Yolande

One of my favorite things to do is to plan parties.

For some people, throwing parties is stressful to them, but to me, it is theraputic!

It gives me a chance to use my creativity (which I don't get to use that much teaching math. Ha!)

I always jump at the chance to throw or host a party, whether it is a birthday party for my kids, a bridal or baby shower, holiday with family or a special get together with friends.

Today I am linking up with Andrea for her Show & Tell Tuesdays

"Show us your Favorite Party You've Hosted"

Well....I can't just pick ONE favorite party....I throw/host at least 5-6 parties a year (3 birthday parties a year, our annual 4th of July party, our annual Halloween Party, plus usually a baby shower or other party!)

 Because I can't pick just 1 favorite, here are my Top 12 favorite parties that I have thrown (in no particular order!)

{ONE}

Luke's Nautical 1st Birthday Party

This party was so special. It was the LAST 1st birthday party I will have ever thrown.

When I was pregnant with Luke (and with the girls) we didn't find out if it was a boy or a girl.

I remember being 5 months pregnant and seeing nautical decorations at Target.
  Since I was due in August and it would be a summer birthday, I decided right then & there if this  baby was a boy, he would have a Nautical/Sailboat first birthday party and I BOUGHT the party supplies (there is a peak into my crazy...buying party supplies for my unborn child's 1st birthday party not even knowing if it was a boy or a girl!)

I had so much fun with that party! See the rest of the party details HERE.

 {TWO}

 Claire's Cowgirl Party

This party was so much fun because since Claire's birthday was a few days after Labor Day, I had it on Labor Day weekend (our court usually has a Labor Day block party, so we just made Claire's party the block party) I invited our court, plus tons of Claire's friends & our families.

I rented 2 ponies for pony rides around the court.
I also rented hay bales for seating in our backyard.....this party was 3 years ago & the hay is finally gone! Ha! Kevin will never forgive me for all that hay :)
This might be my all time favorite party. Loved the Cowgirl Theme!
See more of Claire's Cowgirl Party HERE

 {THREE}

Cookies & Milk Baby Shower

 My younger sister's last name is Baker, so I told her if she ever had a baby girl, I wanted to throw her a Cookies & Milk Baby Shower...last name Baker...get it?

 Well, last year she found out that Baby #2 was a girl, so I started planning the Cookies & Milk Shower!

This shower was simple & fun. 

We had it in the afternoon & had appetizers & of course Cookies!

See more of the Cookie & Milk Baby Shower HERE

{FOUR}

 Kate's Pizzeria

I loved this party because Kate had so many ideas & plans for this party!

 

 Now that she is 8, she has big opinions on her parties & I love it!

The amazing cake my mother in law made!

See more of Kate's Pizzeria Party HERE.

{FIVE}

 Claire's Tangled Party

This party was magical. Claire had been asking for a Tangled party for a year.

I had Rapunzel come to the party, Claire's reaction brought tears to my eyes. It was awesome!

I had a yellow braid going through our entire downstairs:

The "hair" was strung throughout the downstairs:

Another awesome cake that my mother in law made:

See more of Claire's Tangled Party {HERE}

{SIX}

Kate's Nail Salon Party

This was held at a little nail salon in town that specializes in little girls parties.

Each girl got a mani & pedi.

See more of Kate's Nail Salon Party HERE.

{SEVEN}

Luke's Train Party- Choo Choo Luke is Two

 This party was so fun because Luke was (and still is) obsessed with trains!

The baggage claim was one of my favorite parts!See the rest of Luke's Train party details HERE.

 {EIGHT}

Favorite Things Party

I threw a Favorite Things Party 3 years ago during December.
The invite stated to bring 3 of your favorite thing costing that costs $10 or less.
I have seen Favorite Things Parties where you bring 5 of something costing $5 or less, but because our party was small (only 6 of us) we did 3 presents.
You go home with 3 new favorite things that your friends brought!

So much fun, I need to do this party again this December. I forgot how much fun it is!

See more of my Favorite Things Party HERE.

{NINE}

 Kate's Pancakes & Pajamas Party

 This party was very simple to throw!

Kevin made pancakes, the girls added their toppings & we did some crafts! 

See more of the Pancakes & Pajamas Party HERE

{TEN}

Pioneer Woman Potluck Party

I threw a Pioneer Woman Potluck Party in 2012 & 2013.

It's so fun. You get a group of girlfriends and each person brings a dish from Pioneer Woman (her cookbook or her website)

 Each person brought a PW dish & I had them email me what they were bringing so there were no duplicates.

 I love PW & so do my friends, so this is a great way to try a bunch of her recipes. 

We didn't do it last summer because of busy schedules, but I want to make sure we do it again this summer since it is so FUN!

 To see more of our Pioneer Woman Potluck Parties, click HERE 

{ELEVEN}

Claire's Candy Shoppe Party 

Luke was only 4 weeks old when I threw this party...I was still running on adrenaline from having a new baby. 

To see more of Claire's Candy Shoppe Party, Click HERE 

{TWELVE}

 Claire's Mermaid Party

My favorite part of this party was the "ocean" that I made out of blue streamers:

 Phew! There you have it....as you can tell, I really, really, really love parties!

So, there are my Top 12 favorites :)

That doesn't even include our Annual 4th of July Parties (click HERE to see those), our annual Back to School Feast Parties (click HERE to see those) and our annual Halloween Party (click HERE to see those).

You can click HERE to see all the parties I have thrown in the past 8 years, I have a Parties Tab.

I'm already working on Luke's 3rd Birthday in August...a Construction Party.
And, Claire asked for a Tea Party for her Birthday in September.
Let the party planning begin :)

Do you like throwing parties? I know it's not for everyone.

For some people, throwing parties is stressful to them, but to me, it is therapeutic & an outlet to use my creativity. 

I know my parties can be a little over the top, but I that is my present to my kids. I don't get them a present, their party is their present.  

My favorite type of party to throw is birthday parties for my kids. 

I know once they hit 10 years old, they won't be into big birthday parties, so I am savoring these years :)

Several of my friends don't like throwing parties, so they keep it simple!

Do what's best for you & your family....To each her own!

And to those of you who host slumber parties....my hat is off to you!

I know my boundaries...can't handle a sleep over party just yet. 

I love sleep too much ;)

+++++++++++++

The winner of the $100 Amazon Gift Card is:

Jessica J.

Leave a comment with your email to claim your prize! 

I saw this clip on You Tube last week about West Coasters trying food from Minnesota and it got me thinking about how different the regions in the US are!

I was born in California & have lived here my whole life (expect for 4 years in college when I went to the University of Colorado) Colorado is still the west coast & it didn't feel like culture shock when I went to college there....probably because it has a similar vibe to California (just colder!) and a lot of people from California have moved to Colorado.

Anyways...I digress....back to the video I watched.

It made me start thinking about how even though we all live in the US, things are very different depending on what region you live in. 

Food that we eat, traditions, clothing & the way we talk can be SO different!

So many of YOU are from different parts of our country...the Midwest, the South, the East Coast, etc.

I thought it would be fun to talk about some of these differences!

In the video about Minnesota, I had not heard of ANY of those foods that they tried. Not one!

What foods are specialized to your region?

If you have read my blog for awhile you know that I LOVE Cracker Barrel!

We don't have them in California, so whenever we travel to the South, I make sure we eat there at least once!

Here in California we don't have Sweet Tea...we have "normal" iced tea, it has no sugar, so if you want it sweetened, you have to add sugar packets to it.

You can't really find fried food here either. Everything is grilled. I've never had fried chicken expect for in the South.

Also, Okra? I guess that's a vegetable? I've never had it & I've never seen it at the grocery store. 

Is it a Southern thing?

 I had to google it to see what it looked like.

I had also never heard of Boiled Peanuts until last summer. One of my neighbors grew up in South Carolina, so he made boiled peanuts one day, so we all tried them. So salty!

None of us had had them before! I didn't even know there was such a thing.

What do you call soda?

Pop? Coke? 

In California, you call soda, soda. Or you say exactly what type of soda...Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, etc.

 What do you call dinner?

We call it Dinner. Do you call it supper? 

I call a freeway a freeway, not a highway or interstate.

I call a sandwich a sandwich, not a sub or a hoagie.

We don't say y'all here in California...we say "You guys"

I also wonder about if decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving is also a regional thing.

Here in California, I don't know of anyone who decorates for Christmas before Thanksgiving, even in our town/neighborhood, only 1 or 2 people put up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving.

But, maybe that is a California thing? 

In your town/state is it common to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving?

Totally curious if it is a regional thing or not!

Don't worry I won't judge..... I am a firm No Christmas before Thanksgiving person, but I won't go there.....today :)

I am truly curious if that is a Regional thing also...maybe in other parts of the country people put up Christmas early because it is so cold & snowy already? We don't have that in California...again not looking to debate, just curious!

I know that clothing is different in other regions also.

On other people's blogs & Instgrams I notice that their kids wear smocking dresses.

I think they are adorable, but I have never once seen a girl wear smocking dress here in California.

 

And, what are those romper things that little boys wear? Again, I have never seen a baby boy or toddler boy wear one of those (what are they called?!?!) 

Same with monograms, no one really wears monograms in California.

Same with bows in girls hair...girls wear little bows or headbands with little bows, not big bows.

So, if you are reading....where do you live?

What are some things unique to your state/region?

I would love to hear about it!