How to Throw a Kick Ass Gatsby Party

Since we moved in our house June of 2013, we hadn't officially thrown any kind of housewarming or hosted party. I've had girls nights, Naughty White Elephant Party (Which I'll be posting about soon), and a Welcome Baby get together for family, but nothing crazy.

Before Halloween came, Scott and I were thinking about throwing a Gatsby themed costume party... but after thinking about it... not many people would exclusively dress for the event given that it's Halloween and maybe they'd rather be something else. So we scratched it. But I had a genius idea... why not New Years!? Everyone will already be wearing nice dresses and suits, sequins and jewelry, what a perfect way to bring in the new year looking glam. So I got to planning. 

I wanted something that wouldn't be crazy expensive, but would be entertaining, fun, memorable... and somehow come New Year's Eve at 9pm, I had put together the perfect party. I could not have done it without my sister and girl friends who helped me get the party decor together and shopping vintage shops for the perfect headbands and outfits.

1. DECOR

What is a party without the perfect decor to theme it up. I HIGHLY recommend during parties to always have a backdrop of some sort for photo booth pictures whether you have props or not. I didn't go crazy with props because with the theme and with new years, everyone had 2014 masks, boas, party favors, and amazing outfits. I bought a door backdrop in gold and silver from Party City for $6 each. Done and done!

2. OUTFITS

One of my favorite memories of the party is how STUNNING everyone looked. Every girl was just dazzling with sequins, pearls, bling, headbands, curls, BEAUTY. Every man... holy moly. From the suspenders to the cigars to the hats... these guys were HOT! It made the party so much more fun to see everyone looking SO good. You can get suspenders from Party City for $8 and even a sequins bow-tie. 

And no, Matt is not that short. He literally couldn't stop dancing for the picture. 

3. THE PERFECT INVITE

This was so fun to create! We used the Gatsby Soundtrack most of the night for all the amazing jams. We were aiming for about 30-40 people for the evening, and really thought only about 12 were coming. We honestly didn't care we just wanted to bring in the New Year with our closest friends... well we were so wrong. We had about 35 people at our peak (around Midnight) with friends of friends, it was SUCH a great time. What else keeps it simple and inexpensive? BYOB. Sure, I bought way too many bottles of champagne and OJ, but let the guests bring beer and liquor. Sure does save a lot of money! I also made sure to let guests know to bring blankets and pillows for staying over... Which I am so glad I did because we had about 10 people stay the night and they all were able to sleep comfortably - even if we did go to bed at 5am.

It was fun to update the event keeping people super excited about coming and reminding them about weather conditions (since we played a lot of corn hole outside we wanted to make sure everyone brought jackets, scarves, etc.)

4. FOOD SPREAD

Let's be honest. Going to a New Year's Party with all that booze, beer pong, outdoor corn hole drinking games, inside Catch Phrase drinking games, all that dancing.... you gotta have food! Big bonus: get a friggin chick-fil-a platter of nuggets. Those were the first gone (duh!). Chips, Dips, Desserts, Veggie Tray. This was a huge hit and kept everyone in a not too over the top drunken state. 

Note to self: As delicious as they are, DON'T MAKE CAPRESE SKEWERS the night of the party!!!!! It was so tedious y'all. Here I was at 8:30pm yelling, "I still have to do my hair!" only halfway through the skewers. Not to mention it is super messy. Next year, I will stick to a buffalo dip or something. 

We also set up a side of the kitchen where there were lined up 30 Champagne flutes (dollar store, y'all - this only cost me $14 for all of them), a jar of straws, a shotglass of toothpicks, a bowl of olives, pepperocinis, etc. People could set up shop with their liquor bottles (which a lot left so many leftover = winning!) and it was great because it kept people from being crowded around certain areas and also - less glassware, less mess to clean up, no broken dishes - I highly recommend paper plate/ solo cup, everything trashable!

5. ENTERTAINMENT

I truly feel like we had the utmost PERFECT set up for the party in the house that kept it from being too crowded. We used the garage as a beer pong area with a few little lawn chairs and kept the coolers of beer in there. We used the kitchen and dining room for the bar/food. We used the living room for the dance party and music (spotify Gatsby Soundtrack was a HUGE hit... seriously listening to the music now brings back memories of this amazing party). We used outside and lit the backyard with leftover Christmas lights all the way around so it was all decked out. We had corn hole set up in the backyard and also a fire pit which was amazing due to the 40 degree whether. People were dancing in living room, chatting it up in kitchen, taking photo booth pictures (which was located to the left of dining room right next to the door to backyard). After midnight, we lit sparklers in the backyard too which was so fun! We had a huge cornhole drinking game tournament going on which lasted til a good 5am. 

6. NEIGHBORS

Always let your neighbors know that you will be hosting a party. Of course everyone gets that it is New Year's and all, but when you know your little house will have over 30 people and Bose speakers blasting dub-step, it is common courtesy to just let them know that they can call you or come over at any time to tell us we're too loud, etc. Luckily, we had no complaints and we even had neighbors come over to join the party with us. It was so fun! 

7. DON'T CLEAN UP JUST YET

I know you're probably thinking, whaaa? But I'm serious! We woke up at about 1:00pm and all sat around on our couches with everyone who was still there and just laughed and talked about the night before and all the funniest moments of the night. I literally have never smelt so much beer/liquor and saw so many solo cups all over the kitchen, boa feathers on the floor (EVERYWHERE), sticky spots, shotglasses for days, flapper tassels and fake eyelashes on my staircase. Don't clean up just yet! Relax, you just threw a kick ass party. Go eat a juicy burger. The clean up can come later. (Or in my case, wait til that next work day when your honey still has off and he cleans it up for you ;-) thanks babe.) We still find boa feathers all over the house. 

Any other tips that I am missing? All in all, it was one of the best parties I've ever thrown (or been to), and people still tell me they wish they could just relive that party.It didn't hurt my wallet, and we looked damn good.  It was so fun bringing in the new year with loved ones and great friends. I got to spend it with my sister and my best friends... and that's all that matters. 

Cheers to 2014! It's been great so far. 

The Last Weekend

This weekend was officially the last weekend for the next few weeks that we have the place to ourselves.... and I am so excited to announce that after 10 years of living apart with my best friend of 12 years, she is taking the plunge and {finally} moving here to Austin!! My heart was overjoyed to hear this news and Suzy will be staying with us while she gets a job and apartment. I couldn't be more excited!

So we took advantage of having the house to ourselves this weekend and did some great cooking, some fall decorating, moving things around, and some outdoor fun since the weather was SO beautiful!!

one| friday was super rough and the bf treated me to a delicious rooftop steak dinner at Bob's in downtown Austin.. have I mentioned how much I love this man? so sweet.

two| after dinner we went back south in search of some good live music near the casa

three| feeling pretty toasty after some drinks and music so we decided to go get some redboxes and popcorn

four| movie date night!! redemption SUCKS. World War Z, SO so good.

five| Saturday. lots of driving, errands, moving, Huxley tagged along for some good breezy weather 

six| worked on the guest room some more, love the color scheme and how its coming together for Suzy

seven| fall decorating and picture printing, making the house look so much more homey! currently working on doing a frame wall going up the stairs.

eight| Sunday had a craving for *almost* burnt hot dogs on the grill. SO GOOD! & I spot a creeper

nine| lots and lots of playtime for little man. open windows and doors. he just ran inside and out all weekend

What did you do this weekend? Link up with Sami with your weekend shenanigans!

Weekend Shenanigans

Shenanigans it was, my friends. This weekend just about had a little bit of everything. For some reason I have felt like everything was wrong with me this weekend! Let's start from the beginning, haha.

So Friday, I am at work towards the end of the day, planning out what appetizer I'm going to make for the House Hunters party, and my middle finger on my left hand starts feeling irritated. Now before you start thinking anything gross or weird, NO irritation showed what so ever. Just felt like it was on fire, itched, whatever. So I put a bandaid on it and forgot about it as I was getting ready to leave and make my way through 45 min of traffic getting home.

We are supposed to be AT the party around 8, well guess who shows up 10 minutes before 8 a little tipsy from an after work happy hour? The boyfriend... I am the kind of person who HATES being late, yes hates... so I'm a little chaotic getting things together, showering, cooking, etc. and as I'm unloading the dishes, our hefty sized plate falls edge first and lands smack right on my knuckle on my big toe.... yep couldn't breathe for a good 9.6 seconds. UghhH! Leaving the picture out though to save you from the grody-ness. You're welcome.

Still can't really bend it much either. It is nasty looking haha! But we got everything together and at least made it to the party in time for House Hunters to come on! I made Southwestern Egg Rolls (recipe to come!) and they. were. so. good!

These were a huge hit, and I also made a Spicy Avocado Ranch sauce for dipping. Will post recipes this week!

The House Hunter's party was so, so fun. Ruthie & Jon are the cutest and hope you all tuned into their episode! Who came name all the bloggers in these photos!? We were all there to support our girl!

Scott has really become good friends with the blogger hubbies, and played Corn Hole with Jon for hours straight. We didn't leave until about a little after 1am... fun night!

Saturday we were zombies! We had all these fun plans for Scott to hang out with Dave (Mallorie's hubby!), see Batman all together, etc.  well we laid on our couch being lazy until nearly 3pm! Wasted day, but Chris, Scottie and I still went to see Batman around 7pm... I have to say that after Friday's Colorado thing, I was definitely feeling a little weary of being in a theater, but the movie was INCREDIBLE. I love Christian Bale Batman!! hehe

Saturday was rough with my finger having some weird allergic reaction (with no visual! so weird!) that was bothering me, and my toe that I couldn't bend, I was definitely being dramatic about it but it hurt, ok!? I ended up picking up a thing of benadryl on the way home from batman. I straight up passed out less than 30 minutes later, I guess it still has the same effect on me as it did when I was a kid haha.

When I woke up Sunday morning to start getting ready for Church, now my throat was all hurting! Am I fallin apart or what? I immediately took some airborne, tylenol, and laid back down and streamed online - no way am I going to get sick! When I got back up, cleaned up around the house, did some laundry, and Scott was really wanting me to go with him to this new restaurant so I got ready and off we went to Lupe Tortilla! He's a fajita fanatic, and we've heard nothing but great things, so I was pretty excited. I love little day dates with my man.

This place was a little more expensive than say Chuy's or La Margarita, but I can see why. Not only was management constantly stopping my tables giving samples of their famous fajitas, but always making sure we were having a great experience, margaritas came with another glass full and were strong (yay!), and chips and salsa were great. Scott has named this place our new go-to. If they had Creamy Jalapeno like Chuy's does, I would have been SET!

Yummmmmm. We had lots leftover too. Rest of the day was spent finishing laundry, we got a Red Box movie, and chillaxed. I'm still feeling a little rough today, but now I can bend my toe again, yay! My finger is 100% better too. I swear - so weird. Anyway, while we had our family snugglefest, I snapped cute pictures of Huxley so that is what I'll end my post with.

Scott's 28th Birthday Bash

Happy Monday! This weekend was just as I expected: fun, exhausting, adventurous. It was Scott's birthday on Friday, Maddie's birthday on Saturday, and Father's Day on Sunday. Wowzers! I decided to split everything up into two posts.. (sorry you'll have to wait to see ziplining pictures tomorrow friends!) and today will be pics of Scott's birthday bash at Juniors. Some fun videos included :-)

Scott was extremely indecisive on where he wanted to either have dinner or a party or drinks somewhere, so this ended up being a somewhat "last minute" event. I secretly hit up all of his friends to make sure they would be there, and duhh of course they showed up! Scott was surpised thinking it was only going to be a few friends - but when you work at Dell, word of "drinks" spreads quickly and sooner than you think practically half the floor shows up! I think he had fun :)

Here is the funny vid of the dancing going on....

We even found the most Epic Mustache of the Night!!!! Scott was obsessed about getting a picture of this! This guy's expressions were priceless!

Scott showing off "his moves" to the ladies!

I was SO excited to see Mallorie who came with Dave, and they were sweet enough to give Maddie a few of his albums (which she is now mildly obsessed - I warned you Dave! A bunch of 14 yr olds are about to go crazy! haha) anyway I wish I would have gotten a picture with her! Love that girl!!

At Midnight, it was so special everyone started shouting and cheering for MADDIE who officially turned 14 and we took RedBull shots to celebrate! When the bar closed, Scott was successfully hammered and we headed home to hang out pass out.

Huxley was so happy to see daddy again and gave him some birthday love!

Oh, and I had surprised Scott by secretly re-designing our bedroom before he got home from work... I don't have a before picture cause it was hideous. We have used Scott's blue/green plaid comforter for over 5 years and I'm pretty sure he's had it since he was a senior in HS. ick!! I have been DYING for a makeover forever, so when he got home I surprised him with this:

I LOVE it! We've never had anything on our walls, night stands, or even a nice comforter, and when he walked in.... I had to fight em to get UNDER the covers it was so comfortable!! I kind of want some more decorative pillows to put a little more color on the bed, any suggestions???

I love my boys :-) Happy Birthday boo!!

Get ready for my ziplining/oasis/fathers day post tomorrow!!

From Blog to Real Life Linkup!

First of all.... I reached my first little milestone today... 100 Followers!!!!!! Yay! Get ready for a big ole group giveaway with 9 fabulous ladies on July 1st!!! I can't wait!! XOXO Love y'all!



Today I am linking up with two beautiful ladies that blog over at Lovely Little Things & The Magnolia Pair. I actually heard about it from Dusty though who got me excited to do this linkup!!

I think this little questionnaire linkup is a great idea, because let's face it: who doesn't love meeting new bloggers, shouting out your favorites, and getting to know your blog friends better? I could name several bloggers that I wish that I lived 15 minutes away from so that we could hang out!
So you answer the questions here, and then you go over to those ladies blogs an/or twitter and let them know you gave em a shoutout! :-) So here is mine!

The Questions:

1. Do you have any real life blog friends?

Since I live in Austin, we have had several blogger meet ups and happy hours, and I have to say I just love all of these girls: Ruthie Hart, Mallorie Owens, Jenni D, Nikol Shiller, Shalyn Nelson, and Brittany W! We just have so much fun together so we try to meet together as often as possible! Out of all of them I probably see Ruthie the most since we attend the same Church.

2. Which blogger are you just dying to meet?

My Italian Sista ASHLEY from Luce Blog!! This girl and I have connected in so many ways through blogging for almost a year now and we exchange emails all the time! This is one of those things where she just happens to live in DC, so we are already talking about me takin a flight there someday just to meet her! She has the kindest heart, her faith shines through her blog daily, her love for her man is so sweet, and she is so talented havnig her own shop - she's recently started making these cute little bowtie's for boys!

3. Which blogger's closet do you want to raid?

Steph from Beautiful Mess seriously always has the cutest clothes, boots, jewelry! Gahh even just pics of her home decor are fab! I would totally raid her closet. :-). Also would be a great excuse to hang out with her! She is so funny and her blog really shows her personality, I have been following her forever now! xo I briefly met her at a blogger hang out recently but there were so many of us gals never really gotta chance to chat much! ////// Another FABULOUS Fashion/Design Blogger I just LOVE is my girl ASHLYN from Let it be Beautiful! Gosh it seems like every day she is wearing an outfit straight off of Pinterest and she is so gorgeous! Half of the clothes I know I probably wouldn't look all that great in but gaw she can pull off anything! I love her style and her blog is super cute! I've started o get to know her better over the last two months and I am loving her! :)

4. You are stuck on an island. Which blogger would you want with you to help you survive?

Hmmm... this one really stumped me because I don't know many hiking, adventure, or "survivor" type bloggers... so I'm just going to go with bloggers that would be at least fun to be stuck on an island with (hopefully there would be a bar on the island too lol) Shalyn and Dusty from Girls Love Fried Pickles! These girls are always making me laugh and I know we'd have a good time.  

5. The first blogger you remember "meeting" and connecting with ?

The first two girls I connected with quickly and really enjoyed talking to are Heather from Finding Beauty in the Ordinary, and Ruthie Hart. They were both so helpful to me with blog-stuff and still today are super encouraging, and I love emailing/talking with them both! Love these girls!

6. Any blogger that you admire and look up to?

I know I just mentioned, but I have to say Heather from Finding Beauty. Everytime I talk to her, read her blog, read her testimony, it just amazes me how gracious, strong minded, and gorgeous she really is! She and her hubby are about to have a beautiful baby girl, she is so great at putting her faith into writing, no matter how many followers she may have you are always treated like her greatest friend, you can just tell by talking to her what a great person she is. :-) I love her heart and I definitely admire her writing abilities when talking about faith, fear, life, triumphs, sometimes I am not that great at wording how I feel about things.

7. Who is the craziest/funniest blogger?

These girls are my fav - everytime I read their blog I am laughin about something! Shalyn with her enthusiasm - the first time I met her she did a heel stretch!, Dusty who is always so positive but has a funny twist of sarcasm.. also I learned this word going around "Hot Snot?" lol, and Steph from Beautiful Mess who is a mixture of both being so enthusiastic and sarcastic at the same time! These are the girls you wish attended happy hour with you every week!  

8. There's a reality television show for bloggers, who would you want to be casted with you?

I am pretty confident the "Real Housewife Bloggers of Austin" would take over television! We had a Co-Ed party a few weeks ago with these girls and their hubbies, and it was hilarious. All of us are so different in so many ways I think it'd make a really fun & crazy show! (Ruthie Hart, Mallorie Owens, Jenni D, Nikol Shiller, Shalyn Nelson, and Brittany W)

9. Some bloggers have really cool jobs, anybody you'd like to swap careers with?

I know she'd never swap with me but I am actually striving to get back in school and get my RN like she has! Brittany is a nurse which is what I've always wanted to be and WILL be someday! I met her through twitter more than blogging, but she also is from Louisiana which I looove!

10. Favorite blog design?

My favorite designs are Megan from And Here's to You Mrs. Robinson (love love love her!!), Alana from Mrs. Alana's Miscellany,  whose design was created by Katie Price (who actually designed my blog too - love love her too!), Jenni from Story of My Life, and Nikol from Who's Austin!!  

 

and my OWN Question/Answer:

 

11. New FAV Blog that you must go check out:

BROOKE from Loving This Unique Life! Brooke is new to the blog world. I've known Brooke for a long time and funny enough she ALSO graduated with Ruthie and me! :-) Go show her some love right now! :) You will love her! kthx!

HAPPY FRIDAY, Y'ALL!

Today is also my kings birthday, Scottie!!! Who is turning 28!!!! Tomorrow is my little sister, Maddie's birthday who will be 14, and so we'll be super busy but I'll take TONS of pics for yall as I have a fun Saturday birthday surprise planned for them! :).

See you Monday!!

Torchy's Thursday

Yep, that is right. If you have ever been to Austin & have not eaten Torchy's - you are missing out!

 

Torchy's Tacos has a few select locations in central/south Austin but my favorite is the trailer off South 1st St! My breakfast taco had eggs, potatos, and brisket with cheese! I can only do Torchy's sometimes when I'm craving a "damn good taco". I highly recommend everyone has at least 1 taco from here! They do everything, not just breakfast but all the way from ahi tuna tacos to monster burrito tacos & NOTHING is over 7 bucks! Love it.

Anyway, enough rambling about my love for Torchy's... this morning I was so tired! We got word about 9:30pm last night that Scott's BFF and his honey were in town due to their cousin's softball tourney and needed a place to stay. If you know me - I LOVE having company, and what great timing that I just happened to had cleaned the house the day before (wahooo!). I love Scott's buddy Phillup! He and Lacey are so much fun to be around... the last time we saw them was from New Years... oh boy and did we have fun.

Yeah... I'm not sure what the F we are doing either... haha

Aren't they just the cutest couple? Love them!

So they are in town until tomorrow morning and we plan on hitting up the Oasis tonight for the sunset!

Tomorrrrrrowwwwww is my 5th Anniversary with Scottie! :) We have reservations at a super nice Steak house and Winery in Austin at 8pm tomorrow night! So excited! I'm even more excited about our future & getting to spend many more years with this amazing man....

Monday Randoms

Hey, friends! Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend! There was so much going on here in Austin with the Derby, Pecan Festival, Lonestar Jam, and just Cinco de Mayo in general!

Soo my first week at my new job has been truly a blessing how great it was! A lot of software training and talking with the CEO daily on things I should know, also reading a book called, "The E Myth Revisited", by Michael Gerber. It's actually a really great book if you are a small business owner! I have resonated with a lot in the book and I know that if you own an etsy shop or even a small business locally - this book is a great read with great advice!

Friday we had some plans fall through, so ended up taking it easy and watching some movies. Huxley was not complainin about some good ole R&R time!

I got my business phone in, and it's going to take some time to get used to an android!? I have had an iphone4 for about 4 months now and I finally just got used that that! haha Oh and if you're with AT&T, don't try to port your number over to your Business phone because they want to charge $285(!?!?) Insane..

It's a Samsung Glaxy SII Epic 4g Touch? Anyone have one? What do you think???!

This afternoon, I'll be taking my very first ever Business trip! It probably sounds silly on how excited I am!! My boss and I will be carpooling to Dallas together and our conference will be at a nice hotel downtown called the Hilton Anatole.. I'll be there til Thursday to meet all of my vendors, clients, and do a few trainings... Tonight they're having a "Mad Men" themed party to break the ice and so there will be poker, martinis, scotch, etc! I can't wait, should be a fun few days of work (didn't know those two words could be used in the same sentence before)!!

Yesterday after Church I got to witness a dear friend's husband get baptised and several others...it was very powerful and moving to see so many people pubically give themselves to the Lord and forgive their sins... To read more and see some pictures, check out Ruthie's post today about her hubby. So moving!

Scott now has to work on Sundays so it's nice to have people I know at Church to connect with. Saw two girls from Small group and the sermon was just perfect for me. You always know it's a moving experience in Church when you are crying by the end! I think what got me is this girl I've never heard sing before did the last song as David Crowder's "How he loves..." Ohh man. She was great.

Spent most of yesterday afternoon doing laundry, packing for this trip, and watching some re runs of one of my favs, Law and Order. (SVU of course!) This is actualy one of Huxley's new favorite shows...

Hope you all get a good laugh out of Huxleys obsession with this episode with the dry erase board! LOL I could not stop laughing I replayed this like 4 times before even recording it...

Happy Monday! Will be bloggin' from D town tomorrow!!

Weekend Recap

Well it's official. Huxley LOVES people. We took him to Third Base (a local Sports Bar about 2 minutes away from mi casa) on Saturday night to watch the Rangers play. Of course he was the most well behaved dog, seriously - he just slept in my lap or cuddled and kissed people the whole time! So cute!

We also got to visit his favorite Cousin, Dottee, who he LOVES playing with! Dottee is a Shitzu-Bichon mix and is about just under two years old. She is the same size and just as hyper as Huxley - so let's just say they both got a FULL nights rest afterwards!

We also had friends over yesterday to watch football (GEAUX SAINTS!) and I whipped up some more of those Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies (recipe here). It was so much fun, Scott even busted out his guitar! I may or may not have a few vids to post later! hehe

Unfortunately 7am Monday morning came quickly this week, so I'm stocked up with coffee, a diet coke, a breakfast taco, banana, and plenty of water to jump start my day! :) Here are some random pictures throughout our weekend!

What did you do this past weekend??????

[linking up here and here]