We like to partay

That time of year is approaching again ... Lali Lady's birthday. And with it, of course, comes grand ambitions and plans for a party and cake.

Her royal highness had requested a princess themed party. My imagination ran wild, along with my Googling and Pinteresting, and it all started coming together in my mind ...

We would have a princessy bouncy castle. There would be a red carpet or some other royal entrance to the house, where the lounge would have pretty and delicate decorations. I would hire little furniture for the kids' meal and set it up all grand. There would a separate crafts area where they could make crowns or knightly swords. The conservatory would serve as the adults' retreat, where they could relax with some hors d'oeuvres (a.k.a heated sausage rolls from New World) and drinks. The cake would be a two-tier affair, one chocolate tier and one strawberry, made from scratch, not a box-cake in sight. I would learn to create fondant jewels and a tiara as toppers. All would marvel at my creative genius.

Yea right.

That plan has altered somewhat since I was kindly brought down to earth by my down-to-earth husband. The truth is, I will be a fat, nauseous, hormonal, lazy pig by the time the birthday rolls around (ha). Add the pressure of this grand party on top, and I would be a blubbering mess. So it looks like we will most likely settle for a party at an indoor play area, where you pay, turn up, party, go home. The End. So much simpler.

However, there is one survivor from the whole party revamp, and that is the cake. So I am now trialling strawberry cake from scratch, different frosting and piping techniques, etc. Exciting times! Next minute ... single layer "mud cake" from New World. Lol. Watch this space.

The cake my baby wanted, and will not be getting

Weekending

Word on the street is you can't beat Wellington on a good day. Make that a couple of good days, and it becomes a sweet weekend.

Time For Dancing, a little wander around Cuba Mall, indulging in the best sushi and best pizza in town, Butler's Chocolate Cafe dessert, a 40th birthday at the pub, and a cowboy themed 4th birthday. As Taylor Swift says, "Like, it's exhausting!" And we didn't even make it to the Botanic Gardens to see the blooming tulips. Oh the stresses of life.



Dancing comes first

Cuba mall stroll

Some window displays for World of Wearable arts (WOW) awards on this weekend

Mouth full of chocolatey goodness @ Butler's Chocolate cafe

Now come the photos from the 4th birthday party. These parents put a lot of thought and attention to detail to getting the cowboy theme of the party through! Makes my efforts look pitiful. And these are only the photos of the food. They made a tee pee from scratch, and had the place decorated up as well. A+ for effort. We're definitely keeping this friend. Lol!

Home made tee-pee cake

"Eagle Wings" and "Gold Nuggets"

Look at that! So cute, right?

More food!

Thanks for visiting :)

Wintry magic

How to start this post. A week or two ago, I was taking photos of the hail on our deck and wishing for snow during what was to be the "last Antarctic blast" for this winter. The blast came and went and it started becoming warm in Wellington.

So pre-snow-wishing life continued. Lyla received her first ever invitation to a birthday party, and I mean a non-family party. Today was the big day, and off Lyla and I went to conquer the windy, narrow, badly labelled streets of Wellington to find this party. It was the chaotic affair that you would expect a 4th birthday party to be (with the added bonus of some really BADLY BEHAVED children...grrr...but that is for another post).

As we were getting ready to leave, I received a text from the man - "Its snown hea." I had to read it twice, and then check the date received. I looked outside, and it looked like it was raining, so I stuck out my hand and felt the soft snowflakes land and then melt in my palm. I was ecstatic (to put it mildly). As I much as I tried to contain myself and react in a suitably mature manner, I just couldn't. So I ran back inside to where the palagi parents were having a cuppa tea and civilized conversation and (wide-eyed and maybe slightly crazed in appearance) I shouted, "It's snowing!!"

Everyone else was excited of course (maybe not on the same insane level as me) and ran out to see the snow. The cars on the street were just starting to get a dusting of snow. Like the responsible parent I am, I put Lyla in her carseat, forgot to strap her in, and instead grabbed the camera and started taking photos. The drive home conservation was something like this... "Lyla, look outside. It's snowing!!" "Mummy, my shoes are wet."  "Everything is so white! OMG this is SO cool!" "Can I change my tights when I get home?"
Could I get more fresh? And could my kid get more OCD?

We arrived home to a completely white street, and we immediately bundled up and trooped outside to make a lazy, not-quite-so-snowmanny-shaped snowman and take more photos. However, being tropical natives, the man and I didn't last long in the snow, and before you know it we were back inside having hot chocolate (for Lyla) and koko Samoa (for Lyla's parents).

The snow seems to be melting now, but that's ok. While the snow was here, it was everything I had imagined it would be. I could not ask for more.

Staring upwards in awe

The same deck that was hailed on only a week ago

The view of the street from the deck. So pretty

Lyla and our snow guest, a dedication to David Tua :)



The perfect way to end a snowballin' session - hot koko Samoa



Rugby gaga

The rugby world cup starts in 66 days. Now, before you assume I am the face-paint rugby crazed type ... I'm not. I do have teams that I love - Crusaders, Springboks and of course, the boys in blue - Manu Samoa.

As a teenage girl living in the wop wops of Samoa, I was quite fanatic about rugby. I won a trophy/cup in high school for something (note: something COMPLETELY un-sporty like mathematics or chemistry) and the side that had my name and the subject on it, I covered with a piece of cardboard on which I had scribbled "Webb Ellis Cup". True story. The lovely ladies at the photo shop past Molesi were quite used to me turning up clutching a newspaper photo asking for it to be laminated. They would smile and ask "Oh, who's this?" It was usually Bobby Skinstad. Or Joost van der Westhuizen. Yes, stalker scary fanatic.

Fast forward n years and I no longer have the energy to be fanatic (apologies for sounding repetitive, this is the general tone of my posts - getting old and tired). For my teams, I will sit still for 2 hours and Facebook/catch up with the blog world in front of the TV and look up to watch when the commentators voices start rising.

For a while the thought of the rugby world cup "coming to town" was just blah blah to my ears. But today, the pool match tickets went on public sale. I had the honour *cough* of buying the tickets for hubby and friends for one of the Manu Samoa games. And it wasn't until I received the confirmation email for the tickets that reality hit...the Webb Ellis cup was going to be competed for in this country in 2 months time. Ooooh exciting! At that point I also felt a bit of envy that I couldn't go. And in a matter of seconds, that envy turned into relief that I wasn't going, because like I mentioned before, I'm too old and tired for that stuff.

However, I am still excited about the games. Excited about the excitement surrounding the games. With hubby going to the game(s), Lyla and I will be able to enjoy the games girlie style. Hmmm, I think we'll dress up and have a high tea party while we watch the game on SKY. So our theme is completely unrelated to rugby or Manu Samoa. That's a minor detail. Woohoo for the world cup and William Webb Ellis and all things rugby!