March 29, 2013

 

Easter Dinner

I know I'm disappointing my friend with this post. I sort of told her I would be posting about my Circus Animal cookie cupcakes today but... I changed my mind :) I'm bringing you a virtual Easter get-together instead.  Circus Animal cookie cupcakes to be posted on Monday.

This Sunday is Easter and I'll be celebrating on Saturday while my family is in town from Wisconsin.  They fly out on Easter. If I would have been planning WAY ahead like a good party diva does, I'd be having my step-kids over on Sunday for a dinner. However, I let Easter sneak up on me.

Peeps being my favorite Easter candy, the kids would be greeted at the door by a Peeps wreath. Tutorial found on Our Best Bites.
Everyone would have to wash up before dinner with the chocolate bunny soap. No calories :) Found on Bonbonbathhouse. 

I adore this place setting from StoneGable  The elegance of the table is not usually my style. I'm more of a casual place setter. But there's a part of me who longs to be an elegant table setter.
If only I had the talent to make amazing cookies like these found on Ali Bee's Bake Shop . I'm swooning over the cuteness of that bunny in the basket.

Do you have family in town for Easter? Having an egg hunt? Serving dinner?
I'd love to hear all about your Easter. So leave me a comment and tell me all about it.

March 27, 2013

 

Woo Hoo!! Wednesday

With Easter coming I thought about sharing a bunch of links to my favorite Easter candy. But then I'd be just like everyone else out there in party blogdom.   So I'm bringing you a cute cake idea from my friend Karen.  This is a Woo Hoo!! because Karen has really come into her party own the last few years. Could be because she has a kid now or maybe she's picking up some pointers from her friend, ME :)  and this blog.



I wish the picture was a little better but it was tiny when she sent it to me and I had to blow it up a little. 

Karen used a car pan set and was going to line them all up in a row but then she thought, I'll shape them into my son's age to add that extra pop.  Clever idea and fast thinking Karen.  

Have you had a light bulb moment at a party you've thrown?  Tell us about it.

March 25, 2013

 

Final Four Party


Guest post by my friend and basketball lover, Dawn. Welcome Dawn :)

Every year, basketball lovers across the county spend countless hours preparing their brackets. And even more hours watching all the games. The first round is usually action packed, with lots of upsets. And every year, it does not disappoint. My favorite part is watching four games at once!

Sadly, my UCONN Huskies were unable to play in the post-season, due to sanctions. But there were plenty of other teams to watch. And new favorites to discover -- who will be this year's VCU?

How does this relate to parties? My best friend and I lived together in DC, and started a trend of hosting a party for the Final Four. For decor, we had a giant poster of that year's brackets (filled out). We also had some posters of our teams hanging on the walls. Everyone wore t-shirts of their college or affiliation, whether or not they were still playing.



 But the highlight for us was always making cups. We took basic red Solo cups -- the quintessential party accessory -- and decorated them. We made one for each team in the tournament, featuring the team's name and a printout of their logo. Because the package contained more than 68 cups, we made some extras for our favorite. UCONN usually had about 4 cups, since many of our friends were fans. The cup for Duke always said "Duke Sucks". It's great to have a rivalry! And this was always used with pride by our friend who was a big Duke fan. The added bonus to having different cups was that everyone knew which cup was theirs!



You can plan your activities based on the timing. On the west coast, the games start somewhat early, which lends itself more to a backyard BBQ than dinner. On the East Coast, we were indoors with games to go along with the game. Be creative!

Other key features:
Good finger food
Good arrangement of televisions -- we had a big one in the living room and a small one outside
Sports themed paper plates/napkins

Thank you Dawn for a wonderful easy party idea. Lots of great tips we can use for our sports parties. 

If you have a party you would like to see featured on Fizzy Party, contact me at Tiffany.fizzyparty@gmail.com

March 20, 2013

 

Woo Hoo!! Wednesday

St. Patrick's Day 2013, a woman mixes a cake in her kitchen. Her husband asks, "why are you making a cake?"  The woman's reply, "Because it's St. Patrick's Day" {duh}.


Bailey's Irish Cream cake from The Noble Pig 

This cake is Delicious!  I brought some in to work to share with my fellow Judicial Assistants and word somehow leaked to the clerks.  Lets just say I didn't end up taking any cake home. 

The cake is moist and the glaze a wonderful taste of Bailey's. 

Thank you Noble Pig for sharing this recipe. Woo Hoo!!

March 17, 2013

 

St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

With St. Patrick's Day being on Sunday this year I brought mini cupcakes to work on Friday.  I can't let a holiday go by without making cupcakes! 

Lucky Charms cupcakes from Just Call Me Maria.  The cupcakes flew out of my office as soon as word spread. 

Some of the comments:

"These taste just like Lucky Charms"
"Oh my, these are magically delicious"

How are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day this year?
Leave a comment below :)


March 13, 2013

 

Woo Hoo!! Wednesday

I had this GREAT idea of having a St. Patrick's dessert party at work today.  I was going to whip up all these desserts, decorate up the jury room like I've done for past St. Patrick's parties and invite all my co-workers.  Well, here it is, March 13 and I haven't made any desserts.  Why you ask?  Two reasons. I've been waking up at 3:00 a.m. WIDE awake and can't fall back to sleep so I'm super tired and I spent all day Saturday with a friend who really needed one.  
SO, being Woo Hoo!! Wednesday, let's have a virtual dessert party. Here's the deliciousness I wanted to make:

Green Velvet Cheesecake Swirled Shamrock Brownies from Life is Sweet. There's cream cheese in these brownies, need I say more?  I didn't think so. 

Bailey's Caramel Irish Cream Cake from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. My husband says you could pour caramel over anything and I'd eat it. He may be on to something.  I've always got Bailey's on hand too which makes this cake a must make. 

Bailey's Irish Cream Cookies by Buttercream Blondie .  There's that Bailey's again :) How delicious do these look. 

I suppose it's a good thing my co-workers don't read my blog so they don't know what they're missing today ;)  

All photo's from the blogs I've high-lighted. I've used they're amazing photo's so you'll click on the links to their blogs, spend a little time browsing on them and leaving them some bloggy love.

March 11, 2013

 

Party Break

I took a party break to visit a crafty friend of mine who moved to Florence, Montana. You may know my friend's work, she runs Bubble Off Plumb on Etsy and has a fun blog about a city girls adventures of moving to the wilds of Montana, Suddenly Surrounded by Taxidermy. It's a fun little blog and I can't wait to hear more of her adventures.

Multnomah Falls on my way out of Oregon.  This is a great hike if you ever visit Oregon.  The Multnomah Falls Lodge has a great blackberry cocktail in the summer.

On the road.  Just me and my friends china in the back there.  While I was there she busted the china out of their box's and we had Okonomiyaki on it.  It's a Japanese dish and her china was made in Japan. We thought it was fitting.


We took a short hike out their backyard which butts up against the forest. At the end of the hike we were greeted with the sounds of Sweeny Creek.

This is UNHEARD of in Portland which I live near.  Not even 45 degrees and all I'm wearing is a long sleeve tech shirt.  And I'm NOT freezing!!! Was it chilly, sure. But I could have stood out there all day with no coat and no gloves.  You've all heard of dry heat, well there's dry cold too.  And I'm proof of it.
Living the dream. My friends yard. Look at that view. After visiting my friend I am even more invigorated to pursue my man and I's dream.
Hope you enjoyed the mini vacation. Back to parties on Wednesday!!