NIGHT GOWN PAR-TAE!!

I feel like a Woo girl everytime I say it! I Love Nightgown party!

Some of you already know about it but here is a little history about our most anticipated party of the whole year!

When we first moved to the amazing town of Starkville, MS 4 of us girls lived in an apartment all together. And we went big that year on the decorating front... all fully expecting to be living together for at least one more year. (This did not happen, all 3 of my roomates were engaged by easter and 2 of them married by the start of the next school year... oh how differently that turned out! haha) One of our roomates really really REALLY loves to wear nightgowns and we found super cute ones at Wally World and bought them, then we decided that it would be fun to wear wear our nightgowns the night we exchanged gifts.( I think that year we all bought everyone a gift... oh the carefree spending of those college days!) So we did and that was the first Nightgown party!

Now every year it has evolved a little more, rotating homes of its participants. Allowing for the coming and going of growing families and picking up a few along the way. Some sort of dirty santa happens, along with food and some sort of game and lots of catching up. 

This year it was my turn. It was the 5th annual nightgown party so I knew I had to do it big! and I did! 

Since I live in a dorm room I decided I'd need to rent a house somewhere, I looked at several in Starkville but then We decided it would be fun to take it on the road somewhere. Our options were Birmingham or the Beach and through some discussion and reasoning, we determined Birmingham would be our location! I went to VRBO.com and looked for our party house and I found it! This lovely little house in Avondale was just perfect! We had a hiccup with the cleaning when we got there but through it we got to meet a sweet little lady named Celia who came and fixed us up right away!  It was such a lovely house and perfect for our needs and I would recommend it to anyone needing a get-a-way thats not too far from home! Plus the Owner is a MSU Alum as well! Go Bulldawgs!

link to rent this home: http://www.vrbo.com/360863 

Then sweet K helped me set up using the decorations I've been collecting over the past year and some of the containers there at the house. She did such a great job!

 I made little signs for the food, punches and where to put the presents out of some festive invitations I got super cheap from a closing stationary store and $1 clear photo stands from wal mart. This became very helpful in people deciding which punch to try first and putting the food they brought in the right place so I wouldn't have to go behind and move things.

For a little party favor/ happy I put an ornament (made by the wonderful Jennie Bird), a jar of my Easy As Pie Personal Hot Cocoa and one of my favorite Lindor truffles on each girl's bed.

Then the other ladies arrived around 7:30 that night and we got to partying! 

We went shopping the next day and stopped by to see the city from Vulcan Park on our way back to get ready for dinner.  I'm sure most of K's photos looked like this because we aren't very good photography subjects. 

Dance party with Vulcan!

We had a great time and I think that we are going to have to make this weekend get-a-way part of the Nightgown party tradition. 

We got all gussied up to go out for dinner at 5 Bar on saturday night... very yummy food and a good time, just go before 8 pm or you'll be there all night!

I Hope you enjoy the photos and a big thank you goes out to K for bringing along her camera for the weekend... I was way to focused on having fun to take photos. :) Also we didn't even get a single photo with us in nightgowns... thats ok.. we know we all wore them. I can't wait until NEXT YEAR!! 

Until Next Time!

Chelsea-Lou

Best Dishes!! A Friend's Cookbook

Love & Best Dishes for the Mr. And Mrs. 

yes this is set up on a ping-pong table. :) 

That was the title of the cookbook we put together for our dear friend Melissa's wedding shower this past weekend.  We filled it with the recipes of the foods made for the shower as well as some of her favorites from our college days! Since it was a Kitchen Shower I thought this little gift would be one she treasured for years as she added to it from time to time.

Here's how you can make one for your bride-to-be!

You will need:

1 3-Ring Binder (I got heavy duty because I am expecting Lots of use)

1 Pack of Dividers

1 Pack of 50 Clear Page Protectors

1 Pack of Cardstock (I purchased the pastel assortment)

Pens

2 or 3 pages of fancy 8x10 Invitation paper for the Covers 

**Important note: Make sure to let the guests know to come ready with a recipe to share. Some of us have a few recipes memorized but if it gets too complicated its nice to have already have it written down somewhere just to copy when they arrive. **

How to put it together:

1. Make Cover Pages. To do this I used the fancy 8x10 invitation paper found at the local stationary store. You can also just whip one up on your favorite desktop publishing program. I didn't have a printer so I simply hand wrote the cover page. I included the title, an explanation, and the date of the shower. I also cut up the second page with this art on it and used it to decorate the back and side pockets for a completed all around look.

2. Label the dividers. I divided the cook book into these categories: Party Foods, Sweets, Main Dishes, Others, and Our Favorites. 

3. Set up the Table. Lay out the paper and pens with instructions to fill out recipes with a note for the bride and groom and a spot to place the completed recipe cards. 

4. Collect the Cards.

5. Put it together for the Bride. Insert the pages into the protectors then put them into the correct categories. Put extra paper in the back inside pocket and the extra protectors at the back of the binder so she can add to it at later showers or as the years go by. 

6. Present it to the bride and give her a big fat hug!! 

She will love this special gift. 

Especially if she is as sentimental as me and our friend Melissa! 

There is a story to go with each of those recipes and she can tell you exactly what it is!

Happy gift giving!!

Chelsea-Lou

The Rodgerses: Nightgown Party

The Rodgerses: Nightgown Party

4 th Annual Nightgown Party photos!!

Man I love these Girls!!

Night Gown Party 2012 is gonna rock!!