My Lash Bash: a Girly, Glam Brunch and Makeup Party with Benefit Cosmetics and Ipsy

{The invites I created and sent out to the girls.}

This weekend I had the honor and joy of throwing a Realvolution Lash Bash courtesy of Benefit Cosmetics and Ipsy.  I entered and won the opportunity to throw the Lash Bash for myself and 9 girlfriends which included a generous offering of gorgeous makeup from Benefit!  Today I wanted to share some details from the party (including Instagram photos, the DIY decor, and recipes I made), and I'll return with more posts later this week focusing on the specific makeup products I was sent from Benefit for the party.  So be sure to check back later for photos, swatches, and mini reviews of all the Benefit makeup!


When I found out I had been chosen to host one of the Lash Bash parties, I immediately knew I wanted to throw a girly, glam brunch.  I thought it would be fun to get some of my girl friends together for brunch (because what lady doesn't love a good brunch?!), mimosas, and makeup!  I wanted to theme the party around the fun of primping and getting ready for the day.  I served up a big buffet of hot/cold, sweet/savory breakfast items, had my Keurig going for hot coffee/tea/cider, and offered Lemon and Cucumber Spa Water, Elderflower and Rose Sparkling Lemonade, and Make Your Own Mimosas.


I made a Savory Sausage and Cheddar {Breakfast} Bread Pudding, Garlic Herb Cucumber Bites, served store-bought croissants with homemade Raspberry Butter, offer a fruit and yogurt parfait bar with mixed berries, honey-sweetened yogurt, vanilla almond granola, candied pecans, and local honey, and served up massive slices of Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.  The food was a huge hit (many of the girls going back for seconds)!


We began the party with brunch/girly chit-chat and then began playing a few fun games (for which I had thrown together some prize goodie bags with a few of my favorite makeup/beauty products).  After all the food and games we jumped right into swatching and applying the gorgeous Benefit makeup, including the They're Real! Mascara of which each girl was generously provided a deluxe sample.


It was so much fun throwing such a girly party and introducing my friends to some of my favorite Benefit products.  In addition to making almost all the food for the party from scratch, I also DIY'ed a lot of the decor as well including tissue paper pom poms, tissue paper tassel garland, and cards to label each dish on the buffet.


I stuck with a white/pink/gold/silver and pops of black color scheme for my Lash Bash to coordinate with the decor and products that Benefit had sent for the party.  The food and decor where a huge hit with my girl friends and everyone had a fabulous time!  I couldn't have been more thrilled to have been chosen as a Lash Bash hostess as I love to throw a good party and I couldn't be more obsessed with makeup.

Another huge thank you to Benefit Cosmetics and Ipsy for choosing me as a Lash Bash hostess!  I can't wait to share details of the Benefit makeup with you all...

Backyard Movie Nights: the Kickoff

Our little saga of summer entertaining continued last Friday as we hosted our first Backyard Movie Night of the season.  It was sort of a test run to see how well our visual/audio set up worked, etc.  Everything turned out great and we look forward to throwing these little movie nights every couple of weeks through the summer and early fall.

For those who are curious about our basic set up, we have this 120-Inch Portable Outdoor Movie Screen which provides a fantastic viewing experience yet is still quick to assemble and easy to store/transport.  It's definitely a splurge, but we've been really impressed and happy with the quality of the screen.  I certainly wouldn't suggest it if you're only planning on throwing a one-time backyard movie night, but since we plan to get a ton of use out of ours, we think it was a good investment.

We also purchased a high-quality projector to ensure great video quality.  Again, if you're only planning to throw a one-time movie night, I'd suggest perhaps looking into renting a projector or borrowing one from a friend.  Hubby had been wanting to purchase a projector for some time anyway, so we went ahead and invested in a nice one that we'll use for years to come.

Sound was our one concern when it came to throwing these movie nights.  As you can see in the photo, our home sits on a modest lot in a tight subdivision.  We knew we couldn't use any loud speakers to provide sound for our movies or we'd risk upsetting neighbors (and we're very cautious about being polite neighbors).  My hubby came up with the brilliant idea to purchase a radio transmitter and several small battery operated radios to pass out to guests.  These worked out great as there were several modest pockets of sound throughout the audience.  You could hear the movie perfectly, yet the sound didn't carry at all outside our yard to potentially disturb anyone.  There were a few folks a couple of houses away talking outside on their lawn and they were actually louder than our movie!  Other than the light of the projection on the screen (which was no brighter than a porch light), you wouldn't know there was any sort of party going on in our yard.  I'm really happy with how everything worked out... we were able to successfully enjoy our film while throwing a low-key gathering that wouldn't disturb our neighbors.

As for refreshments (which are just as important as the film itself), I set up a little assortment of the standard movie snacks.  In an effort to keep the event fairly low maintenance, I resisted the urge to overly style the setup.  I would definitely suggest taking a little more time to spruce things up if you're planning a backyard movie night as a special event; however, since these are going to be frequent gatherings at our home over the next few months, I wanted to keep things a little more simple.

I served an assortment of fun, fruity sodas in lidded cups with colorful straws.  I also purchased a slew of kraft food and drink trays for our movie nights.  If you're not interested in purchasing these in bulk like I did, there are several Etsy sellers who offer them in smaller quantities.  Since we're planning on hosting several movie nights and various other parties throughout the summer, I went ahead and stocked up on drinks, straws, trays, etc. in bulk to save money and to be prepared for the summer ahead.

For food we grilled up hot dogs, had a ton of popcorn with various seasonings, a big bowl of assorted fun size candy, Oreos, homemade cake batter ice cream, and some brownies (thanks to a friend who brought those).  There was a nice assortment of sweet and savory snacks befitting a movie viewing.  I plan to keep the snacks pretty low key for the showings, mostly popcorn, candy, and soda, making one or two homemade treats per showing.  It's my goal to get the food and decor for these movies down to a "science" so I can get everything set up for these movies in under an hour.

I really love how well the food and drink trays worked out.  I picked up some inexpensive popcorn bags from Sam's Club and some hot dog trays from the dollar section at Target.  Everything fit perfectly and had it's own place, making enjoying your snack in the dark a breeze.

I lined our fence with tea lights in my handmade mason jar lanterns and they provided a cute ambiance and a little guidance along the path to and from our backyard.

We ended up watching Ghostbusters for our first movie of the summer.  I thought something fun and little nostalgic would be cute for our first showing.  I think we'll end up watching a mixture of popular newer releases as well as old favorites.

Once fall approaches and it begins to get dark earlier, we're thinking it might be fun to have a few double feature nights.  I also am totally excited about the possibility of doing a Halloween themed showing or two in October, starting out the evening around the fire pit making homemade s'mores and roasting hot dogs.

Everyone loves a movie night and their is something so fun and special about throwing one in your own backyard.  You can go all out and have a chic styled event, or take a slightly more causal route like I did.  Either way, the backyard movie night is sure to be a hit with everyone!

(How to Throw a Homemade) Ice Cream Social

As I mentioned in this post, I turned 26 earlier this month.  I celebrated on my birthday by hosting a little cookout with the family.  Due to lots of vacations, etc. most of my close friends were out of town around my birthday so I decided to throw a belated Ice Cream Social to celebrate with them last weekend.

After a couple of months of very casually planning via my Pinterest board, I began active prep for the party one week prior to the event.  In addition to six different flavors of homemade ice cream, I also made Hot Fudge, Butterscotch Sauce, Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and a big batch of Vanilla Lemonade for the event.  I found that a little scheduling helped everything come together effortlessly.  Since homemade ice cream can be frozen for a week or so without any adverse change in texture, the bulk of the prep for a gourmet ice cream social can be done in advance and/or slowly over the course of the week before the party.  As such, an impressive Ice Cream Social can be executed with much less stress than the typical food-oriented party.  I thought in addition to sharing photos from my Ice Cream Social, I'd also share with you the recipes I made and my prep timeline.

Exactly one week prior to the party (day one), I hit up the farmer's market for some local strawberries and also stopped by the grocery store to buy the ingredients for all the ice cream, etc.  That day I made the base for the first batch of ice cream for the party (Strawberry), as well as the Hot Fudge and Butterscotch Sauce.  I also made some eggless cookie dough for Double Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

On day two of party prep, I churned the Strawberry Ice Cream and made the base for Double Cookie Dough Ice Cream.  On day three, four, five, and six, I simply churned the ice cream base I had made the day before and make the next ice cream base to be churned on the following day.  So each day a batch of ice cream was churned and placed in the freezer, the bowl to my ice cream maker was cleaned and frozen, while the base for another ice cream was made and chilling in the fridge.  On day seven (the day before the party), I churned the final ice cream flavor, baked Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies, made Vanilla Lemonade, and chopped up some cookies for toppings.  The day before the party, I also made sure to do any necessary yard work (since I was throwing the party outdoors) and set up the (bare) tables, chairs, etc. for the event to lighten my work for the day of.

{I snapped this photo before the ice cream, etc. had been placed on the dessert table}

Saturday morning, the day of the party, I decorated a little bit for the party and got all the food and drinks ready to be carried outside once guests had arrived.  Just before the party was scheduled to begin, I warmed the Hot Fudge and Butterscotch Sauce gently in the microwave.

Once guests arrived, I filled up the dessert table with the ice cream, toppings, etc. and we dug in!  From the six flavors of ice cream I made (Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Strawberry, Toasted Marshmallow, Cake Batter, and Double Cookie Dough) and the various treats and toppings, there were countless cone, sundae, and ice cream sandwich combinations to be made.

I built what I deemed the S'more Sundae: a Brownie base, topped with Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream, a drizzle of Hot Fudge, and a sprinkle of crushed Graham Crackers.  It was divine.

Unfortunately the day of the party turned out a little bit warmer than expected with a beaming sun.  Shortly after everyone had their share of ice cream, we decided to move indoors.  All in all, it was a great party and everyone seemed to enjoy the ice cream!  There was even a request to make it a yearly event... so I may just have to start planning next year's Ice Cream Social.

Continue reading if you'd like to know the specific recipes I made for the event and a detailed timeline of my preparation.  If you have any questions about anything I made, any of the decor, etc., leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer them!

Kicking Off Summer with a Birthday Cookout

{I hope you'll forgive the straight out of my iPhone photos.}

Yesterday was my 26th birthday.  For those who follow me on Pinterest, you probably know how obsessed I've been lately with planning food and decor ideas for summer entertaining.  I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday by cooking and having some family over to kick off what I hope will be a full summer of cookouts and outdoor parties.  As you'll probably see from the photos, the hubby and I have a pretty modest size back yard in our little suburban starter home.  There isn't a ton of room for fancy decor and since this isn't our forever home, we don't want to invest a lot in permanent fixtures for the space.  Until this summer, we hadn't really done much for our backyard other than purchase a grill.  The hubby and I both love to entertain and I decided that this was the summer we finally give the backyard a little love and attention and really do summer right!

We recently made another (our third this year) trip up to the West Chester, Ohio IKEA and picked up an outdoor table and several very affordable (and surprisingly comfortable) chairs as well as a darling serving cart.  My birthday cookout was our first time using our new purchases and they were perfect!  Since we have a small 12'x12' deck, I set up the table and chairs on our lawn for the larger group.  I kept the table free of excess decoration since it was our first time using it and I wasn't sure how much the table could comfortably hold along with food (since we wanted to go for a more casual pass-and-serve style lunch rather than a buffet).  The result was fun and casual but still put together.

I took the opportunity to try out a few new recipes on the family and also made a few old favorites as well...

I made a pretty basic but always delicious beer can chicken (which unfortunately caught on fire while I was getting ready and not being my usual attentive self).  Fortunately it was still absolutely moist and delicious, though the skin was a little dark for my preference in places.  Every dinner party needs it's blunder, am I right?  I also made Loaded Baked Potato Salad, which has been a favorite of mine for years.  Tastes like a baked potato with all the fixings and it's great for the pickier eaters in our family.

For a second entree, hubby spiral cut some hot dogs for Hot Brown Hot Dogs.  We got the idea after having Hot Brown Hot Dogs from a little food cart at the Mayfest Arts Fair this year.  Those were okay, but they weren't amazing and hubby and I thought we could test out and perfect the idea for our big 4th of July party (so we did a trial run for my birthday).  I made a mornay sauce to top the hot dogs and then we sprinkled them with chopped bacon and tomatoes.  They were great!

For a warm, indulgent side, I tried out this Cheesy Corn Casserole.  It was basically what you'd expect if mac and cheese and creamed corn had a baby.  Corn was mixed into a basic cheese sauce and baked in the oven.  It was a lot thinner than the usual corn casserole I make for winter holiday dinners.  Honestly, it was pretty good but hubby and I didn't love it.  I did use frozen corn, which I had mistakenly(?) thawed before hand.  I do feel like this would be much better with the more firm texture of fresh corn, so I may give it a try again the future.  I'd definitely suggest scaling this recipe down though unless you're serving a huge crowd as it makes a ton and is very rich.

I also tried a little twist on the basic fruit salad that I had thought sounded intriguing.  This Secret Ingredient Fruit Salad is your standard fruit salad (I changed it up a bit and added what fruit sounded good to me/looked best at the store--I used watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, and Granny Smith apples) with a couple tablespoons of vanilla pudding mix added in to create a subtle sweet "dressing."  I didn't notice the vanilla pudding mix adding a lot of flavor and it kind of made the fruit soften quicker, so I probably won't be adding it to any future fruit salads, but it certainly wasn't bad!  I just prefer my fruit salad to be crisp and bright and unadorned.

I also whipped up some vanilla lemonade with the new citrus juicer hubby got me for my birthday (I had been wanting one for ages because I love making lemonade for parties but it was always such a pain squeezing the lemons by hand).  My vanilla lemonade recipe is something I've been meaning to share here on the blog for a while.  It's just a simple lemonade with a bit of vanilla added in, but it's so lovely and I almost always get a ton of requests from company for the recipe.  I'll do a separate post sometime soon with that recipe.

The cookout came together perfectly and it was a blessing to get to spend a little time with family to celebrate my birthday.  Hopefully this is just the start of a full summer of outdoor entertaining.  I hope to have lots of party ideas and recipes to share with you as the summer goes on.  I also plan to share more photos of our yard and some of the budget-friendly updates we've been making to the space.

I'd love to know what some of your favorite ways to celebrate summer are!  Have a killer crowd-pleasing summer dish?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

The Weekend of Parties

Things have been a little crazy around here lately.  Since the beginning of the year I've spent much of my free time working on sprucing up our little home.  The past week and a half I spent nearly all of my free time repainting the main living areas of our home from the cheap, unwashable builder basic beige to a slightly more pleasing beige in a MUCH higher quality paint.  Over a month ago I had set a date for a fun little Swap Party I wanted to host for some girl friends and soon after realized that I set the party for the same weekend as Super Bowl (hubby and I traditionally host a big Super Bowl gathering with 20+ friends).  Hosting two big parties in a row gave me the push to spend much of January painting and decorating so we could show off some of the changes we were slowly making to our home.  I'll share some of those in another post soon.

Last Saturday I hosted a Swap Party with a sweet little mimosa bar, a coffee/tea bar, and lots of brunch appropriate appetizers.  Unfortunately we were hit with quite the snow storm that morning, shrinking our party down to five girls.  We still had a great time chatting, swapping accessories and decor, and munching on the spread I had prepared.

When planning the menu for the party, I knew I wanted a brunch themed assortment of food; everything bite size to make eating while talking/swapping easy.

I prepared a Mimosa bar with options for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic Mimosas with orange and also raspberry/peach juice for a few flavor combinations.  In addition to the Mimosas, I had my Keurig set up for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. and made a picture of Lemon Cucumber Mint Water which is always refreshing and a hit.

The menu included plenty of gluten-free and vegetarian options as I had a few girls in attendance with dietary restrictions.  I made Bacon, Leek and Cheddar Mini Quiche (some crustless and others without bacon), Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Mini Cream Biscuits which I served with country ham and strawberry jam, Melon and Prosciutto and Melon and Mint Skewers, Cucumber Bites with Garlic Herb Filling, Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Chocolate Dipped Clementines, and Salmon Mousse on gluten free crackers.  Everything was well received and we had a lovely time!

Then came our Super Bowl Party.  Planning and hosting a party for a group of 20 folks is quite the task, so I didn't get any great photos to share of the evening.  I did; however, manage to snap a few mediocre photos of the Bacon Chocolate Stout Cheesecake I made for dessert.

This was quite the unique combination of flavors.  The cheesecake itself had a pretzel graham cracker crust, a filling flavored with chocolate stout and studded with Beer Candied Bacon, and was topped with homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, more Beer Candied Bacon, and fresh whipped cream.

Overall the cheesecake was very well received (I'm pretty sure I witnessed one guest enjoy three slices).  Personally I was kind of on the fence about it.  I'm not typically a fan of sweet/salty combinations (which this certainly was with the pretzel crust and bacon), and I'm definitely not a beer drinker.  I really enjoyed the chocolate flavor of the filling and found that the beer wasn't particularly noticeable.  Honestly, as much as I love bacon, I think I'll continue to prefer it in more savory applications.  That said, our guests seemed to enjoy the cheesecake and I certainly thought the finished result had a lovely presentation!

Now that I've survived a month of home projects and a week of prepping for two big parties, I'm looking forward to a little down time from hosting.  I sure do love planning a party, but it's exhausting work!

Have you thrown any fun parties recently?

The S'more Party

I had been causally planning a backyard S'more Party for the past few months, pinning ideas for decor and marshmallow recipes along the way (isn't Pinterest the best for party planning?).  I had originally planned to throw the party at the very beginning of fall, but life threw a few curve balls and I had to push the date back a couple of times.  I was able to set a certain date for last Saturday and was excited to finally get to throw the party.

I had planned some lovely lighting to help illuminate our backyard for the party, including tons of darling hanging mason jar lanterns I created to line the fence along the path to our backyard as well as pretty fairy lights to decorate our deck.

Unfortunately Saturday decided to bring unpleasant weather and rain forced me to abandon the idea of throwing a whimsical backyard S'more Party.  Instead I moved things indoor, used a few of the mason jar lanterns and lots of other candles as decor, and utilized Sterno cans as our marshmallow roasting source.

I set up a drink/dessert table for the party full of lots of homemade goodies to provide numerous s'more flavor possibilities.  I baked two types of graham crackers, made four marshmallow flavors (vanilla bean, chocolate, strawberry, and lime), bought five different types of Ghiradelli squares and Reese's cups for chocolate, and toasted coconut and chopped pecans for toppings.

I used this image as inspiration and created a little menu of sorts of various ideas for combining different marshmallows and chocolates to create unique s'more flavors from Italian Cream Cake (graham cracker + vanilla mallow + white chocolate + toasted coconut & pecans) to Key Lime Pie (graham cracker + lime mallow + white chocolate).  The hardest part about making your s'more was choosing what flavors to try!

To wash down the s'mores, I served up homemade hot chocolate, delicious hot apple cider from a local orchard, ice cold cream soda, root beer, and Ale-8 (a locally made ginger ale).

I set up four Sterno cans over a thick cutting board on our dining table so folks could gather 'round and roast their marshmallows.  The Sterno cans worked beautifully as a roasting source, caramelizing our mallows quickly and evenly.  I'm so glad I discovered these gems for indoor s'more making!  I see many (more simplified) s'more bars in my party hosting future.

I really love planning and throwing little parties like this!  The S'more Party makes for easier and less stressful prep than most food-oriented parties since homemade graham crackers and marshmallows can be made days ahead, if needed.  Hot beverages can be whipped up before guests arrive and kept hot in carafes.  You can go all out with tons of homemade marshmallows and various chocolate options as I did for a full-fledged S'more Party, or do a simplified s'more bar as a fun dessert option for any party.

I think throwing together a S'more Party for the holiday season would be a fun, unique alternative to the typical holiday gatherings.  Everyone loves making s'mores and substituting homemade graham crackers and marshmallows for the usual store bought varieties really elevates things and makes the party seem upscale and gourmet.

I always get so many surprised looks when folks try my homemade marshmallows, "What?  How do you make marshmallows?"  But, really, if you have a candy thermometer and are blessed with a stand mixer, these couldn't be simpler to make!

I'll be back in a day or two with a full recipe list for the graham crackers, marshmallows, and hot chocolate.  In the mean time, if you have any questions about my set up or how to throw your own S'more Party, leave me a comment!