When some things work out and some things don't

As the blog post title implies, I'm sure your know exactly what I mean.

Remember my Decor Stash Closet I shared with you before? It got a needed update...
Here's what worked...

Ta-da!

 My husband added the pegboards I needed for this closet and I love how functional it is!

Its' pretty decorative too don't you think?

I also have one on this side..

Pretty pleasing

Now I can see a lot of my wall arts available for easy switching!

Ok here's what didn't work for me recently. I bought this super nice and cushy rug...

Yup, this is so true

I got it from ROSS and I was so excited to find this memory foam rug to use in our Master Closet, since I moved our old rug in the basement....

This one

Well, I was too excited that I did not notice the size???! I thought it was 4' x 6'?!!!!

See??!!!

Uggghhh! Totally my fault, I love this kind of rug, it's so great on the feet and that velvety feeling was just perfect! I tried finding one online in a bigger size, but I couldn't find any!!! 

If you happen to chance upon a MEMORY FOAM RUG that is 5'X 7' PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Well, there you have it. We've had winter storms lately and I've been busy keeping the kids busy and planning for my little boy's birthday party (which is 2 months delayed already, more on that later). I really hope winter lets up already!

Hope your warm wherever you are!

Have a Great Weekend!

VEL 

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

A Chinese Birthday Party

Hello Everyone!!!!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend, we did for sure, starting it off with a surprise 50th birthday party for  one of our close friend!

Gerri is Filipino-Chinese and since we know she followed a lot of Chinese traditions and customs (and never fails to explain or inform us all about it ;-)), we thought of a Chinese-themed Birthday party!

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

I set-up the buffet on our Kitchen Island - take note, there's still lots of food and desserts on the other side!!!!!

The birthday cake is Mocha Chiffon, a Filipino favorite. And as per tradition, we had CaraCara or Li'l snapper oranges - something sweet and round is considered lucky as well as the color RED!

Since it is the season of LENT, we had to go with fish and vegetables for our menu!

Food was potluck - I cooked the shrimp a.k.a. Camaron Rebosado and Tinolang isda or Fish broth soup. The rest were brought by my co-party-planner friends!

Of course, what's a party without champagne?!!
-I used snow to cool off this baby

I had food warmers of course to keep everything hot and steamy, and as with any asian
feast, lots of condiment should be available

Just had simple balloons c/o our friend Grace. The parasols came from our friend Vivian which I think made this setting really beautiful!

Simple centerpiece with flowers and a picture of the celebrant, and of course,
FORTUNE COOKIES!

My table setting was very simple - Chinese Horoscope on the placemats, chopsticks and chinese bead bracelets as napkin holders!

This was the set-up in the main dining room - there were 16 adults total - all the kids were 'escorted' to the basement where they would prefer to play games and hang-out of course.

A closer look - dragon centerpiece, red candles and red flowers

My Blue & White Chinese Pottery Collection fit perfectly with our party theme

More details on the decor - the garland is the symbol for PROSPERITY 

I also googled the CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY of the names of the guests !
My friend said it wasn't bad at all considering I just used Sharpie! ;-)

I set each table to sit 8 - tight, but still ok I think

Birthday girl was thrilled to hear us all sing "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" IN CHINESE!!!!!

It was a real fun night of eating , chatting, dancing  and eating some more too!

We were all happy to show our friend Gerri how much we appreciate her and love her as a friend, and I think, as with any Birthday celebration, Big or Small, that's what matters most, right?!

And before I end this post I just wanna share with you this....

My little China doll

I had to take advantage of all the Chinese decor right?!

Ok, need to catch-up on my reading, wonder what you guys have been up to?!

Have a Wonderful Week!

VEL 

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

SOURCES:

Dragon Centerpice, Garland, Place setting cards, chopsticks, wooden Chinese beads, plastic table cover - ORIENTAL TRADING

Parasols, hanging good luck charms on light, pouch for souvenirs, fans & fortune cookies - bought from a Chinese store in St. Louis


Linking back to...

Linda's Coastal Charm, Savvy Southern Style, Fluster Buster, Dwellings the heart of your home, Carolyn's homework, Gingersnap Crafts, The Style Sisters, Serenity Now, Friday favorites, The Shabby nest, A Tray of bliss, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Our Home away from home, A Stroll Thru Life, From My Front Porch to Yours

The other side of our Basement

CABIN FEVER is biting me real hard this winter.
Actually for me it's more like a "BASEMENT FEVER"! ;-)

After I fixed up my Decor Stash Closet in the basement, I turned my attention to the rest of this space.

When I shared with you our Updates on the Basement last summer, 

I did not show you the other side of it.

The other side of this end of the room 

And this is that side....

Chaos everywhere

This is the kids area mostly

This is actually the gaming area.

When I say gaming though, I mean VIDEO GAMES.

You guys know how many game consoles are out there, we luckily only have 2, but the mess it makes is just too much.
Also we have our exercise machines here too. Hence, the difficulty in decorating or organizing such a space.

This is it on a good day BEFORE

And this is this side WAY BEFORE

So last Tuesday, I did a bit of a switcheroo with the rugs.
I moved the blue geometric rug on the other side to this side...

A bit better don't you think?

The brown sofa in front of the TV was the very first one we bought (our 1st ever was a hand-me-down), and it was originally pushed against the wall. I moved it closer to the tv.

I also moved our old electric fireplace and flanked my 2 blue vintage chairs at the back to create more seating. The stationary bike & treadmill can now also get a good view of the TV.

Of course, the mismash of old furniture (yup futon has to stay for now) is still gonna be there, but for now, the space is more tolerable and pleasing to the eye.

Now we have comfy seating for us when we watch the kids play

Because everything is better in baskets

I organized their controls in these 2 baskets that I had.
And hung these beehive wall decor from Nate Berkus for Target to house their Disney Infinity and Skylander game accessories!

see

I bought these 2 wall decor a year ago on clearance and never found the space to hang these or use these until now.

Discs in place

My husband bought this shelving online and actually got me started into fixing up this area.

Definitely better

The other side

I also spruced up this side of the space by placing our old rug that has been in my closet to here, and added these 2 side tables to hold more of the kids stuff.

I still need to decorate this space more, and I'm excited, will keep you guys posted for sure.

I''m busy planning for my friends Chinese-themed 50th birthday dinner at our home, so hopefully, I can share that with you too soon!

Have a Great Weekend!

VEL 

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Linking back to...

Thrifty Decor Chick, Linda's Coastal Charm, Fluster Buster, Serenity Now, Friday Favorites, The Shabby Nest, A Tray of Bliss