Special Occasions – Effortless Occasions

Rochester New York Event – Hot Summer Nights Fashion Show

Published on June 30, 2015July 1, 2015 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

When I moved back to New York, one of the first things I did was look for something to do. I was under the false impression that I would be bored compared to living in DC. This of course could not be farther from the truth, Rochester almost has too much to do, to the point where I feel like I miss put on things if I take a weekend off.

Anyhow, naturally when I found out that Rochester has its own fashion week I bought tickets to three of the shows. Each of the shows were amazing, distinctive and each could have stood on its own. The people that were involved were all from Rochester and the show is to benefit The Center For Youth. I knew that I wanted to be part of such an amazing event.

So fast forward to now, Fashion Week is slated for October 13th to the 18th, and I can NOT wait to be a part of the action. So mark your calendars people it is going to be awesome. More on that later…

This event was our summer kick off, I was involved in the social media coordination. Follow Fashion Week of Rochester on Facebook, @rochesterfasionweek on Instagram and @ROC_fashionweek on Twitter to be up to date on all the behind the scenes action, models, fashion, stylists, boutiques and fashion designers.

Midtown Athletic Club was nice enough to be our hosts, and the weather could not have been better for a pool side party! The event featured Emmy Award winning stylist David Zyla the author of “How to Win at Shopping” as a guest speaker. I of course was live tweeting, facebooking and instagraming the entire time (it was exhausting… jk jk jk). I finished off the last designer/boutique with 4% battery left, obviously need to get one of those mobile battery chargers.

Can’t wait for the next event, and don’t forget to follow us, I will make it worth your while!

Fashion Week of Rochester 2015, runway show at Midtown Athletic Club, Rochester, NY. The event featured clothing for men and women, and a book signing by Emmy Award winning stylist David Zyla, author of “How to Win at Shopping.” Photo by Brandon Vick Photography LLC, http://www.brandonvickphotography.com/

Punta Cana Wedding – Trash the Dress Session

Published on March 19, 2015July 1, 2015 by effortlessoccasionsandevents3 Comments

When the you are in Punta Cana and the brides asks you where and what to do for her trash the dress, the ocean is the obvious answer, and when your friends are there as well, of course they should join. Of course we had to add on some another trash session, in the pool, because it was there and we were having fun.

Nothing like a good frolic in the water.

(Photo credit Boris Kilimnik)

You know just throwing left over rose petals (they are real so we are not polluting the world FYI).

(Photo credit Boris Kilimnik)

The best shots (IMO) came after the beach, right into the pool. The faces could never be replicated even if we tried.

(Photo credit Boris Kilimnik)

And last but not least because we needed to get our money worth, there was champagne, because we had some left over.

(Photo credit Boris Kilimnik)

Rochester NY Birthday Party – Movie Themed

Published on February 26, 2015January 23, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

About a month and a half ago I started to try to plan my oldest daughters (BG3) seventh birthday party. I don’t know what goes on in everyone else’s house hold but my kids start planning their birthday parties 364 days out, and it changes 364 times. So I never know what to expect when I ask them what they want.

She wanted a movie themed birthday party. I was like… AMAZING… we can do it AT the movie theatre.

NOPE…

BG3- “But Mom if we do it at the movie theatre I can’t have an ice cream sundae bar! You can just set up a movie theatre in the basement and Grandma can make a movie theatre themed cake”

Well she just had it all figured out for me.

It was actually pretty awesome to design a party for one of my girls that didn’t have any pink in it. What was even more awesome was that it was Oscar night the day after the party, so all the decorations in Target were Oscar/Movie themed. So I took some of those, added a few more things, repurposed a few and voila, movie themed birthday party.

Oh and how cute are the marquee letters, Michaels for the win.

As you can see we had a plethora of pillows and blankets for the kids to watch the movie (Despicable Me 2). Once the craziness of the food, cake and presents was over I was able to sit back and just listen to them laugh hysterically at the movie. A pretty great #mommoment.

My mother in law was able to pull off an amazing cake, all the kids were so excited that there was pop corn on the cake. One actually complained when his piece didn’t have any on it (we were scraping it off because we figured they wouldn’t want it).

Also for dessert we had the infamous ice cream sundae bar.

Each of the kids was able to take home a box of candy from the “Concession Stand” a pop corn container (thanks to the $1 section at Target) and a “Hollywood Walk of Fame” handprint.

When the party is over, all the kids have gone home and your oldest daughter thanks you for such a “really awesome party Mom”, there is nothing greater.

Boston MA Event – Signature Drinks at #partyattheharrisco

Published on December 18, 2014January 23, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

My sister-in-law and brother have a pretty amazing gig going on in Boston. They take pictures and video of some of the most gorgeous people and they love their job. They decided to do a brand launch for The Harris Company their newly combined company. The party went off without a hitch. Food was delicious and the signature drinks were on point.

So on to the signature drinks.

I wanted two choices, because two is always better than one. Plus since this was in November, they also needed to be fall drinks, rich colors and flavors. Makayla and David like gin and tonic, so I wanted to do a play on that. We named them “The Selfie” and “The Mugshot”, aren’t we clever….

Cinnamon is a great flavor especially for the fall, and prosecco is just more delicious than tonic. After a cursory google search I found this Cinnamon and Pear Fizz . The simple syrup and pear puree were made the night before, leaving the cinnamon stick in but removing the rosemary, to give the simple syrup that much more cinnamon flavor. That way the next day the everything just needed to be combined, quick and easy.

Next was a whiskey drink. Nothing says warm and cozy like whiskey. Also I love ginger, and apparently so does everyone else because Moscow Mules are so popular right now. I did a slightly modified version of a “Horses Neck”.

1.5 oz Jameson
2 shakes of bitters
Top with ginger beer and a twist of lemon

Cheers!

Buffalo NY Event -“The Swing” Book Launch

Published on December 4, 2014January 23, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

When Heather first called me to help her out with the launch of the her new book “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson, which she illustrated I was beyond thrilled. Firstly because she is amazingly talented and seeing her success is extremely exciting, and secondly I LOVE this book.

The venue was the Roycroft Power House and it was perfect to display her work. This space is awesome, wide open, lots of room to mingle and tons of light. My sister in law the photographer would go gaga (if she did that) over this space. These black art displays were on either side of the room so Heather was able to display the books artwork.

As “The Swing” is a children’s book, there were kids crafts designed by yours truly and an entire kids corner where kids could craft, draw or read, while their parents socialized, ate and waited in line to get their book signed. These really cute book marks that the kids could decorate were designed to look like Bean the dog from “The Swing”.

There was a line of people waiting to have their new book signed from the time we started until we left. We set up a display to showcase her work so guest could see the progression of Heather’s work. I picked up the old ladders, used some twine, and some spray paint. Viola…. art display. How cute are the little swing details?! As you can see Heather is pretty awesome and donated 50% of the proceeds that day to

Of course there was food, and per usual my mother-in-law did an incredible job with the dessert. How cute are these dog cookies. Just like the kids craft they also match the dog Bean from the book. She is one talented lady.

If you are interested in buy the book you can get it through Amazon.com .

Finger Lakes Birthday Party – First Birthday Party on the Lake

Published on September 16, 2014July 1, 2015 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

So my niece is beyond adorable. She squawks. Seriously this little thing loves to hear her own voice and will squawk like a bird, hence the nick name “Lia Bird”. Her mom asked me to do a bird theme to go along with her nick name. Since a first birthday party with a bunch of birds around would be strange, birds and flowers it is. Also the guest of honor typically sleeps through most of the party so an adult tea party is perfect.

(photo credit The Harris Co.)

For Lia’s smash cake my mother-in-law did an amazing job as usual and made a “nude” cake. Perfect for our little lady.

(photo credit The Harris Co.)

There were bird cages and flower to go along with the theme. I loved the bird cage pedestals which I found and had the very talented florists at fill. How awesome did they turn out?! (photo credit The Harris Co.)

I spray painted some smaller bird cages that were originally orange to better align with the colors of the party. Along with some loose flowers that also came from Sassafras they became a very cute focal point for the table.
(photo credit The Harris Co.)

As most of you all already know, and if you don’t you should, Lia’s mother is the very talented photographer for . Lia is one lucky chica to have an unlimited amount of incredible photographs. Here’s just a sampling. (photo credit The Harris Co.)

Of course Oneida lake needs to be given it’s due. Nothing like an outside party with an amazing view. (photo credit The Harris Co.)

Last but not least the birthday girl, isn’t she gorgeous. Loving the flower halos, a girl can never have too many accessories. (photo credit The Harris Co.)

(photo credit The Harris Co.)

Rochester NY Birthday Party – Not too much Minnie

Published on August 20, 2014July 1, 2015 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

I love first birthday parties for the following reasons:

1. It really is a party for adults.
2. There is cake.
3. There is a cake smash.
4. Super, super cute decorations that I wish I had when growing up. Or maybe I just cared about the presents as an adult I love decorations…..

I digress.

This was my daughters first birthday party, which was Minnie Mouse themed. I wanted to have it outside and watched the weather like a crazy person everyday, every 10 minutes. It looked like it might rain through the whole day but thank goodness it held out.

We have a relatively large backyard but it wasn’t going to be a huge party, 30 people, and I wanted to keep everyone in the same location. Also I there is a big hole that my dogs had made that needed to be covered, so we wouldn’t have anyone falling into it. Lastly as it was mostly adults, I didn’t want it to overwhelmingly mousey.

So I decorated my tree which is right next to the back yard deck. Thanks to my husband, who is my muscle, he climbed the tree so I didn’t have too. My daughter was acting like the middle child that she is in this picture.

The display table with the drinks and dessert went under the tree and over the big hole (sneaky sneaky). As the display table was right next to the deck, where I was putting the food, I was able to keep everyone in a relatively small space compared to the entire back yard.

Probably my favorite part of the party was this photo display I made. The wooden poles my husband bought at the hardware store and I just wrapped the photos around them. It was great for myself and everyone else to see how much she grew in a year as she slept through most of the party.

Check out the cuteness of the cake smash. I am in love with the tulle skirt for the high chair. The high hair wasn’t pretty, so this was my way if covering it up. The Minnie bunting made it unique. When I was up at 3 am finishing it I actually ended up hot gluing it to the chair itself. The things we do when we are tired and impatient. Also the bow needs some credit. Thanks Pink and Blue Ninja Bowtique for your awesome bows each and every time.

Some more of the details below. Special thanks to my mother-in-law who did the cake and cup cakes. She makes the cakes for each of the kids birthday parties and they are always a hit.

Finger Lakes Wedding – It’s in the details

Published on July 30, 2014March 21, 2018 by effortlessoccasionsandeventsLeave a comment

You want your special occasions to be just that… yours. When your guests come to your event you want them to see personal touches that show your likes and style. The best part is that it doesn’t take much to make your event special.

Here in Rochester and Finger Lake area we have a lot of voracious sports fans. Adding the Buffalo Bills theme song to the wedding song list is almost a must around here. Syracuse Orangemen garters and themed favors also add just enough sports theme without overwhelming the entire wedding or event.

It can be as easy as adding a quote from your wedding song as part of the décor.

(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

The bride and grooms initials in a central position.

(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

Or some adorable foot wear and chair decor.
(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

(photo credit Janelle Rodriguez Photography)

Unique personal touches like these help make your event personal, not generic, and your special event memorable, for you, yourself and your guests.