Here's a taste .. and catch-up

Below are some of the food from my 'tiki' party:

fresh basil, fresh mozzarella balls and a cherry tomato - topped with balsamic

Cheesecake with Strawberry and pineapple - recipe HERE

(first time i made cheesecake, it was slammin')

Strawberry Margarita jello shots - recipe HERE

(non drinkers were taking these babies down - SO YUM)

fruit skewers that i lined the watermelon with

(which i made watermelon balls inside the watermelon)

Shrimp salad on cucumbers - recipe HERE

Frozen peanut butter and chocolate banana bites with coconut - recipe HERE

So there's a lil 'taste' of my party .....

FOOD:  there was lot of chips and dip; hummus and veggies; coleslaw and potato salad; i had 4 different kinds of sushi rolls; of course burgers, dogs, and sausage; made a remoulade sauce for shrimp cocktail; ect.

DRINK:  oh the drinks - i'm becoming quite the mixologist lately! - beers were Stella, Amstel Lights, Blue Moon, and Coors Light - had some Smirnoff wine coolers for the lighter drinkers - then of course BUBBLY! - i mix EVERY drink i make with some Bubbly - cuz i mean WHAT doesn't taste good with champagne?!?! - had the Pinnacle there, vodka, gin, rum, chambord, tequila, ect. - my Mom was like "is this a drinking party or food party?" - my response "hello DRINKING, food is just there to eat so we can drink longer"! -- haha

DECOR:  a hula skirt from Hawaii - tiki men banners - glow stick bracelets - glow stick animal glasses - tiki men cups - tiki men plates and napkins - palm trees - Hawaiian flowers - hula girl cut out to put your face through - tiki men beer glasses - flamingo Christmas lights - tiki hut menu cards - all the girls had their own initial beer wrapper - lei's- ect.

My *boo-boo* Story

only *boo-boo* news to report was that i fell down my stairs - (it's an oak spiral staircases - that goes up to my 3rd floor) - i don't quite 'remember' the 'event' - but i was walking up the stairs to go to the 3rd floor balcony (where we were continuing to party the night away - somehow being on the balcony meant we wouldn't wake the neighbors - go figure!) - i had Kayleigh in my arms and Joe was behind me holding Rusty - how i hear it, i went to reach for the railing and MISSED - so i just umm fell back and to the side (meaning a REALLLLLY long way down) - Kayleigh went flying - Joe threw Rusty out of his arms and caught me the best he can - after i landed - Joe said us 3 (me, Kayleigh and Rusty) were just looking up at him b/c he was now falling on top of us - but with his cat reflexes he SOMEHOW missed landing on top of us - then i went into the fetal position clutching my ear - my ear still KILLS - i'm still convinced it's BROKE even though it's impossible, i'm STILL going with it's broke! - anyway after 30 seconds in the fetal position - and everyone saying "OMG ARE YOU OK" - my response was cool as a cucumber "um yeah, i just slipped, jeeze!" - then i got up - proceeded to climb the stairs to the 3rd floor and the PAR-TAY continued! - next day we all awoke, went for breakfast (weird story there, that for another time), then went to the pool and more beers and sun - it was a GOOOOOD weekend!

*pics to come - PROMISE*

i know! i know! - i'll try and be quick with the downloads - i still never posted July 4th weekend photos! *bad blogger* - i have SO many photos on my camera - i gotta get TO it fast! - between doctors appointments, work, friends, my house, ect - i swear i never have enough time in a day - good news about all the stress, i'm losing weight! (was gaining for a long time) - gotta look at the sunny side of things!

Mom/Me Update:

i spent the week down the shore with my Mom - thinking it would be her last week down there b/c she would be starting radiation Monday - well her oncologist called and said NO WAY - no radiation, the breast HAS to be removed ASAP! - so we have the radiologist calling us to come in and her oncologist saying surgery now, meanwhile her surgeon is saying NO surgery for awhile, her body is too weak for any more stress - and ZERO progress on my Mom's feet or eye sight - so lots of doctors to meet up with this week - figure things out - how it's all going to work - get my Mom into support groups and therapy - and somehow come out of all of this with a smile - i'm having panic/anxiety attacks with everything going on - they went away for a bit, but now back, which are SO freakin' scary to have - last one i was in HomeGoods down the shore waiting on line and BAM on came 'one' - SOOOOO scaryyyy .. ANYWAY - so we are moving and chugging along my friends - 1 way or another we will get through this all and be A-OK! -- i still got to meet with a few more oncologist and need to find a GYN-oncologist for myself - i haven't made any decisions yet on my body b/c of the responsibilities i have with my Mom and Dad first - soon as they get healthy, i'll kick into high gear and get myself cancer free for good! - the kicker of it all, Joe gets to take lots of pictures of me 'pre-surgery' (if you know what i mean), i wanna always remember how i looked before 'the day' *augh crying now* - ANYWAY .. lots of up's and down's - but it's LIFE rigth?! ... bring on the Champagne!

PHEW - still with me?!