Juliet's Lingerie Shower + White Sangria Recipe / April 2017

Hello friends! I hope that you had a great weekend! Ours was packed with social activities, and it ended up being so fun. We had a bit of downtime on Sunday which was also nice!

The biggest part of my weekend was hosting (one of my best friends), Juliet's lingerie shower! She's getting married at the end of May, and since she lives in Taiwan... she can't have normal bridal showers (where would she put the stuff?!). Lingerie however, is traditionally very packable. ;) 

We had such a fun time, it was a small group of us, about half of her bridal party, and it was a great sized group!

Decor:

Tassels - DIY here. I got a HUGE package of tissue paper at TJMaxx for $2.99.
Balloons - Target Dollar Spot, y'all! ($5 each)
Milk Glass Vases + Flowering Culinary Sage - you can get milk glass at thrift stores and I keep this collection on the mantle in our new space! Culinary sage were the most wild looking flowers I could find in town, super pretty! Adding the flowers made my everyday vases look more festive!

Food:

Drinks - Strawberry Mint Margaritas, Gin/Blueberry Drink (SO STRONG! I recommend adding a bit more cranberry!), and White Sangria (recipe below).
Food - appetizers, crudite, and pretzels.
Desserts - spice cupcakes, blueberry pavlova (I changed the blueberry jam a bit), and Birthday Cake Popcorn.

White Wine Peach Sangria

1 bottle of white wine
1/2 cup peach vodka (any peach liquor will do)
2 peaches sliced (or 1 small bag of frozen sliced peaches)
1 orange, sliced
1 1/4 cups of orange juice
1/4 cup sugar (to taste, very optional!)
ginger ale/club soda to taste (1/2 liter)

1) Mix all ingredients aside from ginger ale/club soda. Let chill for at least one hour (I made it the night before).
2) Add ginger ale/club soda immediately before serving.

Games:

The Panty Game - each guest is instructed to bring a pair of panties, they should be unwrapped and put into a bag/box as guests arrive. Then, hang each pair of panties up, and have the bride guess which pair is from which guest. There are several versions to this game, in one nothing happens if you guess incorrectly, this time we played that you have to try on the pair that you guessed incorrectly and model for your guests (over your clothing ;). Would you guys like the PDF of the sign I made for the bag?

Marriage Advice Madlib - KC and I made a madlib (I didn't like any existing ones!) that was around the topic of marriage advice. I designed a PDF and printed them for the guests. Reading them was a blast, and they definitely got a little naughty. We all laughed so hard. Would you guys like this PDF?! 

Disney Love Song Guessing Game, get that printable, here. Some of them were pretty tough, and it got us all singing Disney songs. hehe :) 

Extras:

Our baking store went out of business last summer, so Jessica and I (figuring we'd be hosting something... ;) gathered up some cute party crown/hats, and matching cupcake liners with toothpick tassels. They were cute and fun little touches.

I always like to use white serving platters if I can. Ours are packed right now, but I think they really help! 

I used these carafes for our drinks. They are so handy, simple, cheap, and cute.

Lastly, we gave nail polish favors. I like to get Essie because they're nicer polish. I get mine at TJMaxx, because they're $3-4 cheaper each. :) I put a little tag on each that said, "to a lifetime of getting nailed!" - thanks, Pinterest!

Have you guys ever thrown a bridal shower or lingerie shower?

What is your go-to food to make for a crowd?

XO,

Alexandra

Berry Delicious Game Night {recipes #63, 64 & 65}

A while ago, we had a game night with our good friends Emy and Matthew.

It was the first time we had really had people over to our apartment and we wanted to do something fun. We decided to play several games including Ticket to Ride (above). 

We also wanted to have some yummy food and drink available. This was over the summer so we decided to utilize a LOT of fresh berries. 

So here are recipes 64, 65 & 66:

Berry Sangria {+ simple syrup} & Mini Berry Trifles {whipped cream}

Berry Sangria

{Borrowed Adapated and Enjoyed from 101 Sangrias and Pitcher Drinks by Kim Haasarud}

Ingredients:

 3/4 cup of 3 of the following berries {strawberries (hulled and sliced), blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries

3/4 cup simple syrup 

1 bottle of red wine

1/2 cup of triple sec

1/2 cup berry flavored vodka

1 cup orange juice

1) In a saucepan, combine all of your chosen berries {we used blueberries, strawberries and raspberries} with the simple syrup {recipe below} over low heat. Stir constantly until berries just begin to soften and discolor.

2) Combine the remaining ingredients in a large ceramic or glass container. Add the berry mixture {berries and liquid} and stir well. 

3) Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Serve in Pretty Glasses and Enjoy!

Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup hot water

1) In a bowl, glass or empty wine bottle mix the sugar and hot water. Stir or shake until completely dissolved. Let cool  completely before using. {this sangria recipe you cook the simple syrup with the berries, so it doesn't really require cooling!}

Mini Berry Trifles

This recipe really isn't that new to most people, its just store-bought pound cake, sugared berries and whipped cream. What makes it count as one of my recipes is just that I made the whipped cream from scratch, which I had never done! But it was VERY worth it!

Ingredients:

Pound Cake 

Sugared Berries of your choice {cleaned, sliced and hulled if necessary}

1 pint of heavy cream

1 T. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Mix the berries with sugar to taste and set aside.

2) Slice, Tear or crumble the pound cake into small pieces.

3) Whip the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract with a hand mixer until fluffy.

4) Set up the ingredients buffet style and let your guests build their own mini trifles by layering the ingredients to their liking!

 

Enjoy!

What is your favorite way to use berries?

All for now,

Alexandra

Summer Is Over. Bucketlist Review.

Summer is over.

That is sad, but I am really pleased with everything I/we accomplished this summer. 

Because of the extreme Kansas heat, we decided to postpone some of these for the fall (marked with a *). Others just didn't get finished... and that's ok.

1) go camping*

2) watch brother bear

3) have s'mores

4) find a dance workout DVD that i like

5) have a garage sale/organize & consolidate belongings

6) go on at least 1 trip (somewhere new)

7) see fireworks

8) go to La Bodega 

9) stargaze 

10) watch beauty & the beast

11) go antiquing

12) take Kyle to an art museum

13) get an iphone

14) treat loved ones to a french toast breakfast

15) sew something

16) get into a workout routine with Kyle

17) have a LOTR marathon

18) go to Birdies

19) turn 22 and get a birthday cake shot at Henry's

20) have a picnic*

21) join the Merc

22) go swimming

23) consolidate banks

24) make a berry pie

25) garden (in the plot)- gave ours away - no time

26) work on my Miller scrapbook

27) read at least 2 classic novels (just finished 1)

28) make pop sickles

29) get wedding pictures done (at least partially)

30) clean Molly (the car)

31) watch Star Wars (all of them)

32) find a new board game or card game that I like

33) update insurance stuff

34) try a new margarita recipe

35) host a gathering

36) watch treasure planet

37) have at least 1 outdoor adventure

38) go to the farm*

39) go antiquing

40) go to Dave & Buster's

41) watch Poseidon

42) make something for our home

43) read at least 5 books

44) go to a drive in movie

45) try at least 3 new restaurants

46) begin travel scrapbook

47) try a new sangria recipe

48) go on a road trip (even a day trip)

49) watch Anastasia

50) get a coloring book

51) finish one creative project 

Additional Summer(early fall) Achievements:

- Got a new doctor

-purchased a "professional" wardrobe for my internship

-watched all 3 seasons of the vampire diaries

-finished watching Gilmore Girls all the way through with Kyle

-thrifted like there was no tomorrow

How did you guys do this summer?

What are your goals for the fall/winter? I have started thinking about mine. List Coming Soon! :) 

All for now,

Alexandra 

A Tribute To My Top 10 Summer 2010

A Tribute To My Top 10 Summer 2010

(In no specific order)

1)  Botticelli 

Primavera is my favorite, and The Birth of Venus always reminds me of Noel :)

2) Antique Buttons

These have already been put onto rings, but I love them so much! Each one has its own story.

3) Sangria

 So pretty! So delicious!

4) My lamp from the Antique Mall 

 Its just adorable!

5) Zooey Deschanel

From Shape Magazine. 

Zooey is beautiful, quirky and super fun to watch. (500) Days of summer was so cute as were her outfits. She's one of my style icons.

6) Iced Mochas

Starbucks is not my favorite place by any means, but the picture is what I was looking for. I love signs of life and java break in Lawrence. Iced Mocha no whipped cream = an amazing summer drink!

7)Tapas 

I keep kicking myself for not having my camera when we went to La Bodega in KC MO. Its the most wonderful place. Tapas (little meals) are a wonderful very Spanish way of tasting the cuisine, a little bit of everything without having to stuff yourself! Delicious. If you are ever in KC check out La Bodega 

http://www.labodegakc.com/

8)Vintage Singer Sewing Machines!

 

I love the 1947 Singer that my grandma gave me over the summer! Not only a new adventure but a super cute one at that! I only wish I could make it fit in my room at Miller!

9) Riders of the Purple Sage 

My first western and favorite summer read. A love story and adventure all in one. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the DVD. :) 

10) Sundresses 

 This is my newest sundress. I got it at Francesca's Boutique and I just love it. the sweet heart neckline and 50's style are really flattering on my hourglass figure. 

It was a good summer, with lots of lovely inspiration!

Alexandra

Birthday 2010 Swatchboard Part II!

Part II! 

 Cuddling :) 

View from in between the boards. Really beautiful.

I especially like this one!

Such a great contrast between the green and the grey!

Cute Tokyo Milk Pocket Mirror. :) I had had my eye on it for a while, but I got it for $2 score!

My parents made me birthday Sangria! YUM! Its just as yummy as it is pretty!!

Alexandra