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Mommy 101

Dub Nation Birthday Celebration

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This year my boys turned 5 and 6…and for the past year they have been ALL about basketball, specifically our hometown Golden State Warriors who just happened to prevail as back to back champions in June. So, their birthday party these was a no brainer…a Dub Nation Birthday Celebration! My boys have been spoiled when it comes to (NBA) basketball. Not only did both of their births coincide with NBA Championships (in Miami), but in both of their lifetime’s, they have only known living in places with NBA Champions! We are clearly a basketball family, so this year I got the wheels turning to play up a blue and gold theme fit for my basketball kings! I made a custom “ticket” invitation via Paperless Post to announce the event, you can see those details here.

I created a dessert table using a backdrop of alternating blue and gold streamers, and I stuck a warriors sign from Party City in the middle. I covered the table with a coordinating yellow table cover and added Warriors logo plates and napkins. We already had a couple Warriors basketballs, so I propped them up on clear glass cylinders stuffed with matching tissue paper. I got the Warriors themed sheet cake from Safeway and ordered blue and yellow frosted cupcakes. I topped the cupcakes with their age (5 & 6) numbers, along with team logos, that I sized and printed out myself, then glued onto toothpicks.  I found mini blue popcorn boxes which I filled with Boom Chicka Pop Kettle Corn, and filled the small candy jars with basketball wrapped butter mints.

The other desserts I added were rice krispy treats and chocolate dipped marshmallows, both made by me and both decorated with blue and yellow cake sprinkles. I also had a tray of (Costco) chocolate chip cookies, because cookies make everyone smile!

Over the years we’ve collected and saved various Warriors signs, so I thought, why no string them up and use them for decorations. That was really easy since we had several signs. I just punched holes in the corners and used twine to string them up.

  

Since it was an outdoor party at the park, I just made a couple centerpieces (you never know how the wind will factor in). I took a couple metal pails and filled with rocks for weight – found these at Dollar Tree. I then placed (free) foam fingers and clap sticks we’ve gotten from games, added tissue paper and stuck a “5” and “6” balloon to finish the look.

We played with water balloons….

Destroyed a basketball pinata, which I personalized with a Warriors logo print out…

You know it was a GREAT party when there was lots of laughter and smiles all around!

I also found the perfect thank you gift to give our guests, a Dubble Bubble “Slam Dunk” dispenser and I custom created a thank you tag to stick on them.

Thanks to all our friends and family who celebrated our boys with us and made it a very memorable occasion!

 

Mommy 101

Party Invites ONLINE!

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Copy of ALL ACCESS PASS

I am a fan of online (event) invitations. The ease of creating an event invite, tracking responses and even updating/changing event details as needed, makes it very easy. Plus, I don’t have to worry about printing anything, envelopes, postage and getting to the post office, etc… That being said, I do also like setting the “tone” if you will for my event. I’m big on presentation and playing up a theme, and when I can flex my novice design skills + have the time, I like to see what I can whip up.

Well, it’s now the time of year when my boys will be celebrating another birthday milestone, and since they are such big basketball fans, I wanted to create an invitation that captures their enthusiasm for their favorite basketball team. I found some inspiration online and made a custom invite that looks like a ticket to a basketball game. I pondered printing them out and using snail mail, but that’s when I discovered Paperless Post has an “Upload Your Own” feature. BINGO!

The only issue was that my custom ticket design didn’t quite fit the preferred dimensions on the upload your own tool, so I thought the idea would be awash…But lo and behold, I reached out to their customer service to see if they could give me an “assist” (pun intended), and within 24 hours, they adjusted the dimensions to accommodate my design. A total SLAM DUNK!

 

 

Mommy 101

My Babies, My Womb and the NBA Finals

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The NBA Finals are upon us and I can’t wait for tip off tomorrow night at Oracle Arena in Oakland when the Golden State Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 1. You may wonder what professional basketball has to do with my babies, and more specifically my womb, so please…allow me to explain.

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Professional basketball, specifically the NBA has always been a big deal in my house. My ethnic heritage is Filipino and well, if there’s a blanket statement you can make about Filipino people, it’s safe to say that they love basketball. Watching basketball and growing up around the game has always been a part of my life. When satellite and cable systems came out with NBA League Pass, my family did not hesitate to purchase it and every night you could bet we would watch every game that we could…we were constantly plugged in. Then, once I graduated from college I went on to dance professionally for an NBA team, the Sacramento Kings. And so, basketball – the game and entertainment, took on an even bigger role in my life. Eventually, I would cover NBA-related stories in my work as a television reporter and interview many of the league’s stars for my sports lifestyle and entertainment TV Show, On The Flipside.

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Fast forward to why any of this matters and how it all relates… I moved to Miami in the summer of 2006, right after the Miami HEAT got their first championship, and then, both of my boy’s’ births directly coincided with NBA Championships for the Miami HEAT. Not only were they both born in Miami-Dade County, but their father was also working for the team at that time, and as a result he was given a championship ring for each season.

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In 2012, I recall being at the huge victory celebration as a parade weaved through crowds of people in downtown Miami, and I waited for the caravan to enter American Airlines Arena. I had squeezed into my championship shirt at 38 weeks and put the hospital bag in the trunk, just in case we had an early entrance.

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In 2013, there I was once again, 9+ months pregnant, and while I didn’t make it to the championship parade and festivities that time around, my not yet 1 year old baby was IN the parade, riding high atop a double-decker bus, getting his first taste of all the fanfare and attention that comes along with being champions.

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In 2014, the Miami HEAT did make it to the Finals again, but this time it didn’t result in a Championship. I was neither pregnant and had just moved out of Miami… Coincidence?? LOL!

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So this year, 2015, I am getting the family ready to move once again. It’s almost like the NBA Finals mark important moments in my life! And this time, not only are we moving, but it’s a homecoming for me, to my original stomping grounds, the Bay Area. It just so happens, the Golden State Warriors – a team I grew up watching, is in the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years! So, all this to say, there has to be a real connection here, right? There is no doubt we will be pulling for my hometown team and while I have an empty womb this time around, you’ve gotta believe there’s some kind of direct correlation, ya know? And – if it takes me to have another baby to spawn a championship for my  city…it’s not out of the question! JUST SAYIN’!

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Mommy 101

My Boys are fan FAVORITES of Many Teams…

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I think my boys will grow up confused when it comes to picking their favorite sports teams… I mean I hope they develop a good appreciation for different teams and different sports, and I’ll let them know Daddy won’t mind if they want to just go with all of Mommy’s favorite hometown teams! Okay, yeah, I don’t think “Daddy” will have any part of that.

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I’m from the Bay Area, California…my teams are the Oakland Raiders and the Golden State Warriors, but I also worked for the Sacramento Kings. My other half is from Chicago. He’s all about the Chicago Bears, the White Sox, the Bulls and Blackhawks. I let Daddy choose Bears when Isaiah got his Doc Band wrapped…I mean he won’t even remember it when it truly counts! Then, we met in Miami, so it’s been Miami HEAT, Dolphins, Marlins for the boys. They have worn sports gear from all the various teams and while they really don’t have a say at this point, their loyalty is to whichever team Mom or Dad dressed them in! haha

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Hmmm…is there a rule of thumb? I think many times a child’s team ends up being whatever Daddy’s team is because sometimes the Mommy’s don’t care for sports…but not in my house. While I’m not over the top crazed about which team my kids need to root for…I would like them to be on my side. Maybe they’ll go with their South Florida roots since they were born into that sports culture..it all remains to be seen.

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So, let me know if you’ve ever dealt with any of this in your house? How have your kids gone about pledging their allegiance to a team!?!?

 

Mommy 101, Uncategorized

Holidays 2014: 5 Memorable Moments

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I enjoyed a really wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday week, with my family on the West Coast recently…and while it’s back to work and back to reality, I can’t help but continue to bask and smile at how awesome it all turned out! I mean the term “holidays” often conjure up visions of stress, fatigue and even panic – especially as parents, along with all the warm, fuzzy notions of the magic of the season.

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Well, this time around we decided to pack it up and fly west for a week to be with my side of the family and friends. We purchased air tickets at a premium (holiday) price, which already had me feeling like is this really worth it, then when it came time to depart, we faced multiple flight delays and a standby fate at our original airport and the one we rerouted to…so when we eventually made it to our desired destination, a full 24 hours later had passed! Talk about a Mommy’s travel nightmare. I kept thinking I was going to run out of milk, diapers and food for my toddlers…not to mention my toddlers had to endure LONG wait times in the gate area of just hanging around while the clocked tick and we waited for our names to be called.

To their credit, my boys did exceptionally well, I think I was more of the wreck, worrying if we’d make it to the family Christmas Eve gathering, disappointed with the lack of info and options on how to get where we needed to be, frustrated at the delays (and layovers) I had hoped to avoid, etc… Luckily when we finally got to where we were going, it was nothing short of an amazing family vacation.

So, here are my top 5 most memorable moments from the 2014 holidays:

Jake and the Never Land Pirates Ship

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We stayed with my baby sister Alison during the trip and she pulled out all the stops for my boys to make them feel right at home, starting with a pop up play tent, themed after Jake and the Never Land Pirates! I couldn’t get over how cool this thing was…where were these when I was a kid? My photo probably doesn’t do it justice either…there was even a basketball hoop on the mast!

San Francisco – Pier 39

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The day after Christmas we took a trip into the city and did the “tourist” thing at Pier 39. It was a beautiful day, with crystal clear skies and not “cold” at all by San Francisco standards… We attempted a picturesque family photo by the Bay, my two sisters came to hang out….

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I mean they have a playground right there too, next to a marina with a view of the SF Bay – it doesn’t get any better, and my boys also got their ice cream fix with Aunties.

Golden State Warriors Game

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We had a family outing to a Golden State Warriors game. Basketball is big in our family, we grew up on it, we play it, we love going to games… Right now the Warriors are a top team in the NBA and we got all of us together to go to a game. My family, each of my siblings and their significant other’s and my Mom! These gatherings are rare and it was SO much fun for the boys.

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Raef had a huge container of popcorn and loved every minute of eating it…ALL!

New Year’s Eve Slumber Party Shin Dig

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For NYE, we got together with some of my closest and oldest (meaning since elementary school) friends to ring in the new year. It was good times with all the families together in one house, the kids running around and taking care of each other, while the adults socialized and enjoyed ourselves too.

Playdates

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However, the most memorable moment of the holiday vacay – and technically it’s moments, were the several play dates and visits we had with close friends. It’s so fun and really heartwarming to meet the children of the people I have been friends with since childhood and college….the pre-Mom days. And — to see our children all interact together is THE BEST!!

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