Baby Boutwell's 80's Prom Shower! Wed. January 14, 2009 my life
On Friday night, I threw the Boutwells a little neighborhood baby shower! Chenin requested there be no measuring her stomach or too much baby shower BS, so for months I debated about the best way to celebrate the impending arrival of the newest little one! So many ideas were tossed around--some good, some heinous, but eventually I decided to go for the gold and pick the absolute best--80's prom! I knew that all our friends would get into the spirit of the theme and I was not disappointed.
Since I am just starting to get to the age where my friends are having babies, I didn't know the first thing about how to throw a shower. I had ideas, but no way to implicate them, especially since I was going to be gone for the majority of the planning period. It was by complete coincidence and absolute blessing that the incredibly talented
KELLY AGUILAR OF SOCIAL BUTTERFLY EVENTS stepped in to help me. Seriously, this is THE hottest new coordinator in the So. Cal area. I have no idea how she managed to think of so many creative little touches and organize everything so quickly. I didn't give her much to work with in any area and she made this party look better than most of the proms I've been to. So if you need a wedding coordinator, party coordinatory, or sanity-saver, give her a shout. I think she'll be pretty booked this year :)
She pulled together some things right away. Somehow, she got DJ Peter Papadopolous to agree to spin some 80's tunes all night--this party would NOT have been cool without him! He rocked it!
One thing I knew I wanted was for this party to be like, totally 80's in every way. Cheezy and awesome. What fits the bill more than a balloon arch??
Of course the whole front room needed to be filled with balloons too!
Catering was done by 24 Carrots whom I LOVE. The standing food was short rib and wasabi mashed potatoes and mac & cheese in individual servings, but my favorite things that I never get to have at weddings are chocolate fountains, so I made sure there was one of those:
One of Kelly's awesome details--The Totally Awesome Box Of 80's Prizes! Everyone got to pick a horrible 80's prize such as a cabbage patch doll, a 45, a Jane Fonda workout book, and a host of other equally awful 80's leftovers:
Remember when these were cool?
The CAKE was my favorite element of the party. It was a group effort that was so incredibly pulled off by the incomparable GRACE FROM SWEET GEMS. Grace is a genius--truly. This cake was absolutely amazing--nobody even knew it was the cake! From the details of the ugly baby topper to the Super Mario holding the cake up, it was truly a masterpiece. Her wedding cakes are equally if not more awesome and insane:
The coolest thing is that the garbage pail kids at the base of the cake were actually everyones' names that were at the party. And they were edible. SO SO SO cool!!!
You might be wondering as you see the photos below why the ladies look so hot. There's a reason--the hair and makeup were done by the super SUPER talented Nicole Deanne, who besides being phenomenally talented is also Amelia Lyon's sister
Jeff Norwood, Michael's brother recently moved out here! You should read his blog--it is hilarious. The only thing wrong with it is that he doesn't post more, but maybe if you all start reading and commenting on it, it will encourage him. It is seriously SO funny!
These pics are funny--one of these things is not like the others...
Of course, two Norwoods are better than one:
Candice Brooke looking fabulous with her crimped side pony:
These two pics are awesome, and the first one is just wrong in every way! I do love Cyndie's teal & pink though!
What the heck is going on here??
Me and Julie:
These boys are H.O.T!
The girls! In the bottom we're playing a little game I like to call, "let's make Chenin feel uncomfortable". Don't worry Chenin, it's almost over!D
Doug makes a very handsome prom king:
Aw, they're so cute!
Some hawt details:
Okay, so we played Pictionary at the end. Candice drew the photo below. A FREE SHOOTSAC goes to the first person to leave a comment with the actual clue that she was drawing:
**UPDATE--THE ANSWER WAS FIN! Dana Grant wins--email me, Dana :)** Personally, I don't see "fin". :)
The reactions from the peanut gallery:
Doug and Chenin--we are all so excited to meet the newest member of the Ladera Social Club! He'll fit right in since he'll likely be up all night! All his aunts and uncles are excited for him to get here already!!
2009 is going to be a good year. I know because in the past, I've been able to tell whether a year would be good or bad within the first few days and have been accurate in my predictions thus far. Also, there have already been several good things already that have happened in the past week, which is a good indication of what is to come!
Although I'm not in the habit of making resolutions that I'll probably break in a few days or weeks causing me to feel guilty and dumb for having made them in the first place, I do try to start every year off with a few basic ideas or premises of what I'd like to accomplish in the coming year. Not resolutions, because there's no consequence if I don't quite make it, but more an idea of the person I'd like to be in the coming year.
So here they are--a few choice ideas for 2009.
1. Get fit. I know, this is probably the #1 goal of people across the world starting January 1, but this is the year I'm going to finally do it. It's not a weight thing, or a size thing (although if those two things improve you won't see me complaining), but here's my real goal: To be able to run the full loop that I walk around my neighborhood in nothing but a sports bra and shorts, and have nothing jiggling that's not supposed to. And if I can fit in a pair of size 26 jeans at the end of the year, I'll buy the fanciest ones I can find (even if buying premium denim is useless since it's all the same anyway ;) ).
2. Be a better person. This is probably the most vague one, and I don't even know how I would know if I met this goal, which is why it's not a resolution or even a real goal, but I'm going to try. The other day I was in the mall, and I kind of tripped over some item that another shopper left on the floor. Instead of picking it up and putting it where it belonged, I just walked right past it, and went about my own business. Then someone much nicer than me saw it, picked it up, and went to put it back in its rightful place. At that point I was struck by how careless I've become about things going on around me that aren't on my radar, and I'm going to try to make a bigger and better effort this year to be a more aware person. I want to be a better friend, daughter, sister, and partner to the people I care about, and as long as nobody does anything major to piss me off, I don't see why I can't do this simply by being attentive to what's going on around me. Also, having a positive attitude makes even yucky situations better, so I'm going to keep an eye on myself on that count as well.
3. (and this is the biggie) Lately I've realized that I can cuss like a sailor and give pretty much any inmate a run for their money. The truth is, I just love foul language. Not all the time, but just to add effect and spice up an otherwise boring sentence. But it has to stop. Really, it's unnecessary and I need to start learning some new words to add flavor to my speech, instead of defaulting to the same old cuss words that every seventh grader is using or laughing at on the playground. I will, however, be keeping a few choice words that I don't feel I can live without. They're not that bad, but I'll refrain from posting them here because my mom reads this blog and is easily offended.
And for a piece of odd news for you, a man skiing in Vail last week had a little mishap on the chairlift and ended up taking a lift up the mountain pants-free. It's only appropriate that I share this story with you, because I'll be taking a little ski trip of my own in a few weeks--I sure hope this happens to one of my friends--we'd have better cameras to capture this one! Anyway, **click here for the story** and make sure to check out the pics!!
Declaring Blog Bankruptcy Wed. January 7, 2009 i do
That's right, I'm declaring blog bankruptcy. Taking a mulligan, getting a do-over, wiping the slate clean, etc. etc. During the last part of the year, I got so behind here that it seemed like a huge chore to get caught up. Nothing I was posting was ever current, and just knowing that I was so far behind made me not want to blog at all! So I'm stating over and starting 2009 clean with the most recent job I've shot, and I'll blog the shoots from the later part of 2008 as I get to them. That way, everything will get blogged eventually, and I can keep it so fresh and so clean clean here for '09!
Last week, I flew to Atlanta after docking for the cruise to meet up with Ami and Scott for their 10 year vow renewal! For those of you who don't know, Ami is a blogger herself and runs the site Elizabeth Anne Designs, which is a great wedding and lifestyle resource for anyone involved in the wedding industry. As a blogger and a person involved in the industry herself, Ami decided to go all out for her event, and put more thought and planning into her big day than I've ever seen! This will be a multi-day post, because there were just so many things that she did, and I want you to see them all!
Before I show the photos, I just have to give a giant shout-out to my faves, Michael Norwood and Mark Brooke! These guys came to Atlanta with me and we had the absolute best time! I can't imaging having spent that week with any other two people and I feel so blessed to have friends like this. Please go to their blogs and leave them all kinds of nice comments because they're stellar photographers and they'll like that :)
Okay, back to Ami and Scott. The day before the big day (New Years' Eve Eve, if you will), they decided to rent out Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves, for their group. They're huge Braves fans, which is a big part of the reason why this event was in Atlanta to begin with, so it was only appropriate that part of the events be at the stadium. It was so cool to have the ENTIRE place to ourselves with full access to go anywhere we wanted. When we got there, we spent a few hours shooting portraits all over the place:
I love how detailed the seats at the stadium are:
Walking on top of the dugout:
Just hangin'
Empty baseball stadiums are cool:
Atlanta has really beautiful light:
The weather was absolutely perfect. Not too hot or cold, with a little breeze:
Cuteness:
One of my favorite shots:
This was up in the bullpen:
So was this one:
I really like this one too:
We walked all the way around:
love the lines:
Might be my favorite:
They're cute in their jerseys:
Dinner was up at the 755 club, and there were tons of little details. That jersey was their signing board alternate, and check out the seating chart! The rest are fairy self-explanatory:
This was the view from the press box--now THAT'S the way to see the game:
Nice locker room. My locker room at school didn't look like this:
If you ever need to shoot well-lit portraits, rent out a baseball stadium:
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my life
