still celebrating the teen

the teen's birthday (yeah, so it was a week ago today, what of it) was a fun day. she got to wear a cute new dress - well, of course i think it's cute, since i made it. ha! another upcycling project, check:

yes, it's totally a knockoff of one that we saw at unique LA a few weeks ago. but i was pretty stoked to have been able to figure out how to make it sans tutorial or pattern. fairly simple stuff, but still - i wouldn't have had a clue say, six months ago. and i loved that she liked it so much that she wanted to wear it on her pretty princess birthday.

she excitedly texted me during the day to report that her friend rock-ell had surprised her with a balloon bouquet, waiting for her as she walked into first period. so sweet! and after work, i stopped at a party store to buy even more to decorate her room with. it was pretty hilarious trying to squeeze two dozen helium-filled balloons into my little pri-YES, and it was hard as hell to drive home, but i managed. i did have a couple of casualties, but still had enough to achieve my goal:

lots of shiny, colorful happiness waited for her to open the door.

and she was happily surprised when she finally got home. look how cute she is in her little dress!

the bean rocked her upcycled frock that day, too. and yes, rachel, you were right - white leggings worked perfectly underneath it.

when my parents lived in northridge, we often hit up a nearby pasta joint that was a family favorite. i know i've mentioned chi-chi's before, but it's worth mentioning again because that was the spot for the teen's birthday dinner. it's such a trek for us - like 50 miles one way for freaking pasta - but we all love that buttery, saucy goodness, especially the teen.

inside her bag she got a handful of fun teenybopper magazines (tiger beat or BOP, anyone?) along with a gift certificate for a shopping spree at urban outfitters, a couple of tubes of lemon-scented lotion that she'd asked for. i'd also ordered her a case for her newly-returned iPhone, but there was a snag in the order and it didn't arrive till the day after. boo. she still loved her bag o'fun, though.

and this is completely off-topic, but the last time we went to michael levine she'd picked out this colorful comic book-style fabric and asked me to copy a simple top she had in her closet. she's worn it at least once before, but when she busted it out last week, i got her to let me take a picture of it.

cute, right? and she says she gets stopped in the hall all the time by people who want to know where she got it. "my mom made it for me," she always says proudly.

ain't that the greatest?