Swap Party- A fun girls' night in!

This past Friday was one of my favorite girls' night out get togethers. It was Swap Party night!

For those who don't know what Swap Night is, don't worry. I didn't either until I went to my first one last November. Essentially, it is a night out with your girlfriends where you get to "shop" each other's clothes and accessories. Our group changes hostess responsibilities because it is quite the undertaking. You invite whoever you want. (Although I think if it gets too large it would be too overwhelming for all involved. You'll see why as I continue to explain.) Then, if you plan to attend you drop your swap items off at the hostess' home. Our group's rule is that you have to have at least 10 items to swap. It can be more. But all items should be in good condition. It isn't just the closet clean out that you may take to the donation spot in your town.

It's the items in your closet that you've loved but don't want to wear as much anymore. That item you got your family pictures in so you feel like it has had it's time. The fun accessory that you loved for a season but you've moved on from--whatever.

The hostess collects and arranges the items. At this past swap she had tops and dresses and such set up on clothes racks sorted by size; jeans, shorts and bottoms arranged by size laid out in another room, and accessories in one final room. Are you all seeing the genius of this night?? There were literally racks of clothes to choose from!!!

We all show up and eat, drink and "browse" that first hour.  Now- the first time I went, I was naive.  I browsed but didn't really try a ton on. I thought I knew what I liked or what would look good. This is my third or fourth swap and let me tell you what I've learned:

**Try on all the things.  Sometimes what looks ok on a hanger, looks GREAT on! Sometimes what says XS on the tag actually fits you like a dream. It is the weirdest thing how you can have all different shapes and sizes in a group and EVERYONE leaves with something! Seriously! It is like "Sister of the Traveling Pants" kind of magic.

**Take photos. Those items that you are crushing on? Take photos. When the actual picking begins, it can be hard to remember all the things you really loved and you don't want to forget. Remember you just tried on a million things so having a little photo roll to scroll back through becomes helpful.

**Be strategic.  That one thing you love but no one else really cared to look at? Don't pick that first. Because chances are no one else will pick that. Pick that one item you love that three other people like. Be sure you get it! ;)

So after we browse and try on, we draw numbers.  Here is why I say keep your swap party small-ish. At this last party we had eleven gals that could come.  You draw numbers 1-11 (duh) and then choose items based on your number. So number one has first pick and so on.  Then we work our way back down. So number 11 picks last, and then immediately picks again as we count down 11, 10, 9 etc. So being first or last is kind of a perk because you pick twice in a row.  You can see how this can take some time. So having 25 gal pals might sound like a blast with lots of things to choose from, but it would be a LOT of waiting around and, not to mention, a lot of inventory for the hostess to go through and organize.

We do several rounds of choosing. As we start to weed our way through our top picks we retry on things we might have missed as we wait. We pull things out and suggest them to a friend. Basically we keep going until people are kind of over what is left. Then we have a short free for all where we all grab anything we think we might want to have. I mean, free clothes so why not?

After the free for all, that's it! You have a full bag of items new to you that you get to go home with. I've gotten scarves, sandals, jeans, tops, dresses- sometimes with tags still on! (You all know that buyer remorse of getting something home and then going to wear it and not really loving it...but also never returning it. Swap it!!)

I think most girls would love a swap night with friends. It really is so, so fun and one of the events I most look forward to. Everyone that comes feels the same too. It is like a holiday we get so excited!

What are your favorite girls' night events?

Friday Favorites

Weeks are just flying by and trying to fit it all in is beyond crazy! This week was packed with fun and as I wrote out or September calendar, it seems like all our weeks are going to have the common theme of being packed!!!

This week I am just sharing some of my favorite moments from this past week!

{O N E}
Both our big boys are playing soccer this fall. Hudson moved up from Little Kritters to the U6 level. He has 45 minute practices once a week and a game every Saturday. He is the youngest on his team but plays with two of his best buds and the coach is one of our great friends.  It is so exciting to see them try hard and gain skills.

Beau is starting with Little Kritters. We do soccer through MidState (a popular program in our area that focuses on skill). The coaches are absolutely amazing. It is a half hour, once a week, and they learn how to control the ball, work on balance. I look forward to it every week!

Beau was a little leery so wanted me close by but he did awesome!

{T W O}
This summer I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and became a certified instructor for Cize Live. Cize is a brand new program from Beachbody. Cize Live takes the concept from the Cize at home program and puts into a live group fitness class format.  I was actually part of the first group of instructors to be certified and got to do my training with the creator of the program, Shaun T. and his crew.

I'm in the gray Nike tank! So much fun!

This week, a local gym scheduled me to teach class twice a week and an occasional Friday evening class! I am beyond excited! I LOVE this program and saw great results when I did it last month! I can't wait to share it with others even more!

If you are interested in the at home program, customized meal plans or an accountability group to help you get healthy, let me know! :)

{T H R E E}
Some of our closest friends found out this summer they were expecting their first baby! They had been trying for some time and so it was such wonderful news when they told us!! This week they found out the gender of the baby so another friend and I threw together a "Sweets and the Sex" gender reveal party. {I say threw together because I got a call late Monday morning that we were doing a gender reveal in just a few days! HA!!)

We served a variety of sweets and since mama and daddy to be were a dancer and football player in their earlier years, we decorated with a Tutu's or Touchdown theme.

I added letters for the Touchdown or Tutus theme.

Excuse the terrible flash. Guests voted what they thought the baby's gender was.

Dipped everything was my contribution! 

{F O U R}
I have naturally darker hair. It isn't a beautiful hue and so have colored my hair since college. I have gone light and dark but always love being dark. This summer I went lots lighter (my husband loves blondes! ;) ) and today I am going back to the dark side!

Is there anything more glorious than hair appointment day??? Here are some of the ideas I am throwing around.

My hair is no where near this long but I like the color.

Love this whole thing. I really like dark.

My hair is pretty close to this length. I love the layers. And her eyebrows. are they not on point??

Why must it take so long for hair to grow? I am dying for my hair to get longer but it isn't happening as quickly as I'd like.

That's all I have today! I hope you all enjoy your l-o-n-g weekend! We have a whole lot of nothing going on. Date night tomorrow, cookout Sunday. Sounds pretty perfect to me!

Andrea and the crew

Amy and Karli

Gabe turns ONE!

It happened. Saturday our sweet baby turned one. The first birthday is always really hard for me. I reflect on how fast the first year goes. I feel as though the stage of being a baby is over. All things baby seem to end (in our house): bottles, pacis. They seem to sprint into those next stages of learning and grow up over night.

Typically, the first birthday was eased because we were planning our next member of our family. But this time, although the door isn't closed on another baby, Andrew and I are both shelving adding to our family right now. We love being a family of five and the stages of our boys so want to focus on that for the time being. Which made Gabe turning one, just a little bit harder.

Friday night I snuck into his room to take a photo of him on the last night as a baby. He looked so big and sweet. I walked out of the room with tear-blurred eyes.

We had planned to have an outdoor party. Being that it is August in the Midwest, my husband was immediately concerned that the weather would be sweltering as it typically is in August.  Luckily, and surprisingly, the weather has been beautiful. Sunny skies, cool, mild temperatures, and less than average humidity.  The day called for clear skies and the same beautiful weather. 

We choose a carnival theme for Gabe's first birthday. It was whimsy and fun, bright colors. It was one of my favorite parties to plan. 

We rented a bounce house for the bigger kids and had a face painter come. There were also a couple of carnival-esque games; a giant ring toss and bucket toss. 

I wanted the food to match the theme. I also wanted to serve foods that people could walk around and eat while they watch their kids play and converse easily. We did corn dogs, giant pretzels, fruit cones, veggie cups, popcorn and peanuts.  I served cupcakes for dessert too. 

We kept the decorations simple. The backdrop for the food table, balloons, a carnival sign, tissue poofs above the cupcake table. Really simple and easy but the bright colors were eye-catching. I also drew up a little stat and fact sign about Gabe and his first year favorites. 

I loved sharing this day with some of our closest friends and family! The kids all played so well. Their sweet faces were so cute painted. Our face painter was a doll and did faces, their arms, legs; seriously whatever.  They looked so cute. 

Hud and his sweet friend

Gabe was such a great sport. He is the most lovable, easy going baby. He rolls with it all. which makes him perfect to be the third guy in our line-up, since our family seems to be on the go often with all of our schedules. He was loved on by everyone, passed around from arms to arms. 

Not sure if it was all the excitement, or if he takes after his daddy who also doesn't like to be sang to, he wasn't a fan of being sung too!

Is that not the sweetest sad face though??

Singing?? Not a fan. The cupcake? HUGE FAN! He scarfed the entire thing down. Icing in his nose style scarfing!

Although the weather called for clear skies and no rain, it was overcast the entire afternoon leading up to the party. With about half an hour left to go, the skies opened up!! So we moved inside to open presents.  Gabe had no interest after about five minutes but my sweet niece, Paisley, was all about helping! She was a hoot!! Loved hearing her commentary as we opened gifts! Gabe did love playing with all his toys as they came out, however!

It was such a sweet time celebrating our Gabers. I can't believe the day has come and gone. 

Here is to another year as a family of five! 

"Cowabunga, dude!!"

Growing up, I definitely did not watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  And even though I had two brothers, they didn't watch the show either.  Needless to say, I was oblivious to turtle power.

That is until Andrew.  Andrew grew up loving TMNT. He had toys, lunch boxes, the bedding set, VHS tapes--he was a die hard.

You can imagine his excitement when Hudson found interest in the turtle gang.  Andrew's mom had a whole trunk of old figurines and play sets. Hudson and Andrew started playing with them whenever we were over there. Hud's new found fascination has only grown so when asked what kind of party he wanted for his 4th birthday, it was no surprise when he said Mikey-angelo (his favorite turtle).

What little I know about turtles is that they love a good time, they love to defend the city from Shredder and the other bad guys, and they LOVE pizza!

Andrew's grandparents own a fabulous pizza shop in our town.  They have had it for over 25 years. Andrew had a childhood party there and so when he suggested it I though the idea was perfect!

Hudson's party pretty much planned itself after that.  The kids would come and make their own pizzas, a simple game, some cake and presents.  Just a really simple, sweet party with our family and Hudson's closest buddies.

When I was setting up, I began to worry if it was enough.  (Darn Pinterest for making me feel inadequate at times!!) But when Hudson told Andrew and I it was the best party ever, and I saw his little face beaming and heard his belly laughs with his friends, that worry totally dissipated.

Happy 4th birthday, sweet Hud!

It's a Toy Story party!

I know three posts may seem a bit excessive but we celebrated lots.  Three posts for a three year old--it works!

This past week the boys and I went home for the whole week.  We had doctor and dentist appointments.  It was my mom's birthday.  I needed some friend time.  It was a week well spent (except for when I got stuck in a ditch! Old Man Winter you may leave at ANY time!!)

It worked out to go back early because it allowed me to get the rest of the things I needed for Hudson's party in town without having to haul it back.  I hate packing up the car with excess stuff so getting supplies there totally made this mama happy!

Parties in the dead of winter are a bit tricky. I wanted Hudson and his buddies to be able to run and play plus have our friends and family there too! Finding a space that allows for all of that indoors can be difficult.  Plus, Hud isn't at an age where we can do just anything.  My friend, Teran suggested an indoor play place at a church that she was going to use for her son's party a couple of years back.  It was perfect!!!

We decided to have the party in the morning- our kids are just better mid-morning- and do a breakfast theme! Hudson loves breakfast more than any other meal of the day! And I love donuts! Ha! I never get them because I only will splurge on a donut if it is completely worth it, and let me tell you, the ones we got for Hudson's party were definitely worth the splurge!

So Saturday morning, my mom and I set up while Andrew went to get the donuts.  We literally set up in about 25 minutes.  It was so simple and stress free.  And it turned out pretty cute too!

Besides donuts from our favorite, Golden Glaze, we served mini donuts, cinnamon buns, and cereal.  Seriously simple.  I wish I would have gotten a better picture of the favors but we got these Toy Story buckets and filled them with bubbles, pencil, a Sheriff badge, candy, and fruit snacks.  I attached balloons to all the buckets to weight them and then each kid got balloons with their bucket! Easy peasy!

We ate first and then let the kids play! It was seriously the best play place..slides, a ball pit.  Smaller play places for the littler ones and some ride ons.  I loved watching them all play! 

**I know I should have taken  more pictures but it was so good to soak it in. Hudson talks about his friends and cousins all the time.  Since moving away we don't always get to see them as often as we'd like so it was so sweet to watch them all play.

Instead of stopping the play, we brought Hudson's gifts into the play area.  He opened them. Sometimes the kids would stop and watch and then go right back to playing.  Let's be honest, its the adults that want to see what the kids got at this age. 

After presents and more playing, we sang happy birthday and had cupcakes.  Hudson sang right along.  Unlike his Daddy, Hudson loves the singing party of birthdays.