Favorite Things Parties are all the rage back home. I was surprised to hear from friends here in Nashville that no one had really heard of the concept--which naturally fueled my desire to host my first one. Oh, you've never heard of a Favorite Things Party either? Quite simply, you corral your BFFs, all of whom bring a snackeroo and five of their favorite under-$5 item (or whatever you decide on, collectively--some people go for a three items under $10 situation. I say, you do you, boo)... you nosh on all of the food, swap items and go home with something fancy you otherwise likely wouldn't have bought for yourself.

More specifically, here's what I did:

• Sent a crafty e-vite to all my best girls. It was a prime opportunity to overlap my friend groups, all in the name of food and fancy little surprises.
• We agreed upon the five under $5 model, and everyone decided which dish they'd bring--we stuck to appetizers, desserts and BYOB which worked like a charm. Gifts were to be wrapped and kept a surprise.
• Pre-party, I wrote everyone's name down on five colored snippets of paper and tossed them into a fishbowl--after we socialized and stuffed our faces, everyone was instructed to grab five slips from the bowl (being careful not to grab their own color).
• Keeping their names secretive, we gradually went around our circle, describing our item of choice, and joyously passed each of our five items to their new owners!
• At the conclusion of the gift distribution, I passed out a quiz I had created, listing all kinds of favorite things--everything from favorite breakfast food and favorite quote from a parent, to favorite part of town and place to spend a rainy afternoon in Nashville. It was a really funny way for everyone to get to know each other better. Each girl got a point for an original answer--just like Scattergories (for each answer that was duplicated, the responders had to mark that one off--no points gained!). At the end, the girl with the most points received a prize I put together (Starbucks gift card tucked in a paper cup, reusable Target bag, fun socks, etc.)
• Prior to the party, I had also personalized bags, so each gal had something to toss her gems into (as seen above).
• I also put together some of my favorite things as favors for each attendee: sharpie pens, Tazo teabags, stationery that I created just for the occasion.

Here are my spoils from the evening! Nail polish was a huge trend--I gave my beloved top coat away.


Some of the other goods that were brought were mascara and coffee mugs. My friend Mikki has a friend with an etsy store who created custom hair ties for our party--and stamped Mikki's face as a seal of approval on the tag!


Sidenote: Mikki (who originated as a work friend) is leaving Nashville in a few weeks, and I have now immortalized her adorable stamped face in my office forever.

And some more snapshots from the eve (forgive the shoddy iphone origin):






Happy planning!

so... this past week did a pretty spectacular job of knocking me on my ass. I come to you, clad in rumpled PJ pants (ST is an eskimo and our thermostat is constantly at an arctic setting), haphazard topknot perched at the crown of my head, a freshly groomed Maiz, snugsing at my feet. It's safe to say I've done my best to spend the day relaxing, after:


monday? last night of community group (and the conclusion to a pretty intense 14-week bible study).
tuesday? lots and lots of brainstorming and discussion at my junior league council retreat. after driving out to the 'burbs to take dinner to a friend who just had a baby.
wednesday?  much-anticipated dinner plans (which turned into a five-hour event, complete with side-splitting laughter) with one of our dearest friends from our early days in birmingham.
thursday? skimm day happy hour, followed by an impromptu date night at patterson house (and three amazing drinks later...)
friday? a rough start to the day due to aforementioned date night, followed by a long workday and swinging out to see my former nannying charge dazzle and perform in her dance recital.


Today, we rounded it all out with church, our friends' sweet baby dedication at church, and a late Italian feast of a lunch, just me and the boys. This past week, I also knocked out a huge freelance project I do annually, and to claim it's a weight off my shoulders is a gross understatement. I didn't quite realize how heavy it was until I wrapped it up.

I'm eager to tackle this week--and the anticipation of all of our upcoming plans--with as carefree an attitude as I can muster!

Have a great week, y'all!

Another week down... springtime is in full force and I am practically jubilant.

...as is my little dog, who has been getting lots and lots of time on the greenway.

...as is my sweet guy, who has found his way back to his beloved grill, which has delighted me to no end. We'll basically stay camped out on our patio for the next six months--God willing--and I couldn't be happier. Uhhh, bonus: I got the man who doesn't touch green anything to eat zucchini. Total win in my book.

I hosted my Favorite Things Party on Wednesday (more on that later), and it was a total blast. I have the best friends. I love any setting hat affords me the chance to intermingle my various friend groups--and this one was just perfect.

Hope you have a lovely week! What are you most looking forward to this week?

Hello! Happy hump day! Here's a little of what's going on in my world, as far as the internet is concerned:

• I heard about this TED Talk on my beloved Call Your Girlfriend podcast last night, watched today and just loved it. I know TED Talks usually warrant yawning, but rest easy, this is about 22 minutes long, and all about how your body language shapes others' perceptions of you. Fascinating.
  
• Scarlet and Gold offers free webinars on calligraphy... pretty neat! (and now my Amazon cart is full of calligraphy supplies. True story.)
• Anthro makes adorable barre socks! Who knew?
• Obsessed with this song. And the video is kinda laughable.
• Do you have a first aid kit for your pup? I definitely need to throw one together... if for no other reason than to have yet one more thing dedicated to my pup.
• Oyster's list of Top 100 Books of the Decade is pretty awesome... and a reminder that I need to up my reading game.
• ...and my writing game. I really like this little exercise and have implemented it into my everyday.
• So, I've never owned nice aviators... and apparently Nordstrom price matches now, so it might just be the time.

donning: geranium. forever.
reading: girl on the train (hawkins), don't waste your life (piper), get big things done (dhawan, joni)
watching: mad men (yawn... just ready for it to be buttoned up). still can't stop thinking about this week's episode of john oliver. homeboy interviewed edward snowden and it was endlessly fascinating.
sipping on: iced dirty chai with coconut milk. trust.
coveting: new swimsuits for summer vacation! gah, like this sexy one-piece.

Entirely too much fun stuff has been going down lately to try to recap it all into four teeny pictures. And thus? I'm going wild with six.

For starters, we just had the best Easter... a heartwarming sermon followed by a lazy lunch outside, catching up with our dearest friends (and their perfect charmer of a baby boy). My workday afternoons have been peppered with a refreshing go-to: peach green tea lemonade (run, don't walk... I've had four in the past week). I indulged in another Crema class with my girlfriends and learned all about taste and evaluation... or a little about it anyway. ST and I sampled Butchertown Hall for the first time--gah, unreal. My BBQ-loving beast of a man was more than pleased. Last week, the boys and I moseyed to the teeny lake near our house to feed the ducks as the sun sank into the hills. Most successfully, perhaps, I convinced ST to hang my patio lights, despite his hesitations about how bad-ass they would look... he's since conceded, and has repeatedly told me how good they look. Cue the fist-bump.

Autumn has long been my favorite time of year, but at the risk of sounding hokey, this spring has really been magical so far.

Have a great week, lovelies!

...what do you have on the docket for April?