Sometimes, you just need a night in with your girls. A thoughtfully planned, delicious food, good conversation, gift-swapping night in with your girls. 

I love decorating my home for parties. Carefully planning little details that give my guests a little treat. Most of my party decorating is for my kids, so I thought it was past time to decorate for me! Don't get me wrong, I love an impromptu dinner with friends with no frills or extras, but sometimes, you need to enjoy some little details. At least I do! 

I love putting together pretty little sets of plates and napkins with fun patterns and colors. These cute little food picks with the gold trim I bought on clearance at Target after the holidays knowing that I would be planning this party and were the start of this party theme. (I also wanted to use these adorable straw bows from their party department that disappeared before I could buy them! Ugh, sometimes waiting is not ideal!) 

The concept of this party I came across a few years ago, and have hosed a couple of these Favorite Things Parties. You ask your guests to pick one of their most favorite things and bring five of them to the party. I specify a $5 per item limit so that everyone spends about the same amount. Guests are welcome to package their gifts, but it isn't necessary. As you can see, we had a variety! 

As guests arrive, they write their name on 5 slips of paper and put it in the bowl. I decorated pink bags with everyone's name to take home their gifts from the party. I found the bags in the Target Dollar Spot, and the beautiful labels are by Sugar Paper and also came from Target's holiday collection. My favorite detail may have been the polkadot curling ribbon. When it comes to polkadots, I just can't help myself. 

When it's time to swap favorites, I pass around the bowl and each person draws five slips, making sure they have 5 different names. I do it this way, so that whoever is last to go doesn't end up with all the same person and everyone gets a variety of favorites. Once everyone has five names, we get started.

Each person then presents their favorite thing to the group and gives one of each to the five names they drew. Now each person goes home with five new things, that might just become one of their favorites! 

This year my friends shared: succulents in pots, head massagers, hex key set, cross stitch kits, Caphin Vietnamese iced coffee, cookies, Pretzel Flipz, Jelly Roller Pens, and Trader Joe's coconut chips. The photo to the left is my haul of goodies (minus the yummy cookie I ate long before taking this photo!) ​I am completely in love with my head massager and I've found myself using it while sitting at my desk contemplating things, plus it fits perfectly in my pen cup! I'm not a coffee person, but I did try the Caphin Vietnamese Iced Coffee and it has SUCH good flavor. The coffee is a Texas made product by a friend of a friend, so make sure you look for it in Central Market if you love iced coffee! 

Now on to the food! I love my party food to be simple and delicious. We've had parties where my husband spent the WHOLE time at the grill. That of course makes for delicious and very fresh food, but it also means he misses out on a lot of the fun because he's slaving away and sweating up a storm. So when I can put the finishing touches on the food just as the party starts, I call that a success! One of our favorite recipes lately (which also makes a great party food) are Monte Cristo Party Sliders by South Your Mouth. Oh my goodness. King Hawaiian sweet rolls, yes please! Plus they are simple to make for a crowd. Another fun recipe is for fruit salsa. I love how this tastes paired with homemade cinnamon chips, but the cutting is slightly torturous. Do this the day before so you are less resentful of it on party day! I do a slight variation of this recipe by Spend with Pennies, and it is delish! My mom made some beautiful sugar cookie bows special for this party, and I brought out my favorite Hobby Lobby purchase to date, my mini chocolate fountain. We use this for parties a LOT. But it's quick, easy, and our guests always love it. 

For a fun cocktail, I made Orange Swizzle by Something Swanky. The recipe is non-alcoholic, but you can add a bit of vodka and it works out great! Each guest makes their own - with or without the cherry! All of these recipes are happy Pinterest finds that I've made over and over again. I have a few boards dedicated to recipes and party food if you want to follow along!

All in all, this was a really fun night. It was a great wrap up to the summer and a great reason to get together without kids to enjoy each other's company and let's admit it, it's pretty fun to leave with some fun new little gifts! If you had to choose, what would you pick as one of your favorite things?  It's actually harder than you think!

I am so excited to be coming back to the Boerne Handmade Market this October! I (big puffy heart) LOVE this market. I've been coming now twice a year for the last three years. It's so awesome to see how the market has grown, to see regular customers and watch their babies grow into toddlers and preschoolers. 

You'll find so many wonderful and unique items here from small businesses and hand crafters, you'll definitely need to make a round or two to soak it all in. We're returning to the Kendall County Fair Grounds and it'll be all indoors! (Woo hoo!) The entry fee is nominal, but it makes it so much nicer to not fight the rain and to have ample parking for everyone who comes out. 

Get started on your holiday shopping, grab some lunch, and just have a fun day out with the girls. Come by and say hello, I love seeing all of you!

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​September is just around the corner, and it is time to check your birthday calendar for birthdays and prepare your cards. I've found that filling out all my cards for the month has been so helpful in actually sending cards out for birthdays.

So, maybe you don't have a ton of birthdays in your calendar, but they show up in Facebook the morning of the person's birthday and you have no time to send a card! Ugh, don't you hate that? I know I do! 

Well, today you are in luck! I'm going to show you how to find the full list of your friend's birthdays so that you can add them to your birthday wall calendar, that way, month after month, year after year, you will know in advance when it's someone's birthday! 

Now that you have all your birthdays at your fingertips, you can add them to your perpetual birthday and anniversary calendar. I display mine on the wall behind my desk with readily available cards and stamps to give me a higher probability of sending out a card! Lately I've been writing cards at the beginning of the month, which has also been really helpful! See the post I wrote about Setting Yourself Up for Card Sending Success here.

Now, on to the next order of September business, a new calendar filled with all the fun holidays I'll be featuring this month! I hope you'll join me on social media to get updates and reminders of each of these fun days.

Ahhh, the smell of fresh school supplies is in the air! Before every single summer, I have a panic attack worrying that there is just not enough time to spend with my kids to do "all the things," and then by August I am counting the days, ready to regain some organization to our days. So I don't know about you, but I am ready for school to start, ready to get back on routine, and ready to take those adorable First Day of School photos! 

​I am such a sentimental mom, and that's probably why I love taking these photos. Each first day, my kids pose by our front door in their favorite new outfits, with their backpacks and excited smiles. I love comparing the current photo to last year's to see how much they've grown and changed, and how much they've stayed the same. Each year I swear they no longer look like little boys, but then after a year passes, it's easy to see that little boy from the photo the year before. 

I spend a very unproductive first day of school looking at all the photos my friends share of their kids and smile at all of the well wishes and comments on how much each of them have grown up, and I love every minute of it.

Because I know that even though we prepare for it, the first day of school sneaks up on us, I made these prints an Instant Download in my Etsy shop. That's right last minute Momma's, you can grab your printable tonight, and have it ready by morning for your first day photo shoot! 

And for a limited time, I have a special treat for teachers too! I know how hard your work and how much of your own money you put into making the first day of school truly special. I have a free downloadable print for you - and all you have to do is ask for it! Send an email to hello (at) polkadotpapercompany.com to request your print. Please use your school or .edu email address and specify your grade level (so you get the right file!). One PDF printable per person, valid through August 31, 2016 only. Not to be shared, or sold, but enjoyed by you and your students on the first day of school! By requesting a file, you will also be added to the Polkadot Paper Company newsletter list, but don't worry, we only send out good stuff! 

Happy First Day of School to all of you out there! I hope your year is wonderful!