Throwing a party in Grenada is almost as hard as throwing a party in Beijing. No Michael’s, no Paper Source, no Etsy, no boutique party decor stores. Not even a Wal-Mart. We’re lucky when we go to the grocery store and the milk and butter are in stock. :)

That being said, I was determined to pull off a beautiful bridal shower for my friend Yunah, even if it meant making everything from scratch! Luckily, we were able to find a few things that we could work with like tissue paper, coffee filters, recycled bottles and jars, and jute twine. I also had an awesome team of crafters and bakers who helped me do everything from crocheting doilies to fluffing pom-poms to making scrumptious treats like Chinese egg tarts, biscotti, and bubble tea!

We held the bridal tea party at the Grand Anse Beach Pavilion, which is located right next to the beautiful Grand Anse Beach. The pavilion had a breathtaking view of the ocean, a cool breeze, and beautiful lighting.

Mocha cake pops and tea favors

The beautiful bride-to-be

An assortment of pom-poms made from tissue paper and dyed coffee filters hung over the table.

Check out that view!

 Party games

Yunah chooses the winner

 Toilet paper creations

 My awesome team of crafters + bakers with the bride-to-be.

Photos by the talented Kat Fung.

I was so lucky to be able to celebrate my nephew Elijah’s first birthday with him this past weekend in his new Beijing home. My sister is a major francophile – she lived there for a year, fell in love with her husband there, and just returned there for the first time this past spring with Elijah! How appropriate it is that the inspiration for Elijah’s first birthday party came from the classic French film, The Red Balloon.

The Red Balloon is a charming film about a little boy in Paris who befriends a red balloon. Together, he and the balloon wander through the neighborhoods of Paris, making new friends and getting into trouble.

The concept for the party began with the invitations, which features a red balloon and string floating around Paris, outlining the city as it floats across. I thought it would be so fun to run with this string idea and turn it into a 2D/3D effect by “drawing” on the walls with black tape to create our own little Paris in Beijing. I added a little cafe, complete with table, chairs, and a lamppost. :)

Can’t have a French party without berets!

My sister handled most of the food preparations and cooked up some scrumptious French foods for our birthday brunch, including quiche lorraine, croque monsieurs, French toast, and an onion tart. Read more about the food details and recipes here.

Our drink bar featured Vietnamese coffee and a DIY mimosa station.

Since we didn’t have a red egg party for Elijah when he turned one month, we thought it would be meaningful to have them for his one year birthday.

Sour cream chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting. Elijah approves!

C’est magnifique!

Nice to meet you!

A teddy bears’ picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Say cheese!

And I’ll leave you with this awesome pic of Elijah. I can just hear him saying, “Oui, oui, oui, hon, hon, hon.” What a ham!

It’s Olympic season, and we’ve officially caught Olympic fever!

It all started two weeks ago when we were walking down Constitution Ave. in D.C when we looked up and saw these guys standing atop a tall building. We squinted and strained to see which Olympians these might be….and realized to our surprise that it was the Men’s Olympic Basketball Team – Team USA. Dean unashamedly screamed their names (in the middle of the street with an officer close by and strangers walking past) and was actually validated by a few of them turning around and waving back! That’s my Deanie. We ran away laughing and repeating excitedly to each other, “Can you believe we saw them?! Tyson actually waved back! We’re the only ones who saw them! We are so cool!”

We decided to take our coolness even further by having a small Olympic Opening Ceremony viewing party, despite our lack of a tv or proper dishware and furniture (we’ve been staying for the last month in a near-empty apartment with whatever furniture/cooking/eating utensils we’ve been able to find via Craigslist/kind neighbors). But we were able to muster up some creativity and had an array of international fare: Mediterranean quinoa, Thai shrimp, and Mexican taquitos!

It looks like we weren’t the only ones with Olympic spirit. Check out some of these cool ideas:

Olympic party favors by Netsyandcompany

London cupcakes by TimesFood

Olympian Lunch printables by Confetti Sunshine

Opening Ceremony Bingo by Tinyme

One of my friends had a birthday last week and I wanted to gift her a little treat, so I thought this flourless chocolate Nutella cake was just the thing to make. To present it to her, I put it into this little mini pie box and finished it off with a doily and twine. Perfect!  Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

Supplies: Pie Wedge Box template (available for download at end of post), doily, twine, scissors, double-sided tape

Step 1: Print and cut out template.

Step 2: Fold along dotted lines.

Step 3: Put double-sided tape on tabs and attach to sides.

Step 4: Repeat with another copy of the template to make your top and bottom.

Step 5: Fill with cake or pie!

I turn twenty-seven today! We celebrated this past weekend with a cookout on the beach with some friends, complete with bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dogs, snorkeling, and good ol’ Monopoly Deal. On Monday, I spent the day celebrating with Dean. We went kayaking at SGU’s University Club and then spent the afternoon cooking up a lobsterfest for dinner. We’re going to have lobster bisque for dinner tonight. Thanks for all your birthday wishes! I am the luckiest girl. :)

Find recipes for the butter-poached lobster with roe sauce and for lobster tomalley garlic bread here.

*Cookout photo by Yunah. Snorkeling photo by Yuan-Hui.

I’ve seen these confetti system garlands popping up everywhere, but at $130 each, they’re a bit out of my price range (and I’m not even sure if they ship to Grenada!). I decided to try my hand at making them for Dean and Jade’s party using what was available to me here on the island. You’ll only need two things – streamers and scissors. Oh, and maybe some hot glue that you don’t see here…

Materials:
streamers
scissors
hot glue

Step 1: Grab a length of streamer twice the length of your final tassel. Continue doing this, overlapping until you have a stack about 6 layers thick.

Step 2: Cut the ends so that you end up with six separate pieces. Keep them stacked.

Step 3: Fold all six pieces in half lengthwise.

Step 4: Starting at the open end (not the folded end), cut thin strips all the way across.

Step 5: Open up the layers and roll them up in the middle. Twist the middle tightly.

Step 6: Fold the twist in half to create a loop and continue twisting. Put a dab of hot glue in the twists to hold in place.

Step 7: Pull apart the fringes and fluff up your tassels. Make a bunch, loop them onto string, and hang.

(Don’t they look like jellyfish here?)