Valentine’s isn’t just for lovers…it’s for friends too!  And everyone else that you love in your life.  This year we’re so lucky to have our little new loved one and he wanted to share his love with the many friends he has.  With 3 good friends having babies the same year last year and then many more having them in 2013, there was a lot to celebrate.  Tanner decided to confirm their friendship with festive Valentine friendship bracelets…even for the boys!  We didn’t have enough time (in between feedings, poopings and rockings) to make them for all, but we’ll try more festive crafts this year to spread the love.  Happy hearts day!

Handmade friendship bracelets for Valentines.

All wrapped up and ready to go

Wishing he could hand deliver them to his friends.  Cheers!

As most new moms know, it’s a struggle sometimes just to eat a meal.  You’re in even more trouble if you think you’re going to get some housework done if your little won’t let you put him down for more than a few minutes.  I was definitely struggling with this the first few weeks I was on my own at home.  I wasn’t so sure about sticking Tanner in a pocket, but the Maya wrap ended up being super helpful.  The little guy is getting not so little and I’m hoping my back/shoulders will be able to keep it up.

Even though LA reaches the high 70’s in the middle of winter, I still miss the abundance of fresh, juicy fruits that come with summer.  After eating my fill of bananas and oranges, I decided to get a honeydew to mix things up and of course it ended up super mushy.  With a big container full of mushy honeydew, I whipped up some aguas frescas to make honeydew-ade out of honeydew!  It was refreshing and kept me from wasting a 3lb fruit. (Warning – it takes a lot of patience to strain if you don’t have a big strainer or cheesecloth on hand!)

I believe that birthdays are a time to celebrate where you are in life with those who are a part of getting you there.  It may be that is the reason why I’m always looking for something fun, engaging and unique to do for a celebration.  Harrison and I always come up something a little off the wall that brings my different groups of friends together even though it takes a lot of planning and prep on our part.  What can I say – I’m a planner and a project manager at heart!

Although we chose to skip the hoopla this year because we’re still getting adjusted to life with Tanner, I wanted to give a short recap to provide some birthday party planning inspiration before sharing my simple but absolutely lovely birthday brunch.  It doesn’t always have to be dinner + drinks.

Unique Birthday Party Themes (at least I thought so!)

2012 – Pub Quiz – Last year Harrison threw me a Surprise Party at a local gastropub with a personalized pub quiz trivia that he made up, printed and got gag gifts for!  (#bestesthubbyever) Friends got to work in groups and learned new things about me.  Great idea if you have your own space at a bar.

2011 – Food Truck Festival at Santa Anita Racetrack (horse racing!) – Find fun events that are happening in your neighborhood where friends can all meet you and do something new.  We hung out all afternoon and lots of friends had their first horse betting experience.  It was so fun cheering on the horsies together!

2010 – Preppy Picnic – This was a big year for me and I knew I wanted to do something outside (even if it was January!) at my favorite park near my place – Barnsdall Art Park.  There is a beautiful view of the Griffith Observatory from the park.  We had all our friends get prep’d out and put out some brunch food and bocce ball.

2009 – Broomball – I was thinking about how much fun broomball was in high school and thought it might be cool to get enough people together as adults.  We got red and blue bandanas for the two teams and got together about 30 friends.  It turned out to be super fun and a great way to mix different groups.

2008 – Hot Pot – Instead of an ordinary hosted dinner, I shared a little of my Chinese culture by inviting friends over for hot pot.  It was a fun way for everyone to cook together and try something new.

So, on to this year, life slowed down for me with the birth of Tanner and I’ve been in seclusion since December.  It is a treat now-a-days to just get out to eat, so thats all I wanted.  To share a nice brunch with some close friends.  We ended up with just a couple of us going to brunch at the Raymond in South Pasadena.  It was the perfect place to bring a baby and have some space to ourselves.  I look forward to getting back out there as Tanner gets older each month!

Herb and Cheddar Biscuits layered with Bacon and topped with a poached egg {The Raymond}

My boys having a good time

The amazingly delicious berry cake – thanks Kimey! {Merely Sweets}