weekending // adventures in . . . CELEBRATING!

This weekend, it was time to throw on a party dress and do some celebrating.  As of Friday, my husband completed his first year of med school, and since we knew this would be "the last summer of his life," it was time to party with our nearest & dearest Philly friends.  We even had some Brooklyn friends travel down for the celebration.

Here's how the celebrating played out . . .

1/  I love DIY party garland, and this is some of my favorite to make.  I simply used a 2" hole punch and went to town on some thick double-sided colored cardstock.  Then, I ran them through the sewing machine.  In about 15 minutes, I had several long strands of colorful garland to use for decorating.
2/  Our kitchen chalkboard is one of the first things guests see when they walk up the stairs into our apartment, so I wanted to take advantage of such easy visibility to set the mood.  I had fun quickly doing this before guests arrived, but if I had any early arrivers, it would have been a cool task for one of them. 
3/  This has got to be one of my favorite photos from the evening, snapped by my dear friend Nicole.  I always forget to have someone take a photo of me & Ben during parties, and this one is so candid and sweet.   
4/  You can't have a cocktail party without cocktail stirrers.  Well, ok, maybe you can, but I wasn't going to, so I made these DIY stirrers thanks to a great recent post on A Beautiful Mess.
5/  It was a fabulous evening if I can say so myself, and it was the perfect way to ring in summer with friends and to celebrate my husband's first year down.

~ Bonnie