Party Inspirations: Throwing a Mini Party

Last week was Michael's big 31st birthday. Since we planned on going out the weekend of, we didn't want to do anything big on his actual birthday so Koji and I threw him a mini party! I made some simple decorations out of scrapbook paper and Koji and I bought green balloons at Party City.

I don't usually cook meat since I don't really eat it but I thought for this occasion I would make Michael something he probably misses...I got the recipe for a Wasabi Flank Steak and Miso-Glazed Potatoes from Food and Wine (click here for recipe). I modified it a bit by adding truffle oil to the potatoes and serving it with an arugula/parmesan salad, not my finest cooking moments since I have no IDEA how to cook a steak but everyone ate. To keep it easy and quick, I bought a store bought Baum Baum cake from the Korean market, added blackberries and served it with green tea ice cream. YUM. Along with some cheese and crackers, the meal was super easy, cheap and quick to make!

Check out the Vine video I made taking pictures of the camera...

We celebrated the rest of the weekend with a rugby match and Korean karaoke, not a bad way to celebrate another year.

Stylish families // @style_kin

(photos via pinterest & max wagner)

I've become a little obsessed with finding cutie photos of stylish families online and on instagram and I started compiling all my finds on a new IG account @style_kin. We ourselves love to get dresses up and matchy-matchy whenever we can just for fun!

Here are a  couple tips on styling your cutie family:

• Coordinate Colors... Match up colors with different articles of clothing and include pattern so that there is a cohesive look without being too matchy. Some easy color families to try are blush tones, greys, red-white-blue, black & white.

• Shop Together... Stores like H&M, Zara & even Forever 21 offer like styles for mom, dad and kid at great prices.
• Go Basic...if all else fails throw on some basics like an all denim look and add a pop of color or pattern with an accessory.
• SMILE!

Kojiro's Samurai Birthday

The little samurai has turned 3! To celebrate we hosted, of course, a samurai/ninja party per his request.

I did all the invitations and signage myself from a cute samurai vector I found online and had them printed. To keep the kiddies entertained we built a small obstacle course complete with an army crawl, egg and spoon walk, "lazers" and a gauntlet where the kids competed for the "best time."

The menu consisted of Japanese style treats: onigiri, rice crackers, edamame, gyozas, japanese sodas & iced coffee and master ramen chef Michael topped us off some delicious traditional style ramen!

A couple days before the party we made candy "sushi" boxes for the kids to take home. It was actually pretty easy! We used rice crispy treats, candy and black fondant sheets to decorate. I also found some bubble katana swords at my local Daiso store (best store in the world) that kept the kids entertained for a while.

No mexijap party is out complete without a pinata of course, compliments of my mom. She couldn't find a samurai ninja so she got the best next thing...spiderman! Filled with mexican candy of course.

We had such a fun day and Koji had a great time surrounded by his friends and family including his Godmother who surprised us all the way from Boston and my mom who came for the weekend.

Time to plan for the big 4! 

Or maybe we will just take a trip....

More pics on my facebook soon!

design love: Jørgen Grotdal

I stumbled upon this logo designer from Norway. I'm in love with all the designs and his profile page says he's 16?! Is this true? Amazing.

s t r i p e o b s s e s e d

photos via pinterest, Atlantic-Pacific blog, PetalandPrint, Oscardelarenta.