Holiday Parties

We're hosting a combined Friendsgiving/Christmas holiday get together tonight.  Our group of friends is just as busy as we are so it was a struggle to come up with date but we managed to get about half of our group on board! Maybe we will get lucky and find another time to get together closer to Christmas with the whole gang! I'm sharing some Pinterest party finds and some tips to host a party without a hitch!

1. Plan A Menu - Make sure to choose dishes you know people can/will eat! Be sure to avoid any food allergies your friends may have and if you do have things with allergens be sure to keep them separate and labeled well! Our group of friends tends to do a pitch in style get together so we typically throw around ideas of what we will bring via text beforehand so we avoid having three of the same thing. 

2. Decide On Any Décor - You know I love an excuse to decorate! For the dinner this evening, I haven't done anything special but I did make sure to have our Christmas décor out! If we had gotten together before Thanksgiving, I probably would have tried some ideas I have found on Pinterest.

3. Move Furniture Around/Add Additional Tables/Chairs - Depending on your house or apartment you may want to rearrange furniture to allow for guests to mingle comfortably all in one area.  Our eat-in kitchen opens to the living room so we considered borrowing an extra table and chairs for our get together but decided we could make it work without it this time since 5 or 6 couldn't come.  We did move some extra chairs around to the living room to add additional seating there.

3. Make A Timeline For Day Of Prep and Cooking - Plan out each hour of the day (even if it's just relaxation time) so you don't get caught up in something and end up not prepared for guests to start arriving!

4. Enjoy spending time with your friends and family! I love getting together with our friends because it's such a nice time to just sit and chat with everyone and catch up.  So many of our friends in town have kids so it's also great getting watch as they grow older.

Find some helpful pins on my Holiday Get Togethers: From Friendsgiving to New Year's Eve Pinterest board here.






Hosting the get together is our day three activity in our advent activities!

Gilmore Girls Viewing Party

via Jane.com

I am so excited for the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix coming out later this month! The minute I heard that it was actually happening and would be released in November, I instantly wanted to have a binge watching party.  Unfortunately, I will be traveling on Black Friday and will not be able to binge watch the minute it's released.  There will be no late night viewing party at my house, but I did want to share all the ideas, tips, and plans so you can host your very own Gilmore Girls viewing party.

Invitations

Now, you could just send out a text to your friends inviting them over, but what fun is that?  I found some great option online.  Jane.com (pictured above) and Bren Did both have some free options that are perfect! I also found a few items for sale on Etsy that are worth considering!

Decor

If you don't decorate, is it even a party? I'm just kidding...sort of.  Here are some cute and easy ideas for your GG party.  

Target has such cute party supplies!

You can find some free printables for your party online from several bloggers and websites that are just as excited about the return of the Gilmore Girl crew as the rest of us!  There are also some great and fairly inexpensive option on Etsy. You can even grab a free No Cell Phones sign from Luke's Diner.

Food and Drink

What would any Gilmore Girls party be without food?  The strange eating habits of Lorelai and Rory are continually featured in the series so you have so many options to go with when planning snacks for your get together!  Here are some ideas I have that would be easy to pull together quickly!

Miss Patty's Founder's Day Punch

1 cup peach brandy

1/2 cup Kentucky bourbon

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup strawberry jam

1 cup strawberries

1 & 1/2 teaspoon lime zest

1 750ml bottle dry champagne

1 12oz can spicy ginger ale or ginger beer

1 teaspoon bitters
Blend together brandy, bourbon, apple and orange juices, strawberries, jam and zest until well incorporated. Pour into an ice-filled pitcher, top with champagne and ginger ale. Stir in teaspoon of bitters and pour into glass. 

the Rory Cocktail

1 oz chilled vodka
1.5 - 2 oz pineapple juice
0.5 oz grenadine
Shake and top with a float of champagne and add a cherry or lemon spiral

And on top of the cocktails, it would be fun to have a coffee station so guests can create their own coffee drink.  Once you have the drinks covered, you obviously need all the food.  Grab your favorite poptarts, Chinese takeout, pizza, donuts, popcorn, red vines, and more.  I think it would be fun to have a couple of different food stations to allow guests to customize their snacks.  Guests would love a french fry bar to create their own loaded french fries!  This would be a super easy and very fun take on having french fries for snacking on during your binge watching!  A candy buffet would also be very fitting and easy to pull together.  

Activities

How fun would it be to have a way to declare weather you are Team Jess, Team Dean, or Team Logan (definitely Team Jess here)?  Guests can cast their votes for which one of Rory's guys they think she'll end up with or you can hand out stickers/pins to for guests to wear to declare their loyalties!  Some other activities that would be fun for this party is a Gilmore Girls bingo or some DIY stations such as make your own felt pennants or newspaper hats.

And of course, come prepared dressed in your favorite GG themed attire.  I grabbed this shirt from Etsy last month.  

Happy watching! I cannot wait to see what a year in the life gives us!  And by the way, I think I'm totally Team Jess!

Party Planning 101

If you know me, it should be no surprise that I love putting together a good party.  I rarely get the chance to plan and execute a well put together party though.  Since moving to the new apartment, I convinced Wyatt that we should host a Kentucky Derby Party and have some friends over.  Of course to me this means planning a menu, decorations, creating a digital invitation, and on and on.  I thought I would share some of the basic steps I go through when party planning.

First you have to determine the logistics of the party (who, what, where, when, etc.).  In this case it is quite easily determined.  The derby is the first Saturday in May and we wanted to have it at our apartment.  

Once you have the logistics figured out, you truly get to the fun part of planning.  Pick a theme, any theme, and go with it. Obviously this is another no-brainer for our derby watch party but the possibilities are endless.

Once I have a set theme, I start compiling ideas for everything food, drinks, decor, entertainment, invitations, and on and on.  After jotting down several ideas, I tend to sit down and go over the list and get rid of any ideas that may be too difficult, time consuming, costly, etc.  After I have a set list of things planned out, I begin to sketch out my space.  It helps to have a visual of what your vision is for the space, tables, serving pieces, games, etc.  Sketches are also a great resource to have on hand the day of your event.  It also helps to stage any center pieces and food tables that you have planned in advanced to ensure you have the proper spaces.  It is ok to deviate from the sketches and the mock set ups, but doing so helps you get an idea of just what you are working with so you have the adequate space and time the day of your event.

I am a list maker so the next part of my planning process involves tons and tons of lists.  If you are planning on making anything yourself for your events like invitations, decorations, or favors; you must be sure your allow yourself plenty of time to do so and even allow a little extra in case anything comes up unexpectedly.  From experience it is no fun to be up until the wee hours the night before your event.  You will want your beauty sleep so just plan accordingly.  When the event is drawing near, I compile one giant To Do list of everything left to do including the day of tasks.  I make sub-lists for tasks like going to the grocery store that have my actual shopping list in front of me.  Once I have my giant To Do list down, I try to schedule everything out based on my existing schedule.  It helps lighten the load if you can schedule a thing or two a day leading up to it rather than all the night before the party.

That in a nutshell is how I plan for any party or get together I am part of hosting.  It could be something like our Derby party or it could be something like a Mother's Day brunch you are hosting for your family.  I always resort to these simple steps.

1. Determine Logistics

2. Choose a Theme

3. Brainstorm

4. Narrow Ideas and Choose the Best

5. Sketch, Make Lists, Schedule Your Tasks

6. Enjoy Your Party!

MOM'S 2013 Party Gras Masquerade

We hosted the annual MOM'S party/benefit over the weekend.  This year the theme was shifted a bit, from the traditional Mardi Gras party, to an "All Holiday" party.  Mom and Aunt Brenda decorated the tables with various holiday themes and we asked that guest dress up for their favorite holiday.  Our menu fit for a 4th of July barbecue consisted of pulled pork, brats, and grillers with sides of potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, chips, and veggies.  I put together a 4th of July themed dessert table with lots of tasty treats.  The party had entertainment provided by the Lick Creek Band and we had a silent auction with all kinds of wonderful goodies.  After weeks of planning and preparing, it was a big success.  

Our welcoming table was appropriately themed with Mother's Day | Chalkboard Tutorial coming soon!

Lick Creek Band

Amanda Condra Designs, Open for Business!

I finally did it!  I finally opened an Etsy shop. I've thought about it for quite some time now, but I finally sat down and just did it.  It will be a place that I can sell my party printables and a few prints and other things as well.

I have a few projects in mind that I am going to be working on to get added to the store shortly.  I have so much fun creating things that I can't wait to share some more new designs with you all.  Go take a peak and see what I have been up to lately with the shop.

Life is a party, dress like it: Garden Party

Mom's gorgeous flowers this spring.

All the pretty spring flowers and summer dresses out, have me wanting to host a garden party luncheon.  Of course, I have no reason to host one currently but I have been eyeing pins on Pinterest to create the perfect outdoor garden party luncheon/tea.  I love everything about the idea of a garden party from the decor to the attire to the menu.  It is the perfect type of party to start the summer season off right.

1| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5| 6

The a simple summer shift dress would be the perfect outfit for a garden party paired with some metallic accents in the form of sandals and jewelry and a great floppy hat.  When I think about the style aspect of a garden party, many thoughts of derby attire cross my mind. (You can find all of the items pictured above and below on Pinterest for links and tons more pins)

1 | 2 | 3

For summer lunch parties, indoor and outdoor, I love a lighter menu full of salads, light summery sandwiches, and fruits.  Of course, cake is always a great menu item, especially when you like to bake like I do.