D Moms

My friends Alicia and Adam Rico throw insanely awesome parties. Whether for editorial (see the art-inspired bash in the inaugural issue of D Moms), Nasher openings, weddings, or their adorable daughter Dotty’s birthday celebrations, their events are always stylish, clever, memorable, and incredibly fun. (Fun being the most important part , yes?)

My girlies and I witnessed Alicia and Adam’s party prowess firsthand at Dotty’s recent third birthday celebration, and we’re still marveling over the magical afternoon.

As expected, Dotty’s day was full of special details, with the Rico’s backyard transformed into a full-blown fiesta (think: platters of tamales, a Mariachi band, and a dessert table laden with Mexican treats and a candy-filled “Piñata” cake). Pint-sized revelers burned off steam in a bouncy house while friends and family enjoyed conversation and icy cervezas in the warm spring sunshine. It was cozy, meaningful, and immensely festive. A perfect party indeed.

We asked Alicia to share the “ingredients” and resources for Dotty’s party here on D Moms, and she kindly obliged, allowing us to throw an equally magical party of our own… (Well we’ll at least try.)

Thanks Alicia!

Check out the full details after the jump.

Continue reading "Get The Look: Dotty Rico’s Birthday Fiesta"

I love planning my girlies’ birthday parities in a way that isn’t quite natural. I love coming up with the theme, sleuthing out the favors, making the decorations, baking the cupcakes. I love it all…dearly.

On occasion, I’ve even been known to go a little nutso with the whole situation, like, say, the year I forced my hubby to cut a 12-foot branch off a tree in our backyard, set it in cement in a galvanized tub, and attach it to the wall with rope and a steel hook (it was a little top heavy), all so my five-year-old could have a woodland fairy birthday party inside our house in the cold of December. And the minute I’ve swept up the last tiny shred of confetti (or bit of tree branch), I’m planning next years bash…

Continue reading "Pipsqueak Events Creates Birthday Goodness for The Pint-Sized Set"

Friends, I have officially entered holiday panic mode. I won’t bore you with the gory details, but let’s just say that, with Christmas only five days away, I am decidedly behind on, well, pretty much everything. So this week’s column by (the wise beyond her years) Caitlin Adams couldn’t have come at a better time, as she reminds us that, for kids, it’s the small moments that make a truly lasting impression.

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By Caitlin Adams

This is my first holiday season in Dallas, and from swapping recipes to hanging strings of holiday lights on my balcony, everything about it has me positively giddy. This time of year has always been my favorite, and I owe all my holiday enthusiasm to my momma.

My mom has celebrations down to a science. If there’s a holiday she can acknowledge, it’s to be full-blown bash, so it’s no surprise that these festivities are one of the things I remember most about growing up. Valentine’s morning we woke up to heart shaped pancakes, Christmas was the time to hang our homemade ornaments on the tree, and come Halloween, she would stretch a life size gauzy spider web across our front door that left trick-or-treaters performing ninja moves to get their hands on candy. We might have even set up a May Day pole one year.

No matter how hectic life got, our mom was sure to give each holiday the attention she thought it deserved. And trust me, it got hectic. Sometimes we were up wrapping each other’s gifts mere hours before exchanging on Christmas morning, but regardless of the insanity, she did everything she could to make these moments special for our family and those closest to us. Case in point: to this day, she hand writes more than 260 holiday cards, while juggling family wish lists and more parties than I care to count. (Did I tell you she’s superwoman?)

Continue reading "Caitlin Adams On What Kids Really Remember About The Holidays"

(Halloween at Tracy’s Pad: 1. Her crew in costume  2. A cozy autumnal throw 3. Colorful {read: not scary} handmade skulls 4. Fun paper masks 5. Graphic spider webs 6. A painterly meets creepy table runner 7. The requisite shot of sparkle)  

I just spent the past hour pacing the aisles of my neighborhood Tarjay in search of “hair sparkle” for my 9 year old’s Halloween costume. We never found it…. Major fail. We did however spend an obscene amount of cash on Halloween candy, so we didn’t leave empty handed just significantly poorer. As much as it pains me to admit this, Halloween just isn’t my gig. I’m meh at best on the whole enterprise, but I try my best to put on my game face for the girlies.

Enter Tracy Martin Taylor. She, on the other hand, is a Halloween powerhouse, throwing one of the best family bashes in town to celebrate the occasion. So for this week’s installment of “Love Your Space,” she’s going to tell us how things go down. Enjoy!

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By Tracy Martin Taylor

Ok, so last week was all about my 6 year old’s birthday party at our house. Well, I must confess, the month of October is a doozy since we also host a Halloween party at our casa with a guest list a mile long.

Why do I do this? Because the kids LOVE it, of course, and because it takes care of the ‘get dinner on the table before our kids load up on sugar’ challenge. Oh, and because it’s fun.

I must share with you another (secret) reason for putting myself through the challenges of a kid house party: The real reason is that I want our house to be ‘one of THOSE houses’.

Continue reading "Tracy Martin Taylor Throws A Rockin’ Halloween Party"

I stopped by the Texas Living show this morning to chat with the lovely host (and D Moms “Mom Crush“) Kimberly Whitman about the artful bash we featured in our inaugural issue. Among other topics, we covered food, party favors, and why you should always RSVP to an event. (Why is this one so hard?)

It should be noted that I went on after the founders of Tiff’s Treats, so the entire studio smelled like fresh baked cookies… Major bonus.

Many thanks to the immensely creative Alicia and Adam Rico of Bows and Arrows and their collaborators from Southern Fried Paper and Layered Bake Shop for helping us create the party.

You can take a peek at the full segment here.