Graduation Celebration!

With graduation coming up, it's time to start planning the celebrations! My idea of a party after the graduation, however, is only a dream because at TO the graduates board luxury liners (chartered buses) for Grad Night at Disneyland right after the ceremony. So Chelsea wants to go to El Torito Grill (in Sherman Oaks)Wednesday night, before graduation, so that Grandma and Grandpa can go with us. That seems like such a public celebration, so I'm planning a dinner at home this weekend to enjoy all of Chelsea's favorite foods and watch old family videos. 

Our menu will consist of:

Santa Maria grilled trip-tip
Mini-Macaroni-and-Cheese-Cups 
(recipe here: http://www.pincookie.com/mini-macaroni-and-cheese-cups/)
Boston Baked Beans
Caprese Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Raspberry Lemonade
          AND
Salted Caramel Cupcakes
(recipe here: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/salted-caramel-cupcakes/ )

Chelsea has always loved macaroni and cheese (Brandon and Heather, too) so when I saw these on Pinterest, I knew I had to make them for her. So far I have never made good mac and cheese from scratch. It's pretty pathetic that the best mac and cheese in the Hackney household comes from Kraft, or the frozen stuff from Trader Joe's. Even I love that! This is my last ditch effort.

For dessert we'll have her high school favorite: salted caramel cupcakes. I found a recipe for them on Pinterest, too. What would I do without Pinterest? The picture won't upload, so you'll have to look at my Pinterest entertaining board (http://pinterest.com/lhackney/entertaining/) or click on the link  I included (above) to see them. They look perfect!

I plan to decorate with a photo timeline banner. I'll use Heather's cute clothespins (from her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/152454141/striped-clothespin-magnets-with-mini?ref=shop_home_active ) to clip photos to a piece of twine, and hang it from the mantel in the family room. The flowers are made from vintage book pages of Shakespeare's sonnets, and Chelsea LOVES Shakespeare. It's a match made in heaven ;)  Since it's June, I don't have to worry about a fire in the fireplace!

I also want to use one of Heather's cake toppers (http://www.etsy.com/listing/121237719/mini-tassel-cake-topper?ref=shop_home_active ) on the cupcakes. I'm so lucky to have such a crafty daughter. Chelsea's favorite color is pink, so this one will be perfect. Luckily, the frosting on the cupcakes is vanilla, so it won't clash. Add a vase of pink peonies (saw them at Costco earlier this week), and I think I'm all set. I am not an "over-the-top" party mom, any more, at least. I guess I burned out doing the kids' birthday parties when they were little.

Next stop: Father's Day. Can't have Alan feeling unappreciated. Any ideas?

I'm "almost" an empty nester

My baby is graduating from high school, so we've had a lot of “lasts” this year: her last first day of school, her last Halloween costume (that I have to do anything about) her last dance costumes, permission slips, field trips and automated phone calls from the school. She took her last AP exam, so no more AP classes! The battery in her calculator died in the middle of her AP Calc exam. She didn't have a spare, and I didn't freak out. I guess she’ll be taking calculus again in college. I must have finally overcome the helicoptering mom syndrome. Better late than never.

She brought home her yearbook last week. Last time I have to shell out eighty dollars for one of those! Her friends from another school were looking at it and said that it had so much editorializing in it that it looked more like a textbook than a yearbook. I had totally forgotten that I paid for a Senior Tribute, until Chelsea asked me if I’d seen it. The high school has run out of opportunities to hit me up for ads and tributes. I’m not crying about that one.

Alan’s car was in the shop a few days ago, so he drove mine to work. On the way to pick him up from the shop I realized that I’d forgotten to grab the spare keys to her car. He was going to drop me off at the school so that I could get her car, but I decided to just work in the yard until she got home. It would probably have been the “last” time I picked her up after school. The “last time” was some un-momentous, already forgotten afternoon that’s already past. Okay by me.

Her last dance concert was a few weeks ago. She drove herself to CVS to get false eyelashes, and to all the rehearsals. She even took care of buying her own costume pieces. I remembered to buy her flowers, and, this time, I forced myself to NOT photograph her entire dances. I watched. I enjoyed. And I realized that most of the dances look a lot alike. Except that only a few of them feature my daughter, with the beautifully arched feet, graceful hands, and really high kicks. I’ll never miss sitting in the bleachers for three hours in a gym that feels like a sauna. And I won’t have to miss Chelsea dancing, because she does it quite regularly in my kitchen while I’m making dinner. Well, I won’t miss it until September.

She’s had her last prom, last group project, and last birthday party. We still have the Senior Showcase (in which she’ll be singing), Senior Awards, and of course graduation and grad night. Then she’ll have her last day of work, because her boss has already replaced her (with a full-time, college graduate!), last summer vacation (unemployed, most likely) and, at some point, her last night in this house. The only place she’s ever lived.

Then, Alan and I will make the long drive to drop her off, kiss her goodbye, and make the even longer drive home. To our … not empty nest. Brandon will be here for at least two more years while he finishes college locally.

Why do I seem okay with all of this? Maybe it’s because she “school-choiced” to another high school. All those people I spent so much time with throughout my kids early years, the one’s I thought we were close to, that we’d keep in touch with…. I only see by accident at the grocery store. I haven’t seen many familiar faces in four years, and won’t see many at her graduation. There isn't anyone from her high school that I’ll miss. She might, but the friends she made as a teen were not her Brownie or soccer buddies. We never carpooled, I've never even met most of their parents. So I won’t be saying fond goodbye’s that night.

The only one I’ll be missing is my baby. But one has gone before her, and I know that I can call, text, email, Facebook and Skype. Multiple times a day. And as long as I’m paying her cell phone bill I can also have “Find My Friends”. Just a warning, honey-bunny.