Nio's 11th Halloween Birthday Party and GROWN-UPS Buffet Set-up

Like I posted earlier, we also had a different set-up upstairs where the adults stayed. Nio's birthday was also the same day as the World Series game & so I was sure the kidults would be staying upstairs...

Birthday Boy

We set it up in the Dining room, the most Halloweeny-themed room of all

One side of the buffet

From Bottom to top: Baked Mac (by me), Palabok from my friend Grace along with the extras, Canton Noodles from resto and of course, no Filipino party would be complete without good ol' rice!!!

The other side

From Left to right: Beef with broccoli from resto, Lumpia by me, Hunan Chicken from resto, Steamed tilapia from my friend Gerri, Roasted chicken, Crab rangoon and not seen in pic, Sisig from our friend Jonjet!!

I used Martini glasses for my sauces (got the idea from PINTEREST) !

For the sweet tooth

Dark chocolate and white chocolate pretzels, Kisses and Fall Brownies with candy coated Pumkin seeds!

Cakes galore!

Cheesecakes, German chocolate cake and red velvet cake!

Fruits

I got this idea from PINTEREST as well, I put the fruits on tall square jars and put the chocolate saude on a martini glass. The rolls at the back were from Honeybakers - Yummayumma!

Soup station

I set-up the soup on 1 small corner of the room. This is Lemon Chicken Noodle soup by me and it is oh-sooo-yummy!

Green Apple soda and Apple cider

Corona and Margaritas

Water, Ice and tequila

Coffee station and Hot chocolate

Drinks are a big part of any party and it should always be accessible and abundant! :->

Below were the party-goers....

Ready to rock

Serious about Game 7, great thing the Cardinals won!

We can't waste our precious costumes!

Kiddos with the most fun!

There you have it folks, hope you get some ideas on how to set-up your own party. Clearly, the most important part of any party are the people who are willing to have fun and enjoy anything you may come up with it, and with that, I think Nio's party was a BIG Resounding success!!!

Nio's 11th Halloween Birthday Party and KIDDIE Buffet Set-up

As you well know, we celebrated my oldest son's 11th birthday on October 28, a few days from Halloween. So we did this by doing a Halloween Costume party Celebration! Here is what we did....

Birthday Banner from Party City

We had the kids set-up in the basement. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the basement is painted Purple, so it was perfect for Halloween! Here is his birthday banner. My friend Kat, helped me put up the streamers on the side (The idea, I saw on PINTEREST). The wall border is dollar tree table cover cut into place!!!!

Play area

We hung inflatable Dollar store creatures and pumpkins all around. The balloons were not yet set-up here, but I also got coordinated balloons. Monster window decors were from 2006!!!!!! 

Table Centerpiece

This centerpiece was bought from Walmart last year!

Candy cups

I got the candy cups from Etsy and put in M & M's and Marshmallows all in the seasons color! You know how it is, candies are like the margaritas for kids! hehehe!

Give-aways

The give-aways consisted of Halloweeen lunch pails filled with goodies from Target. The Tags, were hand-written by the birthday boy himself!!!

Kiddie Food Station

I put ups orange string lights and more inflatables on the buffet set-up.

yum

The plates, napkins, and coffin cutlery holder were bought last year as well as the candy corn dishes. The body part candies were from Walmart this year!

Chicken and pizza of course - kids "staple"!

Skull Punch

Cupcakes

The cupcake stand was from last year. I bought regular cupcakes from walmart and added my own stash of Halloween Sprinkles!

Nio's birthday Cookie Cake! I thought of having this instead of the usual cake since we already have cupcakes and lots of other cakes in the adult buffet set-up.

Birthday boy

And here is our beloved son on the morning of his birthday holding his much coveted birthday gift!!!! 

Check out our party pics on facebook. I'll post the adult buffet set-up later on!

Home Halloween Decor for 2011

Like I said, Halloween is one of my most favorite holiday of all and after my dining room was featured in HOUZZ.COM twice, I thought it best to show you guys the rest of my Halloween decor throughout the house...


Here is a picture of our home with our inflatable pumpkins up front...

Not so scary front yard

Doorway of Doom?!

Another view

Obviously, my fave decor accessory this season are the creepy curtains, as shown here on the posts and the doorway, even the chandy has these although, not so obvious because I used grey one so that the light would still go through well.

Close-up of doors

What it looks like inside

The bats, spiders and other stick-ons were from 3-4 years ago - yes, I save all my OLD decor if I can and use them over and over again, SAYANG eh! The "Beware" sign is from Dollar store from years ago and the only new thing here are the Black Wreaths, bought on sale at Grandinroad.com.

Halloween Vignette

My doorway vignette consisted of all my gazebo plant and stools, some lanterns and rattan pumpkins from target, of course, some gourds and my dead mums (perfect for a creepy set-up, "good thing" I don't have a green thumb and killed my mums without much effort! hehehe!).

My Entry

To decorate the entry, I just added some good ole pumpkins, a horror book and some spiders on the plant and mirror, our silhoutte portraits just so happen to be black too.

The trick is, trying to mesh your usual decor to your holiday theme decor. So with the florals, I just added some Dollar store spiders and crows and some mesh, to make it blend in with the "halloween theme". I swapped my usual white florals with some purple ones too.

Mice on the stairs

More mice leading to basement

For our kitchen, I had kid-friendly Halloween Decor set-up, again these were all from 3-4 years ago, the window cling-ons...

Makes Aidan Smile...

Even the light fixtures got a little touch of the season...

"Itsy bitsy spider..."

Hope this gives you some idea for your own halloween decor!!

Have a spooktacular halloween!!!!!!!!! We know we will!!!

Fall Family Outing - October 22, 2011

We were invited by the Vercides family to join them on some fall fun over in Missouri. First we headed of to the famous restaurant of "Throwed rolls " - LAMBERT'S

Kids waiting to go in

This famous resto in Sikeston, MO, has been famous for the rolls and their gigantous servings. Here's what their website says:

"People who visit Lambert's Cafe for the first time are invariably amazed at the generous portions served on each order. These generous servings along with our "THROWED ROLLS" have inspired many questions."

Aidan tries to catch some hot rolls

Check out our pitcher of drinks!

Check out our "generous food!

After stuffing ourselves to our our faces, we needed to use up all those calories, and off we headed for "Begg's Family Farm".

Giant Rocking Chair fit for the whole family

This farm has been owned by the family since 1895!!!! All 1100 acres of it!

Our first stop, good old fashion "Duck Races"...

Pumping away to win!

Then off to some Slidin', bouncin', racin' and mazin'!!!!

Not sure what this giant tube really is, but heck, it seemed fun for slidin'!

Better than a trampoline!

"Danica Patrick" of the south?!

Slidin thru the maze

Of course, no Farm outing would be complete without all the animals! Farm animals were everywhere but the Bees interested the kids the most!

BZZZZZZZZZZ

After doing some other fun stuff, we headed off to a "hay  ride", pulled by a giant tractor to the pumpkin patch....

Me and the boyz

Fresh from the vine

And since we were in Hill-billy country, we had to watch the famous Pig races - starring Lindsey Loham, Hannah Hamtana, Spongebob Piggypants and Jean Claude Van Ham!!!!

Off they go!!!!!

The kids capped the day off by playin' in some corn..

Who says you can't get buried in food?!

It was truly fun-filled, yummy-filled day! Spending time with family and friends is what makes it extra-special and extra-memorable!

Happy All-together!

Happy Fall Everyone!!!!!