Real job, eh?

When I talk about my "real" job and doing a "program overhaul" I'm not talking about computers, I'm talking kids. During the day, and to pay the bills until this thing gets off the ground, I run an after school and summer camp-- sure, that sounds like it's a blast, but it's a whole lot of organizing and has given me some great skills for event planning and coordinating!

During school breaks, we take field trips just about everywhere-- SkyZone, Stone Mountain, assorted state parks, Six Flags, Andretti Karting, Movie Tavern, and about a thousand other places. We do full day field trips, not just little outings, so it involves a lot of working with venue staff to sign contracts, place deposits, arrange catering menus to meet our needs fiscally and nutritionally, and ensure everything goes smoothly day of.

When we're on field trips, I bounce from group to group, ensuring that everyone gets where they need to go when they need to be there. Troubleshooting on the go is an absolute must, and on several occasions I've had to deal with sick staff, low staffing, and venue staff that doesn't have the correct information.

On a day to day basis, I coordinate transportation, paperwork and contracts, oversee staffing and enrollment, and deal with families who range from pleasant to stressed to upset to (on a rare occasion) belligerent.

Before I did my own wedding, I'm not sure I would have connected the two professions but the more I work at both the more I see that they are incredibly alike. In both, I am responsible for making a day fun and unforgettable for a loved family member and handling the strange mixture of business and emotion.

Deals around Town

Publishing FAIL! I had this post all lined up and didn't remember to hit "publish post" last night!


This week's a simple rundown on the deals around town for those of you planning an event--

* $300 gets you Four Hours + Attendant + Prints from a Photo Booth through a LivingSocial Deal for Picture Perfect Announcements! This would be a great deal for a wedding, anniversary party, retirement party, or even a milestone birthday. Who doesn't love a Photo Booth?!

(Photo By Meg Clark)

* $70 gets you a LivingSocial package for a birthday party for up to 8 kids at MightyJumps over on Collier-- this place is a bit hellish from an adult's perspective (think weird carpet design and Kidz Bop), but we were here for my goddaughter's birthday this weekend and the kids loved it! With the amount of money people are dropping on kids' parties these days, a deal like this might be worth it for the kiddos in your life. (Alternatively, they also have a deal for bouncy houses if you have a warm-weather birthday coming up-- Groupon also has a similar deal)

* Looking for a baby shower gift for the crunchy mom in your circle? $10 gets you a free Mom & Baby or Prenatal class at Oh Baby! Fitness thanks to LS. I've gathered from friends of mine that these are things they wanted to try while pregnant, but couldn't "justify" spending the money, so this would be a welcome gift!

If you're not in Atlanta, be sure to check out your local versions of these sites-- after the initial boom, they're focusing less on restaurant deals and more on "escapes" "adventures" and "goods" for your convenience!

Sweet Tooth

Clearly, it's a sweet time of year for me-- I've been obsessing over cakes lately! I have an entire board of them over on Pinterest; "Special Cakes" I've called it, and they are all a LOT better than the wrecks featured the last couple of weeks!

1. Chambord Layer Cake

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I'm a sucker for Chambord-- it is pricey and decadent and dee-lish! Serving this little baby up at a bridal shower with French Martinis would be a guaranteed hit!

2. Charming Chromatic

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You could use the layers to put in different flavors, or just leave it be and make it pretty! The cake as a whole is just as beautiful as the inside.

3. Diminutive Delights

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I think these would be adorable for any shower, and even for a wedding! If you have a baker in the family and the ever amazing helpful wedding party, you could do these a couple of days out-- just don't break out the wine until the icing is done... 

4. Neapolitan Cake

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Oh, boy, I'm also a big time sucker for Neapolitan. I think the only thing that would make this better is a layer of strawberry cake, then strawberry ice cream, then chocolate... well, I'm sure you get where I'm going with this. What a great way to please every palate! 

What about you? What does your sweet tooth have you craving?

Cake Wrecks Tribute

After last week's shower cake debate, I decided to look around and see if that pregnancy test cake was really the worst thing I could find... I really wish I'd decided not to. Since I'm suffering, y'all will have to suffer with me because misery loves company!

At first, I thought maybe it was this cake of the zebra print dress with the baby foot:

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It verges on cute, but there's still something a little... unsettling about that foot. And I dislike zebra print, but that's just a personal conviction.

Then, there's this:

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WARNING: DO NOT CLICK THAT LINK UNLESS YOU ARE NOWHERE NEAR EATING! 

CakeWrecks really outdid themselves with that one! Oh, but it was followed by worse. Much worse. I won't subject you to that involuntarily.

Whatever happened to blocks and rattles? Am I just old fashioned? What do you think-- would you go for an "innovative" cake or one of these classics?

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(I promise, back to normal stuff next week-- I'm just morbidly fascinated by this whole thing!)

Baby Shower Do's and Don'ts

Don'ts, Don't's? Dos? Do's?

However you think that should be punctuated, we can all agree that there are baby showers that are awesome and baby showers that are... annoying and creepy. My latest blog obsession (because, yes, I get entirely obsessed with things-- see, The Bloggess and the week I lost reading her ENTIRE archive) is STFU, Parents. Living in the baby capitol of the world (Decatur, GA) I appreciate a lot of the posts over there, but it's definitely for people who have a sense of humor. The author, B, has a column on a site called Mommyish that's a pretty great site and last week they went all out!

This was the cake featured on the STFU post, and the Mommyish piece can be found here. Definitely worth a read if you're thinking of a baby shower. 

What do you think-- are shower games passe? Sure, everyone thinks that poopy diaper one is a little iffy, but we played the one with clothespins at my bridal shower and it was actually kinda fun! (and I'm NOT a big shower game person) I ended up with no clothespins and my college BFF/roomie/bridesmaid got to take home the bottle of wine she bought... maybe it's the bottle of wine v. the Yankee Candle? I mean, they don't have a sangria scented one... 

BBQ-- BaBy-Q!

My friend Libby is fairly pregnant at this point and had her baby shower Saturday-- she is the inspiration for this post because they decided to have a "BaBy-Q" and that. is. brilliant. My friends Colleen and Ingrid had a baby shower last year for their week-apart babies and it was cowboy themed. Now, in my mind, a BaBy-Q combines the best of both worlds-- cute decorations like cowgirl boots (Libby is having a girl), fun activities like tug of war over a baby pool, and lots of grilling and beer!

Baby, Baby, Baby, OH!

I just found out that a friend from HS is pregnant! I was so excited for her, and given that another friend from HS is due any day now I went in to baby shower mode!

1. Invitations, 2. Banner, 3. Round Plates, 4. Cake, 5. Plates, etc.

The birth announcements could easily be turned in to an invitation, the banner is shabby chic, and I even found some modern-style animal accessories to match! This is obviously for a girl, but I went with pink and brown which can easily be replaced with robin's egg blue and brown for a boy.