Party of the Month: Teal & Cream Themed Graduation Party

This weekend my great friend graduated from Law School and she wanted a candy buffet at her Grad Party. I instantly said I would be happy to do it and together we came up with a theme starting with choosing colors. We decided that teal and cream with a splash of white would be the perfect combo. My friend wanted a classy, yet vintage feel to the candy buffet so we paired the colors with damask and lace patterns.

All of the candy color coordinated and was so yummy! My favorite candy was the Cotton Candy flavored taffy!

I love adding personal touches to my candy buffet creations so for my friend's buffet I incorporated candles, tree houses, bird/birdcage, hydrangeas, chalkboards, and scriptures since I know my friend is a Christian. 

 

Who knew how cute teal & cream could be together?! 

Congratulations, Alisia! 

Candy Buffet Design: Party with a K

Candy: The Confectionery

Holiday Theme Party: Wine Elephant

Every year my friends and I have a Friendship Holiday Party where instead of buying each other gifts, we pick a theme for one big party. A couple of years ago I decided to do a spin off of the popular holiday party theme, "White Elephant" and suggested we have a "Wine Elephant" friendship holiday party. For those not familiar with White Elephant, white elephant is when you bring a gift, usually under a certain dollar amount, wrap it up, and bring it to the party. Everyone chooses a number out of a jar or hat and that number symbolizes your turn for choosing a gift from the bunch of gifts each person brought. Person number one will look around at all the gifts and choose a random one. Unless some other number wants to steal the gift from them, that will be their gift they will take home. Person number two can choose to steal person number one's gift they just opened, or choose from the plethora of unopened gifts. The best number to have is the last number because you can choose from the other people's gifts. You can add your own rules to the game, but I usually say one gift can only be stolen twice before it is that person's permanent gift.

With Wine Elephant, you must bring a bottle of wine as your gift! See below for some of my absolute favorite wines! {I love my wine sweet}

1. Yellowtail wines

2. Yellowglen Pink Sparkling Wine (750mL)

3. Confectioner's-Sweet Symphony

4. Barefoot Cellars Moscato

5. House Wine

The Perfect Holiday Treat!

What do you get when you mixed Rolos, pretzels, and glazed pecans? Rolo pretzel delights! These delicious bite-sized treats are as easy as 1, 2, 3. I stumbled across this mini treat and I just had to see if it was that quick and simple to bake. Below are the steps I took to make these sweet treats, perfect for your next holiday party!

Ingredients

1 bag of pretzels
1 bag of Rolos
1 bag of glazed pecans

 Materials

Aluminum foil or parchment paper




Step 1: Preheat oven to Bake, 350 degrees. 

Step 2: Place the pretzels on a pan covered with aluminum foil. Top each pretzel with one Rolo and when complete, place the pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until chocolate has completely melted.



Step 3: After you take the pretzel out of the oven, quickly top it with a glazed pecan or whatever topping you would like.

Bon appétit!

Decorating for the Holidays!

This past weekend I had so much fun putting up my tree for Christmas. I would like to entertain guests at my home this holiday season and want to make sure my home decor creates that whimsical holiday appeal. I always talk about your guests having an experience and how you create that using all of the five senses. In this case, we would be activating sight. Above were my holiday color choices I wanted to choose from this year. Glitter really brightens up your decor, so I knew I needed to implement that into my decorations. This year, I chose light blue and silver! My go to place for light blue and silver decor: Target!

         1.  50-Piece Ornament Set - Blue/Silver  

2.  Glitter Snowflakes

3. 70ct White LED C6 Faceted String Light

4. Candy Cane Ornament  

5. Set of 3 Tinsel Garland - Silver (18')

I hope you have a great time decorating your tree for the holidays!

XOXO,

Thanksgiving Table Decor

Ok, so you may not be a chef in the kitchen for this Thanskgiving, but there is still a way to contribute. Gather some vases, candles, flowers, pumpkins and other fall decorative pieces from the Dollar Tree or Michaels and include some cute table displays for your dinner table. Below are some cute table decorations I found for Thanksgiving! Click on the pictures for more details!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

How to Host a Clothing & Accessories Swap

This past weekend I hosted my very first clothing & accessories swap! I have been to a couple of clothing swaps and thought it was a great way to get your girlfriends together to raid each others closets while sipping on some drinks and eating some good food. 

So what is a clothing swap you might be asking?

Clothing swaps are a great way to get some new clothes & accessories..FOR FREE!! How it works: Everyone brings gently used, and washed, clothing, shoes, and accessories that they want to get rid of. Guests should bring things that are in decent shape that they would be willing to give up. Choose someone's home to host the swap at. A community room or living room that you can turn into a little Forever 21 is perfect! Separate everyone's stuff into certain areas in the room (ie: accessories corner, shorts on the coffee table, pants on the couch). Once everyone's stuff is displayed, you can either let everyone freely shop around for stuff they want OR you can do it by categories- everyone takes a number and one at a time chooses from the shirts, then shorts, then accessories, etc.!

Always make sure you have food and drinks. Engage your guests by asking them to bring a snack or drink!

Clothing swaps are always a lot of fun soooo raid your closet, throw stuff in a bag, and host one with your girlfriends. If you have any items left behind, donate them to a local shelter.

Must See Venue: Playa Grande Resort & Spa in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Looking to have a destination wedding but not looking to go too far? Does exotic beaches, breathtaking ocean views, and several amenities for you and your guests appeal to you? Then, I encourage you to go south of the border and have your wedding or reception at quite possibly one of the most grand hotels: Playa Grande Resort & Spa.


This photo of Playa Grande Resort is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I stayed at the Playa Grande Resort & Spa for a wedding that was taking place at Grand Solmar Land's End Resort & Spa right next door and to say I had an amazing time would be an understatement. The second you pulled up to the entrance you felt like you had entered the vacation set for a king and queen. The entrance was so grand with a tall ceiling and marble floors to greet you.

But, the front entrance and lobby was only one area of the many that took my breathe away. Prior to arriving in Cabo, I booked an all-inclusive package for the Solmar Resort, The Playa Grande & Grand Solmar's sister property, that included lodging, unlimited meals, snacks, and drinks, and discounts on all hotel amenities for 4 days and 3 nights all for $270--yes, it was a STEAL. Upon my arrival, I was lucky enough to have been complimentary upgraded to a room in a VIP secluded area of the Playa Grande called The Ridge. So secluded that you needed a special hotel key to get to this section of the hotel. I stayed with another wedding guest and as we walked to our room, we felt like we were in a little European country all to ourselves.

Our room was the Master Suite equipped with a large patio, 2 full bathrooms with a shower and bathtub, a queen bed, one pull out queen bed, a vanity, drawers and closets to put away our clothes, a full kitchen with a refrigerator, sink, and microwave, a dining room table, and living room with a couch and tv.

This photo of The Ridge at Playa Grande Luxury Villas is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of The Ridge at Playa Grande Luxury Villas is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of The Ridge at Playa Grande Luxury Villas is courtesy of TripAdvisor 

Every day we walked out onto our patio and were welcomed by our marina view!

But, it was not just the gorgeous master suite that took me for surprise; it was the private pool area too!

I had never otherwise swam in an infinity pool.....until now!

 

When we wanted to check out a new scene, we did not hesitate to move to the main hotel area and check out their several pools, restaurants, and other beautiful scenic areas all of which faced the open ocean.

I could not miss out on showing some of the magnificent food and drinks we devoured...all of which were included with our all-inclusive deal. Let's just say, I drank a little one too many of their strawberry smoothies!

While I didn't take full advantage of the amenities because I was too busy lounging at the pool every day, the hotel does offer everything from an onsite spa, mini golf course, tennis court, dolphin swimming, snorkeling, and so much more!

Overall, if you are looking to have a destination wedding where you and your guests can relax and have a great time under the sun, the Playa Grande Resort & Spa is the place to go!

XOXO!