Betty, you're the worst*

How to Throw a Madmen Birthday Party!

First, send out a fabulous invitation. You know, the ones on actual paper.

Jack downloaded this from Etsy at invitationsandprints.  Just give her details
and colors. She emails you the finished product.

Next, decorate. I borrowed several vintage 50-60's items and used some things I already had around. I tried to set it up like it was a family home of the Drapers. A list of different ideas:

-place black and white photos of your grandparents around

-retro lamps or shades (see crazy skirt lamp in picture. This was my grandmothers and you better believe she had matching ones in her house.)

-old books or adds. I found some at Pre-to-post modern for $1 and downloaded/printed some off Internet

-cigarettes... fake-got mine at Performance Studios, candy, or real. Just make sure you don't want to see the real ones again because they will be taken.

-This brings me to ashtrays-believe it or not, you can find them at Publix

-cocktail glassware. Highballs, martini glasses, whisky, and of course, a shaker! I bought a couple of old highball glasses at Goodwill for 25 cents.

-Vintage plates. Goodwill

-Old fan, games, record players, etc. I wrapped my TV in paper to look like an old tv. If anything, it gets a good laugh.

-party lights. You can use some tiki items since that was the rage. I had a couple of coconut shells and lei flowers from my luau decor stash. 

-I also had a game of guess the logo or slogan of popular items/companies. Anna creamed everyone!

-Photo booth. I got black bulletin board paper at Micheals and cut out a New York skyline. Used left over paper from my gold wrapping paper from Dad's party for windows and gold stars across the top. Just set up a camera on a tripod and let your guests go wild.

-Pinata. This is not mad men, but I have one every year, so there ya go.

One of the ads I downloaded.

Richard and Katie at the photo booth. Don't they look exceptionally dapper? 

Old matchbooks for 10 cents at Pre-to-post modern

My 1960's t.v. Alabama lost, so that pretty much was the best present I could have gotten. Well, that and pajama jeans.

Grandmother's lampshade (it looks like a hoop skirt!) and my lovely yellow chair. That side table is part of our bedroom suite passed down from family. I'd say we need to update.

Costumes.

-I was going to wear my grandmother's dress. But my upper half was not fitting. Somehow where the boobs should go was almost at my collarbones. My grandmother is 4'10' so maybe that has something to do with it. I ended up going to performance studios and renting a dress for $30. Not bad considering it is only once a year and they threw in a fedora for jack at no cost.

-Girls. Housewife dress or party dress. Stewardess outfit. Pumps. Hosiery. Broaches. minks. aprons. Cat eye make up with red lipstick. Costume jewelry. Puffy hair. My friend, Anna, did several of my friend's hair, including mine. She is amazing! It was so much fun having this hairdo. 

-Boys. suit and tie. Fedora. You could also go the artsy type, as my friend Stephen did, with a sweater and pipe. Or black turtle neck and beret. I tried to get Jack to do this, but he was not gonna do it. He was sick, so I didn't push it. 

I'm starting to think Anna is a dame from 1960 who doesn't age and is stuck in 2011.  She's so sophisticated. 

Props to Katherine for finding this maternity dress!

I actually loved having huge hair for two more days.  I didn't like getting the bird's nest out.

Booze

-Consider having everyone bring their favorite mixer and ingredients. It helps to have lots of options and everyone has fun making new drinks.

-Set out cocktail making guides, glasses, shakers, ice, bitters, garnishes, grenadine, cream, and lemons and limes. 

-You could assign someone to be the bartender, but I think it is fun for everyone to make their own. 

-I would suggest having vodka, whiskey, rum, and gin to start. These can make you a variety of Mad Men favorites

Food

-Fondue is easy and helps with your decor. I had cheese and chocolate. The cheese I bought ready made at publix in the fancy cheese section. Here is my chocolate recipe from foodnetwork. Being Jack was in the ER an hour before the party, I'm glad I kept it simple. I just set out apples, bread, carrots, and pretzels for cheese. Strawberries, pretzels, and marsh mellows for chocolate.

-Chips and sour cream and onion dip in a chip and dip holder. Inspired my the episode where Pete gets a chip and dip dish.

-Lil' Smokies. Crock pot, chili sauce, grape jelly, sausages. Heat. BAM.

-Deviled eggs. A must have.

-I had my birthday cake for dessert, but you could do an ambrosia salad or upside down pineapple cake. Jack got me a sweet and sassy cake (my favorite). He Mad Men-ed me on the mad men site and they put on the cake. Way to go Jack! I was so impressed.

Now, have fun! Have your ipod on the twist Pandora station or make a playlist or have the SEC "game of the century" on. Go wild!

Here is a couple of my link inspirations:

http://bluebirdbaby.typepad.com/bluebirdbaby/2011/03/how-to-have-a-mad-men-party.html

http://weheartthis.com/2009/08/11/how-to-have-a-mad-men-theme-party/

*Isn't Betty Draper the Worst? I really hope they redeem her in some small way. Maybe give Sally a hug or something.

Here's a link to the pictures if you want to download any of them.

She said corn. Ha.

I made a fabulous corn pudding for Thanksgiving from Southern Living's Christmas Magazine from last year. I thought I would pass it along. Serves 8 and it is not healthy, but it was first to be gone at dinner. It was a hit even though a 1/4 of it spilled in the car on the way there and my mother-in-law thought I said 400 degrees instead of 350. You can't mess this up, people!
Tee's Corn Pudding
12-13 ears fresh corn, husks removed
1/4 c sugar
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 large eggs
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven 350. Cut kernels from cobs into large bowl (about 6 cups). Scrape milk and remaining pulp from cobs, discard cobs.
Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients. Whisk together eggs, whipping cream, and butter in a large bowl. Gradually add sugar mixture to egg mixture, whisking until smooth; stir in corn. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 13X9 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes.

8 months

Could Dalton really be 8 months?! I can't believe it. He is so much fun right now... it gets better and better. He is pulling up on stuff all the time. I found him like this:

It started with standing in the crib and now it's off to everything. Oh boy. He loves jabbing jibberish, like Billy Madison jibberish. But better. He loves sweet potatoes and still loves those doggies (which he may be allergic to!). He tried cheerios and has decided he likes them, it just takes 5 minutes to eat one.

Dalton most definitely inherited my skin and jack's allergies. Genetic fail. Poor guy has been through the ringer with this eczema stuff. He went to the allergist last week and got his blood drawn to see what he's allergic to (or not allergic to). He did awesome. What a great kid to have if he's gonna have this terrible stuff. So now we have a daily regimen of lotions, ointments, medicine, sprays, and cleaning. It reminds me of that part in Sleepless in Seattle with Walter. (Horses horses horses horses)

My uber -cool friend from New York, Jessamine, gave me this "lounger" outfit. Dalton is completely the lounger type. He just needs a sweater around his shoulders. 

Details of Decor

Obviously these are not the ones for dad. I couldn't find them in all these boxes around my house and wasn't about to try.

I forgot to mention a couple more details to dad's party just in case anyone needs ideas. I was in charge of decor and invites. The invitations were set up like mission impossible file folders. I got the idea from Ohhappyday blog where she got them from DIY invites.  They were really easy. I just got a pack of black cardstock from michaels, folded in half, and cut one side to look like a file flap. I printed the invite details on plain white paper printed from my printer, cut to fit in the file, and clipped on with gold paper clips I bought at staples. My co-worker randomly had brought a confidential stamp to work that day. Weird. I got a gold stamp pad and stamped the front with confidential and a vandy star. Viola! I think they only cost me about $8 for 50 invites.

For the center pieces, I found a fabulous roll of gold wrapping paper at Michaels. I just stumbled upon it while trying to get ideas. It is in the wrapping paper section and is actually thicker and sturdier than wrapping paper. It pretty much was wallpaper. I just cut 1 to 1 1/2 inch strips and taped to different sized mason jars and clear vases, then I added tea lights. Easy. (I've have sensed used these for my bday party and now have them out for christmas)
The happy birthday banner that was in the previous post was just precut stars I found at party city and I added letter glitter stickers. I strung them on black twine and that was it.

Halloween

Everyone kept wandering what I would do for Halloween since I love dressing Dalton (and myself) up. Well, I say why one day a year? But I do love it because finally all the lame people who won't dress up during the year put a costume on. 

Dalton was Chewbacca. Katie Cowan had heard I was already planning Dalton's one year party, which I had decided would be Star Wars. She found this and a yoda outfit at a consignment sale, called me, and I shouted "YES! GET IT! Get Both!".

We showed up to trick-or-treat with our NFG friends, took pictures, and then Dalton was ready to hit the hay. Next year we'll get some actual candy.

I had to dress up, people. My mother-in-law said "All I saw was red faces". Uh, thanks. I think.

Sweet Jane. She's the perfect dainty ballerina.

Caroline had just woken up from a nap and this thing was too big. These two things made the scenario hysterical. 

Love that bumble bee booty!

I say Hayes wins best costume. 

Perfect!

Dad's 60th

I've been planning parties left and right. One of my biggest party to plan was my dad's 60th surprise birthday party. He is one of the hardest people to surprise and we did it! He is a very shy, quiet, humble man, so it was uncomfortable at times (for him), but overall he enjoyed seeing all his old pals.
I did a black and gold theme in honor of his alma mater, Vanderbilt, and held it at the clubhouse in Westhaven (both my parents and in-laws live there). My dad's best man and high school bud was there and his college teammates. My mom had his friends say a little something, which I was embarrassed for him, but it was really sweet and special to hear such kind words about my dad. He is a super guy.
One of my big projects was going through dad's old scrapbooks and pictures to make a slideshow. It was fun to see the pictures and newspaper clippings. The best was seeing how many ways they could make a headline pun out of Burger.

My attempt at being Martha Stewart. I just took black and white pictures and taped them on this big white bulletin board covering from Michaels. Easy, yet dramatic effect.

Dad is #10. Vandy has been a hard team to cheer for growing up. They still hold a place in my heart because of this guy, but I'm a Auburn fan to the core (not to mention they win a lot more).

My mom still has that shirt. Awesome.

Mom and dad were high school sweet hearts. One of the many prom pics. This one is my personal fav.  

Don't know if you make it out, but my cake is strawberry shortcake.

Dad and friends.

Pathetic

Woohoo! We finally got our internet and cable hooked up after three weeks. I've felt so out of it but it's also been refreshing. It's making me realize how great we had it before having so much access with internet and cell phones. Poor Dalton.
Anyways... lots to catch up on. First, here is our ugly house! The first week we had a few plugs working, no lights, or a washer and dryer. Lamps were and are our friends. Finally we got *most* of our plugs working and single bulb fixtures up. Jack says it's mood lighting, I say it just makes it harder to see the dirt. We are working on finalizing our plans and after the new year will start. First on the agenda is the kitchen.

Don't you love how realistic that barn looks? It's not a barn, it's a garage! And what's with absolutely no landscaping?! I'll never understand that. 

Basement is on the lower left side. Right garage door is broken and we don't have a remote.  FYI, if you stop by, walk around the right side to the front :).

A view into the main room. Everyone is usually surprised by how actually cute it is inside. I love the big open space. Al roker did not come with the house.

The spreeeeaaaad out kitchen. We got our stove/oven on craigslist, works like a charm!