Katy Perry Photoshoot - The Reveal

2 weeks ago I had a fabulous photo shoot for my birthday and today is finally the day to reveal the photos! If you missed it, you can read about the balloons here, cupcakes here, and misc. fun here.

Sean Gumm of Sean Gumm Portraiture took the photos, he is a personal friend and genius behind the camera. He makes you feel so comfortable and relaxed. If you're in the Seattle area and looking for a photographer, he's your man. (Thanks Sean!) 

PS There are a lot of photos, so I won't add individual descriptions.
Have fun guessing what was going on. 

 

New Year's Eve 2011

Happy New Year everyone!

Last night Alex and I met Yara and Dustin for an hour in downtown Portland. Downtown was packed and everyone looked fantastic! Later in the evening we headed to my good friend Kristin's house for a Vegas themed party. They had blackjack poker and roulette tables set up. Everyone was given fake money to bet with throughout the night and if you lost all your money you could sing karaoke to earn some back. Kristin is one of those hostesses that thinks of everything and pulls out all the stops. Her parties are always the best and last night was one of my favorites.

My outfit for the evening:

The midnight kiss:

 

Seattle Surprise Party

After my sibling's improvised trip to Seattle I decided to surprise my friend Ryan for his birthday. Ry is honestly the worst person to surprise. He (self-admittedly) micromanages everything, making it quite impossibly to surprise him.Over our eight year friendship I have never seen him surprised. He is always in the loop and always guesses what's going on. Remember my outing with the Browns? He was supposed to join as a surprise guest for both him and her, but he literally stalked Facebook until he figured out what was going on. I still love him quirks and all. After my sister and I decided Thursday night that we were in fact going to be in Seattle. I set the plan to have our mutual friend take Ry out for birthday drinks. The girls and I would then surprise him shortly after. We were supposed to meet them at 9:00 but 9:00 turned into 9:45. Luckily Brandyn is a pro at redirecting Ryan's attention. Inside the bar we hid behind a wall and text Brandyn to start recording. He played it off like he was texting. :) Tiffany led the way and Ryan's reaction couldn't have been more perfect. Sitting on his stool he just blinked at Tiffany then Rona then looked at me mouth open and bewildered. It was only when we all said "hi Ry" that he came to.

After Elite we headed to Purr a Capital Hill favorite. We sang, danced and rocked the night away. This text pretty much says it all:

Have you ever thrown a surprise party? How did it turn out?

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Jello Shots

Yesterday I made Jello Shots for my friend's ugly sweater Christmas party. Although Jello shots are generally thought of as college drinks you can easily spice them up for post-college parties by adding fruit or candy. Albeit, the shots I made last night were the basic ones.

These instructions are on how to make cherry bomb Jello shots.

Items you will need: 

From the Liquor store - Your liquor of choice, I used Vodka but Rum is also a great base. A flavored liquor, I used sour apple and watermelon. Jello; there are so many combinations, this is really about personal preference. A container or multiple containers depending on your serving style, I prefer individual servings. And a can of maraschino cherries.

From the kitchen - a measuring cup, a pot, a stirring utensil, and a bowl with a spout. 

The night before you make the shots drain the maraschino cherry jar of the liquid and replace it with your liquor. If you want even more of a punch let it sit for a couple of days. 

Boil 2 cups of water. After your water reaches the boiling point add in the Jello. Stir until the Jello is completely dissolved then let the mixture cool off slightly. Once it stops steaming add in 1 cup of your base liquor and 1 cup of your flavored liquor. Mix well. Transfer your mixture into your bowl with a spout and then pour into your individual cups/molds. Add a cherry to each of your cups then let the Jello set by placing it in the fridge. A little hint if you bought the plastic individual cups with lids; leave the lids off until the Jello is set. And there you have it folks! Cherry bomb Jello shots.