Monday, May 23, 2011

ROCK ON Healthy Dinner Party


We rocked in my husband's 29th birthday last month with a family dinner party at my parent's lovely home. We wanted to celebrate Chris' current passions: guitar and a healthy lifestyle. We made it "all that" and threw in his favorite color too: ORANGE.


To keep a party masculine, I add geometric shapes and keep the colors to one or two, not multi colors. For his party, I used circles and the colors brown and orange. And if you know me, you'll know another idea I use for maintaining continuity is to search for candy that matches the party. This is an excellent ways to recruit my boys to help me! They love the "job" of sorting the other colors out of the candy mix. Reese's Pieces had the PERFECT colors I needed, minus the yellow. {wink} The boys also punched some timeless style confetti out for more splashes of circles!

Lots of circles weaved through the table in place of a table runner...
surrounded by circle placemats


A circle of balloons balanced perfectly in the center of the table.


The "rock on" bag follows Chris' guitar passion.
My Mom wraps pretty packages!


I created garland out of guitar picks. I simply used clear tape to randomly stick the picks to clear fishing line.


The garland hung down over the center of the table.



Even the appetizers were circles...


The rest of the food focused on health. My mom and I planned a menu that celebrated a healthy lifestyle. I made classic mozzarella balls and tomatoes on a stick with fresh basil.




My Mom's veggie tray.


Party prep...doin' our thing!


My Mom makes some killer BBQ chicken. CLASSIC.


I made roasted artichoke hearts with pesto spinach topped with melted brie. Simply rinse artichoke hearts and place on baking sheet. Cook fresh spinach on stovetop with fresh garlic. Stir in pesto sauce and Parmesan cheese if desired. Top artichokes with spinach mixture. Finish with a square of brie cheese and broil until cheese bubbles and heated through.



My serving dishes for entertaining from Pier 1 are AH-mazing.
They offer such a fresh and clean canvas to showcase all the delicious goodness.


I had the most fun with these baked zucchini fries!
How cute is this?

I found mini bags to mock traditional french fry bags.

Grab and go...


My brother brought the drinks: Gatorade for liquid fuel.


Who knew Gatorade looked so pretty in glasses?



We used my favorite local cake shop for Chris' guitar cake.


We wanted it to match his guitar:


I wonder what he wished for before he blew the fire out?


His "not so surprise" birthday gift was waiting for him at home. It followed along with our lil health theme. How could I have kept this a secret? My muscles weren't cool enough to set this up alone.


It was definitely a night of celebration.
Chris ROCKS our world.
He is one of those REAL men.
I am blessed beyond measure to have him as my husband.



This post is linked to: Outdoor Party Centsational Girl, Under the Table & Dreamin, It's a Blog Party, Think Pink Sundays LambAround, DIY Showoff, DIY Living, Seasonal Sundays, It's so Very Cheri, Strut Your Stuff at Saturday Mornings, Met Monday, Making the World Cuter, Motivate Me Mondays, A2Z Tips & Tutorials, Lettered Cottage How To, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy, Tuesdays at the Table, Topsy Turvy Tuesday, Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On, We're Organized Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Swing into Spring, Works for Me Wednesday, Show and Tell, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Blog Hop Thursday, Transformation Thursday, Tablescape Thursday, Show off Your Stuff, Strut Your Stuff, Friday Favorites, VIP Party Show and Share Day, Foodie Friday, Frugal Friday, I'm Lovin It, Tickled Pink, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up

30 comments:

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

As always, awesome party! I love that the colors and decorations are simple yet so neat ... LOVE your guitar pick garland. And that view out your window - wow! :)

Jane said...

Wonderful party idea!!! (I knew Chris and I had something in common...ORANGE is my favorite color, too!) What a fun way to celebrate that special man! Love the theme...and the guitar pick garland. You are truly a creative woman, Lisa. (I am going to share the guitar pick garland with one of my young friends...just gave birth to another little "rock star". She'll love this idea...I can see it as streamers over a window...)
Hugs,
Jane

Ms. Bake-it said...

What a fabulous party! I love the theme.

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

You don't miss a detail do you? The food looks all so yummy!

caveman said...

This party was your best one yet. After all, what tops orange decor, BBQ chicken and a years supply of guitar picks?

I felt really special being the star at a Mooreminutes party. And reading this posts makes me feel special all over again. Thank you for being the best wife on earth. You will probably never know what a difference you make in the lives of the people around you. You are my biggest inspiration.

~Iffy~ @ StayAtHomeNation said...

Wow what a great Rock Party, everything looks awesome! Be sure to stop by & link up at MY Favorite Things Party going on all week =D

~Iffy~
www.stayathomenation.blogspot.com

Beth said...

You are the party queen! Love the all the little details that you put into your events to make them so special. The guitar pick garland was fab!

Bird Stalker Photography said...

What an awesome party. Those zucchini fries look yummy, do you have a recipe?

Modern Mindy said...

Sorry to contact you this way, I couldn't find an email on your site. I would love to do a feature of your Classic Boy Campout on my blog www.modernmindy.com. Email me to let me know if I have your permission. mm(at)kaisner(dot)org. Thanks & BTW, love your site!!

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

Awesome praty! The guitar pick garland is just fab :)

G'day
Sanghamitra.
RAINBOW-The Colours of India

Anonymous said...

love it but now I am very hungry!

testing 1 said...

Manly but cute at the same time! I love it, and that centerpiece is sheer genius!

Vivienne @ the V Spot said...

Happy birthday to your hubs! It looks fabulous!

Simple Daisy said...

Oh my....that looks so nice and it's even better that it's all healthy:)

Amy said...

I love all these healthful little bites! So perfect for parties. I'm planning my little girl's B-day party soon and certainly can use some ideas on what to make. Thank you for sharing.

By the way, I'm hosting 2 Giveaways on my blog, please stop by to enter when you have a chance. One for $50 Thrive products and another one for baking molds and more. Have a wonderful weekend.

Amy
http://utry.it

Anonymous said...

Very cool decorations and the food looked great, Thanks for sharing the recipe for the artichoke hearts.
Tammy

Judy@cutest-little-things.blogspot.com said...

The company I formerly worked for had an orange, black and white logo so I fondly recall the parties I threw using this color scheme ;)

Great job! I liked the tablescape with the centerpiece of balloons - very clever!

And the guitar cake ROCKED!

Happy belated Birthday to your husband!!

Judy@cutest-little-things

Unknown said...

Hi!!
It´s gorgeus. I like the colors.its very creative....
I know your blog today, its very creative. I like so much....
I go on around here a litle bit more ;D
Kisses from Madrid♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said...

Oh my goodness, the FOOD!! Incredible!!

aggieam01 said...

What a killer cool party. I love your picks on the clear fishing line!!!!! And boy that cake was amazing!

Jana said...

Fantastic! I love your decorations and your healthy theme. I can't get over the pretty gatorade in the water glasses. I am so going to do this! Jana http://www.adoctorandanurse.com

Kirstin said...

What an awesome idea! Love all your yummy healthy foods.

Chef in Training said...

wow! how fun of a wife are you! this is such a cute party! My hubby will be turning 29 here shortly and I wanted to throw him a party too since it will be his last year in his 20s :) Great colors, decor and food! great job! I found your blog through a link party and i LOVE it! I am your newest follower and would love it if you would check out my blog and follow me too! thanks!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

Barbara Pilcher said...

You and your Mom really know how to throw a party. This post is chock full of great ideas. I found it on Shabby Nest.

Healthful food and party food usually don't fit into the same category. You did a beautiful job. Good for you for supporting your husband's interests. You only turn 29 once, right? Right?!

Unknown said...

great job! I love the guitar pic garland! and I think the artichoke spoons were genius!

hugs! Kim @ Party Frosting!

Tricia @ SweeterThanSweets said...

That is perfect masculine-themed party decor! Great job!

Amy at Ameroonie Designs said...

This is such a great party idea. What a great way to honor him and his tastes! Everything looks delicious.
xoxo,
Amy

Susan said...

Stopping by from Tatertots & Jello, thanks for the healthy party menu! It can be hard to find finger foods that are healthy. I really want to try the zucchini fries!

Kristen said...

Such a great party idea. I love the cake and pick parland - perfect way to incorporate personal interests.

~ Regan said...

Great party! ;)

I think we all need to serve healthier foods to our guests- not everyone wants to eat junk food to celebrate! The 'fries' were a perfect touch.

I especially like the guitar pick garland. Great job!