Happy Hump Day, friends! Almost half way through the work week!
I mentioned in Monday's Weekend Wrap Up post, that I hosted a "Favorite Things" Party on Friday night. I've heard about "Favorite Things Parties" all over blogland over the years, and I thought it would be so fun to host one.
My brother was gracious enough to let me host the party on his beautiful patio. He recently got married and is selling his house. His backyard has been the site of many family parties, graduation parties, outdoor movie nights, etc. Perfect backyard/patio for entertaining!
I invited a bunch of friends (30+) knowing that not everyone would be able to attend, but I wanted to have a big fun group! I asked everyone to pick one "favorite thing" (nail polish, lotion, kitchen gadget, wine, book, household product, etc), and bring 5 of them. The idea was to share with everyone else, something they can't live with out, or something they just love. The maximum was $10 per item, but I stressed that $5-$6 was plenty. It wasn't about the cost of the item. I also asked everyone to bring their favorite dessert or appetizer.
The patio/yard:
I had a table set up for the guests to write their name on 6 slips of paper (in addition to the 5 items, I had a special drawing for some of my special favorite items) to place in to a large vase. Each guest would have a chance to talk about their "favorite thing" and then draw 5 names out. Those 5 guests would get the "favorite thing"
I put together "Swag Bags" for everyone, for the favorites they got to go home with:
The food spread was fabulous! Oh, and I also made Peach Sangria! So delish! Recipe to come soon!
The "Favorite Things" were so creative! I loved it!
We had wine, easter beauty items, quinoa, visors, body spray, gel insulated wine bags, hand sanitizer, almond butter, candied pecans, diet coke, coasters, sugar cookies, etc. So many fun things!
After our favorite things, I held a special drawing for some of my additional "favorite things"! I had some super fabulous peeps donate items to the party and I can't thank them enough! In fact, I will have a whole separate post thanking them!
Did you have a great weekend? I am still recovering, I think. We are trying to pack everything in to these last weekends of summer!
On Friday night, I was able to check off two more items off of my 2012 Summer Bucket List! I hosted a Girl's Night Out on the Patio, and served Peach Sangria. I'm slowly chipping away at the list, but I have to realize that I am not going to complete it before summer is over. Sadness. I think I may have to add the word "Fall" to the list, and continue on until it snows!
Anyway, I took off work a little early on Friday, to set up for the party. It was a "Favorite Things" party, which I will post more about later this week. There are too many details to cover in a weekend wrap up post. Here is a sneak peek:
It was well past midnight before I went to bed, and I was up early, early to spend a bit of time helping out with my church's yard sale. I wasn't able to stay too long as I had a full day ahead. First of all were a few errands that needed to be taken care of, then if was off to the summer corporate games where Carl was playing on his work's softball team. They were hoping to win the first 2 games which would put them in the championship game at 5:00 pm. They did it! We had plans to attend the Salt Lake Bees baseball game later that night with my employer, so we were hoping they would win the championship game and not have an "if" game. Well, they won the championship! It was great! They did awesome!
We were able to run over to my parents house, so Carl could quickly shower and we could head out to the Bees game. It was the perfect night for baseball!
The game was a lot of fun, and we were able to invite our friends Kristyn and Dave as well. They even had fireworks after the game. It made for another late night but, another item was check off the bucket list! That makes three items, this weekend! Can I get a woot woot?
Sunday was spent relaxing, doing laundry, trying to get the house back in shape and putting this together out on the patio:
We got a smoking deal, since most all patio furniture is on clearance right now! Love it!
I hope you had a FABULOUS weekend! I'd love to hear about it! Let me know what the best part of your weekend was!
For me, it was the Favorite Things Party on Friday night. I love to get together with my girlfriends for a fun night of catching up!
On Friday night, I checked off another item from my 2012 Summer Bucket List by attending an outdoor concert at Red Butte Garden. My friend Arri is a season ticket holder and she invited our friend Kristyn and I to the Colbie Caillet and Gavin DeGraw show. We had a fabulous time! Well, except for the 20 minute down pour that delayed the concert by about 30 minutes! 🙂
If you have a chance to see a concert at Red Butte Garden, I highly recommend it! It's a beautiful venue, nestled up to the gorgeous Utah mountains. There is VIP chair seating, but most people prefer to spread out a blanket and chairs and bring a picnic dinner. You are allowed to bring in food and alcohol, and some people are really creative with their set up! Tables, candles, etc. So much fun!
When we arrived (well, after our friends waited in line to save a spot for HOURS – that is the one downfall), we got all set up with our blankets, chairs, food and drinks!
Once we got all set up and started to eat and drink….the clouds rolled in and it rained.
What a downer!
Thank God, I covered my drink and bag of food, right? Priorities!
Once the rain stopped, the fun began!
Then my phone died, and then were no more photos!
But take my word for it……lots of singing and dancing and having a blast! I really enjoyed both Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillet! They both did a great job keeping the crown entertained and involved!
If you are in Utah, you really should check out Red Butte Garden Concert Series! Or any other outdoor concert series in your area! There is something fabulous about sitting outside listening to live music!
Question for you: What was the last outdoor concert you attended? Or any concert for that matter?
Another fun and jam packed weekend in the books! I can't believe how fast they seem to fly by! I'm thinking 3-day weekends are much needed!
On Friday night, I was able to check off another item from my 2012 Summer Bucket List. I attended an outdoor concert at Red Butte Garden with some super fun gal pals of mine. Even though we got rained on for a bit, we had a blast. I will post more about the concert later in the week!
Saturday, Carl and I ran a few errands to grab supplies for another item to be checked off the bucket list. (I'm having a Girl's Night Out on the patio on Friday) I got some fun things!
After the errands, we picked up Madison and headed out to an early dinner at Desert Edge Brewery. I've been eating here for 25+ years, back when it was just called The Pub. We sat outside on the patio (love patio dining!) and started our meal with the usual chardonnay and hefewiezen (sprite for Madison)
My favorite item on the menu is the Friday Pasta of the Day, which is the Italian Pasta Salad (proscuitto, mozzarella, peas, tomato, olives and lettuce w/pasta). It wasn't Friday (obviously) so, I decided to branch out and try something new. I went for the Crab Cake Salad and it did not disappoint! SO delish. The crab cakes were nice and tender, and the chipotle aioli was perfect!
Madi had the Nachos, which are always a good choice! Very cheesy and the portion is a very nice size!
Carl chose the Guajillo Chile Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich with Gouda Cheese. He substituted the Gouda with American Cheese though. He said it was awesome!
After dinner we checked out Craft Lake City, It was super hot outside, but we had a great time checking out a lot of local crafters!
On Sunday, we spent some time at the pool and then went out to my parents house to celebrate my cute Dad's birthday. Sadly, I didn't take any pics at all on Sunday. Lame, I know.
Right now, Carl and I are relaxing at home watching the closing ceremonies. My fave part so far?
The Spice Girls, of course! LOVE THEM!
Back to work in the morning! Ugh!
Question for you: What was the highlight of your weekend?
For me, it was the concert at Red Butte! So much fun!
Hello friends! Sorry about the lack in posting this week! My internet modem died last week, and we just got a new one yesterday. Finally, internet again!
I haven't talked much about crafting lately and I don't really have too much to say today, except…….
I have been on the waiting list for this fabulous weekend for almost a year. Only 12 crafters per weekend, and you are picked via lottery. I will be going in November. I couldn't be more excited!
Check out Meg's Craft Weekend blog, to see what this is all about! So many fun projects! I can't wait!
Good Morning, and Happy Monday! Did you have a great weekend? I had a pretty great weekend, but as usual the weekend just goes by way too fast!
We started our weekend with out internet modem dying. Nice. You don't realize just how much you rely on that darn internet, until you don't have it! In fact, this post is coming to you via Starbucks and their free wifi!
I didn't get a workout in on Friday evening, like I usually do. Carl and I had plans to attend a retirement/anniversary/graduation party for some friends of ours, and I wasn't in the mood to try and cram a workout and shower in a short time span. I decided to take a quick nap instead! And I loved it!
I woke up starving on Saturday, so I decided to throw together a Caprese Frittata. Nothing fancy, just added mozarella, tomatoes and fresh basil to eggs/egg whites. It turned out pretty good!
We spent most of the afternoon at the softball fields. The company Carl works for participates in the Salt Lake Corporate Games ever year, and they had two softball games scheduled. They won both, by HUGE margins and play again in two weeks. They've definitely got some "ringers" on their team!
We were starving after the games, so we decided to grab some dinner at Lucky 13. Before our dinner arrived, we enjoyed a Chardonnay and a Hefeweizen on the patio. It was nice to just relax and do some people watching!
For dinner Carl ordered the Celestial Burger, and I chose the Loaded Grilled Cheese. Lucky 13 is known for their burgers, and I should have ordered one. Carl's burger was delicious, but my grilled cheese was mediocre. Bummer. Live and learn, right?
After dinner, we hung out at home and watched MORE Olympics. We can't enough!
Sunday, Madison and I had plans to meet some friends at the pool. It was nice to catch up with them and spend time relaxing in the sun. I love days at the pool! I need a pool in my backyard! Now! Carl?
It had been a few weeks since we had taken Chloe back to the Dog Park, so Carl and I packed up a picnic dinner and Chloe, and met Madi at the park. Chloe is still getting used to all the big dogs at the park, but she seems to have a great time. She was exhausted when she got home!
We spent the rest of the evening watching, yup you guessed it! More Olympics!
How was your weekend? What was the best part for you?
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great Monday!
Happy Friday, Friends! Are you super, excited for the weekend? I am! It's been a little bit of a rough week and I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit!
I wanted to tell you about something fun I got to do on Wednesday night! I had the opportunity to take a Zumba Master Class from Lindsey Taylor, who is a Zumba Education Specialist and International presenter and trainer for Zumba Fitness. She is FABULOUS!
One of my cute Zumba teachers Brittany, invited a few of her students to come take the class with her. Lindsey is getting ready to teach a huge class at the Zumba Convention next week, and wanted to try out her presentation. It was awesome! She had two great back up dancers with her (forgot to grab a picture of her with them), that were amazing! Both of them could MOVE! Lindsey broke down a bunch of hip hop/house dance moves for us during the first hour of class, so we could "master" them, and then she taught a full hour zumba class. We also learned about Waacking and Voguing (which was very interesting). The night was a lot of fun, and definitely had my heart pumping! Lindsey is such a great performer and I know she will have her class at convention hopping!
Before class:
Kanoni, Sophie, Brittany, Me, Michele and Callie
Below was our "sexy pose", haha! Michele and I didn't get the memo! We just smiled for the camera!
That was our "sexy pose". Michele and I didn't get the memo! We just smiled for the camera!
We stopped for a bite to eat at Kneaders and laughed and laughed and laughed! Love nights out with the girls, and getting a little excercise in too, makes it even better!
Question for you: Have you ever taken a Master Class (yoga, zumba, dance, etc)? If so, did you like it?
Good Morning! How is your Tuesday going? So far, so good for me, but I am super sore!
I've talked about my love for GPP and Zumba plenty of times here on my blog, and last night was one of the reasons I love them both so much!
First up was The Eliminator:
Oh my hell. Talk about a crazy, exhausting workout! Carl, Tyson and I all did it together – well at the same time I should say. Tyson powered through like it was no big deal. Strong boy! I'm not sure how long it took Carl or Tyson to finish round FOUR, but it took me 10:39. A long time. Considering the super fit Candice finished in 5:56 and Janetha finished in just over 7 minutes after being on vacation for a few weeks. I'm going to chalk it up to being 20+ (hello! I could be their mother!) years older than those two awesome girls!
I had time for a quick energy boost, and then it was right in to Zumba! Teresa had our heart rates up super fast, by dropping and getting some push ups going right away! My heart rate was crazy high for the whole class, but I loved it! Such a great workout!
Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got home. My hr was still hovering above 100 while I was sitting on the couch! A quick check of my Polar, showed I burned just over 800 calories with both classes. Love it!
It's time for another Weekend Wrap Up post! Although, I was lame this weekend and didn't take any pictures! Duh!
As usual, my weekend begins at 4:31 pm on Friday! The minute I am off work! :) I wasn't able to make it to GPP on Friday night, but I did get to Zumba with Teresa! Great class! Teresa is incorporating weights in to her Zumba classes, which you can read about HERE. Pretty awesome!
After Zumba, I raced home to meet up with Carl and Tyson to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Oh, and I can't forget….we got take out from Cafe Rio. Have you tried Cafe Rio? So good! Love, love, love it!
Anyway, back to the Opening Ceremonies. I didn't love them (like Beijing), but I did enjoy them. Danny Boyle did a great job, and I love everything about the Olympics, so I wasn't disappointed! My favorite part was probably David Beckham. You just can't go wrong with him, right?
Saturday, I made another trip to the farmers market with two friends and Madison. It was fun! A little crowded and hot, but we still had a great time. We grabbed lunch at Tony Caputo's, which was pretty good, but a little pricey for what we got.
Saturday night, I had a fun dinner with some of my zumba friends at The Dodo in Sugarhouse. This is my absolute favorite restaurant, hands down. I've been eating here for years and years, and I've never had a bad experience. The food is fabulous, service is great and the desserts are out of this world (even though I don't like dessert!) If you haven't tried this restaurant, put it on your "must try" list! You won't be disappointed!
Such a fun group! We laughed and laughed for hours!
Sunday was a Bonco/Pool Party with my bonco group. The gal hosting bonco for the month, has a pool and invited us to stay and swim. It was so nice. One of my favorite things to do, is to just lay on a floatie in the pool. Heaven!
The rest of Sunday was spent watching more coverage of the Olympics. Loved watching the FAB FIVE!
That pretty much covers the weekend! And now we are back to Monday. Way too fast!
Question for you: What was the highlight of your weekend?
For me, it was a toss up! So many fun things this weekend! I loved watching the Opening Ceremonies with Tyson and Carl (and eating Cafe Rio), and I had a great time relaxing at the pool yesterday.
