SCORE!

As I mentioned, I found the lost Super Bowl pictures from the lost Super Bowl game last year. Giants fans...be nice in your comments.

There are only a few here and some of the details are missing but you get the idea, right?

Field: Outdoor carpet from Home Depot and white tape

Penalty Flags: Yellow napkins

Chair Covers: Patriots Tshirts and black and white striped fabric for the referee vibe

Other Stuff (nice title, eh?):

Printed Pats news stories my husband miiiight have in his office with some of his other Patriots gear.

Various Stickers and Scrapbook Papers on vases, glasses and ice bucket.

So while we don't really have a team in the Super Bowl this year, I know many of you do, so hopefully some of these ideas will get you inspired to set your table!

(Really, if you don't have these individual dressing/sauce boats from Crate and Barrel you should. Really.)

Not Seen Here: The World's Best Chili made by my husband.

Update...

I guess I should have mentioned the deadline for the giveaway below is tomorrow at 5pm Central!

Also, someone (me) might have found the long lost Superbowl Party Pics from last year and will be posting those soon. Don't get too excited though - I think I had too much Super Bowl Fever to concentrate on taking great pictures! Or was that Tom Brady fever?

Life is Sweet (Giveaways are pretty sweet, too!)

(Pssssst...stay until the end of the post for the Giveaway!)

With so much sour news everywhere you turn these days, it's time for something sweet. I'm a sucker for cute packaging and these two certainly fit that bill. Whether you need something for a new baby in your life or want to baby your guests (or yourself!) you have to check these out.

Her Milkshakes Bring All the Babies to the Yard

Claudia's Bowtique has these adorable baby items packaged like cupcakes and milkshakes (and much more!) available in her online store. Oh how I love an entrepreneurial Work At Home Mom. Good luck, Claudia!

You Know You Are a Grown Up When...

You legitimately get excited over socks and start to ask for them for Christmas. When they are as cozy as these KN Feet Treats chenille socks, then you start wishing Christmas was all year long!

These cute little bundles of joy would be such great additions to your next spa party, girls get-together, bridal shower, Wednesday, etc. I'll let the words of the people of Karen Neuburger take it from here for a minute:

Invitations:

First, punch a hole into the corner of your invitation. Then string pretty pastel ribbon into the hole and knot. Wrap the excess ribbon around the top of KN KAREN NEUBURGER Feet Treats packaging and tie into a friendly bow. Grab your guest address list, hop into the car and play crafty cupcake carrier. How could anyone turn down an invite complete with such a sweet surprise?

Place Setting:

Set your dinner table with a plate for each of your guests. Then arrange four various pastel-colored napkins in a spiral motion on each of the plates. Top each of the plates with KN KAREN NEUBURGER Feet Treats. Then sit back and watch your guests enjoy a calorie, carb and fat free first course!

Door Prize, Game Award, Parting Gift:

KN KAREN NEUBURGER Feet Treats make great gifts for your guests! Give as a fun twist on a classic door prize, award to a charades champion or send each of your guests away smiling and satisfied with a comfy, cozy pair of KN KAREN NEUBURGER’s biggest seller.

Now, about that GIVEAWAY. Leave a comment here on this post and you'll have the chance to win a pair of these chenille socks from KN. Baby, it's cold outside, so come on and enter. Your feet will thank you for making your fingers type a comment!

(more) Freecyling Christmas

Not only am I recycling this title, I am also recycling someone's post to point you to more fun ways to add some life to your Christmas decorations. Check out what Kendall did to her window here. Loves it, Kendall!

(Just make sure and come back to Stem blog after you've fallen in love with all of Kendall's cute ideas!)

Game On

After a fruitless and frustrating search on my computer for pictures of the Super Bowl Party we threw last year (Patriots lost...sniff) I decided to point you to some fun Superbowl posts from some of my favorite people:



Plum Party has everything you need to set the scene for a winning party! (use coupon code NYR09 and save 20% on your order!)



Celebrations has several posts on Superbowl ideas to make your party a touchdown!



Hostess With The Mostess You know her. You love her. Do I really need to say more?



Chris at Celebrations at Home has done the legwork for you and found some things to make you look like a pro.



Okay, so evite may not be a "people", I think you get the idea. Lots of cool SuperBowl Party evites to help you spread the word in plenty of time.

If I can track down some of those long lost Superbowl 2008 pictures, you'll be the first to know!

Freecycling Christmas

So you know all of those red ornaments you just put away this weekend? Okay, maybe it was just me that finally got to put away Christmas this weekend, AND maybe the red ones are all the leftovers that never get used from the multi-packs because I am so anal that I only use the ornaments that match my home decor...but I digress.

Get out those red (and pink) ornaments, that red feather boa you have lying around, those cylinder vases, those random dollar valentine items you've amassed "just in case" and freecycle them for your table, too. Valentine's IS just around the corner after all.

And don't kid yourself, this party isn't over. I mean it's practically time to get the green ones back out for St. Patrick's Day.

Can You Feel The Luv Tonight?

Superwoman, Joanna, of Lotushaus plucked Stem for a Blog LUV award! Maybe I can share a new treasure with you with my 10 blogs!

Honorees please follow these instructions and share the LUV!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (You can highlight the photo and text of this post and copy/paste wherever you need to...start your highlight from the bottom up to get the photo)

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

Now, here is my list of LUV-LY blogs:

1. Serendipity
   
2. Celebrations at Home
3. Me and My Insanity
4. Little Ant Design
5. Little Shindigs
6. Piece of Cake
7. Tangarang
8. The Little Things
9. Mix Mingle Glow
10. Let's Entertain

{Isn't She} Pretty In Pink?

Every event I get to do, be it for business or pleasure, brings me so much joy. This one here was especially sweet as it was for one of my oldest (okay, I'm older than you, Kacie) friends.



See, Kacie and I became friends in the 7th grade. Apparently she was too cool for me when she transferred into our 6th grade class. We were full-on children of the 80s have the bad hair photos to prove it.

Kacie LOVED the movie "Pretty in Pink." When I say "love" I mean L-O-V-E-D. As in, saw it at the theater every day for solid week and then about 957 times after that.

So, naturally, when I found out she was having a girl and several other old Jr. High friends could attend the shower, it was a no-brainer to me to try and combine all those things into one sophisticated yet fun 80s baby shower. I know. 80s? Sophisticated? You're thinking oxymoron, too, eh?

Get your oversized glasses with the gold initial stickers in the corner on and take a gander at these. Just make sure you take that huge comb out of your back pocket before you sit on it.

Sneak Peek

Back from Tulsa for a, like, totally fun 80's/Pretty in Pink Baby shower.

More pics to come soon. Fer sure.

I'm Blowing The Whistle.

Not that I have been Johnny on the Spot (what does that even mean?) with regular posting, but the least I could do is let you know that I am formally requesting a Time Out for a bit. Between being sick for the better part of 3 weeks now (I FINALLY went to the doctor yesterday, mom) and being busy with the holidays and a baby shower this weekend, I am off my game big time, Dear Blog Friends. I hope to be back in action next week.

Until then, let's hope that my beloved OU Sooners are on their game tomorrow night! I mean we wouldn't want to let the cutest OU Cheerleader ever down, would we? Remember the "Oh, Baby" Baby Shower seen here and here on HWTM??? Well, that was for her and she is growing up so fast!

See you soon!

- amy

Join the Blog Party!

I'm passing this on from Hostess with the Mostess in an effort to lend support to Melissa Margarita-DiStefano's efforts for Let’s Eat Cake.

Let’s Eat Cake is an amazing fundraiser hosted by the equally amazing Melissa Margarita-DiStefano, is coming up quick: Tuesday, February 17th at the Plaza Paramount Hotel! Let’s Eat Cake is a cake decorating competition with all proceeds going to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Learn more about the fundraiser right here.

In an effort to make sure we get the word out to everyone (and raise money), we are starting this chain-blog (Ok, not sure if that is correct terminology. But it’s like a chain letter so let’s just go with it, shall we?) Here’s what we need you to do…Repost this post (or create your own new version) on your blog and ask others to post it on their blogs. Melissa will donate one dollar to the fundraiser for EVERY BLOG that posts on Let’s Eat Cake this week! With the power of the blogosphere, that can QUICKLY add up! Let’s make Melissa Pay!

Once you have reposted it, leave a comment here letting us know that you posted it along with the url to the blog. It’s for a great cause and it will be fun to see how far it will go! So lets do it… Lets blog it forward and raise money for a great cause!!!

Adios 2008

Just a couple more pictures of the final party of 2008!

2008 brought me into the blogosphere with one email from Jenn at Hostess With The Mostess. She found the Oh Baby Shower I did online and asked if she could post it on her site. From there it's been an even more interesting ride! Thanks, Jenn. You know you're on my 2008 highlight reel for sure.

And..........thanks to all of you who stop by Stem and send me so much blog love. I've really enjoyed the blog world this past year and having the chance to "meet" so many of you through it. You all keep me inspired!

Stay tuned for some fun new things to come in 2009!