Bachelorette PAR-TAY Recap Plus My First Giveaway!

Some of you may or may not know that I was in charge of planning the most kick ass bachelorette party for a dear friend a few weekends ago in Austin, Texas.

AND some of you may or may not know that I STRESSED over this. I mean, like hard core, stressin'! Like that stressing you do when you have to take a final in college. OR the stressing you do when you are trying to pull together the right outfit for a first date (at least I did!) OR that stressing you do when you pee on a stick in hopes that you see two lines. Yes, that kind of stress! That was me all rolled into one big bundle of nervous energy and it was not pretty.

I wanted the bachelorette party night to be perfect for her and I wanted it to be memorable. My bachelorette party was awesome and one weekend I will never forget. I wanted the same for my friend. She deserved it! She has been through some really tough times in life and this was the least I could do for her. No pressure, right?!? Right!

While I loved the whole details process of this planing, the rest I could have done without. I lost too much sleep over this! My skin started to look like that of a 13 year old going through puberty. Not a good look! I got very sick and had to postpone my flight a day thanks to a flu bug. I dreamt of a failed bachelorette party where 2 people backed out at the last minute. Oh wait....that really happened!

***Common courtesy ladies, don't flake out unless it is a dire emergency! And if you do flake maybe offer to chip in and pay for some part of the day. After all you were factored into the cost! Am I wrong in asking for this? (One girl did offer to help pay for the spa which was a nice gesture.)***

In a perfect world the day went off without a hitch, everyone had fun, and no one complained but we all know good and well a perfect life does not exist. Especially when you are dealing with girls and their various personalities! I spent too much time driving around Austin looking for a blow up penis and glow in the dark straws all because ONE girl insisted we have this because "it isn't a bachelorette party with out a penis!" Really???? That's funny because last time I checked no one really liked wearing a giant penis hat on their head while. Nothing screams bachelorette party like a giant penis. The "bride to be" sash and black boa were enough for the bride. Add a penis to the head and we have a not so thrilled bride to be!

Despite all of the complaining I am doing here, I did have a lot of fun. I was determined to make the most of the day, regardless of all the glitches along the way. I had lots of champagne and that numbed the pain of looking at a penis on my best friends head!

The highlight of my party planning was picking party treats for each girl!

I love Ellia C Naturals products and I was so excited to team up with Jennifer for the party favors! Jennifer is so sweet and so talented and I was happy to work with her.

I decided on a Soap Pop and 2 Tub Tea Party Favors for each girl. You all have no idea how super fabulous these treats are! They smell so good and leave your skin feeling so soft. I love my soap pop! Not only is it super cute but the smell lingers in your bathroom and smells like a spa!

These were a hit with the girls and were the perfect gift since we had gone to the spa earlier that day.

Ellia C. Naturals Soap Pop and Tub Tea Bag Favors.

Jennifer is kind enough to offer one of my readers the same treats pictured above! This is my very first giveaway and I am so excited to share this with you all and even more excited that it is Ellia C. Naturals products that I am giving away. You will love these. Guaranteed!

One winner will receive:

- A Lemon Lavender Soap Pop

- 2-pk of Lemon Lavender Herbal Tub Tea

- A trial size of Lemon Lavender Mama Meringue which is very nourishing for dry, winter skin.

All you have to do is:

-Go here and tell me what other Ellia C. Naturals products you would love to have.

-Like Ellia C.Naturals on Facebook.

-Follow Ellia C. Naturals on Twitter.

-Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect.

Each of these count as an entry so be sure you have 4 different comments if you do all 3. Please include your email, as well, so I know how to let you know you won!

The winner will be chosen on Wednesday, December 8th.

Good luck and get to entering. These products are A-MAZING!

*I payed for the bachelorette party gifts and was not compensated in anyway for this review or giveaway. This review is my honest opinion. I love these products!*

Giving Thanks.

As we celebrated Thanksgiving Thursday, I looked back on the year and all that I am thankful for.

What a year this has been and what a difference a year makes.

7 months pregnant.

And now we have a 10 month old baby to add to the dinner table!

It has been an amazing year for our family that started with the birth of Baby D in January. Being a parent has been such a blessing and has made me thankful for every single day I have with him. I am forever grateful for my family and friends who have helped me through this tough road we call parenthood. I have hit a few bumps along the way but without their help I would have never been able to look back on the past year and count my blessing, big and small.

I am thankful for the many friends I have made on Twitter. It seems so odd to say that I have "friends" on the Internet, but I really do. I consider some of the mama's I have met on Twitter some good friends. In fact, I would rather spend time with some of them over my IRL friends! That is nuts, I know, but so so true. Many have helped me through some tough times and they don't even know it. They have given me advice when I needed it most and have helped me to see different sides to parenting. All have been helpful in some way and for that I will forever be thankful.

Thursday we sat at our family table and ate our turkey, ham, green bean and potato casseroles, and rolls I was able to say that I am thankful for EVERY SINGLE THING that has happened this year, good or bad. Every occurrence is a learning experience and the only way to grow is to learn from each experience and take away something positive from it. That is just what I vowed to do. Take all that comes my way and make the most of it.

I hope y'all had a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family and counted your blessings.

Wordless Wednesday. A Boy and His Trucks.

Things I Love This Week. Turkey Day Edition.

All I have been reading, seeing, and hearing is Christmas talk! Poor Thanksgiving gets the shaft every year! Come one people. How can you skip over a holiday that allows you to eat ridiculous amounts of turkey, dressing AND stuffing and then take a nap afterwards? This is a dream to me!

I love Thanksgiving and I WILL NOT let the holiday get swept under the rug by Christmas which is like SIX WEEKS AWAY!

So this week I show some love to Turkey Day (a bit early because you have to plan and such) and all it's glory!

Things I Love. Turkey Style!

Perfect for your table.

A cute table setting.

This would be perfect for a kids table, too. We always had so many family members at Thanksgiving that the kids got their own table!

Place Cards.

With the acorns sold in the shop you can make these.

You could, I probably couldn't therefore I would BUY these!

A cupcake AND a place card holder.

Two birds, one stone! (No pun intended!)

Thanksgiving Cocktails.

We always have this Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole AND mashed pototoes.

And no Thanksgiving is complete without the Turkey!

Wordless Wednesday. The Colors of Fall.

Things I Love. Wedding Edition.

We went to a wedding this past weekend and it was fabulous! So, so fun and so pretty. It got me thinking. If I had to do my wedding all over again would I do it exactly the same as it was 2 years ago or would I add some new touches and take some away?

I looked around and found a few things I would add but there was never a doubt that I would take anything away from that day. I loved every single detail!

Here are my favorite "Things I Love" for a wedding and some ideas I love for future renewing of vows. I need to get the hubs on the train for that one!

Great Mementos.

Antique keys with notes to the bride and groom.

Fake Mustaches for pictures.

Who doesn't love a great photo prop?!?

Signature drinks.

And perfect for you signature drink, paper straws!

Pennants.

The wedding we went to this weekend had pennants as part of the wedding decor and it was super cute!

Gifts for your guests.

Perfect for a rustic, outdoor wedding with a fire pit.

And when it is all said and done and you are Mr. and Mrs.

I love sparklers and had them at my wedding BUT holy hell they are dangerous! I got burned on my lip thanks to a flying ember. Not such a good idea in theory when you have a bunch of drunk people holding fire!

Instead this is so cute and much safer!

Steppin' Out Saturday 1.

This weekend we headed to San Luis Obispo for a friends wedding!

What better time to get dressed up and finally participate in my first Steppin' Out Saturday.

papa

shirt, prada

tie, banana republic

mama

dress, anthropologie

sweater, banana republic

necklace, dogeared

baby d

sweater vest, 77 kids by american eagle

shirt, old navy

corduroys, baby gap

CSN Store.

Following different blogs in this blogosphere has introduced me to some really great people, as well as websites! Recently I have been looking for a coffee table for our living room since ours is not very baby friendly! I have crawler now! I am also constantly on the lookout for some cute baby clothes, home decor and baby toys and CSN Stores has all these things and SO MUCH more. This site is your one shop stop for almost anything and everything you could want or need. I love this!

I have also been wanting a tray for our Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair ever since Baby D has been starting to feed himself. While I love this high chair almost as much as I love Twitter, *gasp*, the baby needs a tray for his chair as much as I need a latte everyday to get moving! Either that or I buy a dog to clean up the mess that is created when it is meal time due to not having a tray to catch some of the remnants of dinner. I don't think the dog will go over well with the husband or the cats.

CSN was kind enough to give me the opportunity to do a review for them and you can guarantee it will be for a tray for my beloved baby and his Stokke!

Halloween Extravaganza.

This was me last Halloween. (Horrible quality picture) I was pretty pregnant!

I didn't get to dress up last year because I was sick on the couch with a terrible cold. My plans for that year were shot to hell and so was my costume idea. I guess I will save it for the next pregnancy if I am so during Halloween!

Since I was sick and didn't get to really celebrate I knew that Halloween 2010 was going to be a good one. I was going to make sure of it!

I couldn't wait for Halloween this year so I could dress up Baby D in a costume. I wasn't too sure what it was going to be but I was stoked about the opportunity!

After a few weeks of going back and forth on ideas, I decided on this for his costume. AND...I LOVED IT!

Baby Bam-Bam.

We had a party last weekend so we had a mellow day yesterday and did stuff together as a family. It was the best day.

We started off buying some produce and eating breakfast at The Farmer's Market.

OMG. Nutella Waffles.

Later in the day we carved our pumpkins!

Baby D watched.

The finished products.

Not too bad!

And we ended the evening with a shot.

Every year we put out a shot for the spirits. I am pretty sure there are a few that like to party.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween.

Ours was full of fun family memories that will last a lifetime.

I know not every year will be this mellow but for now it was perfect and just what we needed.