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Memories with Mom Wrap-up
We did it! We pulled it off. Maria and I were so happy to have this whole “Memories with Mom” event in the bag. We’ve been working on it for months. Even though it wasn’t very hard and we had a ton of fun doing it, we were super worried that something would go wrong. Our worries mostly stemmed from the fact that we had no idea what we were doing because no one had done it before us to leave some kind of guideline. You mean we could have ordered free stuff from vendors if we had hit them up months earlier? Or how much do you budget for food for 125 people? Will 125 people actually show up? Just a whole lotta guesswork and a few misses here and there but WE DID IT AND IT WAS FABULOUS!
The walls were a huge hit and turned out exactly like I hoped they would. Everyone was posing with their mom and friends in front of them. It was a really sweet event with friends and moms mingling and sharing the Girl Power love.
Of course “The Talk” was a little traumatizing for some but we got through it with a whole lot of humor. The speaker handled everything so well. Nobody came up to me afterwards upset so I’m thinking it all went down okay. Being a girl is tough but we are more than capable of handling whatever life throws at us.
The caterer (who is not pictured, that’s my friend Simone who is awesomely squirting out salad dressing) turned out to be less than exceptional but there was enough food and it was hot so I say it was still a success. Nobody really expected anything that tasty with an event this big. The fact that there was even food at all was a win in my book.
The blocks were very popular too and found themselves going home with everyone who pitched in and helped us clean up (which went smashingly by the way. Put a bunch of moms in a room and stuff gets DONE.) It was really fun to see the girls all walking around looking for their favorite quote.
I had a great time. I flubbed up the video like a newbie (you know how AV equipment can be so complicated when you feel 125 eyeballs on your back) and I was too shy to actually get up in front and speak on a microphone but I would totally do everything again in a minute. I love these girls! I hope we’ve started a big conversation that lasts with them through their lives and they are never embarrassed to be a girl because being a girl is awesome!
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Rainbows and Blocks
It’s been a fun few days making rainbows and blocks. I got this idea of modge-podging quotes on wooden blocks and putting them on the tables of this fun mother-daughter event. Really, it was a quote that I saw first that inspired this whole theme. Let me explain.
The quote was, “Life is tough my darling, but so are you.” It really resonated with me. I thought about all these girls getting their periods and being shocked (like I was way back when I was 14) that we have to put up with such an annoying inconvenience of menstruating every month. Really, grossness every single month?!! Who came up with this idea and why haven’t women called unfair? Over the years I learned to deal with the grossness and became an expert at it. I want these girls to not be shocked but amazed at what our bodies do. Maybe one of them will invent a new way of dealing with it. I have seen those ads on facebook… Anyway I really like the idea of taking something difficult and making it your strength and I thought that these quotes could inspire girls and their mothers to embrace their womanhood and be proud of it instead of feeling embarrassed or overwhelmed. That’s my thing really: Spin all the bad into good. Because how else are we going to get through difficult things?
So blocks. Why? Because they are cool and heavy and cheap and fun to paint and decoupage paper onto. I picked a color palette similar to the big pink wall colors and away we went! Payam cutting and sanding them of course because he is the Super Boyfriend woodworker guy.
It was fun to scour the internet for good quotes. I had to think of how people would interpret them. I don’t want anyone to be offended by me pushing my silly self-healing doctrine down their throat but I think most of these are positive messages and hopefully can’t be misunderstood.
One thing I am worried about is the girls who don’t have mothers to bring with them. They’ll be bringing aunts or an older sister or maybe a close friend or neighbor and I’m hoping that that person loves them enough (I’m pretty sure they do since they are making the effort to attend) to use these quotes as teachable moments and it’s not too hard or too sad. I think everyone will band together to help and protect those girls, I know I will. My heart goes out to those girls.
It has been brought up that mothers of boys who don’t have daughters and the fathers of daughters who don’t have mothers might be feeling left out and I am feeling pretty bad about that. I think I’m going to volunteer to throw a father-daughter dance or maybe just spread my graphic designer love in anyway the PTA needs me. I’m not sure how to help but my only real defense is that this is a subject that usually is neglected and I think it’s a cool thing that we are throwing some energy at it. I want to throw my energy at all the kids equally but sometimes you can only do what comes your way.
Next up was the rainbow vortex wall! As the week went on I came down with a cold and another wall was starting to seem more and more daunting. Should I just skip it and be happy that at least I had the giant pink wall? I seriously thought about it but my heart was set on that rainbow wall and thankfully my faithful companion, Payam, knows what makes me tick.
When Saturday finally rolled around the girls and I went to go get doughnuts (so Payam could sleep in a little bit as a reward) and then started into work.
Working together it went pretty quickly and then I spent the rest of the day painting it. Payam helped me tape.
Painting takes forever! But it was worth all that work. As you can see I referred to the color factory’s elevator doors for inspiration. I love all these colors. They kind of remind me of Kate Spade colors. Two of them are leftover paint from the girl’s rooms and another is an oops paint I picked up at the hardware store. I got lucky on that one.
Pulling the tape is so satisfying. The girls were definitely around to help for that step.
We finished the wall in the nick of time before sunset! Then I took Sunday off and today (Monday) I touched up some of the little blip mistakes. I don’t have a final photo but don’t worry I’ll have plenty to share from the event itself that happens this Wednesday.
I can’t wait!
