Restaurants are a super easy and convenient way to celebrate special events. My favorite tip is to customize your table — especially if its a small celebration. Above is what I had going on at our house.

And this is how it looked at the restaurant. Brenna and her friend were graduating elementary school, and we took them to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. I hit the craft store looking for something that said “school” to me, and left with the chalk board easels and letters. A little hot glue later, I had what my southern friends would call an appropriate monogram. I added some flowers in the tiny watering cans and headed to the resturant a few minutes early.

The girls were surprised and felt really special. The best part about this, is you get a lot of impact for a little work. The restaurant does all the hard stuff– ironing the table cloth, cleaning the glasses, polishing the silver (ok, that might be over the top, but you get the idea). You do only the fun stuff. Try it next time, you’ll be happy you did.

I love people who get having parties. My sister-in-law Christie is one of those people. She’s goes all out for my niece’s birthday, and I love it! This year it was an ice cream party, complete with a centerpiece made of ice cream sprinkles and tissue paper.

For the sundae bar, cones and cups were dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.

With all the toppings you could want.

The ice cream cone bunting by was adorable. Christie made tissue flowers and glued them in paper cones, and strung them across the window.

In fact, every place she could put a tissue paper cone, she did! Can’t wait for next year.

Want a little zen with your happy hour? Yoga Happy Hour mixes a little wine and a little meditation. Meant for beginners, everyone is welcome. Making new friends is encouraged.

Great way to start off the weekend.

One of my favorite things about parties are the special little touches. You can’t go wrong with a cupcake cross. And this year we branched out (thank you pinterest) to Bible Fig Newtons. Did you ever think you’d read those words?

But, aren’t they cute? They required fig newtowns, white icing in a baggy to pipe, and red fruit rolls ups. Cut one side of the fig newtown to give the appearance of a book. Then cut a thin slice of fruit roll up to resemble a book mark. I pressed my book mark into the cookie with a tooth pick. This was the trickiest part. Pipe with white icing. My most important tip– have your plate or platter ready to go. These don’t transfer easy. Make sure you use a doily — the fruit roll ups do stick to a bare plate and will pull apart.

Finally, look who chipped in and did all the cupcake icing!

You know all those birthday emails you get from different businesses? Well last year I got one from a yoga teacher from where I used to live, offering a free yoga class on my birthday. I wrote back telling him I moved, and asked if knew of any chants that were specific to birthdays.

Ok, did that last part come out of left field? I should tell you that I have been a fan of chanting for some time. It’s gotten me through some of the hardest parts of my life. I don’t think I could be a student of silent meditation, but chanting works for me. So it seemed appropriate to ask for a birthday chant. This is what he sent me:

I am the light of my soul.
I am beautiful.
I am bountiful.
I am bliss.

I was taken back by the chant, mostly because it is in English. I’m not sure what language I’ve been chanting in, but English it is not. In fact, the foreign sounds helped me in the beginning, because chanting in English would somehow make me feel ridiculous. Go figure.

But I looked at the words he sent and they were beautiful. And they were what I needed. So even though it was in English, I gave it a try. It was the first time anyone ever gave me a Birthday Mantra, even if I asked for it.

And this is what I found, after chanting it a few times, it stayed with me. I’d be making dinner, or doing laundry, and this mantra was the tape playing in my head: I am the light of my soul. I am beautiful, I am bountiful, I am bliss. In a year, where I was getting older, certainly broke, and often saddened, it was a great message. Much better than some of the negative thoughts it crowded out.

So now it’s my gift to you. Try it out. I swear, it works. (Swearing, not good yogi behavior!) If you are uncertain, try it for three minutes. Find a quiet place, and say the words over and over. You can also find the words set to music on You Tube.

Honestly, one of the best Birthday gifts I ever got.

Who doesn’t want to go to a Ladybug party! My friend Tommy Starling pulled out all the stops for his daughter’s birthday. Sometimes you just have to splurge, like he did on the cupcake tray above, to really make a statement ( and save yourself a ton of time). But don’t worry, Tommy’s got plenty of DIY Ladybug party ideas he’s willing to let us steal.

Before we get to that, I have to gush over Tommy a little more. He’s the author of the amazing children’s book Bob’s New Pants, which is about a curious Lady Bug, who teaches kids about diversity. It’s perfect for ages 3 to 7, and available on Amazon. Who better to give us tips for a Ladybug Party!

I thought this was genius. Tommy simply stuffed fresh raspberries with milk chocolate chips.

If you don’t want to go for the chocolate chips, you could substitute raisins and still get a Ladybug look. ( I, however, would never mess with the perfection of raspberries and chocolate!)

For his Ladybug pretzels, Tommy dipped pretzels in red and black colored chocolate, applying edible eyes before the chocolate dried. We debated whether these were cute or creepy, and I went for super cute!

The final sweet touch were the Ladybug giftbags. Tommy filled them with black and red jelly beans, and threw in a random white white jelly bean — just to remind us, like Bob the Ladybug, we are a little different, and special just the same.

The Red Barn in Hammonton, NJ is one of my favorite places to stop on the way to the Jersey Shore. I love looking at these pies as much as eating them!

The presentation is so amazing, you actually feel guilty if you don’t eat them. Which is why I ate two myself this summer. Wish I had the will power of my kids who had a couple of pieces and were done.

I make so many mistakes buying wines I don’t like (maybe I should stop choosing them based on the design of their label!), that when I hit on one I really like, it’s like I’ve really accomplished something. My current favorite find is Dog Point from New Zealand. The label’s not bad either. Be sure to serve it in an adorable polka dot glass for maximum pleasure!

One of my favorite bookstores, Watchung Booksellers in Montclair NJ, was the first to host my sister Maureen’s new book, The Cocktail Club. Unexpectedly, we both showed up in orange, and after a few cocktails, people started teasing that we were the style sisters. (A few nights later, I showed up at a second book signing to help her, and we were both wearing blue!) More on orange in future posts.

Check out the cherry tomatoes in the olive tray. The tray is lined with vodka!

One of the easiest appetizers from the book, and a crowd pleaser, are cherry tomatoes resting in vodka. Using a toothpick, spear your tomato, roll it in coarse salt, and enjoy! You can pick up your copy of The Cocktail Club at any bookstore or on Amazon.

Salute!

The Cocktail Club is here! My wonderful sister Maureen Petrosky wrote this fabulous book just to make our lives more fun!!!!

The launch party for the press was amazing. It was held at the Brooklyn Nite Hawk Theater (hipster heaven). The New York Times, The Food Network, Lucky Magazine and Family Circle all came to Brooklyn to wish her well.

Maureen (left) with The New York Times reporter!

The New York Times even tweeted that Maureen was the only author they ever knew to make her own appetizers for her book launch! The Cocktail Club can be pre-ordered on Amazon now, and comes out May 13. Check back for a chance to win your own copy! Cheers!

When it comes to New Year’s Eve, I’m usually pretty low key. But this year, we joined all the fun and went fancy! Check out how amazing the ballroom looked:

Jerry and I even stayed up past midnight! Way to welcome 2014! Happy New Year!