Busy Afternoon

The baby I take care of is turning one. Her parents, with help from family and friends, had a fun party in the park.

The theme was Hawaiian shave ice,
which made for a colorful event.
The cone on the right is a piñata.

People could get a cup of ice and select their own flavors.

Matching the theme

Is it ok to say I hope I get to play with some of the gifts? 

Here is to a great year ahead and many, many more.

Worth the Wait

Maybe you were wondering why I went all the way to Denmark for a Eurovision party (aside - no, the Eurovison Song Contest was not in Denmark. I was invited to a Eurovision party that was held in Denmark. The song contest was in Israel. Maybe that makes it more confusing?) and am just posting about it now. I have already bought the cd so it must be time to wrap it up with a post.

After listening to the official videos I initially didn't like any of the songs, but listening for a few more weeks made me a fan.

Here's a fifteen minute recap of the 41 songs.

Last year's winner was a song called Toy.

This was my attempt at a costume that went
with the Toy theme AND fit in my suitcase.

The cakes went along with the theme, too.
Chocolate teddy bear, marzipan frisbee,
lemon rubber ducky, and vanilla Rubik's cube.

We had Eurovision Song Contest trivia and also Eurovision bingo.

This is an example, not the one we used.

Of course there was the actual song contest, which we did actually watch. There were enough entertaining bits and enough silliness to make it feel like Eurovision.

Australia (wait, Australia is not in Europe, I hear you cry. Yes, but they wanted to be and they are not the US so Europe let them join) had the most Eurovision song. The official video above gives you a sense of the final performance, but if you want to see the real thing from the point of view of an audience member, check this out.

After the long voting process, both juried votes and televoting by individuals, Netherlands came out the winner, as predicted. If you aren't in the US you can probably see the winning performance. Otherwise you will have to watch a pre-competition video. Sigh.

Or you could watch an 18-minute summary of the whole evening. My favorite part was when the former winners sang songs performed by other winners (especially at 14:15 when Verka Serduchka sings Toy).

What finally got me to write this up happened just a block from
my house. As I was walking the dog I saw a party truck.

On the other side were some screen with games. A few kids had chosen the Wii dance option and there was Netta singing Toy and people happily dancing along. When I asked if they had heard the song before they told me of course they had!

It is nice to have an event that brings so many smiles to so many people!

Mardi Gras

The amazing kids of the neighborhood arranged a Mardi Gras party and the weather cooperated.

We decorated masks and crowns.

A lot of good food was enjoyed.

At every party, regardless of theme, we decorate cakes.

Mostly we stand around and chat, which is a nice change from just waving to one another as we go about our days. I love our neighborhood!

Looking In

Good thing about having a dog is a built in excuse for getting out and seeing what is happening. I was happy to stumble on an Independence Day celebration.

Another Celebration

The same kids who organized a New Year's Eve party for the neighborhood decided to host a celebration for Valentine's Day.

Activities included making valentines

decorating cakes

and a toy and candy hunt.

I tried a new recipe from an author I find entertaining.

(1 bag frozen peas, cooked + small bunch of cilantro + 3 Tbs garlic + touch of olive oil) salt to taste  / cuisinart = Rosenthal House Special Pea Dip.  from Textbook

It made me a little less sad to miss the celebration for Carnival in Sant Cugat

Weekend events

I skipped the first weekend event, and A. probably enjoyed it more than D. (although D. appreciated the Elton John performance more).

Hurray for prepaid tickets

Next up we had two TEA fellows over for lunch, one from Argentina and one from Estonia. It was great to hear about life in their home country and to answer questions about ours ("Do people really wear their outdoor shoes inside the house?").

Our mail carrier was the kind of person who would wish you happy birthday if a lot of cards arrived or would ask about the trip if the mail had been on hold. I knew retirement would happen some day, but I was sad that it happened already. His wife was also a carrier and the retirement community on her route had a big party for them, which was written up in the local paper. Our neighborhood couldn't top that, but we did have a nice event this weekend.

Mail bin as balloon holder

I love the Mr. ZIP party favors, but I am not sure what I'll do with mine.
Not shown - garland made with airmail envelopes.

The big event today was a reunion of the international students and the families that hosted them before the dorms opened. Ours was doing homework (after visiting Joshua Tree on Friday and Hollywood yesterday), but I enjoyed talking to other students and families. I made D.'s favorite artichoke dip that is good for potlucks, but you might not want to have around the house. Good thing I didn't leave early because I won the drawing for Claremont Cash!

We had a neighbor over for leftover night (she shared hers and we shared ours - delicious), encouraged by this post about casual dinner parties.

Time for family reading and getting ready for the week ahead.