all pink everything

my sunday started with the usual breakfast (oat bran pancakes and egg whites) but this was my lunch:

Weber Kick 'N Chicken grilled chicken breast and veggie stir fry using every fresh veggie i could find: mushrooms, yellow squash, asparagus, and red bell pepper.

i skipped church (but listened to the podcast later) and stayed home to finish getting things ready for my sister Michelle's  baby shower! this was a #sisterssquared production; something my other sis Kara and i like to refer to ourselves as!  as of may 17th of this year she officially became my sister-in-law as well as my Soror.  i had so much fun hosting with her.

#skeewee

cake batter rice crispy treats were requested so cake batter rice crispy treats were made! Sonny brought me back the super-duper jumbo size marshmallows from the store which didn't exactly melt aaaall the way down in the cooking process but i was totally OK with that. why? the clumps of ooey gooey marshmallow in the bars was an awesome touch in my opinion! recipeeeee: (fyi, this is definitely a treat that should be eaten in moderation, guys.)

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

the stuff:

• 5 cups rice crispy cereal (can use brown rice puffed cereal too)
• 10 oz marshmallows
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dry boxed yellow cake batter
• 4 tbsp butter (i haven't tried any dairy-free alternatives in place of regular butter yet)
• 1/4 -1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

do this:

1. coat the sides of  a large pot/saucepan as well as the pan you intend to press the rice crispy batter into
2. melt butter in large pot/saucepan over medium heat
3. add vanilla
4. add marshmallows and cover; let melt for 1-2 minutes
5. add cake batter & sprinkles and stir a few times to incorporate then immediately add cereal and KEEP STIRRING
6. remove from heat and stir until all combined. be sure to scrape the sides of the pot really good
7. pour batter into a rectangular or square pan and press down on the batter until even across the top
8. add more sprinkles
9. once cool (bout 10 min or so), cut in squares, bars, or however you'd like!

who remembers this drink? who still makes this drink lol!? rainbow sherbert and 7 Up (or Sprite, or natural ginger ale). the ugliest, tastiest party drink, ever. it's been a good while since i've had it, whew.

 Kara made the most adorable, pink cupcakes.

 and she also got another idea from Pinterest: mini strawberry shortcakes in a glass. aren't they beautiful(bottom right)!? there are cubes of light angel food cake, sliced strawberries, cool whip, and sprankles in there. SO.GOOD.

per Michelle's request: subway sammiches, shrimp fried rice, egg rolls, chicken meat pies, wings, and chips.

happy shower day, Michelle! eviction notice goes into effect in 4 weeks (or less).  aaaand we can't wait to plan your shower, Kara! HAHAHAHAHA

thanks for reading.

Q: what's your favorite, indulgent party food?!

le

Chiso is ONE!

who's Chiso? our son! his full name is Munachiso which means 'God and I are accompanying each other'.

however he's not getting another party until he's 5.  joking:)  i really did have fun and tried to be as creative as possible. i had no idea how i was going to pull this off 'alone', and i was completely intimidated from the jump.  all i knew was that i wanted it to look and be amazing...  just had no clue how to do that and it literally haunted me.  yes. a party for a 1 yr old sometimes kept me up at night.

first things first- a gigantic THANK YOU to my vendors: God, my mom and aunt Hazel, Parchment by Dami,   jvincentphotography,  Yongs Bakery, Etsy.com,  Oriental Trading, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Party City, Pinterest, and good ol' Google.  a heartfelt thank you to all who joined us on Chiso's big day. read on!

*invitations*

let's give it up for Dami!! *whistles* all bias aside, these 3-D invitations are incredibly cool and original.  after filling her in on my theme, i sat back and let her do her thing like i knew she would.  i was uber pleased and got so much great, positive feedback on these puppies.  look!

she used 3 different safari animals for the front cover.

inside the invite:

she then wrapped each one in giraffe printed ribbon paper and tied it with raffia.

she is simply excellent at what she does.  Parchment by Dami - you NEED her.

*decor*

my etsy.com and oriental trading stuff  (water labels, cupcake wrappers, cupcake toppers, banners, etc.) arrived two weeks before party time and guess what- i started setting up two weeks before party time. yes, i did.  Sonny hit me with the 'are you really about to have the house lookin' crazy for the next two weeks' face when he got home from work that day.

*themed table*

here is a really, really rough draft shot of the table.  ground zero.  rock bottom.  no direction whatsoever.  i.e. 'now what?'

this was a true PROCESS!  trial and error at it's finest.  however, i was pretty satisfied with the end result.

proud moment: putting on the finishing touches about 30 min. before go time.  Sonny told me i could do it myself and i gave him so much crap about purposely not helping me.  darn you Sonny and your reverse psychology!!!! seriously though, thank you.  we're still not friends.

the french fries were in the oven at this point- that's the only thing missing (see the empty shot glasses on the right).  here are a few close-ups though:

jungle animal plates. apparently these have been at Walmart for forever.  never knew!  they were perfect though.

party agua.

mothers cookies. i happened to walk right by them in Walmart and the word safari caught my eye. or was it jungle? idk,  but they were shaped like wild animals. delicious, sweet, crispy wild animals.

fast food fries. kids love fries.

i made sure to have something for everybody. the little bitty babies and the toddlers munched on Gerber Graduate snacks and goldfish.

skewered rainbow fruit.

cupcakes from Yong's Bakery.  some were buttercream cake/icing and some were chocolate by special request;)  my zebra cakes would NOT stay put...they kept sliding down the skewers cause they were too heavy.  the show must go on!

 i saw 50 bajillion cupcake toppers on etsy.com and went with these.

remember these from our super bowl party?  buffalo chicken bites (or poppers) were in the house and back by popular demand.  i only used Captain Crunch cereal this time though, no Corn Flakes.  the sweetness just works better.

mini pizzas- kids love pizza.

veggie shots! i hope people had as much fun eating these as i did making them.  i did half humus and half ranch for dipping and used a combo of sugar snap peas, carrots, and red/yellow bell pepper.  ignore that 'happy easter' egg plate back there, hahahahaha

side shot.

there was more stuff in the kitchen- the adult food, (shrimp fried rice and grilled chicken wings courtesy of my dear mother-in-law:), drinks and snacks.

'diabetes in a cup', smh. also known as, Jungle Juice.  no idea where my tent card went though, oh well.

kettle corn! i made the holders from zebra and giraffe printed scrap-book paper from hobby lobby.  i then wrapped this big styrofoam box that our sprinklers came in with dressing paper and poked holes in it so they would stand on their own.

thanks for the idea, Dami- she is overflowing with them!!

who knows or cares where this recipe originated, but kudos to Pinterest for these cake batter rice krispy treats. too sweet for anybody's good but you just can't stop eating them, grrrrrrrrrr

'thanks for going wild with me!'

-Chiso

jungle sucker favors.almost cut up my debit card after visiting etsy.com.  yes, everything MUST  match!!! try not to get crazy though.  promise me.

activities for the kids... blank jungle animal masks to color and wear,  bubble sticks,  and frisbees.

we also had a 'spiderman' *side-eye* moonwalk outside.

 'what...is...this...place.....'

 (i had to change Chiso's clothes cause things got a little crazy after the smash cake part)

speaking of smash cake- that's the moment  i we were all waiting for!!!!

i'll say it again- this is the BEST buttercream cake/icing combo on this earth.  waiting for someone to prove me wrong!  unfortunately i accept all challenges.

Chiso loved the cake and threw a small fit once we took it away.

one last family shot and this is the best we could do! you parents know how it can be...they never smile or look right when ya need them too;)

remember we headed out to Austin the next day, so i packed up the last of his cake so we he could enjoy some on his actual bday!

can we count this as a 'preggo' post? i haven't done one in a while LOL.

hope you enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed sharing.

le