Time to Celebrate Mom!

One of my favorite parts of spring is Mother's Day.  It's a time to tell your mom just how much you love and appreciate her, all while making her feel like a Queen.  What better way to do that than creating a gourmet meal for her?

If you are like me, stressed for extra time between work and social life, then you are probably grimacing at the idea of cooking a meal.  Even worse, it has to be good?  If you can't handle the stress and want to keep all your hair, here are a few ideas:

1. Have it catered.  Small, up and coming catering companies are salivating at the opportunity of getting their name out, which can often mean big discounts.  Can't make French Toast?  They can do it for you, creating a meal she'll never forget.
2. Buy her favorites at a local bakery. If she is always-on-the go and a big meal isn't her style, surprise her with her favorite muffin or pastry.  She'll appreciate the effort and love that you know her likes and dislikes.
3. Take Her Out.  Many amazing restaurants and resorts offer special brunches just for Mom's.  The Montage in Laguna Beach has an excellent Mother's Day event each year.  It can be on the pricey side (about $100 a person) but showering your Mom with love and attention will make her feel like the Queen of the World.

New Party Ideas: Celebrity Look-Alikes!

Hosting a corporate event, or even having to attend one, can be pretty uneventful.  Why not spice it up the old, boring routine by hiring look-a-likes?  Many big names in Hollywood are hiring these entertainers to preform at their events.  In the video above, you'll find Susan Griffiths, an amazing Marilyn impersonator that is for hire for private affairs!

Easter Events For Kids: No More Egg Hunts!

If you are like me, you spent your childhood Easters going on egg hunts in various relative's backyards, hunting and scowering until you finally came across the technicolor wonder that is a plastic egg.  Your eyes got wide and you ran over to it, fighting off a cousin or two until it was in your hands.  You opened it with anticipation only to find out it contained one Hershey's Kiss, which you despised (well, I do, maybe you don't.)

This generation of kids is much more connected than ever before and a mere Easter egg hunt is not going to capture the attention that it did with our pre-pubescent brains.  Kids are constantly looking for the next bigger, better, more expensive thing.  Fool your kids into thinking you're the coolest parents on the block by ditching the candy-filled contraptions and trying one of these ideas instead:

• Petting Zoos:  Great for the under seven crowd, it will keep them entertained for hours.  Kids never pass up the opportunity to ride a pony or feed a goat.  Most petting zoos are mobile and are relatively inexpensive to hire.
• Professional Scavenger Hunts:  Themed hunts are much more 2000's than egg hunts.  Professionals can come dressed as pirates, give the children treasure maps and award them with gold (prizes).  Some even provide GPS hunts for the older crowds (even parents love these!)
• Face painters/Airbrush Tattoo Artists:  Have a little rebel in your family?  Let them get a cool snake tattoo that will wash off in a week.  It will make him feel more grown up and have something to brag about to his friends, without permanent consequences. For the younger kids, they can become their own Easter bunnies, fairies or princesses in minutes.
• Live Music:  Who said kids get to have all the fun?  Hire a tribute band dedicated to your favorite group and invite the neighborhood.  Kids love dancing and live music introduces them to a wider range of experiences.

Wedding Season has arrived!!!

Ah Spring.  Flowers growing, birds chirping, breezes blowing and.....brides screaming?  It's that time of year again: Wedding Season.  Unless you are Vince Vaughn or Vera Wang, you might get a little itchy at the mention of a wedding.  Let's face it, taffeta in general is enough to give any bride the hives.  But a newly engaged woman is a force to be reckoned with. Stress can be compounded and released in the most interesting ways imaginable from gaining weight and not fitting in your custom ordered dress (which was how I dealt with it) to breaking out in rashes when you see butter cream.  How ever you deal with it is personal, but there are many things you can do to break the cycle of BRIDEZILLA!!!

One of the most important steps in planning a stress-free wedding is to hire a wedding planner.  I know, I know, this may be an added cost to a wedding, but how much is your sanity worth?  A wedding planner can hold your hand every step of the way, or just help you fill in the missing bits and pieces.  Some wedding planners are fairly priced and earn their keep with constant communication and their years of experience in the wedding industry can equal big discounts to price-savvy brides.  Especially when you book everything through one planner.  So hit the gym or take dance lessons to combat stress. Your planner will handle it all for you.