I found a pair of jeans that fit me perfectly--down to the length! If you're petite and short like I am, that's hard to find. I was, in fact, shrinking without knowing it. I gorged a bit on cookies and chocolate for a few days and now, my new 7 jeans, Lexie A Pockets (Lexie is their petite line) are the perfect casual, go-to jean. They're short enough to wear with flats and long enough to switch it up with a 2 or 3 in. heel. Best of all, I bought them on ebay with my Mother's Day money for super cheap! SCORE
Next, a few lessons learned about party planning:
- You can save a lot of money on decorations or favors if you time your purchases correctly. I bought a bunch of decorations from the after-Easter sale on clearance at Target and Rite Aide. I also used Easter-y colors for my theme: pink and green. It was hard finding the same pastel pink and green elsewhere but I found other shades just a bit darker that looked good together
- Sign up for coupons on JoAnn's and Michael's websites! Luckily, I had a friend who already had some and I signed up too. They regularly give out coupons for 20% off, 40% off one item, etc.
- Scout before you shop! Be on the lookout, compare prices, and jot down your ideas as you see them. It'll prevent chaos the couple days before; though, I still had some chaos to remedy myself.
- Also, buy items you know you can use later. I bought 2 rolls of colored butcher paper (pink and green of course!) for $25 each but I know we can use them later. They also make handy table covers (you can also buy vinyl ones but I liked the look paper more). I can imagine us using them again for future parties where Isabella and her friends can draw all over it as an activity.
- Probably the most important piece I used for Isabella's party: capitalize on what you're good at, delegate the rest!! My awesome aunt flew in from Seattle and cooked up a storm with my mom, flown in from Oklahoma. We planned the menu prior to (make items--if you plan to cook--that are easy to make in bulk). Next, my very awesome and pregnant friend, Allison, helped me with decorations. She's a little crafty elf! I only had ideas but didn't know how to execute. Allison to the rescue!! Then, ME... I'm good at buying :) I bought all the necessary items and ran around town to pick up this and that; Roe helped me carry the heavy ones. He also made a few items at work (he runs a sheet fabrication company) for us to use at the party.
- Find a way to entertain your guests. I wanted to ensure people had a good time--more than just an eat and run. For the kids, I loved our face painter!! She set her table up outside in our backyard = occupying the kids and giving them room to run around away from the lil' babies indoors. For the adults, I had them place "bets" and write Isabella blessings on her "tree". Just something to do while waiting around. As a bonus, we had some cute baby attendees to play with too ;)
- Use decorations people can take home if they want: balloons are always an easy and good choice in my opinion. I rented a helium tank and bought 2 packages of balloons for really cheap. A lot of guests took them home, along with the pinwheels we had outside. Less cleanup for me!
- If items purchased/hired don't go the way you wanted, speak up when you return them. You may be surprised and get a deal in return. Our helium tank was difficult to use so we got to use it for free. Our cotton candy machine ended up being a huge disappointment though the end-product was delicious: only paid half.
- Lastly, return what you didn't use! I over-bought on decorations and because balloons were so easy to use as decorations, I needed less of the other stuff. I bought $80 worth of clearance items at Target, returned $65 of it! Keep ALL receipts.
- And have fun. Enjoy yourself.... because if you don't, it's just not worth it. Go to Chuck E Cheese or Pump it Up instead if it's too much work and no play. Yes, it's exhausting to host a huge party like we did but I had fun; totally worth it in my opinion :)
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