{DIY} Michelle's Bridal Shower

So you saw the decorations and towel cake I made, now here's the final product!

We were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get everything set up before people showed up and we still started half an hour late. Oops! Running between the parking garage, apartment, and party room while also waiting for the elevator really sucks up a lot of time! Next time if I were to use a condo party room again, I would definitely allocate more time beforehand in the party room to set up.

Aside from that, I think it went pretty well and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!

As guests walked in, they were greeted by a little pom pom.

Sparkling Citrus Punch, Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes (with my paper flags), and chips & guacamole.

Angus Beef and Chicken Sliders with the food picks I put together. And there's one of the three large green pom poms. I didn't have time to fluff them properly...

Yay, food!

The guests waiting for the party to get started! You can see how badly I fluffed the green pom pom on the left...

We asked the guests to write a message or leave Michelle some advice which we would use to compile a little book for her new life as a Mrs.

The first activity.

Guests filling up their plates!

On paper I felt like we had no food. In actuality, there was A LOT!

We came up with a list of questions and sent them to both the bride and groom to answer on their own. Then Mandie picked the more ambiguous answers and guests had to guess whether "He" said it, if "She" said it, or if they both said it!

"He Said, She Said".

It was hard getting the moms and aunts to pay attention! They're a chatty bunch!

The young crowd paid attention!

For the second game, a list of items were allotted points and if you had that item, you got the corresponding points. The person with the most points won. And you bet Mandie did surprise "audits"! We had to make sure that they actually had what they claimed to have! Some people (Michelle) claimed to have a hair brush but couldn't prove it because it wasn't there!

Tallying up points for the "What's In Your Purse?" game.

The girls checking what they have in their purses.

Some of the resulting advice/message cards. No clue what that says...

For the little "photobooth", the original plan was to use a white table cloth behind so that the blues and greens would pop... buuut, the plastic of the table cloth kept sliding out from the tape so that was a bust.

The paper dot garlands hung up!

Bridesmaids with the bride! We've known each other for half our lives! (Well, Fi and I have known each other longer...)

Michelle and her bouquet of gerber daisies.

Group shot, though we did lose some people before this.

Gift time!

Kathy monkeying around with the paper dot garlands.

I love this picture. Michelle's grandma is watching Kathy play with the garlands, probably wondering who the crazy girl is!

Michelle and the two moms.

Forget the veil and floral bouquet, I think this is the look to use on wedding day!

Now that both the bachelorette and bridal shower are done, it's time to get cracking on some of the stuff needed for the wedding! Only two months to go!

What about you? Anyone else helping out with wedding festivities this year? Or attending many weddings?

{DIY} Bridal Shower Prep

After all the bachelorette fun, it was time to get working on the bridal shower for Michelle. She wanted a simple gathering with family and close friends so I got started on the decor to jazz up the party room.

A few months back I saw Oh Happy Day's Jordan's tutorial for Paper Dots Garlands and loved them, but wasn't sure where to buy crepe paper folds so I thought nothing more of it. Then I was browsing the aisles of Dollarama and spotted these 10 metre rolls of crepe paper in the green theme that we wanted (they also had packages of pinks/purples and yellow/orange/red). They weren't stretchy like regular crepe paper but they were already pre-cut and they did the job.

I followed these steps and it probably took me about an hour (in front of the tv of course) to do each roll.

Paper Dots Garland tutorial and images by Oh Happy Day.

My finished garlands!

We planned for a little photo op with the bride-to-be and these garlands were to be the backdrop.

Up next? Tissue paper pom poms! Seriously, these days you can't have a bridal shower without some tissue paper pom poms! I consulted the millions of tutorials already online to make 3 large green pom poms.

Tissue Paper Pom Poms tutorial and images by Martha Stewart.

These are so easy to make, I'm always so curious as to who buys the pre-cut packages. Aside from Martha selling them, I was at Michael's and saw another company's package of 6 in the bridal aisle selling for $29.99! That's crazytown! Our green pom poms were essentially just $1 each for each pack of tissue paper and I used other materials I already owned - instead of floral wire I used twist ties and just used some thread for the string.

I made two smaller blue ones with tissue paper I already owned since we had three large bright green ones and I figured it'd be nice to break up the colour a little bit.

The view from below. I used 8 sheets for the dark blue pom pom and 10-12 sheets of tissue paper for the light blue pom pom. I like the fuller pouf a lot more.

We planned to serve some sliders and needed some toothpicks to keep the buns and meat together. We tried looking in stores for some pretty toppers but couldn't find anything that wouldn't break the bank so I decided to make my own.

Food Picks tutorial and images by Studio DIY.

I used a similar process as Studio DIY. Instead of tissue paper I used a roll of crepe paper I already owned. Because the crepe paper was 2" wide, I cut 3-4" inch sections and folded the crepe paper in half so they would be an inch long, cut the fringe, and then dabbed beads of glue to wrap around each toothpick.

Crepe paper food picks.

We also wanted some cupcake toppers and I wanted different ones from the sliders. I wish I had washi tape because this would've been so much easier. Instead I cut up some blue-ish paper I already owned (thicker than printer paper but thinner than cardstock) into flags and poked two holes at the ends to thread the toothpicks through.

For the gift, the bridesmaids bought bath and hand towels and I constructed a towel cake out of them. To top the cake off, my mom made some wash cloth puppies.

Pretty from the front.

Hot mess in the back lol.

I used a paper towel roll to create a fuller base and so that I could wrap the towels for the top tier around instead of using pins to attach them to the base.

The profile of the towel cake. It's more padded at the front because of how I needed to fold the towels to show the monograms.

Do you have any "must have" party decor items? Have you made anything you've pinned or been inspired by on other blogs lately?

Come back Thursday to see how it all came together!

{Out & About) Girls in the City - Day 3

Continuing from Days 1 & 2, here are photos from Day 3 of my girls' weekend in New York!

The view from Michelle and Cera's room. They even had a nice view of a sunbather on the neighbouring rooftop. Mandie, Fiona, and I got a nice view of some office.

Pancakes from Clinton St. Baking Company. There was an hour and a half wait for a table so we opted for some takeout.

Fun on Brooklyn Bridge.

Manhattan Bridge.

Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan.

Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park.

On the High Line. The popsicles are Mango Chile and Coconut - definitely needed on a hot day. (I love that popsicles are making a comeback!)

Some of the food we had at Marea. Pickled cucumber (?), Hawaiian Blue Prawn Tartare, Charred Calamari, Grilled Octopus, East & West Coast Oysters, Braised Octopus & Bone Marrow Fusilli, Lobster Ravioli, Crab & Sea Urchin Spaghetti, Seared Sea Scallops, Roasted Guinea Hen, Grapefruit gelee (? I think I'm making this one up), Affogato with Brown Butter Gelato, Bomboloni, Carrot Sponge with Carrot Ginger Sorbet, Hazelnut & Dark Chocolate, Mignardises to end the night.

The girls at Marea.

My home away from home - Times Square.

Hanging out on the steps of TKTS in Times Square on our last night.

It seemed like forever from the time we booked our tickets to actually flying, but once we were in New York, it was over in the blink of an eye! I wish the trip could've been longer, especially since it's our last group trip as single girls!

{Eat} Sassafraz & Crêpes à GoGo

After this past weekend, I am 90% done painting my dresser but I still need to apply some poly in a couple areas and spray the hardware once more before I can reveal the final product, which will essentially look like the tall boy. I also realized I have to go around the house and take photos for some updates, so maybe later this month when I have some time!

After all the gruelling housework on Saturday, I headed down to Yorkville with the girls for some lunch and window shopping! Sassafraz is one of those restaurants I've always wanted to try despite hearing mixed reviews and after this visit, I would try it again.

Sassafraz is located in an array of Victorian rowhouses. (Source)

Summerlicious is happening right now so we took advantage of the prix fixe menu.

Vichysoisse with lobster and truffle essence.

Roasted chicken breast with doubled smoked bacon and red onion quinoa, braised leeks in
natural reduction.

Pork tenderloin with roasted garlic sweet potato mash, asparagus, sweet apple cider glaze.

Pappardelle with roasted tomato, artichoke, goat cheese and basil pesto.

Apparently the pork tenderloin was not enjoyed as much as the chicken and pappardelle were! The smoked bacon in the quinoa was soooo good.

Inside the restaurant. There's a water feature in the back and I forgot to take a picture of the gorgeous bar area at the entrance.

Banana cream tart, toasted coconut mousse and mango sherbet. YUM.

Chocolate brownie with brandied cherry, Chantilly cream and amaretto reduction.

Giant paper flowers at Anthropologie. 

Pardon the reflection - it was super sunny!

After we did some window shopping (well, I did pick up a skirt from FCUK...), we walked to the re-located Crêpes à GoGo for some Parisian-style crêpes.

I had heard to try the Limonana, which is made of lemon juice, mint leaves, and organic cane juice. It's definitely not for everyone, but I liked it! It reminds me of the mint tea I always had in Turkey.

From the Sweet & Savoury menu, the Big Ben - mozzarella & raspberry jam. The crepes are served in a paper bag for you to eat in the cafe or to take to go.

And from the Sweet menu, the Tartinade - their version of Nutella.

Anytime I have authentic Parisian-style crêpes, the first one I have to try is with the chocolate-hazelnut spread. If you mess that up, I can't be bothered to try your other options!

Can you tell I love food? Does anyone else love when their city has restaurant week? Especially when it happens twice a year (Winterlicious and Summerlicious)!