March 29, 2011

• This past Friday, there was a work celebration at the DoubleTree hotel in Sacramento. The theme of the party was Hollywood/red carpet. Dinner was a feast … carving station with prime rib, turkey, salmon … 2 tables of desserts including both a dark and white chocolate fountains … made to order pasta bar … spread of salads and appetizers … and my favorite, a long table of Indian food with 2 curry sauce fountains. There was also a bar made entirely of ice, so of course I had to order a drink. Plus, I couldn’t let 2 drink tickets go to waste! Fortunately, I bought my dress online, and it was a bit tight … otherwise I would have had another plate (on top of the 2… or was it 3? … I already had.)

   

  There was a dance floor and DJ in the downstairs ballroom. Upstairs, there were numerous casino tables and a green screen, where people could dance and show up on projected screens in front of random backgrounds.

   

   

  It was a fun night to celebrate both James and my work accomplishments. As a bonus, James’ parents came up to babysit, and the kids got to spend quality time with their grandparents. So basically a free date night … I was about to say minus the gas it took to get there, but I won a $50 Chevron gift card that more than covered it!

    

  Saturday evening, we hosted Zachary’s 7th birthday party at Monster Golf. It was a few weeks early (his actual birthday isn’t until April 6th), but we wanted to avoid potential spring break vacation conflicts. I bought the most awesome cake ever from my admin’s friend (http://littledelightscupcakes.blogspot.com/) … homemade chocolate cake with an Angry Birds scene. For fun, I used trick candles … but they don’t make them like they used to. A few puffs and all 7 candles were extinguished. Boo-hiss!

   

  We kept food very simple – pizza, vegetable tray, strawberries, cheddar puffs, and goldfish crackers. (20 bananas were too green to serve … I see banana bread in our future ) For dessert, we had mini cupcakes, vanilla ice cream, and obviously birthday cake. After dinner/dessert, the kids headed out for 18-holes of Monster mini golf. They had fun playing what seemed like a cross between golf and field hockey!

  

  At the end of the course, we handed out favors … 2 glow bracelets, a snack, and 50 tickets redeemable for junk, I mean prizes, at the arcade store. We had a bigger than expected turn out due to baseball being rained out … but aside from being a bit crowded in the party room, I enjoyed having so many of his/my friends over to celebrate. And thank goodness it wasn’t at my house since we had over 50 guests! The only downside was that since it was Monster themed and dark, it wasn’t appropriate for toddlers – we’ll have to catch our friends with younger kids at Calie’s party later this summer!

  

  Zach made out like a bandit, as our friends are overly generous … Happy 7th Birthday Zachary!

   

  (Grandparents got him Mindstorms … brings back memories of working at MIT’s media lab. Am I a total geek to say I am looking forward to teaching my kids how to program?)

  The next day, after swim lessons, James’ cousin Chrissie and her family came over. The kids played basketball, soccer, and climbed all over the swingset. Since it stopped raining, we grilled ribeye steaks and peppers for lunch. I love it when extended family comes to visit. Last but not least, congratulations to Chrissie and Justin on baby #4!

  

  • 2:41 am
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