V-day: Japanese Food + Karaoke

The husband I decided to try something new this year. Since we like to belt out songs in the privacy of our house and car, the husband thought that we should try karaoking (just the two of us.) I thought it was a genius idea considering I would never, EVER sing in front of anybody else. (I'm very self-conscious of my voice. I'm not tone deaf, but I'm not good either. I won't even sing "Happy Birthday"!)

So we had dinner at a quaint Japanese restaurant called Manooben. This place has a country feel to it, complete with floral fabrics and cheesy Valentine's Day heart decorations. What I love about Korean-owned restaurants is all the free food they give! I was too excited about the food to take pictures of everything though. :) We had Korean Scallion Pancakes (Pa Jun), miso soup, and a small Japanese salad...all complimentary! And even after our meal, we were given a mini Korean dessert, patbingsoo! Ahh...It was all so good!


After we were happily stuffed, we headed over to the Korean karaoke place. Umm...can I just say, karaoke is definitely NOT our thing! None of the songs sounded even remotely like the original. We had a hard time distinguishing the tune. I don't know how people do it! We tried to make the best of it though!

New Year's Eve + a Rainbow Cake

We celebrated a low key New Year's Eve with friends, a potluck, and an always-entertaining White Elephant gift exchange. I made Cranberry (and raspberry) Brie Bites and helped my friend, Christine, make a fabulous Rainbow Cake. The lemon meringue buttercream frosting was light and delicious, and the inside was vibrantly bright. I don't think either of us will be making this cake again anytime soon...especially with all 6 layers...because it was quite labor intensive. We only had 2 baking pans, so we had to bake the layers in 3 shifts. Yikes. But the end result was a pretty fun cake.

[Getting the eggs ready for the batter. There were LOTS of egg whites.]

[colored cake batter waiting to be put in cake pans]
[baked and ready to be assembled and frosted – love the vibrant colors!][the husbands tried their hand at frosting the cake][We're almost done! Christine's just trimming the parchment paper.][TA-DA!!! A plain-looking white cake reveals a color explosion inside.]
[raspberry + brie bites: not the prettiest, but they were tasty!]

Recent Project: Holiday Party Invitations

Here are some of the other designs I created for the Jump Trading holiday party invitations. You can see the design the client chose here.





I'm signing off for the weekend. Have a safe and happy new year! I can't believe it's going to be 2011. Yikes! The husband and I are just going to our friends' house for a low-key shindig. :) Any big (or small) plans for the holiday?

Happy Holidays!

Sorry for being MIA the past couple weeks! I got bogged down with last minute Christmas shopping, holiday prepping, and keeping my SIL company while she's in town. Here are a few photos from our annual Christmas Eve gathering at my husband's aunt's house. We always get together for dinner and then open presents around midnight. Never before have I ever seen so many presents under a tree (except for on tv) until I joined the husband's family. A-mazing. Every Christmas, we stuff our bellies full until we can eat no more. Then we get together and open all of the presents. Afterwards, all the "adults" play poker while the "kids" play board games, doze on the couch, or watch movies. By 4am, we are all ready to pass out. So we call it a night and head home or crash on one of their couches.

[I post processed the Christmas tree photo using Sydney's awesome tutorial
here. I love love LOVE how all of her photos look...so soft and warm.]

What is a holiday tradition that your family has?

Paperless Post

I just discovered Paperless Post. They provide electronic invitations and other stationery...similar in concept as to Evites. But you don't have to forgo style and elegance when going the paperless route. I really like these contemporary invitations by the Brooklyn design studio, Linda & Harriet.

[found via Simple + Pretty]

Vintage TV Costume Party

I know it's a little late to be thinking about Halloween, but I just saw this on the Blonde Designs blog. I think this is a seriously clever theme party! I'm gonna have to keep this in mind for future Halloweens. My friends don't really dress up, but if I have a party theme, they're gonna have to! Hehe. How fun!

[Gilligan's Island cast]

If you've been to a theme party, what was it and what was your favorite?

Recent Project: a Holiday Party Invitation Set

Here are photos of the actual invitations for Jump Trading's annual holiday party. They were printed on shimmery white cardstock.




The husband & I just returned from a long weekend in NYC. We got to spend some quality time with family & friends, and ate lots & lots of delicious food. I'll post more about our weekend soon!

Pet Costumes @ Target

Can you say...cute? Target has some really cute pet costumes. Can you imagine Jobie in one of these? Hehe. I bought her a hot dog costume a few years ago, and she absolutely HATED it. Her ears were down, and she looked miserable. I think the squirrel costume is hilarious. Jobie goes crazy for squirrels. I wonder what she would think if she knew she had a squirrel costume on. Hahaha...

Costume Couture at Target

Oh my...Target has a new line of couture Halloween costumes by Barneys New York fashion genius, Simon Doonan. Dress yourself, kids and pets for $30 and under. Nice! What are you dressing up as this year? Or what was your favorite costume as a kid?

Happy Friday!

Enjoy the last weekend before Christmas! Do you still have a ton of presents to buy from your list? I've got the bulk of my shopping done, but I just have to buy a few small grab bag gifts. Oy...any suggestions?

I'll leave you with a holiday card I made for my cousin's kids (they're big dog-lovers) with my cutie pie, Jobie. (Hehe...as you can see, I'm really liking this design. I just swap out the photo and tweak a few things here and there and...voila...a new card!)

Another Christmas Card Design

I was just playing around and made a Christmas card design with a friend's pictures.
I've been busy printing, cutting and writing Christmas cards today. It's taking forever! Have a great weekend!

Celebrate the holidays

Here's a simple Christmas card I made..

Fabric Flower Garlands

(via Mint Design)
Check out this lovely DIY project on Once Wed. You can string them up on your Christmas tree or on the mantel. I'm gonna need to put up my Christmas tree first before I tackle any other projects!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

We had our first real snowfall yesterday, and the snow keeps on coming! We got another fresh layer of the white stuff this morning. I feel for those who have to commute. :( A little bit of snow can set you back 2 hours just to drive 20 miles! It's ridiculous!

Anyhoo...if you still need to stock up on some holiday wrapping goodies, take a look at Postal Press. They have some cute gift tags and cards!

Beautiful Letterpress Cards

It sure hasn't felt like winter in Chicago yet. The sun is out today, and it's in the 50s! I hope the rest of the winter will be this mild — cross your fingers! I can't believe it's DECEMBER! It's time to start sending out Christmas cards and buying presents.

bluepoolroad: This is their Holiday Goodie Bag of assorted holiday cards. Beautiful, no? Bummer, they're already sold out of their 1st Edition. I liked the green snowflake card. :( Their other cards and stationery are gorgeous as well. Check it out!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Anybody going to brave the crowds on Black Friday? I think I'm gonna pass on that this year. I've never had very much luck with Black Friday sales in the past. So I'm just enjoy gonna my nice, warm bed until I'm nice and ready to get up. Ok, that's all for now. I'm signing out for the week. Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING, everyone!

It's turkey time!

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. This year we're having Thanksgiving at my house (eek!) rather than at my parents'. Today, I have to tidy up my house and run to the grocery store. My plan is to start prepping and cooking tomorrow. Hope everything turns out ok! I'm SO glad my uncle is making the turkey again. It's one less thing for me to worry about. It just seems like such a huge responsibility! What are your plans for the holiday? I hope everybody has a great holiday!
(via The Party Dress)