Showing posts with label Parties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parties. Show all posts

June 1, 2014

A Backyard Bridal Shower

One of my best friends, Morgan, is marrying Mckay on June 21st. Tanner and I couldn't be happier for them, as we've watched their relationship grow. We think they're perfect for each other, and we couldn't be happier for the newest addition at the beach! :)

We couldn't let them get married without a big celebration! We had Morg's shower in my backyard, and Shelley & I envisioned a garden party, and it turned out exactly how we wanted it. We had lots of friends show up, and Morg was gifted some fun and great gifts! We served BBQ Pork sliders, sweet potato fries, a yummy salad, with some cheesecake stuffed strawberries, and yummy and fruity IZZE bottled drinks. For dessert, we had ice cream sundaes in mason jars, and by the end of the night, it's safe to say we were all stuffed. I've learned that with showers, you need help. Luckily usually people love to help, so thankfully, we had a lot of the food covered for, and the husband couldn't be more thankful for that!

We connected my picnic table, with some plastic tables and chairs, and it was the perfect "long dinner table" that I imagined. We had fresh flowers in summery colors (also to go along with Morg's wedding colors) and polka dot paper products. I was really in awe the whole night looking at how it turned out, because like I already said, it was exactly what I had in mind. Candles and tea lights everywhere, and lights in the trees really added to the outdoor effect, and I began to ask everyone to get pregnant so we can have more showers in the backyard!

To start off, I wanted to have some hanging flowers. I originally didn't envision this hanging in the trees, but I'm so glad Shelley suggested it, because it added a perfect background. I had seen a few things like this, but because we wouldn't be using fresh flowers, I used fake. I ended up going to the Dollar Store, and was actually nervous with the quality of those cheap flowers, but once it was done, I was happy with the result. I found an old stick in the yard, and started hot-gluing the flowers onto fishing wire.


(this was a snapchat picture so it's extra blurry!)

It was so nice to have Memorial Day the day before, because we were able to get everything set up and ready to go. We found our Bistro lights at Target, and got them during their Outdoor Sale, so buy one get one half off-holla! Make sure to buy the clear globe-not frosted- for that extra sparkle.




Brimley made a darling invitation for everyone.


Lets get down to business.. and that's where I mean picture overload.

Thank goodness to other people taking pictures, because at every single event, I never make time to take them. I really need to get better at that!


We gathered up some great things from my house decorations, my sister-in-laws, and some from Shelley's house! We got our flowers at Costco, stuck them in mason jars, had candles, (citronella ones of course!), and some cactus plants from Ikea that added a nice touch.















B is for Bench!





The only picture I got with Morg. It was SO hot setting up, and with my oven on in our non-A/C house, I was literally sweating. So this is the best thing we got! Isn't she going to be the prettiest bride ever?



^^ typical of us ^^

Unfortunately I didn't snag a picture of the fun "He Said, She Said" game we played. The formatting messed up when I emailed it, so I'll have to add it another day. Brimley won, and got to take home one of the darling Ikea cacti! I guess it pays being close friends with the bride! :) 
I'm going to have to buy some for our house soon...just wishing I had a window sill!

Once the sun set, it was so pretty too! I was wishing I could keep everything set up for a couple weeks and just eat dinner out there. I loved it, and I hope Morg did too!



And that's a wrap! 
I love parties, and marriage.

May 6, 2014

Cinco De Mayo

Hola! Yesterday we had a Cinco De Mayo party in our backyard, filled with street tacos, and all the sides, some photo shoots, chatting, and playing corn hole. It was such a blast, and I was very happy with the outcome. We are blessed with some amazing friends and family!  

Tanner grilled up some delicious chicken and Carne Asada, and it felt like a real fiesta! It was our first outing in the backyard, and it just made me SO happy! I can't wait for more gatherings!











We had been wanting to get a picnic table for our backyard, and figured it was the perfect time to do so. But, we heard it's supposed to rain for the next three days, and we don't have room in our teeny house, so below is how we covered it-with plastic tablecloths...pray that raw wood doesn't get hurt before we have time to stain it! It's too cute to get ruined! :)

April 3, 2014

My 5th Birthday Party...I think

Happy National "Don't Go to Work Unless It's Fun Day"! I planned a huge breakfast potluck at work today, and I'm stuffed. I don't think I'll eat for another week! Ha! Who am I kidding.

I've said this before, but my parents are moving out of the only house I've ever known (in AZ), and my mom will occasionally send me old pictures and I love it. So in honor of throwin it back on this Thursday, I thought I'd share a picture. When I turned 5 (we think) we had ponies in my cul-de-sac for us to ride. My parents let me have some pretty epic birthday parties growing up, and I honestly think that's how I got so into parties. I love seeing everyone's reactions, and people enjoying themselves. My one friend still reminds me of my "Madeline" party, where we all got Madeline hats, and my mom dressed up as Miss Clavel (literally I remember her putting on what I called a "vale") and took us on a "walk" in my backyard, I'm sure reading the stories as we zig zagged through the swing set. My mom looked just like her! :)


"In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ..."

I LOVED Madeline! I also loved begging my nieces to let us watch Madeline when I would babysit. Madeline, and Mary-Kate and Ashley are my go-to's.

Moving on...

I remember (from pictures and from my mother) there was popcorn, and cotton candy, and cupcakes of course. My mom didn't just stop there. She had bales of hay lining the cul-de-sac, and we played musical chairs on them. My mom had hand drawn pink ponies on the invitations, and you better believe she still has a copy! When she sent me this picture, she said, "Marshmallow!" and I thought she was talkin about me. To ensure you, my mom wasn't calling me fat. The two ponies we had were named Marshmallow, and Caramel, and I was lucky enough to ride Marshmallow for my party! Isn't he just the cutest? Thankful for my moms memory!


I hope to become a cool mom like my mom was, and plan awesome birthday parties every.single.year. Thanks momma! 
(Am I a brat to say I hope I have a little girl that looks just like me?)

Four things:
-I hope this makes you laugh.
-Why do I ever think I can wash my hair in the morning? Every morning I set my alarm, and I snooze it 50 times. I'm now on day 5...
-If you want to read about our "love story" I finally took time to write it down here.
-Regardless of your faith, I invite you to watch LDS General Conference with me this weekend! I promise you will find it uplifting, and it will make you HAPPY! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend! :)


March 5, 2014

Favorite Things Partayyy

Last night, I had some of my best girlfriends over for a Girls Night, and a "My Favorite Things Party". I had been wanting to host one of these parties for a very long time, and really wanted to do one in December. But, that month is so so crazy for everyone, and we were moving...so I don't even know why that was even an possibility.

If you haven't heard of this type of party, its basically a white elephant party, with good gifts set under a budget, and it has to be a favorite thing. I did mine a little differently because all of us are married, or in school, so we were on a budget! We just did 2 gifts under $10, but I've seen 3 gifts under $10 or $5, I've even seen 6 gifts across the web! We decided we will do that when we are rich and famous...!

Moving on.. You figure out what is your favorite thing and you bring 2 of them. You wrap them all cute, as you can see they were (!) and then you eat lots of yummy desserts, and chat. We played a game when everyone first got there that I found from a couple different blogs, and sadly I don't have the links. BUT! I do have the link to my print-out. 

I think this made it so fun! Without telling the guests, have everyone answer a little questionnaire. Then, go around giving your answers to ex: your favorite book, holiday, etc. If someone has the same answer as you, you cross it off. It's funny how some answers were SO similar, and some, no one got the same! At the end, have everyone count up how many answers they have un-crossed, and whoever has the most gets a prize! My winners got mini bags of Cadberry eggs, because duh, they're the best! 

Here is a sample of our game, and you can download it here! 


I think I want to do this every time, with just different questions. It was so fun to hear everyone's opinions, and see who was alike!

For the decor, I wanted it to be very bright, and help welcome in Spring! What better way to do that, than with Target products? I was having a hard time finding matching plates and napkins in the clearance section, but then I figured it would be even more darling to have it bright, eclectic, and mismatched. I ended up finding those for like $6 total! My tablecloth was actual "cloth", and didn't have a clearance sticker, but It's always good to ask, because, lucky me... It was $2, and had a fun yellow polka dot pattern-score! I found a small handful of purple flowers ($6), and stuck them in mason jars, which I have an endless amount of, because they're my lovers. I already had bright straws to use, and all of the cake plates, ramekins, etc. because I might have an obsession with Crate & Barrel. I bought some "pre-baked" baguettes  that I didn't even know existed. I sliced them up, popped them in the oven, and it makes your house smell like warm, freshly baked bread! On the side of that, we had the delicious popper dip from Costco. Shelley brought a Cheesecake, and we had some berries, and hot fudge for toppings, Kenzie brought some delicious peanut butter bars, and Aubree made some Golden Oreo truffles! Everything was so yum! We then had a white grape-ginger ale spritzer that I think is always a go-to at parties. It's always fun when people bring treats, because it lays off the cost, and brings variety-thanks friends! 

I made the tassel garland at midnight the night before, because that's how I roll. I used this tutorial from A Ruffled Life (who I love), and because I'm currently obsessed with what DIY's Brooke Walker has on her show! It was super easy, because aint nobody got time to twist and glue, and all that stuff! And then, it was hung with some bright orange washi tape, because... why wouldn't it be? 

(I always forget to take pictures before everyone arrives, so these pictures were all taken in a hurry! I'm making it a goal to get better!)







Now onto the gifts, from left to right: (please ignore my chipped off "disco ball nails", and the horrible pictures. We were playing with flash, and the HDR..)



MarLeice brought her favorite Covergirl Mascara, and it seemed to be a lot of people's favorites!
Brimley brought Moulin Rouge, and The Devil Wears Prada

Aubree brought some Baby Lips, and a Swig gift card!
Morgan brought some Cadberry Eggs, and lipstick
Shelley brought some Medicated Baby Lips (we are both currently obsessed with Soothing Sorbet), and a Cherry Coke

Kenzie brought some adorable notebooks and pens
Madeline brought Biore nose strips!
Emily brought a Sports Armband for when running
and I gave some whole wheat pasta, and sauce, because I always like to have it on hand.

Here is the little Insta collage of our winnings! 



I thought it was such a fun night with my girlfriends! 
Girls Night's are something that definitely needs to happen more often, because I think it's nice to bond closer to someone other than your huzband, no offense babe! ;)