A Birthday Party for Nan!

It's Nan's birthday and this year I wish I could be with her and have a party! Because we have this amazing place {our blog!} where I can take you anywhere with anyone - come with us as we celebrate another year of Nan with a {virtual} party!

WHERE:

The Queen was gracious enough to let us use Buckingham Palace

DRESS CODE:

Cocktail dresses for the ladies & dapper suits for the gentlemen

GUEST LIST:

Along with Mr. W and other family and friends of Nan's, we will have Audrey Hepburn, Princess Dianna & Jane Austen in attendance.

                                                                                        ENTERTAINMENT:

 After a few rounds of the Red Green Game {Nan would have to explain} we would be dancing the night away with

The BEATLES!!!

GIFTS:

Nan is really not a hard person to shop for. I recently found our friend at  Paramore Artworks has a new line of swag themed  "I'd rather be at Pemberley" {does that scream Nan or what?}

THE CAKE:

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Source

This is a slice of the party you can actually take home with you! Nan {and I} have had this pinned for quite some time. I made it the other night & it was divine. I think it's something Nan would be happy to have as her birthday dessert.

The original recipe was quite labor intensive & kind of tricky. I simplified it. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Inspired and Adapted from Mangio da Sola

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Oreo Cookie Crust:

 about 24 Oreo Cookies

3 TBS Butter, melted

Crush the Oreos into fine crumbs, you should have roughly two cups. Stir in melted butter. Press the Oreo crumb mixture into an 9 inch spring form pan. Eat the rest of the Oreos.

Cheesecake:

4 pkgs (8oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 Cup Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

4 Eggs

Beat together cream cheese, sugar & vanilla until it is smooth. With mixer on low, beat in each egg one at a time. Pour on top of the cookie crust. Bake for 55 minutes or until the center is set {no wet jiggling when you gently shake the pan}. If there are cracks on the top - don't worry - we'll be covering those up! Let cool for an hour at room temperature and then put it in the fridge for 4 hours. {I made the cheesecake part on Day 1 and the rest on Day 2}

Chocolate Mousse......the EASY way

1 pkg Chocolate Fudge pudding

1 C. Milk

1 C. Cool Whip

Mix the pudding and milk together until blended and thickened. Fold in the cool whip until incorporated.....yeah it's that easy! Sure, it may not be the authentic fancy-shmancy French mousse, but if it makes you feel better just say 'Bon Jour!" to everyone who comes through the kitchen, it will make the pudding more "French" if you are speaking French while making it.

Spread the chocolate mousse on the cheesecake. Let set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then release the spring form by running a butterknife around the edges before releasing the spring and slowly lift it off the cake.

Let the cake sit in the fridge while you make the ganache for the top.

The best/easiest Ganache that I know of is.......

Our Best Bites: Super Easy Chocolate Ganache

8 oz. Semi sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips (I happen to know that Milk Chocolate works too)

8 oz of Heavy Cream (I also know that whole milk will work as well)

Put the chocolate chips & cream into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes and stir. Let it go in for another 1 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is fulling melted and stirred into the cream. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and make sure there are no little chocolate bits.

Kate advises that the ganache thickens as it cools so if it seems a bit runny, just wait a minute and it will start to thicken.

As it cools it will be thick and fudgy, like a frosting.

BEFORE it gets thick and fudgy (it should have the consistency of a thick syrup) pour it over the top of the cheesecake letting it run over and down the sides. Let set in the fridge or serve.

Cut into your deliciously rich, decadent pie and think of Nan!

Happy Birthday Nan! You are the best-est friend a gal could EVER have!

And the Nominees Are....

Sunday, February 26th ,is one of my {favorite} nights of the year, Oscar Sunday. I have watched the Oscars every year since I was 6. I love the clothes, the thrill, the anxiousness as the nominees are read & I just get a lump in my throat as the winner chokes out their acceptance speech through elated tears of joy & surprise....it's just awesome....and I would be a liar if I said that I haven't practiced my own acceptance speeches - I'll use one of them someday.

Since I think it would be so much fun to have an Oscar party with all of you, Nan & I have decided to have a virtual one. Full of fashion, flair, favorite moments & FOOD.

Be sure to cast your online Oscar Ballot and choose who you think should win the Oscars on Sunday night. Go to My Picks & make your votes & make sure you click "Play with Friends" so we can compare. {If you are not friends with She Said do it now!!} It's a tough ballot this year, I think, because there are a lot of "normal" or mainstream movies that are up for nominations.

Michelle's Best Film Prediction: I am tempted to go with "Tree of Life". I haven't seen it, but it seems to fit the usual Oscar mold, but I am going with "The Help". I think it was a great adaptation (very few films can get that credited to them) and really strong performances.

Michelle's Favorite Oscar Moment: I actually have two. There has been many a speech & many a sketch that I have enjoyed, but these two have stuck with me:
1. When Roberto Benigni won the Oscar in Best Foreign Film for "Life Is Beautiful". I am sure that everyone who wins an Oscar feels like standing on chairs and taking their bows. The excitement and the beautiful speech he gives really encompasses, for me, a true Oscar moment. {I also really love how the entire audience is excited with him & how Stephen Spielberg gives him a hand to balance with.}


2. The speeches that Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova gave when they won Best Song for "Falling Slowly". I still get choked up watching it. They were the total underdogs and they won it! Not only do I say Amen to Glen's "Make Art", but to date Marketa is the only person who has been invited back onto the stage to give a speech, and Thank you Jon Stewart for doing that, it's a beautifully humble speech....just love it.



What Food Would Michelle Bring to the Oscar Party:
to honor  "Money Ball" (ballpark fare) & "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" (NY fare) I would make Cracker Jack by the Brown Eyed Baker & Copy Kat's Mall Pretzels
to honor "The Artist" (a black & white movie) and "Extremely Loud" - again because these are famous in NY - Annie's Eats Black & White cookies

Nan's Picks
I also enjoy the Oscars, but I don't watch them as religiously as Michelle does.  I've always wanted to have an Oscars party, though -- in fact, Michelle and I talked a couple of times in high school about hostessing one -- so I'm glad we can have a virtual party with all of our She Said friends!!

Best Picture - I'm going with "The Help" all the way!  I loved the movie and the book is even better.  If you haven't seen/read it yet, don't delay!  Do it right now!  I do think "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" has a fair shot, though.

Favorite Oscar Moment - I have to agree with Michelle on this one -- definitely Roberto Benigni jumping around.  Another silly moment (but still dear to my heart) was when "Titanic" won best picture and James Cameron crowed, "I'm the king of the world!!"  Michelle and I both (along with several other friends) saw "Titanic" in the theater multiple times and were mildly obsessed with it (and Leo, of course...*swoon*).

Food for the Oscar Party: I like what Michelle's bringing! :)  I would bring a chocolate pie like this one in honor of "The Help" and a batch of butterbeer to represent "Harry Potter".
What about you??  What are your picks?

For the Love of FREE clothes!

Who loves new clothes? Who loves new-to-you clothes? Who loves FREE clothes? I Do! I do!!

Look at all those happy shoppers... I mean Swappers!

Well may I suggest a clothing swap? A clothing swap is where a group of women get together bringing all of their new or gently used, current, clean clothes and swap them with each other. Everyone taking home new-to-them clothing without spending a dime! It makes women happy.....it makes husbands happy too.
Want to try it? Here we go....

1. You need to assemble a SWAP Team. You girls will pick the time, date, location, the invitees and the rules to this swap. It's not easy to organize something like this yourself. Pass out assignments of who will be the "Drop off Location", who will make signage at the event, who will collect money (if you choose to), Invitation/Publicity, Set up & take down, etc... It's up to you to decide how big you want this event to be. There are some who do a small gathering of friends in their home and there are even some that make it a huge event inviting the public, having caterers & vendors, live music, massage therapists, etc.



2. The invitations. No matter how you do it (facebook, phone calls, invitations) you need to make sure a few things are clear:
Date, time & location of the event

My front room was {PACKED} with clothes
for the swap!

If you are asking guests to bring clothes before the event (so you can organize them) be sure they know where & when they need to be dropped off by.
Clothing NEEDS to be: New, current, gently used & CLEAN (having clean clothes makes all the difference - in my opinion it's what separates this event from a regular yard sale) **Swaps don't have to be just clothing, you can include purses, shoes, accessories, maternity, etc***
The rules of the swap (and if there is a cost).

3. The Rules. You need to decide how women will swap the clothes. There are many different ways to do this. They can buy/bring a bag and fill it. Some parties issue tickets equal to the amount you donate (i.e. you bring five items you get five tickets) with this method nicer donations can be worth more tickets. In smaller parties ladies can draw numbers for who goes first to pick. Make the rules fit the size of your party.

Setting up!

4. The location & Organization. Be sure there is enough room to display all the items you have and that there is room for multiple women to look through them. It might be nice to provide mirrors or even areas for ladies to try on what they like. It's helpful to organize clothing by sizes or making sections for similar items (dresses in one area and accessories in the other)

5. Make it an event! Create a play list of music that deals with clothing/shopping to play in the back ground. Give your event a title. Add some decorations. For smaller parties you may like to have some finger food available. There was one swapping event that held a fashion show for anyone who wanted to show off their new outfit created by the clothing pieces they found at the swap. Again this should be more of a party/event than a yard sale.

Our guests sign-in table with their adorable shopping bags!

I was really happy with how successful the clothing swap I co-hosted was. I had a great team of ladies helping me & it turned out well. We called our swap "My Girlfriends Closet". Each of us was in charge of inviting ten people (think Pinterest, by invitation only-wise). We provided bags and charged $1 a bag. We asked our ladies to bring their items before the event offering them two drop off locations. We sorted and displayed items in categories and by size (there was a table of large tops, medium tops, small tops, etc) so it was easy for ladies to find the size that they needed. All clothing that was left over was donated to our local women's shelter. It was so much fun and I'm currently in the middle of planning another "My Girlfriend's Closet" event for this year! Last year I picked up a cute Banana Republic dress with the tags still on it - score!! I wonder what I will find this year?


Have questions on how to organize your own swap? Feel free to e-mail us at shesaidblog@yahoo.com or comment here or on Facebook.