My Best Friend’s Wedding…Shower

 

So my best friend is getting married (insert girly squeals here), and I had the opportunity to host one of her showers!

We wanted a laid back, fun shower where people could just hang out and families could get to know one another. You’d have to double check with her, but I think we achieved it.

The couple is super outdoorsy (as in 5 bikes, 2 kayaks, and all kinds of camping gear in their garage), so our “camp” theme was a no brainer. We asked guests to bring gifts for their campsite and backyard and served food including sliders, corn on the cob, and s’mores on a stick.

I just thought I’d share a few photos of our fun evening.  Feel free to borrow ideas for your next event. (I’m sure I borrowed quite a few myself!)

We held the shower in the backyard, and decided to go pretty simple with the decorations. I made a couple of wooden signs reminiscent of what you might think of for a classic summer camp. Flowers from the garden, burlap accents, and yard games finished it off.

The “S’mores on a Stick” we’re a huge hit, and really quite easy to make.  I made 60 and only needed one bag of chocolate candy melts and one sleeve of graham crackers. Mason jars filled with uncooked rice held them upright with no problems.

We finished the evening with everyone filling up a goodie bag from our trail mix bar. We had a table full of nuts, candies, and dried fruit with more touches of burlap and tags that matched the invitations.

Amazingly the rain held off, and it was a fantastic night with plenty of food, fun, and fellowship.

Birthday Tapas for Two

The Hubby and I are at a point in our lives where there’s just not much extra “stuff” we need.  When holidays come around we’d rather ask each other for time together or an activity for just the two of us.  With a 3 year old running around, that’s something we don’t get too much of.  So when his birthday rolled around this year, he asked for a date night at home watching a movie and eating some of his favorite foods.  He decided it would be fun to do a tapas style dinner night, which is always one of our favorites.

Whenever I am entertaining, whether for a large crowd or just the two of us, I try to do a combination of store-bought and homemade.  Over the years, I’ve discovered some very nice store options and learned that, no, I really don’t have to go as far as making my own crackers!

Presentation is also a biggie for me, and even though it was just us, and we were staying in, I wanted it to be special, so I presented the birthday boy with a picnic basket (found in the attic!) packed full of our tapas dinner goodies.

 

Then, on our actual date night, I put everything together and made some of our favorite goat cheese stuffed mini peppers (recipe later this week!).

Our Menu:

• Goat Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers
• Garlic Stuffed Olives
• Maple and Cumin Roasted Nuts
• Rosemary Bread with Herbed Olive Oil
• Tomato and Artichoke Bruschetta
• Genoa Salami & Prosciutto
• Applewood Smoked Cheddar & Rosemary Asiago Cheese

We had a lovely evening. We ate and drank too much and were thoroughly miserable, so overall, a success!