Sonic Shower

One of our fave employees is getting married in a month.  She likes Harry Potter and the color green. Needless to say, I ran with it.

A bunch of us chipped in and got her several gifts.  These are all the little gifts that went inside a tote bag. 

Each gift had a clue/quote from a Harry Potter book.  The gift below is a keepsake box (free from Paper Coterie:)  The quote was this:

“Where your TREASURE is,

There will your heart be also.”

(Dumbledore in Deathly Hallows)

This gift was a gift card to Walgreens to develop her honeymoon pics-which is to Universal Studios, emphasis on the Harry Potter section.  The clue was this:

“ ‘—oh yeah, an’ I still haven’t got yeh a birthday GIFT.’

Harry felt himself go red.  ‘You don’t have to—‘

‘I know I don’t have to.  Tell yeh what, I’ll get yer animal.  Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh’d be laughed at—an’ I don’t like cats, they make me sneeze.  I’ll get yer an owl.  All the kids want owls, they’re dead useful, carry yer mail an everythin’.’

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium…Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl. “

(Hagrid  and Harry in The Sorcerer’s Stone)

This was a photo album that looks like a Hogwarts Train boarding pass (a pic of it below).  Here is the clue:

“IT DOES NOT DO TO DWELL ON DREAMS AND FORGET TO LIVE, REMEMBER THAT." 

 (Dumbledore in the Sorcerer's Stone)

 This gift was address labels with their new address and "Mr. & Mrs." (also free :)  The clue was:

“…a letter for Harry.  Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band.  No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him.  Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives…yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:

Mr. H. Potter

The cupboard under the Stairs

3 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey”

(The Sorcerer’s Stone)

All the gifts were inside this bag.  What is awesome about this bag is that zipper across the middle-it UNZIPS to make the bag bigger if you need it to!! And those are her initials with her NEW last name :)

The clue was:  

"When you say you've got the Cloak, and clothes..." said Harry, frowning at Hermione, who was carrying nothing except her small beaded handbag, in which she was now rummaging.  "Yes, they're here," said Hermione, and to Harry and Ron's utter astonishment, she pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally the silvery Invisibility Cloak. “Undetectable Extension Charm.  Tricky, but I think I've done it okay; anyway, I managed to fit everything we need in here."  She gave the fragile-looking bag a little shake and it echoed like a cargo hold as a number of heavy objects rolled around inside it.

(Deathly Hallows)

 ***(Do you get it??? Not only is it a bag, but it is kind of magical like Hermione's because it will get bigger and hold more things. Tee Hee)

All wrapped up!

Next, I decided I needed something for everyone to sign for Corey.  My first thought was to get a Harry Potter book with pics and behind the scenes info.  But Barnes & Noble was out of them and I didn't have time to order one.  So then I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a small photo album for people to write her notes in.  But then, the next morning, while I was brushing my teeth, I had an epiphany:  wedding Mad Libs.  There had to be some right?? So I googled it.  Turns out, a bunch of people on Etsy have created those very things.  So, being that I have Garzoli blood flowing through me, I just copied and pasted them instead of buying them (sorry hard working women who just want to make some money while staying at home with their kids.)  They were all "wedding advice" Mad Libs.  What I did was number them 1-8 (because there were 8 different ones) and then typed out lists (1-8) of what each one needed, verb, noun, etc.  Then I took those typed out sheets to work and had employees fill them out, that way they couldn't see the actual Mad Lib.  Then I typed them all out and put them in the scrap book.  I was really proud of it :)

 To make this whole thing work, I went to Office Depot and looked pitiful.  Since I couldn't put the scrapbook papers in my printer, but I still wanted them to make it pretty, I needed some kind of paper to type the Mad Libs on that was see through.  An employee noticed my pitifulness and directed me to this stuff.  Awesome. I love Office Depot. Seriously. Just full of helpful people.

 This is the scrapbook I found at Michael's, on clearance+a coupon :)

The bride to be!

 She doesn't like sweets. I know, what?! So I got an edible arrangement for her.

 Reading the first clue.

 Loving the bag! :)

She couldn't figure out this clue, it was the address labels.

Photo album. 

Reading the clue for the gift card. 

 Other employees who love her so much they came up after they got off work :)

Freaking out over the keepsake box. 

 Reading the scapbook/Mad Libs

 Jon loves her. Every now and then he will work a Saturday night, just to keep the crew in line. When he does, he schedules Corey (who is normally daytime :)

***Side note: I totally went to Barnes & Noble and bought some Mad Libs for Morgan and Jacob for the cruise!! Love me some Mad Libs.

Abby is 16!! (part two for your convenience)

Here are all the pics:

These are all of the gifts wrapped up, with post-it notes to remind me what they are and where to put them.

Aren't these cute? Michael's, with coupon ;)

The decorated living room, such as it is.  That thing hanging in the middle has been around for many a birthday party.  It used to be all connected together, and the streamers used to be fluffy. Not so much anymore...

Some pics of the bday girl.

 

 The gifts:  1.Starbucks gift card  2.Wallet  3.Money  4.Nike shorts (that thing to the left that is pinkish/zebra print)  5.Lellow Po-nailish   6.Sephora eye liner  7.Malco gift card  8.CD  9.Movie  10.Fave cereal  11.Dark chocolate Lemon Lems  12.Pandora car charms  13.Pandora "16" charm  14.Tebow tshirt  15.Cupcake keychain  16.Photo album

Abby is 16!! (part one for your convenience)

Abby turned 16 and since I couldn't afford a car I was going to give her money. Right? No. Jon said no money, he wanted to give her a gift.  Did he have any ideas? No. And although I am usually pretty good at thinking up gifts (not to pat my self on the back or anything, really, I don't consider easily coming up with ways to spend money an attribute), I COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING TO GET HER.  It was stressing me out. I didn't want to just get something random, I wanted it to be special since this was such a milestone birthday.  This meant I resorted to asking everyone I came into contact with what their suggestion might be.  I got a lot of "money" (duh, right?), a coach purse (this idea given to me by her best friend, which is odd because even I know this is NOT Abby's personality-but rather than rely on that intuition and dismiss it, I just added that to my stress and second guessed myself, because she is her best friend so she should know...), a GPS (Michael had that idea- coincidentally he refuses to learn how to use the one on his phone, that might have been a little self-projection there...).  Finally, during a conversation about something unrelated I asked one of our assistant managers, we got interrupted, and she never got to answer me.  An hour later she called me back saying, "I just realized I never got to answer your question earlier.  This is what I did for my daughter's 16th bday..."  and woolah! The 16-gift idea was born!  Thank goodness. Of course then came the hard part, thinking of 16 gifts that wouldn't break the bank when they totaled up. Then, I had the random idea to turn the gift giving experience into a treasure hunt with clues, but second guessed myself again. Until I saw the video of Easter Lily and knew I had to do it (nevermind the fact that they are 13 years apart in age and that may cause a slight difference in reaction...).  Well, it turned out great.  After I wrote the clues, I took them to work and tried them out on my carhops just to make sure it was possible to figure them all out.  They all loved doing it!  Jacob ended up helping Abby, and he also loved it (and was better at it than her, I might add).  Here is the note that was in her cute picture card (made with a free promo code of course), followed by the clues:

 

Dear Abby,

We love you so much,

Our hearts you have touched.

So proud are we,

You bring us all glee.

As this day drew near,

It became very clear,

It should be as special as you,

That much we knew.

The perfect gift was thought about,

And pondered with doubt.

Until finally Shae did exclaim,

“I’ve got it! A game!”

So with this thought we leave you,

On this riddle to stew:

We hope you don’t mind

But our gifts you must find.

 

YOUR FIRST CLUE IS EASY,

IF YOU JUST THINK,

OF WHAT MORNING PEOPLE

LOVE TO DRINK

(This was a Starbucks giftcard hidden by the coffee pot)

 

IT MAY SEEM STRANGE

TO BOW IN THIS PLACE,

BUT YOUR NEXT GIFT WILL BE

AMONG SOCKS AND LACE.

(She is a fan of Tim Tebow, so this was a tshirt with his number on it, a silhouette of him kneeling in front of it, hidden in her underwear/sock drawer)

TOO BAD WE CAN’T BUY

THE CAR OF YOUR DREAMS,

BUT THIS CLUE WILL LEAD YOU

TO A SWEETER GIFT, IT SEEMS.

(This was a Pandora charm for her bracelet that was a little car, put on the hood of our car)

ABIGAIL P. PHILLIPS HAS 16 LETTERS

JUST LIKE YOUR AGE!

YOUR NEXT GIFT WILL BE NEAR FLOWERS,

A BET I WOULD WAGE.

(This was another Pandora charm that was a dangling "16" hidden in the flowers-get it? 16 letters in her name, age 16, and the 16 charm. HEHE)

 

SO PRETTY ARE YOUR EYES

THAT YOUR DADDY SAYS NO COLORS.

BUT THIS PENCIL IS OK,

YOU WILL FIND IT WITH SHAE’S OTHERS.

(She wants colored contacts, but Jon won't let her get them. She loves this expensive eyeliner from Sephora, so I got her that and hid it with my makeup)

 

THIS COLOR WAS DIFFICULT

FOR YOU TO SAY,

BUT THE GIFT IS EASY,

IF YOU LET YOUR FINGERS LEAD THE WAY. 

(When she was little, she pronounced the word yellow-"lellow" and nail polish was-"po-nailish."  So I got her some lellow po-nailish and hid it with my nail polishes).

 

SOME SAY YOU’RE TALL,

SOME SAY YOU’RE SHORT.

YEARLY PICS TELL THE STORY,

CHEER IS YOUR SPORT.

(Abby is not tall by any means, but one of her friends, Jasmine, is actually shorter than she.  The "short" hint in here is referring to the gift, which was a pair of the Nike shorts she loves, and it was hidden behind a huge frame hanging up in our house that has all of her cheerleading pics since she started in 3rd grade.)

 

HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU HAVE?

WHERE SHOULD YOU PUT THE CASH YOU OWN?

THIS NEXT GIFT IS TWO IN ONE,

THEY HIDE WHERE SHAE KEEPS HER PHONE.

(I got her a new wallet, one that matches the purse she is carrying.  It has a print on it similar to zebra print, which is her fave AND I just happened to find in on clearance at Target. Awesome, I know.  I put $16 in it and hid it in my purse.  Jacob figured this one out.)

 

I SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM,

BUT WHAT DO WE DO FOR THIS FOOD?

MAYBE WE LAUGH?

OR MAYBE WE MOO?

(Abby LOVES cereal.  And by love, I mean OBSESSED.  She eats it constantly. I got her a tshirt one year that said "cereal killer." hehe. But this was a box of her favorite cereal, hidden in the fridge.  When she read the clue, she said, "milk. you got me milk?")

 

YOUR CLOTHES DON’T FIT?

A TAYLOR YOU SHOULD SEE.

OR JUST ASK THIS GUY,

IN THE MOVIES HE WILL BE. 

 (She loves Taylor Lautner, hence the misspelling of the word "tailor" in the clue.  This was his latest movie, Abduction, hidden with our movies.)

SHAKE THAT BA-DONK-A-DONK

TO THIS TUNE.

THE GIFT ISN’T TICKETS,

SO TRY NOT TO SWOON.

(Double meaning going on with the first line:  obviously, shake your butt to the music, a hint to the gift which was a CD; but also, we tease her about her big butt-it really is. The singer on the CD is actually coming to concert soon, and Abby tried to get Hallie to buy her tickets for her bday.  But Hallie doesn't like the guy, so she wouldn't.  Hence, the rest of the clue.  It was hidden by our old stereo, which Abby didn't even know we had...she looked by the computer.)

SMACK IN THE MIDDLE

OF THE ALPHABET IT SITS,

A DESSERT PEOPLE LOVE

SO MUCH THEY THROW FITS.

(When Abby was little, she pronounced M&M candy-Lemonlems.  So I got a big bag of dark choc M&Ms-her fave-and made my own label that said "Lemon Lems," and hid it in our dessert box.  Yes, we have a dessert box. Michael says it is the greatest thing ever. I digress. Funny story about this clue.  When I read it to the girls at work, the first answer someone called out was, "Pie! Pecans?"  When Abby read the clue, the first thing she said was, "Pie? Pecans?"  How strange is that..)

  

WHERE WILL YOU PUT YOUR COPIES?

ON A HOOK OR ON A CHAIN?

WHEREVER YOU DO, DON’T LOSE THEM,

YOU’LL GO INSANE.

(I was actually most proud of this clue.  I just thought it was clever.  I got her a keychain in the shape of a cupcake.  But do you get it? We will have to make her COPIES of our car keys??? You put your keys on a keyCHAIN and we have a HOOK hanging up in the kitchen where we hang our extra keys??? Also, when you lose your keys, looking for them drives you INSANE!!  Another funny story about this clue:  When I read it at work, they had a difficult time with it.  Our little Mexican carhop said, "Explain me insane."  Tasha said, "That means it drives you crazy, like when I locked my keys in my car last night, it drove me insane!.....OH!"

 

ALL THE LATEST ONES YOU WILL SEE.

WITH BROOKE AND LAUREN YOU WILL FLEA.

FOR THIS GIFT, LEARN TO SEW,

AND TO THIS PLACE YOU WILL GO.

(Gift card to the movies. Brooke and Lauren are her best friends. I hid it in my sewing box. I think this was one of the last ones I wrote. My brain was running out of clever so I just threw in rhyming words... :)

 

MOMS LOVE TO MAKE MEMORIES,

IT’S BEST JUST TO SMILE, YOU WILL FIND.

YOUR LAST GIFT WILL BE

NEAR OTHERS OF ITS KIND.

(This was my fave gift, and she liked it the best too.  I made a photo album-with a free promo code of course-filled with only baby and toddler pics of her.  And instead of regular captions, I put in all the funny little things she said as a child.)