What do You Love to do?

Its easy to loose yourself once you have had children. You can get completely consumed by their wants and needs, that you can forget who you are and what makes you happy. I actually have gone through quite a few phases to really pin point what I like. There was the sewing phase. Turns out it’s not easy and I can only sew straight lines and a zipper successfully. So I know how to make pillows and that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong I’m still impressed with myself but seriously I have zero sewing talents. I blame my siblings for never giving me a turn to play video games. My hand/eye coordination sucks. And then there was knitting which I got really good at but how many scarves and throw blankets do I actually need? Plus they take forever to make and I don’t have time for that. And then there was the recycle/repurpose phase. Where I saved ridiculous amounts of useless garbage as if I was going to recreate it and place it in my house. Only to end up in the the recycling bin a week or two later.

I don’t remember exactly how I started event planning, it sort of just happened. I did a party as a gift, another as a favor and then I started getting paid to do it. I enjoyed it, the whole process. I can see the whole event in my mind, I can anticipate issues and I don’t remember the last time I actually panicked about an event.

I think it’s because I was planning parties way back even in my childhood, in one way or another. I think the event that stands out the most is my brother’s wedding. And if you have ever been to a Palestinian-American wedding you can understand the level that our weddings are at. Now this was almost two decades ago so many things have changed, like hiring a wedding planner to do it.

My mother was always crafty. I guess that’s where I get it from. She was always the one her friends called when they were having an event or get together. She had an eye for those things and she enjoyed it. She introduced me to the Flower Factory. Unfortunately, this place is no longer in business but it had everything you could think of for an event. Kind of like Hobby Lobby and Party City combined. So when it was time for my brother to get married, we took a trip to the Flower Factory and started to come up with ideas. I wasn’t as creative as I am now but I never said no to a trip to the Flower Factory. We made everything for the wedding. The centerpieces, the stage for the Bride and Groom, the boutineers and even the brides bouquet. I was good at it and I enjoyed it, but I never thought that I would make a career out of it.

Baking has also been something that I can remember doing as a child as well. I found a cookbook once when I was 15, that belonged to my mom. It was all desserts, pies, tarts there was a little of everything. I started with page one and baked everything in that cook book, until I was done with it. And then I didn’t bake again for ten years. Weird but true. I don’t even remember why I started baking back then, but I know that I only baked again after I met my husband. He assumed I knew how I guess, because he would come up with the oddest dessert requests and I did not know what I was doing. But it always came out pretty good. And then I had my daughter and I wanted to have a super cute birthday party for her. I went to a bakery to order a cake and I think they said it was going to cost close to $400. and I thought, No Way!!! I watched some YouTube tutorials and now I can bake a cake with my eyes closed.

Its interesting when you find the thing that brings you peace, it usually has deeper roots and meaning. For me, baking relieves my stress, because it is something I can control. The calmness I get when I start and finish something is amazing. And when its done you have something that makes people happy, which makes me happy. I think it has something to do with being a middle child and the need to please, but we can discuss my issues at a later time….. Its the same with event planning, you get to make someones dream happen. It is absolutely wonderful to know that you were a part of the reason their day was special. I love it.

Thats what I love. I love to be creative whether its in the kitchen or using crafts. The final product is a great feeling.

I had the opportunity to design my friends baby shower. I really wanted to give her a party no one has really done before. At least not that I have actually seen. The venue she chose was beautiful and simple, with brick interior walls. The ceiling was open and had some exposed pipping. It was really cute and Rustic. Her theme was Love you to the Moon. I came up with the idea to have floating clouds through out the room. To make these clouds we used white paper lanterns in different sizes, glued them together and then covered them in poly-fil. It took three of us and several hours to get all the clouds done. I also used white balloons in some areas clustered together to look like clouds.

The photo area was very simple, yet beautiful. John cut out a large crescent moon out of a piece of wood, lightly stained it and we attached it to one of the brick walls. (With the owners approval of course.) Sounds easy but not everyone knows someone who is a magician with a saw. I have actually used the moon again, except I attached a pipe to the back of the moon and used an umbrella base to keep it standing up. Not every venue is ok with you putting holes in the wall but that doesn’t mean you still can’t have a giant moon at your event.

The dessert area took a little more creativity. I decided to use a large photo frame that a company called Allison Austin Shop made for a flower wall I used for a different event. The Frame stands on its own so we didn’t need to mount it to anything. However there was a pvc pipe going straight across, that was used to stabilize the frame, and I needed it to disappear. So I got a little creative with balloon clusters and a flower decorated moon to cover it up. It looked like the moon was floating above the clouds.

We used fishing wire tied to magnets to hang the clouds from the ceiling. Taking complete advantage of the exposed pipes and magnets, it looked like the clouds were actually floating. Combined with battery operated twinkling lights and the whole atmosphere was set. It looked like a dream!

The theme may have started off as Love you to the Moon, but it ended up as Dreaming in the Moonlight. Which was so befitting because the princess we were celebrating was named Ayla, and in Arabic, Ayla means moonlight.

The scene was set and now it was time to watch the soon to be mommy. Was she happy with my vision? But more importantly was it what she envisioned? I can assure you, she loved it, and its still one of my favorite events ever done.