2009 Annual UCSD Anesthesia Christmas Party

Every year, the anesthesia department at UCSD hosts a really nice Christmas dinner and party at the Westgate Hotel, downtown San Diego. It's always really nice to get dressed up and have a date night with my smart and hot hubby. They always have a really nice dinner and it's finally fun now that I know all his colleagues. This was our last year now that we will be moving on this summer! You can't tell in the pictures, but our Christmas tree once again looks like crap. The tree itself is beautiful, but I have a pile or ornaments that need to be glued back together and Jack loves to undecorate the tree. Owen actually threw a football at it and demolished several ornaments. I give up on tree decorating a tree until the boys are a little bit older. I think I will just stick to lights for the next few years!

All Jack Wants for Christmas....

is a nativity set! And no, not the Little People Nativity that we have set up under the Christmas tree! He will go to all lengths to get to our nice and expensisve nativity set! Funny kid.

American Girl

Ready to go on our trip to LA
Right as we walked in the front doors of American Girl Place!

We just purchased her look alike doll.

Outside by the front window

Inside by the girlie Christmas tree

Just seated at the cafe!

They have special chairs for the dolls to sit in:)

How cute is the cafe?

Courtney's doll, she named her Lacey

The lunch was way overpriced!

The birthday dessert

Flower pot chocolate mousse, sugar cookie, and cake!

Every mom and daughter needs to have the American Girl experience. This year for Courtney's birthday, we planned a trip to the American Girl store. Originally, we were not supposed to have a party too, but if you know me, you know that I just can't help myself. Especially when it comes to girl parties! Courtney recently became interested in the American Girl dolls. She didn't know exactly which one she wanted so it made the trip lots of fun to decide once we got there. The store was amazing! It was little girl heaven. Two floors of dolls, accessories and clothes to look at. Courtney finally decided on the doll that looks most like her. They have so many dolls with hair color, length, skin complexion, eye color, etc. to choose from. She also really wanted the Rebecca doll. I let her choose one outfit too. After blowing $150 on the doll and outfit, we had lunch at the cafe. Even though it was really overpriced, it was definitely worth it. The waiters make it so special for the girls. They have a doll seat that connects to the table, they even serve the dolls some drinks. The food wasn't great, but it was soooo cute in there. They brought out a cute little question box with questions for the mom and daughter to ask each other to encourage dinner conversation. It was adorable. Seeing the millions of girls with their dolls and their moms just made me smile. I crave these girlie times with my daughter because I know it is only going to happen once. She's only turning 7 once! I'm up to my ears with boy time! Anyways, I highly recommend that if you have a daughter this age, this trip is a good one! Courtney hasn't put down her doll since we got home. And thanks to Grandma Chali, we have many outfit changes per day including pajamas at bedtime. I just love being a girl!

You're invited to a Cupcake Party!

Who: All the cutest little girls on the block!

Where: My apartment of course!

What: Courtney and five of her closest friends got together for a cupcake party! They arrived and sat down for lunch of pigs in a blanket, watermelon skewers and pink lemonade. Then we cleared the table for cupcake decorating. We had three different colors of frosting: hot pink, lavender purple, and teal blue. We had an assortment of toppings like mini chocolate chips, marshmallows, m&ms, gummy bears and every kind of sprinkle there is. I didn't know if the girls would have the attention span to decorate many cupcakes, but they loved it! Each girl got to bring home a whole box of their custom cupcakes. We then played games like pin the cherry on the cupcake and pass the parcel (passing a present around to music and then when the music stops, the girl holding the present unwraps it. I wrapped the present about ten times and the last girl to unwrap it wins!). I just loved planning the party and making the decorations. Teresa once again made the cutest invites! I can never buy store invitations again. Every year my only girl gets older, the more I feel like I have to cram the girly stuff in as much as possible. It turned out great! I can't believe my baby girl is already 7. She is such a cutie.