Although I’m on hiatus from working until I have the baby (per my husband’s orders), I did pull off a little surprise for his 30th birthday!  He loves James Bond and card games, so I surprised him with a Casino Royale poker party.  The funny thing is, he suspected that I would throw him a Star Wars party…I love my nerd!

                              Here’s the party board I created for his poker party

Since I wasn’t paid for this party, I’ll share the details!

1. Poker Tables were set up for some very loud games of Texas Hold Em’ and Spades.

2. I purchased 30 black and white balloons and blew them up with a helium tank to fill the hallway as guests arrived. *I planned to lay out a red carpet, but it was raining and it just seemed like a bad idea.

3. We hung about 10 $1 white vinyl table cloths along a wall in his office to create a backdrop for a James Bond themed photo booth.  Props included a gold painted gun, paper bow ties, faux mustaches, a chalkboard bubble, and faux cash!

4.  We had many of my husband’s favorite foods…which means MEAT and CHEESE.  And for dessert, we had a black and red candy buffet and Oreo cheesecake bites and Reese’s cupcakes…He LOVES chocolate!

SN: I also ordered a cake similar to the one pictured…and FORGOT to pick it up. And I didn’t even realize it until a week later.  Chalk it up to my pregnancy brain!

                  Because Fridays are full of errands, why not embrace it with great flats!

                                                           Coach Darena Flat in Magenta

Baby #3 is on his way…well, in a few weeks.  And I can’t wait to wear normal clothes again!  I’m been online window shopping for dresses…I love dresses!!! 

Here are a few of my favorites!

                                      Black Caftan / Gold Cocktail Dress /Navy Shirt dress

               Peach Shirt dress / Teal Wrap / Black & White Wrap / Navy & White /  Print                                                              

I’ve tried blogging so many times.  And I really do enjoy it.  But why is it so hard to stick too? 

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Perhaps the pressure to keep up with everyone else’s blog just makes me want to give up? Or just the sheer exhaustion of real life leaves little if any time to blog?Either way…I really wanna blog.  If I never have another reader, I wanna blog just to document my family’s life.  Yep…I’m a sappy blogger. 

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So…I’ll try this blog thing again.  No agenda.  No unreasonable expectations. 

Just blogging.  When I can.  When I’m inspired.  When I wanna share. Whenever. 

No pressure, right?

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We’ll see : )

it’s no secret I’ve been absent from blogging for about 6 months.  But I’ve been busy!  I finally launched my own small business. And I love it..most days : )

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I takes so much to run a small business.  I’m not aiming to create a Fortune 500 company. My goal is to use the creative talents that God gave me and earn some extra money for our family.

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With my background in wedding planning, it seemed only natural that I offer wedding consulting.  In fact my first few clients have been brides and they have all been a joy to work with!  (Big thank you’s to Tennille, April, Vickie, and Jacole!)I plan to continue taking bridal clients, but I’ve now added smaller events to my roster.

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Here’s an example of a party board that I designed for a tween’s birthday party:

Included with each party board, are instructions for decor, food, favors and entertainment.  I also include a proposed budget* (usually $100) to help the party thrower stay on budget.  At $35 a board, I think it’s a great deal!  If you’d like help planning your next event, email me at JCalzo@zocalcreative.com

*No budget is too small ; )

The Zocal Mac is back to blogging!  I know it’s been a while.  But sometimes a girl just needs to spend some starting a business!  More on that later..if I ever remember to blog it.

But anyway, great new Peytonism.  How great is it?  Well, it inspired me to blog again!

Peyton: Mommy, when I was three years old I had a dilemma.

Me: Peyton, do you know what a dilemma is?

Peyton: Yep! It’s when you have a heart attack while pooping.

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No, baby!  A dilemma is when you have a problem.

Peyton: Well, that is a problem, right?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Touche’ Peyton,Touche’!

Although our home buying journey has been postponed for a couple of months, I can’t help but daydream about our future house. 

While browsing blogs for inspiration, I stumbled upon this lake house in Arkansas.  It has the same feel and design scheme that I want for our future home.  

Isn’t it lovely…

I think so!

                               I’m in search of the elusive perfect gold spray paint…   

                         and some cute figurines…perhaps a wiener dog…for an awesome DIY!

I’m bringing back Throwback Thursdays! Yaaay!

This week’s throwback is in honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day…but really I’m just been jonesing for some 90’s music.

Enough stalling…

I thought I was settled on black farmhouse chairs for the dining room table.

Until I saw this image on on Caitlin Creer.

It’s light and airy like I hope our future house will be.  And I those whimsical modern chairs have something to do with it.

So I started looking at more chairs. 

Bad idea.

Now I can’t decide.

At. All.

I love the metal legs and and whimsical shape of these chairs.  But at $63 per pair, we’ll be spending almost $200 for six. 

                                                    via

These offer a lighter feel than the black chairs, but for six we’d be spending about $500 for each option. 

And remember, I’m always working with a teeny weeny budget.

The farmhouse chairs are the most practical.  They match the style of the table and they can usually be found at Good Will for less that $10 a piece. ( Yep, that’s my kinda budget.)

So, now I’m officially undecided.  I guess I’ll check with my buddy Craig.