Celebrations!

http://www.raggedy-ann.com

For my first birthday, my Mom chose a Raggedy Ann theme.  She asked my godmother in New York to send party décor to match the theme. From the photos, I saw a pretty tablecloth, matching napkins, and a couple of hanging paper lanterns with Raggedy Ann and Andy on them.  A few close friends and family were our guests and the cake was topped with colorful candy and an icing illustration of Raggedy Ann. So I guess the love for party themes and styling details began very early for me, thanks to the creative influence of my parents!

Recently, my friend, Maru and I were talking about how we much we enjoy preparing for our kids’ birthday parties.  While not every celebration was done in a grand fashion, we always managed to give each year a special theme. We were so pleased to find out that our efforts didn’t go unnoticed.  Every now and then, our kids ask us to go through each year with them to recall what we did to mark their birthdays.  Then, they proceed to plan for the years to come!

Party planning (for birthdays and other milestones such as bridal and baby showers for our immediate family) has become another fun exercise in imagination and creativity. It also is a great way to bond with your kids. And if you do most of the work yourself, you can teach them to stick to a budget, work with what you have, and pass on some arts and craft skills in the process.

Here are a few of our favorite parties through the years…and the talented family and friends who helped out with the special details, too!

A Birthday Breakfast Party with yummy Pancake House breakfast food.  The kids came in their pajamas and went home with teddy bears that matched the party's color scheme. Party decor by Paperminties and cake by Sweet Ideas.

He learned to read before his 4th birthday and the book that made it happen was "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. So it was easy to select the Dr. Seuss theme for his party.  It was a simple, handmade affair of  hand-painted brown paper bags to look like the Cat in the Hat's hat filled with "One Fish Two Fish...Goldfish crackers" and "Hop on Pop...Popcorn". Even more paper hats by Paperminties for the kids to wear, as well as "Daisy Head Mayzie" clips.  A book cake designed by my brother and executed on a photocake. 

Plants vs. Zombies. Need we say more? Cake by Shortcrust by Peachy Juban

His love for Disney villains made this party such fun to prepare.  The amazing cake and cupcake artwork by Peachy Juban (Shortcrust by Peachy Juban) depicting Prince Phillip battling the Dragon through a field of thorns and villain cupcakes that included his unique favorites like Kaa from The Jungle Book,  blew all our family's Disney fans away. His godmother and her friends from the theater dressed as Ursula, Maleficent, and Cruella De Vil made it even more memorable.

A Pinocchio theme was easy to plan for a two year old who loved wooden blocks, toys and crayons. The reliable brown paper bag personalized with stickers and a Pinocchio print-out glued onto a wooden clothespin was filled with crayons, CD of the movie's soundtrack and a "color-me" CD jacket cover. Family pitched in for the entertainment which involved quiet arts and crafts activities like painting wooden toys (a la 

Geppetto's workshop).  Cupcakes by Shortcrust by Peachy Juban

The year of the snake and a fascination for creepy crawly creatures was the basis of this 5th birthday party. Snake cake and grass cupcakes by Sweet Ideas. Decor by Paperminties. And a lucky find at the grocery store: Sour Gecko and Sidewinder gummy candies for party guests to take home.

"And now, The Octopus!" A shower curtain embellished with cut-paper art by Paperminties, marshmallow lollipops with pipe cleaner tentacles, illustrations by the birthday boy, and Rina Design mugs, totes, and bag tags completed the look of this wet 'n wild party! Octopus cake by Cake Avenue Bakeshop

A tiny party for four little girls. This theme idea from marthastewart.com was just too adorable to resist.  Tiny invitations in multiple envelopes that kept getting smaller and smaller, tiny milkshake shots, a tiny party banner, and favor bag with pocket size craft and school supplies. Tiny cake and muffins by Sweet Ideas.

And finally, for the newest member in our family, a kitchen shower for Mara. Kitchen tool cupcakes by Sweet Ideas and wonderful centerpiece creations by 
Tina Ansaldo-Cruz 0917-8287077.

The Master Cleanse Challenge

My lifeline for the next 10 days! (And the only photo
I think you will want to see.)

I actually had to debate on whether I should start blogging about doing the Master Cleanse. I mean, wouldn’t that be too personal, too gross, and just way too much information? On the other hand, if I couldn’t spill all the gory details, what would be the point? Eventually I came to a happy middle ground. So here we go…

I first heard of the cleanse several years ago when I still worked as a magazine editor. I remember how Lara, the ed-in-chief of Women’s Health was up in arms, riled up about how it was the worst “diet” ever; a quick fix that would shock the body and do more harm than good. But other editors like Agoo and Rorie praised its merits—including of course, the dropping of 10 to 15 pounds.

Now I’ve always been of the “just eat everything in moderation” mentality so something as extreme as the cleanse made zero sense to me. But last May, my Theta Healing teacher, Sanaiyah, brought it up during our Intuitive Anatomy course.

Aside from learning how to scan the different systems of the body, I.A. helped me realize just how many toxins and parasites have been partying inside of me. Parasites in particular, can crave meat, sugar, and all this other stuff they urge us to feast on to keep them alive. Not to mention all that guck that’s piled up in my systems over the years! Flushing everything out was the motivation I needed. My body is supposed to be my temple. I think it’s time I showed it some respect.

The Plan: To do the 10 Day Master Cleanse.

Six to 12 servings of a spicy lemonade per day for 10 days, lots of water, a detox tea at night, and a slat water flush in the morning. Nothing else.

The Recipe:

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp grade B maple syrup

1/10 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup water

*The formula actually contains the right amount of calories, vitamins, and minerals to sustain you throughout the day. Thus there’s no need to hole up in a cave while you’re on it.

The Bonus:

Sanaiyah also taught us that ridding the body of all its parasites leads to incredible mental, emotional, and spiritual clarity. She urged us to set an intention at the start, then assured us that our answers would come to us by the end of the cleanse.

So I bought my ingredients, set my intention, and weighed myself for good measure. Hey, weight loss might not be my goal, but I wouldn’t mind shedding a few pounds!

DAY 1:

Okay, I CAN DO THIS!!!

I lovingly squeezed some lemons in an old school juicer (the one that’s basically a bowl with a mound on it), measured out the liquids, added a dash of cayenne pepper, and downed my first serving.

My friend Kat M. mentioned that staying home in the mornings is imperative. And boy, was she right. As cleanse recommends, I took the detox tea the night before. Within 30 minutes of my first glass, the purging began. And it didn’t stop!

Did that really all come out of me?!

Luckily this was a work from home day.

What else I noticed:

1) The material I read was right! I didn’t really feel hungry. And if ever I did, I just drank more of the juice.

      2) My tongue was suddenly extra fuzzy, which I hate—so every so often I’d brush my teeth. Although I think I’m also just starting to really look forward to the taste of toothpaste! Maybe I should buy the kiddie kind that comes in strawberry and bubblegum flavors. (Note: I checked the manual and the fuzzy tongue phenomenon really does occur. In fact a clear tongue actually indicates that you’ve completed the detox process.)

 3) I think of food all day long. Seriously, I realized that I spend so much time wondering about what I’d like to eat, figuring out what I can feasibly eat, eating, feeling full, then wondering about what I’d like to eat next. It’s a proper pastime! With the pastime on hold, I found myself feeling rather bored. Ho hum… Then this hit me: Gosh, I should really be making better use of my time and energy even when food is back in my life! 

By the early afternoon the storm seemed to pass (bathroom-wise) so I decided to venture out for a bit. I ran errands, made sure I kept a good pace, and sipped from my juice bottle every so often. I actually felt pretty good. I also realized that I had to stock up on more bags of lemons at the supermarket (I calculated for about 6 to 8 fruits a day), and that I’d forgotten to buy the salt for the flush from Healthy Options. The sales ladies (or do we say shopgirls now?) there are all very knowledgeable when it comes to the Master Cleanse. They immediately knew what kind of salt I needed—just as they‘d known what type of syrup and tea I wanted the day before. When I told them how daunting the task seemed they were super supportive. One of them even said, “Ma’am just think about it: one pound a day!” To which I calmly responded, “Oh, I’m not doing it for weight loss—but of course I don’t mind losing a few pounds. It’s really for the detox.” And away I floated feeling very evolved. Haha… What a clown.

So to my semi-surprise, I made it through Day 1 without any real hitches. Good job, Tata! Only nine more days to go!