16 May 2010

Operation Surprise Party


Last night we had a little surprise birthday party for my brother's 
girlfriend. It was the first time I threw a party before. "Operation
 Surprise Party". Helium balloons were a must. Cute and girly!


Flowered napkins and plates, with lot's of lace


"Dinner is served, come and get it!"


There was a big salad, lot's of dressing choices, steamed green
 beans, nugget potatoes, and my mom's secret chicken dish


"Momma's Chicken Dish" Home cooked food always 
tastes best. I'm working on a gluten-free version of this :)


The veggies consist of mushrooms, red peppers and green peppers. Topped with
mozza cheese and lot's of love. With chicken, and of course, "secret" deliciousness!


How adorable is this pink baaaaa! sheep bag? Well not as cool as what's inside...


My gift to the birthday girl was fresh "Snacking 
Squirrel" cookies straight out of the acorn oven


Snacking Squirrel's Peanut Butter Chocolate 
Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Wheat free and Vegan)


Looks like they made for some happy faces!!!


My older brother and his girlfriend :)


They're both Snacking Squirrel fans too! LOVE IT


Hehe even macho men love vegan cookies <3 If you want the recipe
  for these cookies, stay tuned to tomorrow's post. I will have step-
by-step instructions to make these treats for yourself, or someone you love


Shout out to my other brother too! He's the oldest and lives in Vancouver. 
I'm so excited to visit him sometime soon and finally go to Whole
 Foods! I know some people call it "Whole Paycheck" lol but I don't mind
spending a little extra money since I have to travel off the island to visit there



Question 1: What is your opinion on Whole Foods Market?
Question 2: Have you ever thrown a successful surprise party?

35 comments:

Astrid said... [reply]

I love Whole Foods, but the closest one is an hour and a half away. I wish I had someone to go with. My boyfriend gets panic attacks because of all the people. But I honestly think it is worth it to spend the extra money, too! I have never thrown a surprise party, but yours looks amazing! Especialy those cookies. You really are adorable!

Lee said... [reply]

lol tod

Anonymous said... [reply]

Whole foods is wonderful and I do not mind paying a little extra for clean food either!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said... [reply]

what an amazing party!!!!! and the cookies, and the decorations...awww, so pretty!

WFs is overpriced and i treat it like a musuem: you look and get inspired, you cannot buy things from there :)

Anonymous said... [reply]

Aww! That;s so sweet of you to throw her a surprise birthday party! Everything looks super cute and I love that you baked her cookies :) I'm definitely interested in the recipe because I've actually been cutting down on the gluten and I'm experiencing some good results. I love baking though, and I've been wanting to get into some wheat free baking as well.

I've never been to a Whole Foods, but I'd really love to visit one. Seems like they have everything I want.

Sandra said... [reply]

aaaw, it looks so cozy:)

Courtney (Pancakes & Postcards) said... [reply]

so cute! i have co thrown a surprise bridal shower. never had a surprise birthday party... i think every year all the way through college part of me was hoping someone would throw one for me, though :) and i LOVE whole foods. i can spend hours in there.

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said... [reply]

Looks like you threw a fabulous party! Surprise parties are soooo much fun!

alex said... [reply]

I so want that BAA bag...I love sheep!!! :D

Krista said... [reply]

What a great party! The cookies look great as do the labels. Can't wait for the recipe!

I like WF, but I also think it's a lot of hype. The American ones may be all that, but the one I've been to hear wasn't anything SUPER special.

I love surprise parties! I can't wai until my kids are a little older so I can pull one off for them. I've done them for my hubby before...

Heather (Where's the Beach) said... [reply]

How fun! I successfully threw a surprise party for my sister one year. I tried to throw one for my husband, but he caught on. It's hard to fool the spouse. I love Whole Foods for the most part. Some things are terribly over priced in my opinion and the produce (over priced) is not always the best. But, it could just be my store.

Anonymous said... [reply]

I love Whole Foods. :p

Throwing a surprise party is hard when it comes every year, because then it's not a surprise anymore! But we did manage to change it up enough one year so that my dad was really shocked. I loved that.

<3 <3

Erica said... [reply]

What a great party! You did a fantastic job. The cookies look incredible- I can't wait for the recipe! Ah- you and your brother look alike- so cute! Hope you're having a good Monday

Katie @ Health for the Whole Self said... [reply]

Looks like a great party! :)

I love Whole Foods, even though it is very expensive. There are just so many products there that I cannot find anywhere else!

Anonymous said... [reply]

Whole Foods does not exist in Mississippi.. nor does Trader Joes... DO NOT rub it in hahaha sucks enough seeing food blogs rant on and on about all the cool food they have and i hear Whole Foods has like a eat-in order-in part... oh so jealous..

never thrown a surprise party before haha but one was thrown for me in college when i turned 20.. my bday is Nov 1st so the party was halloween night and we all dressed up. i was 'sent' to a friends house to pregame and walking back to my house in a cowgirl outfit i slipped and totally abolished my knee, blood everywhere...i get to my house open the door and a million ppl are standing around in costumes screaming surprise!!!! and my knee is gushing blood...lol it was too funny

ps- that is SO CUTE you made cookies for them and the decorations are adorable!!!!!!

Anonymous said... [reply]

Whole Foods does not exist in Mississippi.. nor does Trader Joes... DO NOT rub it in hahaha sucks enough seeing food blogs rant on and on about all the cool food they have and i hear Whole Foods has like a eat-in order-in part... oh so jealous..

never thrown a surprise party before haha but one was thrown for me in college when i turned 20.. my bday is Nov 1st so the party was halloween night and we all dressed up. i was 'sent' to a friends house to pregame and walking back to my house in a cowgirl outfit i slipped and totally abolished my knee, blood everywhere...i get to my house open the door and a million ppl are standing around in costumes screaming surprise!!!! and my knee is gushing blood...lol it was too funny

ps- that is SO CUTE you made cookies for them and the decorations are adorable!!!!!!

Samantha said... [reply]

That party is too dang cute! I love the decorations and the sheep bag and everything about it. And Momma's chicken dish, yum!

Tina said... [reply]

I want those cookies!! Make me some :D

You and your brother look soo much alike. Looks like a fun partayyy!

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said... [reply]

Great party! That chicken dish looks delicious! Love the big salad too! I think baked goods make the best gifts! I do love Whole Foods, but we limit ourselves to things we can't get anywhere else. I have helped out with surprise parties, but never thrown one all by myself.

Anonymous said... [reply]

i literally live right across the street from WF right now. it's awesome. WF is good, but i think they jack their prices up waaay too high. i used to work at a health food store that sold everything WF does but nearly 25% less or more, and they still made a profit, so I wonder just how much WF is making??
your cookies look divine kelsey! and your brother and his gf look super happy. looks like the party was a success :)
p.s. if you're in van... blogger meet up? :p

Anonymous said... [reply]

i literally live right across the street from WF right now. it's awesome. WF is good, but i think they jack their prices up waaay too high. i used to work at a health food store that sold everything WF does but nearly 25% less or more, and they still made a profit, so I wonder just how much WF is making??
your cookies look divine kelsey! and your brother and his gf look super happy. looks like the party was a success :)
p.s. if you're in van... blogger meet up? :p

Katie ♥ said... [reply]

What a great suprise party!! Turned out great!!! Your older brother and his girlfriend seemed very pleased!!!!!!!!

Wow those cookies look delish! Cant wait to see the recipe!!!!

I love whole foods!! Yes it is expensive but I save my money in other ways so I can splurge at whole foods weekly, my fiance and I rarely go out to eat, so we save alot that way! Other ways too!!

Yay for whole foods!!

Chelsea said... [reply]

Aw it looks like it was a great surprise party. And good food too!!

I went to WF for the first time a few weeks ago and it was love at first sight! ;) Even though it's expensive, it's worth it to go for me because they carry tons of brands that I can't find anywhere else.

Lauren said... [reply]

Happy birthday to your brother's girlfriend. Looks like a great party!
That is such a pretty label for the cookies...I love your handwriting! Its really unique.
I like Whole Foods but I hate how much money I spend there. They have products there that they don't have anywhere else, so I still go. And I like the food bar. But it is just so expensive, I feel guilty every time I go.
I threw a surprise party for one of my good friends when we were 13. It wasn't anything big or exciting, but she seemed to like it.
xoxoxo

Holly said... [reply]

I really like Whole Foods- I mean, yes, it is pretty expensive...but on occassion it's nice to go to for a change. I love the salad bar there too :)
I threw my boyfriend a surprise party last year for his birthday- he had NO idea. I got us flights to MD, & his WHOLE family was in on it. We went to an Orioles game, had the party, which was a grill-out & then we also got to go to the Ravens training camp!! SO much fun & the best part was that I was able to pull it off :)

Ameena said... [reply]

You and your brother look so much alike! Both of you are too cute.

How nice of you to throw a surprise party. I wish I could get a stack of cookies as a bday gift!

I won't say this on my blog because I don't want to hurt my father-in-law's feelings but the iPad is totally useless. It's just a larger version of the iPhone! It doesn't have Word or Excel so I can't use it for work. I had to bring my netbook to Vegas with me to get anything done. The iPad is at home being useless. :)

ac said... [reply]

OH EM GEE - YOUR SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY RULLLLLEZ. Your mom's dish looks ECLECTIC.

It was even more amazing when I initially accidentally misread "brother's girlfriend" to be just "brother" and I somehow thought that you were throwing a birthday party for your brother. When I saw the flowered napkins I was amused and thought "she's one witty gal"; and then when I saw the pink gift bag with the lamb on it, I was like "OK. This is now alarming." And then I realized you were actually giving it for a birthday GIRL. Don't worry, I'm still pretty sharp most of the times.

To be honest, I haven't stepped foot into WF yet! Yep, WF virgin right here.

Also, don't you just love it when your brother enjoys your baked goods? I know I get a kick every time my brother eats my weird concoctions.

love and more love,
:)aletheia

Brittany said... [reply]

You seem like quite the party planner- everything looks so cute.

The Snacking Squirrel Cookies look amazing, as does the super cute label. I love it!!

Brittany said... [reply]

PS - I love Whole Foods. It's more expensive on some things, but the store brand (365) is rather cheap and they always have sales and coupons. You can definitely find good deals there. :)

Kris | iheartwellness.com said... [reply]

Girl! I am so excited to see this recipe for these cookies! They look so freaking good!

I have a slight baking obsession over here ;)

I love Whole Foods, I can find everything I need there and it just seems so fresh :)

XXOO

Anonymous said... [reply]

The party looks great! For it being your first party to throw you did an awesome job. Your brother and his girlfriend look cute. :3

I love WFs! Yes, it's kind of expensive but they have so.much.beautiful.foodie items. Lurve.

MJC said... [reply]

Adorable surprise party!

As for Whole Foods, I love them! And I'm lucky to live near 3 of them! :)

lynn @ the actors diet said... [reply]

i do love whole foods and was sad when i "couldn't" shop there during the whole political/CEO/healthcare debacle.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said... [reply]

That chicken dish looks so good!!!

And you have beautiful printing by the way - the cookie label looks so cute!!

I love surprise parties!!! I have definitely thrown a couple successful ones - one for my sister, and another for my mother in law.

I have only been to a Whole Foods once and it was when I was on vacation. I LOVED it. I can't wait to go back!!!

Tara said... [reply]

aww this is adorable!!! the party looks lovely, your so sweet for throwing it!!! I have never attempted a surprise party but have thrown some successfull regurlar parties! hehe Enjoy your whole Foods shopping experience! It can be pricy but its wholesome and delicious!! <3 <3 <3

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