any neat pie boxes already made like Brittany did at THTLB but I did find a few tutorials on making your very own with Martha Stewart and Lavender's Blue!  Thanks, Internet! :)

I took advantage of my extremely long render times and assembled some boxes for a care package I'm putting together.  Granted, it's super late to the recipient but I think he'll be okay with that.  Why did it take me so long?  I have no idea!  Usually, I'm on top of this birthday thing!  Ugh - I've been slipping...



Bonus - the envelope for the Birthday Party Kit holds Instax Mini prints PERFECTLY!  I had just enough glue to glue down the "Happy birthday" wedge to the inside of the blue slice but I had to tape the other cake slices together.  Not as pretty as I would like but still cute, I think!  Now, I get to take them home and fill them with goodies (and make a few more!)  I'll do a big reveal once I know the recipient has received it :)

Hope you're having an awesome week!

Instant Adventures #3: A Surprise Party Adventure!

I'm a little light on the Instant Adventures for this past week because, well, there was a surprise party for my Mom being planned and preparations for Lauren and Chandler's Engagement Brunch...on the same day!  Needless to say, this weekend was wild and lots of fun!

1. The gorgeous bouquet I got for my Mom's birthday on Tuesday
2. A photo of our memo board at home with the very special addition of Lauren and Chandler's save the date + the heart garland I DIY'd



I did find time to make a cute heart garland for a certain someone's birthday that coming up in May!  I need to make 2, actually.  I've got two wonderful May birthday folks that need some hearts!  :)
I stumbled upon Alana Jones-Mann's wonderful blog and saw this pretty garland that I just had to make!  And this pretty heart backdrop and this marquee light heart and so many other awesome projects to try!

So...about my Mom's surprise party...My aunt had been planning it for a little while but because my Mom's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, my aunt held off the party for the weekend after her birthday - which led to hilarious sitcom-style anguish from my Mom because this was the big 6-0 for her and she wanted a big blowout!  But she was expecting it the weekend before her actual birthday, not the weekend after!
She complained to everyone that my aunt wasn't doing anything for her and I had to hear all about it last Saturday, which led to the impromptu visit to Lips on Sunday, the bouquet on Tuesday and a whole lot of secret-keeping.  Thankfully, she was definitely surprised!  I didn't take any photos (bad blogger!) but others took care of that for me!  The only thing I got was the cake - which I glad to order because that meant I could choose what the message was!  Heeeeyyoooo!



I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

This weekend was quite full of adventures - the biggest one was the start of my Mom's 60th birthday celebration!  Technically, her birthday was yesterday but that doesn't mean the party has to wait, right?!
I accompanied my mom to the mall on Saturday and there, my sister and I made impromptu plans to take my mom to Gospel Brunch Service at Lips on Easter Sunday.  If you love a good drag show (and we all know I do!) Lips is the best place to go for dinner and a show!  I'm planning on taking Lauren there for her Bachelorette Party because she also loves a good drag show!
My mom had a blast!  They brought her (and everyone else who was celebrating a birthday) on stage and the whole restaurant was shocked to hear that my mom was turning 60 :)  Everyone was so nice and the performers were great!  I can't wait to see what it's like on a regular night!

  

Above are photos of the flower arrangement I had made for my mom because I thought they were absolutely gorgeous!  I went to the florist and didn't know what to say when the florist asked me what kind of flowers my mom liked.  I totally blanked!  All I could think of was roses (safe, right?) and hydrangeas (for some reason) and then I let her take creative liberties on the rest because I'm hopeless when it comes to flowers - EXCEPT for my favorite flowers: Gerbera Daisies - which I had no idea would make an appearance in her birthday bouquet.  Bonus!
They did a fabulous job at the flower shop and I can't wait until Mother's Day so I have an excuse to have 2 bouquets made!

How's your week so far?
Happy Wednesday!

Biltmore Dreams

Today is the old man's birthday and how do we celebrate? Oh, you know, by touring and wine tasting at America's Largest Home! I'm talking about the Biltmore Estate, of course. I had never been before and I have to say that my mom was right - I love it! The architecture, the opulence, the sheer size of it all! It's spectacular! And even though it was our first gloomy day here in Asheville, it was a great day to tour the Biltmore.
The complimentary audio tour was great because we got our to hear some wonderful history about the house.  As we walked the grounds outside and took the tour inside, we tried to imagine just how awesome it would have been to be a guest here.  Imagine the parties!  Imagine all the fun to be had on the ginormous grounds!  The property used to span 125,000 acres and today, it covers 8,000 acres - the rest is part of Pisgah National Forest.  GINORMOUS!!
I would love to come back when the sun is out and all the flowers are in bloom.  The gardens would be a spectacular sight, I'm sure!



1-The Biltmore House / 2-4-Statues on the property / 5-In the wine cellar / 6-One of 10 in existence, a 1913 Stevens-Duryea / 7-Biltmore architecture / 8-Mrs. Vanderbilt's room, I believe... / 9-Creepy cat doll in one of the gift shops / 10-The Winter Garden ceiling

The Biltmore is a pretty magical place, I'd say.  There are pretty neat things going on there.  Honestly, if I were wealthy, I might try to rent it out for a week for my family or something!  Or I'd rent it out for an entire day for a private tour with their best guides, chefs and sommeliers.  But it'd be in the warmer months, of course!  Or maybe even Christmas!  I'm sure it's crazy beautiful around Christmas time...

Anyways - onto phase three of the old man's birthday: dinner!  Phase two was lunch at Rosetta's Kitchen. Their vegan chili is wonderfully spicy and delicious!  I highly recommend it!

Happy Monday!

Happy (belated) Birthday to Nathan Williams!

 

Last week, Nathan Williams celebrated his 26th birthday with the fine folks over at Spin.
Nathan streamed back into the front of my stream of consciousness via HereKitty's Instagram when she posted this lovely cover photo:


Because the photo was so small in my IG feed, I almost passed right over but I'd recognize those two anywhere.  How cute are they?!  I am now on a mission to retrieve this particular issue when it comes out!  I toyed with downloading it via the Spin app on my iPad but I'd much rather hold it in my hands (and tear out the photos). I mean, how perfect would it be to have this photo on my wall?


That would go perfectly with my Summer is Forever iPod playlist...And since I've been playing nothing but Wavves and Best Coast exclusively the last few days, it seems fitting.

I feel like Summer is passing me by at a rapid pace and even on the trip I'll be taking next month, I know I won't be able to really relax because I have to hit the ground running once I get back.  Ugh.  Maybe I can relax in the tail end of August.  Maybe get some West Coast air...

Mom's Birthday Weekend Fun!

This past weekend was a whirlwind!  Well...what weekend isn't?  It was my Mom's birthday weekend and I realized after I put my outfit together that I like to get extra fashionista for her birthday.  Why?  I have no idea.  I also realized that it's been a year since I dyed my hair back to black...
Last weekend, I kindly called my aunt to see if she could sneak a peek at my Mom's shoe size in Converse sneakers so I could get her a very special pair she said she wanted and my aunt had me on speaker phone when I asked the very specific question!  Oops.  My Mom heard everything (of course) so I knew that she knew what her present was going to be so I had to dress it up MAJOR.  Enter this cute bag from good ol' Target



AND a tiara and scepter!  I picked up the metallic grey and black from the wedding section and the tiara and scepter from the kids section.  Cute!  But what was lurking under all that tissue paper?
These!

My Mom had off-handedly mentioned she wanted these shoes and somehow, I remembered to get them for her even though they're not too comfortable for her but I'm sure she'll wear them out anyway.  Cute!

I was in a "makin'" kinda mood this weekend since my old man recovered my spikes for me.  Here's what I started with:



I took this pink belt (that came with a black dress) that wasn't really doing anything for me and I started poking holes in it by the buckle. After arranging my spikes and cutting the belt to the right length, I had a hot pink spiky bracelet!  So I had to make another - with snap buttons for the closures this time.  I was able to successfully use the mini anorak snaps I've had in my craft drawer FOREVER!  Sweet!
And after all that sweet anorak snap action, I finally got down to the most important craft - my shoes.  I had the second pair purchased.  I found the spikes.  All I needed was the awl.  Done.
After LOTS of poking and a few Real Housewives of New Jersey episodes, I did it. I had my dream shoes.


And you KNOW I wore them to my Mom's birthday dinner - which happened to be at the Bone Garden Cantina.  
 
I think the best part about that place (besides the drink menu) is the decor.

My old man pointed out to me that my outfit matched my Mom's present:
 
The background for the bracelets is actually my new pair of pink pants! And the geometic print belongs to my shirt.  So yes, I kept it in the pink, black and white family but I liked my outfit!  Funny coincidence!

How was your weekend?

Nate's 30th

Saturday would've been Nate's 30th birthday. So how did we celebrate? By going to his old job: the Pink Pony. I haven't been to the Pony since before Nate passed and I could never bring myself to go - until that night.



I met up with Nate's sister Alysia and friends Sarah and Robert. I have to admit that it was a little awkward at first, you know, being at the Pony with my first boyfriend ever but after a few drinks and some celebratory Jaeger shots (Nate's favourite), the night turned into something pretty awesome and quite memorable and I think Nate would have been proud!
And since I didn't get a chance to make it over to Nate's memorial Saturday, I went over on Sunday with something other than my usual flowers.



I wanted one of those larger, more obnoxious "Hey, You're 30!" balloons but nothing was really catching my fancy and there is an operating business on the corner where his memorial is so I didn't want it to be too too much. I think I succeeded though. The other one I was looking at was really girly (which would've been hilarious) but I would've had to accompany that with more girly daisies like I did a few years back.


Ugh - I can't believe it's been a few years already...I really miss you Nate. I hope you and Tim have met up and you guys are making some pretty awesome music together. XOXO

Editor's Note:
As a bonus to keep Pharrell Week going, one of my favourite dancers (that night) hit the main stage with my favourite song: N*E*R*D's "Lapdance" (of course)!  WIN!

Happy Birthday to the GROUND!

It's my birthday today and I've been getting non-stop birthday wishes from family, friends and co-workers! Thanks everybody!!!
To celebrate this joyous occasion, I would like to dedicate a birthday song for today:
SNL's Digital Short: On The Ground.

First: Double D made me this card:



And then my BF said it on my FB page. Super LOLZebras!



Now I can't get the song out of my head, so I'd like to share it with all of you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Love,
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.